Jessica Lange Will Return To American Horror Story If Ryan Murphy Has His Way
I’ve been talking to her. It’s always possible. I’m trying to deal with her play schedule. Jessica is always about the character. She’ll be back—she’s not gone forever. But that’s the fun and fresh thing about the show: sometimes somebody has to go away before you realize how much you miss them. She wants to come back we just have to come up with something.”
— American Horror Story producer Ryan Murphy telling EW good news for fans of the actress who left the hit series to star in the upcoming Broadway revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Jeremy Kinser
Donald Trump Asked How He’d Explain His Opposition to Gay Marriage to a Gay Kid: WATCH
Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin and John Heilemann interviewed GOP frontrunner Donald Trump yesterday about a variety of issues and the billionaire blowhard answered in typical Trump fashion.
On former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke calling him “the best of the lot”:
“I don’t need his endorsement, I certainly wouldn’t want his endorsement, I don’t need anybody’s endorsement.”
On how he would explain his opposition to same-sex marriage to a gay child or grandchild:
Well it’s the way it is. I wouldn’t speak to them at all about it other than they are who they are and I want them to be happy and will love them and cherish them…I’ve gone to gay weddings. I’ve been at gay weddings. I have been against [gay marriage] from the standpoint of Bible, from the standpoint of my teachings as growing up and going to sunday school and going to church and I’ve been opposed to it and we’ll just see how it all comes out.
On his favorite Bible verses:
I wouldn’t want to get into it because to me that’s very personal. When I talk about the Bible it’s very personal…The Bible means a lot to me but I don’t want to get into specifics.
On whether he’s more of an Old Testament or New Testament kind of guy:
Probably equal. I think it’s just an incredible, the whole Bible is an incredible…I just think the Bible is something very special.
On Jeb Bush courting controversy for using the term “anchor babies”:
He’s using it because I use it…Maybe he shouldn’t use it, but I am going to.
A new Quinnipiac University poll puts Trump at 28% with his closest competitor Ben Carson at 12%.
Highlights and full interview below:
The post Donald Trump Asked How He’d Explain His Opposition to Gay Marriage to a Gay Kid: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
Donald Trump Asked How He’d Explain His Opposition to Gay Marriage to a Gay Kid: WATCH
Is There A Reason Women May Be More Likely To Identify As Bisexual?
Academic studies can be fascinating… and totally confusing. So we decided to strip away all of the scientific jargon and break them down for you.
The Background
As far as researchers are concerned, women are the more sexually fluid gender. Previous studies have found that there are higher rates of bisexual and “mostly heterosexual” identities among women, and their sexual identities are often less binary than those of men. This is taken to mean — rightly or wrongly — that women on the whole are more likely to be attracted (at least to some degree) to both sexes, whether they identify as gay, straight, bisexual or pansexual. While this concept is fairly established, researchers have yet to pin down why women tend to exhibit more sexual fluidity throughout their lives.
A new study from the University of Notre Dame looks at how particular life factors might influence women to swing one way or the other — or somewhere in between.
The Setup
Researchers used data from 5,018 women and 4,191 men who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health from 1994 to 2008. At various phases of the study, participants reported their sexual identities on a scale of 100 percent heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, bisexual, mostly homosexual and 100 percent homosexual. They were also asked to report their same-sex attraction levels and their same-sex sexual experiences. Then, they provided a roster of past and present romantic and sexual partners.
In addition to information on their sexuality, each participant listed the highest level of education he or she had achieved during each interview that occurred in the 14-year span of the study. They also reported if they had any children and when those children were born so that the researchers could categorize their answers into the very general categories “early first births” (around age 22) and “normatively-timed births” (around age 28). Finally, the interviewers rated each participant’s physical attractiveness on a scale of one to five. This was meant to serve as another measure of social context, but it’s safe to assume that the subjective ratings weren’t exactly scientific.
The Findings
As other studies have suggested, the researchers found that more women than men considered themselves bisexual, and women were more likely to change their sexual identity over the course of their lives. But this research added a bit more nuance to those concepts: Social factors, like educational attainment and physical attractiveness, were significantly associated with how women identified on the sexual spectrum. No such link was found for men.
