Doctor refuses to see six-day-old baby as she has lesbian parents

Claims God gave her the free choice to not look after the young patient

read more

joem

www.gaystarnews.com/article/doctor-refuses-see-six-day-old-baby-she-has-lesbian-parents190215

HRC Continues to Fight for the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance

The fate of HERO is currently tied up in court by those who would oppose equality, but the community is working hard to make Houston a world-class city open to all.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/majority-of-houstonians-support-equal-rights?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Sexy Trans Model Aydian Dowling Recreates Naked Adam Levine Photo

Remember when Adam Levine stripped down to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer — or to raise awareness of his own hotness? Pretty sure it was one of those. Now, FTM Magazine, the all-in-one source for female to male culture, has recreated the shoot with sexy trans activist Aydian Dowling for the upcoming April issue.

“Some areas of my body used to remind me of everything I’m not,” said Dowling, founder of Point 5cc clothing. “Now they represent everything I am.”

Dowling originally started Point 5cc— a stealth clothing company highlighting transgender commonalities and creating a sense of pride — to fund his top surgery, but decided to keep it around to “give back to the community that had given so generously to him.”

In addition to a free binder exchange program, Point 5cc hosts an annual Transgender Surgery Fund.

You can find more on Aydian in the April 2015 issue of FTM (right).

Below, check out Aydian’s YouTube journal documenting his transition:

h/t: Buzzfeed

Les Fabian Brathwaite

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/Rc01J289yl4/sexy-trans-model-aydian-dowling-recreates-naked-adam-levine-photo-20150219

Anti-Gay Former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran Files Discrimination Lawsuit: VIDEO

Jim Redmond

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/anti-gay-former-atlanta-fire-chief-kelvin-cochran-files-discrimination-lawsuit-video.html

Lady Gaga Was The Biggest Pop Star In The World. What Happened?
Middlebrow is a recap of the week in entertainment, celebrity and television news that provides a comprehensive look at the state of pop culture. From the rock bottom to highfalutin, Middlebrow is your accessible guidebook to the world of entertainment. Sign up to receive it in your inbox here.

Lady Gaga was the biggest pop star in the world. And not just circa 2010. In the post-tabloid, instant-access landscape of the manufactured celebrity figure, there has never been a more rapid rocketing to mega fame than Gaga’s rise about five years ago. She had six No. 1 hits over the course of a single year. She sold 1.1 million copies of “Born This Way” in its first week alone. Beyonce played her backup on “Telephone.” Now, her off-brand engagement to Taylor Kinney (he proposed with a heart-shaped ring on Valentine’s day!) is barely news. She’s duetting with Tony Bennett and it’s unclear who is benefitting more from the collaboration. What happened?

“Is it because she’s not good anymore?” HuffPost Entertainment managing editor Christopher Rosen asked in an email. If we’re talking about “good” meaning “fun to dance to while drinking flavored vodka,” then, no, she’s not. “Artpop” and that “Cheek To Cheek” cover are not as “good” as her past stuff. Although, really that distinction has always been more about Gaga’s persona than her hit singles. She reached a new level of complexity with “Bad Romance” and “The Fame Monster,” but her music was mostly fluff sprinkled with hooks. At its core, her discography has been catchy pop that didn’t even attempt to match the level of complexity purported by her sartorial choices, post-modern approach to the music video and aggressive name dropping of Andy Warhol. Gaga’s appeal was always in the packaging. She emerged as a true performer equipped with her own mythology and symbolism — the sort of figure that we hadn’t seen since Madonna. That’s where the fascination began, and also where it ended.

“Gaga’s presence introduces the formerly unthinkable idea that Madonna, another voracious Italian girl, may really, truly, finally be on her way out,” Vanessa Grigoriadis wrote for New York magazine in 2010. At the time, that made sense. The similarities were clear — both had the dark penciled brows, platinum hair and an uncanny ability to dance the fine line between art and consumerism. The creatively controversial stylings of both found a careful balance of capitalism and subversion by sheer virtue of being churned out in the form of radio hits. Madonna has stayed relevant by navigating the tenuous space between the two realms, while Gaga quickly pushed herself over the edge by force-feeding us her artistry in light of her pop stardom. And that’s why she’s already on her way out, while Madonna is still providing “controversy” to the masses.

