RadioRob

Published by Chicago Tribune My kids and I were in a hurry to get to the lake, and I ran into a gas station looking for a hat. My only options living in the Midwest were hats saying “Guns Save Lives” and “Make America Great Again.” The only somewhat subtle hat was an all-black hat that had the American flag on it. In the aftermath of the 2020 election controversy, I hesitated because I didn’t want to support the election deniers. I was desperate, so I bought it anyway. As soon as I got into the car and passed out the Gatorade, my kids all said, “Mom you can’t wear that hat! That’s a Trump hat!” Shocked and saddened, I ask… Read More View the full article

Published by NJ.com After complaints from parents and consultation with the school district’s lawyers, the Washington Township School District superintendent decided to remove rainbow-colored Safe Zone signs that had been hanging in Long Valley Middle School since 2019. Superintendent Peter Turnamian announced the change at the Jan. 3 board of education meeting. To replace the signs, a traditional symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, Turnamian said the school’s mascot, the panther, would be incorporated to encourage kindness to all students. “Ultimately, the advice of le… Read More View the full article

Published by Sports Illustrated By Jimmy Traina Stephen A. Smith actually issued an apology after saying Rihanna is no Beyoncé. 1. “She’s fantastic.” “She’s spectacular.” “Rihanna’s music is fantastic.” “She’s great.” “I love her dearly.” “I listen to her music.” “She’s gonna be good. She can’t be bad. She’s too great not to be good.” Imagine saying all those things about someone and then having to apologize. That’s what happened to Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday after he riled up Rihanna fans. Smith appeared on a talk show and was asked whether he was excited about Rihanna’s upcoming halftime performance at the Super Bowl. A… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Charlotte Van Campenhout AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A hair salon in Amsterdam’s nightlife district opened after hours at the weekend to offer a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community who do not feel safe in the city to dress before going out for the night. The “DRESS&DANCE” pilot project was organised by students at the InHolland University and Maud Gussenhoven, who manages the city’s central Reguliersdwarsstraat street. “It is sad that this is needed but there have been incidents that have made people feel unsafe,” said Gussenhoven. Even though Amsterdam is known as a queer-friendly cit… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Praveen Menon (Reuters) – Jacinda Ardern has put tiny New Zealand on the map in her five years as prime minister, becoming a global icon for left-leaning politics and women in leadership, even as she struggled at home with the economy and COVID-19 restrictions. The 42-year-old – who gained attention for bringing her baby to a United Nations meeting and wearing a hijab after a massacre targeting Muslims – announced in similarly dramatic fashion on Thursday that she will step down in less than three weeks, saying she had “no more in the tank”. “Be strong, be kind,” New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in more than a century repeated through her eventful tenure, but her empathetic leadership and crisis management skills often masked her government’s shortcomings. Considered personable and engaging, Ardern turned speaking from the heart and smiling through adversity into a winning formula for surging to power in 2017 and returning with a blowout win in 2020 that ushered in New Zealand’s first purely left-leaning government in decades. Her leadership was marked by unprecedented events for the island nation of 5 million: the 2019 massacre of 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch by a white supremacist and the eruption of the White Island volcano, and, the next year, the pandemic. “I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focussed,” Ardern said in an emotional resignation announcement. “And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go.” PROBLEMS MOUNT, RATINGS FALL Ardern received worldwide praise for her response to the Christchurch attacks, which she labelled terrorism. Wearing a headscarf, she met the Muslim community, telling them New Zealand was “united in grief”. She delivered a ban on semiautomatic firearms and other gun curbs within weeks of the massacre, a stark contrast to the United States, where lawmakers and activists have struggled to address gun violence despite regular mass shootings. Launching a global campaign to end online hate, she has often herself been a target of right-wing extremists online. Ardern made global headlines in 2020, presiding over New Zealand’s most diverse parliament, with more than half the members women and the highest number of indigenous Maori lawmakers. When COVID arrived, she was among the first leaders to close borders and pursue a zero-tolerance strategy that kept New Zealanders safe from the virus, holding death rates far below those of other advanced nations. But not everyone was happy with her “go hard, go early” approach, which included a nationwide lockdown over a single infection. While Ardern’s popularity rose internationally, at home she has faced growing political headwinds, struggling to prove that her leadership extended beyond crisis management and kindness. Her ratings have dropped in recent months on a worsening housing crisis, rising living costs and mortgage rates, and growing concerns about crime. She remains, however, more popular that her rivals. Despite her promises of transformational leadership, Ardern’s affordable housing programmes have been set back by blunders. Even on climate change, which Ardern called “my generation’s nuclear-free moment”, progress has been incremental. REFRESHING Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world’s youngest female head of government at the age of 37. Riding a wave of “Jacinda-mania,” she campaigned passionately for women’s rights and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the country. Raised a Mormon by her mother and police officer father, Ardern left the church over its stance on LGBTQ people in the early 2000s and has since described herself as agnostic. Hours after being appointed Labour Party leader, she was asked whether she planned to have children. Ardern said it was “totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace”. Eight months after becoming premier, she had a baby daughter, becoming only the second elected leader to give birth while in office, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto. Less than three months later, Ardern brought the baby, Neve Te Aroha, to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Many took her pregnancy and prime minister’s maternity leave as symbolising progress for women leaders, part of a wave of progressive female leaders including Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Meeting with Marin in Wellington in November, Ardern shot back at a question whether the two were meeting only because of they were young and female. “I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age,” Ardern said, in reference to the former U.S. president and New Zealand prime minister. “Because two women meet, it’s not simply because of their gender.” (This story has been corrected to fix Ardern’s age in the second paragraph) (Reporting by Praveen Menon in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard) View the full article

