Bobbi Kristina Brown Dead at 22

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the 22-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, has died at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, Georgia.

Brown was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home in January and was subsequently taken off life support on February 11, the third anniversary of her mother’s death.

“She is finally at peace in the arms of God,” the Houston family said in statement to Entertainment Tonight. “We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months.”

NBC News reports:

Bobbi Kristina was music royalty as the daughter of two superstars — and the granddaughter of another, Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney, who died in February 2012.

She became even better known at age 10 when she was featured on her father’s reality TV series, “Being Bobby Brown.”

Us Weekly adds police are treating Brown’s death as a criminal investigation and that her boyfriend, Nick Gordon, has been questioned by law enforcement.

The post Bobbi Kristina Brown Dead at 22 appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Bobbi Kristina Brown Dead at 22

Portland in the Gay '90s vs PDX NOW

Living in Portland, Oregon during the 1990’s was the right place at the right time. It was the perfect home to have with little money, an open mind and an artistic heart. We were far enough from Seattle to be safely tucked away from grunge saturation and close enough to San Francisco to be progressively driven. Thrift stores were full of vintage Pendleton wool shirts for a buck and Starbucks was second choice to Coffee People. Gus Van Sant had a house overlooking downtown and daily sightings of extras from “My Own Private Idaho” or “Drugstore Cowboy” made you feel cool. I initially lived off NW 23rd before relocating to larger digs on the other side of the Willamette River in close proximity to the Rose Quarter. Life was good and to escape the rainy drudgery people complained about just took a tank of gas and a quick glance at Doppler Radar. Having moved there from the East Coast; I quickly learned the joys of coffee, micro beer and salmon. This is also the town where I was able to come out without fear of a beat down. Gay nightlife centered around SW Stark Street in a consolidated area sadly nicknamed “Vaseline Alley.” I just went back for a week and everything has changed but some things are still very Portland.

Portland was a happy escape from the East Coast due to the lack of taxes, amazing landscapes and no need to pump your own gas. Of course, there were many other reasons to love the town but ask any local to reminisce and you will find they might still be in the 90’s. The downtown has expanded from what seemed like a few blocks to radiate to the East side of the river with a healthy dose of Oregon hipsters the further you go out. Milwaukee has a super cute weekend farmer’s market and plenty of local artisans that still feel genuine in their craft. Good food and drinks are all over the place but call outs to Slow Bar and Laurelhurst Market for keeping it interesting. Now the West side is another story…

Before there was a Pearl District filled with shops and big restaurants; there was just Powell’s Books, a brewery and a bunch of warehouses. We used to play pool at Scandal’s then head over to Silverado for a show of some sort and finalize the night with drinks, more pool or pinball at the Eagle. Everything was condensed onto Stark Street but before I left you could feel the changes coming. Ace Hotel was the first establishment to really anchor the change along with the Crystal Ballroom and Ringler’s Annex. You could feel the end of “loser at pool has to run home naked through the warehouses” being replaced with condos and Whole Foods. No more Thomas Lauderdale walking around in a shift dress with a pillbox hat, no more late nights at Suzanne’s Diner and no more going out with $5 in your pocket to wake up with $5 in your pocket. Restaurants have popped up with so much square footage that you can only assume most of what you are eating arrived that morning on a truck from Sysco. If you head a little NW though you can still find the charm of 21st Street and my all time favorite restaurant Caffe Mingo is still there. One night I was itching for some old school PDX nightlife and was happy to find that near Chinatown down on Broadway is a new bar called “Stag PDX“. After a quick dinner at Chinatown fixture “Hung Far Low”; I dropped into Stag and found the old Portland strippers have been replaced by Cirque de Soleil like acrobats but the vibe is good. The bar quickly filled up with people from all over the world without attitudes but it was a reminder that Portland is now an international destination and the line outside when I left told me that downtown is now fully generic…you could be in any major city.

I guess that saying “You can never go back home” applies to my trip but not in a negative way; it was just a special place at a special time and those who experienced it will know what I mean. Do not get me wrong, I would move back to Portland in a heartbeat but it is slightly saturated. Unless you are moving there with a job; there is a bit of a glass ceiling career wise. People are so happy that they are not going anywhere which makes personal growth a bit daunting. It is not the city where the intern becomes a Director in less than 10 years but it is amazing. The kind of place where making a living is all you need because there is so much to be had in your personal life. Even the most seasoned city slicker will become a naturalist, however, there are enough cultural gatherings to keep you plugged in. For all the growth the area has endured some things remain the same in Portland: the air is fresh, the food is fresh and the living is full.

