L.A. Protests Trump for Fifth Day in a Row

Aroung 8,000 protestors marched in Los Angeles Saturday.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/11/12/la-protests-trump-fifth-day-row

RuPaul on Trump: Now I Understand How the World Allowed Hitler to Happen

RuPaul took to Twitter on Friday, reacting to Donald Trump’s election win and sharing how returning to normalcy feels impossible right now.

Echoing the feelings of many, Ru wrote, “Finding it hard to carry on ‘business as usual’ after America got a giant swastika tattooed on her forehead.”

She added, “As a kid, I couldn’t understand how the world could stand by and allow a Hitler to happen. Now I do.”

Pointing to two main undercurrents of the 2016 race, Ru said, “There are really only two emotions, love and fear. All others are derivatives of the two. Which will you choose today?”

The Drag Race creator also tweeted the famous George Santayana quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” seemingly implying that America will be forced to repeat the horrors that Germany endured under the Nazis.

Finding it hard to carry on “business as usual” after America got a giant swastika tattooed on her forehead.

— RuPaul (@RuPaul) November 11, 2016

As a kid, I couldn’t understand how the world could stand by and allow a Hitler to happen. Now I do.

— RuPaul (@RuPaul) November 11, 2016

There are really only two emotions, love and fear. All others are derivatives of the two. Which will you choose today?

— RuPaul (@RuPaul) November 11, 2016

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”~George Santayana

— RuPaul (@RuPaul) November 11, 2016

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RuPaul on Trump: Now I Understand How the World Allowed Hitler to Happen

Hillary Clinton Says F.B.I. Cost Her the Election

During a call with her campaign staff, the Democratic presidential nominee says Comey hurt her chances to clinch the election.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/11/12/hillary-clinton-says-fbi-cost-her-election

Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Gays, Minorities: New York Will Stand Up For You

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo took to Facebook on Saturday with a message to LGBT people and other minorities: the state of New York will protect you.

Cuomo’s message comes on the heels of Donald Trump’s election as president, a surprise that almost immediately caused many people to fear for their safety.

Wrote Cuomo,

“…let me be absolutely clear: If anyone feels that they are under attack, I want them to know that the state of New York – the state that has the Statue of Liberty in its harbor – is their refuge.

“Whether you are gay or straight, Muslim or Christian, rich or poor, black or white or brown, we respect all people in the state of New York.”

He added of the Empire State,

“We are a state of immigrants.

We are the state that raised the minimum wage to $15.

We are the state that passed Paid Family Leave.

We are the state that passed marriage equality.

We are New York, and we will stand up for you. And on that, I will never compromise.

Count on it.”

Read his full statement, below.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Gays, Minorities: New York Will Stand Up For You

Anti-Gay Former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock Whines About Being ‘Poked, Prodded, and Probed’ – WATCH

Disgraced former Illinois congressman Aaron Schock complained in a press conference this week about being “poked, prodded, and probed” by the FBI during its 19 month investigation into Schock’s criminal corruption.

Schock’s troubles began when it came to light that his congressional office was styled in the manner of Downton Abbey and that he illegally accepted design services for free. Schock, who has long been rumored to be gay and has a history of anti-gay views, resigned from congress in 2015. 

RELATED: ‘Untoward’ Allegations in Aaron Schock Records Would ‘Damage’ His Reputation, Lawyers Tell Judge

Earlier this week, Schock was officially indicted by a grand jury. 

Schock maintains his innocence and says that the investigation into his wrongdoing was politically motivated. He also tabbed Hillary Clinton in his response to the indictment, saying, “Unlike some politicians I didn’t delete my emails.”

ABC News reports: 

The 52-page indictment accuses the once-rising Republican star, Aaron Schock, of brazen efforts to make money, such as buying World Series tickets with campaign funds and reselling them at a profit. When Schock risked missing a connecting flight for a European vacation, the indictment alleges, he paid a private aircraft company more than $8,000 out of his campaign account to fly him from Peoria to Washington.

Schock spent $40,000 in government funds to redecorate his Washington office, including $5,000 on a chandelier, and asked the House to reimburse him for nearly $30,000 worth of camera equipment, prosecutors allege. The indictment says he ran up a $140,000 mileage tab over six years, reimbursements for 150,000 more miles than his vehicles actually traveled.

The 35-year-old Republican from Peoria is charged in the 24-count indictment with nine counts of wire fraud, five of falsification of election commission filings, six of filing false federal income tax returns, two of making false statements and one each of mail fraud and theft of government funds. A conviction on just one count of wire fraud alone carries a maximum 20 year prison sentence. His arraignment is set for Nov. 21.

Watch Schock make his remarks, below.

The post Anti-Gay Former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock Whines About Being ‘Poked, Prodded, and Probed’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Anti-Gay Former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock Whines About Being ‘Poked, Prodded, and Probed’ – WATCH

These Haunting Photos Show The Strength Of Orlando Before & After Pulse Massacre

Today is Orlando Pride. To mark the special occasion, Queerty asked Orlando lesbian transgender photographer Melody Maia Monet to share a sampling of her amazing photos of the local LGBTQ community along with captions, taken before and after the Pulse Nightclub massacre of June 12, 2016, in which 49 souls were lost.