Published by AlterNet Former beauty queen turned anti-LGBTQ activist Carrie Prejean is back, and declaring that the Miss Universe Pageant now being owned by a transgender women is a declaration of “war.” In 2009, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, gained national attention for her response to a question by a gay blogger at the Miss USA Pageant about same-sex marriage. What followed were repeated efforts to capitalize on her anti-LGBTQ fame, including a short stint as a spokesperson for NOM, the National Organization For Marriage, an anti-LGBTQ organization that aggressively attempted to prevent same-sex couples from … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet A new report is raising awareness about the growing concerns transgender Americans are facing, namely in states like North Dakota as Republican lawmakers advocate for an alarming number of anti-trans pieces of legislation. According to a new report published by The Daily Beast, Decca Muldowney began with a brief overview of the uptick in proposed bills targeting members of the LGBT community. Sharing details from the Trans Legislation Tracker, Muldowney wrote, “Last year’s legislative season saw a record-breaking number of anti-LGBT bills filed across the country, many aimed at restricting the… Read More View the full article

Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS — More than a dozen faith leaders filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban, arguing state legislators acted based on their personal religious beliefs and violated the separation of church and state protected in Missouri’s Constitution. The faith leaders, from St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia, represent several Protestant and Jewish denominations. They partnered with the National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State in drafting the suit. “What these abortion restrictions do is enshrine into law the part… Read More View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Coach John Tortorella said on Thursday that he had spoken to defenseman Ivan Provorov “probably a week before the game” regarding his decision to not take part in warmups on Tuesday night to avoid wearing a Pride Night-themed jersey. General manager Chuck Fletcher was also involved in those conversations, Tortorella said. Additionally, Tortorella said he spoke to Flyers Pride Night ambassador Scott Laughton, who helped start an initiative to invite members of the LGBTQ+ community to Flyers games throughout the season. Per a league source, Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dave … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet United States Congressman George Santos (R-New York) became the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House of Representatives in the November 2022 midterms. But a newly surfaced video from 2020 shows Santos railing against children whose parents are the same gender. Speaking with right-wing commentator John Stubbins on his podcast, Indivisible, Santos – who has been outed as a fraud and pathological liar – said that schools should refrain from teaching kids about family diversity and declared that same-sex couples have destabilizing influences over a young person’s psycholo… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steven Grattan SAO PAULO (Reuters) -U.S. Representative George Santos competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants 15 years ago, two acquaintances told Reuters on Wednesday, adding to contrasts that have drawn criticism of the openly gay Republican congressman’s staunchly conservative views. The embattled freshman congressman has also faced calls from fellow New York Republicans to step down over fabrications about his career and history. A 58-year-old Brazilian performer, who uses the drag name Eula Rochard, said she befriended the now-congressman when he was cross-dressing in 2005 at the first gay pride parade in Niteroi, a Rio de Janeiro suburb. Three years later, Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant in Rio, Rochard said. Another person from Niteroi who knew the 34-year-old congressman but asked not to be named said he participated in drag queen beauty pageants and aspired to be Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro. The congressman said on Twitter on Thursday that claims “that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen” are “categorically false,” adding: “I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.” Santos is the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat in Congress as a non-incumbent, but has positioned himself as a staunch conservative on many social issues. He has backed Florida’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” law, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, leading critics to call it the “don’t say gay” law. Republicans are increasingly denouncing drag shows and performers, claiming they are harmful to children. Santos, responding in October to criticism of his support for the Florida law, told USA Today: “I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks.” Rochard said the congressman was a “poor” drag queen in 2005, with a simple black dress, but in 2008 “he came back to Niteroi with a lot of money,” and a flamboyant pink dress to show for it. Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant that year using the drag name Kitara Ravache but lost, Rochard said. “He’s changed a lot, but he was always a liar. He was always such a dreamer,” Rochard said. (Reporting by Steven Grattan; Editing by Brad Haynes, Heather Timmons, Edmund Klamann and Deepa Babington) View the full article

