9 Gay Men and a Boy Executed by ISIS
Dawn Ennis
www.advocate.com/world/2015/9/22/9-gay-men-and-boy-executed-isis-0
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Nick Jonas ‘honored’ to play strong gay character in Scream Queens
Nick Jonas ‘honored’ to play strong gay character in Scream Queens
Nick Jonas has said he is ‘honored’ to play another strong gay character in Scream Queens.
The Levels singer takes on his second gay TV role as the preppy but ‘intense’ Boone in the Fox horror comedy.
‘I’ve been so honored to play some really strong gay characters,’ he told Entertainment Tonight at the Scream Queens premiere on Monday (21 September).
‘For Boone, in particular, and this show as a whole, everything is not as it seems,’ he teased.
‘So I would say get ready to be surprised by a lot of different things. In his heart of hearts, that may be who he is, but we’ll have to find out as we watch.’
Jonas, 23, also plays gay MMA fighter Nate Kulina in Kingdom, and promised even more ‘shirtlessness’ in Scream Queens.
‘There’s a scene or two that I’m shirtless in, but in Kingdom I play a fighter too, so there is a lot. It’s a lot, it’s a lot of shirtlessness.’
Asked what message he hopes to share with his LGBTI fans, Jonas replied: ‘I think it’s all about being true to who you are.’
He added: ‘Whatever I can do for the community is just a blessing for me.’
Watch the interview below:
The post Nick Jonas ‘honored’ to play strong gay character in Scream Queens appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/nick-jonas-honored-to-play-strong-gay-character-in-scream-queens/
WATCH: Get Ready for a Gay, Shirtless Nick Jonas in 'Scream Queens'
WATCH: Get Ready for a Gay, Shirtless Nick Jonas in 'Scream Queens'
Nick Jonas says he’s thrilled and honored to be playing another gay character — and that character, frat boy Boone of Scream Queens, may well be the best of the new season, reports Entertainment Tonight.
“Boone is very intense,” Jonas told ET. “He’s got a lot under the surface that you don’t see at first, and it all unravels as the show goes on.”
One of the things that will emerge in the campy horror comedy created by Ryan Murphy, ET reports, is that Boone has a crush on fraternity brother Chad Radwell, played by Glen Powell. Also revealed will be Jonas’s skin — he has some shirtless scenes in Scream Queens, along with many in his other series, Kingdom, in which he also plays a gay role.
“I’ve been so honored to play some really strong gay characters,” Jonas told ET.
And there are many layers to Boone, he noted. “For Boone, in particular, and this show as a whole, everything is not as it seems,” Jonas said. “So I would say get ready to be surprised by a lot of different things. In his heart of hearts, that may be who he is, but we’ll have to find out as we watch.”
Scream Queens, which focuses on a sorority under siege from a masked killer, premieres tonight at 8 Eastern/Pacific on Fox. Watch the ET segment below.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/television/2015/9/22/watch-get-ready-gay-shirtless-nick-jonas-scream-queens
Transgender Woman Humiliated When TSA's Scan Flags 'Anomaly'
Transgender Woman Humiliated When TSA's Scan Flags 'Anomaly'
A transgender woman live-tweeted her embarrassment when TSA agents subjected her to heightened scrutiny after a body scanner flagged an “anomaly.”
“I am being held by the TSA in Orlando because of an ‘anomaly’ — my penis,” Shadi Petosky tweeted Monday afternoon.
I am being held by the TSA in Orlando because of an “anomaly” (my penis)
— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015
According to Aljazeera.com, body scan machine operators must select a gender-specific computer algorithm when they are screening passengers. If a passenger has body characteristics of more than one gender, unexpected body shapes can be registered as anomalies that may be considered potential threats that prompt additional screening.
Petosky, a Los Angeles based writer and producer, was attempting to board a flight to Minneapolis when the TSA agents pulled her aside.
The TSA has left me in a room alone. There is an officer holding the door. pic.twitter.com/aFA0cQxAGx
— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015
“That’s my penis,” Petosky told a male TSA agent, explaining that she was transgender, Nydailynews.com reported.
Petosky reportedly refused to re-enter the scanner after it was calibrated for a male and was subjected to a 40-minute pat-down, which caused her to miss her flight.
“The TSA at the Orlando Airport told me I couldn’t take photos but this is denigrating,” Petosky tweeted, along with an emotional selfie. “I have missed my flight.”
The TSA at the Orlando Airport told me I couldn’t take photos but this is denigrating. I have missed my flight pic.twitter.com/PHwBLiJ0cB
— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015
Petosky was eventually cleared and allowed to leave and rebook another flight.
Michael Silverman, executive director of the New York-based Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, told Bulletinleader.com his office has received numerous complaints about TSA agents mistreating transgender passengers.
In a statement to The Los Angeles Times, the TSA said that upon reviewing security footage, they “determined that the evidence shows our officers followed TSA’s strict guidelines.”
I fly all the time and this has never happened. I really thought the TSA was good about trans issues. I am so dumb.
— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015
Petosky, meanwhile, says the TSA needs to revamp their system for transgender passengers.
“The TSA may think they are trained and following strict guidelines, but if the guidelines include flagging my genitals, they need to change,” she tweeted.
— 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.
Showgirls Turns 20, But The Gays Will Love Nomi Malone Forever
Showgirls Turns 20, But The Gays Will Love Nomi Malone Forever
September 22 is the 20th anniversary of Showgirls, a film that stands among the great gay icons of camp films. Released in 1995 with the then-scandalous (and basically unheard of since) rating of NC-17, a market-friendly way of saying “This should be on late-night Cinemax,” the film promised to be a titillating look at the seductive and sexy world of Las Vegas life.
It was, of course, a big flop, mostly because the script was stupid and the acting was crazy. But if nothing else, the actors seemed to be having a good time, unaware of the fact that they were saying their lines wrong with every word that came out of their mouths. That’s where the magic lies. Much like Rocky Horror Picture Show, another energetic catastrophe, Showgirls simply can’t help itself from being fun.
Perhaps this is why the movie is so beloved by the gay community: after years of finding refuge in high school drama clubs and performing awful plays, and then watching drag queens lip sync for the masses in dirty bars, gay men understand what it feels like to give everything you’ve got on stage, even if the end result is terrible. Like the drag queen who high-kicks as hard as she can but can only get her leg up to her waist, Elizabeth Berkeley really tried. And for that, the gays will always love her.
In honor of the 20th Anniversary of this glorious artistic achievement, GayCities took a pilgrimage to Las Vegas to revisit iconic filming locations of Showgirls. Most of the filming locations are gone, but our writer did stumble upon a pool full of cute guys.
Also, Slate created an artistic analysis of the film. The narrator, a rather lazy-voiced gentleman who mumbles his way through his remarks, obviously loves Nomi Malone as much as anyone could. Although it takes a special type of fan to create a video analysis of Showgirls, and for that, we salute him.
Dan Renzi
Lesbian Teacher, Fired From Catholic School, Invited to White House Reception for Pope
Lesbian Teacher, Fired From Catholic School, Invited to White House Reception for Pope
A teacher fired from a suburban Philadelphia Catholic school for being in a same-sex marriage will be a guest at the White House reception for Pope Francis Wednesday, along with her wife.
The Human Rights Campaign obtained tickets for teacher Margie Winters and her wife, Andrea Vettori, Philadelphia’s Inquirer reports.
The women had been hoping to speak with the pope ever since Winters was fired from Waldron Mercy Academy in Merion, Pa., in June, and Vettori even wrote him a letter asking him to intervene. They don’t expect to have any one-on-one time with him at such a large event as the White House reception, but they welcomed the invitation just the same.
“Obviously we won’t be talking to the pope, but we will be in the vicinity,” Winters (pictured above right) told The Inquirer. “But symbolically, it’s a great step forward.”
Winters and Vettori were married in Massachusetts in 2007, shortly before Winters was hired as director of religious education at Waldron Mercy. She told school administrators she was married to a woman, and they said it would not be a problem as long as she did not discuss the relationship with students or parents.
She complied, but this year two parents who had found out about her marriage complained, and she was fired in June, with the school’s principal citing the need to protect Waldron Mercy’s Catholic identity. Many other parents spoke out in support of Winters, who was a well-respected teacher, and signed petitions seeking her reinstatement. Winters delivered the petitions to the office of Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in August.
Chaput’s spokesman has said the archbishop had nothing to do with Winters’s firing, as Waldron Mercy is not run by the archdiocese but by a Catholic religious order, the Sisters of Mercy. With the beginning of this school year, the archdiocese is requiring parents of students in the schools it supervises to sign a pledge to recognize and uphold Catholic teachings. Archdiocesan officials say this action is also unrelated to Winters’s situation.
Winters told The Inquirer she and Vettori are excited about the reception. The White House, by the way, has invited some other guests who disagree with Catholic doctrine on LGBT issues, raising the ire of Vatican officials as well as conservatives from other faiths.
“We continue to say it’s the spirit at work,” Winters said of the invitation. “It’s the people who have been supporting us, moving this issue forward and in front of people.”
Below, watch a video Winters and Vettori recorded for the HRC.
Trudy Ring
The 8 Most Overlooked Threats To A Marriage
The 8 Most Overlooked Threats To A Marriage
We’re all familiar with the common, harmful mistakes people make in relationships: failing to communicate, having an affair or running into financial problems — just to name a few.
But beyond the usual suspects, what other relationship-testing problems should couples be aware of? Below, marriage therapists and relationship experts share some of the most overlooked threats to a marriage.
1. Thinking honesty is always the best policy.
Yes, being transparent about how you feel is generally the best route when having one of those Big Relationship Conversations. But communicating your feelings to your partner in an aggressive or sarcastic way is not the right way to do it, said Bonnie Kennan, a Southern California-based marriage counselor.
“When partners assume they can say whatever they feel, in a completely unbridled way, they often unwittingly do great harm to their partnerships and sometimes it’s irreparable damage,” she said.
In other words, your “I just have to be honest about how I feel” excuse isn’t going to fly. When you do catch yourself saying something overly critical, try to offset it with some positive remarks. Marital researcher John Gottman found that a ratio of 5:1 is necessary for marital health: five positive interactions for every negative interaction with your partner.
2. Buying into the idea that marriage transforms people.
Cornell University professor Karl Pillemer spent five years interviewing older couples for his book 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. In that time, he learned one critically important thing: It’s a huge, inexcusable mistake to go into a marriage believing you can change your partner. Marriage won’t solve all your relationship problems or make the two of you more compatible, he said.
“Treating your potential or current spouse as a do-it-yourself project is a recipe for failure,” he said. “Take, for example, your sense of humor: What he or she thinks is funny is important because it’s one thing that is certain not to change — and you will be stuck with it for many, many years. If his idea of high humor involves practical jokes and yours doesn’t, rest assured that you will not find the hand buzzer or the whoopee cushion more hilarious fifty years from now.”
3. Believing you can change your family’s opinion of your spouse.
If your partner and your parents fail to make nice before you wed, it’s not likely that a bond will form after you marry, said Kennan. And it’s a big mistake to believe your spouse can control his or her family and get you in their good graces, she added.
“While spouses need to stand up for each other, it is unwise to assume the family members will change their minds — some parents will never think anyone is good enough for their child,” she said. “The couple needs to be pleasant and polite with the family, while not trying to change the rigid system. This can be a big challenge if the two partners aren’t willing to do the work of neutralizing it.”
4. Ignoring what your partner said he wanted before you married.
When your partner tells you he or she doesn’t want kids or can’t wait to move out of your current state of residence, believe them. You’re not likely to change their minds on the important issues once you marry, said Becky Whetstone, marriage and family therapist based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Maybe when you were dating, your future life-mate told you things like they wanted to move out of state or weren’t that into sex,” she said. “You heard these warnings, knew they were out of sync with what you wanted, but went ahead with the relationship. The reality is, you can’t get them to change their mind.”
5. Expecting marriage to be easy.
Repeat this to yourself before even considering walking down the aisle: Marriage is hard work — worthwhile, valuable work but still hard work. Few engaged couples really take the time to absorb that before saying “I do,” but the reality is, it’s what needs to be foremost in their minds, said Pillemer.
“To stay married for life requires resilience, spirit, and discipline. It also requires an acceptance of predictable stressors and unexpected difficulties, without giving up,” he said. “Like many good things in life, the immediate gain sometimes has to be sacrificed for a long-term payoff — like winding up still in love with someone after a half century.”
6. Putting your spouse on a pedestal.
You go into your marriage thinking your partner is really something special. (Otherwise, why would you say “I do”?) But idealize your spouse a little too much and you risk disappointment when you find out they’re only human, said Whetstone.
“The problem with over-idealizing someone is that sooner or later you’ll realize they aren’t the infallible person you thought they were and they’ll tumble down to reality,” she said.
7. Not setting boundaries on what is shared outside the relationship.
If you’re an oversharer and your partner likes to keep his personal life under wraps, it doesn’t bode well for the relationship, said Kennan.
“If one partner is very comfortable turning to friends and family members for support when he has a problem and the other is not, it creates a pattern where partner B is nervous about being candid and shuts down the flow of sharing,” she said. “At the same time, partner A may feel stifled and lonely without a support system.”
To address the issue, Kennan said couples need to anticipate this issue and set up rules for disclosure of information to people outside the marriage.
“You’ll probably have to operate outside of your own comfort zone to accommodate your partner’s needs and feelings,” she explained.
8. Putting too much stock in the belief that opposites attract.
You’re a left-leaning introvert whose ideal weekend is a good “Masterpiece Theatre” binge-fest. Your partner is an Republican-voting extrovert who loves to travel and tries to maximize each weekend. While it’s nice to believe opposites attract and love conquers all (hey, it worked for Mary Matalin and James Carville!), it’s a mistake to invest too deeply the idea, said Pillemer.
“I interviewed couples who’ve been married for years and their strongest recommendation was simple: Marry someone a lot like you,” he explained. “Marriage is difficult for anyone, but it’s much easier with someone who shares your interests and background. Small differences can spice up a relationship but what has to be almost identical are core shared values on money, career goals, child-raising and sex.”
More from HuffPost:
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Showgirls Director Explains Why He Cast “Innocent” Elizabeth Berkley, Takes Blame For Her “Over-The-Top” Performance
Showgirls Director Explains Why He Cast “Innocent” Elizabeth Berkley, Takes Blame For Her “Over-The-Top” Performance
In terms of casting the movie, one of the main concerns, next to acting, was the dancing and nudity — both of those elements being extreme. The actress would have to be able to dance. And she also had to be willing to show full-frontal throughout the film. These elements, especially the nudity, are extremely difficult for American actresses to accept. And Elizabeth Berkley was the only actress that combined all three.
I had never seen Saved by the Bell, so that didn’t count too much for me. I chose her because she was the right choice. There was no competition. It was clear that, after months of looking for somebody, we had found Nomi Malone. It’s probably true that casting her in a part so different from how American audiences knew her affected the box office. But I didn’t know that series, and I had no idea what kind of character she played in it. It was really the auditions that ultimately made us decide to go that way. Perhaps it was not so handy from a publicity point of view, but you could also say that it was a brilliant idea to cast an ‘innocent.’
People have, of course, criticized her for being over-the-top in her performance. Most of that comes from me. I pushed it in that direction. Good or not good, I was the one who asked her to exaggerate everything — every move — because that was the element of style that I thought would work for the movie.”
— Director Paul Verhoven speaking with Rolling Stone on the 20th anniversary of his enduring bad-movie-we-love Showgirls
Jeremy Kinser
LGBT Catholics Sound Off on What They’d Say to Pope Francis One-on-One: VIDEO
LGBT Catholics Sound Off on What They’d Say to Pope Francis One-on-One: VIDEO
What would you say to Pope Francis if you were given a one-on-one meeting with him?
That’s the question MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts posed to a group of LGBT and pro-choice Catholics during a recent sit-down outside NYC’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“The first thing I would say would be ‘Bless me father for I have sinned,’” said Dawn Ennis, a trans woman and editor for The Advocate. “But I would not be able to leave that moment without saying to him ‘Please see me, please see who I am.’”
“I would ask him to open his heart to the LGBT community in particular and other communities that have been put aside by the church in many ways and hurt by the church,” added another panelist.
Later, the panelists were asked why they think Pope Francis is different from his predecessors. Check out the two part interview below.
Related, Franklin Graham Blasts Obama’s ‘Sinful Agenda’ Inviting LGBT Catholics to Pope Visit
The post LGBT Catholics Sound Off on What They’d Say to Pope Francis One-on-One: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
LGBT Catholics Sound Off on What They’d Say to Pope Francis One-on-One: VIDEO
HRC Calls for TSA 'Full Investigation' Into Trans Woman's Detention
HRC Calls for TSA 'Full Investigation' Into Trans Woman's Detention
The Human Rights Campaign wants the Transportation Security Administration to conduct a full investigation into the case of Shadi Petosky, a trans woman who says she was mistreated by TSA agents at Orlando International Airport on Monday afternoon.
HRC president Chad Griffin sent a letter to TSA administrator Peter Neffenger calling for “immediate action to ensure transgender travelers are treated equally and with full respect,” according to a statement from the HRC.
“The TSA officer’s atrocious treatment of Ms. Petosky highlights the need for TSA to provide consistent officer training regarding transgender and gender nonconforming travelers. TSA should have comprehensive guidelines that are fully transparent to the public for TSA officers interacting with transgender individuals,” Griffin said in his letter. “In addition, the agency should require training to ensure that all officers are following agency guidelines. We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that officers nationwide receive the necessary training they need to conduct their jobs respectfully and efficiently.”
Petosky, who live-tweeted the entire experience, was on her way home to Los Angeles after visiting her mother in central Florida when she was flagged by TSA agents at the security gate for what she described as an “anomaly.”
According to her tweets, after being held by the TSA for 40 minutes and undergoing two full body pat-downs, Petosky missed her flight and endured other mistreatment while trying to book another plane ride home.
When asked for comment regarding the incident, the TSA had this to say to The Advocate:
“Our officers are trained to properly screen members of the transgender community. TSA takes all potential civil rights violations very seriously and conducted a review of the incident. After examining closed circuit TV video and other available information, TSA has determined that the evidence shows our officers followed TSA’s strict guidelines. Supervisory personnel and a Passenger Support Specialist participated in the screening to ensure guidelines were met.”
Raffy Ermac
www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/9/22/hrc-calls-tsa-full-investigation-trans-womans-detention
