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Published by BANG Showbiz English Dan Aykroyd has promised a “heartfelt” new ‘Ghostbusters’ movie. The 70-year-old actor is set to reprise his role as Dr. Raymond Stantz in the untitled follow-up to the 2021 film ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ and is convinced that the project will be a hit with fans of the franchise when it is released in December. Speaking to the Metro newspaper, Dan – who created the supernatural franchise with the late Harold Ramis – said: “We’re three-quarters through filming which means it’s got to be edited and mixed and the CGI has to be put into it. “I’m excited about this one. It’s got a beautiful, heartfelt story, a great threat, some scary moments and it brings back Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray and myself and we’ve handed the torch to new people, Finn Wolfhard and Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon.” The ‘Blues Brothers’ star also waded into the debate about gay roles only being played by gay performers by reflecting on the quality of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon’s performances in the movie ‘Behind the Candelabra’. Dan said: “That was (director) Steven Soderbergh. The true-life story of (gay pianist) Liberace. “Weren’t Michael Douglas and Matt Damon perfect? If I were offered the part of a gay man, I would want to take it but what’s the view in the gay community? “Neither Matt or Michael are gay but they did a wonderful job. I think (only gay actors playing gay roles) is an invalid argument.” Dan previously urged comedians not to turn to “divisive” jokes in order to get laughs. Discussing cancel culture, he said: “There is enough range in humour where you don’t have to go scatological and you don’t have to go pulling any divisive cards to get a laugh. “There is so much in the world to comment on that is outside the realm of offensiveness.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Miriam Margolyes says living apart is the key to her successful 54-year relationship. The 82-year-old ‘Harry Potter’ star has been with her partner Heather Sutherland, 80, since they met while working on a BBC radio drama together in the late 1960s and the romance is still going strong all more than five decades later – and Miriam says the secret to their success is maintaining independent lives. In an interview with British Vogue magazine, she explained: “We were able to lead our lives without diminishing them. I didn’t want her to have to give up anything. And I didn’t want to give up anything. I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat it too. And so far, it’s worked.” She revealed the couple has never lived together, but they have entered into a civil partnership, adding it is “mostly for legal protection”. However, Miriam insists they have no plans to officially marry because she doesn’t like the idea of calling Heather her “wife”. She went on to add: “Gay people have the luck to be able to fashion the relationship they want. It’s much more flexible for us. I think we have more freedom than [straight people] do. Particularly gay boys, they’re always f****** everything. It’s amazing. I don’t know how they get away with it. “I think gay people are very lucky, because we are not conventional, we are a group slightly apart. It gives us an edge. We’re good artists, we’re good musicians.” Miriam stripped off for the magazine’s annual Pride issue – posing naked using a selection of iced buns to cover her privates. She also talked about her body image issues, confessing: “I like my face. I think my face is kind and warm and open and smiley. But I hate my body. I hate big t*** (and) a drooping belly, little twisted legs. I’m not thrilled with that. But you just make the best of it. You have to. You do the best you can.” View the full article

Published by Al-Araby While LGBTQ+ Israeliscelebrate Pride Month this June, Palestinians across the occupied territories continue to suffer the injustice and violence of the occupation. In 2023 alone, Israel has already killed more than 160 Palestinians. In Israel, LGBTQ+ Pride Month has long been a strategy – dubbed “pinkwashing” – to mask the horrors of the occupation. The state’s celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and the excess of publicity that comes with it serve to create a false image of Israel as a democratic and liberal nation. This year, the Israeli government is contradicting this LGBTQ+-friendly image mo… Read More View the full article

Published by The Sacramento Bee Chino Valley Unified School District staff would be required to out transgender children to their parents or guardians, under a proposal being considered by the school board Thursday. If approved, that policy would put the school district at direct odds with the California Department of Education, which has issued guidance to school districts to protect the privacy of transgender students who may not be out at home. A spokeswoman for the CDE said that the department stands by its guidance, “which promotes the goals of reducing the stigmatization of and improving the educational integration of … Read More View the full article

