Lena Horne Broke Barriers In Style – Gay Iconography

A glamorous old Hollywood beauty, a fierce activist and an overwhelming talent, Lena Horne ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to what makes a gay icon.

Born Lena Mary Calhoun Horne in Brooklyn, New York, the singer-actress broke barriers throughout the span of her 70-plus year career. When she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1942, she became the first African-American actress with a long-term major Hollywood studio. That didn’t mean she still didn’t face intense racism. She was often cast in featured roles for stand-alone scenes that could easily be cut for screenings in the South without affecting the plot. When performing for the troops, she would play for black servicemen seated behind German POWs. Her experience drove her into activism, however, her associations with some leftist organizations got her blacklisted in Hollywood as an alleged communist.

Horne persevered, becoming one of the most beloved singers and actresses of all time. She’s won multiple Grammy and Tony Awards, and was the first African-American elected to the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild.

She’s also spoken at length about her close friend, Billy Strayhorn, the openly-gay collaborator of Duke Ellington. She called him “the only man I ever loved,” she said. “He was just everything that I wanted in a man … except he wasn’t interested in me sexually.”

Marvel at some of our favorite clips of Lena Horne in action below!

Horne portrayed Julie LaVerne in the 1946 film Till The Clouds Roll By. As happened often in Horne’s early films, her role was designed to be easily cut from the film without affecting the plot. The beginning of the film contains a shortened adaptation of Show Boat. When MGM adapted Show Boat into a film in 1951, they passed over Horne for the role of LaVerne, instead casting Ava Gardner in the role of a mixed-race performer on the titular vessel.

One of Horne’s starring cinematic roles was in the movie musical Stormy Weather. The African-American cast was so rare and groundbreaking for the time, the Library of Congress selected the film for the National Film Registry in 2001. The film’s title track became Horne’s signature song.

Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, Horne made several appearances on television variety shows, including The Judy Garland Show. Watch the two of them banter and swap hits in the clip above, then check out this showstopper.

Another iconic role for Horne was Glinda the Good Witch in the 1978 film, The Wiz.

In 1981, Horne debuted her one-woman Broadway show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for 333 performances and earned her a Special Tony Award. Watch her inspiring acceptance speech and powerful performance above.

What’s your favorite Lena Horne moment?

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HRC and Equality NC Team Up for Voter Mobilization Workshops in North Carolina

Post submitted by HRC Regional Field Organizer Hope Jackson

This year, HRC’s Vote Equality campaign is undertaking an unprecedented nationwide effort to mobilize pro-equality voters in key races across the nation. In North Carolina, HRC teamed up with Equality North Carolina (NC) to mobilize voters across the Tar Heel State.

When the North Carolina General Assembly shamefully adjourned without taking action to fully repeal the discriminatory HB2 in July, HRC and Equality NC pledged to elect legislators who would take action against this anti-LGBTQ law. Over the next 75 days, HRC and Equality NC will work together to mobilize pro-equality voters.

In Raleigh, more than 20 local activists and community members gathered just blocks from the General Assembly building and Governor Pat McCrory’s office. Fired up from the legislative battle against HB2, the local community in the Triangle region is ready to mobilize pro-equality voters ahead of the election. For example, two high school students came to learn what they can do to help to repeal HB2. Another two volunteers drove over an hour from the Mebane area to help turnout local pro-equality voters.

For volunteers attending the workshop in Charlotte, the stakes are high in this election. HB2 has directly cost the city of Charlotte millions of dollars. Most recently, the NBA moved the 2017 All Star Game out of Charlotte because of HB2. Residents of Charlotte have had enough and are ready to mobilize for the November election in support of pro-equality candidates.

Polling in North Carolina found that voters have consistently rejected HB2. An August Public Policy Polling survey found that a 58 percent majority think HB2 is hurting the state’s economy. Only 30 percent support HB2 while 43 percent oppose it.

Last week, HRC and Equality NC issued a joint endorsement of Roy Cooper, the Democrat running to replace Governor Pat McCrory.

At HRC we know that elections matter. We’ve come too far to go back now and the stakes could not be higher for the LGBTQ community this election. That’s why we have aggressive plans to mobilize our members and supporters this fall and there is an important role for you in our effort. Click here to learn more about upcoming workshops in cities across the country.

For more information about our HRC Equality Votes workshops or volunteer opportunities in North Carolina, contact HRC’s Hope Jackson at [email protected].

