Rallies Set Tuesday to Address Violence Against Black Trans Women
#BlackLivesMatter organizers plan to draw attention to the wave of fatal violence against this population during TransLiberation Tuesday.
Trudy Ring
Daily Archives: August 24, 2015
Lily Tomlin recalls taking charge as a kid when a door-to-door salesman duped her mother
Lily Tomlin recalls taking charge as a kid when a door-to-door salesman duped her mother
In her acclaimed new film Grandma, Lily Tomlin’s character stands up for her granddaughter and for herself as they traipse across Los Angeles trying to get money for an abortion.
It wasn’t much of a stretch for the 75-year-old star to play someone unafraid of a confrontation – she’s been doing it all of her life.
Tomlin recalls a time when her mother felt forced to buy a vacuum cleaner for $300 from an aggressive door-to-door salesman.
The young Lily wasn’t having it. She called the salesman and demanded he return to their home and give her mother her money back.
‘I was all piss and vinegar,’ Tomlin tells Huffington Post. ‘I was just cursing him and telling him that if he didn’t come I would throw it in the street.’
The salesman returned, but with an attitude.
‘He finally came out and said, “Your mother bought that vacuum cleaner” and all this stuff. And I pitched it out off the stairs. I was forever doing stuff like that. I just railed against it,’ she recalls.
It’s just the way she was.
‘In the early years, my mother would have been more concerned about what the neighbors — or the relatives in the South — would think. I was a Detroit kid, a street kid, so I was kind of tough. I would stand up for myself.’
The post Lily Tomlin recalls taking charge as a kid when a door-to-door salesman duped her mother appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
WATCH: Michigan Marriage Equality Plaintiffs Wed
WATCH: Michigan Marriage Equality Plaintiffs Wed
April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who helped bring down marriage bans nationwide, wed Saturday.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/08/24/watch-michigan-marriage-equality-plaintiffs-wed
My Transgender Life: Labels and Boxes
My Transgender Life: Labels and Boxes
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
– William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
No surprise here, Words have power!
No, I am not just talking about those magical spells in the Potterverse that so many of us have learned to escape to, but I am talking about those every day comments that can enhance or tear apart one’s very soul.
I am talking about some simple words and phrases that we use every day that have the power to make or break our connection with others.
“I understand,” are the words that will bring connection and comforting warmth.
“You don’t understand,” bring the icy bards that separate and threaten connection in so many ways.
So much power in so few words!
To me, being human is quite magical in itself, whether or not we can control mysterious forces to cast spells on others. We have the magic of language, which when I was a young one, was taught that this is what separated us from the rest of the animal kingdom. I did accept this way back then but after so much time, I begin to wonder its truth.
We have the magic of emotions and feelings. For some of us this is a source of ongoing wonder and joy, yet for others it may seem that we are ruled by dark forces we cannot control, and fight against with all our might. I know what this is like as for much of my life most of my energies were spent to draw a curtain over all the feelings that would bubble up in me. I was so afraid that if I shared what was inside of me, I would never hear the magical warmth of “I understand!”
Again, when I was a young one, I was taught that there were those two boxes that people fit in. There was the mostly Blue box that was labeled “male” and the Pinkish box that was labeled “female.” It was so simple, and there were no other possibilities. When you were born you were placed in a box and given a label and that was that!
For anyone who dared to creep or crawl their way out of the box they were placed in — even if they just wanted to explore — there would be so many voices, so many forces pushing them back — some starting out gently but invariably getting stronger and less gentle with the messages always saying you need to go back where you belong, and “You don’t understand!” For those who were exploring, their internal voices were struggling to yell out, “No! It is you who does not understand!” Some of those internal voices were also struggling themselves to understand why they did not feel right in the box they were put in, but were so afraid to say this to anyone.
In a world where gender is thought to be a binary construct of male and female, those of us who do not fit in the simple constructs, whether we feel we are in the wrong “box” or the boxes are insufficient to describe ourselves, often go through a life of confusion, fear, shame and struggle. It is a challenge to ever find the words to express what we feel.
For so many, it is so much easier to place things and people in a box with a simple label on it. It does not really matter if the label is correct or even if what is in the box may change over time. This requires work for us and even the risk of exploring our own feelings — and there may be danger in that!
Sometimes our human gifts of language and feelings are not compatible. Can I ever express my true sense of being me to another person? I am pretty certain that is a desire we all have. Can I know you? Can you know me?
Even within the transgender community there appears ongoing changes in language, in labels and in boxes on how we describe and communicate what our feelings are inside. I get it! There are times when knowing where things belong are quite useful. Being able to organize, list and categorize are most often considered to be valuable skills for both young and old. Losing this ability is often a warning sign of mental decline.
Sometime we even need to have a label for ourselves so we can understand where we are, where we belong, how to share our feelings. This is hard and by no means ever exact. It may be a struggle to find the words but I wonder if it is ever worthy of a fight about it?
Juliet knew the truth that the names — the words did not matter. Her family, culture and society did not, and her story ended as a tragedy.
Our stories do not need to end this way. Perhaps we can all learn to say, “I understand” and the smell of the roses will remind us that this is all that matters.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Wentworth Miller is the man crush of X Factor champ Matt Cardle
Wentworth Miller is the man crush of X Factor champ Matt Cardle
It turns out that English pop star Matt Cardle, winner of The X Factor in 2010, has excellent taste in men.
Cardle was asked by Attitude Magazine who his man crush is and he did not hesitate in answering: ‘It’s more of a respect thing but it was Wentworth Miller from Prison Break, then he came out so it was like “Ah, well done.”‘
Miller came out publicly as a gay man back in 2013 after years of silence about his sexuality. His coming out was in the context of declining an invitation to a film festival in Russia in protest of the county’s anti-gay laws.
Miller currently playing a recurring villain in The Flash row and will reprise his role as Michael Scofield for a 10 episode Prison Break revival next summer.
Cardle just hopes he can hear his man crush better this time around.
‘The only thing that frustrated me was how quietly he spoke on Prison Break,’ the singer says. ‘You’d have to turn the TV right up, then someone else would speak and you’d be like ‘Oh, Jesus, that’s loud.”‘
The post Wentworth Miller is the man crush of X Factor champ Matt Cardle appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/wentworth-miller-is-the-man-crush-of-x-factor-champ-matt-cardle/
Nick The Gardener Spreads His Seed All Over Ellen’s Set
Nick The Gardener Spreads His Seed All Over Ellen’s Set
National Arbor day may be months in the past (or future, depending on how you want to do the math), but that didn’t stop Ellen — and more importantly, Nick the gardener — from sharing this video of some on-set celebrating recently.
Fist, as is customary on every Arbor day, Nick showed off his trunk.
We’re not sure showing off your guns is part of the official tradition. Maybe it’s a regional thing.
Next, the unveiling of the seed — our favorite part of the holiday. So much hope.
And finally, you get a seed! And you! And you get a seed!
Watch the clip below:
Dan Tracer
What To Watch On TV This Week: ‘Runway’ Gets Moody; James Marsden Runs ‘Wild’
What To Watch On TV This Week: ‘Runway’ Gets Moody; James Marsden Runs ‘Wild’
Check out our weekly guide to make sure you’re catching the big premieres, crucial episodes and the stuff you won’t admit you watch when no one’s looking.
— The remaining designers finally get to flex their fabric finesse with their first trip to Mood on the next Project Runway. Then our contestants will do their best to put a modern spin on a classic look. Make it work and tune in Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern on Lifetime.
— He’s conquered Magneto in X-Men and wrangled “the nicest kids in town” as Corny Collins in Hairspray, but can actor James Marsden face the wilderness? See what happens when he sets out in Utah with Bear Grylls on the next Running Wild With Bear Grylls, tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on NBC.
— It’s your last chance to ogle the pecs of Tyler Posey and the rest of the cast of Teen Wolf before the supernatural drama wraps the first half of its fifth season tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on MTV.
— Combative partners Freddie (Ian McKellen) and Stuart (Derek Jacobi) are back for season two of Vicious, Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. on PBS. In the premiere, Ash (played by Game of Thrones’ Iwan Rheon) introduces his new girlfriend to the group.
— The release of every new Netflix series feels like an event and Friday’s launch of Narcos is no different. Starring Wagner Moura (Elysium), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) and Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl), the series portrays the brutal battles between law enforcement and drug kingpins in the ‘80s.
What are you watching on TV this week?
The post What To Watch On TV This Week: ‘Runway’ Gets Moody; James Marsden Runs ‘Wild’ appeared first on Towleroad.
Bobby Hankinson
What To Watch On TV This Week: ‘Runway’ Gets Moody; James Marsden Runs ‘Wild’
Los Angeles DJ Pictured in Josh Duggar's OKCupid Profile May Sue for Defamation
Los Angeles DJ Pictured in Josh Duggar's OKCupid Profile May Sue for Defamation
A Hollywood DJ is considering his options after a picture of him reportedly popped up on a profile page belonging to Josh Duggar on the dating website.
Dawn Ennis
The U.S. And Chile Got The UN Security Council To Talk LGBT Rights
The U.S. And Chile Got The UN Security Council To Talk LGBT Rights
WASHINGTON — The most powerful body at the United Nations on Monday had its first ever conversation about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
A group of speakers — including two gay Middle Eastern survivors of anti-LGBT persecution by the Islamic State militant group, as well as U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and an advocate for global LGBT equality — addressed an informal gathering of top diplomats whose countries sit on the U.N. Security Council.
