News: Newshttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/page/329/?d=1News: NewsenThe Lil Nas X Gay Coronation Covers NY Times Magazine; Crowned With ‘Elaborately braided Black Boy Joy’; Welcome Generation Zhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/the-lil-nas-x-gay-coronation-covers-ny-times-magazine-crowned-with-%E2%80%98elaborately-braided-black-boy-joy%E2%80%99-welcome-generation-z-r70/
Lil Nas X gay
Lil Nas X Gay Cover of New. York Times

This Sunday, copies of the New York Times Magazine, included in the Sunday edition and typically landing with a thud for 350,000 or so Tri-state subscriber homes including many who think of themselves as both upstanding and small “c” conservative.

They may wonder who that is on the cover, and if they know it’s Lil Nas X gay trolling they may wonder how those Medusa-looking braids fit under a tight cowboy hat, or why he gave up the promising Roblox kids career. And they may say to themselves how did he get here? And why swap the ever-gayer country wardrobe for this “feminized” purple jumpsuit, but using many other not-so-polite words to say it. But they will not find an ounce fo anything tentative, or any indications that any shit will be taken about any of it.

And they may ask themselves, “how did he get here?” And they may read about his astonishing journey; his accomplishments without a single real stumble, not a single unforced error, not a single criticism or call out that can be said to have hit its mark in an astonishing ascendency over just a few years few years. The elements are all in the photoshoot, as Maiysha Kai wrote for The Root:

Screen-Shot-2021-07-08-at-6.20.22-PM-102
Lil Nas X Gay Moment Winning

Perhaps it’s the elaborately braided Black Boy Joy Lil Nas X is exuding on the cover (courtesy of hair and makeup artist Widny E Bazile)—or the earnest and unapologetic grin he’s giving photographer Shikeith; but it’s clear that resistance is futile, y’all. As evidenced by the pulsating and provocative success of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”, this is Lil Nas X’s real coming out party—and we’re just guests.

Maiysha Kai writing in The Root

Hitmaker Lil Nas X has had no shortage of headlines in the last few months. From grinding the Devil to death in the music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” to tactfully covering a wardrobe malfunction during “Saturday Night Live” to delivering the first male same-sex kiss ever broadcast on the BET Awards, the young rapper has kept his name on the tips of tongues with his own personal brand of Black queer expression.

All of these happenings speak to Lil Nas X’s growing comfort with his own expression since coming out as gay two years ago just as much as they communicate a comforting message of acceptance to the queer members of his audience. It’s a far cry from the life circumstances that served as a prelude to his international stardom: having his Nicki Minaj-stanning internet presence scrubbed, his mother’s struggle with addiction and the death of his grandmother, with whom he was extremely close.

“I have this feeling like: You know what? This is mine. This is for me, and I commit myself to it,”

Lil Nas X said.

In a New York Times Magazine cover story, Lil Nas X opens up about how that tragic series of events pushed him to believe that his life was at an end before “Old Town Road” was even a single note. But delving into music helped pull him out of his mindset, giving him a realm under his control that ended up being the perfect antidote to his tribulation.

“I have this feeling like: You know what? This is mine. This is for me, and I commit myself to it,” Lil Nas X said. That commitment grew when he dropped out of the University of West Georgia during his freshman year, ready to dedicate himself to music in a way he hadn’t previously done to anything else in his life.

“Old Town Road” would launch the emerging queer figure to superstardom in short time, thanks in part to Lil Nas X’s own efforts to meme-ify to the track, a practice that capitalized on his early days as member of the Nicki Minaj superfan squad the Barbz, and it latching onto a country trap trend that made it spread like wildfire on Tik Tok. The controversy surrounding the song’s removal from Billboard’s Top Country charts didn’t hurt either.

The result was a hit that reigned atop the Billboard charts for nearly five months, which Lil Nas X braggadociously refers to in his latest hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” More hits followed, and more are expected once his first full-length album “Montero” drops later this year, but the most earnest way his newfound presence manifested was when he came out in June 2019, smack in the middle of “Old Town Road’s” time at number one.

Nas’s project, though, is to move past the mainstream and publicly acceptable practice of queerness, which is often so divorced from actual sexual pleasure that it can feel neutered,”

–Jazmine Hughes, New York Times Magazine

Though he was already out to members of his family, performing at a Pride event during the U.K.’s Glastonberry Festival proved to be the final catalyst for him to share his identity with the world. “People were waving their pride flags, and it was just so much excitement; I was like, Oh, my God, this is it,” Lil Nas X told Jazmine Hughes of New York Times Magazine.

Hughes wastes no time with the former New York Times stylistics that meant reporters had to distance themselves –even as part of the story– with the third person “a reporter” stuff. And so her interactions with Nas X explain and distinguish what is new and a generation’s identity and what is new and uniquely Lil Nas X — not just when it comes to gender and sexuality , but politics and what “success” looks like too.

“the difference between the Nas of “Old Town Road” and the one heard now, both in musical approach and in self-depiction: The new one is really, really gay. Coming out, for Nas, was a recalibration. He wanted to be not just a pop star but a visibly gay one, a figure built on that Gen Z tendency to heighten a sexual identity into an exaggerated shtick, but one founded on a genuine pride and comfort. (When I first told him I was a lesbian, he limped his wrist in approval — an offensive gesture meant to mock gay men, reappropriated into a convivial meme.) After years of hiding himself, there was now no mistaking it: He was trying to be, all at once, a hitmaker, a huge pop star, an out gay man and a sexual being. “

Jazmine Hughes, New York Times Magazine.
Lil Nas X Gay

And he hasn’t looked back since, continually pushing the depiction of gay pop stardom, Black queer expression and continuing the diversification of mainstream hip-hop. Even more so, he wants to push those norms even further. “Nas’s project, though, is to move past the mainstream and publicly acceptable practice of queerness, which is often so divorced from actual sexual pleasure that it can feel neutered,” writes the New York Times’ Jazmine Hughes.

“It’s one thing to accept a gay person, as many do, by ignoring what we do behind closed doors. But it’s quite another to embrace gay people as sexual beings, who can also enact an identity – just as straight people so proudly, publicly and lucratively do – in part through sex itself,” she added.

It’s a message best summarized by one of many tweets Lil Nas X sent out following his BET Awards performance: “you’re right i am insecure about my sexuality. I still have a long way to go. I’ve never denied that. when you’re conditioned by society to hate yourself your entire life it takes a lot of unlearning. which is exactly why I do what I do.”

Lil Nas X Gay: Previously on Towleroad

Screengrab of photo from Shikeith for The New York Times

Towleroad Editor Michael Goff contributed to this post.

View the full article

]]>70Fri, 09 Jul 2021 16:48:04 +0000Homophobic Chant Nets Mexico Soccer Fans Ban From World Cup Qualifiers; LGBTQ Fans Sue Soldier Field Over Chantshttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/homophobic-chant-nets-mexico-soccer-fans-ban-from-world-cup-qualifiers-lgbtq-fans-sue-soldier-field-over-chants-r68/
Mexico soccer

Mexico soccer fans will have to watch their squad’s World Cup qualification effort from home later this year thanks to their continued use of a homophobic chant during games. The ‘puto’ chant has been used regularly as a derisive chant toward opposing teams at Mexican national team games for a number of years. The term is a known homophobic slur.

The ruling means that Mexico’s first two World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica (Sept. 2) and Canada (Oct. 7) will be played in empty stadiums. It also prompted Mexican Football Federation president Yon De Luisa to again demand fans quit using the homophobic chant that had become a staple of sporting events and lucha libre shows across the nation.

“The ‘puto’ chant is discriminatory and is moving us away from FIFA competitions. To those who think it’s fun to yell it out, I have news for you. It’s not,” De Luisa said. “There are a million ways to show interest toward your team without discriminating. So we should focus on the positive ways. This is something that we are not proud of. This is not the image that we want to show from our fans and from our society to the rest of the world.”

International soccer governing body FIFA announced the decision in June at the recommendation of its Disciplinary Committee after a years-long push to eradicate the homophobic chant from Mexican national team matches. The chant popped up again as recently as March 2021, the same month North American soccer governing body CONCACAF launched an anti-discrimination initiative. Fans showered the field with hate speech during Mexico’s Olympic Qualification matches against the U.S. and the Dominican Republic.

In accordance with FIFA’s own Disciplinary Code, referees paused those matches in response to the chant’s use and issued verbal warnings to fans in attendance that further consequences would come if the chant persisted. Amended in 2019, FIFA’s Disciplinary Code advises on-field officials to pause games and issue a warning to crowds using hate speech during matches. If the conduct doesn’t stop, officials have the power to abandon the match.

The use of the chant also exposed venues hosting Mexican national team games to legal threat associated with the homophobic barbs. Four LGBTQ fans who attended the CONCACAF Gold Cup final between Mexico and the U.S. at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2019 filed suit against the stadium’s owner, the Chicago Park District, on Tuesday. The suit alleges that the Chicago Park District violated the group’s civil rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act by doing nothing to stop Mexican fans from chanting the homophobic slur.

While FIFA’s ruling stands as the strongest yet in its attempts to curtail the use of hate speech at games, it remains to be seen if it will influence fans to abandon the chant. De Luisa hopes the chant’s demise comes sooner than later. “That is no longer a debate. If it is discriminatory, we should avoid it.”

Mexico Soccer: Previously on Towleroad

Photo courtesy of Santiago Llobet/Creative Commons

View the full article

]]>68Thu, 08 Jul 2021 19:09:19 +0000The Eyes of Tammy Faye Bakker Are Oscar (and SNL) Worthy in Title Role; And Other Speculative Trailer Tells About The Unseen Sept. Release. WATCHhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/the-eyes-of-tammy-faye-bakker-are-oscar-and-snl-worthy-in-title-role-and-other-speculative-trailer-tells-about-the-unseen-sept-release-watch-r67/
tammy faye baker
Tammy Fay Bakker became Tammy Faye Messner after the divorce

The Eyes of Tammy Faye was once the title of a popular 2000 documentary and now it’s the title of a biopic about the rise and fall of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, with the emphasis being on the more sympathetic Tammy (who is no longer with us, having died of cancer in the Aughts).

For you youngsters out there they were VERY famous in the 1980s with their scandal and downfall happening in 1989. The movie is directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Hello My Name is Doris) and gives plum roles to Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain as the famous fallen couple.

Will it be great, terrible, a mix of both simultaneously or (most dangerously) blandly mediocre? Will it be up for all the Oscars or none of them? Let’s give this the full Yes No Maybe So™ treatment

[This post contains video, click to play]
maxresdefault.jpg

YES

• Opening with Cherry Jones accusatory “what did you do?” instills immediate faith.

• At the very least the costumes, makeup, and production design are going to provide opportunity after opportunity to make this a hugely fun watch.

eyesof-tonechange-1.png
eyesof-isthataquestion-3.png

• The shift in tone from broad comedy to personal drama at the one minute mark, with the music abruptly ending. Tammy’s eyes opening (in her most recognizable look) and the “we’re not doing anything wrong, though”… “is that a question?” exchange works just superbly well. If a good portion of the movie nimbly or even impactfully jumps this line well, it could well be special.

• “Can we talk about Satan, later Jim?” LOLZ and also 100% relatable if you’ve ever dealth with an overly dramatic or victim-mentality partner.

eyesof-walkofshame-3.png

• That shot of Andrew Garfield as Jimmy walking out in shame with a team around him — it looks so instantly and perfectly familiar. Those of you who are old enough to remember this scandal probably had the same reaction.

• Mitchell Travers (Hustlers, Eighth Grade, In the Heights) on costumes ! Will he become a major costume designer? We’re hoping so after that Oscar worthy (but ignored) work on Hustlers.

NO

eyesof-cantedangle-1.png
Tammy Faye Bakker

• Okay this shot is so over the top. Banish the canted angle!

eyesof-thisiswhoiam-1-3.gif

• The makeup is fun but has the potential to be very SNL sketch too and it’s hard to know from these clips whether or not it will escape this trap. Especially at the end with “This is who I am” it looks like they’ve reshaped Jessica’s perfect face in the cheeks and jaw area. Could be distracting even if she’s great. Linda Dowds, who has won three Emmys (True Detective, The Kennedys, Grey Gardens) and Stephanie Ingram, both whom have worked with Jessica Chastain multiple times, are the Makeup and Hair department heads. Hmmm. Maybe this should be in the next section. Justin Raleigh (American Horror Story) and Brian Wade (who worked on Vice) are on the prosthetics.

MAYBE SO

eyesof-homo-2.gif

• That clip above is the only reference we get to Jimmy’s homosexual scandals. How will the movie handle this? The real life story on this is complicated with Jim denying he had ever had sex with a man (and also being accused of raping a woman) but multiple men claiming they’d had sex with him. In real life Tammy Faye was a strangely fence crossing in the culture wars, popular with the often homophobic factions of society (Evangelical Christians) but also popular with the gays, not just because of her drag queen look but that she was charitable during the AIDS crisis and also refused to denounce homosexuality the way most of her ilk did.

• The conversation about politics with Jerry Falwell. Will the movie recognize Tammy Faye’s naivete about the same or actually share it?

eyesof-tvinterint-3.png
Tammy Fay Bakker

• It’s a small thing but my favourite beat in Jessica’s performance (in this admittedly tiny sample) is the way she sounds like she’s on the edge of crying and laughing simultaneously when talking to the AIDS patient. Lovely mix and just right from my vague memories of the televangelist.

eyesof-jesscherry-3.png

• Jessica’s voice work sounds very broad especially when playing young Tammy … but then Tammy Faye was a very broad lady, a full caricature you could easily argue. The trick for Jessica will be playing the caricature and the character simultaneously. It’s a tough assignment. If she nails it we could be talking Oscar! Well, even if she doesn’t we could be talking Oscar since the Academy worships celebrity playing celebrity performances.

• Speaking of… is this finally Cherry Jones opportunity for some movie awards attention as her mother?

The Eyes of Tammy Faye opens in theaters on September 17th. Are you a Yes, a No, or a Maybe So on this one?

