5 reasons why the response to Tom Hardy being asked about his sexuality is ridiculous and hypocritical

When I saw the recent video of a reporter asking Tom Hardy about his sexuality at a press

conference, I knew the reaction would be overblown – and that most people would side with the British actor (in some cases, simply because he’s hot).

Well, I don’t side with him. And I don’t care how unpopular an opinion that is.

The question posed to Hardy – ‘Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?’ (28.10 in the below video) – was clumsily worded and awkwardly delivered, and not one I would have asked in a press conference scenario, or perhaps at all.

But I don’t think the journalist in question deserved the hostility he received from Tom, or more to the point, a fraction of the trashing he’s received elsewhere.

Not only from other far more intrusive and salacious media outlets who’ve praised Tom for ‘PERFECTLY’, ‘EXPERTLY’ and ‘SPECTACULARLY’ shutting him down, but also from the thousands of vitriolic online commentators who have accused the journalist in question of ‘giving LGBTI people a bad name.’ To these people I say, get a grip.

Here are five reasons why, from my perspective, the question was reasonable, if ill-advised.

1 The journalist works for an LGBTI publication

Note: not the National Enquirer, but an LGBTI publication. He wasn’t going for a tabloid angle. And as Daily Xtra have put it themselves: ‘It’s our responsibility to examine sexuality and the ways in which it’s portrayed on screen.’

2 Tom’s spoken about his sexuality in the past

So it’s reasonable, if naive, to assume he would again. In a 2008 interview with Attitude, Tom said he’s ‘played with everyone and everything – I’m an actor for f**** sake’, before later claiming his comments were misconstrued, adding: ‘I have never put my penis in a man. I’ve never had a c*** in my a***’. Charming. In light of this, I for one would be up for some thoughtful, sensitively-worded clarification (not gory details) as to what on earth this means. Lord knows, sexuality is a complicated beast. So I can’t blame the Daily Xtra journalist for wanting the same.

3 Tom’s playing an LGBTI character in the film he’s promoting

Ironic that, isn’t it? In Legend, Tom plays gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the former of whom was openly gay. This is repeatedly addressed in the movie. Any person with half a brain would thus draw a parallel between the actor’s possible experimentation and the character – but if and how you raise that is a different matter.

4 It should be a journalist’s prerogative to decide the questions they ask

This is essentially what differentiates an interview from a free advert, and some famous people really struggle with this concept. For better or worse, personal questions are a sign of the age we live in. Tom is not vastly overpaid to appear in films for his acting ability alone, but also for the interest his popularity and profile brings to the film. What’s more, dealing with press, however irritating, is an inevitable part of a famous actor’s work. That of course doesn’t mean they’re ever obliged to answer something they’re not comfortable with – but there’s a polite and professional way of declining a question.

5 It shouldn’t be offensive or shocking to ask after someone’s sexuality in the right context

Especially if you work for an LGBTI publication. To me, this is the central issue. Some people have argued that now Tom is married to a woman with whom he has a child, to question his sexuality is somehow rude or inappropriate. That is heterosexist, and raises questions of bi-erasure, that there’s something shameful about it. What’s more, some people will say Tom’s sexuality is nobody’s business but his own, and it’s impossible to argue with that – but I dare say these people would be the first to read about it if he chose to address it.

It’s sad but true: there are still so few out and proud LGBTI people in the public eye that even a man being open about the fact he had a fleeting fumble with another man eons ago is a contribution. If Tom doesn’t want to play that role, that’s fine – but can you blame someone for asking him to offer such visibility?

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Jamie Tabberer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/5-reasons-why-the-response-to-tom-hardy-being-asked-about-his-sexuality-is-ridiculous-and-hypocritical/

Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason Continues to Defy Kim Davis, Insists She ‘Does a Good Job’

Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason may have been unwillingly thrust into the center of a culture war showdown as a result of his boss’s anti-gay crusade, but he still maintains that county clerk Kim Davis is “good at her job” and “doesn’t hate anyone.”

“I’m right in the middle — I see both sides,” said Mason in an interview with BuzzFeed. “But I’m going to issue them either way because of the judge’s orders and for personal reasons.”

Mason, who left his retail job last year to work at the county clerk’s office, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples while Davis was in jail earlier this month. Davis and her legal team had argued that those licenses were “not worth the paper they’re printed on,” but yesterday Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear clarified that marriage licenses issued by Davis’s deputy clerks will be considered valid by the state.

Despite the drama, 38-year-old deputy clerk said there was no tension between him and Davis. “She is very nice,” Mason said. “She is a very sweet lady. She has a good budget in.”

Mason also said that while he appreciates his online fans who’ve praised him for doing his job and turned him into a meme, he says the adulation isn’t necessary.

Enough about her! Let’s all give a shoutout to Rowan Co. deputy clerk Brian Mason for doing his job! RT for #love pic.twitter.com/Ov3gWDjw2l

— Nakia (@Nakia) September 14, 2015

He added that he’s looking forward to the news crews leaving town and things returning “back to normal.”

Check out the full interview here.

The post Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason Continues to Defy Kim Davis, Insists She ‘Does a Good Job’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason Continues to Defy Kim Davis, Insists She ‘Does a Good Job’

Man Fears His “Murse” Will Cost Him The Love Of His Life

Fashionistas long have been arguing the merits of man purses, or “murses.”

Now, a 25-year-old British man has found himself unwittingly thrust into the center of this contentious, age-old debate. He recently wrote into advice columnist Colleen Nolan at the Mirror for help.

“I’ve always had a passion for clothes and accessories,” the letter begins. “On holiday recently, I bought myself a man-bag thinking it looked stylish. But since being back at work, all the guys have been abusing me about it and they keep referring to my sexuality because I choose to carry one.”

Related: Bi Guy Writes For Advice After Doing The Nasty With His Fiancee’s Father

But it gets worse.

“The problem is I am gay but I haven’t come out yet and the main culprit for the insults is actually a guy I’ve had a crush on for a long time,” the letter continues. “We’ve worked together for many years. We even took up cycling together and every time we’re out for a ride I want to tell him I love him!”

The man confesses that he now fears, because of his man purse, he may lose the one true love of his life.

“After all the abuse I’ve got over the bag, I think he may reject me,” he says. “Help, please!”

Related: Straight Man Unsure About His Buddy’s Shower Room Butt-Slapping Antics

As usual, Colleen has just the solution.

“I’m not condoning their behavior,” she begins, “but I think your workmates see it as banter and genuinely mean no harm.”

“Because you haven’t come out,” she continues, “they think you’re straight and they’re winding you up. I don’t think for a minute they’d do it if they knew you were gay. If you want to come out, then now might be the perfect time to do it. The next time your workmates are having a laugh at your expense, say, ‘Actually, I am gay.’ That’ll shut them up fast!”

As for the coworker who the man claims to be madly in love with, Colleen thinks it’s probably best if he doesn’t try and pursue anything. And based on what happened to this guy, we concur.

Related: Straight Man Seeks Advice After Sleeping With His Married Boss

“I wouldn’t declare your love for your colleague,” she advises. “I’m assuming he isn’t gay and, if that’s the case, you’re on a road to nowhere. You’ll end up heartbroken and it might ruin your friendship.”

She concludes: “There are plenty more great men out there and if you do decide to come out, it’ll widen your options.”

What do you think? Should this man ditch his purse in an effort to win the heart of his supposedly straight coworker? Vote in the poll below.

Should the man ditch his murse in an effort to win the heart of his straight coworker?

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/aYBxF33PPXo/man-fears-his-murse-will-cost-him-the-love-of-his-life-20150915

PHOTOS: Pride in the Backyard of Bernie Sanders

Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/pride/2015/9/15/photos-pride-backyard-bernie-sanders

Check out Miley Cyrus’ emotional new song in latest trailer for lesbian drama Freeheld

A new trailer for lesbian drama Freeheld has been released – and it features a new song from

pansexual star Miley Cyrus.

The film stars Oscar winner Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, and tells the story of police officer Laurel Hester and her fight for domestic partnership benefits for her female lover after she is diagnosed with cancer.

As for the emotional and restrained ballad Hands of Love featured in the clip, it is a new sound for Miley, who recently made headlines when she said she identifies as pansexual.

The song is written by 4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry, who, according to TIME, was asked to write the track after being ‘completely moved’ by the film. Page then suggested Cyrus supply vocals.

‘She walked in with no entourage, no fuss, no anything,’ Perry told the publication. ‘She came to be of service for the song and the movie and didn’t bring “Miley” with her.’

She added: ‘I wish I could take credit for this song, but honestly, I can’t. Freeheld basically wrote this song. It was so inspired by the story.’

To watch the trailer, see the YouTube video below. Freeheld is due for release on 2 October in the US.

The post Check out Miley Cyrus’ emotional new song in latest trailer for lesbian drama Freeheld appeared first on Gay Star News.

Jamie Tabberer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/check-out-miley-cyrus-emotional-new-song-in-latest-trailer-for-lesbian-drama-freeheld/

Why Mr. Leather Went to Uganda

When Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2015, Patrick Smith, gave his 90-second speech at the International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago this year, he spoke on something he cared deeply about. 

“The speech celebrated the progress we have made in the Western world, but it also called attention to the fact that things are very difficult for LGBT people in many other areas,” Smith tells The Advocate.

The 90-second speech comes on the final day of the contest, which has taken place every year since 1979. At 91 seconds, the microphone shuts off. The speech is followed by a physique show where contestants strut onstage in leather jockstraps and harnesses.

When Smith won, he knew he had to do something important with the platform the title offers. “I wanted to actually walk the walk and not just pay lip service to these issues,” he says. “Uganda was a natural choice given all of the attention it’s been getting for its recent legislative actions against LGBT people.” 

Uganda has a dark history regarding its LGBT citizens. In early 2014, antigay President Yoweri Museveni signed into law the infamous Anti-Homosexuality Act, dubbed the “jail the gays” bill, which was struck down six months later by the nation’s high court (because of a procedural issue, not its content). But homophobia still runs rampant in the east African nation. A glaring example of the animus came when Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone published the names of Ugandan LGBT activists with the headline, “Hang Them.” Homosexuality remains criminalized in Uganda.

In many ways, Uganda is the antithesis of Smith’s leather culture, which celebrates sexuality in open, public ways. “I was actually encouraged not to go [to Uganda] by a good number of people,” Smith says. “They were concerned for my safety, which is understandable, but I felt this was something very important for me to do.”

Smith met with some of Uganda’s most prominent activists to learn about the daily lives of LGBT people there and figure out what more could be done to help. He interviewed Frank Mugisha, who won the JFK Human Rights Award in 2011. 

“He’s very warm, open, and candid,” Smith says. Mugisha told him about his experience with a suicidal boy who reached out to him. Risking a possible entrapment situation, Mugisha counseled the child.  

“This boy had been told by his friends, in church, and in the media that same-sex attraction was wrong and sinful, and felt he had no other choice than to take his life,” Smith says. “Dr. Mugisha talked with him for hours, and over the next several days and weeks, and he didn’t kill himself.” 

Smith also met Rev. Mark Kiyimba, a Ugandan LGBT activist who leads the Unitarian Universalist Church in the capital city of Kampala. Kiyimba preaches that homosexuality is compatible with Christianity — a bold campaign in a country like Uganda. As The New York Times and others have reported, the fierce wave of antigay sentiment and legislation in Uganda is partly due to the work of American Christian right activists. Some of them spoke at a 2009 Kampala conference that, according to Stephen Langa, the Ugandan organizer of the event, was about “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda.”

While Smith’s interviews and meetings were impactful, what affected him the most was seeing Uganda’s antigay laws carried out. “The day I was leaving, news broke that Ugandan football manager Chris Mubiru was convicted under the country’s sodomy law, which carries with it an 18-year prison sentence. Actually being there in that country when the story broke felt much different than reading it from afar.”

According to Ugandan newspaper The Observer, the state prosecutor asked the court to give Mubiru a sentence of life imprisonment because his actions were “against the cultural norms.” Smith says, “It really hit home that this is the reality for thousands of LGBT people in Africa, and it could happen to any one of them.” 

Smith isn’t the first Mr. L.A. Leather to use the platform for good. One of Smith’s best friends, Eric Paul Leue, won Mr. L.A. Leather 2014. Leue has spent the past year educating gay and bi men across the United States and Europe on pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

Leue is the director of sexual health and advocacy at Kink.com, a leather, fetish, and BDSM porn studio based in San Francisco. Leue estimates that he has been to over 70 cities and held more than 55 PrEP panels so far.

“Fighting HIV and AIDS has always come naturally to us, because when you’re into stuff like bondage, flogging, extended bondage, S&M, fisting, you have to be comfortable talking about the body and about your limits,” Leue says. “So talking about HIV even in the early days of the epidemic came naturally to us.”  

Smith agrees, saying the title of International Mr. Leather has “been a service-oriented title for quite some time now. In the beginning — 37 years ago — it was mostly about sex appeal. But once the AIDS crisis hit, you saw a new wave of titleholders who were more dedicated to community service.” 

But Marlon Morales, chair of Los Angeles Leather Pride, said the focus on community service is not a feature of the organizations that choose the winners. “We [the L.A. Leather Coalition] never ask the winners to do anything specific,” Morales says. “To win, you just have to be approachable, charistmatic, and sexy — we don’t shy away from that, we’re a very sex-positive community.” Morales says that the trend of titleholders giving back is because “that’s the people that win. If you go back and see past winners, both of Mr. L.A. Leather and International Mr. Leather, a lot of them come from backgrounds of activism. Some of the greatest activists have come out of the leather and fetish communities.” 

Now that he’s back in the States, Smith will continue to use his title as International Mr. Leather to raise awareness about the situation of LGBT people in Africa. “I really think we need to become more internationally focused,” he says. “While there is always still work to do at home, we have it pretty good in the U.S., and it’s time to help the sexual minorities overseas who are really struggling.” 

Alexander Cheves

www.advocate.com/love-and-sex/2015/9/15/why-mr-leather-went-uganda

Chris Brown: Accusations of homophobia are bullshit, I love my gay friends

Chris Brown has said accusations that he is homophobia are bullshit after TMZ the R&B singer had settled a dispute with Atlanta Black Gay Pride Weekend by handing over $12,500.

Brown, 26 allegedly accepted a retainer for a scheduled appearance at a lesbian party last weekend, but pulled out last minute because ‘a handful of gay men were present.’

Responding to the accusations, Breezy said he was never booked for the show and declared his love for the LGBTI community.

But on Monday (14 September) TMZ reported the following:

‘According to our sources, a deal really was in place for CB to perform at the September 7 event, but details of the performance never got to Chris.

‘We’re told the talent agency that booked the gig for Chris believed the event promoters had breached the contract – by using the wrong pic of Chris on posters – so they never told him about the deal, which is why he never showed.

‘But both sides just want to squash the mix-up – so we’re told Chris’ agency returned the $12,500 deposit. However, the Pride promoters say they haven’t received the dough yet, and they’ll sue if they don’t get it soon.’

TMZ has previously reported allegations that Brown shouted anti-gay slurs during fights with fans and bisexual singer Frank Ocean.

Brown then took to Instagram to put the site on blast and the matter to rest.

‘Yall gotta stop with this bullshit. I was never booked. Yall love to say I’m homophobic and shit to have something to be mad at,’ he wrote.

‘I don’t care that you are gay Harvey [founder and managing editor of TMZ ]. I applaud you and a person of your caliber should be finding outlets for young gay men/teens and women to be more open and comfortable about coming out. Some of my friends have came out to me and I love them just the same.

‘It would really be a blessing if u focused on real issues. But all these false stories to bring your site traffic is corny. But find another person to drag through the mud of lies. I know I’m talented but I’m not running for president any time soon so fall back wit all the nonsense.’

Yall gotta stop with this bullshit. I was never booked. Yall love to say I’m homophobic and shit to have something to be mad at. I don’t care that you are gay Harvey. I applaud you and a person of your caliber should be finding outlets for young gay men/teens and women to be more open and comfortable about coming out. Some of my friends have came out to me and I love them just the same. It would really be a blessing if u focused on real issues. But all these false stories to bring your site traffic is corny. But find another person to drag through the mud of lies. I know I’m talented but I’m not running for president any time soon so fall back wit all the nonsense.

A photo posted by @chrisbrownofficial on Sep 14, 2015 at 6:07am PDT

The post Chris Brown: Accusations of homophobia are bullshit, I love my gay friends appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/chris-brown-accusations-of-homophobia-are-bullshit-i-love-my-gay-friends/

Watch: Steve Grand’s amazing response when TV anchor doesn’t realize he is gay

Steve Grand appeared on live TV on Saturday (12 September) but it seems one anchor skipped an important bullet point in her notes – that the singer is openly gay.

The All-American Boy posted a video and described the potentially awkward interview in a lengthy Facebook post.

‘Today I went on live TV in San Diego to promote the show I’m doing tonight at Urban Mo’s and to also talk about getting asked to the Marine Corps ball,’ he wrote.

About a minute into the interview, Grand was asked if his inspiration comes from the ‘poor women who date you, right?’

The post Watch: Steve Grand’s amazing response when TV anchor doesn’t realize he is gay appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/watch-steve-grands-amazing-response-when-tv-anchor-doesnt-realize-he-is-gay/

Miss Mississippi gives flawless answer to Kim Davis question

Miss Mississippi slammed Kim Davis during Sunday (13 September) night’s final of the Miss America 2016 pageant.

During the Q&A portion, Hannah Roberts, 22, from Mount Olive was asked if the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage violated the Kentucky clerk’s religious freedom.

This was her flawless response:

‘It absolutely does not violate her religious freedom,’ she said.

‘That is her job that she was voted into doing. That law is a federal law throughout the rest of her country, so she did violate the law there.’

The biochemistry graduate went on to win first runner-up and a $25,000 scholarship.

The pageant shows how far the US come since 2009 when Miss California, Carrie Prejean, gave a bumbling answer in support of ‘opposite marriage.’

Watch the Q&As below:

The post Miss Mississippi gives flawless answer to Kim Davis question appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/miss-mississippi-gives-flawless-answer-to-kim-davis-question/