Grindr’s new emojis, Ewan McGregor crushes homophobes, masturbation tax and more: the biggest international LGBT stories in today’s Cuppán Gay

• Grindr launches new custom emojis. The gay dating app has launched tonnes of new emojis including eggplants of different shapes, sizes and colours, bondage gear, jockstraps, poppers, hand cuffs and more. (The Gaily Grind)

Omg there's a poppers emoji?! COMR THROUGH GRINDR pic.twitter.com/ChifATbGyp

— Adam W (@adampatrickw) March 14, 2017

• Ewan McGregor ridicules homophobic critics of Beauty and the Beast. McGregor, who plays the enchanted candelabra, Lumière, responded to Colbert’s comments about the film’s controversy saying: “There’s a lot of gay sex in it! And I think if you live anywhere near Alabama, you should not go and see this film. What would Jesus think?” (Youtube)

• A feminist writer from Nigeria thinks trans women are not women, they are trans women. Chimamanda Adichie, who has appeared in Beyoncé videos, responded to the question of whether trans women are women by saying her “feeling is trans-women are trans-women”.

• Texas Senate approves bathroom bill, but a Republican can still protect trans people’s rights. House Speaker Straus is not in favour of the SB6 bill, the purpose of which is, allegedly, to protect people from sexual predators. Stars said that Texas could lose jobs as a result of the bill and that Texas needed to “send the right signals” to keep its economic edge. (GSN)

• Alan Menken, the man behind Beauty and the Beast‘s music, talks about the queer sensibilities of the film. Menken recognises the gay moment in the remake, saying that his late colleague, Howard Ashman, would have approved: “I think he would have approved. It’s interesting. Listen, Howard’s been gone for a long time, and the attitudes have in fact evolved.” (Attitude)

• A Texas lawmaker intends to tax men for masturbating. The legislation proposed by Jessica Farrar would see men who ejaculate outside of a vagina or a medical facility fined $100. Any other ejaculation would be considered “an act against an unborn child, and failing to preserve the sanctity of life.” (Gayety)

That’s it for today’s Cuppán Gay.

Image: Alice Henneman, CC2.0