Published by Raw Story A day meant for reflecting on peace turned violent on Monday when an unidentified Chicago man went on a violent attack that apparently targeted the LGBTQ community at a bar in the Rogers Park neighborhood, reports local news station WGN 9. Right before 6 p.m. at R Public House restaurant, a man approached a man and a woman when they were leaving a vehicle and started screaming anti-homosexual comments and homophobic slurs. The unidentified man then suddenly walked away from the group. After the man and woman entered the restaurant together, the same unidentified man returned with a hammer and … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet A longtime Republican political aide in his 30’s is now suing Matt Schlappfor $9.4 million in a lawsuit that accuses the well-known head of the company that produces the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of “aggressively fondling” the man’s “genital area in a sustained fashion” while the two were alone in a car, The New York Times reports. The Daily Beast reports the staffer is suing “for battery, defamation, and conspiracy.” “In a letter, the staffer’s attorney, Tim Hyland of Hyland Law, called Schlapp a ‘sexual predator,’” The Daily Beast adds. “Mr. Schlapp has not direc… Read More View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Not long ago, John Tortorella would’ve benched a player for kneeling during the national anthem. These days, if you wear your homophobia like a Pride flag, you earn Tortorella’s respect. Oh, how far we’ve come. There will be some who will equate that asking Ivan Provorov to skate in a Pride-themed jersey Tuesday night was like forcing him to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016. That’s ridiculous, of course. Kneeling protested systemic racism aimed at Black men in the criminal justice system of the United States. Meanwhile, warming up in a jersey with rainbow numbers an… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Note language that may offend some readers in paragraph 17) By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prosecutor urged a jury on Wednesday to convict four members of the far-right Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy, saying they plotted to stop the U.S. Congress from certifying the 2020 election because they could not accept President Joe Biden’s victory. “The defendants could not let the election stand. They could not let Biden come to power,” federal prosecutor Louis Manzo told the jury. Thousands of supporters of Republican then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Democrat Biden’s victory. In closing arguments, Manzo pointed across the room to defendants Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo, and accused the men of upending America’s two-century record of “the routine peaceful transfer of power.” “Our democracy was under attack, but for these defendants, it was everything they trained for,” he said. Defense attorneys for the four deny that their clients hatched a plot to block the certification of the 2020 election, and have accused prosecutors of cherry-picking evidence to present what they called a misleading narrative. The closing arguments on Wednesday marked the end of the second major seditious conspiracy trial stemming from the attack. Four people died during the chaos and five police officers died afterwards, while about 140 officers were injured and the Capitol sustained millions of dollars in damage. The Oath Keeper members are accused of conspiring to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory. Seditious conspiracy is a rarely prosecuted Civil War-era statute that carries up to 20 years in prison if convicted. In November, a jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and a Florida chapter leader of seditious conspiracy, but acquitted three other Oath Keeper defendants of the charge. All five Oath Keepers in that case, however, were convicted of obstructing Congress from certifying the electoral votes – a charge that can also carry up to 20 years. A third seditious conspiracy trial against five members of the far-right Proud Boys group, including its former chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio – is underway in the same courthouse. In both Oath Keepers’ trials, Rhodes’ fiery rhetoric and inflammatory statements about “civil war” and “bloody war” took center stage, with prosecutors saying the other members were inspired to carry out his vision. Through his leadership, prosecutors said, some members of the group breached the Capitol clad in tactical gear, while others stood back with a stockpile of firearms stashed at a hotel in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Hackett, Minuta and Moerschel were among the members who physically entered the Capitol, while Vallejo is accused of helping to organize the Virginia weapons stockpile. None of the four held leadership roles in the group, though Minuta gained some attention for his role in providing security to Trump ally and Republican political operative Roger Stone. Prosecutors highlighted numerous inflammatory videos Minuta streamed of himself on social media on the day of the attack, including one in which he said: “You know what? Millions will die. So what? Get your fucking soul ready. Get right with God.” Minuta’s attorney William Shipley, in his closing arguments on Wednesday, acknowledged his client was acting “crazy” in the videos, but said they had nothing to do with Rhodes, and he accused the government of taking the evidence out of context. “This case is about a narrative in a sea of evidence,” he said. “But the evidence isn’t there.” (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Music, movie and sports superstars will come together as co-chairs of the 2023 Met Gala. Dua Lipa, Penelope Cruz, Michaela Cole and Roger Federer are this year’s selections for the glitzy, fashion-focused event in New York City paying tribute to designer Karl Lagerfeld, organizers announced Wednesday. The latest edition of the Metropolitan Museum fund-raising gala takes place May 1. The night’s Lagerfeld theme coincides with an exhibit, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” opening May 5 and featuring more than 150 of the designer’s original looks. The selection of Federer as a co-cha… Read More View the full article