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Eric Trump Praises His Father's LGBT Rights Record as 'Revolutionary'

The third-generation businessman told CNBC’s Squawk Box that Donald Trump is an ally to the LGBT community.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/8/29/eric-trump-praises-his-fathers-lgbt-rights-record-revolutionary

Gus Kenworthy And Steve Harvey Have Some Choice Words For Parents Who Abandon Their Gay Kids

When I came out as gay to my family, they were completely living and supportine, but unfortunately, that’s not a reality for a lot of LGBT youth, and so when they tell their parents a lot of kids end up on the streets and so the Happy Hippie Foundation is for LGBT at-risk youth.”

So said freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy to host Steve Harvey during a recent Celebrity Family Feud appearance, and Harvey — despite a history of saying some head-scratchy things about the LGBT community in the past — expressed support for the cause.

Related: That Awkward Moment When The “Miss Universe” Host Announces The Wrong Winner On Live TV

“I guess I don’t get that part, you know?” he said. “If it’s my kid, it’s my kid. I don’t know how I would stop loving my kid, man. That ain’t getting ready to happen. Now if your ass ain’t working, you got to get out.”

Watch:

Related: The Terrifying Footage From Miss Universe Pageant No One Has Seen Until Now

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Rami Malek Says He Got Into Character By Doing All The Same Drugs As ‘Mr. Robot’ Character

Via USA.

Rami Malek sat down with The Hollywood Reporter recently to discuss his role as Elliot Anderson on USA’s “Mr. Robot.”

Anderson is a hacker with a host of issues, like anxiety and depression, who uses opiates such as Morphine, his drug of choice, to cope.

Related: Pot Makes For Better Social, Sexual Exploits Than Alcohol

So how did Malek get into the head space of someone on those drugs?

Simple, he took them himself.

“I basically asked Sam Esmail, the writer and creator of the show, and now director of the second season, which drugs Elliot was going to do throughout all the seasons and I just started to do whatever he did,” he said.

When asked if he was aware that they were live and his admission couldn’t be cut from the record he answered, “Yeah, that’s what I did.”

Related: Should Grindr Be Shut Down For Facilitating A Rise In Illegal Drug Use?

The more you know.

Watch the interview clip in the video below.

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LA County Gay Men Warned About Shigella Outbreak That Has Already Claimed One Life

The LA County Department of Public Health has issued a warning about an outbreak of shigella, a bacterial infection that causes a severe form of diarrhea, fever, bloody stools and stomach cramps.

Shigella is most often spread through contaminated food or via oral-anal contact. The infection is treatable with common antibiotics.

Of the 13 confirmed cases, four of the infected men are known to be gay. Three of the nine 13 have been hospitalized and one has died.

LAC DPH Health Alert: Cluster of Shigella flexneri Infections among Men in Los Angeles t.co/ytnY3p0CWo

— HIV DATF (@HIVDATF) August 25, 2016

According to Wehoville, Dr. Ward Carpenter, associate chief medical officer at the L.A. LGBT Center, said that “gay or bisexual man with fever and diarrhea, particularly if it’s bloody…should get immediate medical care.”  

RELATED: ‘Distressing Increase’ in Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Cases: STUDY

Carpenter added that clusters of shigella infections among gay men are not uncommon.

The L.A. LGBT Center offers primary medical care, regardless of ability to pay, and accepts most insurance plans.

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Southwest Engine, Sean O’Donnell, Aruba, Mars, Donald Trump, Drag Race VMAs, Trevante Rhodes: HOT LINKS

DONALD TRUMP. His campaign is selling an LGBTQ for Trump t-shirt.

REINCE PRIEBUS. Trump to deliver “major” immigration speech: You’re going to find out from Donald Trump very shortly. He’s going to be giving prepared remarks on this issue, I think very soon. His position is going to be tough. His position is going to be fair. His position is going to be humane.”

ARUBA. Vote on civil partnerships coming? “Tomorrow, the Aruban parliament is expected to vote on a civil law amendment granting civil partnerships to same-sex couples. It was proposed by Desiree Sousa Croes, an openly-gay parliamentarian. Legalizing civil partnerships will grant registered same-sex couples equal rights as married couples. Although the Netherlands led the way in legalizing same-sex marriage in 2001, LGBT citizens living in its autonomous territories are still unable to marry. The Dutch Kingdom consists of the Netherlands proper and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, as well as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, known as the BES islands.”

SPACE. Scientists leave Mars isolation dome on Mauna Kea after year in isolation. “For the past year, six scientists have in lived in near-isolation inside a dome on Mauna Loa. For the duration of the study – which was funded by Nasa – they were only allowed to go outside while wearing spacesuits. On Sunday, the scientists finally walked out of the dome to shouts of “welcome back to Earth”. The crew members were greeted by their families and colleagues, who came bearing fresh pizza.”

CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Split possible unless church gets hard on homosexuality, vicar warns: “Representatives of almost a dozen congregations are due to gather in Tunbridge Wells this week to discuss how they will uphold traditional teaching. They have no immediate plan to break away from the church but are forming “embryonic” structures in case the church continues to move in what they consider to be a liberal direction. Sanlon told the Telegraph: ‘If senior leaders of the Church of England water down the teaching of the Church of England on key issues like homosexuality, then this synod could easily evolve in to a new Anglican jurisdiction in England.’”

SOUTHWEST. Jet lands safely after major engine explosion. “Southwest Airlines Flight 3472 from New Orleans to Orlando was diverted to Pensacola, Florida on Saturday following an engine failure and explosion. The Boeing 737 has two turbofan engines on either wing, and passengers were shocked when one of the engines exploded, both billowing smoke and violently shaking the plane.”

PHOTO UPDATE Inflight picture of Southwest jet after losing part of the engine (@AirportWebcams) pic.twitter.com/CAM8VK82n0 – @NewsHazbail

— AIRLIVE.net (@airlivenet) August 27, 2016

PANIC AT LAX. Loud noises cause evacuation: “Police responded to a call of shots fired at LAX terminals 6,7, and 8 shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday. The terminal was evacuated, with many people running and some falling as they left the building. The main terminal was shut down to traffic, Los Angeles Police Department said.”

SEAN O’DONNELL. Actor posts shirtless selfie.

VMAS. RuPaul’s Drag Race stars recreate iconic VMAs looks, destroy the red carpet.

MONDAY MUSCLE. Trevante Rhodes, star of the upcoming gay indie drama Moonlight.

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Rudy Giuliani Blasts Gun Violence References in Beyoncé’s VMAs Performance: ‘It’s a Shame’

Beyoncé’s much-lauded “Lemonade” performance last night at the MTV Video Music Awards contained a section in which angels were ‘shot down’ into pools of red light, a reference to victims of gun violence. Earlier on the red carpet, she had walked with mothers of gun violence victims.

“It’s a shame,” said Rudy Giuliani on FOX & Friends when asked about the display. “It’s a shame.”

RELATED: Watch Beyoncé’s Show-Stealing VMAs ‘Lemonade’ Medley

Watch the performance HERE.

Giuliani elaborated further:

“You’re asking the wrong person because I had five uncles who were police officers, two cousins who were, one who died in the line of duty. I ran the largest and best police department in the world, the New York City Police Department. And I saved more black lives than any of those people you saw on stage by reducing crime and particularly homicide by 75 percent. Of which, maybe 4,000 or 5,000 were African-American young people who are alive today because of the policies I put in effect that weren’t in effect for 35 years. So if you’re going to do that, then you also should symbolize why the police officers are in the neighborhoods and what are you going to go about that? To me it’s two easy answers: a much better education and good job, and what the heck have you done like in Baltimore, when they all stood in Baltimore. I was sick when I saw all the politicians sitting, standing in Baltimore after the police situation and saying, ‘nobody’s done anything for this community in 50 years.’ Well, that is a heck of a thing to say, because they’ve been in charge for 50 years. And they have failed the community. I didn’t fail Harlem. I turned Harlem around. I didn’t fail Bedford-Stuyvesant, I turned it around. Go there now. Go walk in Harlem. Then flash back to 25 years ago and go to Harlem before I was mayor, and one was a place where crime was rampant and no national stores and now there’s a thriving community in Harlem.”

Watch:

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7 Question with Montel Williams on His Support for Hillary Clinton

1. What inspired you to speak out about your support for Hillary Clinton?

My primary motivation was that I think Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the Republic and cannot be trusted as Commander in Chief. That said, I also had to look at the host of social issues upon which Secretary Clinton and I agree — one of which is LGBTQ equality. LGBTQ equality is a red line for me. That doesn’t mean perfection necessarily. It means I need to assure myself that a candidate’s heart is in the right place — that they either have no history of advocating for or even tolerating a system of second class citizenship, or if they, like me, have made mistakes in the past that they meaningfully owned them and have demonstrated a change of heart through action.    

2. You’ve mentioned reservations about Mr. Trump’s vice presidential selection of Mike Pence, who has championed deplorable discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Can you elaborate?

