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Radar Online Mega Fox News host Tucker Carlson is “deeply concerned” a number of text messages between him and Alex Jones may soon leak to the public, Radar has learned.
The shocking development comes just hours after nearly two years’ worth of messages from Jones’ phone were obtained by the January 6 House Select Committee investigating last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
Mega According to a report, Carlson is worried because he and the 48-year-old conspiracy theorist purportedly exchange text messages on a daily basis.
Two people close to both Carlson and Jones also revealed the 53-year-old Fox News host is worried the text messages might leak because the content within the messages is reportedly “highly embarrassing.”
Besides exchanging text messages every day, Carlson and Jones are also reportedly good friends – with Carlson not only regularly appearing on The Alex Jones Show but also supplying puff pieces and blurbs for Jones’ conspiracy-ridden writings.
“Maybe Alex Jones is onto something,” Carlson recently wrote in a blurb for Jones’ upcoming book, The Great Reset: And the War for the World. “Read this book and decide for yourself who’s crazy.”
Mega Carlson has also praised Jones’ “unhinged rhetoric” and once said that Jones “was more talented than [Carlson] was.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Jan. 6 committee obtained two years’ worth of Jones’ text messages on Monday after his lawyer, Federico Andino Reynal, accidentally sent the messages to Mark Bankston.
At the time, Bankston represented two parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting who sued Jones for defamation after Jones repeatedly claimed the shooting was a “hoax.”
Bankston revealed on Monday that he was “cooperating with the committee” in connection to the cache of messages and emails, and a source also confirmed on Monday that the messages were successfully in possession of the Jan. 6 House committee.
Mega Although Bankston has not revealed exactly when the messages were sent, who Jones was in correspondence with and what material the messages contained, he previously claimed the texts included “intimate messages” between Jones and Roger Stone, as well as between Jones and a prominent politician.
Jones also testified before the Jan. 6 committee earlier this year, but the committee is hoping information found on the newly obtained phone may provide more evidence in connection to Jones’ alleged “central role” in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

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Reuters By Jonathan Allen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A long overlooked co-defendant of the Central Park Five, a group of Black and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white woman jogger in 1989 based on false confessions, was exonerated of a related conviction by a New York judge on Monday.
Steven Lopez was 15 when he was first named in the indictment along with other Black and Latino teenagers for the night-time rape and attempted murder of Trisha Meili, an investment banker whose horrific injuries became the subject of sensationalist media coverage.
Lopez later pleaded guilty to robbing a male jogger that same night in a deal with prosecutors that saw the charges alleging his involvement in the attack on Meili dropped, and was sentenced to between 1-1/2 and 4-1/2 years in a state prison.
On Monday, Judge Ellen Biben of the New York State Supreme Court agreed to a motion by Manhattan’s chief prosecutor and a lawyer representing Lopez to vacate the plea entered by Lopez when he was 17 years old, ruling that it was involuntary, unconstitutional and based in part on false witness statements.
“What happened to you was a profound injustice and an American injustice,” Eric Shapiro Lopez, a defense lawyer who was not yet born when his client was indicted, said in remarks to Lopez before the court. “They say justice delayed is justice denied and I’m sorry we’ve had to wait for 30 years.” Lopez, whose long beard is now graying, appeared to have tears in his eyes.
Meili was beaten and left for dead. The attack was seized upon by local media as an emblem of soaring crime rates in New York City in the 1980s. News stories frequently referred to the boys arrested by the New York Police Department as animals.
Decades before he would become president of the United States, Donald Trump, then a prominent real-estate developer, took out full-page advertisements in city newspapers calling for the boys to be executed.
Later, the five boys convicted at trial were exonerated when the true attacker confessed and was linked to the crime by DNA evidence. The case became a watchword for judicial overreach, racial profiling by both law enforcement and news outlets and the malpractice of police officers forcing confessions from innocent people.
Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam, now known as the Exonerated Five, spent years in prison. They brought a lawsuit against the city, which was settled for $41 million in 2014.
Lopez was not part of that lawsuit, and his story has often been overlooked in coverage of the exoneration of his former co-defendants.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told the court that there was no physical evidence linking Lopez to the attacks on either joggers, and that the witness statements naming him had been recanted.
That, coupled with Lopez’s youth at the time, made the plea involuntary, Bragg told the court.
“Mr. Lopez, we wish you peace and healing,” the judge said after dismissing the indictment.
“Thank you,” Lopez replied, his only remarks in court.
“It is so ordered,” the judge said, as Lopez rose to shake the chief prosecutor’s hand.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)

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BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley will be “really sad” when he eventually quits diving.
While the 28-year-old sports star currently has his sights set on the 2024 Olympics in Paris, he knows retirement is inevitable and is already looking ahead to his future.
He said: “I love diving and the moment I choose to stop is going to be really sad. It’s only two years until the Olympics in Paris. It is a short cycle. It has been weird watching the World Championship scores and comparing them to what I’ve done in the past. The score I got for bronze in Tokyo was 40 points more than the gold medal score.”
However, Tom’s current break from competing has allowed him to spend more time with his husband Dustin Lance Black, 48, and their four-year-old son Robbie, along with focusing on his other passions.
He told Big Issue magazine: “But it has been nice to set different goals this year. I spend three nights in Pakistan, three nights in Jamaica but otherwise, I’ve just been with Robbie and Lance and it’s been so special.
“Between my family, knitting and fighting for LGBT rights this year has been really nice. My priorities and perspectives have been massively shifted in terms of what matters most. I feel like I’m going to look back at this as one of the most important years of my life and the one where I really started to be active in the movement.”
Meanwhile, the diver acknowledged that no person’s coming out story is the same as anyone else’s.
He said: “There’s no one size fits all. My big advice is making sure you come out in your own time and that it has to be safe. And just being able to be yourself with one person is better than never being able to be yourself with anyone.
“I came out back in December 2013. Initially I was just doing it because I didn’t want to feel like I had to hide any more. Since then, I mean, I’ve been married for five years, I’ve got a son that starts school in September, it’s all gone very quickly.”

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BANG Showbiz English Jennifer Coolidge got “a lot of sexual action” after starring in ‘American Pie.’
The 60-year-old actress took on the role of Jeanine Stifler – known as the ‘MILF’ or ‘Stifler’s Mom’ – in the 1999 coming-of-age comedy and joked that she has slept with hundreds of people since playing the part.
She said: “I was so happy for ‘American Pie’ and the MILF thing. I got a lot out of being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from ‘American Pie.’ There were so many benefits to doing that movie. There would be like 200 people that I would never have slept with [had I not done it!]”
Meanwhile, the ‘White Lotus’ star is also known for playing manicurist Paulette Bonafonte in the ‘Legally Blonde’ movies opposite Reese Witherspoon and has to deal with fans coming up to her to do impressions of her ditsy character’s famous line.
In ‘Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde’, Paulette says: “Oh my God, you look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad.”
Jennifer told Variety: “All day long and all night. Y’know, just so many people like say it on a plane, for f**** sake! It’s exhausting, this hot dog story! But I have to go with it. I have to go with it and say ‘Oh my God, you sound just like me when you say that!'”
Jennifer is set to appear as Paulette once again in the upcoming ‘Legally Blonde 3’ but revealed she is even yet to see a script for the movie.
She said: “Everyone keeps talking about it. I’m very excited about the script that is coming my way but I haven’t seen it yet!”

