Pedro Almodovar believes Hollywood bosses need to hire more “minorities” to write movies. The Spanish filmmaker doesn't agree that only gay or Jewish actors should play gay or Jewish characters and thinks the best way to promote true diversity in the film industry is by having authentic voices bring their experiences to the story. He told The Hollywood Reporter magazine: “The essence of acting is, in fact, to pretend, to be someone other than who you are, even in your own essence. That is at the core of acting. “So, for example, absolutely a heterosexual actor can play a homosexual character a…

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Hong Kong’s top court ruled in favour of recognising same-sex partnerships on Tuesday, saying in its judgement that “the absence of legal recognition has been seen to be essentially discriminatory and demeaning to same-sex couples.” It marked the latest in a long series of litigations surrounding LGBTQ issues, as same-sex couples in the city have been forced to carve out rights from laws often ruled as discriminatory since the city decriminalised sexual acts between gay men in 1991. Lesbian sex was never explicitly outlawed, although stigma surrounded such relationships, too. LGBTQ rights rema…

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The premiere of the documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero was delayed after a bomb threat was called in at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Saturday night premiere of the film at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall was delayed by about 20 minutes while authorities verified that the threat wasn't credible. Lil Nas X was kept off the red carpet during that time. Judy Lung, vice president of public affairs and communications for TIFF, said in a statement that Toronto police investigated the vicinity of the red carpet ahead of the screening. “Our standard security measures remained in place …

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A children's book about a lion raised by two men has been banned in Florida because right-wing activists suspect the men might be gay – despite nothing in the book suggesting they have any romantic relationship, according to a report. The Florida Department of Education released new information about books that were banned or temporarily removed pending investigation in various county school systems as part of the state's new laws making it easier to challenge material in a school library, reported the Tallahassee Democrat. One of the books was “Christian, the Hugging Lion.” According to the r…

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By Griffin Dreifaldt NSFW: Saturday evening, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 34-24 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was a fantastic game that saw Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers put it all together and dominated the Bama defense for 349 yards and three touchdowns. As time expired, some Texas players were seen celebrating on the sideline right before some Alabama fans began screaming homophobic and racial slurs at the players. Warning: The language in the video contains homophobic, racist, and offensive remarks. The video can be found here. These remarks were highly offensive ca…

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Lil Nas X helped his brother come out as bisexual. The ‘Industry Baby' hitmaker has been open about his sexual identity, which has in turn inspired members of the LGBTQ+ community, including his own brother Tramon Hill. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, he said in new documentary ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero': “My brother really opened doors for a lot of people. Yeah, he opened a door for me. “What I mean by that, like, I'm not gay, though, you feel me? I'm bisexual. “He helped me be real with myself. My brother made me more open to it.” While Tramon was nervous about how various relations…

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The bullsh*t artist known as Elon Musk is blaming Jews for the implosion of X (perpetually known as Twitter, because “X” is simply too ridiculous). Specifically, Musk is blaming the storied Anti-Defamation League for driving advertisers away from the social media platform by complaining about all the defamation that goes on there. Musk tweeted that the site's revenue had dropped by 60 percent “primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!” POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Keep in mind that M…

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Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy made his colleagues, witnesses, and staffers squirm in their seats as he read explicit passages from two novels at a Senate hearing earlier today, RadarOnline.com has learned. Kennedy cherry-picked passages from two literary works before interrupting and condemning witnesses when they attempted to answer his questions. The Senate hearing covering free speech and book bans wasn’t short of shocking moments thanks to Kennedy’s eagerness to present passages out of context. Despite neither novel being published as a children’s book, Kennedy made it appear t…

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The Bettering Company, a Chicago-based luxury cannabis edibles brand, has closed a $6.7 million financing round, accumulating more than $11 million in total funding since its inception. This financial feat is noteworthy in the face of the nationwide challenging market conditions. Founded by Mark Cozzi and Drake Nickell, The Bettering Company has captured the interest of prominent early-stage consumer packaged goods investors, notably including Peter Rahal. This significant funding will cater to the construction of a state-of-the-art production facility in Rockford, Illinois, and the expansion …

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Demi Lovato's ‘Cool for the Summer' was inspired by a famous woman she had a sexual relationship with. The 31-year-old singer admitted her parents weren't surprised when she came out as bisexual because of the raunchy lyrics to the track, but she's refused to say who it was inspired by. Speaking on ‘The Howard Stern Show', she said: “I was thinking about the hookups that I had had with a girl and decided to write this song. I wasn't afraid of how it would affect my career … it was more so like coming to terms with it myself, like I didn't actually come out as bisexual until I was 24 or 25. I t…

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On Tuesday, an Illinois court granted an appeal of the sentence of former Empire star Jussie Smollett, who staged a hate crime against himself in 2019. Smollet was sentenced to 150 days by Judge James Linn after being convicted on five felony counts of disorderly conduct. Smollet's alleged attack made headlines in early 2019, reporting to Chicago police that two hooded men physically attacked him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. Smollett is black and identifies as a gay man. Brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who played extras on Empire, claim Smollett paid them $4,000 to play…

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By Albin Sybera In a rare move, Czech companies have addressed an open letter to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to back marriage for all legislation. Companies argue they are losing talent as a result of unequal rights for sexual minorities in the country. “The letter was signed by 66 smaller and bigger companies employing tens of thousands of people in the Czech Republic,” Richard Stonavsky, vice president of Vodafone, one of the letters' signatories, was quoted as saying by Czech Television (CT). The letter states that discrimination against LGBT+ people costs the Czech economy 0.1-0.7% of …

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Caitlyn Jenner didn't seem offended by a Texas restaurant using her pre and post-transition photos as indicators differentiating the male and female restrooms inside of the southern establishment. After a social media post went viral revealing the eatery was being “slammed” for their controversial choice of bathroom labels, Jenner took it upon herself to react to a person asking if the idea was funny. “Funny as h—,” the 73-year-old wrote while quote-tweeting the original post – which showcased a photo of Jenner's Vanity Fair cover shoot featuring the quote “Call me Caitlyn” blown up to cover…

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Munich officials will deploy some 600 police officers and about 2,200 safety monitors at this year’s Oktoberfest to make sure revellers can party safely, officials said on Wednesday ahead of the festival’s kick-off at the weekend. This year’s Wiesn, as Oktoberfest is locally known, begins on Saturday and runs until October 3, which is two days longer than usual, said Munich’s district administrator Hanna Sammüller-Gradl. Munich’s senior police director, Michael Dibowski, said security measures have increased about 20% compared to last year. This year, safety monitors have been trained to pay p…

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) has been drawing a great deal of criticism from Democrats — as well as from Never Trump conservatives — for holding up military promotions as a way of speaking out against abortion policies on women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Some evangelical Christian fundamentalists, however, have praised Tuberville for promoting the “pro-life” cause. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Zej Moczydlowski is among Tuberville's critics. In a scathing op-ed published by Military Times on September 13, the medic stresses that the Alabama senator's actions are harmful to servicemembers. P…

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 In in amazing revelation, CBS has reported that the GOP (Grand Old Party) was aware of the lies propagated by one of its own candidates. The truth was hidden in a vulnerability report that was internal to the campaign. This report has recently surfaced, shedding light on the red flags that were raised long before the embattled representative was elected. This article delves into the details of this discovery and its implications.

The vulnerability report, as revealed by the sources, highlights a series of concerning findings about George Santos, a GOP candidate. The information contained in this report was crucial and had the potential to influence the outcome of the election had it been made public at the time.

According to the report, Santos had been consistently making false claims and misleading statements during his campaign. The report meticulously outlined these lies and presented evidence to support its claims. It brings to question the integrity and transparency of the GOP's selection process, as these allegations were largely overlooked or ignored.

One of the key findings in the vulnerability report was Santos' embellishment of his professional and educational background. The report reveals that Santos had misrepresented his qualifications and work experience, creating a false impression of his competence and expertise.

Furthermore, the report also raised concerns about Santos' financial dealings, highlighting potential conflicts of interest and questionable financial practices. It disclosed instances where Santos had allegedly received questionable funding from undisclosed sources, suggesting a lack of transparency and accountability.

The fact that the GOP was aware of these issues, as indicated by the vulnerability report, raises serious questions about the party's commitment to ethical conduct and honesty. The report seems to suggest that the party prioritized winning the election over upholding integrity and trust with the voters.

The implications of this discovery extend beyond the individual candidate. It casts doubts on the credibility of the GOP as a whole, as it calls into question the party's ability to thoroughly vet and support its candidates.

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Provided by Kaiser Health News

More than four years ago, then-President Donald Trump declared an ambitious goal that had bipartisan support: ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.

Now, that Trump program is one of several health initiatives targeted for substantial cuts by members of his own party as they eye next year's elections.

Pushing a slate of conservative political priorities that also takes aim at sex education for teens, health worker vaccine mandates, and more, Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed a spending bill that would cut $1.6 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — one-sixth of the agency's budget.

The proposal would zero out the agency's share of the Trump HIV plan, which was more than a third of the program's budget in the current fiscal year. It would also eliminate funding through other channels, such as the Health Resources and Services Administration's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

With another budget fight and potential government shutdown looming Oct. 1, the specific proposal is unlikely to clear Congress. Still, former CDC officials said they fear it is the opening bid on what could nonetheless be debilitating reductions to a strained agency that has lost some public support in recent years.

