WATCH: HuffPost Live's Deep Dive Into LGBT History

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has progressed by leaps and bounds over the years, and we at HuffPost Live wanted to use October’s LGBT history month to recognize the queer people and cultural milestones that have propelled the community forward. From Sappho to Sylvia Rivera to the AIDS epidemic, watch the five-part series below to learn about each community and its rich history. 

Featuring:

Lillian Faderman: Scholar studying lesbian relationships in history; author, The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle

Bonnie Morris: Professor of women’s studies, George Washington University and Georgetown University

Jean Wimberly: Executive director and founder, Circle of Voices Inc.

Lesléa Newman: Author, Heather Has Two Mommies

 

Featuring: 

Chris Freeman: Professor of English and Gender Studies, University of Southern California

David Drake: Former member, ACT UP and Queer Nation; Writer and performer, “The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me”

 

Featuring: 

Faith Cheltenham: President, BiNet USA

Dr. Herukhuti: Clinical sociologist; founder, Center for Culture, Sexuality and Spirituality; co-editor, Recognize The Voices of Bisexual Men

Robyn Ochs: Bisexual activist; editor, The BiWomen Quarterly; editor, Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men

Alex Berg: Producer, HuffPost Live

 

Featuring: 

Mara Keisling: Executive director, National Center for Transgender Equality

Dr. Scout: Director, LGBT Healthlink

Lourdes Hunter: National director, Trans Women of Color Collective; MPA Chief Operating Officer, Casa Ruby LGBT Center

 

Want more HuffPost Live? Stream us anytime on Go90, Verizon’s mobile social entertainment network, and listen to our best interviews on iTunes.

Also on HuffPost:

— 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.

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Justin Mikita Support Houston Equal Rights Ordinance; Announce Match Campaign

With just one week until Election Day, actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) and husband Justin Mikita have announced their support for the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO).
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/jesse-tyler-ferguson-and-justin-mikita-support-houston-equal-rights-ordinan?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Bar Removes Homophobic Sign After Customers Destroy It On Facebook

After a Melbourne bar slid a little homophobia onto their drinks menu, patrons were not having it and blasted them on Facebook.

For seven years, Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment in Melbourne had a sign that read ‘No soy, no skinny, no tea… no poofter drinks’ below their drink menu.

What was even moderately socially acceptable in 2008 is clearly not in 2015, so a group of angry customers confronted owner Steve Miller, who refused to remove the sign.

They then took to Facebook to let Handsome Steve’s know their homophobia was about as current as Fame-era Gaga, and flooded the page with over 100 one-star reviews like this:

…and this:

 

 

Finally, Miller changed his tune and posted the following to the page:

For what it’s worth, one protester had a conversation with the owner, and it seems to have went very well.

The lesson here? Homophobia doesn’t pay, and gays (and our allies) are more than willing to put our money where our (big) mouths are when it comes to blatant discrimination.

 

Rob Smith

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/5370aGzltr8/bar-removes-homophobic-sign-after-customers-destroy-it-on-facebook-20151027

What It’s Like When Your Daughter Becomes Your Son: WATCH

Earlier this month, Cosmopolitan published a touching documentary featuring Jodie Patterson, a Brooklyn mother of five, whose son Penelope, started showing signs that he was transgender at a very young age.

After facing continual rejection of clothing, grooming, and other things, Patterson asked Penelope what was wrong.

“Because everybody thinks I’m a girl,” Penelope replied.

Patterson explains: “And so I said, ‘oh baby, it’s fine. However you feel on the inside is great.’ And he said, ‘no I don’t feel like a boy mom. I am a boy.’ And so that sentence was really hard, because I was ill-equipped, like, okay what do I do with that? I don’t know how to handle that.”

