Madonna Redeems Herself After Prince Debacle With Surprise Performance And Meeting With Obama

Madonna came out of hiding after that whole Prince Billboard Music Awards debacle to make a surprise appearance on The Tonight Show last night where she sang a slowed-down rendition of her first Top 10 hit “Borderline.”

And the crowd went wild.

Related: Internet Responds To Madonna’s Butchering Of Prince’s Greatest Hits

The performance oozed nostalgia and was a much-needed reminder of why we fell in love with the singer in the first place. Of course, her real reason for being there wasn’t to win back our good graces. She was there to meet President Obama.

Related: Madonna Lyrics Reimagined As Motivational Posters

Though the two didn’t actually share the stage together (that would simply be too much American royalty on one screen), Madge posted several photos on Instagram before and after the show expressing her excitement.

Check out Madonna’s performance and backstage shots with the Prez below…

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/WtfOwfg9bnM/madonna-redeems-prince-debacle-surprise-performance-meeting-obama-20160610

What’s It Like To Be Circumcised At 25? (Hint: It’s Pretty Horrifying)

“My penis looked like a pig in a blanket: Gauze was wrapped around the shaft, and I could see only a little bit of the tip,” Lionel Wills recalls in a new article titled That’s When I Realized They Had Completely Frankensteined My Dick: Life After Circumcision At Age 25. “And there was a considerable amount of blood on the bandage. I started pinching it out of sadistic curiosity because it was still numb from the local anesthetic.”

Related: More And More Adult Men Are Snipping Off Their Foreskin And Here’s Why

Wills was born with phimosis, a rare condition where the foreskin of the penis is so tight it can’t retract to expose the head. Phimosis affects just 1 percent of males 17 and older.

“My foreskin was strangling the head of my penis,” he recalls. “[It] was so tight it would fill up like a balloon when I peed and I had to, like, milk my dick like it was an udder just to get the piss out. And it would spray everywhere.”

Wills also couldn’t have sex without feeling excruciating pain.

“My foreskin was so tight it would rip and bleed during sex,” he says. “Afterward, it would heal and scar. And scar tissue doesn’t have the same elasticity as normal tissue, so that would make it even tighter.”

When he was 25, Wills decided to undergo a circumcision in hopes of correcting the problem.

“I had absurd concerns before the surgery, like they might make some terrible mistake and cut off the knob,” he recalls. “The worst part was anticipating what it would look like underneath. Just seeing the blood on the bandage, and not being able to feel it?—?my imagination was working.”

When the anesthetic finally did wear off and Wills was able to unwrap the bandages, he was horrified.

“They had completely Frankensteined my dick,” he says “In removing my foreskin, they removed the skin that connected the head of my penis to my shaft, leaving a gap of exposed penis flesh. So they had to stitch together the remaining skin on my shaft to my head to cover up the gap.”

But it gets worse.

Related: Man Goes To Hospital For Circumcision, Wakes Up With No Penis

Wills continues, “In my case, however, when they put the stitches in, they misaligned where the skin on my shaft should meet the head of my penis. Imagine putting a dress shirt on and the buttons are off by a hole, except it’s your penis. The seam of my penis?—?the ridge of skin that runs along the bottom of the shaft?—?wasn’t a straight line anymore. It was twisted.”

He describes the whole experience as “shitty.”

For the next several days, Wills lived in constant fear of getting an erection. When it finally happens, however, he was overcome with a sense of “relief.”

“It happened a few days after the surgery while I was walking around a bookstore,” he remembers. “The base and the knob were simultaneously pulling at the stitches, and I was worried about them exploding?—?that they’d rupture and it’d be gross, Frankenstein flesh. But that didn’t happen.”

Phew!

Sex also improved.

“There’s no ripping,” Wills says, “even though I have decreased sensitivity. But I didn’t even think about my new dick the first time I had sex afterward. I was just psyched to be having sex. Appreciating the sensation of a circumcised penis was secondary. It wasn’t like ‘Wow, having sex without foreskin is great.’ It was like ‘Cool. This works.’ Then I went back to focusing on the sex.”

“There’s a beauty and simplicity to a circumcised penis,” he concludes. “Sleek. Functional. It now looks like what it was meant to be?—a torpedo rather than an anteater.”