The cuts come on the heels of other recent reductions at the CDC, triggered by the eleventh-hour debt-ceiling deal, to its budgets for childhood vaccination programs and prevention of sexually transmitted infections. And they provide an early opportunity for the CDC's new director, Mandy Cohen, to show how well she can convince members of Congress to protect the agency's interests in a polarized political landscape.

“Public health is being politicized to a point that's never been seen,” said Kyle McGowan, of consulting firm Ascendant Strategic Partners, who served as chief of staff at the CDC during the Trump administration. Cutting public health spending “is not smart,” he said. “These culture wars are now leaking into and harming public health.”

He called the proposed cuts unprecedented in their targeting of bipartisan public health initiatives.

The House Republican spending proposal, which came from members of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education subcommittee, also targets programs that have drawn the ire of conservative lawmakers, such as those that focus on climate change and gun violence research.

“Cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are as outrageous as they are dangerous,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the highest-ranking Democrat on the subcommittee.

But Rep. Kay Granger, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said the bill “works to responsibly fund programs that help improve the health and lives of the American people. It also holds agencies accountable when there has been a history of poor performance or controversial activities.”

Granger and the chair of the subcommittee that drafted the bill, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), did not respond to requests for further information.

The House Appropriations Committee has yet to mark up and vote on the measure, which would also need the approval of the full Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved its own health spending bill, which largely maintains existing CDC funding for HIV and would require the two chambers to work together to produce a consensus measure.

And any spending measure would also need the signature of President Joe Biden, whose most recent budget proposal included a request for $850 million to reduce new HIV cases.

The CDC declined to comment on the possible cuts, saying it would be premature to do so amid the ongoing budget process.

The Trump administration's HIV program launched in 2019 with the goal of cutting new infections nationwide by 90% by 2030. It has sent more than $1.7 billion, through different federal health agencies, to HIV hot spots around the country.

But the program has run into significant headwinds. The covid-19 pandemic diverted the attention of public health officials. Plus, red tape, along with persistent stigma and discrimination fueled by anti-LGBTQ+ messaging from politicians, have many health officials worried it won't meet its ambitious goals.

House Republicans said the HIV program, well shy of its first main milestone, in 2025, hasn't met its goals.

“This program has demonstrated a lack of performance data based on outcomes, insufficient budget justifications, and vague spend plans. The initiative has not met its original objectives,” the Republican-led subcommittee wrote in a report that KFF Health News obtained but could not independently verify as official. Granger and Aderholt did not respond to requests to verify the document.

Trump's Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative isn't the only Republican-created HIV program being targeted.

A number of key provisions in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, are set to expire on Sept. 30. The program, which funds HIV and AIDS prevention around the world, has saved millions of lives, and is widely seen as a public health and foreign policy success. It was launched in 2003 under then-president George W. Bush.

But discussions about reauthorizing the program have been derailed by Republican claims it finances abortion. PEPFAR won't immediately stop its work, but missing the deadline could signal an uncertain future for the program, experts say.

Regarding the Trump HIV initiative, service providers say any budget reductions would slow the progress it has made in the fight against the disease.

“There's a lot at stake here,” said Justin Smith, of Positive Impact Health Centers, an Atlanta-area HIV clinic. Smith has helped Georgia public health officials plan the distribution of Ending the HIV Epidemic funds among the four priority counties in the state.

Smith said the proposed cuts would be “quite devastating” for the work being done in Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties in metropolitan Atlanta. That work has included ramping up HIV testing and PrEP, or preexposure prophylaxis, programs, as well as expanding care for transgender people living with the virus.

The South has the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the country, and many Ending the HIV Epidemic target areas are in the region.

In Louisiana, which has two of those HIV priority areas, the program has helped reduce the number of late HIV diagnoses and maintain levels of viral suppression, said Samuel Burgess, the director of the state's STI and HIV prevention program.

Even if the budget cuts don't survive the legislative process fully intact, it's “very concerning” that lawmakers would even propose such a cut, Burgess said.

HIV policy advocates are pushing back on the House Republican proposal. In July, the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership sent a letter to House appropriators warning of its potential impact.

“We are deeply concerned that this bill will not only stop progress being made to achieve the goals set forth by former President Trump in 2019, but will exacerbate the HIV epidemic which has plagued our nation for 40 years,” they wrote.

Cohen, who started with the CDC in July, is familiar with the budget process, having spent time in top leadership positions within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

But she's new to the CDC and, regardless of her inside-the-Beltway experience, will need time to get up to speed, which could potentially leave the agency vulnerable, said McGowan. “It's a difficult time to have a leadership change at the CDC,” he said. But he added that “Dr. Cohen is doing a great job meeting with everyone on the Hill, both Democrats and Republicans.”

The fights over HIV programs concern Tom Frieden, who served as CDC director under former President Barack Obama. He estimated he made more than 250 trips to Capitol Hill over nearly eight years to sell the agency's work to lawmakers.

He called the Atlanta-based CDC's location outside of Washington a “double-edged sword.”

“People used to say to me, ‘Gee, isn't it great, we're not bugged by politicians down here in Atlanta?'” Frieden said.

While the location helps cushion the agency from politics, he said, it also makes it harder to get support from members of Congress.

But the CDC's response to covid pulled it back into the political fray. Frieden said he is hopeful the Democratic-controlled Senate will act as a “hard stop” against the Republican attacks — but he warned that substantial cuts can slip through the cracks.

“It's always a risk that some important stuff at the eleventh hour doesn't happen,” Frieden said.KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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The amfAR charity gala at the Venice Film Festival is fast becoming one of those essential be there, be seen high class social events for the great and good. From Venice to Cannes, LA and Palm Beach – amfAR galas are notorious for being exclusive and hard to get into so Euronews Culture was delighted to receive an invite for the chance to rub shoulders with some of the world’s most influential celebrities. It was also a huge opportunity to promote a much needed cause – the continuing fight for AIDS and HIV research. This year’s event faced a unique challenge as the usual cast of Hollywood star…

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By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state's attorney general on Friday said Donald Trump may have fraudulently inflated his fortune by far more than previously thought, her latest salvo in preparation for trial in her civil lawsuit against the former U.S. president and his family business. In a filing with a New York state court in Manhattan, Attorney General Letitia James said her valuation and accounting experts believe Trump falsely boosted his net worth by between $1.9 billion and $3.6 billion a year over a decade. That's higher than the $812 million to $2.23 billion range sh…

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U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan handed journalist E. Jean Carroll a win on Wednesday in her remaining case against Donald Trump, after the journalist's attorneys hit hard against the ex-president's request for a stay of her original civil trial against him for defamation, which was slated for January. Judge Kaplan on Wednesday ruled Trump is liable for defamation over remarks he made against Carroll in 2019, after she publicly accused him of rape years prior, CNBC reports. A jury in May award Carroll $5 million in a separate civil trial, finding the ex-president liable for sexual abuse and de…

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Sir Ian McKellen's life changed “overnight” after he came out as gay. The 84-year-old actor came out as gay in 1988 and he admits that it was a life-changing moment for him. He told Variety: “Almost overnight everything in my life changed for the better – my relationships with people and my whole attitude toward acting changed.” Ian admits that coming out actually had a huge impact on his acting work. The ‘Lord of the Rings' star explained: “The kind of acting that I had been good at was all about disguise – adopting funny voices and odd walks. “It was about lying to the world. I was no longer…

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An ordinary Sunday afternoon at the Avalon Man Spa and Bar in Valencia, Venezuela, was turned into a site of turmoil and upheaval as police conducted an unprompted raid at the gay club. Venezuela's National Police entered the massage rooms, the locker rooms, and the saunas of the club without prior warning or a search warrant, Knewz.com has learned. The July 23 raid on the Avalon Man Spa and Bar resulted in the prompt arrests of 33 men, including receptionist Jesús Araujo and the club's owner, on charges of indecent outrage, noise pollution, and criminal association. The 33 men were rounded up…

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is riding solo, as she recently revealed she has separated from journalist Suzanne Malveaux, her partner of more than 10 years. “I'm a single mom who is co-parenting this amazing kid,” Jean-Pierre told Vogue in an interview, adding that the two are sharing custody of their 9-year-old daughter, Soleil. “Our number-one priority is her privacy and to make sure we create an environment that's nurturing.” The former flames met at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Malveaux, who was a correspondent for CNN at the…

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The sexual revolution may have reached its high-water mark 50 years ago, the week of August 5, 1973, when The Joy of Sex: A Cordon Bleu Guide to Lovemaking first topped the New York Times list of nonfiction hardcover best sellers. Published the previous fall, the book had swiftly become a publishing phenomenon. For the first time, anyone in America could walk into a respectable bookshop and openly purchase a detailed, illustrated sex manual: a modern version of the guidebooks that Indian aristocrats, Chinese mandarins, and Florentine grandees had consulted centuries before. The book would notc…

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Jenna Jameson needed to marry someone who could “handle” her. The 49-year-old former porn star tied the knot with Jessi Lawless, 40, earlier this year and described her wife as a “really special girl” and “loves” married life with someone who has her “own fire”. She told ‘Entertainment Tonight': “I love married life. She's a really special girl to be able to be my wife. I'm a very strong-willed person… I'm pretty wild, so I needed somebody that had her own fire and could handle me. I'm not easy. [But] she is a strong woman and she has her own life. So we're just a good partnership, you know?…

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