Cosmo’s 7-minute doc reveals what the family went through and how Penelope blossomed when the family started letting him lead the way. Cosmo writes:

Patterson decided to share her family’s story with Cosmopolitan.com because she realized that gender politics is no longer a private conversation. “People are dying over it,” she says. “Until that changes, it’s important to speak out. All the evils — racism, genderism, all the isms — rely on silence. So in order to push social change, we need to speak up.”​

Watch what it’s like when your daughter becomes your son:

The post What It’s Like When Your Daughter Becomes Your Son: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

What It’s Like When Your Daughter Becomes Your Son: WATCH

EXCLUSIVE: Big Freedia Reunites With Dad on TV

Viewers of Fuse’s critically acclaimed reality series Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce know the show’s star is a fearlessly outspoken gay man who dresses in feminine clothes and prefers female pronouns, although she’s not picky about it.

A bounce music superstar in her native New Orleans, Freedia has watched as the television show that bears her name continues to break viewing records for Fuse, adding to the fame of the artist who has made frequent tours of Europe and written a memoir, Big Freedia: God Save the Queen Diva.

But Freedia hasn’t always had it easy. Last year viewers watched as she lost her beloved mother, Vera. And, her relationship with her truck-driver father,  Freddie Ross Sr., has been nearly nonexistent for decades. 

This week, after Freedia’s cowriter insists her memoir needs to feature more information about her childhood relationship with her dad, the two reunite in a powerful scene.

Here’s an exclusive preview of the episode, which airs at 11 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Wednesday:

 

Gina Vivinetto

www.advocate.com/television/2015/10/27/exclusive-big-freedia-reunites-dad-tv

We Added The Kardashians To Syrian Refugee Photos So People Will Give A S**t

There’s a Syrian refugee crisis, which you may have heard something about. Millions have fled the violence of a Syrian civil war to make the long journey to Europe.

The Huffington Post’s Sophia Jones followed these Syrian refugees for three weeks through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany to observe the devastating hardships these unfortunate …

Wait, where are you going, aren’t you interested in this? No, it’s not in your backyard, but … still. OK, OK, what if I spice it up a little, maybe throw a little Kardashian action in the mix?

 

About 4 million Syrians have fled their homeland as a result of the country’s brutal civil war.

Since the start of the conflict in 2011, over 2 million Syrians have fled to Turkey. More than a million Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon. More than 620,000 have left for Jordan.

The Syrian refugees are among hundreds of thousands of people making the death-defying trip across the Mediterranean this year, hoping to reach Europe.

They face many challenges along the way. Human Rights Watch reports that some refugees crossing the border from Greece to Macedonia have been physically beaten by law enforcement.

While crossing into Hungary from Serbia, when they aren’t being attacked by Hungary’s journalists, many Syrian refugees have been forced to sleep in the cold, muddy fields.

71 refugees suffocated to death while being transported through Austria in a refrigerated truck. Included were at least a dozen Syrian travel documents.

As winter approaches, and without help, they could freeze to death crossing the Balkans, an area that can reach minus 15° C.

Even if refugees get to Germany, the preferred destination of many Syrians, some don’t make it alive. A Syrian woman who drowned crossing the Mediterranean was laid to rest in Berlin on June 16. A second coffin, empty, represented her son, who was also lost at sea but never found.

 …

“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” returns to television Sunday, Nov. 15! 

In the meantime, check out Sophia Jones’ amazing piece, and consider donating to one of the many organizations currently helping Syrian refugees.

(Big thanks to HuffPost Senior World Editor Eline Gordts for all her help and expertise on the subject.)

 

Also on HuffPost:

— 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.

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More Gay and Transgender Characters Are on TV, Report Shows
The organization Glaad found that 4 percent of regular characters scheduled to appear on prime-time broadcasts identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Souls to the Polls in Support of HERO

This past Sunday, 16 congregations  of all sizes, faiths and denominations across Houston participated in Souls to the Polls, a day of action to raise the voices of people of faith in Houston.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/souls-to-the-polls-in-support-of-hero?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Professional Boxer Who Appeared In Gay Adult Film Says He Was Drugged, “Can’t Remember A Thing”

We’ve heard some classic excuses from guys who’ve been caught in compromising same-sex positions — everything from Larry Craig’s “wide stance” to the all-too-common “I did it for the money.”