Women in the study were more likely to identify as heterosexual if they reached higher levels of education, avoided “early first births” and were considered more physically attractive by the interviewers in the study. Higher educational attainment was also associated with less change over time in a woman’s sexual identity.
The researchers argued that, if heterosexuality is the societal “default,” the pressure to conform to that norm might be strongest when a sexually fluid woman is in an environment where she can easily find herself in “socially-approved heterosexual relationships.” They state:
“Highly educated, physically attractive, childless women have greater access to desirable male partners … For such women, heterosexuality may be the most obvious path and also the path of least resistance, even if they experience some degree of both other-sex and same-sex attraction.”
The Takeaway
Of course, the researchers aren’t suggesting that any of these life factors cause women to sexually identify in a specific way or that people consciously “choose” their sexuality. Rather, they merely suggest that social context may play a role in whether or not a woman who is more sexually fluid acts on that fluidity and claims a less heteronormative label.
Keep in mind, however, that the researchers never asked participants why they identified the way they did, so this theory is merely an educated guess.
It’s also important to note that, even though this study didn’t find a link between male sexual identity and social context, that doesn’t necessarily mean that men aren’t as sexually fluid as women. It might just be that society as a whole is less accepting of bisexual men, so they have to push through a specific kind of stigma to openly explore their sexuality.
But when it comes to women, this study and the ones that came before it are beginning to create a more complete picture of female sexuality. And that picture is becoming increasingly complex.
Also on HuffPost:
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Scottsdale Business Leaders Support Non-Discrimination Protections
This week, Competitive Arizona hosted more than 125 Scottsdale business leaders to discuss a potential LGBT non-discrimination ordinance.
HRC.org
Court Tells Homophobic County Clerk She Must Issue Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling ordering a Kentucky county clerk to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis objects to same-sex marriage for religious reasons. She stopped issuing marriage licenses the day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state bans on same-sex marriage.
Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A U.S. district judge ordered Davis to issue the marriage licenses, but later delayed his order so that Davis could have time to appeal to the 6th circuit. Wednesday, the appeals court denied Davis’ request for a stay.
“It cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court,” judges Damon J. Keith, John M. Rogers and Bernice B. Donald wrote for the court. “There is thus little or no likelihood that the Clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal.”
April Miller and Karen Roberts were one of the gay couples who sued Davis. Miller read the ruling on her phone in the living room of the house they share down a country road on the outskirts of Morehead. Roberts, her partner for more than a decade, peered over her shoulder, smiling, humming, tears welling up under her glasses.
Related: Christian Government Clerk Hijacks The Law, And It’s All Caught On Tape
The news flashes across their TV screen and they hugged, and their hug turned into a brief slow dance on the living room rug. The phone started ringing, but they ignored it for a minute.
They felt vindicated, they said. They got out the boxes holding their matching wedding bands, bought days after the Supreme Court’s decision in June. They are simple white gold bands, ringed in diamonds.
“One step closer,” Miller said. “We might be able to get married in September.”
Mat Staver, an attorney for Davis, said he was disappointed with the ruling. He said he plans to discuss options with Davis, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The court of appeals did not provide any religious accommodation rights to individuals, which makes little sense because at the end of the day it’s individuals that are carrying out the acts of the office,” Staver said. “They don’t lose their individual constitutional rights just because they are employed in a public office.”
It’s unclear how Davis will react if she were to ultimately lose her appeals. She testified in federal court last month she would “deal with that when the time comes.” Saturday, she spoke to thousands of supporters at a religious freedom rally at the state capitol, saying: “I need your prayers … to continue to stand firm in what we believe.”
“Regardless of what any man puts on a piece of paper, the law of nature is not going to change,” Davis told the crowd.
Miller and Roberts said they know the legal fight will stretch on. Davis continued to refuse to issue marriage licenses after other judges’ rulings. And they suspect she will continue to refuse after this one.
“We get all excited. But we know a letdown is coming again,” Miller said. “It’s going to keep going. It’s gonna be a long haul.”
“But it felt so good for a minute,” Roberts chimed in.
Jeremy Kinser
Venice Mayor: ‘There Will Never Be a Gay Pride in My City’
The right wing mayor of Venice, Italy has banned “height of kitsch” Gay Pride celebrations in the city, reports the Guardian.