Tammy Faye Bakker Previously on Towleroad

This Post first appeared on The Film Experience

View the full article

]]>67Thu, 08 Jul 2021 16:57:43 +0000‘Luca’ Star Jack Dylan Grazer Silences His Own ‘Bruno,’ Comes Out as Bisexualhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/%E2%80%98luca%E2%80%99-star-jack-dylan-grazer-silences-his-own-%E2%80%98bruno%E2%80%99-comes-out-as-bisexual-r66/
Luca
Jack Dylan Grazer

Less than a month after Pixar’s latest hit film “Luca” lit up Disney+, one of its stars, Jack Dylan Grazer, delivered another cause for celebration when they came out publicly as bisexual over the weekend.

The teenage actor delivered his truth during a fan Q&A on an Instagram Live broadcast. Likely spurred by fans and critics likening “Luca” to an LGBTQ-coded coming-of-age story, a fan asked Grazer if they were gay during the session. Grazer simply replied, “I’m bi.” They followed that by delivering his “Luca” character’s, Alberto Scorfano, catchphrase “Silencio, Bruno!”

The Huffington Post reported that fans also noticed that Grazer changed their pronouns to he/they on their Instagram page following the announcement, though the bio on Grazer’s page currently doesn’t list their pronouns.

Grazer’s use of the “Silenzio, Bruno” phrase after coming out speaks is apt as it centers the film’s message of overcoming self-doubt and insecurity to live and experience life as the person you know yourself to be. “We kept on talking about Alberto as being the ‘You can do this. You can,’ as opposed to the voices that tell you ‘You can’t do it. What are you doing? You shouldn’t be here,'” “Luca” director Enrico Casarosa told GamesRadar. “We knew that we wanted Alberto to help Luca… and the metaphor was, truthfully, a literal and metaphorical push off of a cliff.”

Fans latched onto Grazer’s announcement and the use of the catchphrase, using it in celebrating the “It,” “We Are Who We Are” and “Shazam!” star’s statement.

Luca: Previously on Towleroad

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

View the full article

]]>66Thu, 08 Jul 2021 14:47:06 +0000Race to Replace Brazil President Puts Focus on ‘Proud’ Former Bolsonaro Supporter; Eduardo Leite Comes Out as ‘Governor Who is Gay;’ ‘I Have Nothing to Hide’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/race-to-replace-brazil-president-puts-focus-on-%E2%80%98proud%E2%80%99-former-bolsonaro-supporter-eduardo-leite-comes-out-as-%E2%80%98governor-who-is-gay%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98i-have-nothing-to-hide%E2%80%99-r65/
Brazil
Brazil President Candidate Eduardo Leite

Brazilian governor and 2022 Brazil president hopeful Eduardo Leite came out as gay on Thursday, stating he had “nothing to hide” as he prepares to challenge staunchly anti-LGBTQ president Jair Bolsonaro.

“I have never spoken about a subject related to my personal life, but during this moment of low integrity in Brazil, I have nothing to hide. I am gay,” Leite told Brazilian journalist Pedro Bial during a live TV interview on TV Globo. “I am a governor who is gay, not a gay governor, as former President Barack Obama in the U.S. was a president who was Black, not a Black president. And I am proud of that.”

The “governor who is gay” responded to messages of support after coming out on Twitter, saying, “The countless messages of care and support I’m receiving make me absolutely convinced: love will conquer hate!”

Leite, who currently serves as governor of Rio Grande do Sul, has been a vocal critic of Bolsonaro despite initially supporting him during his 2018 presidential bid. According to Reuters, Bolsonaro’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, not his anti-LGBTQ positions, spurred Leite’s heightened criticism of the Brazilian president.

Jean Wyllys, Brazil’s first out gay member of Congress, criticized Leite for previously supporting Bolsonaro as he attacked the community to which he belongs. “This chap had many opportunities to defend the LGBT community and he didn’t,” Wyllys told The Guardian. “He was a Bolsonarista until yesterday – and he’s probably still one today, because at no point has he retracted his support for Bolsonaro. So I don’t celebrate this. I’m not part of this team of people who are commemorating this chap coming out of the closet as if it was some great accomplishment for Brazil’s LGBT community.”

A potential gay challenger to Brazil’s top seat in Leite could cast Bolsonaro’s hateful attitude toward the nation’s LGBTQ community back into the spotlight. Since taking office, Bolsonaro has criticized the Brazilian Supreme Court for criminalizing homophobia, worked to erase initiatives directed at LGBTQ Brazilians from multiple government departments and stated his desire that Brazil not become a “gay tourism paradise.”

Bolsonaro also famously said that if he had a gay son he would be “incapable of loving a homosexual son” and the he would rather his son die in an accident than be gay. The self-described homophobe weighed in on Leite’s coming out, saying, “I have nothing against his private life, but he cannot impose his lifestyle on others.”

Leite will participate in the social democratic party PSDB primaries in November, seeking the party’s presidential nomination.

Brazil President Gay: Previously on Towleroad

Photo courtesy of Pedro França/Agência Senado/Creative Commons

View the full article

]]>65Wed, 07 Jul 2021 21:56:19 +0000Is Tyler Posey Queer? ‘Teen Wolf’ Star: ‘I’ve been with everybody;’ Partner Helped Sort Genuine Sexual Identity; Just Out, Tyler Posey Song ‘Happy’: LISTENhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/is-tyler-posey-queer-%E2%80%98teen-wolf%E2%80%99-star-%E2%80%98i%E2%80%99ve-been-with-everybody%E2%80%99-partner-helped-sort-genuine-sexual-identity-just-out-tyler-posey-song-%E2%80%98happy%E2%80%99-listen-r64/
tyler posey
Tyler Posey Queer: says he now self defines as queer and sexually fluid

Actor/musician Tyler Posey hasn’t been shy about embracing himself since his “Teen Wolf” days, Last week he signaled a subtle shift discussing his current relationship and declaring he sees himself as queer and sexual fluid.

In an interview with NME, Posey outlined his sexual identity after answering questions about how he identifies during a Q&A on his OnlyFans page. “Someone asked if I’d been with men [as well as women], and I said yes,” Posey said. “I’ve been with everybody under the sun.”

Posey credits his partner, fellow musician Phem, with helping him during his journey of self-discovery. “Right now I’m in the best relationship that I’ve ever been in with a woman, and she is queer too,” Posey said. “She’s helped me realize that I fit under the queer umbrella and that I’m sexually fluid.”

The Tyler Posey Queer Evolution Redefines Hard OnlyFans Issues As Public Service

Best known for his six-year stint at the head of the fondly remembered MTV drama “Teen Wolf,” Posey has continued acting while placing a heavy focus on his music career, using his pop-punk roots to explore his struggle with drugs and overcoming that dependency.

His entry onto OnlyFans also drew some eyeballs. Though Posey’s OnlyFans content doesn’t fit the explicit expectations the site’s name conjures, he sees it as a philanthropic look into his life. Posey donates any money earned through OnlyFans to organizations combatting mental health issues and cyberbullying, issues with which Posey is all too familiar.

The original Q&A that sparked the conversation around his sexuality also elicited accusations of “gay-baiting” on the part of Posey. “I’m pretty sure it’s only one guy,” Posey told NME. “I’m sober now and I’ve been working a lot on my mental health, so I’m in a place where I can somewhat laugh at that kind of thing … but I know that other people who deal with this kind of shit may not be as strong mentally.”

“[I] believe I can make some kind of positive difference in the world, and I’m willing to sacrifice the time and energy to do it.”

Is Tyler Posey Queer? Is Tyler Posey’s Band Good? Sure. Sure is.

Happy, by Tyler Posey

Wipe that look off your face
Just get out of my way
I’m not about it today, I wish you’d go away
They all said I was sick
Well, take my temperature, bitch
You’re just wasting your time, I’m doing fine
Everyone wants to die sometimes
Why’s it so hard to stay alive?
If I tell you I’m happy
Will that make you go away?
I’ll tell you I’m happy
Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say?
Because words don’t mean shit
When I’m biting my lips
So I swallow and they go away
I’ll tell you I’m happy
Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say?
Yeah, I know how to act
Just give me a name
I’ve been playing these roles you won’t want me to play
Yeah, I know how to nod
Nodding, I’m half awake
With my eyes rolling back, can’t you tеll I’m okay?
And I’ll keep smiling but inside I’m still dying…

Tyler Posey wants to revisit #TeenWolf: “The fans are non-stop online asking, ‘Where is season seven?’, and I’m right there with them. I would love to do one last hurrah. That show ran a whole gamut: it was horror, it was supernatural, it was comedy, it was a funny buddy show.” pic.twitter.com/FGrhVs5DBa— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) July 2, 2021

Is Tyler Posey bringing back pop punk cause this shit is catchy

@blackadlerqueen

In an interview with NME, #TeenWolf star Tyler Posey states that he will release his debut EP soon, as he wants to focus on both, music and acting.

He also reveals that he is sexually fluid, and would love to do a seventh season of Teen Wolf!

Affinity Magazine

Tyler Posey Queer: Previously on Towleroad

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

View the full article

]]>64Wed, 07 Jul 2021 17:08:54 +000080s Singer Tiffany Writing Tell-All Memoir; May Be Alone Now in Thinking Julia Roberts Should Play Her in A Biopichttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/80s-singer-tiffany-writing-tell-all-memoir-may-be-alone-now-in-thinking-julia-roberts-should-play-her-in-a-biopic-r63/
 
Published by
BANG Showbiz English
 
 

Pop icon Tiffany would love Julia Roberts to play her in the movie of her life – because she’s a “fabulous red head” too.

The 49-year-old singer become a global sensation in 1980s with her monster hit ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ and as her career reaches its fifth decade she has started to think about her legacy,

Tiffany would love for her story to be immortalized in a biopic and she is certain that ‘Pretty Woman’ star Julia could do a great job brining her to life on the big screen, least of all because their share the same shocking colored locks.

Speaking on the ‘Behind The Velvet Rope with David Yontef’ podcast, she said: “Well, younger Tiffany, I’m not sure. That would be really kind of interesting. I’d have to think about that one a little bit more in depth, but I mean, you know, like, I don’t know, probably the older Tiffany, I don’t know. Let’s pick a fabulous red head, like Julia Roberts, shall we … She is one of my favorites!”

Away from music, Tiffany has posed in Playboy and also appeared on a host of reality shows, including ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ and the Australian version of ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’, as well as starring in several films such as ‘Necrosis’ and ‘Mega Python vs. Gatoroid’.

And Tiffany is finalizing plans to release a tell-all memoir which covers every aspect of her career and her life.

When asked if she wanted to write a memoir, she said: “Oh, definitely. Definitely. We’ve been talking about it for years. I think it’s, it’s going to be right on time, you know, maybe the next couple of year or so, but that’s definitely going to happen for sure.”

View the full article

]]>63Wed, 07 Jul 2021 00:25:36 +0000100 Detained at Turkey Pride; Housing and Job Discrimination; Highest Trans Murder Rate All Part of Turkey’s Rank 49th, 2nd to Last, in Europe ‘Rainbow Index’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/100-detained-at-turkey-pride-housing-and-job-discrimination-highest-trans-murder-rate-all-part-of-turkey%E2%80%99s-rank-49th-2nd-to-last-in-europe-%E2%80%98rainbow-index%E2%80%99-r62/
 
Published by
Reuters
 
459480-origin_1.jpg

(Corrects how Hakiki identifies and makes clear references are to the broader LGBT+ rather than transgender community)

By Ece Toksabay

ANKARA (Reuters) -Cayan Hakiki trimmed their finger nails and scrubbed off the polish last week in order to take Turkish university entrance exams without being hassled, as advocacy groups say LGBT+ people face increasingly open discrimination.

“I didn’t want any problems at the entrance,” Hakiki, 23, told Reuters at home in the capital Ankara. Hakiki identifies as “lubunya” in Turkish, a term that refers to people who identify with LGBT+ culture but for which there is no direct translation.

“We are subject to all kinds of violence from the moment we begin to exist as an LGBTI+ person, whether from people on the street, the government or the police.”

Advocates say crackdowns on Pride events and other curbs on free speech and assembly reflect the government’s heavier hand including recent open denunciations of the LGBTI community.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has dismissed such claims of discrimination and says police are upholding the law against “unlawful” protests. In other instances, the government has denied the existence of LGBTI individuals, or said the concept was imported from the West, and posed a threat to family values.

Transgender Europe, a network of organizations that advocate for rights, says 54 transgender people were killed in Turkey from 2008 through September 2020, the highest rate in Europe. Reuters has not independently confirmed the figure.

Unreported cases means the number is likely higher, it said, adding that transgender people face discrimination including denial of jobs, housing, health care and education.

Last week, as international Pride month ended, Turkish authorities including police in riot gear detained an estimated 100 people taking part in parades and demonstrations across the country.

Police used tear gas to disperse some of the hundreds who had gathered and the government said they were responding in part to vandalism.

Such events have been banned in recent years, though in the past thousands took part in the main Istanbul Pride parade.

Asked to comment on claims that government rhetoric and policies increase personal risk for transgender people, the Interior Ministry and Presidential Palace did not immediately comment.

European Union concerns over human rights have hindered Turkey’s accession process, which has been languishing for years after the bloc informally suspended membership talks.

For the third straight year in 2020, Turkey ranked second lowest in the “Rainbow Index” that measures respect for LGBTI human rights in 49 European countries, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe).

‘LGBT DEVIANTS’

Advocates like Hakiki, who is part of the Ankara-based Pink Life LGBT+ solidarity group, say examples of discrimination such as difficulties finding housing and jobs are multiplying.

In February, amid student and faculty protests over the naming of an Istanbul university rector, Erdogan and other officials seized on the display on campus of an image that combined Islamic imagery and rainbow flags.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu labelled the students “LGBT deviants” and Erdogan praised his Islamist-rooted AK Party’s youth wing for not being “LGBT youth”. More than 100 students face trial on charges including obstructing police, holding protests without permission and inciting violence, according to the state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The Interior Ministry and Palace did not immediately comment on claims that government rhetoric amounts to discrimination against transgender and other LGBTI people.

Last month, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic sent a letter to Turkey’s interior and justice ministers expressing concern about rising homophobic narratives by some officials, and called on them to reverse course and protect LGBTI rights.

“I want to stay in this country and continue our struggle for rights,” said Hakiki, who is of Kurdish origin and who completed the entrance exams and aims to study performance arts management in Istanbul.

