D.C. Woman Becomes 15th Trans Person Murdered in 2016
Deeniquia Dodds died Wednesday after having been shot July 4; police failed to disclose that a trans woman had been attacked for over a week.
www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/7/16/dc-woman-becomes-15th-trans-person-murdered-2016
Police Arrest Detroit Man Who Made Anti-Gay Threat with Gun in Viral Video
Police have arrested the man behind a video which went viral earlier this week in which a man was threatened with a gun for acting “gay”.
Yesterday, police said that they were looking for a man named Steven Drake Edwards in connection with the crime.
Today, police say they have made an arrest, the Detroit Free Press reports:
Sgt. Michael Woody said the arrest happened about 3:30 p.m. and was a combination of the man turning himself in and police negotiating his surrender. Police will seek felonious assault charges, and possibly additional hate crimes charges, Woody said.
Earlier on Saturday, the suspect posted to his Periscope account what he called “APOLOGIES to LBGT COMMUNITY.”
In the four minute video, he admits to being the one in the video hurling the gay slurs and pointing the gun, but said “physically it wasn’t me. I was intoxicated.”
“I apologize though. I got my whole family looking at me. I don’t even know why I did it. I’m going to go turn myself in,” he says while recording the video from the passenger side of a moving vehicle.
Here’s a copy of the video posted earlier today:
The post Police Arrest Detroit Man Who Made Anti-Gay Threat with Gun in Viral Video appeared first on Towleroad.
Boxer Orlando Cruz Knocks Out Homophobia: Gay Iconography
Last night, super featherweight boxer Orlando Cruz defeated Alejandro Valdez with a seventh round knockout in Kissimmee, Florida. Cruz has now racked up 24 wins in his boxing career, but his toughest fight has happened outside the ring.
“I won those other fights but, all this time, I have been living with this thorn inside me,” he told The Guardian in 2012. “I wanted to take it out of me so I could have peace within myself.”
Cruz became the first gay boxer to come out while still competing in October 2012. The Puerto Rican boxer and former Olympian made history, telling the world he was a proud gay man.
“I don’t want to hide any of my identities,” he said in a statement. “I want people to look at me for the human being that I am. I am a professional sportsman that always brings his best to the ring. I want for people to continue to see me for my boxing skills, my character, my sportsmanship. But I also want kids who suffer from bullying to know that you can be whoever you want to be in life, including a professional boxer, that anything is possible and that who you are or whom you love should not be impediment to achieving anything in life.”
Check out some clips of Cruz in action, below.
It wasn’t until he competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics that Cruz realized he was gay. He said in an interview with Spiegel that the experience was difficult for him to process. “For a long time I didn’t want to accept that I was gay. Better said: I couldn’t accept it because I was too afraid. Homosexuals were discriminated against in Puerto Rico back then, sometimes even killed. I had a friend named José, but we called him Linoshka because he was a transvestite. He was stabbed to death in the street at the age of 19 by a homophobe because he had taken part in a gay-pride parade.”
Cruz received support from his family, celebrities like Ricky Martin and his Olympic teammate Miguel Cotto, and from his fellow countrymen. He told The Advocate “I’ve had overwhelming support from the Puerto Rican people. We’re very proud people, and they have been so accepting of me.” Not only has he spoken openly about his sexuality, but he’s also proudly worn rainbow attire during his fights and weigh-ins. He was one of the inaugural class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
In October 2013, Cruz was preparing for his first world championship match against Orlando Salido. “Now it’s my time. People think I’m not strong enough. They doubt me. They wonder if a gay man can win a world title,” he posited to The Guardian before the big fight. ”The skeptics will see what I am capable of …” Unfortunately, Cruz fell short in the fight, losing to Salido after a seventh round knockout.
Earlier this year, Cruz had some thoughts for fellow fighter Manny Pacquiao when the Filipino boxer said gays were worse than animals. “For you to say that homosexuals are like animals is very irresponsible, I’m a homosexual and you shouldn’t judge me for my lifestyle,” Cruz said in a video message. “I invite you to meet with me to get to know me as a human being first and I guarantee you that you will think differently. Maybe afterwards we can do a sparring session. Take care and I will be praying for you and your family.”
Cruz knew some of the victims of the tragedy at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. He recently got a new tattoo of a memorial ribbon that is partially rainbow and partially the Puerto Rican flag to honor those lost in the attack. Before his fight last night, Cruz appeared in a robe adorned with the same memorial ribbon, and the bell was rung 49 times, once for each life lost.