Look at “Artpop.” The message of the album is the idea of Gaga as art. (Like, very literally: “Pop culture was in art, now art’s in pop culture in me.”) With “Applause,” Gaga’s avant gardism has become as hollow as one of Jeff Koons’ balloon animal sculptures. Being avant-garde, truly experimenting in any medium, has always been about breaking from the accepted milieu and refusing to compete. Yet, Gaga purported the avant-garde, while her purest motivation was competition for fame.

For a more recent comparison, we can look to Katy Perry. Back in 2010, that same Grigordias New York magazine piece likened Perry to one of the “rising talents unable to push through to superstardom.” In 2014, “Roar” beat out “Applause” as part of Perry’s ever-swelling collection of hits. Perry’s timeline and approach to stardom make her the ultimate foil for Gaga. Where Gaga steeped herself in meaning and pretension, Perry stands for nothing. Her songs are not anymore about her than they are about the 13-year-old girl in Tulsa who really does feel like a plastic bag. As Rich Juzwiak wrote after her Super Bowl performance, “[It’s unclear] Katy Perry has anything to say, any unique perspective, any capacity to challenge or surprise, any persona beyond vaguely goofy and occasionally sentimental.”

In looking at all three we see where Madonna and Perry have maintained their fame while Gaga has waned. Perry is a sort of a vessel for the pop-culture machine, where Madonna imbues artistry into the artifice of her persona, but both embrace the manufactured nature of their stardom. We know that these figures are created for us, almost as if in a “Josie And The Pussycats” lab. Gaga didn’t fail because she is inauthentic — all pop stars are — but because she refused to embrace the reality of her act. As an icon of the millennial pop, Gaga may never truly be “over,” but until she can channel the authentic inauthenticity we see in Perry and Madonna, let’s hope she has enough room for that meat dress in her freezer.

Follow Lauren Duca on Twitter: @laurenduca

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/18/middlebrow-lady-gaga_n_6708638.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Pope Francis compares trans people to nuclear weapons

Head of the Catholic Church claims those who transition are opposing ‘God’s order of creation’

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joem

www.gaystarnews.com/article/pope-francis-compares-trans-people-nuclear-weapons190215

Watch: Edie Windsor and Roberta Kaplan Highlight the Importance of “The People’s Brief”

More than 100,000 Americans, including dozens of high-profile supporters, have now signed on to The People’s Brief, which gives every American a chance to voice support for marriage equality to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/watch-edie-windsor-and-roberta-kaplan-highlight-the-importance-of-the-peopl?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Andrew “I Don’t Like Mens No More” Caldwell Says He Is The Victim Of A Hate Crime

Andrew Caldwell took the internet by storm last November when video of him testifying that he had been delivered from homosexuality before the Church of God in Christ emerged online.

“I’m not gay no more!” Caldwell hollered over a gospel choir. “I am delivered! I DON’T LIKE MENS NO MORE!”

After the video went viral, Caldwell followed it up by releasing a gospel remix of his testimony called “I’m Not Gay No More.” It didn’t take long, however, for the single to be yanked from iTunes after the Church of God in Christ threatened the 21-year-old with a lawsuit, accusing him of making a mockery of the service and saying they owned the audio, to which Caldwell responded by saying that it was his voice and only he–not the church, not even God–could claim ownership of it.

And that was the last we heard from Mr. Caldwell. Until now.

Earlier this week, the author of nearly a dozen self-published e-books and once aspiring fashion designer uploaded an image of himself with a bloody nose to his Facebook page.

According to Caldwell, he was walking to his car in a strip mall parking lot in Montana when two unidentified men approached and punched him in the face. Afterwards, they fled the scene in a black automobile shouting “I’m not gay no more!”

“Ever since I talked about my deliverance from the sin of homosexuality, I have been receiving threatening messages by email and social media,” Caldwell said after the attack. “I fear for my life. I have been physically and verbally attacked. I feel that I will have to do whatever it takes to protect myself.”

Love Caldwell or hate him (we love him), nobody deserves to be physically attacked like that.

The state of Montana’s hate crimes statute does not cover violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery.

h/t: Atlanta World Daily

Related stories:

“I Don’t Like Mens No More,” Vine Goes Viral For Too Many Reasons To Count

Andrew “I’m Not Gay No More” Caldwell’s Inevitable Album Drops, Church Threatens Lawsuit

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/pgQOxHio5aI/andrew-i-dont-like-mens-no-more-caldwell-says-he-is-the-victim-of-a-hate-crime-20150219