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that Mike Pence signed as Governor of Indiana was a dangerously extreme and mean spirited piece of legislation. One need only look at the people in the room when Pence signed it — a who’s who of the fringe anti-LGBTQ movement. Its entire purpose was to allow a narrow minded few to deny fundamental rights, like public accommodation to LGBTQ Hoosiers.. Mike Pence participated in a bold faced assault on the LGBTQ community to curry favor with a certain set of the far Christian right in furtherance of a potential presidential bid. As a Christian myself, I find what he did an affront to my faith, and I find it unconscionable.

3. Mr. Trump has built his campaign upon false objectives that aim to elicit anger and fear. What are the dangers and consequences of this approach — of pitting Americans against one another?

Donald’s no fool. He realized all along that he’d never be able to win on his merits. He exploited a vulnerability in the conservative base no other candidate would. Donald simply took the genie out of the bottle and normalized the far right fringe. These are not all bad people. Many of them just don’t know any better and they have been programmed to believe people that don’t look like them are responsible for their problems. When it comes to the LGBTQ community, conservative media has yielded to bigots thinly cloaked as theologians and conditioned to believe that the gay rights movement is an attack on their faith itself. Now that the tide has turned and equal rights for the LGB communities are less controversial, we see the same forces double down on attacking the trans community. The danger of Donald’s strategy is that it normalizes anger, resentment, even bigotry that was previously not socially acceptable. It turned out to be a great strategy to win the primary, and I think it’s a HUGE mistake for those of us who want to see his defeat at all costs to become complacent. People like Donald will do anything to win, and it’s a huge mistake to assume his certain defeat.

4. After what may come to be the most divisive presidential election our nation’s history — how do we move forward post-election and why is Hillary Clinton uniquely qualified to lead the way?

She’s shown a willingness to reach out to conservative minded independents and sane Republicans, and that’s what it takes. A great example is when she met with major leaders in law enforcement to hear their concerns – that may not be popular with some, but it was the right thing to do. In taking this meeting, she showed she has the maturity to do what’s necessary to navigate difficult issues, even when doing so is unpopular. That’s what this will take – reaching out to the (sane) right and standing up from time to time to progressives who can sometimes be as unreasonable as the conservative base.

5. You’ve described LGBTQ equality as an issue of morality for you. What’s at stake for the progress of civil rights in this election?

The notion of today’s Republican party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House is scary – they’ve simply become way too extreme. It’s not just about LGBTQ equality — it’s about the right to vote, the right of my daughters (and all women) to determine the course of their own medical care based on their values, not values held by some imposed on all. It’s about who and what we are as a country.  

6. You said in your USA Today op-ed that after the withdrawal of your preferred candidate, Gov. John Kasich, your initial instinct was to keep silent. What inspired you to speak out about your support of Hillary Clinton?

Honestly, it was being at the Republican Convention. I went to speak at an event highlighting pro-LGBTQ Republicans, and I’m glad I did. But the content of that convention was as heartbreaking for me as a conservative as it was scary to me as an American, much less a black American. That convention’s theme was “The sky is falling. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Oh, and really be afraid of the Muslims, the Mexicans, the Blacks. And, oh by the way the, Gays are out to take over your churches and take away your guns.” Then when I saw Trump attack the Khan family? It was just too much. I had to say something.

7. What are the costs of sitting this Election out?

A country like we haven’t seen since the Civil War. This isn’t an election — this is an existential battle for the heart and soul of America. Voting isn’t optional. It’s life or death (as to the future of this country as we know it), especially for the LGBTQ Community. I understand that people of my political persuasion have treated the LGBTQ community badly, and it’s inexcusable. Remember, I myself have had to face the reality that I processed a lot of sailors out of the Navy for being gay while I was serving. And that’s a burden I have to carry, but I’ve changed. My heart has changed. Part of the reason my heart has changed is the many guides I had from within the LGBTQ community who were patient with me when I got a letter or a word wrong, who were always there to answer my questions and realized that my effort and intentions were genuine even if imperfect. That’s the standard you should hold conservatives to. Are they on the right path? If so, how can we help get further along? Please, be patient with those of us whose hearts are in the right place when we get a word or a letter wrong. Have some faith that I’m prepared to put my vote, my time and my mouth where my heart is, and that nothing short of full equality for you is acceptable to me.

www.hrc.org/blog/7-question-with-montel-williams-on-his-support-for-hillary-clinton?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed