https://www.queerlandmedia.com/

Queerland Magazine, Helsinki (2025)

19/08/2025

Talking about HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has never been easy. For too long, silence, shame, and prejudice kept these conversations hidden. But today things are different: we have access to reliable information everywhere—Google searches, social media, or even open chats with friends who no longer hide what used to be taboo. Sexual health is no longer something to be whispered about; it’s becoming part of our everyday conversations.

In this new landscape, the latest news about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a game-changer. We’re moving beyond daily pills to long-lasting options like lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection endorsed by both the WHO and EMA, and cabotegravir, approved in Mexico and other countries, administered once every two months with remarkable effectiveness.

But let’s keep this clear:

• PrEP prevents HIV, but it doesn’t protect against other STIs.
• Condoms are still essential.
• The best strategy? PrEP + condoms together.

And yes, talking about this matters more than ever. Because, let’s be honest, many of our connections happen on Grindr, at a sauna, or during a night of cruising. Taking care of our sexual health (and that of others) shouldn’t feel like a burden—it should feel like part of the freedom and joy of living our sexuality without fear.

I’m Finland we have:

• HIV Point: free and confidential HIV & STI testing, run by experts. Their office is located in Kalasatama, and they’re also active on Instagram.
• Positiiviset HIV Finland: a support group offering information, guidance, and safe spaces for people living with HIV. Positiiviset ry, Hiv-Finland

Getting informed, staying safe, and talking openly about sexual health doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. Quite the opposite: it’s an act of self-love and respect for the people we share intimacy with. Today, we have more tools than ever: injections, pills, condoms, support groups, free testing. The information is out there—it’s just up to us to make the choice to use it.

***rlandmedia ***r

18/08/2025

Q***rland Media is the first LGBTQ+ digital media in Finland and across the Baltics and Nordic countries — and we do it in English and Spanish.

Created by q***rs, for q***rs, Q***rland is more than a platform. It’s a collective, a digital home, a stage where q***r stories don’t just exist — they shine.

We’re here to make q***r voices visible: activists, artists, drag performers, teachers, designers, local entrepreneurs — anyone shaping community in their own way.

We were born from the need for representation in music, TV, magazines, advertising, and beyond. Because we’re everywhere. We live, create, and inspire. And the next generations deserve to see us visible, unapologetic, all year long — not just for one month.

Join the movement. Create. Speak up. Build. Express yourself. Let your voice resonate across the globe.

Got a story tip? Do you know anyone who wants to get involved? Any venues that need visibility for the community? Concerts, venues, gigs, q***r events? Trans people who need to be heard? Q***r entrepreneurs?

DM us or email: hello@q***rlandmedia.com.

Be bold. Be proud. Be here

***rlandmedia ***rpeople ***rchat ***rhistory

14/08/2025

Taylor Swift just dropped a bombshell for her fans — the first glimpse of her upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl. The pop icon shared a striking set of photos teasing the vibe of her new era and, to everyone’s excitement, locked in the release date.

The big reveal comes days after Taylor’s appearance on New Heights, the podcast hosted by her partner Travis Kelce, where she spilled the details without holding back. “It’s 12 songs. No hidden tracks, no surprises. This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for years,” she admitted.

Drawing inspiration from the magic of The Eras Tour, the album will drop on October 3 and is packed with titles already sparking fan theories: The Fate of Ophelia, Elizabeth Taylor, Opalite, Father Figure, Eldest Daughter, Ruin the Friendship, Actually Romantic, Wi$h Li$t, Wood, Cancelled!, Honey, and The Life of a Showgirl featuring Sabrina Carpenter, who opened for her on tour.

***rlandmedia ***r

13/08/2025

Niclas Warius: Seeing, and Being Seen

Talking to Niclas Warius feels like sitting down with an old friend — the kind who speaks with quiet honesty, but leaves you thinking for days.

A gay man, he’s 52, married, lives between Helsinki and the countryside. Simple life, he says. But behind that calm is a past shaped by growing up gay in Porvoo in the 80s and 90s, when invisibility was a form of survival.