Published by City AM By Adam Bloodworth George Takei’s most famously known from the original cast of Star Trek, but in recent years has been celebrated as an LGBTQ role model following his decision to come out in 2005 aged 68. It’s curious that Allegiance, the play Takei calls his “legacy” play, omits queer themes. But nevertheless, it’s a hammerblow critique on human rights violations of a different kind. Allegiance is about historical cases of racism from White US forces in the Second World War towards Japanese Americans. In the Second World War, residents of Japanese descent were taken from their homes and held… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Directly opposite the newly reopened Oscar Wilde House is a park containing a marble statue of the playwright with a famously two-faced expression – one side reflecting the author's seemingly frivolous nature, the other betraying a profound sadness beneath. Mareike Graepel/dpa The childhood home of Oscar Wilde is reopening to visitors in Dublin with its well-known tour paying tribute to the author’s biting wit and layered texts and telling the story of his demise under laws persecuting homosexuals. Closed for renovations until January, the Oscar Wilde House is once again taking up its position as a major literary landmark of Dublin, alongside the James Joyce Tower and Museum of Literature Ireland. The house located on Merrion Square 1, minutes from the National Gallery and popular shopping street of Grafton Street, was the home of Wilde and his parents, Jane and William Wilde, from 1855 onwards. Since the building also houses a college, during the winter study periods visitors can only see it on weekends as part of a 90-minute guided tour (€18). From the end of April to the beginning of September, you can visit the house without an appointment, according to the website. Directly opposite the Wilde home is a park containing a marble statue of the playwright with a famously two-faced expression – one side reflecting the author’s seemingly frivolous nature, the other betraying a profound sadness beneath. View the full article