Published by Grazia USA Every issue, GRAZIA USA highlights Game Changers who inspire, educate, and celebrate individuality, beauty and style. Meet Éva Goicochea, the entrepreneur who is revolutionizing the sexual wellness industry with her brand, maude. For too long, sexual health has been marginalized in mainstream discussions wellness. However, maude, an innovative brand dedicated to inclusivity, accessibility and education, has emerged as a catalyst for change in an industry long overdue for transformation. Maude’s founder and CEO, Éva Goicochea, envisions sexual wellness as an essential part of overall well-bei… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) First woman French football player to sign a professional contract, record-breaking scorer of the French national team with 81 goals in 112 matches, LGBTQ+ icon… Marinette Pichon is nothing short of a sports legend. Her life is now the subject of Virginie Verrier’s biopic, Marinette, which came out in theatres in France on 7 June and recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the US. The release was set at a timely moment, about a month before the start of the Women’s World Cup in July. Garance Marillier (Raw, Titane) plays the football star, who has dedicated much of her life to pro… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Melissa Etheridge is set to make her Broadway debut this fall. The Grammy and Academy Award winning rock musician, known for hits such as “Come To My Window” and “I’m The Only One,” will star in a solo autobiographical show, “Melissa Etheridge: My Window.” Directed by Amy Tinkham, the production, written by Etheridge and her wife, Linda Wallem-Etheridge, is scheduled for a limited nine-week residency at the Circle in the Square Theatre beginning Sept. 14. Tickets are now on sale. Etheridge, 62, joined pop music legend Barry Manilow onstage at Sunday’s star-studded 74th Annual Tony A… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Gender-affirming treatments like reassignment surgery and hormone therapy will now be protected under an executive order Mayor Adams signed Monday. The order prohibits city resources to be used to detain people who provide lawful gender-affirming care and forbids the city from cooperating with out-of-state investigations premised on gender-affirming treatments that are legal in New York State, but unlawful in other jurisdictions. “This executive order reaffirms the fact that hate has no place in our city and that all people deserve the right to gender-affirming care and protection a… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Three people destroyed gay pride rainbow flags flying in a park outside the Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar where an NYPD raid in 1969 sparked the gay rights movement. The vandalism happened at 3:10 a.m. on Sunday as the three men were walking past the Stonewall National Monument in Christopher Park on Christopher St. They broke a number of flags displayed on a fence, then took off, heading east on Waverly Place. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident, which comes as the city celebrates Pride Month. The Stonewall is considered the birthplace of the ga… Read More View the full article

Published by Fort Worth Star-Telegram FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Monday that prohibits “sexually explicit material” in public school libraries, but said more work is needed from lawmakers on education-related legislation. In the past couple years, debates have played out in Texas districts over whether certain books are appropriate for school libraries and the role parents should play in monitoring reading material. The new Texas law requires the Texas State Library and Archives Commissionto create mandatory standards for school libraries, that includes a ban on material that is “sexually explicit.” “… Read More View the full article

Published by Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO, Fla. — Silence swept the Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando on Monday night as attendees bowed their heads to remember the 49 lives lost on June 12, 2016 — a date ingrained in history as one of the nation’s worst mass shootings. In observance of the passage of seven years since the Pulse killings, hundreds gathered to pay their respects. At the start of the ceremony, the Orlando Gay Chorus and Adrian Toca performed the song “Rise Up” in honor of the victims and all who survived, as well as the first responders, community organizers an… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Nikola Eterovic, Apostolic Nuncio in Germany, comes to the annual reception of the Federation of Expellees (BdV) in the Catholic Academy. Queer Catholics have criticized the Vatican's ambassador to Germany for remarks he made during a pilgrimage to the western city of Aachen. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa Queer Catholics have criticized the Vatican’s ambassador to Germany for remarks he made during a pilgrimage to the western city of Aachen. “The Catholic LGBT+ Committee is appalled that the Catholic Church is once again getting dangerously close to right-wing populist forces that construct gender diversity as an attack on the family instead of recognizing different ways of life and relationships,” Markus Gutfleisch, co-spokesman of the Catholic LGBT+ Committee, said on Tuesday. LGBT+ is an abbreviation for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and wider queer community. Apostolic Nuncio Nikola Eterović, the diplomatic representative of the Holy See in Berlin, quoted Pope Francis in a sermon at the Aachen pilgrimage last Sunday as saying that human beings have a nature “that they cannot manipulate at will.” He went on to quote the pope as saying, “Precisely for this reason, the attitude of one who claims to erase the difference between the sexes is not healthy.” Eterović himself stressed that “the Catholic Church has always proclaimed this doctrine in fidelity to the Lord and has withstood old and new attacks on the family, which is the original cell of Church and society.” Gutfleisch said that Pope Francis had also made very different, appreciative statements. Eterović, however, deliberately singled out heterosexual marriage as the only permissible form of relationship, he said. Moreover, he said, the nuncio had made no recognizable reference to the pilgrimage. View the full article

Published by Raw Story Two Canadian moms say their 9-year-old daughter was competing in a shot-put final at a track and field event when the grandfather of one of the other participants started yelling at her, Castanet reported. “She went to step up to compete for the grade four shot-put final, and right before she went to throw, a grandfather of a student said, ‘Hey, this is supposed to be a girls’ event, and why are you letting boys compete.’ My daughter is cisgender, born female, uses she/her pronouns. She has a pixie haircut,” said mom Heidi Star. “He stopped the entire event. He also pointed at another girl who… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Idina Menzel “wouldn’t be where she is” had it not been for her gay fans. The 52-year-old actress won a Tony Award for originating the role of misunderstood green girl Elphaba in the smash-hit Broadway musical ‘Wicked’ in 2003 and achieved even wider fame when she voiced the role of Elsa in 2013 Disney movie ‘Frozen’ and explained that she can resonate with her gay fans upon the release of her disco-inspired track ‘Move’. She told Billboard: “I think it might be something people didn’t expect of me but once they hear it I think they’ll think that it’s a pretty organic transition. Big voices, great disco grooves. My life is synonymous with all queer-inspired stories. “It’s about having to find my self-esteem and empower myself to get up every day and believe in who I am and live my life authentically, that’s honestly what I learned from all my friends in the gay community and I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t learned to conduct myself in this world if it wasn’t for them. “ The ‘Enchanted’ star went on to add that she is “flattered” when drag queens take on her famous songs such as ‘Let It Go’ # and finds herself “sad and angry” at the prejudice surrounding certain communities as she noted that her fanbase is like “one big family”. She added: “I’m always so flattered, especially when someone is doing one of my characters. I’m just so inspired by the creativity, the artistry. I’m really sad and angry about everything that’s going on and all the legislation. “I don’t mean to pat myself on the back but I’ve had one really cool job every decade; I’ve grown up with my fans and their kids now watch ‘Frozen’ or Wicked’ and there’s something about that that just feels like we’re all one big family. It’s important for me to originate roles in the theatre so I always feel that a lot of people in the theatre should feel that way to. What makes them special is that unique thing and you can’t always emulate or copy other people, you just have to wait and keep being yourself and trust in that, then the right job will find you. Meanwhile, Idina even teased that a return to The Great White Way could be on the cards. She said: “Of course, I’d go back to Broadway, it’s where I got my start! I’m working on some things!” View the full article

