Pop Culture Highs And Lows Of 2015 Thus Far
We were pretty bored around the midway point last year, but 2015 has given us more than enough to celebrate (and condemn). It’s been a wild six months, and pop culture is no exception. Our list of the peaks and troughs ranges from a heroic coming out and a record-smashing TV debut to an embattled comedian who just won’t go away and a divorce that leaves our hearts gone, baby, gone.

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The post Contacts at Gay Star News appeared first on Gay Star News.

Gareth Johnson

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Did Queer Movies Help Us Win Marriage Equality?

From state censorship to cross-dressing to cane fondling, the portrayal of homosexuality in film does more than reflect the opinions of the day — it helps mold them.

Below, work your way up from The Gay Brothers in 1895 to see how gender roles, stigma, homophobia and ultimately liberation tells the story of gay representation.

What’s next?

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/va2D3ifqV6o/did-queer-movies-help-us-win-marriage-equality-20150703

‘Do It Like Miley’ with Team Heartbreak, Alaska and Violet Chachki: VIDEO

Musical duo Caleb and Brian Raux, better known as Team Heartbreak, have released the video for their new song “Do It Like Miley” which features RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Alaska Thunderf**k and the winner of season 7, Violet Chachki.

“Do It Like Miley” is the first song off of Team Heartbreak’s upcoming album, Sassy Summer Sounds. The song and video celebrate liberation by paying tribute to Miley Cyrus while also raising awareness about her Happy Hippie foundation dedicated to combatting LGBT youth homelessness.

“The message in ‘Do iT Like Miley’ is: who cares what other people think of you,” says Caleb.  “[Others’] opinions don’t matter. The key to happiness is forgetting your insecurities and loving who you are. Just be you no matter what.”

The singers, who identify as straight, often get questions about their sexuality and first bonded over their defiance of traditional gender roles. “We don’t believe in traditional gender roles. We like poking fun at them any chance we get,” says Brian. “I mean, who needs gender roles when you have pizza rolls? Have you tasted those things? They’re seriously bomb!”

Watch the video for “Do It Like Miley” below:

The post ‘Do It Like Miley’ with Team Heartbreak, Alaska and Violet Chachki: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

Sean Mandell

‘Do It Like Miley’ with Team Heartbreak, Alaska and Violet Chachki: VIDEO

George Takei denies he’s racist

George Takei has denied he’s racist after referring to Justice Clarence Thomas as a ‘clown in blackface’.

The gay Star Trek actor and activist angered some when he delivered a stern rebuke to the African American judge after he voted against same-sex marriage in the Supreme Court ruling.

Thomas denied that same-sex couples who were unable to get married were ‘deprived of their liberty and dignity’.

‘Slaves did not lose their dignity (any more than they lost their humanity) because the government allowed them to be enslaved,’ he said in his dissent. ‘Those held in internment camps did not lose their dignity because the government confined them…The government cannot bestow dignity and it cannot take it away.’

Takei, who was a survivor of a Japanese internment camp, reacted angrily to Thomas’ dissent.

‘He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry,’ Takei told KSAZ-TV.

‘For him to say slaves had dignity … I mean, doesn’t he know slaves were chained? That they were whipped on the back?’

Many were outraged by his comments, with many calling Takei ‘racist’.

Writing on his Facebook, Takei has given a statement explaining his comments.

He said: ‘A few fans have written wondering whether I intended to utter a racist remark by referring to Justice Thomas as a “clown in blackface.”

‘”Blackface” is a lesser known theatrical term for a white actor who blackens his face to play a black buffoon. In traditional theater lingo, and in my view and intent, that is not racist. It is instead part of a racist history in this country.

‘I feel Justice Thomas has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings. He made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor. A sitting Justice of the Supreme Court ought to know better.’

The post George Takei denies he’s racist appeared first on Gay Star News.

Joe Morgan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/george-takei-denies-hes-racist/

You’ve Seen It On Facebook, But Does This Gay Pride Meme Deserve All The Outrage?

Photographer Ed Freeman created the gay flag image to the right more than 10 years ago for the cover of Frontiers magazine. Since then, it has been used across countless social media posts for its highly recognizable features — four men work to raise a rainbow flag, instantly evoking Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1945 photo at Iwo Jima (left).

Most recently, Freeman’s image resurfaced after last week’s Supreme Court victory. Freeman himself posted the picture to his Facebook account with the following message:

When I took this picture almost ten years ago, it never, never occurred to me that it would someday come to symbolize the victory we are celebrating today. Congratulations to all of us! Love to you all.

But many were upset at the implied comparison between the struggle for gay rights and the sacrifice on the battle field.

“Im all for gay rights and equal for all but DO NOT DISRESPECT THOSE WHO SERVED, SACRIFICED, AND DIED FOR YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOM,” wrote one commenter in response to Freeman’s post. “Its this shit that will drive ppl to hate on you. You WANT RESPECT THEN GIVE IT TO THOSE WHO DESERVE AND EARNED IT.”

Reaction on Twitter was similar:

I don’t say much, but this is too far. Do NOT take away from the Men and woman who fight and die for your “freedom”.. pic.twitter.com/Tdj5MxOXiC

— Robert Ybarra III (@albino_mexican3) July 2, 2015

The gay flag remake of the flag that flew at Iwo Jima is just insulting to America and those who have died for this country

— Jacob Anthony (@LabGrappler_95) June 27, 2015

But then again, the same person soon after Tweeted:

Hearing thats kids will be learning about incest, homosexuality, bisexuality in kindergarten makes me sick

— Jacob Anthony (@LabGrappler_95) June 28, 2015

One threat was so troubling, Freeman reported it to the FBI. “He said if he ever saw me, he’d kill me,” he told the Washington Post. “I got swamped with vitriolic hate mail.”

“The principle complaint that people have is that I am equating the gay struggle with the contribution and sacrifice of American servicemen,” Freeman said. “But there is no equal sign here. This is not meant as a sign of disrespect. For God sake, no. I totally support people in uniform. There is no comparison going on here. The comparison is going on in people’s heads, and they’re spoiling for a fight. They’re already on edge because of  the gay marriage decision.”

He added that before social media, his photo would only have been seen by people who wanted to see it, not by “straight people from small towns in Idaho.”

Is this a meme malfunction, or does everyone just need to simmer down?

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/9McPg9S4V3A/youve-seen-it-on-facebook-but-does-this-gay-pride-meme-deserve-all-the-outrage-20150703

Mom of Trans Teen Pushes for Resources That Could Have Saved Her Son

A family friend who helped the Prescotts through their darkest hour with the death of 14-year-old Kyler has started a new family advocacy organization.

read more

Thom Senzee

www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/07/03/mom-trans-teen-pushes-resources-could-have-saved-her-son