Elected on a center right ticket in June, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said “there will never be a gay pride in my city.” He also suggested that LGBT people “go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes.”
Despite his short time in office, Brugnaro has already raised eyebrows by banning books featuring same-sex couples from schools. Earlier this month he had a public row with Elton John over the ban.
Flavio Romani, president of Italian gay rights group Arcigay, said:
“Venice is not his city. At the moment he is governing it, but he won’t last long given the fool he is making of himself. He is becoming obsessive about this. Venice does not deserve it.
“It is a national scandal. Sadly in this country, some politicians listen more to what the bishops tell them rather than what society is saying.”
Italy is the only major western European country that does not allow civil partnerships or or same-sex marriage.
(Image creative commons via Flickr)
The post Venice Mayor: ‘There Will Never Be a Gay Pride in My City’ appeared first on Towleroad.
Michael Fitzgerald
TBT: Mid-Century Dreamboats
Christopher Harrity
www.advocate.com/comedy/2015/08/27/tbt-mid-century-dreamboats
Gender-neutral title Mx added to Oxford Dictionary
Oxford Dictionaries has added the gender neutral title Mx, as well as ‘pwnage’, ‘butthurt’, and ‘awesomesauce’.
The honorific of Mx, given to those who do not want to be referred to as Mr, Miss, Ms or Mrs, was added to reflect ‘today’s more thoughtful conversations about gender identity’.
It is defined as ‘a title used before a person’s surname or full name by those who wish to avoid specifying their gender or by those who prefer not to identify themselves as male or female.’Originating in around 70s, Mx can be widely used in forms, banks and government institutions in the UK.
Other words added in to Oxford Dictionaries include brain fart, butt dial, cat cafe, fat-shame, microagression, rando, weak sauce, and wine o’clock.
The addition of Mx follows the introduction of cisgender into the Oxford English Dictionary earlier this year.
The post Gender-neutral title Mx added to Oxford Dictionary appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
www.gaystarnews.com/article/gender-neutral-title-mx-added-to-oxford-dictionary/
The “Black Men Are Bigger” Myth Just Got Debunked
“I have a problem with my dick size,” psychologist Bill Johnson II (pictured) writes in a HuffPo op-ed. “It’s not big and I want it to be! … I’m also Black, and the ‘word’ is all Black men have a large phallus.”
According to Johnson, he doesn’t know exactly how large he is because he’s never actually measured.
“I hate bad news,” he writes, “and that’s the type of information that can ruin my day. … There are literally some days when I look down at my crotch and ask ‘is that really all you got?’”
Related: A Black Man Answers: “Are Black Men Really Bigger?”
If he had to guess, though, Johnson says he’d probably land in the “average” category.
“No sexual partner has ever said my dick size was a problem,” he confesses. “Then again, would they actually tell me?”
But the real problem, Johnson points out, isn’t he’s penis at all, but rather the racist stereotype that because of his skin color he’s supposed to be bigger, thicker, longer.
“I have internalized the racist notion that Black men have big dicks,” he writes, “which has its roots in European racism, used to justify slavery and racial oppression.”
Related: Is Lee Daniels Responsible For Perpetuating Myths About Black Men On The “Down Low”?
Put simply, the idea was that black men were “lust-driven” and “animalistic.” They had large penises which they used to rape innocent white women, hence why they needed to be controlled and oppressed.
That stereotype, Johson argues, continues to this day, particularly in the adult film industry.
“Many of the adult movies with Black men in starring roles use racial themes in the title and often as the flick’s primary selling point,” Johnson explains. “The idea of the salacious Black male and his monster cock has been used to perpetuate the objectification and brutality of African American men.”
So what can be done?
For starters, Johnson says, we need to drop the stereotype. Also, people need to get over their obsession with penis-size.
“Contrary to popular belief, human males are the best endowed of the hominids, proportionate to body size,” he writes. “The average human penis size is five inches. … If men were not bombarded with a barrage of messages preaching their inadequacy, insecurities related to the male genitalia would be minimal.”
Related: Is It True What They Say About Black Men?
Graham Gremore
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