Published by Relaxnews By MICHELE SPATARI / AFP Deep in South Africa’s semi-desert Karoo region, a glittery drag show in an old hilltop hotel brings a burst of weekly excitement to a sleepy conservative town. Deep in South Africa’s semi-desert Karoo region, a glittery drag show in an old hilltop hotel brings a burst of weekly excitement to a sleepy conservative town. Every Saturday night, Mark Hinds and Jacques Rabie, the owners of the Karoo Theatrical Hotel, amaze their guests with a night-long cabaret and drag show in the small town of Steytlerville in the Eastern Cape. The show, called “The Steytlerville Follies”… Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — After spending six hours handing out merch at the new Malibu Barbie Cafe pop-up in the West Loop, 18-year-old Keni Adekeye stood among the sea of hot-pink clad fans, wrapping up her first shift. A decade ago, Adekeye burned through Barbie movies at a rapid pace as a Nigerian daughter of a DVD seller. As a kid, she had no idea how far the character’s reach extended — only that she loved her adventures and can-do attitude. Now, on a warm June evening, she stood in the midst of a Barbie Dream House come to life. “This place does not feel real,” Adekeye said. “I’m coming off the Red Line… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Elliot Page, the Hollywood star who came out as transgender in 2020 after becoming world-famous in films like "Juno" and "Inception", is sharing his emotional journey in his first book. Kevin Sullivan/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa On the cover of his autobiography “Pageboy,” Elliot Page is shown wearing a fine-ribbed undershirt, jeans and a necklace. His hair is short; he looks self-confidently straight into the camera. The Canadian actor’s first book went on sale in early June. In 29 chapters and more than 300 pages, Page movingly tells his life story, a story of shame, trauma and self-discovery. Page, now 36, first achieved fame with the dramatic comedy “Juno” in 2007, playing a pregnant teenage schoolgirl. The film gained him an Oscar nomination for best actress in a leading role. Afterwards, his career took off in Hollywood, with roles in “Inception,” “To Rome with Love,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and “The Umbrella Academy.” But increasingly in the Hollywood spotlight, Page had to conceal his sexuality and his rejection of his own body – that of a woman – with feelings accompanied by depression, panic attacks and eating disorders. At the age of four, he knew he was not a girl Page writes that he often had had the idea of writing a book, but it is only now, after his top surgery – the procedure to remove breast tissue to achieve a more masculine shape – does he feel right in his own body and able to manage the task. His story is one that is all the more urgent, given how transgender persons are increasingly victims of physical violence and hostility. By telling it, Page hopes to contribute towards “clearing up persistent misinformation about queer and trans life.” It was already at the age of four that he instinctively knew that he was not a girl. One of his earliest childhood memories as Ellen is that of trying to urinate standing up, like a boy. “I would press on my vagina, holding it, pinching and squeezing it, hoping I could aim,” he wrote. “Can I be a boy?” he would ask his mother. He fought to keep his hair short. He felt terrible wearing a dress. The battle against his own body Page describes growing up in the port city of Halifax. At an early age, his parents divorced. He got crushes on girls in school, where classmates bullied him, calling him a lesbian. Following the success of “Juno” when he had just turned 20, newspapers began to speculate about his sexual orientation. Then there was the pressure from Hollywood to conceal his queer side for the sake of his career. In emotional terms Page describes the trauma of battling against his own body, scarcely eating and cutting himself with knives. Then, in 2014, Page outed himself at a youth conference of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest organisation representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States. He said he no longer wished to hide and lie about himself. In “Pageboy” the actor said his move was one of the “most important and healing moments” of his life. He was “not quite at the end of my road yet, but quite a few steps further.” Page is unsparing in lurid and painful details of his experiences along that road. In a chapter titled “Famous Asshole at Party,” he tells of an incident in 2014 shortly after coming out as lesbian, when a famous A-list actor told him: “You aren’t gay. That doesn’t exist. You are just afraid of men.” And then the threat: “I’m going to fuck you to make you realize you aren’t gay.” Page did not identify the actor, but the incident was witnessed by others at the party. A few days later, he ran into the actor, who claimed he didn’t “have a problem” with gays. To which Page replied: “I think you might.” For Page, such incidents show the battles that transgender people have to face. “The world tells us that we aren’t trans but mentally ill,” he writes. “That I’m too ashamed to be a lesbian, that I mutilated my body, that I will always be a woman, comparing my body to Nazi experiments. It is not trans people who suffer from a sickness, but the society that fosters such hate.” The result of a “damn long journey” Page writes about love and his marriage to the dancer Emma Portner, and the end of the marriage three years later, shortly after his coming out as the transgender man Elliot. That was in December 2020 when he told social media that he wanted to be addressed in the masculine pronouns “he” and the gender-neutral “they.” Embracing his trans-identity had been the result of a “damn long journey” in which “I made the decision to love myself.” Page doesn’t leave out any details in the book: from the gender reassignment breast surgery, the tubes in his body afterwards, testosterone injections, the joy he felt seeing the first photo of himself only in red swimming trunks. “You can’t grin wider,” he writes, while describing the snapshot with the scars still visible on his upper body. Posting the photo in May 2021 on Instagram he wrote: “Trans bb’s first swim trunks” – adding the hashtags #transjoy and #transisbeautiful. Summing up his own account of embracing his transgender identity, Page wrote: “This is the story of someone who finds himself – amidst obstacles, shame, hopelessness, and pain. Who emerges from it and blossoms in ways he never thought possible.” View the full article

Published by Raw Story Former President Donald Trump’s immediate challenge is to find a legal team willing to represent him on federal charges involving his stashing highly classified military documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, conservative attorney George Conway told Molly Jong-Fast on the latest edition of the “Fast Politics” podcast. “So, I want to ask you, as we are now in this sort of — the indictment is out, people have read it, it’s 47 pages,” said Jong-Fast. “Tuesday, he will go into the courthouse in Miami.” “Arraigned,” said Conway. “He’ll plead not guilty.” “Arraigned,” echoed Jong-Fast. “He’ll go in wit… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lil Nas X loves a ‘Euphoria’ beauty look. The ‘Montero’ hitmaker admitted he isn’t a “big makeup girl” but enjoys taking inspiration from the HBO teen drama – which stars Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie and Maude Apatow when it comes – to get a “glossy finish”. The 24-year-old rapper told Allure magazine: “I’m not a super huge makeup girl, but I like to put some shine or glitter around my eyes. I can’t think of a specific product right now, but that’s my go-to. It’s more of a smear with the finger, like a ‘Euphoria’ vibe. [I like] a glossy finish over the face, accentuating the lips.” Lil Nas – whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill -revealed that his “favourite feature” is his pout so loves to sport the YSL Beauty Candy Glaze Gloss. He said: “My favorite feature of my face is probably definitely my lips. They were the parts of my face that I hated the most growing up. And as I grew up into my teen years, I learned more and more to love them and how great it is to have them. I like to keep a shine on my lips. I like to keep them moisturized. Lately, I’ve been trying out the [YSL Beauty] Candy Glaze Lip Gloss.” The Grammy Award winner spilled about he felt “at the absolute peak” of his confidence at the moment. He said: “Absolutely. For one, I feel like I am at the absolute peak of my self love right now, in terms of loving how I am, accepting how I look, and also just seeing the beauty in myself. Growing up, I didn’t see many people like me being considered beautiful or handsome and whatnot, and able to be in certain spaces and places that I am now. I feel like being here has changed that for me. And hopefully, it’s changing it for a lot of young people that are watching me.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jane Fonda is taking an 18-month acting break due to the 2024 presidential election. The 85-year-old actress is known for her political activism and she plans to make that her focus for the foreseeable future, concentrating specifically on trying to get people who support taking action against climate change into office. Jane made the admission during a 30-minute on-stage interview with Robin Roberts at the Tribeca Film Festival after being honoured with the Harry Belafonte Voices For Social Justice Award. She said: “Let’s get rid of the Joe Manchin’s. We need to try to light a fire under Biden and look, we have to vote for him, ok? We have got to get really mad at him and we have to try to demand that he earn our votes. But I mean, let’s be real because the alternative is the end of everything.” But the ‘Grace and Frankie’ star insisted she had never been interested in running for office herself. She said: “One thing about getting old is that you start to get a little smart about what your strong suits are. And that’s not one of them. I’m a cheerleader.” She jokingly added: “I don’t have any original ideas. I’m the one who takes your ideas and then I get credit for it.” The Oscar-winning star insisted it is “up to us” to make changes to tackle the climate crisis because it will be “too late” for the next generation. She said: “We are animals, let us not forget. We depend on the ocean and the forests for oxygen, for food. I mean, even dogs don’t s*** in their own kennel. And we’re in our kennel and taking a lot down with us in the process. We have to stop it. It’s all connected. “Those of us who are alive right now in this decade, it’s up to us (to make a change) because when we go it’ll be too late. We’re the ones who can make the difference. Let’s not, when history is written, be the ones that were staying at home and rearranging the china.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump has become the most high-profile person to ever face criminal charges under the Espionage Act for the unlawful retention of sensitive national defense records. In all, Trump faces 37 criminal counts, 31 of which relate to secret or top secret classified documents. He is also charged with obstructing justice, conspiracy, concealment and false statements. WHAT IS THE ESPIONAGE ACT? The Espionage Act is an anti-spy law enacted by Congress shortly after the start of World War One. The statute criminalizes a broad array of conduct related to the mishandling of sensitive government records connected to the “national defense,” a term generally referring to military records that if disclosed could damage U.S. national security. Over the years, the law has been used as a legal tool by the Justice Department to prosecute people ranging from suspected Soviet spies to famous whistleblowers like Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, and Edward Snowden, a former intelligence consultant who leaked classified National Security Agency records to reveal the existence of a domestic surveillance program. During the Obama and Trump administrations, some of the Justice Department’s most high-profile Espionage Act prosecutions targeted government employees who leaked classified information to the press or to the website Wikileaks, such as former Army Private First Class intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and former intelligence contractor Reality Winner. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, though President Barack Obama later commuted her sentence, while Winner was sentenced to more than five years after she admitted to leaking a top secret report on Russian interference in U.S. elections to the media outlet The Intercept. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has also been charged under the Espionage Act, and is fighting extradition to the United States. HOW DOES THE ESPIONAGE ACT APPLY TO TRUMP? Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office filed charges against Trump after the FBI searched the Florida resort where he lives in August 2022 and located about 13,000 government records, about 100 of which were marked as secret or top secret — the highest classification level, reserved for the government’s most closely-held secrets. Altogether, prosecutors say he improperly retained 337 classified records. Trump has previously denied breaking the law, arguing that he declassified the records in question and that his broad presidential powers gave him the authority to disclose or declassify materials. However, the Espionage Act itself does not explicitly require prosecutors to prove that the records themselves were classified, and neither Trump nor his attorneys have provided any evidence to suggest they were ever declassified. Prosecutors have charged Trump with violating a section in the Espionage Act which applies to someone who has “unauthorized possession” of national defense information — the same crime to which Winner pleaded guilty. This section of the law makes it a crime to willfully retain the information and fail to deliver it back to the proper U.S. government official. WHAT WILL PROSECUTORS HAVE TO PROVE TO A JURY? To obtain a conviction against Trump, the government will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he willfully retained the material and failed to turn it over to the government. Prosecutors do not need to show that Trump knew it was national defense information, but rather that a reasonable person should have known it was. Part of the government’s evidence will likely entail laying out all the steps it took to get the records returned. This includes a year-long effort by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, which repeatedly reached out to Trump through his attorneys to request that he return missing records. While Trump finally agreed to send the Archives 15 boxes of material a year after leaving the White House, some of those records were marked as classified, and the boxes did not include all of the records in his possession. Even after the Justice Department tried to retrieve the remaining records with a subpoena, Trump only handed over an additional 38 pages marked as classified. It took a court-approved search warrant before the FBI was able to retrieve the bulk of the records that remained. The government will also present evidence from Trump’s own attorney, who was compelled to testify to a grand jury about his communications with Trump. The indictment alleges Trump tried to get his own attorney to lie to the government about the existence of the records, even going so far as to ask the attorney to destroy or hide them. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by Socialite Life Hello, hello, hello! We are back with your weekly round-up of all things drag. This week, the season eight All Stars showcased their pipes and acting skills in the eagerly awaited Rusical challenge and delivered a fashionable tribute to a musical icon. We also meet the judges of the new Hulu series Drag Me to Dinner, which pits your favorite teams of queens against each other in a culinary and entertaining competition as well as the queens competing on the next season of Drag Race France. In addition, we get a little Pride history lesson from Willam, wig wizardry from Trixie, new music from Ma… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Vladimir Putin “loves” Sir Elton John’s music. The warmongering Russian president, 70, sends his best wishes to the ‘Rocket Man’ singer, 76, on his birthday on WhatsApp, despite his nation’s persecution of the LGBTQ+ community. Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, 60, told The Guardian about Putin’s messages: “Every March 25, I get a WhatsApp message from the Russian health minister saying: ‘I just want to wish Elton happy birthday and we wish him all the best and love his music so much.’ “So, it is this strange paradox. “There’s nothing in it for them to send me a WhatsApp on Elton’s birthday. “They’ve done it a couple of birthdays in a row.” David, who has children Zachary, 13, and Elijah, 10, with Elton, also joked: “I always make sure if there’s an attachment, I never open it.” And referencing the hacking of the Amazon founder’s phone courtesy of a WhatsApp from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, he added: “I don’t want to end up like Jeff Bezos.” David also told how Putin once rang their home landline to apologise to the singer after a pair of pranksters had called pretending to be the Russian leader in 2015. He said: “Putin himself was so appalled by this that he wanted to ring up personally to say, ‘I’m sorry this happened.’ “I remember the call coming in – the whole house froze. Vladimir Putin’s phoning the landline in your house. Perfect English. “He just said, ‘I’m sorry that someone phoned you up and pretended to be me because you don’t deserve to be, you know, pranked or treated like that. And I hear you would like to sit down and meet and talk with me one day. I would welcome that, I would love to talk to you.’” Elton has attacked Putin over his 2019 claim Russia had “no problem” with LGBTQ+ people, hitting out in a series of tweets that said: “Dear President Putin, I was deeply upset when I read your recent interview in the Financial Times. “I strongly disagree with your view that pursuing policies that embrace multicultural and sexual diversity are obsolete in our societies. “I find duplicity in your comment that you want LGBT people to ‘be happy’ and that ‘we have no problem in that’. “Yet Russian distributors chose to heavily censor my film ‘Rocketman’ by removing all references to my finding true happiness through my 25-year relationship with David and the raising of my two beautiful sons. “This feels like hypocrisy to me. I am proud to live in a part of the world where our governments have evolved to recognise the universal human right to love whoever we want. “And I’m truly grateful for the advancement in government policies that have allowed and legally supported my marriage to David. “This has brought us both tremendous comfort and happiness.” View the full article