Are you a fan of Orlando Cruz?
The post Boxer Orlando Cruz Knocks Out Homophobia: Gay Iconography appeared first on Towleroad.
Defying Doctrine, Methodists Elect Lesbian Bishop
Rev. Karen Oliveto, a lesbian, becomes the first openly LGBT bishop in the United Methodist Church.
www.advocate.com/2016/7/16/defying-doctrine-methodists-elect-lesbian-bishop
Elizabeth Warren Blasts Donald Trump, Mike Pence and the GOP in Twitter Truthbomb
Elizabeth Warren took to Twitter on Saturday to denounce the GOP platform and the presumptive ticket, Donald Trump and his new running mate Mike Pence.
Said Warren:
“.@realDonaldTrump & @mike_pence are a perfect match: Two small, insecure, weak men who use hate & fear to divide our country & our people. Of COURSE @realDonaldTrump – a guy who calls women fat pigs & bimbos – picked a VP who is famous for trying to control women’s bodies. What’s worse? @realDonaldTrump & @mike_pence’s sexism isn’t some radical fringe of the @GOP. They’re in line with the party platform.”
Added Warren:
“The @GOP platform is the most anti-choice ever: defund @PPFA & denounce all abortion. Even cases of rape, incest & woman’s potential death. And OF COURSE @realDonaldTrump – a guy who “[doesn’t] feel good” about marriage equality – picked a VP famous for LGBT discrimination. The @GOP platform says overturn marriage equality & it supports parents putting their LGBT children through conversion therapy. Disgusting. The @GOP platform even says that children not from “natural marriage” are more likely to be drug addicts. Hateful AND disgusting. Terrifying to think of @mike_pence being a heartbeat from presidency – but the direction @GOP wants to take our country is MORE terrifying.”
.@realDonaldTrump & @mike_pence are a perfect match: Two small, insecure, weak men who use hate & fear to divide our country & our people.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
Of COURSE @realDonaldTrump – a guy who calls women fat pigs & bimbos – picked a VP who is famous for trying to control women’s bodies.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
What’s worse? @realDonaldTrump & @mike_pence’s sexism isn’t some radical fringe of the @GOP. They’re in line with the party platform.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
The @GOP platform is the most anti-choice ever: defund @PPFA & denounce all abortion. Even cases of rape, incest & woman’s potential death.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
And OF COURSE @realDonaldTrump – a guy who “[doesn’t] feel good” about marriage equality – picked a VP famous for LGBT discrimination.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
The @GOP platform says overturn marriage equality & it supports parents putting their LGBT children through conversion therapy. Disgusting.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
The @GOP platform even says that children not from “natural marriage” are more likely to be drug addicts. Hateful AND disgusting.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
Terrifying to think of @mike_pence being a heartbeat from presidency – but the direction @GOP wants to take our country is MORE terrifying.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 16, 2016
The post Elizabeth Warren Blasts Donald Trump, Mike Pence and the GOP in Twitter Truthbomb appeared first on Towleroad.
‘Distressing Increase’ in Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Cases: STUDY
More than 800,000 gonorrhea infections occur in this the U.S. every year, making it the nation’s second most commonly reported notifiable disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but fewer than half of those infections are diagnosed. Men should be particularly concerned, as there has been an increase in the number of male diagnoses in the last few years.
The currently recommended method for treatment of gonorrhea is a combination of the antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone. According to new data, however, gonorrhea is growing increasingly harder to fight.
Resistance to azithromycin increased by more than 400 percent between 2013 and 2014, “a distressing sign that the future of current treatment options may be in jeopardy.”
The CDC published a study in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP), where researchers analyzed 5,093 isolates of gonorrhea collected in 2014 from men who visited sexually transmitted diseases (STI) clinics at 27 sites across the United States. Resistance to azithromycin increased from 0.6% in 2013 to 2.5% in 2014.
“The confluence of emerging drug resistance and very limited alternative options for treatment creates a perfect storm for future gonorrhea treatment failure in the U.S.,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention said in a press release.
“The growing threat of untreatable gonorrhea, combined with increasing rates of disease, makes it more important than ever to prevent new infections” he said. “There is a critical need to strengthen STD prevention services. Gonorrhea and other STDs can currently be prevented, diagnosed and treated — action today is essential to prevent worse outcomes tomorrow.”