“If there’s going to be a change in this country, it will be led by the LGBTI+ movement. It is the government who is afraid of this movement, and not the other way around,” they said.

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Giles Elgood)

459480-459480-origin_1-1.jpg

 

459480-459480-origin_1-2.jpg

 

459480-459480-origin_1-3.jpg

 

459480-459480-origin_1-4.jpg

 

Turkey Pride previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>62Tue, 06 Jul 2021 20:36:10 +0000Britney Spears Manager Resigns; Attorney Expected To Follow On Word That Singer is Retiringhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/britney-spears-manager-resigns-attorney-expected-to-follow-on-word-that-singer-is-retiring-r61/
 
Published by
Reuters
 
spears manager

(Reuters) -Britney Spears’ longtime manager has resigned, saying the pop star plans to retire and no longer needs his services, and her court-appointed attorney was reported on Tuesday also to be planning to step down.

Larry Rudolph, who has managed the singer’s career for 25 years, said in a letter released to media outlets late on Monday that he had become aware that Spears had been “voicing her intention to officially retire.”

“As her manager, I believe it is in Britney’s best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed,” Rudolph said in the letter, which was sent to Spears’ father Jamie and her co-conservator Jodi Montgomery.

Spears, 39, has not performed in public since her last world tour ended in October 2018.

In explosive testimony last month, she told a Los Angeles judge that a 13-year court-approved conservatorship that has controlled her personal and business affairs was abusive, and said she wanted to take back control of her own life. She has yet to file the formal documents needed to start that process.

Celebrity media website TMZ.com said on Tuesday that attorney Samuel Ingham, who was appointed to represent the singer’s interests in the legal arrangement, was planning to file papers asking to be dismissed from his role.

Spears told the judge in June that she wanted to choose her own attorney.

Ingham did not respond to a request for comment.

The singer’s testimony last month has thrown the conservatorship into disarray.

Both Jamie Spears and Montgomery have denied responsibility for some of the problems she complained about, while Bessemer Trust, the financial company that was chosen last year to help manage her business affairs, has also asked to be removed.

The next court hearing in the conservatorship is due to take place next week.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Spears Manager previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>61Tue, 06 Jul 2021 20:10:55 +0000Visage, Shears, Jessie J, Coldplay, Todrick Hall’s ‘D This Big’; Troye Sivan, Divine Throwback, Biden Pride and Lil Nas X is ‘Smalltown Boy’: Gay Music Watch Part 3https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/visage-shears-jessie-j-coldplay-todrick-hall%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98d-this-big%E2%80%99-troye-sivan-divine-throwback-biden-pride-and-lil-nas-x-is-%E2%80%98smalltown-boy%E2%80%99-gay-music-watch-part-3-r60/
Part 3 of ICYMI June Releases: The best batch yet includes new gay music, comedy, and video content pulled from the huge number of releases all tied to June, Pride month. Included:
— Michelle Visage from Drag Race steps out with the group Steps and they’ve released the very catchy ‘Heartbreak in this City’;
— Jake Shears teams with Boys Noize on ‘All I Want’ and released a song from his upcoming solo album.
—Jessie J released what is possibly the big gay song of the summer and, while unexpected, we’re happy to have this Coldplay video. Check it out.
—Todrick Hall checked in with his even-gayer homage to ‘It’s Raining Men’ and his song ‘D this Big’ is too racy to show off the YouTube site.
–Plus: Matt Baume offers 30 minutes on the John Water films and characters that is compelling , a deep dive and informative.
And Hilarious Megan Stalter’s Standup headlining Queer Comedy Showcase.

[This post contains video, click to play]
sddefault.jpg

1. Official video for ‘Heartbreak In This City’ by Steps & Michelle Visage.

gay music

The new album ‘What The Future Holds Pt. 2’ is out Sep 10th. Pre-order now: https://steps.lnk.to/Future2ID

Subscribe to Steps:- https://www.youtube.com/user/StepsOff…

2. ‘All I Want’ Boize Noize Featuring Jake Shears

STREAM / DL: https://defect.click/DFTD622D

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.44.09-PM-102

Directed & Edited by Dan Streit
Director of Photography – Tanner Hall
Production Designer – Grace Surnow
Produced by Grin Machine
www.grinmachine.com

CAST:
Brad Swanick
Karin Okada
Juliette James
Andrea Adolph
Pimienta Viera
Jess Valice
Dillon Cullinan

3. ‘I Want Love’, Jessie J

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.44.22-PM-1-1

The official “I Want Love” music video by Jessie J. Listen & download here: https://JessieJ.lnk.to/IWantLove

►Follow Jessie J:
https://www.facebook.com/jessiej
https://www.instagram.com/jessiej/
https://twitter.com/jessiej
https://www.tiktok.com/@jessiej
http://www.jessiejofficial.com/

►Subscribe to Jessie J: https://JessieJ.lnk.to/Subscribe

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.44.44-PM-102

4. Jake Shears – ‘Do The Television’

Out Now: https://ffm.to/dothetelevision/

Directed & Produced by Stevie Be & Craig MacNeil
Special Thanks to Dede Reynolds & Justina Heckard

Subscribe to the Official Jake Shears YouTube Channel:

5. ‘Rainin’ Fellas’ by Todrick

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.45.16-PM-3-1

Download & Stream FEMULINE Out Now! https://frtyfve.ffm.to/femuline

Starring Todrick Hall
Featuring Lance Bass

6. Coldplay – ‘Higher Power ‘(Official Dance Video)

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.44.57-PM-2-1

Higher Power, the new single, out now! Stream / download / CD single: https://coldplay.lnk.to/higherpower

Subscribe for more content from Coldplay:
https://bit.ly/subscribecoldplay​

ABOUT COLDPLAY
Since forming at university in London, Coldplay have gone on to become one of the planet’s most popular acts, selling more than 100 million copies of their eight Number One albums, which have spawned a string of hits including Yellow, Clocks, Fix You, Paradise, Viva La Vida, A Sky Full Of Stars, Hymn For The Weekend, Adventure Of A Lifetime, Orphans and, most recently, Higher Power.

7. Lil Nas X – ‘SUN GOES DOWN (Official Video)’

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.45.57-PM-3-1

Official video for “SUN GOES DOWN” by Lil Nas X

Listen & Download “SUN GOES DOWN” out now: https://lilnasx.lnk.to/SunGoesDown

Directed by Lil Nas X & Psycho Films
Written by Lil Nas X
Creative Director/Stylist: Hodo Musa
EP: Sam Canter & Jack Begert

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.46.19-PM-3-1

8. Bronski Beat – ‘Smalltown Boy’ (Official Video)

Taken from the album “The Age of Consent” released in 1984
Listen to “Smalltown Boy”: https://BronskiBeat.lnk.to/SmalltownBoy

9. ‘Regard,’ Troye Sivan, Tate McRae – You (Official Video)

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.46.57-PM-2-1

Listen to ‘You’ now: https://lnk.to/RegardTroyeTateYouyd

Follow Regard
https://www.instagram.com/djregardoff…

Follow Troye Sivan
https://www.instagram.com/troyesivan/

Follow Tate McRae
https://www.instagram.com/tatemcrae/

Directed by Courtney Phillips
https://www.instagram.com/itscourtneyp/

Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-7.17.57-PM-1-1

10. ‘D This Big’ (Official Video)

Download & Stream “D!ck This Big ft. TS Madison” on Todrick’s new album FEMULINE out now! https://frtyfve.ffm.to/femuline

Starring Todrick Hall

11. ‘Getaway’ (feat. Tegan and Sara) · VINCINT · Tegan and Sara

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.47.22-PM-1-1

Getaway (feat. Tegan and Sara)

℗ 2021 Vincint Cannady

12. John Waters, Divine, & the Trinity of Trash

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.48.52-PM-1-1

In 1960s Baltimore, an young puppeteer named John Waters picked up a movie camera and started making amateur underground movies. After years of playing to small cafes and midnight movie theaters, the country started to take notice when he released three groundbreaking films that I call The Trinity of Trash: Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living. How did these filthy films give rise to an iconic Disney villain, an appearance on one of the most popular family sitcoms in the country, and a musical now performed in high schools around the country? I think it comes down to how John Waters manages to harness the power of shamelessness.

Become a member on Patreon for more videos: http://patreon.com/mattbaume

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.49.06-PM-1-1

13. Lil Nas X Performs A Royal Rendition Of ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ | BET Awards 2021

Lil Nas X lays it all out on the stage for a royal rendition inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Remember The Time” to perform his hit song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” at the 2021 BET Awards. #CulturesBiggestNight #BETAwards

14. Remarks by President Joe Biden in Recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.49.19-PM-1.p
Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-7.02.09-PM-102

15. Megan Stalter headlines Human By Orientation’s Queer Comedy Showcase 2021.

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/HBOMaxYouTube

16. Kehlani | Human By Orientation’s Pride 2021

Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-7.03.00-PM-1-1

Kehlani closes out #Pride2021 with breathtaking performances of “Toxic,” “Nights Like This,” and “Honey.” #HumanByOrientation #Kehlani

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/HBOMaxYouTube

Kehlani | Human By Orientation’s Pride 2021 Concert Series | HBO Max

Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-7.03.32-PM-1-1

17. Jan, Alaska, Peppermint (Put Your) “Gay Hands Up” (music video)

Vocals by Jan, Alaska, & Peppermint
Directed by Nick Laughlin
Song Produced by SIXFOOT 5
Written by Nick Laughlin & SIXFOOT5

Ashley Ray: Queer Comedy Showcase

Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-7.03.53-PM-102

Ashley Ray in her vivacious set from Human By Orientation’s Queer Comedy Showcase for Pride 2021. #HumanByOrientation

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/HBOMaxYouTube

View the full article

]]>60Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:04:36 +0000Elton, Demi, Trixie, Gay YouTubers Made Don’t-Miss Moments; Miley Covers Abba, Madonna, Cher. But, YouTube’s Dan is Magic WATCHhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/elton-demi-trixie-gay-youtubers-made-don%E2%80%99t-miss-moments-miley-covers-abba-madonna-cher-but-youtube%E2%80%99s-dan-is-magic-watch-r59/
Watch ICYMI June Releases many of us missed with Pride Part 2 : This interview with Billy Porter about all of it with Bill Coleman is another not to miss. Part of the ‘Red Hot’ Release, “aka ‘A Couple of Black Queers Sitting ‘round Talkin’”
Dan of ‘Dan and Phil…’ does an hour of ‘anti-pride pride’ and it has it’s awkward moments, but it hits the mark more than it misses. The Emo King of gay YouTubers brings honest talk, deep fears we don’t speak, funny bits, and YouTube skills from a decade doing it. Plus: a show from the UK by Attitude magazine with artist Ava Max; The full-length version of a Stonewall documentary by the NYC LGBTQ Center.

[This post contains video, click to play]
sddefault.jpg

Video Notes. Click above to watch.

typorama-2-copy200.png
ICYMI Releases From June 2021 Part 2

1. Gay And Not Proud – Daniel Howell | YouTube Pride 2021

Surprisingly smart, emotional, entertaining, and shows how a master does YouTube. Dan of ‘Dan and Phil’ dives into his psyche, meets heartthrob singer Will Young, in a mostly clever series of segments to keep you going.

On June 25, join Daniel Howell as he is the only one of the five Pride hosts from the ranks of gay YouTubers celebrates YouTube Pride 2021 by taking a journey through his past, and asks – what would have been different if Dan was proud? It’s going to be an emotional and metaphorical rollercoaster with music, surprise guests and of course a lot of inappropriately self-deprecating humour. Most importantly, it will be a celebration of acceptance and everything Pride stands for.

gay Youtubers
Dan of Dan and Phil, top emo gay youtubers

What do you think?

2. Celebrate Pride loud and proud with Olly Alexander & Mawaan Rizwan | YouTube Pride 2021

Olly Alexander and Mawaan Rizwan are celebrating the reopening of East London with a virtual Loud and Proud Pride Party on Friday June 25th. Along with LGBTQ+ friends from the worlds of comedy, music, social media and activism, Olly and Mawaan invite you to experience an old Victorian pub turned into the ultimate virtual party pad with a surprise in every room. What is guaranteed: A solid hour of celebration, fan Q&A, and unforgettable musical performances by Olly and others—all in support of akt and The Trevor Project. Watch now, only on YouTube.

3. Celebrate Pride with a purpose with Elton John, David Furnish & special guests | YouTube Pride 2021

gay youtubers
Elton John and David Furnish Host and speak with some of the young people helped by their foundation.

On June 25, Elton John & David Furnish are throwing their doors wide open and inviting you to the ultimate, at-home Pride celebration. Join them for an hour to hear what Pride means to them, surprise guests and inspiring messages from people and families across the LGBTQ+ community—all in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, akt and The Trevor Project. Watch now, only on YouTube.

Donate to akt: If you’d like to donate to akt, please use the link here: https://tiltify.com/+youtube-x-akt-pr…

Donate to The Trevor Project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwQ1W…

To learn more about the topics discussed in this show, please see resources below:

https://www.transequality.org/about
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr…
https://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/
https://www.translifeline.org/
https://www.hrc.org/resources
https://cliniq.org.uk/about/
https://www.prepster.info/
https://www.wearetransplus.co.uk/

4. Can Trixie and friends create the ultimate Pride celebration? | YouTube Pride 2021

gay youtubers
We are all gay YouTubers Now. Even Trixie and Monet X Change

L.A. nightclubs have been dark for months. But this Pride, Trixie Mattel is going to reopen, reclaim, and re-glam one such club with a little help from her friends. Join Trixie, Monet X Change, Kim Chi, Denali, and Peppermint on June 25 for a virtual Pride celebration as they host 60 minutes of music, makeup, and mayhem—all in support of The Trevor Project and AKT. And don’t miss a minute: In addition to drag performances and spilled tea, Trixie will be premiering an original song, just for Pride. Watch now, only on YouTube.

5. Demi Lovato performs their greatest hits this Pride season | YouTube Pride 2021

gay youtubers
Demi Lovato Hosts an hour of hits and discussions with gay YouTubers

On June 25, celebrate Pride 2021 with Demi Lovato as they take you on a stunning visual journey exploring love, community, joy and pure LGBTQ+ celebration. For 60 minutes, experience live performances, special guests, fan Q&A and video calls, an appearance by Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and a spectacular finale performance from Demi themself. All in support of The Trevor Project and AKT. Watch now, only on YouTube.