Published by The Spun By Andrew Holleran Former United States president Donald Trump, who is set on running again in 2024, has weighed in on the debate surrounding transgender athletes. Trump has vowed to be stricter on transgender athlete participation in sports if he’s made president again. “I will keep men out of women’s sports,” Trump told supporters at the North Carolina Republican Party’s convention, according to Fox News. “Some women are being badly injured by the windburn that’s caused by the man going so much faster. The wind is blowing. It’s just terrible. It’s so unfair.” Transgender athlete participatio… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Christina Anagnostopoulos (Reuters) – Millions of LGBTQ Americans are taking part in this year’s Pride celebrations against a backdrop of increasing attacks, both online and offline. The rising demonstrations, legal efforts to restrict LGBTQ rights and political rhetoric inflaming national conversations around issues like drag shows and transgender healthcare may be fueling each other, two researchers told Reuters. Jay Ulfelder, a political and data scientist at Harvard University, has been tracking anti-LGBTQ demonstrations since 2017. The data shows a clear increase in events beginning in 2022, about 30-fold compared to 2017. Right wing protests were almost four times as likely in the last year and half to include anti-LGBTQ narratives than when counting began. Jen Kuhn of Kaleidoscope, a queer youth organization in Columbus, Ohio, said it felt “surreal” when neo-Nazis showed up at an April fundraiser waving swastikas and a sign reading, “there will be blood.” She said the subsequent support from the local community makes her even more committed to celebrating Pride, albeit with a heightened sense of caution and new security protocols. LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD has already recorded eight instances of 2023 Pride events that had to modify their plans due to threats of violence by June 1, said spokesperson Angela Dallara. Half of them are in Florida, where event organizers have increased security this year. At least three people were arrested on Tuesday when violence broke out outside a school district meeting discussing LGBTQ inclusivity in Glendale, California. Asked about the threat level during Pride month, an FBI spokesperson said the agency urged people to be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activity. Legal moves to restrict LGBTQ rights are also on the rise. The ACLU has tracked 491 anti-LGBTQ bills in the 2023 state legislatures, a record high for the last century. There has been a Republican-led effort to limit drag in at least 15 states in recent months. And in Florida this year, education officials extended Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2022 initiative limiting LGBTQ discussion in school through the third grade, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, to now cover all public school grades. The 2024 presidential candidate has put culture war issues front and center, exemplified by this bill. Proponents of the bill argue that only parents should decide when to discuss subjects like sexuality or gender identity with children, while critics say it will further marginalize, endanger and silence LGBTQ students. Online, slurs like “groomer” – a trope that LGBTQ people are “child groomers” or pedophiles – have traveled from the fringe into mainstream discourse. A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Human Rights Campaign last year found a 406% surge in “grooming” tweets in the month after the “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in March 2022. CCDH data covering May 2021 to May 2023 seen by Reuters shows the narrative was rare prior to the bill’s passage. Ilan Meyer, a UCLA scholar who is a leading expert on LGBTQ mental health stressors, said it’s frightening to see a resurgence of old, false narratives, like gay people harming children. “If you tell people that a group is going to hurt your children, that gives them a license to be violent.” Proving causality between the online and offline attacks is difficult, cautioned Joel Day, research director at a Princeton University initiative that tracks political violence nationally, but the online and offline do mutually reinforce each other. “An event, like the ‘Don’t Say Gay bill,’ can increase the online chatter. And the chatter can increase the likelihood of such bills.” The harmful effects of online and offline assaults can’t be disentangled, said Kimberly Balsam, a psychology professor and LGBTQ-focused researcher at Palo Alto University. Brigitte Bandit, a full-time drag performer in Austin, Texas, said she’s never experienced as much online hostility toward drag as in the last year. Bandit says the clothing she uses at events for children is different to 21-and-over shows, but her social media feed is filled with accounts sharing risqué photos of her alongside claims that she’s dangerous to children. “They’re struggling to find anything on me, so they manipulate my image to post about this and make it seem like I’m somebody I’m not,” said Bandit, who has tweeted photos of herself in age-appropriate clothing at family events in response to the posts targeting her. For Bandit, the current atmosphere feels like “we’re getting down to ‘Pride at its roots,” noting that Pride began as a yearly commemoration of the Stonewall riots that broke out in New York City after police stormed a gay bar in June 1969. “We need to realize we make Pride for ourselves,” Bandit said. (Reporting by Christina Anagnostopoulos; editing by Claudia Parsons) View the full article