Eurovision Song Contest Audience Cheers Gay 'Kiss Cam' Lip Lock

Eurovision Song Contest audience roared for same-sex smooch (screen capture)

No matter where it happens, I get all excited when a 'kiss cam' zeroes in on a more-than-willing gay couple.

And such was the case during the first night of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest currently taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Trans singer and 1998 Eurovision Song Contest champ, Dana International, was performing an upbeat, bouncy version of Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are.”

Throughout the song, the audience was treated to shots of couples going in for the smooch.

But it was a gay couple’s lip-lock that got the biggest and best reaction from the crowd.

Click the Twitter video below and enjoy.

😭 CRYING AT THE DANA INTERNATIONAL KISS CAM. #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/3cjaZC3gGU

— BBC Eurovision🇬🇧 (@bbceurovision) May 14, 2019

If you're quick, you can see another gay couple in smooch-mode at the very beginning of the segment.

The Eurovision Song Contest has long celebrated a message of acceptance.

Dana, who won the international competition 21 years ago for Israel, told the crowd, “Love has no religion, love has no race, love has no limits, love is love. We all deserve to be loved.”

The show’s host, Assi Azar, shared before Dana’s performance that her groundbreaking win back in 1998 and her ‘unbelievable life story’ helped him to come out. He credited the singer with helping “millions of people around the world” to feel comfortable with who they are.

However, a TV host from Belarus, Yavhen Perlin, wasn’t so enchanted by the kissy-goodness.

On the air, broadcasting back to his country, Perlin initially got excited about the kiss-cam. But when he saw the first couple was gay, he told his viewers, “Oh, my goodness - maybe we’d better not watch.”

Perlin felt more at ease with the next couple, who were heterosexual (“Ok, so far so good!”), but expressed more dismay when the camera found the following male couple (“Oh, come on!”).

Perhaps this ignorant presenter has somewhat missed the point of #Eurovision...Eurovision 2019: Belarus TV host's homophobic remarks condemned https://t.co/DnsfyVqMCg

— MarkFitz (@Mancfitzlaw) May 15, 2019

According to the BBC, several journalists took to social media to denounce Perlin’s comments.

“I feel so embarrassed,” wrote Radio Liberty’s Ales Piletski on Facebook. “The good thing is these boorish jokes are not heard in other countries.”

And speaking of other countries, many on social media were thrilled that the same-sex kiss was broadcast live, which meant many countries that aren’t so LGBT-friendly - like Russia - got a healthy view of man-on-man make-out session.

first it was a kiss cam showing 2 men, and then one of the presenters talking about his husband.
Russian authorities are shitting themselves right now XD#Eurovision #Eurovision2019

— Masha Misanthrope (@nicereminders) May 14, 2019

An image of two men sharing a kiss broadcast to millions across the world. Giving hope to people who live in countries where this simple act is a crime.

That’s the power of #Eurovision and I absolutely love it. pic.twitter.com/CEY9Rjommt

— Liam Beattie (@Liam_Beattie) May 14, 2019

Russia had to play those gay kisses on national tv😂😂😂✊✊✊ #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/o4ZctKW22R

— go.wait.in.the.car (@yg_vs_yg) May 14, 2019

So many gay kisses on national TV, can you feel the audiences trembling? #Eurovision

— 🌈 Amor Vincit Omnia 🌈 (@GregoryJMatz) May 14, 2019

Eurovision love kisscam steals the show. Dana international was sensational and to see so many kisses from gaymen, straight couple's, senior couples was utterly moving. Hopefully it will come back for lesbian kisses and trans and everybody else. #kisscam #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/nuIZk3nFh8

— ROMEO (@PlanetRomeo) May 14, 2019

New "Kiss Cam" Video Celebrates All Forms Of Love Between All People

Oh, sweet mother of humanity. Here's something to lift you up and make you feel good.

Filmed at this year's NFL Pro Bowl. From Ad Week:

The new 2:40 video has some inspired fun with a longstanding tradition at sporting events, the Jumbotron kiss cam, which finds couples in the crowd and encourages them to kiss. This time, though, the kiss cam is used, in the Ad Council’s words, as a “symbol for unbiased love” by featuring all forms of love—friendships, families and romantic relationships—across race, religion, gender, sexuality, ability and age.

The stunt begins with a fun bit of misdirection, as the first couple encircled by the kiss cam’s heart shape are a man and a woman. But the man then turns to his right and kisses his actual partner, who is a man—to cheers from the crowd.

The rest of the video, titled “Fans of Love,” continues in a similar way, featuring all sorts of real people and relationships as a way to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion.

“The NFL is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We are proud to be working with the Ad Council on their Love Has No Labels campaign,” added Anna Isaacson, the NFL senior vice president of social responsibility.

The campaign points to lovehasnolabels.com, which features a quiz to help people examine their own biases and resources on how to take actionable steps to rethink those biases. An interactive “Fans of Love” video will present relevant campaign facts and links to educational content to audiences as they are watching the film.

L.A. Kings "Kiss Cam" Features Gay Couple Kissing To Cheers

After the sad displays of hate at recent Donald Trump political rallies, this clip from last night's L.A. Kings hockey game last night puts a smile on my face.

And the crowd goes wild!

Via Outsports:

The Kiss Cam at last night's Los Angeles Kings game featured a gay couple kissing, and they certainly didn't hold back. Brad Parr and Andy Evans had secretly been hoping they would be the focus of the Kiss Cam at some point, and they got their wish last night in a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Staples Center.

The gay kiss got the biggest cheers from the crowd, another great sign of acceptance. And it wasn't just a little peck on the lips, these two went for it!

"It was a particularly sweet night since the Kings were playing and beat my hometown Toronto," Parr told Outsports. "My parents and siblings live in LA but the rest of my family think I am a terrible traitor for being a Kings fan; I've lived in LA for 17 years."

Crowds Cheer Gay Couple On LA Dodgers "Kiss-Cam"

This is pretty amazing. Wow how times have changed.

From Deadspin:

Back in 2000, two women were kicked out of Dodger Stadium for kissing.

The team and the world have changed since then.

Between innings of Saturday’s game, the stadium’s Kiss Cam team found two men, not as a joke, but a couple. It’s cool that this wasn’t the still-prevalent homophobic gag of forcing two platonic male friends to awkwardly recoil at the thought of kissing another dude.

It’s also cool that the reaction from the crowd was a genuine cheer. Reader Steven, who was in the ballpark, says he was “proud of the loud, enthusiastic response from the crowd. Not one person around me groaned or made derogatory remarks, and seemed genuinely pleased with the moment.”

The Dodgers have held LGBT nights in recent years, and while it’s great to publicly announce that everyone’s welcome, there’s nothing quite like being normalized by dorky in-stadium entertainment to make everyone feel included.