6. Ava Max headlines Attitude Pride at Home Opening Party, in partnership with Klarna

Crank up the volume as the Attitude Pride at Home Opening Party, in partnership with Klarna, presents a star-studded music extravaganza not to be missed.

Featuring exclusive and specially-recorded performances from Ava Max, Tia Kofi, L Devine, Darin, Madeline The Person, Brooke Eden, Marisha Wallace, Au/Ra, Allison Ponthier, the London Gay Men’s Chorus and an hour-long DJ set from Sink the Pink drag stars Jonbenet Blonde and Tete Bang.

7. BILLY PORTER: “Caught In The Middle” A RED HOT + FREE One on One Interview by Bill Coleman

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-4.46.37-PM-1-1
Billy Porter covers ‘Caught in the Middle’

‘Caught In The Middle’ with Billy Porter Covering the Juliet Roberts’ 1993 dance hit

  • A Red Hot One on One.
    Interviewed by Bill Coleman who produced the cover and the album at the recording session.
    (aka ‘A Couple of Black Queers Sitting ‘round Talkin’)

Follow Red Hot Org:
Official Website: https://redhot.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redhotorg

Follow Billy Porter:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theebillyporter
Website: https://billyporter.com

Follow Bill Coleman:
https://twitter.com/peacebisquit
https://www.instagram.com/peacebisquit/
https://www.facebook.com/PeaceBisquit

8. Stonewall Forever – A Documentary about the Past, Present and Future of Pride

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-4.51.06-PM-1-1
Sylvia Rivera at one of the first pride rallies

Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC’s LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots.

The history of the Stonewall Riots is equally as cherished as it is charged. There are questions of who was there, who “threw the first brick” and who can claim Stonewall. This film doesn’t answer these questions but instead it aims to expand the story of Stonewall by including more voices in its telling.

Stonewall Forever brings together queer activists, experienced and new, to look at the movement for LGBTQ equality before, during and after Stonewall. It highlights trans people, people of color and homeless people who were at the forefront of the movement, and who have often been erased from the narrative. It explores how the activism of today stands on the shoulders of the activists who have come before. And it asks us all to recognize the legacy of Stonewall that remains today, when the struggle for queer rights is far from over.

Stonewall Forever was directed by Ro Haber and created by a predominantly queer and trans cast and crew who are proud to be a part of preserving this legacy.

9. Miley Cyrus – Believe (Stand by You Pride Special) | Peacock Originals

Synopsis: This hour-long concert event, filmed at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, will feature multi-platinum recording artist, songwriter, and trailblazer Miley Cyrus performing an array of her hits such as “The Climb” and “Party in the U.S.A.” and putting her creative spin on beloved classics, including “Believe,” “True Colors,” “We Belong,” “Dancing Queen,” and a special Madonna medley featuring “Music,” “Express Yourself,” and “Like A Prayer” all in the spirit of Pride. Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You will feature special guests, award-winning artists and LGBTQ+ allies Brothers Osborne, Mickey Guyton, Little Big Town, Maren Morris and Orville Peck who will join Cyrus for memorable performances and deliver a night of live music and creative collaboration in celebration of Pride.

10. ‘Stand By You’ Miley Cyrus’ Special for Peacock

gay youtubers
Marren Morris and Miley Cyrus

(0:00 – 2:17) Intro
(2:18 – 6:00) Believe by Cher
(6:01 – 9:33) Miley’s Speech
(9:34 – 13:22) True Colors (feat. Little Big Town)
(13:23 – 17:40) My Heart Beats For Love
(18:17 – 22:17) We Belong (feat. Brothers Osborne)
(22:53 – 29:54) Madonna Medley
(30:24 – 34:18) Cowboy Take Me Away (feat. Orville Peck)
(35:33 – 39:23)Dancing Queen (feat. Maren Morris)
(41:15 – 44:56) I’ll Stand By You
(45:20 – 47:53) Heart Of Glass (feat. Mickey Guyton)
(51:00 – 54:56) The Climb
(57:03 – 1:00:58) Party In The USA
(1:01:29 – 1:08:16) Freedom

11. ‘Saturday Night Live’ Gay Super Cross Cut

all credits to snl – https://www.youtube.com/snl

Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-4.48.16-PM-102
Gay Supercut from Saturday Night Live

New Beginnings Summer Camp – https://youtu.be/eGx7tiNofVc
Advice Show – https://youtu.be/tO1WANL-2Us
The Real Intros of Reality Hills – https://youtu.be/Rl5dZuX7QuU
Pride Month Song – https://youtu.be/ZpoxvdUz2Ac
Around the Town – https://youtu.be/UY1iIsyjKIA
Weekend Update: The Iceberg on the Sinking of the Titanic – https://youtu.be/qP5bu9hLH9E
Fast and Furious – https://youtu.be/EP2380mi7vM
Disney Housewives – https://youtu.be/b-2fnZfK9Lg
Cast List – https://youtu.be/Ve1kmdHTY24
GP Yass – https://youtu.be/DmkPpA2RT-Y
Totino’s with Kristen Stewart – https://youtu.be/A4kpVO56OBU
It Gets Better – https://youtu.be/SFEcUKN6oVs
New Wife – https://youtu.be/OCxx2jFu1rI
Porn Doctor – https://youtu.be/F8TR34viNo0
Marcus Comes to Dinner – https://youtu.be/gTnqJRFL7Gc
The Admiral – https://youtu.be/odqgPRAC1Jg
Xanax for Gay Summer Weddings – https://youtu.be/igDCnUaAxAQ
The Spartans – https://youtu.be/yHrnDi6WbFw
Private Detective – https://youtu.be/MYaGLl7TkEI
Sara Lee – https://youtu.be/aeoxg8hx-lc
Robot Presentation – https://youtu.be/i0dvv4fTiqA
Firehouse Incident – https://youtu.be/grCwwwzYaWg
Supermarket Sweep – https://youtu.be/wh79QUiU4Qo
The Sex Talk – https://youtu.be/eHGm_Rt5SdM
The Grinch – https://youtu.be/9mygIw4Pmg0
The Group Hopper – https://youtu.be/CnTltDzqhzM

Gay YouTubers previously on Towleroad

Load More

View the full article

]]>59Sun, 04 Jul 2021 22:07:22 +0000WATCH Pride Online: Rain? Heat? A Ton of Great Music and Video Content Was Released In June. Most of Us Missed It. ICYMI Pride Part 1https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/watch-pride-online-rain-heat-a-ton-of-great-music-and-video-content-was-released-in-june-most-of-us-missed-it-icymi-pride-part-1-r58/
Pride Online ICYMI: New work and special Pride appearances by: Diana Ross, Years and Years, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Gaga, Kylie Minogue, John Roberts and Beth Ditto, Pabllo Vittar, Billy Porter, Bill Coleman, Sleater-Kinney, Mika, and Various RuPaul girls, and Rufus gives us Judy for Pride. And that is just Part 1. More ICYMI Pride later today.

Hit the “Load More” Button

Something Missing?

More to come in Parts 2 and 3

We welcome suggestions via the contact sheet. Send with urls for consideration.

pride online
Pride Online

Pride Online Video Notes

1. Trailer: YouTube Pride 2021: You Are Everything

Actual shows will appear in Part 2
YouTube Originals invites you to YouTube Pride 2021: You Are Everything—a global Pride celebration in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Featuring Demi Lovato, Trixie Mattel, Daniel Howell, Olly Alexander with Mawaan Rizwan, Elton John & David Furnish, and other icons, this virtual pride celebration boasts 5 hours of music, drag, dance, fun and so much more!
Benefits Trevor Project, akt, and Elton John AIDS Foundation.

2. Pride month started with gem from Saturday Night Live

Pride Month Song – SNL
Friends (Anya Taylor-Joy, Lil Nas X, Kate McKinnon, Bowen Yang, Punkie Johnson) anticipate this year’s Pride Month celebrations.

3. Pride Online Billy Porter Covers Caught in The Middle,

Billy Porter – Caught in The Middle (Official Music Lyric Video)
https://ingroov.es/caught-in-the-middle-1kcigExecutive Producers / A&R: Bill Coleman and John Carlin for Peace Bisquit and Red Hot
*from the album, Red Hot + Free – https://ingroov.es/red-hot-free

4. Trailer: Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You | Official Trailer

Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You | Official Trailer | Peacock Concert Event
Full Show in Part 2

Synopsis: This hourlong concert event, filmed at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, will feature multi-platinum recording artist, songwriter, and trailblazer Miley Cyrus performing an array of her hits such as “The Climb” and “Party in the U.S.A.” and putting her creative spin on beloved classics, including “Believe,” “True Colors,” “We Belong,” “Dancing Queen,” and a special Madonna medley featuring “Music,” “Express Yourself,” and “Like A Prayer” all in the spirit of Pride. Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You will feature special guests, award-winning artists and LGBTQ+ allies Brothers Osborne, Mickey Guyton, Little Big Town, Maren Morris and Orville Peck who will join Cyrus for memorable performances and deliver a night of live music and creative collaboration in celebration of Pride.

5. Pabllo Vittar – Triste com T (Official Music Video)

Videoclipe oficial de “Triste com T” da Pabllo Vittar | Official music video of “Triste com T” by Pabllo Vittar | Video Oficial de “Triste com T” de Pabllo VittarEscute / Stream: https://smb.lnk.to/BatidaoTropical

Assista mais vídeos da Pabllo Vittar aqui / Watch more Pabllo Vittar YouTube videos here: https://PablloVittar.lnk.to/videoclipes

Siga a Pabllo Vittar / Follow Pabllo Vittar:
https://www.facebook.com/vittar.pabllo/
https://www.instagram.com/pabllovittar/
https://www.tiktok.com/@pabllovittar
https://twitter.com/pabllovittar


6. “HOT HOMO SUMMER” Series Trailer!

Written by: Michael Henry
Directed by: Michael Henry and Paul McGovern Jr.
Director of Photography: Paul McGovern Jr. @Paul McGovern Jr
Editor: Paul McGovern Jr
Directors Assistant: @matt.jay.wise
PA: Dani Shank @danimatic
Image Graphic: Patrick McPheron @interiorstate

pride online
Pride Online Next 6

7. Random Ru Girl (feat. Stacy Layne Matthews, KATYA, & Eureka O’Hara)

Random Ru Girl (feat. Stacy Layne Matthews, KATYA, & Eureka O’Hara)
Provided to YouTube by Live Nation Video Network

Random Ru Girl (feat. Stacy Layne Matthews, KATYA, & Eureka O’Hara) · Ginger Minj · Stacy Layne Matthews · KATYA · Eureka O’Hara

Gummy Bear

℗ 2021 PEG Records

Released on: 2021-06-25

Main Artist: Ginger Minj
Featured Artist: Stacy Layne Matthews
Featured Artist: KATYA
Featured Artist: Eureka O’Hara

8. Sleater-Kinney – Worry With You (Official Video)

Sleater-Kinney – Worry With You (Official Video)
Sleater-Kinney – Worry With You (Official Video)

‘Sleater-Kinney’s New Album ‘Path Of Wellness’ Out Now!
Listen/Download ‘Path of Wellness’: https://smarturl.it/SleaterKinneyPOW
Buy Merch/CD/LP: https://smarturl.it/SleaterKinneyWWY/officialstore
It’s Time Tour: https://smarturl.it/SleaterKinneyWWY/tourdates

Subscribe to Sleater-Kinney on YouTube: smarturl.it/SleaterKinneyYouTube
Follow Sleater-Kinney’s Spotify Playlist: https://smarturl.it/SleaterKinneySelects

LYRICS:

10,000 miles and an ocean between us
Get me to your shore, so I can receive this
If I’m gonna worry, I’m gonna worry with you.

Middle of the night, dark thoughts are whirling
Crossing off the days til you are returning
If I’m gonna worry, I’m gonna worry with you

Oh, I’m on the other side picking up speed
Let go of shame and lies I don’t need
If I’m gonna fuck up, I’m gonna fuck up with you

Let’s get lost baby
And take a wrong turn
That’s the life, that’s the life
We never ever wanna get burned.

I had thought, there was no place for what I feel
Then I learned, you are the place for what I feel

Come at me with all of your swagger
The strength of you is what I’ve been after
If I’m gonna mess up, I’m gonna mess up with you

Oh, I figured that love that takes you further
This heart was ready for the life preserver
If I’m gonna worry, I’m gonna worry with you

9. Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios: Over The Rainbow

Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios: Over The Rainbow
Purchase tickets for Rufus does Judy at Capitol Studios here: https://rufuswainwright.veeps.com/stream/schedule

This release comes at the cusp of Pride Month and was recorded for the singer’s upcoming virtual concert event: Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios. That concert sees Wainwright performing his groundbreaking 2007 tribute to Judy Garland, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, in its entirety, live from Los Angeles’ famed Capitol Studios.

The event will premiere Thursday, June 10 at 8:00 PM (AEDT/EST/CET), celebrating what would have been Garland’s 99th birthday. Ticket buyers also will have access to an exclusive film “Inside the Red Ruby Slippers – Backstage with Rufus does Judy at Capitol Studios” which has behind the scenes of this special event.

Purchase limited edition Rufus does Judy at Capitol Studios x Michael Kors t-shirt benefiting Outright Action International: https://rufuswainwright.merchtable.com/apparel/rufus-does-judy-at-capitol-studios-tee/?

Purchase limited edition Rufus does Judy at Capitol Studios signed poster: https://rufuswainwright.merchtable.com/posters-slash-prints/limited-edition-rufus-does-judy-at-capitol-studios-poster;18403

Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios will see Wainwright backed by a four-piece band in front a micro-audience comprised of 2x Academy Award-winning actress Renée Zellweger, winner of last year’s “Best Actress” Oscar for her spectacular performance as Garland in 2019’s Judy. In addition, Wainwright will be joined musically by award-winning star of stage and screen Kristin Chenoweth in person at Capitol Studios and his sister Martha Wainwright from Montreal.