But nothing compares to the yarn spun by former professional boxer Yusaf “Mack Attack” Mack, 35, who is attempting to cover up his tracks with a tale of twisted deceit after someone connected the dots and discovered his hardcore gay porn threesome living on the internet.

So how did this self professed straight father-of-ten manage to be duped into performing sex acts with men in front of a camera?

Naturally, it’s a bit of a long story.

Mack, who is engaged to a woman, was in need of money and says he agreed to a porn shoot to make ends meet. But not just any porn shoot — a straight one. As he’ll repeatedly remind you, Mack is as straight as they come.

“My whole life, I’ve been what they call a whoremonger. I love females,” Mack told Philly.com. “The only time I touch a man is when I’m in the ring fighting.”

Related: Guys Reveal What It’s Like To Be ‘Gay For Pay’

After answering the offer on Facebook, Mack traveled to an address in the Bronx, where he says there were naked women roaming about the building.

“I think, ‘It’s about to go down,’” he told Philly.com.

“I needed a drink or something. They gave me a pill and a shot of vodka.

“I took the pill down with the vodka.”

And that’s when Mack says his memory of the experience suddenly cuts off.

Related: “I Did It For The Money” And Other Popular Excuses After Getting Caught Acting All Gay

When he came to, he was on a train at 30th street with $4,500 cash stuffed into his pocket.

So what happened during his blackout? Well, that’s when a fully conscious-looking Mack (above) performed a hardcore threesome with two other men.

Rather than investigate what happened at the time, Mack took his money and went home. But now that he’s been outed as having participated in the shoot, he’s vowed to track down those responsible.

Well, he would try to track them down, but he says he can’t remember his Facebook password, so, like, he can’t get in touch with them.

We wish him all the best in recovering his lost password.

After doing a little digging into his Twitter account, it didn’t take long to crack one major hole in Mack’s story — a quick look a the tweets he’s favorited over the years reveals a whole slew of gay porn-related likes.

But who knows, maybe he was drugged each time he favorited them, too.

Dan Tracer

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Hillary Clinton Soars Past Bernie Sanders with 41 Point Lead in New Iowa Poll

In the first poll taken in Iowa since Hillary Clinton testified before the House Select Committee on Benghazi and since Vice President Joe Biden announced he would not enter the 2016 presidential race, Hillary Clinton opened up a commanding 41 point lead over Bernie Sanders.

Clinton won 65% of likely Democratic caucus goers, leaving Sanders with 24% and Martin O’Malley with 5%. Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig polled at 1%.

Politico reports:

Among Sanders’ supporters, a majority of 68 percent said they back Clinton as their second choice, compared with just 19 percent for O’Malley.

In terms of favorability numbers, 88 percent see the former secretary of state positively, versus 8 percent who do not. Meanwhile, 77 percent have a favorable view of Sanders, while 11 percent do not.

Approximately four in 10, or 40 percent, of those surveyed said that they are “completely decided” on their candidate, about double the share of Republicans who said the same in a Monmouth poll released Monday. Another 37 percent said they have a strong preference but are willing to think about other choices, 10 percent indicated a slight preference and 13 percent said they were undecided. Among the 31 percent of Democrats who said they have met a candidate campaigning in Iowa, 21 percent said they saw Clinton in person, while 16 percent said they saw Sanders.

The poll carries a margin of error of +/- 4.9 points.

The post Hillary Clinton Soars Past Bernie Sanders with 41 Point Lead in New Iowa Poll appeared first on Towleroad.

Sean Mandell

Hillary Clinton Soars Past Bernie Sanders with 41 Point Lead in New Iowa Poll