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This lesbian couple want you to help name their baby

A lesbian couple are using the power of YouTube to help name their daughter.

Hayley Jude and her wife Simone are looking for inspiration from viewers so their child will end up with a suitable name.

In a video blog, the pair explain their naming journey so far, and share the lengthy list of criteria they’re taking into account ahead of their daughter’s birth.

Hayley explained: ‘One of my favorite names is the name of her ex-girlfriend’s cat. Damnit.

‘Or there’s the name of that person who was kind of a bully in high school. Or a former lover. Or too similar to the name of someone very close to us.’

‘That’s the thing about names — they carry a lot of subjective weight based on when and how (and if) we’ve encountered them.

‘Or whether they’re suddenly at the forefront of popular culture; Dora and Olivia come to mind.

‘There’s also the more aesthetic qualities. The sound of the name, what imagery it conjures.

‘How delightful it is to say, how easy to spell. Does it jive with our last name?’

Now ex-girlfriends’ names, weird friends’ names, and awkward-sounding options all off the table, the pair have drawn up a lengthy list of criteria.

Hayley explained the name has to be more than one syllable, unique but not trendy or too ‘out there’, as well as sounding good with their last name, Jude.

Oh, and it has to sound ‘versatile and pretty and powerful.’

No pressure then.

Watch the video below:

The post This lesbian couple want you to help name their baby appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/this-lesbian-couple-want-you-to-help-name-their-baby/

Americans with Disabilities Act Turns 25

Today, 25 years ago, President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/americans-with-disabilities-act-turns-25?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Italian Pol: Gays Should Change Gender if They Want to Wed

Representative Paola Binetti has a sick solution to her country’s debate over same-sex marriage.

read more

Daniel Reynolds

www.advocate.com/world/2015/07/26/italian-pol-gays-should-change-gender-if-they-want-wed

Here’s how a gay dad explained ‘the sex talk’ to his young sons

‘When a mummy and a daddy love each other very much, they have a special hug… daddy’s sperm meets mummy’s egg, and nine months later, a baby is born.’

Even for straight parents, having ‘the talk’ can be awkward.

For many, explaining the biology of conception serves as a substitute for talking about the issues of intimacy and sex – leaving kids to discover the facts for themselves through their teenage years.

But as gay dad Rob Watson explains, sex between consenting adults, whatever their orientation, is rarely about the procreation of children.

To help parents give their kids a well-rounded view of sex and relationships, he’s created a video explaining how he gave ‘the talk’ to his 12-year-old sons.

‘Sex talks always come from the ‘where do babies come from’ place,’ he said.

‘I was finding as a gay dad that it was incredibly heteronormative.’

He added: ‘It was going to be a talk that I was going to have with my kids that I didn’t actively have a part in, because guess what, I’ve never had s-e-x for the purposes of making a baby.’

One person he hopes to help is his straight cousin, who wanted to ensure her children heard about different kinds of relationships, sexualities, and genders while they were still young.

She wrote a letter asking Rob how he planned address the issue of sex and relationships with his children, in the hope he could give some pointers.

‘I don’t want her to feel boxed in by some heteronormative standards,’ she said.

‘I want her, whoever she’s going to be, I want her to not look back on that talk like I’m forcing her into something.’

Rob explained how the issue of sex came up on its own on a car journey with his two boys.

After one of his sons asked whether ‘the F word means sex’, Rob decided it was time to give them a few facts about adult relationships.

He said: ‘When you are an adult and you want to be very intimate with somebody that you’re very close with, and you feel like you can be completely naked with, and you want to share that of yourself, these are the things adults do – and I described the different sex acts.’

‘And if you happen to be a man and a woman when you do this, that is how the sperm goes from the man into the woman, and could potentially fertilize an egg and create a baby. But that is what sex and intimacy is about.’

Watch the full video below:

The post Here’s how a gay dad explained ‘the sex talk’ to his young sons appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/heres-how-a-gay-dad-explained-the-sex-talk-to-his-young-sons/