The United States and Chile co-sponsored the event, which was unprecedented for the Security Council, a number of whose member states are notoriously intolerant of LGBT people. The event’s organizers, mindful of the diplomatic sensitivities that accompany discussions of LGBT issues, classified the event as an Arria-formula meeting — a type of unofficial, confidential and non-mandatory gathering of Security Council members.
Thirteen of the 15 current Security Council member states attended Monday’s meeting, a U.N. diplomat in attendance told The Huffington Post. Angola and Chad were the only countries that skipped the event.
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., launched the event by acknowledging its groundbreaking nature.
“Today we are making U.N. history,” Power told the attendees. “This is the first time in history that the Council has held a meeting on the victimization of LGBT persons. It is the first time we are saying, in a single voice, that it is wrong to target people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is a historic step. And it is, as we all know, long overdue.”
Referring to the Islamic State group’s widely publicized targeting of LGBTQ residents of Iraq and Syria, Power told the diplomats that “we are coming together as a Security Council to condemn these acts, to demand they stop, and to commit to one day bringing the perpetrators to justice. That unified condemnation matters.”
A gay man from Iraq, who addressed the Security Council members by phone using a pseudonym, had previously told The New York Times that he “hadn’t been breathing” for weeks as he tried to escape the Islamic State militants who took over his hometown.
The other man, a Syrian named Subhi Nahas, had faced threats from both the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al Qaeda, Power told the Security Council gathering.
Power pointed out that it’s not only extremist groups like the Islamic State that target LGBT individuals in these countries. Both men had faced discrimination and threats from Iraqis and Syrians not linked to the Islamic State or to Jabhat an-Nusra, she said.
“While the targeting of LGBT individuals in the region appears to have worsened as ISIL’s power has grown, such violence and hatred existed well before the group’s dramatic rise, and that violence and hatred extends far beyond ISIL’s membership,” Power said, using the Obama administration’s preferred name for the Islamic State group. “Condemning ISIL’s violent and systematic targeting of LGBT individuals is the easiest step we can take today. Because while today’s session is focused on the crimes against LGBT persons committed by ISIL, we know the scope of this problem is much broader.”
“The effort to defend the equal rights of LGBT persons must also be waged within every one of our countries, even those where important progress has been made — and that includes in the United States,” she continued. “For just as this year we have made tremendous strides in advancing LGBT rights in the United States, we are under no illusion that the work is finished. Every one of our countries can and must do more to advance these rights domestically.”
The U.N. Security Council comprises 15 countries. Five of them, including the U.S., are permanent members, and two of those permanent member states, Russia and China, have received international criticism for their track records on LGBT rights. The current group of 10 non-permanent members includes LGBT-friendly countries like Chile and New Zealand, but also countries like Nigeria, where same-sex couples can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.
Power told the Times that the U.S. hopes to get LGBT rights “into the DNA” of the U.N.
That way, she said, “when you’re talking about minorities or vulnerable groups, you would always have L.G.B.T. people included.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
UN Security Council urged to relocate and provide safe houses for LGBTI people targeted by ISIS
UN Security Council urged to relocate and provide safe houses for LGBTI people targeted by ISIS
The United Nations Security Council was briefed Monday (24 August) on violence against LGBTI people by ISIS and urged to act urgently to support those being targeted in Iraq and Syria.
Jessica Stern, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, spoke to the council along with two men – one from Iraq and one from Syria – who shared their experiences of being targeted by ISIS.
Stern asked for help for those in need of relocation, suggested that safe houses be created in Iraq and urged countries to provide psychological help for those in need.
‘Given the extreme and constant forms of attack against LGBTI people we think it’s of the utmost importance for the Security Council to act urgently,’ Stern told reporters after the briefing.
‘The heart of my message today is this: the international community must understand anti-LGBTI persecution as a component of how ISIS treats those it labels as “impure.” We must recognize that these threats exist on a continuum of violence and discrimination before, during, and after conflict.’
Stern pointed out that even before the rise of ISIS and its terror campaign LGBTI people, LGBTI people in Iraq and Syria have been persecuted by intolerance.
‘It was not only the State that abdicated responsibility: some families would rather harm their own children than see their so-called “honor” besmirched,’ she said. ‘Some have twisted faith to incite violence.’
ISIS have branded LGBTI people the ‘worst of creatures’ – something many Muslims have criticized saying these are extremists misinterpreting the Qu’ran.
Since June 2014, ISIS has published at least seven online photo reports purporting to show the brutal execution of persons accused of sodomy. Four of the killings took place on 26 June to ‘celebrate’ the US passing marriage equality, terrorists threw four gay men off a building in Raqqa, Syria.
Last week, a video surfaced that revealed the moment that two gay men, blindfolded and bound, were thrown off a roof by Islamic extremists and then stoned to death by children in Syria.
The post UN Security Council urged to relocate and provide safe houses for LGBTI people targeted by ISIS appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