Now, his exhibition Recollection at Runeberg’s Home is his way of flipping the script — taking up space in the very city where he once felt erased. His art mixes personal history with bigger truths about power, gender, and even the way humans treat animals. “The imbalance is everywhere,” he says, “and empathy is the bridge.”

He doesn’t create exclusively for q***r audiences, nor does he dilute the q***r truths in his work for universal appeal. Instead, he speaks to the humanity that connects us all. His pieces carry intimacy without exclusion, love without conditions. That’s rare in a world still eager to box art — and people — into neat categories.

He admits he’s still waiting for that one moment of feeling fully seen. His wedding came close. Pride marches help. But maybe, in some way, Recollection is part of that journey.

“Life is happening now,” he tells me, almost as a quiet warning. “That’s all we have.”

And maybe that’s the lesson: visibility is not a single moment. It’s the courage to keep showing up, again and again, until you fill the space that was once denied to you.

Art, for Niclas, has given him courage. And courage, in his hands, is not about loud declarations, but about the stubborn, graceful act of existing on your own terms. That, perhaps, is his most powerful message to the next generation of q***r artists: your life is already your art. Let it be seen.

Niclas Warius Porvoo Borgå Pride Visit Porvoo Porvoon Seta ry J. L. Runebergin koti ***rlandmedia

12/08/2025

Tove Jansson: Love, Art, and the Q***r Heart of the Moomins

In Finland, Tove Jansson is more than a beloved artist—she’s a national treasure. But beyond the whimsical valleys and quirky characters of the Moomins lies another story, one that pulses with courage, tenderness, and unapologetic authenticity.

Born in Helsinki in 1914 to a sculptor father and an illustrator mother, Tove grew up in a home where art was as essential as breathing. Her creations would one day circle the globe, shaping childhoods and comforting adults, yet her truest masterpiece might have been the life she lived.

Tove never hid who she was, even when the law said she should. Homosexuality in Finland was illegal until 1971, but she refused to live in fear. “I always fell in love with a person,” she said. “Sometimes that person was a man, and sometimes it was a woman.” Love, for Tove, was never about labels—it was about connection, soul to soul.

In the 1950s, she met Ida Helmi Tuulikki Pietilä, a gifted graphic artist who became her lifelong partner. Together, they built not only a shared home but also a shared universe, creating projects like the 3D Moominhouse now displayed at the Moomin Museum in Tampere. Some Moomin characters carry Tuulikki’s spirit, just as others carry fragments of Tove’s friends and lovers.

This quiet defiance—loving openly in a time when love like hers was erased—made its way into her art. The Moomins are not perfect; they can be selfish, moody, or strange. But they are also kind, accepting, and fiercely loving. They teach us that families can look many different ways, and that home is wherever you are loved.

For Finland, Tove is a source of pride—a reminder that art and identity can be revolutionary. For the global LGBTQ+ community, she is proof that q***r lives are worth living fully, even when the world tells us otherwise. And for young q***r people everywhere, her story whispers the same truth her Moomins live by: love above all.

©️ Jansson wrote and illustrated
The Moomin Character
©️ The Guardian
©️Pinterest

***rlandmedia ***r

08/08/2025

Flow Festival Helsinki is a music and urban arts festival that’s flourished since 2004, born from the vision of Tuomas Kallio and the Nuspirit Helsinki collective to fill a cultural void—bringing alternative music, design, film, talks, and high-quality food into a revitalized industrial space.

More than an annual event, Flow has become a cultural platform where q***r voices carry weight. Q***r visibility in festivals like this is not just celebration—is important carving out safe, visible, vibrant spaces where our presence isn’t just allowed, but celebrated.

Flow 2025: q***r artists and representation 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
This year, Flow honors that visibility with artists who bring their identity, community, and unapologetic presence:

• Charli XCX, known for her chaotic q***r energy and high-concept performances, headlines the festival.
• 12 Months of Pride, a Helsinki-based DJ, creates safe, affirming spaces within the local q***r community.
• Mr. A, a stalwart of Helsinki’s q***r nightlife since the 1990s, embodies legacy and continuity.
• Star Kids, the club concept by Aino Collin, celebrates q***r and female artists.
• Clementaum, from Paraná, Brazil, rooted in ballroom-informed fashion and q***r Brazilian history, merges baile funk, tribal house, and techno with an electrifying stage presence.