Related: Circumcised Men May Soon Be Able To Regrow Their Foreskin Thanks To New Miracle Therapy

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/mbfJT8GXc64/whats-like-circumcised-25-hint-pretty-horrifying-20160610

Gordon Klingenschmitt: Gay Marriage Is Not A Civil Right Because It’s About ‘Bedroom Stuff’ – VIDEO

Devil-obsessed Colorado congressman Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has said that same-sex marriages are bad because “homosexuality is based on lust.”

Sure.

Speaking on the latest edition of his comedy show “Pray In Jesus Name,” Klingenschmitt used an interview with an interracial heterosexual couple to argue that opposition to same-sex marriage is nothing like opposition to interracial marriage because LGBT people are “bringing their dirty laundry and bedroom stuff to the people and it is not a civil right.”

Oh, OK then.

RELATED: Gordon Klingenschmitt Predicts Gays Will ‘Recruit’ 20% of All Children By Next Century: VIDEO

According to Right Wing Watch, Ruth Bryant White told numpty Klingenschmitt:

“They’re using it, saying that homosexuality is a civil right. There is nothing civil about it in any way shape, form or fashion. And even if it was a civil right, God’s word take precedence over anything that man’s law can do … Now we’ve got Christians who were living a straight life now that are going back into the homosexual lifestyle. That’s a lust, that’s a demon … They put that over God and His word? And they’re will to burn for eternity for that?”

Warming to the theme, Klingenschmitt also handily confirmed that White and her husband Steve’s marriage is “based on love,” which yours clearly isn’t.

Bryant concludes by questioning whether gays are “willing to burn in eternity.” Definitely.

Watch the ridiculous interview via Right Wing Watch below.

The post Gordon Klingenschmitt: Gay Marriage Is Not A Civil Right Because It’s About ‘Bedroom Stuff’ – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/DIDaMwnvYLU/

President Obama Warns, ‘History Can Go Backwards’ on LGBT Rights: VIDEO

During his annual LGBT Pride Month reception at The White House on Thursday, President Obama warned that the strides made for LGBT rights during his administration could be erased if we become “complacent.”

Obama cautioned against viewing the civil rights achievements that occurred on his watch as “inevitable.” He also made a joking reference to last year’s Pride Month reception in which a transgender activist heckled him from the audience. 

Said Obama,

“So some folks never imagined we’d come this far — maybe even some in this room. Change can be slow. And I know that there have been times where at least some of the people in this room have yelled at me. But together, we’ve proven that change is possible, that progress is possible. It’s not inevitable, though. History doesn’t just travel forward; it can go backwards if we don’t work hard. So we can’t be complacent. We cannot be complacent. Securing the gains this country has made requires perseverance and vigilance. And it requires voting. Because we’ve got more work to do.”

The president’s remarks came on the same day that he officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

Watch the president’s speech in full and read a transcript of his entire remarks, below.

The post President Obama Warns, ‘History Can Go Backwards’ on LGBT Rights: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/Jy2mzFdi6mk/

Nashville, Yeezy Boost, Elizabeth Warren, Julian Edelman, Episcopals, Martin Shkreli: NEWS

VEEP? Elizabeth Warren to meet with Hillary Clinton Friday morning: “The sit-down, coming just hours after the Massachusetts senator formally endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, will fuel speculation about her prospects as a potential vice presidential pick. The women have had several conversations over the past month, including one that lasted around half an hour, sources told The Washington Post. The conversations were broad and focused on large topics and issues, rather than the nitty-gritty of the campaign. Their staffs have been engaged in more tactical discussions.”

Someone approves:

Pocahontas is at it again! Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth. Hope she is V.P. choice.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2016

FLORIDA. Calls grow for investigation into Attorney General Pam Bondi’s donation from Trump: “There have been many questions surrounding claims of fraud at Trump University,” Bullard stated. “There is even a greater concern of whether a quid pro quo exists within the office for favorable treatment in exchange for campaign assistance.”

COUPLES. Julian Edelman and Eric Decker make a fine one.

POSTERIORS. Taran Killam is showing off his finest ass-ets in Casual Encounters.