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BANG Showbiz English George Takei says Nichelle Nichols wanted to be “best lady” at his wedding.
The ‘Star Trek’ actor reminisced about the time he asked his co-star – who died aged 89 on Sunday (31.07.22) – to be the matron of honour at his 2008 wedding to his husband, Brad Altman but the actress had other ideas.
In a Facebook post, a follow up to his original tribute to the trailblazing television star, the 85-year-old actor wrote: “When my husband Brad and I got married, we asked Walter Koenig, who played ensign Chekov on the show, to be our best man at the wedding. We asked Nichelle to be our matron of honour. In her characteristic fashion, Nichelle declared, ‘I am not a matron! If Walter can be best man, why can’t I be best lady?’ Noting that Walter’s “best man” title implied the awkward title of “best woman,” she was determined to be known as the “best lady” to the guests. I told her, ‘Of course you are’.”
George also remarked how “truly moved” he was by the outpouring of love and tributes to Nichelle, a “lifelong” pal of his.
He also wrote: “I have been truly moved by the tributes and messages honouring the life and work of Nichelle Nichols, our very own Lieutenant and later Commander Uhura on Star Trek. Although our original series ran only three seasons, we became bonded as the fans of our show organised, convened and ultimately pressed for movies and spin-offs of the groundbreaking show. Nichelle and I spent the following decades together as not only colleagues from the bridge of the Enterprise, but as lifelong friends.”
He continued, noting what she meant to “so many young Black women” for her work on the 60s sci-fi series.
George added: “Much has been said about what a trailblazer and role model Nichelle was for so many young Black women, who saw in her hope and promise for their own future. I wanted to take a moment to share some stories about Nichelle that aren’t as well known, and which highlight her lively spirit, her incredible kindness, and her warm generosity.”
He admitted he would “never forget” their first encounter, which predated ‘Star Trek’.
George said: “Our friendship began six decades ago, before Star Trek, when she came backstage after a performance of a civil rights musical I was doing called ‘Fly Blackbird’ in Los Angeles. I will never forget that first meeting. She was stunningly beautiful. But beyond her beauty, she stood out. It was a time when many African American women “conked” their hair, which meant straightening it, as was the current fashion. Instead, Nichelle wore an enormous natural “Afro” sphere on her head. It was natural, it was proud, and it was glorious. I knew right then that she was a singular individual.”

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BANG Showbiz English Jane Fonda “avoids depression through exercise”.
The 84-year-old actress revealed there is a lot of depression in her family so she does everything she can to avoid it.
She told Vogue.com: “I come from a long line of depressed people. One of the ways that I avoid depression is through exercise. When I move, when I walk, when I exercise, the depression lifts. That and activism are the two best anecdotes for depression as far as I’m concerned. I mean, unless you have chronic depression, which is a different thing.”
Jane also revealed she finds exercise empowering and has heard similar sentiments from other women who have done her famous workouts over the years.
She said: “It started off with ballet. I started there and, oh, boy, that was it. I got hooked. When I took a ballet class, my body would change. So I did ballet almost every day. Then I was making a movie with Michael Douglas, ‘The China Syndrome’. I fell toward the end of the movie, and I broke my foot. It was in a cast for a while. Within a month, I had to do a movie where I wore a bikini, ‘California Suite’. So I had to do something, and I couldn’t do ballet. So after my foot got better, my stepmother told me about a class taught by a woman named Leni Cazden at the Gilda Marx studio. After a few weeks and my foot got better, I went and took the class and it was basically the workout. Oh, my God, it had a huge impact on me.
“So that’s what I was doing. Leni and I decided to do a workout studio. Then she got married and was sailing around the world. I went ahead and did it. I was just fascinated with how [people embraced it]. I mean, maybe people started doing it because they wanted to get thin, but women would say to me, ‘I don’t take insulin anymore for my diabetes,’ or, ‘I stood up to my boss for the first time because I could see the muscles in my arms’. It empowered women in very profound ways. I was really happy about that.”

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Reuters By Gabriella Borter
(Reuters) – Kansas voters on Tuesday rejected an effort to remove abortion protections from the state’s constitution, a resounding win for the abortion rights movement in the first statewide electoral test since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The amendment’s failure in the conservative state lifted Democrats’ hopes that the issue of abortion rights will draw voters to the party in November’s midterm elections even as they worry about surging inflation.
The result also will prevent Kansas’ Republican-led legislature from passing severe abortion restrictions in the state, which has become a key abortion access point for America’s heartland.
“This should be a real wake-up call for abortion opponents,” said Neal Allen, a political science professor at Wichita State University. “When a total ban looks like a possibility, then you’re going to get a lot of people to turn out and you’re going to lose a lot of the more moderate supporters of abortion restrictions.”
Political analysts had expected the Kansas amendment to pass, given that Republicans typically turn out in greater numbers for the state’s primary elections than Democrats and independents.
But Tuesday’s vote drew higher-than-expected turnout. With 98% of the vote counted, 59% of voters favored preserving abortion rights compared to nearly 41% who supported removing abortion protections from the state constitution, according to Edison Research.
“This is a titanic result for Kansas politics,” said Allen.
Kansas’ ballot initiative is the first of several that will ask U.S. voters to weigh in on abortion rights this year. Kentucky, California, Vermont and possibly Michigan will have abortion on the ballot this fall.
The successful “vote no” campaign in Kansas could offer a blueprint to abortion rights groups looking to harness voter energy in the wake of Roe’s reversal, Allen said.
U.S. President Joe Biden joined Democrats across the country in applauding the results on Tuesday.
“This vote makes clear what we know: The majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions,” Biden said in a statement.
A statewide survey released by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University in February showed most Kansas residents did not support a total abortion ban.
Sixty percent disagreed that abortion should be completely illegal, and 50.5% said, “The Kansas government should not place any regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions.”
Kansas Republicans had been pushing for a state constitutional amendment to eliminate abortion rights since 2019, when the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the state constitution protected the right to abortion.
As a result of the ruling, Kansas has maintained more lenient policies than other conservative neighbors. The state allows abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy with several restrictions, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period and mandatory parental consent for minors.
HIGH STAKES IN NOVEMBER
Patients travel to Kansas for abortions from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and other states that have banned the procedure almost entirely since the Supreme Court in June overturned Roe, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
A spokesperson for the Trust Women abortion clinic in Wichita said 60% of their abortion patients are from out of state.
Tuesday’s referendum drew national attention and money. The Value Them Both Association, which supported the amendment, raised about $4.7 million this year, about two-thirds of that from regional Catholic dioceses, according to campaign finance data.
Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the main coalition opposing the amendment, raised about $6.5 million, including more than $1 million from Planned Parenthood groups.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a national anti-abortion group, said it spent $1.4 million to promote the amendment and canvassed 250,000 homes in Kansas.
“Tonight’s loss is a huge disappointment for pro-life Kansans and Americans nationwide,” said Mallory Carroll, a spokesperson for the group. “The stakes for the pro-life movement in the upcoming midterm elections could not be higher.”
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)