The CDC still recommends the azithromycin and ceftriaxone treatment, and no treatment failures have been reported in the U.S. yet. But signs of resistance to azithromycin suggests that this drug will be next in the long line of antibiotics to which gonorrhea bacteria have become resistant – a list that includes penicillin, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolones.
“It is unclear how long the combination therapy of azithromycin and ceftriaxone will be effective if the increases in resistance persist,” said Gail Bolan, M.D, director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “We need to push forward on multiple fronts to ensure we can continue offering successful treatment to those who need it.”
The post ‘Distressing Increase’ in Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Cases: STUDY appeared first on Towleroad.
Report: “Straight, White, Male Christians Are The Most Oppressed In Today’s Society”
It’s been awhile since we’ve tuned in to the inchoate prattle of Michael Savage, professional hate-monger and host of radio program The Savage Nation.
Related: Michael Savage Up To Old Tricks
The mordant talking head, whose real name is the significantly less kicky Michael Alan Weiner, went on a rambling tirade on a recent episode of his program, defending men accused of sexual harassment, and claiming his people are the ones being ganged-up on by an unfeeling people:
“The most oppressed member of society, as I’ve said it before and I’m willing to stand by this again — the most ridiculed, the most oppressed member of society today is the straight, heterosexual, white, male Christians! Period! Period, end of story. Open season! The butt of every joke! Every advertisement shows them as a fool! You don’t hear that though too often, do you? It’s sickening, it can make you sick. The whole world’s upside down. It’s all a big lie.”
But where are these Christian-bashing commercials? We’re not entirely sure, but we have some guesses:
1. This Upsetting Chuck Wagon Dog Food Commercial, Which Claims “Dogs Just Love The Soft, Meat-like Chunks”:
2. This X-Tra Pine Commercial Starring Arthur Napiontek As The Bikini-Clad “Cleaning Hunk” Probably Hates Christians:
3. We Have It On Good Authority This 1973 British PSA Loathes Christians:
4.We Think We Remember Hearing That Shasta Was Marketed As “The Pop Beverage For Christian-Haters of Discerning Taste”:
5. This “Freedom Rock” Commercial Tries To Make Its Anti-Christian Agenda Subliminal. Nice Try, Dirty Hippies:
It’s not the first time Savage has poised himself as a stubborn voice of unreason. Past hits have included admitting same-sex marriage makes him puke, claiming gay oral “increases” throat cancer, andtheir souls and their minds, it knows their bodies will follow.”
You can curl up to his latest creepshow here:
Related: Some More Hate Notes from Michael Savage
Life After Twincest: Ta’Leon Goffney Discusses Going ‘Gay-For-Pay’ With His Own Brother, Prison And Redemption
“I always knew [my twin brother] was gay,” 34-year-old, one-time gay-for-pay adult film performer Ta’Leon Goffney tells Queerty in an exclusive interview, “but to witness him being bottomed right before my very eyes as I had to play along was just too close for comfort.”
In 2004, Goffney, who identifies as straight, and his gay twin brother, Keyontyli, appeared in a gay adult film together. It was a one-time thing that he immediately regretted and that would later come back to haunt him time and time again.
In 2008, Goffney was sentenced to three to eight years in prison for his part in the robbery of a Philadelphia beauty salon. When the production company got wind of his arrest, they sent out a press release alerting the media of his past that included a free link to the video. As a result, Goffney’s life became “a living hell.”
Today, he is a free man. Since being released from prison in June 2014, he has obtained a professional certificate as an HVAC technician and launched a modeling career. He also published a memoir called Infamous and is working on its sequel titled Life After Infamy. And in May of last year, he and his long-time girlfriend welcomed a son into the world.
We had an opportunity to chat with Goffney about his adult film past, surviving prison with his reputation and how fatherhood has helped him cope with the traumas he has suffered.
Check out what he had to say…
QUEERTY: You’ve come a long way in just a few years, going from adult films and prison to obtaining a professional certificate and becoming a father. How has your outlook on the world shifted?
GOFFNEY: My son being born gave me automatic clarity on what had to be done. Either I step things up for him or he will suffer the same fate as I did. And for me that is unacceptable. When you spend a total of 11 years of your life incarcerated you tend to value time more than the average person. Freedom becomes the most precious commodity because it offers possibilities, and to do without it so long makes you maximize every day.
For people who may not be familiar with your story, you’re straight, but in 2004 you flew to Vegas to shoot a gay-for-pay film alongside your gay twin brother. Looking back, how did that experience change you?
In retrospect, that experience damaged our brotherhood. I always knew he was gay and sexually active, but to witness him being bottomed right before my very eyes as I had to play along was just too close for comfort. Although we never did anything sexual to one another it still ruined the family line between us because it obliterated any possible boundaries that he and I could ever have again. It’s been 12 years since it happened and it’s still vivid in my mind as if it happened yesterday. I regret it to the fullest. Because that played a part in me losing the one person who was closest to me.
What was it like performing alongside him?
Performing with him gave us both the twisted motivation to actually get through a scene of twin brothers. The producers really pressured us during the shoot, which made the process all the more difficult. We both felt like prostitutes because we were being filmed doing sex acts for money. And we are twins, so telepathically we both felt the degradation growing inside of us. It ruined our bond because we really took it too far. There’s just certain lines that siblings should never cross.
Te’Leon and his twin brother, Keyontyli, during happier times.
You’ve said in the past that you were struggling financially at the time, and that is why you went through with it. Do you feel like, in a way, you were coerced?
To a degree. I was under the impression that it was just an upscale modeling gig, but when I got to Vegas it was a completely different story. But at the end of the day, I decided to go through with it anyway. In retrospect, the producers took advantage of two naive, poverty-stricken kids from Camden, New Jersey. And when I was arrested in 2008, they sent out a press release with a free link to the video so the views are now in the millions. They capitalized off my misfortune in the fullest way.
Did the film ever come up when you were in prison?
Because that free link was released, it was impossible for anyone not to know who I was in 2008. Nancy Grace, Details Magazine, Perez Hilton, Bossip, Philladelphia Inquirer, New York Times, Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, and countless other media outlets had exactly what they needed to make my 75-month prison sentence a living hell. I was ostracized, attacked and harassed by inmates and prison guards all the way up until my release date.
How did you protect yourself?
I spent a third of my sentence in solitary confinement due to the notoriety of my case. I was all over the television. When I was finally allowed to serve the remainder of my time in General Population the other inmates avoided me at all costs. Even though I identify as a heterosexual male, I was ridiculed for being a “gay porn star.” I ate by myself, watched television by myself. They would even vacate the shower room when they saw me coming. They treated me like I had a terminal illness that was highly contagious.
Did that sort of treatment change your perspective on the daily struggles of LGBTQ people?
That treatment heightened my empathy for the LGBTQ community. It made me realize that society gives them hell for something they have no control over. You have no control over who you love. They made me feel less than human when I was in prison. I wouldn’t wish what happened to me on my worst enemy. That experience changed my entire perspective.
What is your relationship with your brother like today?
As to date, we haven’t physically spoken in almost two years. Some other events took place to culminate the divide between us, but the gay film era definitely was the snowflake that caused the avalanche in our lives.
Ta’Leon and his son, Eliàs Paul Goffney.
And what about your son? Do you ever worry about the day he finds out about your past?
Every day. Because there’s a lot of petty people in my family, so I’m sure he’s going to find out one way or another. And besides I published a book about it all and the Google search on me is ridiculous. So I couldn’t hide it from him if I wanted to. I’m just going to keep it one thousand percent honest with him and tell him why I did it, and then let him know that it gave me the strength to be a true father to him. My dad never saved me, but I’m going to save him. And he will undeniably see the difference my presence in his life presents versus me not having my father in mine.
What if your father had been around?
Honestly, I used to think about that everyday. I always imagined life would’ve been greater if he was around to protect me from the pitfalls of life. I had to learn the hard way through trial and error of what it meant to be a man. I would’ve never saw the porn industry or spend a total of 11 years of my life in prison if he was around to give me the proper guidance. But now that I’m a father myself, I’m fully aware of the peril that awaits my son if I don’t remain a constant presence in his life. I don’t think about my father anymore.
If you could go back and tell the old Ta’Leon one thing, what would it be?
First, I would tell him that his self-respect is priceless and to never let go of it. Then I would remind him of what Grandmom tried to tell him when he was a child. Grandmom took me to the park in Magnolia, New Jersey and she looked me dead in the eye and said, “When you get older you are going to learn that a lot of people aren’t worthy of your company.” And I would warn him that if he doesn’t take heed to her advice he’s about to find out the hard way of exactly what she meant.
After everything, do you ever think you’ll ever be able to find closure?
I’ve done things that I can’t take back or erase from my memory, but my son helps me to live with it. He’s making me a better man by the day. Because my twin brother and I never had a father. And I may never know why he abandoned us. But at least, through my son, I know why he should’ve stayed. He is my closure.
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