Published by PsyPost A study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family sheds new light on the sociodemographic factors that make someone more likely to be estranged from a parent. Compared to heterosexual respondents, gay, lesbian, and bisexual respondents were more likely to be estranged from fathers. White respondents were more likely than participants of other races to be estranged from their mothers but less likely to be estranged from their fathers. Not all parent-child relationships are happy, and some children grow to be estranged from one or more parents as adults. Estrangement can mean no contact at… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Leroy Leo (Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday that it was pulling the plug on a late-stage global trial of an HIV vaccine after the shot was found ineffective at preventing infections. The trial’s failure marks yet another setback in the search for a vaccine against a virus known to mutate rapidly and find unique ways to evade the immune system, and comes more than a year after another of J&J’s HIV vaccine failed a study. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped for, unfortunately,” said a spokesperson for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a J&J partner in the trial. “The development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine has been a considerable scientific challenge, but we will learn from this study and continue forward.” The trial involved administering two different types of a shot, which uses a cold-causing virus to deliver the genetic code of HIV, spread over four vaccination visits in a year. J&J used similar technology for its COVID-19 vaccine. The study, which began in 2019, was conducted at over 50 sites and included about 3,900 gay men and transgender people – groups that are considered vulnerable to the infection. Another J&J partner, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), said the shot was being tested only on individuals who did not accept pre-exposure prophylaxis, a treatment to prevent infections.In 2021, around 650,000 people died from HIV-related causes while 1.5 million people acquired the infection, according to the World Health Organization.Various HIV vaccine candidates, including from Moderna Inc, HVTN and NIAID are currently under trial. While no HIV vaccine has successfully cleared trials so far, some drugs are used in high-risk groups and patients. Shares of J&J were down 1.3% at $170.14 in morning trade. (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Anil D’Silva) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Muvija M LONDON (Reuters) – The Church of England will refuse to allow same-sex couples to get married in its churches under proposals set out on Wednesday in which the centuries-old institution said it would stick to its teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman. The proposals were developed by bishops, who form one of three parts of the Church’s governing body known as the General Synod, after the Church of England’s six-year consultation on sexuality and marriage – among other subjects – and will be put to the General Synod at a meeting next month. The Church of England is central to the wider Anglican communion, which represents more than 85 million people in over 165 countries. “Same-sex couples would still not be able to get married in a Church of England church,” the statement said, confirming a BBC report overnight that bishops had refused to support a change in teaching to allow priests to marry gay couples. Under the proposals, same-sex couples could have a service in which there would be “prayers of dedication, thanksgiving or for God’s blessing on the couple” in church after a civil marriage. Gay marriage was legalised in Britain in 2013. Still, the prayers would be voluntary for clergy to use and could be used in combinations “reflecting the theological diversity of the Church”, the Church of England said, implying spiritual leaders could choose not to offer such blessings. “I am under no illusions that what we are proposing today will appear to go too far for some and not nearly far enough for others, but it is my hope that what we have agreed will be received in a spirit of generosity, seeking the common good,” said Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Separately, Church of England bishops will be issuing an apology later this week to LGBTQI+ people for the “rejection, exclusion and hostility” they have faced in churches, according to the statement. The Church of England, which was founded in 1534, has been divided for years on how to deal with same-sex marriages, with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists fighting for the same rights as heterosexual Christians. Seeking to address the contentious issue, Welby called on the bishops last year to “abound in love for all”, even as he backed the validity of a resolution passed in 1998 that rejected “homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture”. (This story has been refiled to fix a typographical error in paragraph 5) (Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by William James and Mark Heinrich) View the full article

Published by AlterNet Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is proposing legislation to ban all COVID-19 protection requirements in the state of Florida, even in private businesses, despite the state having far higher than average per-capita case and death rates. Florida ranks eighth in total coronavirus cases per capita and thirteenth in total coronavirus deaths per capita. DeSantis calls his state a “refuge of sanity” in a press release announcing his anti-protection proposals. The legislation DeSantis is urging would “prohibit vaccine and mask requirements in schools, masking requirements at businesses, and… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Bishops of the Church of England said Wednesday they will continue to refuse to perform same-sex marriages, reaffirming that “holy matrimony is between one man and one woman for life.” The announcement comes after a six-year period of “listening, learning and discernment” on issues related to sexuality, relationships and marriage. Under the proposals, which will be discussed in detail next month during the church’s national assembly, bishops urge all congregations to welcome same-sex couples “unreservedly and joyfully.” Described by church officials as a “historic plan,” the proposals will let… Read More View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by New York Daily News After much speculation and teasing on social media, Madonna drove her fans to ecstasy, announcing Tuesday morning that she’s going on a world tour to celebrate her 40-year career. The announcement came in an NSFW video, which was posted on her YouTube page. Featuring stars such as Jack Black, Dido, Meg Stalter and Judd Apatow, the five-minute clip recreated a scene from the singer’s groundbreaking 1991 documentary “Truth or Dare.” At the end of the video, Amy Schumer dares the Grammy-winning musician to do “a world tour and play your greatest motherf—ing hits.” “The answer is: ‘F— yeah,’” Mado… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) One of the biggest literary events of 2023 occurs today (17 January), when Bret Easton Ellis’ first novel in 13 years, ‘The Shards’, finally gets released. The American author best known for his controversial 1991 novel ‘American Psycho’ returns with a fictionalized memoir of his final year of high school in 1981 in Los Angeles – his first since ‘Imperial Bedrooms’ in 2010. The novel was first serialized by Ellis as a 27-part audiobook released between September 2020 and September 2021 through the “Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” on Patreon. Reviewing the audiobook for The Times in 2021, Theo Zenou… Read More View the full article