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Radar Online Mega Michael K. Williams, the late actor who passed away last year from a drug overdose, was high on drugs when he met Barack Obama in 2008, Radar has learned.
The startling incident was revealed in Williams’ upcoming posthumous memoir, Scenes from My Life, which he was in the process of writing when he was found dead from a fatal fentanyl, heroin and cocaine overdose in September 2021.
Mega According to Williams, the incident took place in 2008 after Obama invited The Wire and Boardwalk Empire actor to meet him during a presidential campaign stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“I couldn’t even put my words together,” Williams wrote in his memoir. “I was such a mess. Obama shook my hand and I could see it in his eyes. He was like: ‘I don’t got time for this.’”
“He kept it moving,” Williams continued, revealing he was on a “three-day cocaine binge” before the meeting. “I was not in my right mind. I told people I was nervous but actually I had lockjaw from too much cocaine.”
Mega As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment on September 6, 2021. He was 54-years-old.
The New York City Medical Examiner, who conducted the Lovecraft County star’s autopsy, found that Williams died of “acute intoxication from the effects of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.”
Nearly five months after Williams’ tragic passing, in February 2022, four men were arrested and charged with narcotics conspiracy and suspected conspiracy in connection to the fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the actor’s fatal overdose.
Prior to his passing in September, Williams was very vocal about his battle with drug addiction and the negative impact it had on both his life and his successful acting career – although he never stopped fighting the battle to get sober.
Mega “I still wrestle with the demons that won’t leave me. They never go away, they just get quiet enough so I can think straight,” he wrote towards the end of Scenes from My Life.“The struggles that nearly broke me connect me with so many others. I want to tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not.”
“Everyone who is left here has lived to fight another day.”

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Radar Online Mega Michael K. Williams, the late actor who passed away last year from a drug overdose, was high on drugs when he met Barack Obama in 2008, Radar has learned.
The startling incident was revealed in Williams’ upcoming posthumous memoir, Scenes from My Life, which he was in the process of writing when he was found dead from a fatal fentanyl, heroin and cocaine overdose in September 2021.
Mega According to Williams, the incident took place in 2008 after Obama invited The Wire and Boardwalk Empire actor to meet him during a presidential campaign stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“I couldn’t even put my words together,” Williams wrote in his memoir. “I was such a mess. Obama shook my hand and I could see it in his eyes. He was like: ‘I don’t got time for this.’”
“He kept it moving,” Williams continued, revealing he was on a “three-day cocaine binge” before the meeting. “I was not in my right mind. I told people I was nervous but actually I had lockjaw from too much cocaine.”
Mega As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment on September 6, 2021. He was 54-years-old.
The New York City Medical Examiner, who conducted the Lovecraft County star’s autopsy, found that Williams died of “acute intoxication from the effects of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.”
Nearly five months after Williams’ tragic passing, in February 2022, four men were arrested and charged with narcotics conspiracy and suspected conspiracy in connection to the fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the actor’s fatal overdose.
Prior to his passing in September, Williams was very vocal about his battle with drug addiction and the negative impact it had on both his life and his successful acting career – although he never stopped fighting the battle to get sober.
Mega “I still wrestle with the demons that won’t leave me. They never go away, they just get quiet enough so I can think straight,” he wrote towards the end of Scenes from My Life.“The struggles that nearly broke me connect me with so many others. I want to tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not.”
“Everyone who is left here has lived to fight another day.”

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AFP Water vegetation is seen at the Everglades National Park, Florida on September 30, 2021 Miami (AFP) – The plan to restore the Florida Everglades, the largest wetlands in the United States, will receive a federal investment of $1.1 billion to protect the region against the effects of climate change, the White House said Wednesday.
“The Administration is making the largest single investment in the Everglades in US history,” the White House said in a statement.
The money, which comes from already approved funds in President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress in November, will be spent by the US Army Corps of Engineers. 
“The iconic American landscape provides drinking water supply for over 8 million Floridians, supports the state’s $90 billion tourism economy, and is home to dozens of endangered or threatened species,” the White House said. 
The Everglades, a subtropical ecosystem of more than 607,000 hectares (1.5 million acres), is the scene of one of the biggest ecological rehabilitation projects in the world. 
The area is especially vulnerable to sea level rise, a consequence of climbing temperatures due to climate change, as an influx of saltwater could disrupt groundwater reserves and throw off the balance between the region’s plants and animals. 
The restoration efforts will try to revive the flow of water across the wetland, which has been interrupted by decades of human development. 
Scientists envision a complex system of canals, dams and water pumps. 
Congress in 2000 approved a $7.8 billion federally and state-funded plan to protect the Everglades, a national park, which, despite some advances, faced delay after delay.
The money from Wednesday’s announcement could accelerate the project, according to Florida’s Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz. 
“This is enormous news, and allows us to set a course for quicker completion of the world’s largest ecosystem restoration project,” she said in a statement.

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AlterNet By Brandon Gage United States Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) revealed to the right-wing media outlet Real America’s Voice over the weekend that she would be “honored” if former President Donald Trump asked her to be his running mate if he wins the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024. Trump is expected to announce his fourth White House bid in the near future but has made no indication of who he would add to the ticket. Greene shared her aspirations at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida. READ MORE: ‘American Taliban’: Republican rebuke…
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DPA   Brooks Ashmanskas as Stanley James, Neil Patrick Harris as Michael Lawson and Emerson Brooks as Billy Jackson (l to r) in episode one of Netflix’s “Uncoupled.” Sarah Shatz/Netflix/dpa With “Uncoupled,” premiering this week on Netflix, Darren Star (co-creating with “Modern Family” vet Jeffrey Richman) offers up another urban lifestyle fantasy. One can think of it as the third in a New York trilogy beginning with Star’s “Sex and the City” and “Younger,” or a tetralogy if we include the short-lived 1995 prime-time soap “Central Park West.” But let’s call it a trilogy.
Like “Younger,” in which Sutton Foster played a 40-year-old woman passing for someone in her 20s, it begins with a midlife breakup. Neal Patrick Harris stars as 40-something Michael, whose partner of 17 years, Colin (Tuc Watkins), tells him he’s moving out just as they’re about to enter the elaborate surprise party Michael has arranged for him. (Colin is turning 50; this is a story in which all the main characters are middle-aged.)
Michael will spend the remainder of the eight-episode first season obsessing, trying to move on, obsessing some more, falling flat on his face (literally, in a nice bit of slapstick) and getting up again. (There is also a choice bit of him going downhill on skis, backwards.)
Michael is a high-end residential real estate broker; the mighty Tisha Campbell plays his friend and business partner, Suzanne. (His other significant friends are art dealer Stanley, played by Brooks Ashmanskas, and TV weatherman Billy, played by Emerson Brooks.) The properties they deal with tend to be modern and charmless, in a way that spells money. (You are probably meant to find them impressive.) The interpolated shots of the city favour new glass towers over venerable landmarks.
“I feel like I’m in one of those 1930s movies where the Depression is happening outside, but up here it’s just Fred Astaire and cocktails and soirees,” Michael says, viewing the apartment of Claire (Marcia Gay Harden), whose recent abandonment mirrors Michael’s.
Yet this is true of nearly the entire series, if not the whole of Star’s oeuvre, in which even the bohemians are glamorous. His Manhattan, here a place of terraced penthouses, fancy restaurants and exclusive clubs, is scrubbed clean of the least sign of poverty or even middle-class life – as does seem to be the actual plan in a place where the average rent recently reached $5,000. (“I remember Hell’s Kitchen when you couldn’t walk west of 9th Avenue without getting knifed,” says Stanley. “Now it’s Chelsea, with better gays.”)
Everyone here is well-off, though some are more fabulously wealthy than others. We are to understand Michael, who works on commission and is constantly hustling, as a kind of working stiff; still, when we see him walking out of an ordinary drugstore and into a “meet cute,” it feels for an instant as if we’ve entered a different series, and one we might like to stay in a little longer.
As is common in Star’s shows (also including “Emily in Paris”), characters often find themselves meeting at private parties and exclusive events – an art opening, a roller disco fundraiser, a Central Park fundraiser, a celebration of the city’s most eligible men, a bris, a wedding, a poker game. And of course that exposition-rich opening surprise party, which includes a performance by Tony-winning composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”).
Inevitably, it will be suggested that the cure for lost love is sex – that is the custom in television – and thus we are treated to the 100th iteration of the “first time on a dating app” scenario. There is a lot of penis talk. But the explicit message is that sex is only sex; human connection, whether friendship or durable romantic love, is what matters.
The lovelorn Stanley (“You do not want to be gay and single in this town at our age – you’re invisible”) and sexual butterfly Billy (“I think it gets better with age – the number of young guys who want to hook up with an older man is ridiculous”) put a dialectical frame around Michael, who is far from invisible but is not exactly on the prowl.
His (comparatively) older-generation conservatism and his own proper nature keep him from diving headlong into hooking up, though he does wade in a little – and so, while there is sex, there is also refused or interrupted sex. (And because it’s funnier that way, one would hazard.) His wanting something more is what keeps “Uncoupled” a sweet, grown-up entertainment.
Harris fits the part so well that one would imagine it was written for him. He retains some of his Doogie Howser boyishness, but he’s attractively weathered – the worry furrows in his brow serve the part admirably – and this accords with Michael’s middle-aged naïveté. (He’s buff, though, as is every man with whom he hooks up or almost hooks up; indeed, apart from the soft-edged Ashmanskas and the lithe André de Shields as Michael’s neighbour, the actually elderly Jack, buffness is practically taken for granted.)
Still, this is not a one-man show. If not exactly a “Sex and the City”-style ensemble piece, given that the emotional focus is mainly on Michael, Billy and Stanley and especially Suzanne do get some individual storylines, and Claire becomes a more interesting character as she emerges as something like a new, needy friend.
The supporting cast is strong. As Stanley, the Tony-nominated Ashmanskas makes a deep impression doing nothing in the least flamboyant; De Shields has the season’s most moving monologue and Campbell its best-delivered laugh line, “I know you’re mad, honey, but we’re going to need that stapler.” (You’ll have to watch for context.)
As a straightforward romantic sitcom centred on gay men, “Uncoupled” is still a rarity for television, even for Star, who has been out forever – though that has more to do with the historical temerity of Hollywood than it does with the creator.
Star has made a point of noting the story could be anyone’s, which is true enough and good business, even as there are plenty of references that are specific to the community – as when, confronted with a younger man who doesn’t want to wear a condom and has never heard of the AIDS quilt, Michael wails, “Oh my God, you millennials. Don’t you know where we came from, where you got your freedoms? Don’t you know what people like me — well not me, a little bit older, but I’ve seen ‘Angels’ – don’t you know what we sacrificed for you?”
It’s that combination of specificity and universality that makes “Uncoupled” feel at once kind of radical and quite relatable.
How to watch: Premieres on Netflix on July 29

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The Detroit News LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Michigan’s current laws against discrimination based on sex includes a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, a ruling that effectively stops businesses from denying services or employment opportunities to the gay community. The 5-2 decision written by Republican-nominated Justice Elizabeth Clement found that discrimination based on sexual orientation involves bias based on sex because the individual’s sexual orientation is “generally determined by reference to their own sex.” “For example, attraction to females in a fel…
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Radar Online Mega Ricky Martin has come out victorious in his battle against his nephew, who accused the superstar of harassing him following a torrid affair. Radar can confirm that Martin’s nephew dismissed the allegations; therefore, the judge has dropped the temporary restraining order against the singer.
Martin’s attorneys, Joaquín Monserrate Matienzo, Carmelo Dávila and Harry Massanet Pastrana, tell RadarOnline.com, “Just as we had anticipated, the temporary protection order was not extended by the Court. The accuser confirmed to the court that his decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure, and the accuser confirmed he was satisfied with his legal representation in the matter.”
They continue, “The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case. This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career.”

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BANG Showbiz English Darren Hayes was in a “dark place” before he came out as gay.
The 50-year-old star – who is best known as frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden alongside Daniel Jones – penned an op-ed for The Huff Post at the start of July explaining that he had been on the “brink of suicide” before coming out and has now claimed that his new album “saved [his] life.”
He said: “I would say my new album honestly saved my life. I was in a dark place, emotionally, not understanding that just like my sexuality, my creative outlet is a huge part of the person I am, and by denying that, I was denying an essential part of me.”
The ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ hitmaker – who has been married to Richard Cullen since 2013 and was previously married to Colby Taylor – released his comeback single ‘Let’s Try Being in Love’ in early 2022 and explained that his return to the public eye has been “more authentic” than in his initial heyday.
He told PEOPLE: “I realized that I had never truly been myself at the height of my fame and commercial success. would have been a huge regret of mine to have retired from the public eye without having come back to the world as my true authentic self. Because I have embraced myself fully in my art, I no longer feel the shame and stigma around my sexuality or my mental health. I openly speak about both because I believe they are connected, and by speaking about what most embarrasses us, it’s my hope that bringing light to sadness drives away the darkness.”

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Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden intends to sign an executive order on U.S. policing practices, the White House said on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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New York Daily News NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams tapped ex-City Councilman Fernando Cabrera late Monday to serve as a faith adviser in his administration after the controversial Bronx politician apologized for his history of anti-gay views and remarks. Cabrera, a Christian pastor who was initially under consideration to become the city’s top mental health official, will act as a senior adviser in the newly formed Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, Adams said in a statement. “I hope New Yorkers will give Fernando the opportunity to show his commitment to bringing together all New Yorkers, regardless …
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Reuters By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) – A North Carolina court on Friday struck down a voter photo identification law passed by Republicans in 2018, finding it intentionally discriminated against Black voters likely to vote Democratic.
The ruling marks the second consecutive Republican-backed voting law from North Carolina to be overturned by the courts. A U.S. appeals court in 2016 found a previous law targeted African Americans “with almost surgical precision.”
In Friday’s ruling, a 2-1 majority of the Wake County Superior Court wrote that the 2018 law “was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters.”
Other states with Republican majority legislatures have passed similar laws in recent years, some with renewed purpose after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and falsely claimed the election was stolen for President Joe Biden.
Georgia and Texas passed voter laws this year that triggered a national backlash from civil rights advocates.
The North Carolina ruling did not find that supporters of Senate Bill 824 were racist, but that targeting Black voters because of their propensity to vote for Democrats was discriminatory.
The ruling quoted from the 2016 federal appeals court ruling that overturned the previous law, known as House Bill 589.
“We do not find that any member of the General Assembly who voted in favor of S.B. 824 harbors any racial animus or hatred towards African American voters, but rather …that the Republican majority ‘target(ed) voters who, based on race, were unlikely to vote for the majority party. Even if done for partisan ends, that constitute(s) racial discrimination,'” the majority said.
That Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stood after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a North Carolina-based civil rights group that helped bring the suit, applauded the decision and vowed to fight any appeal.
“(We) hope it sends a strong message that racial discrimination will not be tolerated,” Allison Riggs, the coalition’s chief counsel for voting rights, said in a statement.
Sam Hayes, a lawyer the Republican North Carolina House speaker Tim Moore, declared, “This fight is far from over.”
He referred to the November 2018 election, when voters approved a ballot measure supporting a constitutional amendment requiring photo identification to vote.
“Once again, liberal judges have defied the will of North Carolinians on election integrity,” Hayes said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)

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Reuters By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A jury on Wednesday convicted British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of recruiting and grooming four teenagers for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. [nL1N2TE1OS]
Here are 10 key moments from the trial:
– In her opening statement, prosecutor Lara Pomerantz called Maxwell a predator who manipulated girls and groomed them for abuse by Epstein, her employer and onetime boyfriend. Maxwell saw recruiting girls for Epstein to have sex with as a means to maintain a luxurious lifestyle, Pomerantz said.
“They were exploiting kids,” Pomerantz said. “They were trafficking kids for sex.”
– Maxwell defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim began her opening statement by citing the biblical story of Adam and Eve to argue that Maxwell, like many women before her, was being blamed for a man’s bad behavior. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell.
“Epstein’s death left a gaping hole in the pursuit of justice for many of these women,” Sternheim said. “She’s filling that hole, and filling that empty chair.”
– A woman known by the pseudonym Jane testified that Epstein first abused her in 1994, when Jane was just 14.
Maxwell sometimes took part in sexual encounters with Jane and Epstein, and acted as if it were normal, Jane testified.
“It made me feel confused because that did not feel normal to me,” she said. “I’d never seen anything like this or felt anything like this.”
– Under cross-examination by Maxwell attorney Laura Menninger, Jane acknowledged she did not initially tell the FBI everything about Maxwell’s involvement. She said later under further questioning by prosecutors that she was not comfortable sharing all the details.
“I was sitting in a room full of strangers and telling them the most shameful, deepest secrets that I’d been carrying around with me my whole life,” she said.
– Prosecutors displayed for the jury a green massage table that was seized from Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate in 2005. Three of the four accusers said they gave Epstein massages that escalated into sexual activity.
Pomerantz called the word massage a “ruse designed to get young girls to touch Epstein.”
– Prosecutors showed the jury images depicting Maxwell’s and Epstein’s intimate relationship during the 1990s. The never-before-seen digital photographs showed Maxwell kissing Epstein on the cheek or rubbing his bare foot.
– A woman known by her first name, Carolyn, testified that Maxwell once touched Carolyn’s breasts and buttocks while Carolyn was nude and told her she had a “great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends.”
“Money will not ever fix what that woman has done to me,” Carolyn said, sobbing on the stand.
– Jeffrey Pagliuca, an attorney for Maxwell, asked Carolyn why she did not mention Maxwell in her initial discussions with law enforcement but implicated her later in a claim to a victim’s compensation fund run by Epstein’s estate. The questioning was part of Maxwell’s efforts to paint the accusers’ accounts as unreliable.
“You know that if any information you submitted is false, you can be in criminal trouble?” Pagliuca said, referring to the fund.
– Elizabeth Loftus, a prominent psychologist, testified for the defense that people can confidently recount events that did not happen. Her testimony was part of the defense’s effort to argue that the accusers’ memories had been manipulated over time.
“When you have post-event suggestion or intervention, people get very confident about their wrong answers,” Loftus testified.
– Minutes before the defense rested its case, Maxwell stood up, and with Sternheim’s arm around her lower back, told U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan that she was declining to testify in her own defense.
“Your honor, the government has not proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and so there is no need for me to testify,” Maxwell said
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Alistair Bell)

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BANG Showbiz English Prince Harry has praised AIDS activists for “leading the call for COVID-19 vaccine equity”.
The 37-year-old royal has written a letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – the director-general of the World Heath Organization – and UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima to mark World AIDS Day on Wednesday (01.12.21).
In the letter, Harry – who has previously undergone public testing for HIV – says: “It is striking to now see the world’s leading AIDS activists are also leading the call for COVID-19 vaccine equity.
“Vaccinating the world is a test of our moral character and we are experiencing a spectacular failure when it comes to global vaccine equity. Similar to the AIDS crisis, we’ve yet again revealed over the past year, that the value of life depends on whether you were born and/or live in a rich nation, or a developing country.”
In his letter, Harry paid tribute to people who have lost their lives to AIDS.
The prince also referenced Princess Diana’s efforts to break the stigma surrounding AIDS and HIV in the 80s and 90s.
Harry – who now lives in the US with his wife and their two children – wrote: “We honour those whose lives have been cut short and reaffirm our commitment to a scientific community that has worked tirelessly against this disease.
“My mother would be deeply grateful for everything you stand for and have accomplished. We all share that gratitude, so thank you.”
Earlier this year, Harry blamed “mass-scale misinformation” for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
The royal – who has Archie, two, and Lilibet, five months, with the Duchess of Sussex – explained: “Until every community can access the vaccine and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk.”

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Reuters By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The city of Washington, D.C., sued right-wing groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers on Tuesday, seeking to collect on the financial costs of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and its aftermath.
The suit aims to hold accountable the groups that helped to organize a rally by thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump that evolved into an assault on Congress aiming to stop it from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine told reporters the defendants had caused physical and financial harm to Washington and its residents, adding that the city will seek “severe” financial penalties against the defendants.
“Our intent … is to hold these violent mobsters and these violent hate groups accountable and to get every penny of damage we can,” he said at a news conference.
The lawsuit seeks to recover the costs of deploying hundreds of city police officers to defend the Capitol against the attack, as well as medical and paid-leave costs incurred afterward.
It also brings civil assault and battery charges against the two organizations, along with 30 named and 50 unnamed people it alleges were involved in the assault.
The lawsuit opens up another legal front against alleged participants in the Jan. 6 attack.
Four people died and hundreds were injured during the multi-hour onslaught, and one police officer died the next day of injuries sustained while defending Congress. Four officers who were at the Capitol that day have since taken their own lives.
Nearly 700 people face criminal charges stemming from the event. Several alleged leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty.
The lawsuit invokes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which allows people to sue for civil rights violations. It does not name Trump or former members of his administration as defendants.
It is not clear whether the two groups are in a position to defend themselves, or whether the lawsuit will yield any financial penalties.
Racine and other District officials said they hoped it would also serve as a warning to deter similar behavior by other extremist groups.
“If we don’t get a penny in restitution, this lawsuit’s deterrent effect will say, ‘Be prepared to spend money, because we are coming after you,'” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District in the House of Representatives.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, additional reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Scott Malone, Mark Porter and Bill Berkrot)

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Reuters By Deena Beasley
(Reuters) -A trial of Pfizer Inc’s experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday.
The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co Inc’s pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness.
Full trial data is not yet available from either company.
Pfizer shares surged 11% to $48.55, while those of Merck fell 8.5% to $82.80. Shares of vaccine makers also took a hit, with Moderna Inc, Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech SE and Novavax all down nearly 7%.
Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, which is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of the emergency use application it opened in October.
That filing is expected to be submitted before Thanksgiving, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in an interview with CNBC.
The combination treatment, which will have the brand name Paxlovid, consists of three pills given twice daily.
The planned analysis of 1,219 patients in Pfizer’s study looked at hospitalizations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or older age.
It found that 0.8% of those given Pfizer’s drug within three days of symptom onset were hospitalized and none had died by 28 days after treatment. That compared with a hospitalization rate of 7% for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group.
Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms – 1% of the treatment group was hospitalized, compared with 6.7% for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths. Bourla said that works out to being 85% effective.
The data compared favorably to Merck’s oral antiviral in a similar patient population, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen said in a note.
With the virus still circulating widely and current therapeutic options requiring access to a healthcare facility, antiviral treatments that can be taken at home to keep people with COVID-19 out of the hospital are critically needed, Chen said.
Antivirals need to be given as early as possible, before an infection takes hold, in order to be most effective. Merck tested its drug within five days of symptom onset.
“We saw that we did have high efficacy, even if it was five days after a patient has been treated … people might wait a couple of days before getting a test or something, and this means that we have time to treat people and really provide a benefit from a public health perspective,” Annaliesa Anderson, head of the Pfizer program, told Reuters.
The company did not detail side effects of the treatment, but said adverse events happened in about 20% of both treatment and placebo patients. Ritonavir’s possible side effects include nausea and diarrhea.
“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations,” Bourla said in a statement.
Pfizer said it was currently expecting to produce more than 180,000 packs by the end of 2021 and at least 50 million packs by the end of 2022, of which 21 million would be produced in the first half.
Infectious disease experts stress that preventing COVID-19 through wide use of vaccines remains the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58% of Americans are fully vaccinated and access in many parts of the world is limited.
Pfizer’s drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme the coronavirus needs in order to multiply.
Merck’s molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus. Merck has already sold millions of courses of the treatment, which was approved this week by U.K. regulators, to the United States, the U.K. and others.
Britain said earlier this month it had secured 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s antiviral.
Pfizer is also studying whether its pill could be used by people without risk factors for serious COVID-19 as well as to prevent coronavirus infection in people exposed to the virus.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley, additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool and Anil D’Silva)

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Reuters   By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese LGBTQ rights activists on Wednesday hailed Tokyo’s move to introduce a same-sex partnership system as a huge step in their fight for equality in the only G7 country that does not fully recognise same-sex marriage.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike on Tuesday said the Japanese capital will draw up a framework allowing the partnerships early next year with an eye on making them legal in the fiscal year beginning April 2022. The extension of the system to Tokyo could potentially end up benefitting over 50% of the country’s population.
Under the system, same-sex partners can register their relationship and gain some of the privileges enjoyed by married couples, such as being allowed to rent places to live together and gain hospital visitation rights.
Though it falls short of a legal marriage, Tokyo’s move to adopt the partnership system is seen as an important step towards legalising same-sex unions in a nation where the Constitution still defines marriage as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes.”
“This is amazing news,” said Masa Yanagisawa, head of Prime Services Japan at Goldman Sachs and a board member of activist group “Marriage for All Japan”.
“Some conservatives have voiced concerns that even though these partnerships are just symbolic pieces of paper, they could undermine Japanese traditions or the traditional Japanese family system. Hopefully this will be a chance to prove otherwise.”
Tokyo’s Shibuya ward in 2015 was the first place in Japan to introduce the partnership system. The system already covers 41% of Japan’s population and the extension to Tokyo means over half of the nation could potentially benefit, according to campaign group Nishiiro Diversity.
Activists have long lobbied for the whole capital city to adopt the system, and stepped up such efforts ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic until this summer.
“There may have been some restraint towards the national government and the fact that a lot of ruling party lawmakers are reluctant about this,” said Takeharu Kato, a lawyer in charge of a landmark court case in March that said barring same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
While Tokyo as a whole did not adopt the partnership system before the Games, the Olympics, with its focus on diversity, helped sway public opinion, Kato and others said.
A recent poll of Tokyo residents conducted by the metropolitan government found 70% of respondents were in favour of same-sex partnerships.
“I’m sure the Olympics had an impact since Tokyo has been thinking of what kind of legacy they should leave,” said LGBTQ rights activist Gon Matsunaka.
Another incentive has been Tokyo’s interest in branding itself a major international centre and attracting foreign companies, many of which have greater emphasis on LGBTQ rights.
As part of Governor Koike’s preparation for her announcement, she spoke with foreign business leaders, who said Tokyo was behind on that front, said Goldman’s Yanagisawa.
“From my perspective as a Goldman Sachs employee, we want to attract international talent but Japan is always at a disadvantage,” he added.
“We offer our own employee benefits on top of the national provisions to try to equalise the system but there’s a limitation to what is possible, and obviously not every company can do this.”
The next goal is making marriage possible, though this probably requires more local areas to adopt same-sex partnership regulations, creating enough pressure that the national government can no longer ignore it.
“Of course I’m happy,” said Kato. “But this is just one waypoint on a long road. We need to use it to push towards actual marriage.”
(Additional reporting by Rikako Maruyama; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

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Max Harwood in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”The film adaptation of the celebrated coming-of-age, drag extravaganza of a musical “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” is finally set for release after a planned theatrical run was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The film, led by newcomer Max Harwood in the titular role, is set for a September 17 release on Amazon, but audiences got their first look at LGBTQ film festival OutFest Los Angeles earlier this month.
The film and original play are based on the 2011 documentary “Jamie: Drag Queen at 16,” which chronicles the journey of the real-life Jamie Campbell embracing his love of drag and attending his high school prom in full drag regalia. The film pays tribute to its subjects with footage of Jamie and his loving mother Margaret playing over the end credits.
Reviews have been pouring in as the public waits for their chance to see the film, with Deadline’s Pete Hammond labeling it a “junior ‘Kinky Boots'” and The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney praising “Jamie for telling an LGBTQ story where “coming out isn’t a factor.”
“Jamie has been out and proud for some time, and he responds to the taunts of obnoxious class smartass Dean (Samuel Bottomley) at school by basically saying, ‘Yeah, I’m gay, what of it,'” Rooney wrote.
[This post contains video, click to play]

Life Imitating Art
Harwood has drawn an exceptional amount of praise for his film debut. The LGBTQ actor’s real-life story full of performing dreams mirrors Jamie to an intriguing extent, which, according to Hammond, comes through in his portrayal of the character. “Harwood never had acted before landing this plum gig, and he is thoroughly engaging, confident in his singing and fledgling showmanship and clearly understanding the core of this kid,” Hammond noted.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t like playing football. I didn’t like getting muddy. I liked to dress up, and act and dance and sing,” Harwood told Attitude. “I was doing things that were more typically effeminate and I feel like, at the time, growing up, as an effeminate boy, there are opinions and thought that people put on you. I definitely felt othered, in that sense.”
Harwood’s feelings of ostracization line up squarely with the experiences Jamie goes through in his journey of self-identity through the glamour of drag. Whether it be Jamie’s homophobic father or teacher who tries to force cultural gender norms upon him, key obstacles to Jamie’s self-actualization feel all too close to Harwood’s own experiences, and, frankly, those of so many others within LGBTQ circles.
But having that in his past helped Harwood embrace Jamie’s empowering message. “Jamie is someone who knows who he is, and he’s waiting for everyone else to catch up and get on board,” Harwood said. “I think the whole play isn’t Jamie going, ‘Oh, do I want to be a drag queen? Do I want to do this?’ Jamie knows. he wants to be a drag queen. He is gay.”
“I also feel like I’m at a stage in my life that I know who I am and that I know what I want,” he added. “I was navigating, not to prove to myself, but to convince my parents and my friends that I actually could do this.”
Stage To Screen
A huge part of maintaining the heart of the original stage production through the adaptation process was keeping the production’s creative nucleus intact and involved. Director Jonathan Butterell and writer Tom MacRae reprise their roles despite never working in movies before. Singer-songwriter and the original musical’s composer Dan Gillespie Sells also returns, teaming up with Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley on the film’s score.
Producers Peter Carlton and Mark Herbert, co-founders of Warp Films, actually turned down funding from certain companies in order to keep the musical’s core at the forefront of Jamie’s jump to the silver screen. “What we’ve done a lot in Warp is back really talented people who’ve achieved in one area into another,” Carlton told Variety.
To that end, the team also made sure to get Campbell involved in the film as well. His emotion toward the project exuded both on set and during a special preview of the film at the Edinburgh Film Festival earlier this month. “I just love that there’s a big show out there that has got someone who’s camp, feminine and flamboyant fronting it,” Campbell said in Edinburgh. “They’re the star of the show.”
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: Previously on Towleroad
‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is The Gay Coming-Of-Age Tale For Everyone With an Inner (and Outer) Drag Queen
Brian Bell August 25, 2021 Read More Elliot Page Awarded for Prejudice-busting Work and Life On And Off Screen; Sheds Light on Dark Prejudices; Shares Unseen Prides and Joys
Brian Bell August 11, 2021 Read More Billy Eichner ‘s ‘Big, Gay Divorce Comedy’ ‘Ex-Husbands’ Headed To Amazon; ‘It’s the Gay ‘War Of The Roses’ You’ve Been Waiting For!’
Brian Bell August 4, 2021 Read More Tommy Dorfman: ‘Some Moved Houses During the Pandemic; Some People Changed Genders;’ ’13 Reasons Why’ Star Comes Out a Trans Woman
Brian Bell July 23, 2021 Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc
Brian Bell July 13, 2021 Read More Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster to Star in Gay Rom-Com ‘Fire Island;’ A Gay ‘Pride and Prejudice’
Brian Bell July 2, 2021 Read More Image courtesy of 2oth Century Pictures
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Afghan Refugees fleeing the countryThe safety of Afghanistan Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans people was immediately in serious question with the rapid return of Taliban control of Afghanistan. International LGBT organizations report their contacts in Afghanistan have gone dark or have become unreachable, and many organizations around the world are calling for governments and international bodies to provide for their protection and to offer asylum.
Taliban Have Been and Remain Mortal Threat to All Gay Afghanistan Residents
President Joe Biden’s announcement of complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 sparked fears that the nation’s democratic government would fall back into the hands of the Taliban, unseated by the U.S. and its allies when the war began 20 years ago. Those fears came true with unexpected speed in recent days, and though the initial words from the Taliban is that they will respect the rights of women, this is not how it has gone in the regional cities they have taken over on the way. Most commentators expect the militant organization will reinstate Sharia Law, an expectation behind the many Afghanis trying to leave the country as soon as possible by any route available.
Under the now-deposed government of President Ashraf Ghani LGBTQ Afghans enjoyed more, but still severely limited protections. The threat to LGBTQ lives under the Taliban has been made clear. The surprise would be if they was any change. Gul Rahim, who claims to be a Taliban judge, detailed last month that LGBTQ Afghans will be executed under Taliban rule. “There are only two penalties for gays: Either stoning or he has to stand behind a wall that falls on him. The wall must be 2.5 to 3 meters high,” Rahim told German newspaper Bild.
We have found no reports specifically about LGBTQ plans or attempts to get out of the county and how they have fared, in general leaving is now a chaotic and dangerous proposition for almost all Afghans.
Images of Afghans surrounding American planes on the tarmac of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have given way to the stream of individual stories from those who get out anywhere, all of which end saying most of those in danger remain in Afghanistan without a clear path to getting out. On the first day of flights out, some died trying to get on flights, including some who reported clinged to aircrafts as they lifted off the ground.
Taliban forces have begun blocking citizens from accessing the airport, breaking a promise made to the Biden administration. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated Wednesday that U.S. military forces in Kabul and Qatar were “engaging directly with the Taliban to make clear that we expect them to allow all American citizens, all third-country nationals and all Afghans who wish to leave, to do so safely and without harassment.” At the moment, Sherman could only confirm that the Taliban wasn’t impeding Americans from leaving, though she couldn’t confirm that the status of every American currently in Afghanistan was known.
President Biden has rushed thousands more soldiers and government employees to help protect and defend the Kabul airport, saying their capacity to process American Partners will double by early next week and flights will ramp up to hourly all day and night.
Taking responsibility, Biden acknowledged “the buck” stops with him, the president said he and the military shared the same surprise as everyone else at the speed with which the Taliban took the country, highlighting that even after 20 years of training, a trillion-dollar investment, and extraordinary supply of American arms (now in Taliban hands) the Afghani military still would not defend itself even minimally.
While surprised by the speed and expressing concern about the current chaos, the Biden position is that there was going to be chaos no matter what, placing blame on Trump “negotiations” that led to the release of top Taliban leadership who were then in Pakistan prisons. One of those Trump-released leaders arrived to take lead in the Taliban government Thursday.
With plenty of blame to go around and decades of books and writing. to assign it, most worked to focus on getting Americans, allies and local partners through the impossible and dangerous process of getting out of the country.
The Washington Blade reported Sunday that transgender U.S. State Department contractor Josie Thomas was among a collection of people trapped in a diplomatic support facility near the Kabul airport. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul stated that it could no longer “ensure safe passage” to the airport.
Refugee Crisis Looms
Those who are able to get out face a real possibility of ending up stateless with. the small numbers of refugees most nations are stepping up to accept. While Canada has promised to grant 20,000 displaced Afghans asylum and Biden pledged to expand refuge access to Afghans that worked with U.S. organizations in Afghanistan and others “who otherwise are at great risk”, other nations have been more cagey about housing Afghan refugees.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and other top European officials announced a strategy to keep Afghan refugees in “transit countries” such as Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. Iran and Pakistan, countries with large Afghan refugee populations, and all without real protections for LGBTQ people.
Advocacy groups called on European nations to offer asylum to refugees from Afghanistan gay populations.. “As Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, members of the LGBTIQ community are among those at greatest risk of suffering under Taliban rule. The international community must act quickly and decisively to aid all those fleeing persecution,” said the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration.
In the UK, Stonewall UK urged the government to allow Afghan refugees as well. “LGBTQ+ Afghans have endured routine discrimination, abuse & persecution, including by the state. With the Taliban in power we expect this situation to deteriorate further, including the potential for a return to active enforcement of the laws that prohibit same-sex relationships,” read a statement from the organization.
“The U.K. government must step up now to put in place a rapid response humanitarian evacuation program and help resettle Afghan people, as well as take action to protect those who have already sought asylum here in the U.K.,” said Stonewall UK CEO Nancy Kelley. “This is a time for showing leadership in upholding the UN Refugee Convention, and helping LGBTQ+ Afghan refugees to survive, resettle and thrive.”
Going Dark
Speaking to the Washington Blade, Charbel Maydaa, founder of Lebanese advocacy organization MOSIAC, said she has lost contact with many in the nation since the Taliban’s resurgence. “We don’t know what’s happening. They’re not online or they are really afraid to talk on Facebook,” Maydaa said.
Maydaa stated that LGBTQ advocacy group ILGA Asia, of which Maydaa serves as alternate co-chair, is working to establish shelters for LGBTQ Afghans that are still in the country as they wait for a chance to leave the country. The organization is also pleading with governments internationally to “literally rescue them.”
“LGBT+ Afghans really don’t have any options. They can either await a slow death or a quick one. Whatever little joy they had will evaporate knowing that the Taliban can take their life at any moment,” gay Afghan author and activist Nemat Sadat told PinkNews. “As bad as life was for LGBT under the regimes of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, there is no telling how severe it can get under the Taliban … It’s not hyperbolic to say that the Taliban will do what Nazis did to homosexuals: weed them out and exterminated them from Afghan society.”
Afghanistan Gay: Previously on Towleroad
LGBTQ Orgs Alarmed Their Afghanistan Gay Contacts Have Gone Dark; Call On Nations, World to Prioritize LGBTQ Safety As Likely Taliban Target
Brian Bell August 19, 2021 Read More Taliban return to power as president and diplomats flee Kabul
Towleroad August 15, 2021 Read More Trump Says He Never Brought Up Russian Bounties for Scalps of U.S. Troops in Calls with Putin: WATCH
Andy Towle July 29, 2020 Read More Large Financial Transfers Back Up Reports About Russian Bounties for Scalps of U.S. Troops
Andy Towle July 1, 2020 Read More Trump Knew Russia Was Paying Taliban Bounties for the Scalps of American Troops in March 2019, a Year Earlier Than Previously Thought
Andy Towle June 30, 2020 Read More ‘He Can’t Spin This Out’ — Trump Knew About Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops as Early as January: WATCH
Andy Towle June 29, 2020 Read More
View the full article