Flow Festival will celebrate its 21st edition from August 8 to 10, 2025, at Suvilahti, Helsinki . It’s a three-day immersion of music, art, conversation, and community. Schedule: Friday Aug 8 from ~15:00 to 01:30; Saturday Aug 9 from ~14:00 to 01:30; Sunday Aug 10 from ~13:00 to 23:30 .

We weave q***r bodies, sounds, and memory into Helsinki’s urban pulse. Flow Festival Helsinki 2025 is more than a festival. Small q***r entrepreneurs and in general will be present at this festival, not just as spectators, but also with their work, their art, their music, their cuisine, as volunteers, with their efforts and representation of the q***r community in this city.

Picture by Konstantin Kondrukhov

Flow Festival Helsinki My Helsinki I wish I was in Finland ***rlandmedia .a .t.a.r.k.i.d.s

07/08/2025

Dancing with History: Finland Introduces First Male Couple on DWTS

The Finnish version of “Dancing with the Stars” is called Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa. A new chapter in the history of Dancing with the Stars is about to unfold in Finland. When the show’s 18th season premieres on MTV3 on August 31, viewers will witness a powerful first: a male dance couple taking the stage together.

Producer, presenter, and Eurovision commentator Mikko Silvennoinen will be dancing with professional choreographer and dance teacher Matti Puro . For both men, this is more than just a dance partnership—it’s a moment of visibility, representation, and hope.

“If one young rainbow boy sees me and Matti dancing together and gets a little spark of light in his life, this project is worth it. This is why I do it,” Silvennoinen said.

This landmark moment in Finland joins a growing list of same-sex couples who have stepped onto dance floors around the world to challenge convention and celebrate love, talent, and authenticity.

From JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson in the U.S. to Gili Shem Tov and Dorit Milman in Israel, to Giovanni Ciacci and Raimondo Todaro in Italy, these dancers have shattered boundaries and inspired countless LGBTQ+ viewers. Whether it’s Brian Dowling and Kai Widdrington in Ireland or Jakob Fauerby and Silas Holst, who won in Denmark, their presence has been transformative.

Finland’s Mikko and Matti now carry that torch forward. This isn’t just about a competition—it’s about what it means to be seen, to be free, and to dance in your truth.

Picture instagram

06/08/2025

Lady Gaga has entered her MAYHEM era, and the world is watching. The MTV Video Music Awards 2025 just dropped their nominations, and Gaga leads the pack with a stunning 12 nods, riding high on the success of her latest album “MAYHEM”. From the hypnotic “Abracadabra” to her explosive collab with Bruno Mars “Die With A Smile”, Gaga isn’t just playing the game—she’s rewriting it.

Set for September 7 in New York City, the VMA ceremony is packed with A-list energy: Kendrick Lamar is close behind with 10 nominations (thanks to his headline-making diss track), and Sabrina Carpenter is breaking through with 8.

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny is holding it down for the Latin scene, once again nominated for Artist of the Year.

And while Gaga’s crushing award season, she’s also prepping to take The MAYHEM Ball on the road. Europe, you’re up next: Stockholm’s Avicii Arena will host her on October 12, 13, and 15. For those of us in the Nordics, this is our moment to experience a living q***r pop icon in full force.

In 2025, Gaga isn’t just nominated. She’s a movement.

***rlandmedia

18/07/2025

What do you get when you mix bears, beats, the Baltic Sea, and Helsinki? A q***r cruise like no other.

On July 13th, Helsinki once again became the gateway to one of the q***rest events in Northern Europe – but this time, it was extra special. Bears on Board turned 15, and let’s just say: it was the kind of party you feel in your bones… and your beard.

This wasn’t just a cruise – it was a love letter to q***r joy. An experience. A space where body positivity, community, and pure fun came together in six unforgettable hours of dancing, connecting, flirting, and living our best sea life.

Beards, beats, and Baltic heat

With DJs like:

🎧 and setting the tone for the first three hours with bold, vibrant tracks, and
🎧 and .a delivering pure magic to close the cruise,

…the energy on board was absolutely electric. The vibe? Think sweaty hugs, spontaneous kisses, international flings, and dance moves that made even the crew start vibing.

And the category is… BEST BEARD ON BOARD 2025

Of course, you can’t celebrate bears without celebrating their most prized asset: the beard.
Hosted by the fabulous drag queen , the crowd gathered mid-cruise to witness the legendary “Best Beard on Board” contest.

Three brave, bearded babes took the stage, but the winner was Still, let’s be real – every beard on that boat was a winner. Because beards are more than hair – they’re pride, presence, and a little bit of q***r magic.

More than a party – a floating celebration of q***r life

Bears on Board is a reminder that q***r joy is political. That dancing is resistance. That community can happen anywhere – even 12 kilometers out at sea. It’s about bodies that don’t fit the mold, about love in every form, about a space where everyone is seen, celebrated, and safe.

This 15th anniversary was more than a milestone. It was a movement. And we can’t wait to sail again.

To the sea, the beats, the beards, and every body that made it special

🚨🚨The celebration continues. Bears on Board turns 15!
Join us for a night of underground bear energy at Post Bar.
Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 10:00 PM–5:00 AM | Helsinki 🚨🚨

17/07/2025

We’re truly happy and grateful to be included and supported by the Embajada de México en Finlandia / Embassy of Mexico in Finland It’s always a pleasure to collaborate and share what we’re achieving here.

Being part of the new “Mexico in the North” newsletter means a lot to us — it’s a valuable space to highlight the work being done in Finland and Estonia, from conferences and talks with students at the University of Turku, to exhibitions and creative projects that spark important conversations.

We’re also proud to share the launch of our Q***rland City Guide and Q***rland Map, tools that help spotlight safe and inclusive spaces for the local LGBTQ+ community and q***r travelers alike.

Thank you for your continued support and for opening these doors for us. It’s a real joy to update and contribute to the visibility of our community in meaningful and impactful ways — and even more so when it’s in collaboration with the Embassy of Mexico.

More information open this link: https://my.visme.co/view/dm4mnxgg-boletin-mexico-in-the-north-1-2025

***rlandmedia. ***rrightsarehumanrights

29/07/2024

For LGBTQ+ athletes who aren’t openly out or come from countries where their identity is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can be risky. They could be outed by others trying to expose them on the app.

To address this, Grindr has announced: “We’re disabling features like ‘Explore’ and ‘Roam’ within the Olympic Village. Additionally, the ‘show distance’ feature will be off by default, though users can choose to share their approximate location if they wish. Our aim is to help athletes connect safely without the fear of revealing their location or being identified.”

LGBTQ+ athletes face unique challenges, especially those from regions without basic rights and protections for their community.

Grindr, a popular dating app for LGBTQ+ individuals, is committed to user safety and privacy. Remember to use the app responsibly and be mindful of your surroundings. Stay safe and enjoy connecting with others!

***rlandmagazine ***rland ***r

26/07/2024

The Paris 2024 Olympics are set to be a historic and vibrant celebration, with at least 175 LGBTQ+ athletes ready to compete on the world’s biggest stage. These athletes are not just participants; they are symbols of resilience, diversity, and progress. As visibility of LGBTQ+ athletes grows, so does the inspiration they bring to millions worldwide.

Imagine the electrifying atmosphere as these trailblazers take their places in various sports, from the track to the pool, from the gymnasium to the field. Each one of them carries their unique story of overcoming adversity and breaking barriers, embodying the true spirit of the Olympic Games.

Paris 2024 is more than just a competition; it’s a beacon of inclusivity and acceptance, highlighting the significance of representation in sports. With every race run and every goal scored, these LGBTQ+ athletes are making history, showing that being true to oneself is the ultimate victory.

Get ready to cheer on these incredible athletes as they strive for gold, not just for their countries, but for equality and pride. Paris 2024 promises to be a celebration of love, diversity, and unyielding human spirit.

***rland ***rlandmagazine ***rathletes

Queerland Magazine

19/08/2025

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14/08/2025

13/08/2025

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07/08/2025

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