10 Mashed: Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Jagaï – Marry The Night (Duet Version) (From Born This Way Reimagined)

Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Jagaï – Marry The Night (Duet Version) (From Born This Way Reimagined)
Shop #TheTenthAnniversary CD and Official Merch: https://shop.ladygaga.com

11. Nobody (Original Mix), John Roberts · Beth Ditto

Nobody (Original Mix) ·

Released on: 2021-06-04

Producer: Junior Sanchez
Composer: John Roberts
Composer: Ineabell Diaz
Music Publisher: X-Bop

12 Diana Ross – Thank You

Diana Ross – Thank You (Visualiser)
Listen to the new single now https://DianaRoss.lnk.to/ThankYouID
Thank You – the new album out September 10th https://DianaRoss.lnk.to/ThankYouAlbumID

Diana Ross sings “Thank You” to the world. “This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love. I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to record this glorious music at this time,” said Ms. Ross. Her new album, “Thank You” is scheduled for release this fall through Decca Records / Universal Music Group. The title track and first single,” Thank You,” will be available for streaming and download on June 17.

Recorded in her home studio, “Thank You” offers a powerful, inclusive musical message of love and togetherness. With its songs of happiness, appreciation and joy, it wholeheartedly acknowledges that we are in this all together. Her family, friends and loyal and loving audiences all around the globe have been an integral part of her wonderful life’s story. In this special moment, it is time to step into the light.

Ms. Ross co-wrote and collaborated on the 13 songs along with award-winning songwriters and producers including: Jack Antonoff, Troy Miller, Triangle Park, Spike Stent, Prince Charlez, Amy Wadge, Neff-U, Freddie Wexler, Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx, Fred White, and Nathanial Ledgewick

Let us come together in harmony and gratitude with Diana Ross now and for the future. “I dedicate this songbook of love to all of you, the listeners. As you hear my voice you hear my heart. “Let Love Lead the Way”

Diana Ross performing Thank You (Visualiser). A Decca Records recording; © 2021 Universal Music Operations Limited

http://vevo.ly/vbyavJ

pride online
Pride Online — that’s it for Part 1

13. MIKA x Indeed x Pride Online: Virtual Concert

MIKA x Indeed x Pride: #SoundtrackOfEmpathy Virtual Concert

14. Love, Victor’s George Sear on kissing Michael Cimino – and possibly Twilight’s Robert Pattinson

Love, Victor’s George Sear on kissing Michael Cimino – and possibly Twilight’s Robert Pattinson
As Love, Victor season two arrives on Hulu and Disney+, series star George Sear (Benji) reveals what it was really like kissing co-star Michael Cimino (Victor) – and why Twilight’s Robert Pattinson would be his dream love interest on the hit series.

See George Sear and Michael Cimino’s full shoot and interview in the Attitude Summer issue, out now.

Download: http://bit.ly/2UVvoD0
Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2S2gLiN
Direct delivery: http://bit.ly/3eaQ8Ox

15. Years & Years – The Edge of Glory (From Born This Way Reimagined) [Official Audio]

Listen to Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary, out now: https://LadyGaga.lnk.to/BornThisWayTenth

Shop #TheTenthAnniversary CD and Official Merch: https://shop.ladygaga.com

Pride Online previously on Towleroad

mason

Load More

View the full article

]]>58Sat, 03 Jul 2021 23:53:43 +0000RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: Side Hustlers’ Ball [RECAP and RANKINGS]https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/rupaul%E2%80%99s-drag-race-all-stars-side-hustlers%E2%80%99-ball-recap-and-rankings-r57/
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season six queen Kylie Sonique Love
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars queens want to know: Are you Crossfitting for Christ or do you want the devil’s dadbod?

The first true gag of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 6 has landed, and it’s made the problem with this whole streaming exclusive thing even more apparent.

Imagine the sound heard ’round the world if we (mostly) all saw Laganja drop into that elevated jump split in unison. Picture the scene in bars across the country when she kipped up from her back onto all fours, the singular tidal wave of tweets, the deluge of GIFs and memes that remind you queer people are the quickest and most clever people on the planet.

I’m sure the decision to release episodes at 3 a.m. on a Wednesday as people are just getting excited to leave their homes again was focus-grouped, and whether or not they’re seeing more, less or the same amount of viewers, it’s just not the same experience. It’s disappointing, especially considering what an important touchstone Drag Race has been to keep the queer community together during the last year.

Now, here’s something I never thought I would say: Thank god for a group challenge! Last week’s 13 variety numbers and 36 runway lewks felt like a TV recap Olympic event. (Just kidding, they could never, because everyone would test positive for marijuana, which in the sport of recapping, is, in fact, a performance enhancing drug.) This week’s three team videos kept the show much more streamlined, introduced a little drama and gave us an all-time best lip sync.

Grab a roll of duct tape, and let’s dive in.

An Eye For An Eye, A Lipstick for a Lipstick?

Everyone’s still feeling blue after Jiggly’s elimination last week. We have the ceremonial counting of the lipsticks, revealing everyone but Jiggly and one other queen voted to send Jiggly home. But which remaining queen voted for week one’s winner, Yara?

It’s Trinity! The gals all assume it’s because Yara picked Trin’s lipstick when she was top, but Trinity swears that’s not the case. Instead, she explains Jiggly struggled but worked hard, while Yara messed around for most of the work time and whipped something out. It’s a story backed up by last week’s edit and confessional clips.

I’m with Trinity on this one. Coming in without any personal relationships, that seems like a very fair, rational way to make her choice.

The two seem to move past it very quickly, despite all the gals persistent attempts to stir up some drama between them.

Ru arrives to remind the gals, that in the world of drag, one day you’re in, and the next, you’re out. So, it’s important to have a side hustle. This week, Ru will be splitting the queens into teams to make a commercial for a new enterprise. In a delightfully inane twist, teams are chosen in height order. Yes, it’s very silly, but I like it because it’s transparent, it shakes up social dynamics and it creates an opportunity for Ra’Jah to reference the great “Talls vs. Smalls” war from Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Team Drag Exorcists (Eureka, Kylie and Scarlet)

side-hustles-rupauls-drag-race-all-stars

Kylie and Scarlet are playing two ’80s-style aerobic trainers who use their skills to drive the demons out in a deliciously devilish piece of wordplay that adds a creative spin to the team’s “exorcist” video.

They smartly leverage the concept into a story wherein they show up to get Eureka unpossessed through calisthenics, driving out the devil by working her to failure. Eventually, the bodysnatcher would rather quit than keep exercising. (Basically how I feel on every treadmill.) The ending, with Eureka’s character going from client to a member of the Exor-Size Queens is a nice touch.

The judges love the effortless performances from Scarlet and Kylie, but they save their most effusive praise for Eureka’s all-out physical comedy. I mean, the gal knocked the headboard clean off during filming. It’s really nice to see Eureka mature as a performer and learn how to better channel that big personality into her performance.

She’s the clear standout in the group, but, since this is being judged as a group challenge, all three are deemed safe.

Team Drag Fixers (Pandora, Ra’jah, Trinity, Yara)

253e3c14fdb18b2166b5f24a2078b97ed5-drag-

Tasked with becoming Olivia Pope-style “fixers,” Pandora smartly steers them away from a sort of Scandal/Ray Donovan-spoof and toward more of a Cellino & Barnes (R.I.P.) personal injury lawyer local commercial vibe. It’s already a favorite genre of Ru, and Pandora has experience creating local commercials for businesses in her native Rochester, NY.

It may be safe to assume Pandora’s fingerprints are all over this script, since it’s loaded with punchlines. As opposed to the other two groups, this is the only one who took funny premises and then actually wrote a ton of jokes.

On top of a strong script, every gurl nails her part. Pandora and Ra’Jah are flawless as the Fix It, Bitch! fixers. There’s a great running joke about how they fix everything with duct tape which is expertly heightened from fixing a meaty tuck to taping down toes on a too-small shoe and then finally just duct taping wigs to faces. Yara is guaranteed to get laughs just being Yara, but it’s Trinity who shines brightest. She hits every beat, punctuates every punchline with the perfect facial expression and has directors Ross and Michelle cracking up even before takes. Just great stuff.

It’s no surprise the team snags the top spot, and Trinity this week’s winning position (and unenviable lip sync assignment). But first …

Team Rent-a-Queen Service (Ginger, A’Keria, Jan, Silky)

rent-a-queen-rupauls-drag-race-all-stars

They’re not escorts, they’re companions! This super group seems doomed from the start. The ideas are popping a mile a minute — much more content than ever could be contained in such a short spot.

Silky sees the writing on the wall, but she’s not the same queen who drew the ire of the fandom during season 11. The blowback from fans, bookers and fellow queens has Silky not only second-guessing her decisions, but forcing herself to stay small and quiet.

Filming is a bit frantic, but Ginger overdelivers in every role. First, as a lotion-applying queen, Ginger pantomimes a little self-love with absolutely expert comic timing, and then later has Ross and Michelle in stitches with her “Richard Slimmons” vocal effect. Not a moment goes by she’s not nailing it.

A’Keria stumbles a bit in her line memorization, but delivers a decent performance alongside Jan as a rent-a-beard date for a closeted kid. I will say, Jan absolutely Daniel Day Lewis’d the role of a closeted teen in a stupid hat. Is this the role she was born to play? However, neither Jan nor A’Keria are too memorable.

Silky plays a few small parts with just a smattering of lines. She does what she’s supposed to, but there’s not a lot of “there” there.

The group gets the hardest critiques on the runway where this week’s theme requires the queens to redo a look from their previous time on Drag Race. Ross loves Silky’s second attempt at We Are Family, but … it bears almost no connection to the original. A’Keria finally wears A’Kaftan proper, not like season 11. The judges love it, and it is beautiful. Jan looks a bit matronly, and Ginger is a bit of a mess, both in terms of outfit and makeup.

Ru declares all four up for elimination, which certainly rubs star Ginger and aspiring star Jan the wrong way. I mean, if you think Jan cracked being consistently safe, this bottom placement seems sure to drive her over the edge.

Tensions Rise in the Werkroom on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars

rupauls-drag-race-all-stars-untucked-s06

As soon as the Team Rent-A-Queen and Team Exorcists return to the Werkroom, Ginger drops a delicious and devastating little barb in Jan’s direction, asking what’s it like to break that safe streak? That’s not just reading, that’s friggin’ X-ray vision.

All four bottom girls immediately launch into their pleas, but Trinity stops them to remind everyone that she graciously congratulated the previous weeks’ winners. She hasn’t won a challenge yet, and she’s owed a little feting as well (#fetlife).

Once she gets her due, she has a tête-à-tête with all four ladies in danger (#tête-à-têtelife). She’s overly flattering and clearly tells some queens they have nothing to worry about. But somebody’s got to go!

The gang returns to the mainstage to see this week’s lip sync assassin revealed. There’s a long pause as the curtain drops, uncovering an otherwise blank entrance.

Suddenly, falling from the heavens, Laganja Estranja lands in a thundering split. It’s pure magic. Having recently come out as a trans woman, this Laganja radiates so much more confidence than when we last saw her.

RuPauls-Drag-Race-All-Stars-RuPaul-Silky

The lip sync is to — gasp — Dula Peep’s “Physical,” a dancefloor banger whose potential was another COVID casualty.

However, this lip sync may save the song and etch the track forever in the annals (I said, ANNALS) of queer herstory. Laganja is on a whole other level, hitting stunt after stunt after stunt. She strips, she dips, she splits. It’s incredible. Trinity is no slouch, either. It’s clearly Laganja’s win, but boy is it fun to watch!

Ru agrees, awarding the W to Laganja, and adding $10k to next week’s pot — Laganja pun wholly intended.

With that, Laganja pulls out the lipstick to reveal it’s Silky getting the boot. Even Ru seems disappointed.

Of course, we know that’s not necessarily the end of Silky’s journey, depending how this whole “game within a game” thing shakes out.

But, for now, let’s take a look at where the queens landed in this week’s ranking.

The RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Rankings

  1. When the cast was Ru-vealed, I didn’t have Ra’jah picked as a frontrunner. She continues her redemption arc after last week’s win with a very strong show in the commercial. She elevated her tree runway from season 11 successfully. We’re only three episodes in, but Ra’Jah has certainly stepped to the front of the pack.
  2. Right behind her, Trinity is another one of this season’s All Stars who were not fan favorite the first go ’round, but is thriving now. TKB exceeded all expectations in the commercial shoot, whether the camera was rolling or not. She looked beautiful on the runway, but that’s sort of expected. It’s her more polished, confident performances that will grab the judges’ attention. Growth, we love to see it.
  3. Speaking of growth, Eureka also appears to have hit a new level. She’s still got the big personality, but it’s not the zamboni it once was. She single-handedly carried her team’s videos, carrying nearly 100 percent of the laughs. Michelle clocked the proportionizing (#tbt) on her runway re-do, but it was a very slight critique for an otherwise strong week.
  4. This challenge was well-suited for Pandora. The queen’s campy humor is exactly what the assignment calls for. The script certainly sounded like Pandora wrote it, but even if she didn’t, she was funny enough when she had focus to deserve all the praise. I thought the runway was still sort of ugly and not super well-tailored. My concern is her fashion may be her downfall.
  5. Yes, Ginger had a great performance in her video, but she also was there for all the other decisions made in that workroom that led to that not-so-funny final product. This is purely speculative, but it does seem like Ginger took a gamble only watching her own behind assuming they’d be evaluated as individuals. Like Pandora, it will likely come down to a fatally flawed frock.
  6. I wasn’t a big Scarlet fan in season 11, but so far, so good this season. She had far and away the best runway this week, and has looked consistently stunning. She did an admirable job in the video, but no one could touch Eureka.
  7. Similarly, Kylie has been good, but not great thus far. She needs a big, dominant win or memorable moment.
  8. I know, I know, we shouldn’t tease Jan. It’s just hard not to root against her when she’s so desperate for the crown, and, honestly, has all the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent to get it. She is still just trying so hard — even trying hard at NOT trying hard — it takes away from the present moment. (Sort of the inverse of the compliment guest judge Tia Mowry gave to Scarlet.)
  9. It may seem strange to see week one winner Yara this far down, but I’ve got some concerns. She’s beloved for her kooky, wild energy, but that could just as easily be her undoing. Imagine if she didn’t have teammates there to stop her from her first draft tuck joke? (For the record, I personally loved it, but you can hear Ross and Michelle’s potential admonishments.) It’s not that raunch is disqualifying, but it’s got to be sharp.
  10. I’m not convinced A’Keria’s weeks are numbered. She could potentially rise like a phoenix next week, depending on the challenge. This week, it’s hard to justify a higher placement. She brought very little to the commercial, and she struggled more than any other queen shown. I’m glad she’s still here (officially) to bounce back.
  11. Sigh. I also wish we could see Silky’s rise, but that journey is over — for now, at least. Drag Race fans have a specific and ample amount of vitriol for certain black queens, big queens and big, black queens. I’m not saying Silky is without her faults, but I would not want to be on the receiving end on what I’m sure are just crushing amounts of hateful dms, etc. It’s one thing for her to go home on her terms, but it’s extra sad to see her sent home for shrinking all the parts of her people shouted into submission. Unfortunately, she was the right pick this week.