Afghan Refugees fleeing the countryThe safety of Afghanistan Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans people was immediately in serious question with the rapid return of Taliban control of Afghanistan. International LGBT organizations report their contacts in Afghanistan have gone dark or have become unreachable, and many organizations around the world are calling for governments and international bodies to provide for their protection and to offer asylum.
Taliban Have Been and Remain Mortal Threat to All Gay Afghanistan Residents
President Joe Biden’s announcement of complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 sparked fears that the nation’s democratic government would fall back into the hands of the Taliban, unseated by the U.S. and its allies when the war began 20 years ago. Those fears came true with unexpected speed in recent days, and though the initial words from the Taliban is that they will respect the rights of women, this is not how it has gone in the regional cities they have taken over on the way. Most commentators expect the militant organization will reinstate Sharia Law, an expectation behind the many Afghanis trying to leave the country as soon as possible by any route available.
Under the now-deposed government of President Ashraf Ghani LGBTQ Afghans enjoyed more, but still severely limited protections. The threat to LGBTQ lives under the Taliban has been made clear. The surprise would be if they was any change. Gul Rahim, who claims to be a Taliban judge, detailed last month that LGBTQ Afghans will be executed under Taliban rule. “There are only two penalties for gays: Either stoning or he has to stand behind a wall that falls on him. The wall must be 2.5 to 3 meters high,” Rahim told German newspaper Bild.
We have found no reports specifically about LGBTQ plans or attempts to get out of the county and how they have fared, in general leaving is now a chaotic and dangerous proposition for almost all Afghans.
Images of Afghans surrounding American planes on the tarmac of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have given way to the stream of individual stories from those who get out anywhere, all of which end saying most of those in danger remain in Afghanistan without a clear path to getting out. On the first day of flights out, some died trying to get on flights, including some who reported clinged to aircrafts as they lifted off the ground.
Taliban forces have begun blocking citizens from accessing the airport, breaking a promise made to the Biden administration. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated Wednesday that U.S. military forces in Kabul and Qatar were “engaging directly with the Taliban to make clear that we expect them to allow all American citizens, all third-country nationals and all Afghans who wish to leave, to do so safely and without harassment.” At the moment, Sherman could only confirm that the Taliban wasn’t impeding Americans from leaving, though she couldn’t confirm that the status of every American currently in Afghanistan was known.
President Biden has rushed thousands more soldiers and government employees to help protect and defend the Kabul airport, saying their capacity to process American Partners will double by early next week and flights will ramp up to hourly all day and night.
Taking responsibility, Biden acknowledged “the buck” stops with him, the president said he and the military shared the same surprise as everyone else at the speed with which the Taliban took the country, highlighting that even after 20 years of training, a trillion-dollar investment, and extraordinary supply of American arms (now in Taliban hands) the Afghani military still would not defend itself even minimally.
While surprised by the speed and expressing concern about the current chaos, the Biden position is that there was going to be chaos no matter what, placing blame on Trump “negotiations” that led to the release of top Taliban leadership who were then in Pakistan prisons. One of those Trump-released leaders arrived to take lead in the Taliban government Thursday.
With plenty of blame to go around and decades of books and writing. to assign it, most worked to focus on getting Americans, allies and local partners through the impossible and dangerous process of getting out of the country.
The Washington Blade reported Sunday that transgender U.S. State Department contractor Josie Thomas was among a collection of people trapped in a diplomatic support facility near the Kabul airport. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul stated that it could no longer “ensure safe passage” to the airport.
Refugee Crisis Looms
Those who are able to get out face a real possibility of ending up stateless with. the small numbers of refugees most nations are stepping up to accept. While Canada has promised to grant 20,000 displaced Afghans asylum and Biden pledged to expand refuge access to Afghans that worked with U.S. organizations in Afghanistan and others “who otherwise are at great risk”, other nations have been more cagey about housing Afghan refugees.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and other top European officials announced a strategy to keep Afghan refugees in “transit countries” such as Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. Iran and Pakistan, countries with large Afghan refugee populations, and all without real protections for LGBTQ people.
Advocacy groups called on European nations to offer asylum to refugees from Afghanistan gay populations.. “As Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, members of the LGBTIQ community are among those at greatest risk of suffering under Taliban rule. The international community must act quickly and decisively to aid all those fleeing persecution,” said the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration.
In the UK, Stonewall UK urged the government to allow Afghan refugees as well. “LGBTQ+ Afghans have endured routine discrimination, abuse & persecution, including by the state. With the Taliban in power we expect this situation to deteriorate further, including the potential for a return to active enforcement of the laws that prohibit same-sex relationships,” read a statement from the organization.
“The U.K. government must step up now to put in place a rapid response humanitarian evacuation program and help resettle Afghan people, as well as take action to protect those who have already sought asylum here in the U.K.,” said Stonewall UK CEO Nancy Kelley. “This is a time for showing leadership in upholding the UN Refugee Convention, and helping LGBTQ+ Afghan refugees to survive, resettle and thrive.”
Going Dark
Speaking to the Washington Blade, Charbel Maydaa, founder of Lebanese advocacy organization MOSIAC, said she has lost contact with many in the nation since the Taliban’s resurgence. “We don’t know what’s happening. They’re not online or they are really afraid to talk on Facebook,” Maydaa said.
Maydaa stated that LGBTQ advocacy group ILGA Asia, of which Maydaa serves as alternate co-chair, is working to establish shelters for LGBTQ Afghans that are still in the country as they wait for a chance to leave the country. The organization is also pleading with governments internationally to “literally rescue them.”
“LGBT+ Afghans really don’t have any options. They can either await a slow death or a quick one. Whatever little joy they had will evaporate knowing that the Taliban can take their life at any moment,” gay Afghan author and activist Nemat Sadat told PinkNews. “As bad as life was for LGBT under the regimes of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, there is no telling how severe it can get under the Taliban … It’s not hyperbolic to say that the Taliban will do what Nazis did to homosexuals: weed them out and exterminated them from Afghan society.”
Afghanistan Gay: Previously on Towleroad
LGBTQ Orgs Alarmed Their Afghanistan Gay Contacts Have Gone Dark; Call On Nations, World to Prioritize LGBTQ Safety As Likely Taliban Target
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