MARTIN SHKRELI MUSICAL. A new musical theatre production about the Pharma Bro is taking shape: “Remember when the internet thought that Bill Murray could legally steal back the $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, from that pharma bro Martin Shkreli? Well, get excited world, because we’re bringing that heist to you! That’s right, this show has Bill Murray teaming up with the Wu-Tang Clan in an epic battle against the most hated man in America. Will Bill Murray succeed, or will he just end up another pawn in Martin Shkreli’s Game?”

LETTERMAN ON TRUMP. Dave weighs in: “Right. There’s nothing illegal going on. It’s just he’s despicable … And in everybody’s school, you hear, ‘The great thing about America is anybody can grow up to be President.’ Oh, jeez. I guess that might be true.”

CORK, IRELAND. Barber refuses gay couple and young boy with disability: “A few days ago I needed a haircut and my boyfriend came with me because he wanted to explain to the guy what kind of style he wanted for me. While he was doing that the man interrupted him and said to us we could get it done next door,” Michele told Cork’s 96fm this morning. “I was going to this barber for months on my own and the second that I went to this place with my boyfriend he had a problem with it. I’m gay so I’m pretty sure that was the reason.”

UNIVERSITY STANDARDS. Colleges scrambling to meet transgender requirements: “At a time of year when the nation’s 2,100 residential colleges and universities are sorting out student housing assignments, they also are poring over a May letter from the Obama administration that thrusts them into the national debate on transgender rights. Known as the “dear colleague” letter, it makes clear that federal law protects transgender students’ right to live in housing that reflects their gender identity. Schools that fail to provide adequate housing to transgender students could face lawsuits or the loss of any federal funding they rely on.”

SCOTLAND. Episcopal church moves toward allowing gay marriages: “The Scottish Episcopal church voted on Friday by 97 to 51, with three abstentions, to remove a clause in its canon law that states that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. Before the change can be enacted, it must win a two-thirds majority in a second vote next year. If it passes, same-sex couples will be able to marry in a church service conducted by Scottish clergy. A conscience clause, however, will allow individual clergy to opt out of conducting same-sex marriages.”

RENEWALS. Nashville picked up for 5th season: “Crucial to the deal is the incentive package that will see the state, Metro, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. and Ryman Hospitality chip in funds to offset the cost of the show’s production. The state put $8 million in its budget and Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has proposed a $1.375 million fund for film incentives, though the final amount for “Nashville” has not been announced.”

BOOK LOOK. Alan Hollinghurst on Edmund White’s A Boy’s Own Story: “The intense lifelikeness of the social world in his novels is achieved in part through the retentive accumulation of anecdote, gleeful gossip tested against sharp observation, and coloured always, however delicately, with glamour, a tribute to the mystery of other lives.”

HILARIOUS SHOE REVIEW. Yeezy Boost 750.

FRIDAY FLESH. Brandon Williams.

The post Nashville, Yeezy Boost, Elizabeth Warren, Julian Edelman, Episcopals, Martin Shkreli: NEWS appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/EolMzYnjmTI/

Texas Bigots Take Their Religious Anti-Transgender Campaign National

These Texas conservatives want their Houston-tested scare tactics to reach a bigger audience.

The post Texas Bigots Take Their Religious Anti-Transgender Campaign National appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/06/10/3786934/texas-anti-target-campaign/

Greensboro-Area Small Business Owners Urge Repeal of HB2

On Thursday, TurnOUT! North Carolina (NC) and the Small Business Majority continued our tour of North Carolina cities featuring Small Business leaders detailing the real economic harm they are experiencing as a result of HB2.

Despite reports that the board overseeing the Greensboro Coliseum Complex asked for the repeal of HB2 because the law had a “disastrous impact” on the facility and that the law has cost $200,000 in lost sales and wages for employees, elected officials in Raleigh are clearly not paying attention to the reality they created by rushing to pass HB2.

The speakers from Thursday’s press conference collectively called on leaders in Raleigh to fully repeal HB2 before it is too late for their region and the state.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan discussed the recent City Council vote that asked the legislature to Repeal HB2 because they saw what the law is doing to the people and the economy of Greensboro. Concert cancellations from Bruce Springsteen, the band Boston, as well as Cirque du Soleil have cost small businesses in the city lost revenue from tourism and concert attendees.