Aftermath: Pulse Nightclub Memorial

July 2016

After: Pulse Vigil

Fashion show at Pulse April 2016

Before: Leather Night

Leather Night at BarCodes March 2016

 VAiN Nightclub

 The place to be on Sunday the hours before heading home for the night

 The lesbian event during Gay Days. Here are the ladies who love ladies at House of Blues in June of 2016 one week before the tragedy

After: Mural Center

 Mural memorializing the tragedy, painted on the side of the LGBT center in the Mills 50 district. Photographed July 2016

 After: FlexFriday

 The men of Flex Fridays at the club Southern Nights Orlando, showing love for Pulse on June 17, 2016

 After: Southern Nights Orlando

The girls at Southern Nights Orlando show their love June 18 2016

After: Benefit

 A September benefit at The Abbey. The hood of the #49 police car lists the names of the 49 Pulse victims.

 After: Survivors Benefit

 Massacre survivors at the Abbey benefit in September

 Crowds gather to catch beads thrown from floats during Come Out With Pride in October 2015

www.queerty.com/haunting-photos-show-strength-diversity-orlando-pulse-massacre-20161112?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Neo-Nazi Site Calls for Harassing LGBT People Scared of Trump: ‘Troll Them Until they Kill Themselves’

A Trump-supporting, Neo-Nazi, white supremacist website called The Daily Stormer has called on its readers to troll people scared about the Republican’s presidential victory until they commit suicide.

The Daily Stormer published dozens of tweets on Wednesday expressing fear over what Trump’s election will mean for LGBT Americans and other minorities.

Newsweek reports: 

“You should probably go ahead and be afraid now,” writes Andrew Anglin, the website’s publisher. The post suggests it’s readers “can troll these people and definitely get some of them to kill themselves.”

Several of the tweets embedded in the Daily Stormer post show fear over the fate of women, people of color and LGBT individuals in the U.S. under a Trump presidency. One person says they’re worried about possible nuclear war. A disclaimer on the page reads: “We here at the Daily Stormer are opposed to violence.”

Anglin added, 

Just be like “it’s the only way you can prove to the racists that Hillary was right all along.”

“Mass Suicides After Trump Victory” would be a headline the media would play up, but all it would do would demoralize the left even further.

GOGOGOGOGOGOGO!

He included this image at the end of the post:

The post also included a GIF from The Dark Knight Rises of the character Bane saying “Your punishment must be more severe.”

The homepage for The Daily Stormer currently has this image in a large banner:

[h/t JMG]

The post Neo-Nazi Site Calls for Harassing LGBT People Scared of Trump: ‘Troll Them Until they Kill Themselves’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Neo-Nazi Site Calls for Harassing LGBT People Scared of Trump: ‘Troll Them Until they Kill Themselves’

Once More With No Feeling On ‘Finding Prince Charming’ Reunion [RECAP]

Boy, it is not easy to mercilessly mock a stupid television show after this week’s news, but I’m going to try.

Thursday night’s reunion episode of Finding Prince Charming that nobody asked for was appropriately titled “All Tied Up.” Forget the ridiculous neckties, I think they named the special for the “live” audience that was obviously held hostage in this awful gay bunker. They couldn’t even give them a cocktail! It was deeply unsettling to see them sitting there all blank-faced. At least give them a plate of truffle fries or something!

The mood in the room ranged from bored to disinterested for the audience, the cast and probably the crew (I think I briefly caught a camera drop as the operator dozed off at one point, pretty sure), making this hour-long rehash of everything we’ve already suffered through once particularly dull.

So, did we learn anything new from this installment of American Homo Story: My Normative Nightmare? In a word, no. Let’s look back on a gay dating show so disappointingly un-queer even VP-elect Mike Pence wouldn’t bother advocating giving it electroshock therapy. (Too soon?) Quick thoughts and recommendations for fixes in our recap below.

The evening begins with all the guys minus Brandon and Eric on some terrible IKEA furniture. A few — Dillon, Sam, Danique — seem ready to relish their extended camera time, but most of them just seem like they’re in a rush to get out of there because Whole Foods is about to close and they’re late for a colonic. Justin, looking only slightly less like Frankie Grande as a brunette, is so checked-out that I think they replaced him with some kind of Madame Tussaud wax figure for most of the show. Charlie — an early cut that would qualify as “husky” by Grindr standards, but is like a fitness model compared to most straight guys — sits so far off to the side of everyone else I was pretty sure he was just an audience member for more than half the special. Jasen wore an ungodly sparkly shirt that was part Christian Audigier, part my mee-maw’s late-1980s wardrobe. Basically, it’s like a high school reunion: Everyone looks the same or worse.

These reality-TV reunions are pretty standardized by now, and, like everything else about Finding Prince Charming, this one is just as formulaic, but without any kind of sizzle. It’s just an endless parade of montage after montage, reminding us just how few memorable moments the series actually produced.

I’m not sure what kind of medical condition Lance Bass has that placed his eyebrow permanently arched in such a smug, self-satisfied position, but I would happily donate to whatever GoFundMe page he sets up to have it surgically corrected.

He intros our first montage as a collection of “throwing shade” clips, proving that none of these guys (or the producers, apparently) know what that phrase means. It’s a snooze. Justin calling someone “thirstier than Tara Reid in rehab” is not even funny! And that’s the best example they’ve got.

The only real new bit of info we learned all night — and it’s only really new if you don’t have an internet connection and haven’t heard it already — is that Sam and Chad hooked up on the first night. Oof. Those two. I’m not sure who is more unstable. First, there’s Chad, whose eerie calm throughout this reunion just reinforces my belief that he is actually more of “danger to society” kind of crazy. It’s only a matter of time before we see him have an Anne Heche-esque meltdown outside a Starbucks in WeHo.

But, Sam. Oh, Sam. He’s reality-TV crazy, which means he spends this reunion screaming and crying at various points. Sam shouts down Dillon about their confrontation, eventually apologizing for spitting in his face. Later, he breaks down in hysterics about how much he made fun of himself before coming out? I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s experience, but come on. He was basically humblebragging about overcoming being victimized by himself. It was like that scene on The Simpsons where Bart suggests he can save the family money by taking up and then quitting smoking. Sam is the personification of a heap of mesh tank-tops someone set on fire and then poured pinot grigio on, and he’s exactly the kind of monster this show desperately needs more of in season two.

When they finally trot out Eric and Brandon, the temperature in the room goes from “tepid” to “slight chill.” Brandon sits as far from Robert as he physically can while crammed on the same tiny SÖDERHAMN couch. Eric and Robert couldn’t look less like a couple. Geez, guys, can you hold hands? Can you put a hand on his knee? I’m not asking you to recreate some of Robert’s best straight-to-video hits, but give us something. Lance asks the question on everybody’s mind: Who cares? Are you guys still together? They give a super wishy-washy answer, though it’s not clear if they’re simply hiding the fact they realized they have nothing in common OR if it’s just hard for them to communicate after using that couples lobotomy Groupon they got as a prize.

And that’s it, I guess. The season ends without a bang. No, seriously, no one banged (at least on camera). What a disappointment!

Fixing Prince Charming

Season two of Finding Prince Charming is coming, whether we like it or not. It won’t ever be the gay dating show we want (which, for me, would include all the suitors dropped on a desolate island with nothing but a satchel full of vodka-soda, PReP and low-carb wraps, and then they’re forced to use Grindr to find one another), but it could be easily improved.

The preface of the show demands a bunch of basic suckers spewing nonsense about finding true love. We’re not going to lose that. That’s OK! The Bachelor, Bachelorette, hell, even Joe Millionaire all dealt in the same parlance of fairytale love. That’s the foundation of these shows. The problem with Finding Prince Charming is that it ended there, and we can do so much better.

Perhaps the show felt a responsibility as the first all-gay dating competition to portray gay men as gingerly as possible. Instead, let’s contrast the fantasy of “Prince Charming” with the reality of gay dating in 2016. We need always-on, Big Brother-esque cameras installed all over the house. The best, juiciest stuff happened when the cameras weren’t even rolling. Lean in to the hook-ups, don’t shy away from them. I want to see every stray bead of jism spilled on that tacky furniture.

Beyond just the scandalous, the show needs to embrace more of the action unrelated to the pursuit of the Prince. One of the most interesting elements of FPC that we barely even glimpsed were the friendships between the suitors. Some of the most powerful, genuine interactions we saw were between friends. I was much more moved by how the other suitors reacted to Eric’s status than I was by that GNC cardboard cut-out shilling protein powder, Robert. These small conversations about coming out, about the Pulse shooting, etc. are what shows like The Bachelor can never, ever recreate. It’s what makes the LGBT community special, and it deserves a lot more airtime than another absurd group fitness class. Let’s make next season part all-gay Bachelor and part all-gay Real World.

Lastly, we need a new host. I’m not sure what it is that keeps Lance Bass in the celebrity sphere, but there are glasses of tap water out there with more charisma. The kind of people that look for love on reality TV are already a self-selecting kind of crowd, so I’m not expecting to ever get a cast that’s creative and witty and, well, charming. However, the right host can inject just the right amount of levity and knowing winks to keep the whole thing from collapsing under the weight of its own simple-minded sincerity. I know there’s an online push to see Robby as the next Prince Charming, but I think that’s terribly misguided. I say we make him host. Or at least let’s get a comedian up there. Certainly Alec Mapa or Kathy Griffin are available.

Would this make Finding Prince Charming must-see TV? Probably not, but it would help us bring a bit more “reality” to the reality show.

How would you like to see Finding Prince Charming change in season two?

The post Once More With No Feeling On ‘Finding Prince Charming’ Reunion [RECAP] appeared first on Towleroad.

Once More With No Feeling On ‘Finding Prince Charming’ Reunion [RECAP]