What did you think of the episode? How would you rank the queens? Let us know in the comments!

Catch up on all our RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars recaps.

View the full article

]]>57Sat, 03 Jul 2021 12:00:00 +0000American LGBTQ Museum Gets Permanent Home with New-York Historical Society Expansion; ‘This Museum Helps Forge The Future By Documenting Our Past’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/american-lgbtq-museum-gets-permanent-home-with-new-york-historical-society-expansion-%E2%80%98this-museum-helps-forge-the-future-by-documenting-our-past%E2%80%99-r56/
lgbtq museum

The four-year push for the establishment of a permanent LGBTQ museum highlighting the community’s long history came to fruition Thursday thanks to the New-York Historical Society. The American LGBTQ+ Museum will be permanently housed at the association’s Central Park West building as part of a 70,000 square-foot expansion scheduled to begin in 2022.

When it opens, the American LGBTQ Museum will be New York City’s first museum solely dedicated to preserving and educating the public on the tapestry of LGBTQ history and culture. According to the New-York Historical Society, the museum will encompass the entire fourth floor of the expanded building.

“We’re delighted to partner with New York’s foremost museum of history to build a new museum dedicated to an exploration and celebration of the richness and diversity of LGBTQ+ history and culture in America,” said Richard Burns, Chair of the American LGBTQ+ Museum’s board of directors. “The respect and rigor with which New-York Historical has approached this process, including their consultation with local communities, mirrors our own commitment to building a thoughtful, welcoming, queer and inclusive experience for our visitors and partners.”

The announcement brings to fruition an effort that started back in 2017 when the American Museum of LGBT History & Culture Planning Task Force was established to build a space that, as the American LGBTQ+ Museum states, “preserves, investigates, and celebrates the dynamic histories and cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, as well as those of the emergent and adjacent identities among our communities.” The group initially partnered with the New-York Historical Society in 2019, leading ultimately to Thursday’s news.

“How gratifying it is to realize the dream of telling the American story in all its complexity in state-of-the-art educational spaces and a brand-new gallery dedicated to the struggle for civil rights of the American LGBTQ+ community,” said New-York Historical Society president and CEO Dr. Louise Mirrer.

expansion_PR.png
LGBTQ Museum: Rendering of New-York Historical Society’s expanded Central Park West building

“We need a museum that tells the untold stories of regular lived lives, activists’ lives, lives that were lost in queer New York and queer America,” Burns told the New York Times. “Suddenly we’ve reached this moment, a tipping point where more and more people are saying, ‘We better record this history, integrate it and celebrate it before we lose it.'”

While the actual museum won’t open its doors until at least 2022, the New-York Historical Society is putting its partnership with the American LGBTQ+ Museum into action during its construction. They will work together to feature programming in the current Central Park West building and its outdoor spaces showcasing LGBTQ historical and cultural topics.

“LGBTQ history is especially urgent because our communities have emerged from denial, repression, and invisibility into acceptance, pride and full societal participation,” Urvashi Vadi, American LGBTQ+ Museum board secretary, told the New York Daily News. “This museum helps forge the future by documenting our past.”

LGBTQ Museum: Previously on Towleroad

Phot courtesy of Rhododendrites/Creative Commons

View the full article

]]>56Fri, 02 Jul 2021 22:43:44 +0000Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster to Star in Gay Rom-Com ‘Fire Island;’ A Gay ‘Pride and Prejudice’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/bowen-yang-joel-kim-booster-to-star-in-gay-rom-com-%E2%80%98fire-island%E2%80%99-a-gay-%E2%80%98pride-and-prejudice%E2%80%99-r54/
Bowen Yang
Bowen Yang on SNL’s Weekend Update

Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang, two of the most celebrated voices in gay and Asian-American comedy, are joining forces for a new gay romantic comedy titled “Fire Island.”

Booster and Yang will star in what Variety describes as a gay “modern day take on Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice'” as two close friends heading to the film’s eponymous historic gay vacation destination. In addition to acting, Booster wrote the film and queer Korean-American director Andrew Ahn (“Spa Night,” “Pride”) is attached to direct.

Ahn expressed excitement at the project’s announcement on Wednesday. “This is my ‘Jurassic World.’ This is my ‘Eternals.’ A gay ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on Fire Island with [Joel Kim Booster] and Bowen Yang,” Ahn tweeted in all caps. Booster joined in, saying, “I am canonically vers and I’m making a movie. We do exist.”

The film represents another benchmark for two rising stars that have broken out from queer comedy to the mainstream. Yang, who’s roots just wrapped his second season as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” after joining the show as a staff writer in 2018. He appeared on “Broad City” and “Nora From Queens” and co-hosts the “Las Culturistas” podcast.

Booster continues to brighten his star in the stand-up world while racking up acting and writing credits, including “Billy On The Street,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Big Mouth” and “Shrill.” He also hosts the “Joy Fuck Club” program for 88rising radio. It was also announced on Thursday that Booster is joining Maya Rudolph’s untitled comedy series with Apple.

“Fire Island” will release on Hulu ins the U.S. with a global release set for Disney+’s Star brand.

Bowen Yang: Previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>54Fri, 02 Jul 2021 18:58:15 +0000Disney Star Alyson Stoner Believed She Was ‘Abominable’; Still Suffers From ‘Dangerous’ Conversion Therapy. Came Out Gay in 2018https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/disney-star-alyson-stoner-believed-she-was-%E2%80%98abominable%E2%80%99-still-suffers-from-%E2%80%98dangerous%E2%80%99-conversion-therapy-came-out-gay-in-2018-r53/
 
Published by
BANG Showbiz English
 
alyson stoner

Alyson Stoner chose to undergo gay conversion therapy.

The 27-year-old singer-and-actress – who came out in 2018 – felt “wretched” about her sexuality so decided to try the controversial treatment, only for it to send her “into a spiral” because of the things she was told.

She told Insider: “I felt stuck. I felt wretched. I felt like everything was wrong with me, even though I, in my heart of hearts, only desired to be a devoted follower of God…

“To hear from people you trust, from people you respect, from people you might even aspire to become, that you at your core are ‘rotten,’ ‘abominable,’ that the devil has a target on your back because of your position in Hollywood…it just sends you into a spiral, at least for me, because I just wanted to do the right thing.”

The ‘Step Up’ actress admitted she still has nightmares about the “dangerous” therapy sessions.

She said: “My mind doesn’t want to even go there. My legs started shaking at the thought of reliving some of it.

“I know firsthand how dangerous it is for me as someone who had access to therapy and other forms of support. And I still was considering whether my life was worth living or, if everything was wrong with me, then what good was it for me to be around, starting to see myself as someone who only brought harm to other people to society.”

And Alyson can’t even bring herself to speak about the “specifics” of what happened during her treatment.

She said: “Even if someone comes out of it on the other side and says, ‘Hey, no, I’m living a great life,’ there are scars there. There are shadows.

“So yes, I’m not capable yet of going back and recounting specifics, which is an indicator of just how difficult that chapter was for me.”

Alyson Stoner previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>53Fri, 02 Jul 2021 18:40:32 +0000Miss Nevada USA Beauty Pageant Crowns First Out Trans Woman as Queen; ‘My win is our win. We just made history’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/miss-nevada-usa-beauty-pageant-crowns-first-out-trans-woman-as-queen-%E2%80%98my-win-is-our-win-we-just-made-history%E2%80%99-r52/
beauty pageant
Beauty Pageant: Miss Nevada USA Kataluna Enriquez

Fashion designer and LGBTQ advocate Kataluna Enriquez made history in the beauty pageant world on Sunday when she became the first out trans woman to be crowned Miss Nevada USA. “Huge thank you to everyone who supported me from day one,” Enriquez exclaimed in a post-victory Instagram post. “My community, you are always in my heart. My win is our win. We just made history. Happy pride.”

Her win on Sunday in Las Vegas cements her spot as Nevada’s representative in the Miss USA pageant later this year, making her the first out trans woman to compete in the event’s history.

Enriquez, a healthcare administrator who designs and operates her own clothing line (KatalunaKouture), is no stranger to the pageant scene. She began competing in 2016 but didn’t make the switch to cisgender pageants until last year. She told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she made the change to advocate for trans rights and visibility in addition to increased diversity.

“With pageantry, people think it is only about beauty. But it’s how you present yourself, what you advocate for, what you’ve done and the goals you have,” Enriquez said. That goal wanting to be “more than just a body” was front and center as she captured the crown wearing a rainbow-sequined gown she designed and made herself “in honor of pride month, and all of those who don’t get a chance to spread their colors.”

But her coronation tied into Pride month in more ways than she initially realized. By winning the crown on Sunday, June 27, Enriquez’s crowning came on 52 years to the day after the Stonewall riots – a fact that Enriquez didn’t realize until days after the event.

Describing herself as a “proud trans woman of color,” the significance of her groundbreaking win occurring in close connection to an event heavily fueled by trans women of color like Stonewall wasn’t lost on her.”I didn’t realize we won on the 52nd anniversary of stonewall. I wouldn’t be able to stand without the voices of those who fought for my rights and against police brutality. Thankful to end pride month with you all,” Enriquez said.

Enriquez continues her advocacy work through her #BEVISIBLE campaign, which aims to “combat hate through vulnerability.” as well as working with organizations to support LGBTQ youth.

Enriquez earned her opportunity at the crown by becoming the first out trans woman to win the Miss Silver State title earlier this year. Her win on Sunday in Las Vegas, NV cements her spot as Nevada’s representative in the Miss USA pageant later this year, making her the first out trans woman to compete in the event’s history.

Beauty Pageant: Previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>52Thu, 01 Jul 2021 23:19:41 +0000Camp Marilyn Monroe Statue is Back as ‘Eiffel Tower of Palm Springs,’ An Eyeful of ‘Underpants’ Post-Museum, Or Misogynist Exploitationhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/camp-marilyn-monroe-statue-is-back-as-%E2%80%98eiffel-tower-of-palm-springs%E2%80%99-an-eyeful-of-%E2%80%98underpants%E2%80%99-post-museum-or-misogynist-exploitation-r51/
 
Published by
Reuters
 
Marilyn Monroe Statue

By Norma Galeana

(Reuters) – The Marilyn Monroe Statue is back in Palm Springs, California, in a big way – but not everyone is thrilled.

A 26-ft (7.9-m) tall statue of the Hollywood icon in her famous billowing white dress was unveiled in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum, facing Palm Canyon Drive, the city’s main tourist strip, on Sunday.

The artwork, sculpted by John Seward Johnson II in 2011, was inspired by a scene from the film, “The Seven Year Itch.” It first came to Palm Springs in 2012 as a rental for 26 months and moved to New Jersey in 2014, said Aftab Dada, chairman of P.S. Resorts, a local hospitality group.

The statue is already popular for snapshots and the community is expecting it to increase visitor traffic based on past experience, Dada said. “And at that time in 2012, ’13, ’14, the social media explosion wasn’t as great as it is now,” he added.

Palm Springs resident John McDermott, 77, stopped by on his morning bike ride.

“I speak for the vast majority of the residents of Palm Springs, where everybody is ecstatic to have her back here, absolutely ecstatic,” McDermott said. “It’s good for the community, it’s good for the businesses. This is going to be the Eiffel Tower of Palm Springs.”

But the view turned off Brooks Thomas, 50, a Palm Springs resident for eight years.

“It’s absurd that you’re going to leave the museum and see the backside of someone’s underpants,” he said. “People have all kinds of issues with other things that they find obscene, but this you know, they think it’s acceptable.”

When the statue was unveiled, protesters including the Women’s March Foundation chanted that it was misogynistic and exploitative. Its location also rankled critics.

Chris Menrad founded the Committee to Relocate Marilyn, which filed a lawsuit citing public codes, and has raised more than $70,000 to remove it.

The statue was in the middle of a new street that had been created to open up the museum and connect it to Palm Canyon Drive, Menad said.

“We have an issue with placing a large statue that is blocking that view on a quote unquote, temporary basis that everybody knows is not going to be temporary,” said Menrad.

‘Forever Marilyn’ is expected to stay in Palm Springs for three years.

(Reporting by Norma Galeana; Editing by Richard Chang)

Marilyn Monroe Statue previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>51Thu, 01 Jul 2021 20:38:03 +0000Biden Responds to ‘Hundreds Of Anti -LGBTQ bills’ across States;  White House Reviewing Trans Protections Across Nationhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/biden-responds-to-%E2%80%98hundreds-of-anti-lgbtq-bills%E2%80%99-across-states-%C2%A0white-house-reviewing-trans-protections-across-nation-r50/
np_Silhouetted-windmill-in-Trans-Pecos-r

The Biden administration wants to address employment discrimination, homelessness and other issues that have a disproportionate effect on transgender people.

The White House on Wednesday said it would gather federal agencies in the coming weeks, including the Justice Department, Defense Department and Department of Health and Human Services, to revise policies driving poverty, violence, and discrimination against transgender people. 

The announcement comes after the Biden administration had already pledged to reverse Trump-era policies that disproportionately impacted transgender Americans and restricted LGBTQ+ access to health care, housing, and equal treatment in prisons.

The administration’s latest policy change affecting trans people came from the State Department, which said it would allow nonbinary and intersex people to obtain IDs and passports with an “X” gender marker instead of an “M” or an “F.” 

Trans protections
President Joe Biden with Youth Trans Leader Ashton Mota, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg marking “Pride back in the White House”

Members of the White House initiative announced Wednesday, headed by the Gender Policy Council and Domestic Policy Council, plan to meet with trans advocates in the next few weeks to hear their policy recommendations. Meeting with advocates will be the group’s first step to address issues including employment discrimination, homelessness, abuse, and school bullying, White House spokesperson Matt Hill said. 

The White House has focused on trans rights at several events commemorating Pride month, culminating with a virtual “transgender equality” event on Wednesday that included U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, HHS Secretary Rachel Levine and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke as speakers.

“So far this year, hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures,” Biden said at his Pride speech last week in the East Room. 

“These are some of the ugliest, most un-American laws I’ve seen, and I’ve been here awhile.  Many of them target transgender children, seeking to prevent them from receiving the appropriate medical care, for using the bathroom at high schools while they’re — the one where they’ll be most safe, even preventing them from joining sports teams with their classmates,” he said.

Ashton Mota, the 16-year-old Human Rights Campaign ambassador who introduced Biden at his Pride speech last week, thanked the administration on Wednesday at the virtual transgender equality event. “After coming out and receiving support from my family, that’s one of the best things I could have asked for — because it’s given me a platform and a pedestal to be able to use my voice and represent a community that usually isn’t given a seat at the table to have these important conversations,” he said.

Originally published by The 19th

Trans protections previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>50Thu, 01 Jul 2021 11:19:10 +0000Lil Nas X’s BET Awards Liplock Praised as Rapper Flames Homophobic Critics, Celebrates Two Years of Being Out; ‘I Love Who I Am and Whatever I Decide To Do’https://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/lil-nas-x%E2%80%99s-bet-awards-liplock-praised-as-rapper-flames-homophobic-critics-celebrates-two-years-of-being-out-%E2%80%98i-love-who-i-am-and-whatever-i-decide-to-do%E2%80%99-r49/
Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X

The reign of Montero in the culture continued at Sunday’s BET Awards when out gay rapper Lil Nas X ended his scorching performance by locking lips with one of his backup dancers, giving the BET Awards stage its first gay male kiss ever.

The moment capped off another stellar performance of the artist smash hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” that drenched itself in Black queer expression. Lil Nas X hasn’t been shy about embracing his queer identity since coming out as gay in 2019, openly expressing it through his music, fashion and performances in ways that mainstream hip-hop has never seen.

Sunday’s kiss garnered a standing ovation from the live crowd made up of Lil Nas X’s peers in music and other media. He even got to share a backstage moment with Tyler, the Creator, another popular rapper who hasn’t been shy about expressing his LGBTQ-ness through his music, most notably on his 2019 album “Igor.” Lil Nas X previously praised Tyler and Frank Ocean for being examples of queer Black men in hip-hop that “made it easier for me to be where I am comfortably.”

The immense praise was well received, but Lil Nas X didn’t hide that he was a ball of nerves on Sunday. “It took me a lot of time to mentally prepare for this performance,” he tweeted afterward. “While on stage I was trembling knowing that I was performing something like that in front of my straight peers. Even during the performance I was having a hard time calming my nerves. Thank you guys for the love.”

The performance did draw some homophobic criticism, though much of it focused on Lil Nas X’s form of queer expression rather than the fact that he did it. According to ABC News, multiple people criticized the artist for what they saw as him trying to “act the part” of a gay man and contributing to the “emasculation” of men by dressing and acting overly feminine. That criticism was levied both at his performance and the Andrea Grossi gown he wore on the red carpet.

The outspoken rapper nipped that train of thought in the bud quickly in the wake Sunday’s performance. “Y’all hate yourselves so much, Y’all live your lives trying your best to appease straight [people],” Lil Nas X tweeted Monday. “Y’all are uncomfortable with what I do because y’all are afraid they will be uncomfortable with you. Work on yourselves, I love who I am and whatever I decide to do. Get there.”

Perhaps the most welcomed exaltation of Lil Nas X’s performance came from BET itself. The official BET Twitter account released a video of the performance, including the statement lip smack, with the caption “YESSSSSS! Lil Nas X just did that.” The channel has made a concerted effort to speak to Black queer populations, feature Black queer artists and highlight the roles of Black people in the advancement of LGBTQ rights in recent years.

Lil Nas X’s performance wasn’t the only moment from Sunday’s BET Awards that placed that initiative in the forefront. Out rapper/actor Queen Latifah received the Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night, thanking her longtime partner, Eboni, and declaring “Happy Pride” during her speech.

” Wow that was fun what should I do next!?”

Lil Nas X

The days after the event have also been significant for LIl Nas X. He released a trailer reminiscent of Marvel Studios touting the release of his first album, “Montero,” and celebrated the two-year anniversary of his coming out on Wednesday. “I have officially been gay for two years,” he said. ” Wow that was fun what should I do next!?”

Lil Nas X: Previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>49Thu, 01 Jul 2021 10:49:11 +00001619 Project Curriculum Creator Nikole Hannah-Jones Offered Tenure. Bad News is Race Theory/Free Speech Backlash Expands: ROUNDUPhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/1619-project-curriculum-creator-nikole-hannah-jones-offered-tenure-bad-news-is-race-theoryfree-speech-backlash-expands-roundup-r55/
1619 project curriculum
Nikole Hannah-Jones Created the 1619 Project, Was not offered tenure

1619 Project Curriculum Backlash Part of Culture War Over Teaching Truth
  1. 1619 Project: Tenure Not Offered, Mega-Donor Influence
  2. 1619 Project Curriculum and Critical Race Theory
  3. 1619 Project: Federal and Military Take on Racism
  4. Critical Race Theory: What Does America Think?
  5. 1619 Project Curriculum: Previously on Towleroad

1619 Project: Tenure Not Offered, Mega-Donor Influence

Her 1619 Project curriculum is at the center of a political battle over what students can learn about race in America.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s board of trustees voted on Wednesday to grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones after initially delaying the customary job protection for the incoming journalism professor, who is best known for her award-winning work reexamining how slavery shaped the United States’ founding. 

The board’s vice chair, R. Gene Davis Jr., who was among those who voted to offer tenure to Hannah-Jones, said that UNC “is not a place to cancel people or ideas. Neither is it a place for judging people and calling them names, like woke or racist.”

“In this moment at our university, in our state, and in our nation, we need more debate, not less. We need more open inquiry, not less. We need more viewpoint diversity, not less. We need to listen to each other and not cancel each other, or call each other names. If not us, who?” Davis added in remarks after the 9-4 vote.  

Davis alluded to the controversy that has surrounded the delay in granting Hannah-Jones tenure by saying “members of the board have endured false claims and been called the most unpleasant of names over the past few weeks.”

Hannah-Jones’ next steps were not immediately clear. Attorneys representing the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grantee and Pulitzer Prize winner said last week that she would not join UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media as its Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism unless it was with tenure, as professorships funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation traditionally are. 

Hannah-Jones’ lawyers said UNC’s initial offer of a five-year contract, not tenure, reflected “race and sex discrimination and retaliation” as well as “viewpoint discrimination” in violation of state and federal laws. The latter was a reference to Hannah-Jones’ work on the 1619 Project, a ground-breaking series of essays, poems, graphics and visual art pieces she led at The New York Times Magazine that examined the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the United States more than 400 years ago. 

The UNC board’s deferment of Hannah-Jones’ tenure came over the objections of the faculty committee and amid concerns from a university mega-donor for whom the journalism school is named, the newspaper magnate Walter Hussman, who has subsequently said publicly that he was troubled by parts of the 1619 Project. Hussman suggested parts of history were embellished to bolster the project’s narrative. 

The fallout from the tussle over Hannah-Jones’ tenure demonstrates how university boards increasingly receptive to political influence can make it more difficult for colleges to recruit and retain top-tier faculty if they are concerned their scholarship or research, or even their diverse backgrounds, might lead to political backlash. It also illustrates how classrooms, whether at state colleges or in public elementary schools, have become the latest high-profile battlefronts in a partisan war over who gets to have a voice in reexamining and retelling how race and slavery shaped our country’s history. The 1619 Project is at the center of the maelstrom. 

Just one year after crowds took to the streets in cities across the country to protest race-related police shootings in a moment that many thought was a racial reckoning or turning point for White people, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has plummeted. At least 26 state legislatures have moved to restrict the teaching of what academics call critical race theory, and legislators in at least 48 states have proposed restrictive voting measures that experts believe would disproportionately impact voters of color. (Some, like in California, have little chance of passing Democratic-controlled legislatures.)

The 1619 Project has become the bogeyman because it “unsettles the narrative” of our country’s founding that has long been seen and taught from a White perspective,

Hannah-Jones told MSNBC’s Joy Reid earlier this month that moves to limit teaching structural racism in classrooms and to restrict who can easily vote are a “reaction” to the racial awakening that some White Americans experienced last summer. 

The 1619 Project has become the bogeyman because it “unsettles the narrative” of our country’s founding that has long been seen and taught from a White perspective, Hannah-Jones said, and “in unsettling that narrative, people are afraid it unsettles power.”

“It is really a need to hold onto and maintain that power and divide that social movement towards justice by making White Americans, at least a segment of them who will be susceptible to this message, believe that ‘actually no, you’re under attack, they’re trying to take your history, they’ve gone too far,’ and that’s why wedding this together is working so successfully,” she said. 

The 1619 Project was published in August 2019, but it wasn’t until more than a year later that then-President Donald Trump invoked its impact when he signed an executive order establishing the 1776 Commission — named for the year the Declaration of Independence was signed — which he said would counter “recent attacks on our founding” that were “one-sided and divisive.” (President Joe Biden has since dismantled the commission).

“By viewing every issue through the lens of race, they want to impose a new segregation,” Trump said at the White House. 

“Critical race theory, the 1619 Project and the crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison, that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together,” he said. 

1619 Project Curriculum and Critical Race Theory

Critical race theory is not new. It is an educational framework developed 40 years ago by legal scholars. Its central tenet is that racism is not only a belief held by some individuals but also embedded in societal institutions, and that individuals can, via the choices they make, support racist systems.

One example would be “redlining,” a Depression-era federal housing program that segregated residents by race. The practice was ended in the 1960s but its impacts persist today. They were discussed during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary when Elizabeth Warren incorporated a housing bill she had introduced in the Senate into her primary platform. 

Racism is not only a belief held by some individuals but also embedded in societal institutions, and that individuals can, via the choices they make, support racist systems.

The 1619 Project, which was accompanied by a related suggested curriculum that explores the legacies of slavery, thrust critical race theory to the forefront of arguments that have for years played out between liberals and conservatives over what subjects should be taught in schools. 

Some historians criticized portions of the 1619 Project, saying they did not “question the significance of slavery in the American past” but thought the project offered a “historically-limited view of slavery” given it was not confined to the United States. Debate intensified when the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting began releasing the 1619 Project’s lesson plans. 

Even as increasing numbers of Americans — 76 percent of adults, including 83 percent of women and 68 percent of men — agreed that racism and discrimination were a “big problem,” Trump’s Education Department, as part of a broader federal crackdown, began investigating whether its employees were discussing “anti-American” ideas and to identify any trainings or “propaganda” that discussed critical race theory or White privilege. 

In the year since, bills have been signed into law in at least six states — Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Texas — that restrict the teaching of critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism in their lessons, according to Education Week. 

In Idaho, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed such a law in April. Separately, there is an education “indoctrination” task force led by Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who recently met with Trump and who is running for governor. Idaho high school students, who protested the law at the statehouse, recently told Education Week they are worried the task force will further prevent them from learning the fullest version of U.S. history. 

The Utah State Board of Education approved a rule earlier this month that limits how teachers can teach racism or sexism. Florida’s board recently prohibited educators from teaching critical race theory or the 1619 Project. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudson last month issued a binding opinion that bars teachers from asking students to “reflect, deconstruct or confront” their racial privilege. 

Arizona Republicans proposed a law that would fine teachers $5,000 for failing to present “all perspectives of a controversial issue,” but it did not pass. A conservative group in Nevada proposed outfitting teachers with body cameras to review whether they were teaching critical race theory. 

Many of the laws, both proposed and passed, are vague and broadly written, raising free speech concerns that will likely lead to legal challenges. They nevertheless indicate the country has entered a “very dangerous period,” Hannah-Jones told MSNBC.

“When you read the language of them, they appear very silly, but when you think about what this is actually trying to do, we know that it is narrative that allows us to enact really dangerous policies, it is narrative that allows citizens to kind of accept these erosions of civil rights,” she said, adding: “It is not incidental that the same states that are introducing these anti-critical race theory, anti-1619 laws, are also introducing voter suppression laws.”

Texas Democrats staged a walk-out in May to deny their Republican counterparts the quorum they needed to vote on a restrictive voting law. In May, GOP Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, signed a law to purge infrequent voters from the state’s popular Permanent Early Voting List. 

1619 Project: Federal and Military Take on Racism

On the federal level, a Democratic bill to expand voting rights has stalled in Congress. Critical race theory held up Kiran Ahuja’s confirmation to lead the Office of Management and Budget. \Republican Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas earlier this year introduced a bill that would prohibit military institutions from teaching structural racism, saying it was “anti-American.” Republican lawmakers last week questioned military leaders about whether military schools such as West Point were teaching critical race theory, citing specific courses and a seminar titled “White rage.”

“I want to understand White rage and I am White,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. 

“What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out,” he added, referencing the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Milley served under both Trump and Biden. 

Critical Race Theory: What Does America Think?

For now, critical race theory and the 1619 project are dominating headlines, but not the minds of the average American voter — at least by name. A recent Morning Consult poll showed that 35 percent of voters have not heard of it, and another 17 percent have heard of it but have no opinion. Women were more likely than men to say they were unaware of the educational framework and, if they did, reported having less strong feelings about it either way. 

A Bellwether Research poll published on Wednesday indicates that the terms “critical race theory” and “1619 Project” are not yet widely known among women voters and offered a mixed view of how women feel about their underlying concepts. 

The Bellwether poll showed that 34 percent of women voters had not heard of critical race theory and 53 percent had not heard of the 1619 Project. Among mothers of K-12 students, 38 percent said it was a “major concern” that there was “too much focus on race and racism” in their child’s school and another 30 percent said it was a “moderate concern.”

But, among women more broadly, 40 percent said they “strongly agree” and another 27 percent said they “somewhat agree” that students should be taught about racial inequality. Those percentages dropped to 31 percent and 24 percent, respectively, when asked the same question about structural racism. Only 21 percent strongly agreed that it was appropriate for state legislatures to limit what can be taught about race and racism. 

Seventy percent of the survey’s respondents were White, and among them, 45 percent of college-educated mothers with a K-12 student said it was “major concern” that there is too much focus on race and racism in their child’s school, and 28 percent of non-college educated mothers agreed. Thirty-eight percent of college-educated and 20 percent of non-college educated mothers said there was too little focus on events that were significant to Black Americans such as the Tulsa race massacre or Juneteenth. 

It is not surprising that White Americans would hold muddled and sometimes contradictory views on race — and that terms and framing can have significant impacts on whether they support, for example, the teaching of racial inequality versus structural racism. The terms themselves have been the subject of education efforts. 

Overall views on race among White Americans also shift — and policy shifts back and forth along with it. 

Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president, would often expand on civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s idea that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

“Progress will come in fits and starts,” Obama said in his 2012 reelection victory speech.

“It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path,” he added.

?republication-pixel=true&post=15738

1619 Project Curriculum: Previously on Towleroad

By Amanda Becker Originally published by The 19th

View the full article

]]>55Thu, 01 Jul 2021 10:29:54 +0000Royalty Road: Nashville Dedicates Bianca Paige Way in Honor of Drag Queen and HIV/AIDS Advocate Bianca Paigehttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/royalty-road-nashville-dedicates-bianca-paige-way-in-honor-of-drag-queen-and-hivaids-advocate-bianca-paige-r48/
Nashville
Bianca Paige

Pride was memorialized on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday when city officials renamed a street for Bianca Paige, one of the city’s most legendary drag queens and HIV/AIDS activists.

Nashville city officials, including Mayor John Cooper, dedicated the former Carney Street as Bianca Paige Way at a dedication ceremony Saturday. The location is significant to Paige’s history as the gay bar Trax, where Paige regularly performed and held court, is located on the street.

“Today, I joined so many to celebrate and honor the life of Bianca Paige, a Nashville legend,” said Cooper. “It’s really amazing. Mark’s legacy in town is so memorable, and everything he’s done for HIV and AIDS. Eleven years later, we’re still celebrating him and honoring him,” Ron Sanford, a close friend of Paige, told News4 Nashville.

Brought to life by performer Mark Middleton, Paige was a staple at drag performances across Nashville for decades until his death from lymphoma in 2010, but Middleton’s true legacy lies in his fundraising efforts for HIV/AIDS research and treatment. He put a face to the cause in Nashville in the mid-90s when he publicly revealed his HIV-positive status on-stage during a performance.

“Mark decided that he was going to be the one, to be the only performer, to use his stage and his persona to get it out there,” Sanford said. “He was determined to not only tell kids and people what was going on, but to get tested and to know your status.”

Middleton donated tips from his performances to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Pediatric and Adolescent HIV/AIDS clinic. Middleton and Sanford founded the Bianca Paige Awareness Network to continue their HIV?AIDS advocacy and Middleton added charity events and advocacy work with Nashville Cares, ultimately raising upward of $1 million dollars for the cause before his death.

“That’s how we took care of our sick. If we – our own people – would not have come in and done the things that we did, there would have been thousands and thousands more that died,” Sanford told the Nashville Scene. “When we lost Mark 11 years ago, Nashville became a little less colorful and a lot less raucous,” Cooper said. The city celebrated Paige during Pride month in Nashville with Bianca Paige Day celebrations since 2011.

We have to keep the name out there and get people revitalized with it

Ron Sanford

Cooper and others claimed during the dedication that Bianca Paige Way was the first street named for a drag queen, but there have been at least two streets previously rechristened to honor notable queens. The first known street to hold that honor is San Francisco, CA’s Jose Sarria Court, named for groundbreaking drag performer and political activist Jose Sarria in 2006.

Sarria, proclaimed as Empress Jose I, founded the League for Civil Education in 1960, the Imperial Court of San Francisco in 1965 and became the first out gay man to run for political office when he pursued a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors.

In 2019, Columbus, OH renamed Hull Alley to Nina West Way for notable Rupaul’s Drag Race competitor Nina West.

Even if Bianca Paige Way isn’t the first in the nation, the historic nature of its dedication isn’t lessened. It guarantees that the memory of Nashville’s most prolific and beloved queen will persist and inspire for years to come. “Do I think that he thought that he would ever have a street named after him? No. He knew he was doing good,” Sanford said. “He used to say, ‘My talent is God’s gift to me. What I do with that talent is my gift to God and my community.’ … we have to keep the name out there and get people revitalized with it.”

Nashville: Previously on Towleroad

View the full article

]]>48Wed, 30 Jun 2021 19:51:29 +0000Court Stalls Trans Toilet Attack, Dumps First Case; But Alito, Thomas Can Flush Minor LGBTQ Win By Waiting For a Looser No. 2 Case: Busy-Bee Days End Sessionhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/court-stalls-trans-toilet-attack-dumps-first-case-but-alito-thomas-can-flush-minor-lgbtq-win-by-waiting-for-a-looser-no-2-case-busy-bee-days-end-session-r47/
trans toilet
Trans toilet illustration. Simple symbol from UCSD, Meme compiles. Credits at end.

Trans Toilet Case: In a limited but important victory for transgender access, the U.S. Supreme Court announced June 28 that it would not review a lower court decision that favored a transgender student’s restroom access at a public high school.

The court declined a request by a Virginia public school district to review a decision of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which covers five states—Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Maryland. By refusing to hear the appeal, the high court leaves the favorable decision intact for those states.

The case, Gloucester v. Grimm, has been on the U.S. Supreme Court docket before. In 2017, the high court vacated a previous Fourth Circuit ruling in favor of high school student Gavin Grimm, who was represented by the ACLU. Grimm had filed suit after he began transitioning and sought use of the boys’ restroom because he said girls reacted negatively to his presence in the girls’ restrooms because they perceive him to be a boy.

School officials initially accommodated Grimm’s request, but the school district intervened after some parents complained. The ACLU pressed Grimm’s case and won, and the Fourth Circuit repeatedly ruled in Grimm’s favor.

In the latest go-round, the Fourth Circuit ruled in Grimm’s favor, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Bostock v. Clayton (that “sex discrimination” under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act includes sexual orientation and gender identity). The appeals court said the same logic should apply to the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.

“After the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, we have little difficulty holding that a bathroom policy precluding Grimm from using the boys’ restrooms discriminated against him ‘on the basis of sex’,” said the Fourth Circuit.

30156748103_d42ffa0de4_c.jpeg
Trans Toilet Opinions. Photo By Quinnanya In UCSD Restroom

The Gloucester school district in Virginia appealed again to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that, under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act, schools are allowed to provide separate bathrooms for the sexes. By refusing to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court does not take a position on the issue, but the impact is meaningful.

“This is an incredible victory for Gavin and for transgender students around the country,” said Josh Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s national LGBTQ & HIV Project.

Paul Castillo, an attorney with Lambda Legal, also called the Supreme Court’s refusal to take the appeal an “incredible victory.”

“There should be no doubt that federal law requires schools to protect all students. Courts all over the country, as well as the federal government have made crystal clear that LGBTQI+ students are protected by federal law and have a right to an equal education, to be protected against harassment and discrimination, and to a school environment where they can be their authentic selves,” said Castillo.

Specifically, the Fourth Circuit ruled—and the Supreme Court allowed to stand—that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act and the equal protection clause of the constitution “can protect transgender students from school bathroom policies that prohibit them from affirming their gender.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated they dissented from the court’s refusal to take the appeal.

The Supreme Court did not indicate June 28 whether it will hear two other LGBTQ-related appeals. One, Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington, is making its second appearance on the high court’s potential case list. It, like Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, asks whether a business serving the public can deny service to a same-sex couple because of the business owner’s religious hostility to same-sex marriage.

The other, Dignity Health v. Minton, asks whether a Catholic-run hospital can deny a hysterectomy to a female-to-male transgender patient as part of treatment for gender dysphoria. The hospital chain in question says its Catholic-run hospitals would be violating Catholic “religious directives” to provide such treatment.

© 2021 Keen News Service. All rights reserved.

Trans Toilet previously on Towleroad

Credits first image: Images by Sara Mirk, @_michaelhughes1, vectorpocket , Combined image may be used at no charge under (CC BY-NC 2.0)

View the full article

]]>47Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:33:42 +0000Dutch Prime Minister Tells Hungary’s Orban to Respect LGBT rights or leave EUhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/dutch-prime-minister-tells-hungary%E2%80%99s-orban-to-respect-lgbt-rights-or-leave-eu-r32/
 
Published by
Reuters
 
459058-origin_1.jpg

By Gabriela Baczynska, Philip Blenkinsop and Sabine Siebold

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Respect LGBT rights or leave the European Union, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told his Hungarian counterpart as the bloc’s leaders confronted Viktor Orban over a law that bans schools from using materials seen as promoting homosexuality.

Several participants spoke of the most intense personal clash among the 27 EU leaders in years on Thursday night.

“It was really forceful, a deep feeling that this could not be. It was about our values; this is what we stand for,” Rutte told reporters on Friday.

“I said ‘Stop this, you must withdraw the law and, if you don’t like that and really say that the European values are not your values, then you must think about whether to remain in the European Union’.” French President Emmanuel Macron called it a battle over civilisation and culture.

Hungary is now likely to face a legal challenge at the EU’s highest court. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said Budapest should also be subject to an as-yet untested procedure to cut EU funding for those who violate democratic rules.

The new mechanism was introduced as closely aligned conservative governments in Poland and Hungary have shielded one another for years from grave sanctions under existing tools to protect EU democratic and human rights values.

The provisions for schools have been included in a law primarily aimed at protecting children from paedophiles – a link that Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo described as “primitive”.

In power since 2010 and facing an election next year, Orban has become increasingly conservative and combative in promoting what he says are traditional Catholic values under pressure from the liberal West.

He told reporters before the closed-door meeting that the law was not an attack on gay people but aimed at guaranteeing parents’ right to decide on their children’s sexual education.

The EU is pushing Orban to repeal the law – the latest in a string of restrictive policies towards media, judges, academics and migrants.

Seventeen out of 27 leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, signed a joint letter reaffirming their commitment to protecting gay rights.

“We all made it very clear which fundamental values we adhere to,” she said.

Bettel, who is openly gay, said the only country other than Poland to support Orban in the discussion was Slovenia.

He said it was time for Brussels to test its new procedure: “Most of the time, money is more convincing than talk.”

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

459058-459058-origin_1-1.jpg

 

View the full article

]]>32Fri, 25 Jun 2021 22:15:05 +0000President Biden Names Jessica Stern U.S. LGBTQI+ Special Envoy, Signs Pulse National Memorial into Lawhttps://www.companyofmen.org/news/gay-news/president-biden-names-jessica-stern-us-lgbtqi-special-envoy-signs-pulse-national-memorial-into-law-r33/
Jessica Stern
JESSICA STERN, Named LGBTQI+ Special Envoy by President Biden

President Joe Biden named OutRight Action International executive director Jessica Stern as America’s LGBTQI+ Special Envoy as Pride month nears its end on Friday, making her the second person to hold the position since its creation in 2015.

The White House announced Stern’s appointment ahead of an appearance from the President where he addressed multiple topics pertaining to the nation’s LGBTQ community. Stern becomes the first to hold the position since current ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry did from 2015-2017. The position remained vacant during the Trump administration.

“The Special Envoy will play a vital role in leading implementation of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World,” read the White House’s statement. “At a time when the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons are increasingly threatened in all regions of the world, the Special Envoy will bring together like-minded governments, civil society organizations, corporations and international organizations to uphold dignity and equality for all.”

“This administration is ensuring that U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world,” tweeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “[President Biden’s] appointment of Jessica Stern as the U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons reaffirms our commitment.”

In addition to her work with OutRight Action International, Stern worked extensively with the United Nations to secure protections for LGBTQ populations worldwide. She co-founded the UN LGBTQI Core Group, secured the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity mandate and advocated for the inclusion of gender identity in the UN General Assembly’s mandate.

“LGBTIQ communities in the United States and around the world need and deserve a clear-eyed human rights champion to galvanize a wise reemergence of the U.S. government insisting on full human rights for LGBTIQ people everywhere. Jessica is that person,” said Jenny Pizer, co-chair of OutRight Action International’s board of directors. “No one works with deeper commitment, greater integrity, or more skillful strategic vision on behalf of our global LGBTIQ family.”

“She has provided expert opinions to governments globally, regional human rights institutions, and UN mechanisms, including UN Women where she serves as a member of multiple leadership bodies. Her writing has been cited by the Indian Supreme Court in its seminal judgment decriminalizing same-sex relations,” read The White House’s statement.

Stern expressed gratitude and “bittersweet” feelings at departed OutRight Action International to take her new position with the State Department. “Serving as OutRight’s executive director has been the honor of a lifetime. I can think of no organization that works with more integrity, more skillful staff, more motivated board members, more valued partners, or greater impact,” Stern said.

Biden signs HR 49 Making Pulse Nightclub a national memorial and more

President Biden also signed HR 49 into law, designating the location of Pulse nightclub a national memorial, pushed the Senate to vote on the Equality Act and addressed the wave of trans-exclusionary legislation introduced in more than 30 states during Friday’s events.

“Our presence here this afternoon makes a simple, strong statement: Pride is back at the White House,” Biden said. “Above all, Pride month stands for love. Being able to love yourself, love who you love and love this country enough to make it more fair and more free and more just. “

“No one works with deeper commitment, greater integrity, or more skillful strategic vision on behalf of our global LGBTIQ family [than Stern].”

Jenny Pizer, Co-chair OutRight Action International

Biden stated that his administration would have more to say about how it will address the increased threats to LGBTQ and specifically trans Americans in the coming days. He also stated his commitment to “finally ending the AIDS epidemic.”

He also praised the youth of America as the “least prejudiced,” “most open,” “most giving” and “best educated” generation “in all of history.”

“We must protect the gains we’ve made and fend off the cruel, unconscionable attacks we’re seeing now to ensure that everyone enjoys the full promise of equality, dignity and protection,” Biden added. “Our work is unfinshed.”

Jessica Stern: Previously on Towleroad

Screenshot via YouTube

View the full article

]]>33Fri, 25 Jun 2021 20:28:19 +0000