“Greensboro is known as tournament town and we are very concerned what the ACC and NCAA will do because of HB2. We’ve spoken to them and they are very seriously taking a look at whether or not this is a community, if this is a state, that they really want to hold their functions in,” Vaughan said.

“The City of Greensboro has worked very hard over the years to be welcoming and inclusive. About 18 months ago we passed three non-discrimination ordinances, long before HB2. Unfortunately because of the passage of HB2, many of those have been rendered useless,” Vaughan said.

“I have heard from many of our citizens who have been impacted by cancellation of these shows and other events. You know these are people who really depend on this income to make ends meet. I got a call from a woman who lost three nights of work at the Greensboro Coliseum and she said she’s not going to be able to pay her bills. So we know what the immediate impact has been,” said the mayor.

Kit Rodenbough has owned Design Archives for 15 years, a store in downtown Greensboro that relies on tourism for 60% of their business.

“My small business is in the heart of downtown, and I have always made an attempt to talk to my customers and to ask them if they are visiting or if they live here,” Rodenbough said. “Every single one of my recent visitors have made the statement to me that they are amazed at what North Carolina is doing with the passage of House Bill 2. I have felt the need to apologize time and time again for the actions of this group of lawmakers who passed this archaic bill and made it law.”

In calling for repeal of HB2, Rodenbough said, “The loss of dollars for our local businesses, including mine, and the pain this bill is causing, a bill that is misrepresented as something about bathrooms and not about what it really is, is going to affect local citizens and entrepreneurs for a long time.”

Sara Pilling, Director of HQ Greensboro, which hosted Thursday’s press conference, is a collaborative workspace that invites entrepreneurs, small business, and local business owners, to network and work together, to help their businesses grow.  

“Since the passage of HB2, we have heard quite clearly from our community that this legislation is damaging to North Carolina’s reputation as a great place to start, build and expand businesses,” Pilling said. “We at HQ believe that it would be a disservice to our members and our community to abandon our core values by failing to express our stance against such regressive policies and ideologies. HB2 stands in stark contrast to HQ’s overarching philosophy of collaboration, unity, diversity and authenticity.

“Online petitions like Startups Against HB2, started by HQ Raleigh and other Triangle-based companies, have helped our voice be heard in the opposition of HB2. In less than two weeks, the website gathered 206 (two hundred and six) public statements from small business leaders and the petition gathered signatures from 170 (one hundred and seventy) entrepreneurs across North Carolina. The companies represented have created a total of 2,461 jobs in the state. This represents a concerted effort to show that start-ups, small and local businesses are invested in an economy and community that recognize the value of diversity and inclusiveness,” Pilling said.

“We ask that the Governor and General Assembly listen to the entrepreneurs, startups and local businesses who oppose HB2, and demand that you repeal this legislation that so egregiously misrepresents your constituents,” Pilling said.

This is why TurnOUT! NC, a coalition of the Human Rights Campaign, Equality North Carolina, the ACLU and the Campaign for Southern Equality, is working to mobilize thousands of North Carolinians for the full repeal of HB2. TurnOUT! NC has field organizers based in Asheville, Charlotte and the Triangle area. Additionally, HRC staff are on the ground working with coalition partners across the Tar Heel State. There are daily opportunities to volunteer with weekly phone banks and weekend door-to-door opportunities.

If you live in North Carolina and want to join the efforts to repeal HB2, RSVP for upcoming phonebanks and volunteer opportunities. For more information about our work in North Carolina, contact HRC Associate Regional Field Director Ryan Rowe at [email protected].

Last week business leaders in Raleigh and Charlotte spoke out, on Thursday they were joined by Greensboro voices as part of our “Small Businesses for the Repeal of HB2” tour which is highlighting how HB2 is directly impacting small businesses, small business owners, their families and employees.

Kit Rodenbough has owned Design Archives in downtown Greensboro for 15 years. 

Equality North Carolina’s Matt Hirschy

www.hrc.org/blog/greensboro-area-small-business-owners-urge-repeal-of-hb2?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed