Everyone hates Megyn Kelly, according to new popularity poll
Only 6% of the 1000 people interviewed said they had a “favorable” opinion of the former FOX News anchor.

www.queerty.com/everyone-hates-megyn-kelly-according-new-popularity-poll-20171031?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump Team Now Calls Papadopoulos a ‘Coffee Boy’

A guilty plea has suddenly demoted a former Trump aide to “coffee boy.” The Trump team is downplaying the role of former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos after court papers on Monday unveiled his guilty plea for lying to the FBI. He is now being dismissed as a “volunteer” and “coffee boy” who supposedly had little…

The post Trump Team Now Calls Papadopoulos a ‘Coffee Boy’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump Team Now Calls Papadopoulos a ‘Coffee Boy’

When Halloween Costumes Blur The Line Between Topical And Offensive
Patricia Yaker Ekall

It seems Halloween 2017 is over the typically ghoulish or questionably ‘sexy’ costume and so into representing itself in all its ironically tragic and momentous glory.

From costumes poking fun at advertising faux pas, to ones celebrating the unsung hero and others that simply allow memes to come to life, it’s great to see people getting creative with their costumes.

But with the good comes the darn right ugly, which came out swinging this year. In a post taken from Twitter and shared on Instagram, a young Caucasian male can be seen imitating Colin Kaepernick, the NFL player who has been protesting against treatment of blacks in America by kneeling during the national anthem at the start of his games.

The young male is seen wearing a sign that says “Will stand for money,” wearing blackface with an afro to boot. While some might give him props for tapping into the zeitgeist, it’s clear this sort of ‘costume’ goes beyond dress-up and shoots straight to attack. It’s pure hate under the guise of a Halloween costume.

The man can’t claim innocence like, say, a family with a black father, a white mother and two mixed-race children who dressed up as ‘black coffee,’ ‘pure cane sugar’ and ‘half and half’ respectively. Gauche? Yes. Mean-spirited, certainly not.

But there’s only so much lee-weigh the public can give an individual who is not new to pushing the boundaries of identity politics, as Kim Kardashian West is finding out after her Aaliyah tribute. My problem with this costume isn’t that I think it’s culturally appropriating anything, because who hasn’t bent the rules to be a Marilyn or Cleopatra?

I admit, with some trepidation, to once dressing up as Blair Waldorf for a party because, according to my senior school friends, she and I were most alike in backstory (although I hope not too similar in character).

I’m sure I would not have enjoyed it if someone had turned and accused a 15-year-old me of appropriating. I know I haven’t been repeatedly accused of benefitting from another culture, as Kim regrettably has, but my point is that sometimes the narrative – the well-meant intention – overpowers the finer detail. Notably, Kim did not have to use blackface for her tribute to be clear.
Yet as someone who remembers the shock of Aaliyah’s tragic passing, at first glance Kim’s ‘tribute’ didn’t sit 100% well with me. It wasn’t until I understood from her social media posts that she was doing it as a three-part tribute to Madonna, Cher and Aaliyah, effectively giving credit where it’s due, that it did. Now I almost look at it in the same way I see Demi Lovato’s more ‘culturally appropriate’ tribute to Selina Quintanilla, another star gone too soon, which gave me chills in the best possible way.

Do I need to check my bias?

Halloween can be an awkward time. It’s a time where many call out ‘cultural appropriation’ and many respond with ‘it’s appreciation’ or ‘we didn’t mean it like that’. The response you need to take a chill pill has also been thrown around.

Let’s go back to what cultural appreciation really means: it is stealing parts of someone’s culture without crediting that culture and pretending the subject in place is “the new thing”. It’s as frustrating as Gwyneth Paltrow stating old Indian remedies as new ones for Goop! and can be as stupid as stating Ghee is better for you than butter.

Did Kim Kardashian culturally appropriate this Halloween? I’m going to argue no. Yes she doesn’t speak out much on black rights with her huge platform, yes she has black children and a black husband but she did not not give props to Aaliyah. She didn’t just put on a 90s outfit and ignore her predecessors in popular culture. Just like many women – of all shades do – when it comes to Lil Kim, Queen Latifah, Eve, TLC and more.

Many people dress as icons and Kim chose to do the same this Halloween. She also dressed up as Cher and Madonna. Cher being the closest to her actual ethnic background. She certainly did not blackface.

I dressed up as Frida Kahlo this year and I am far from being Mexican. But it didn’t feel less ‘woke’ and I don’t believe I was stealing a culture but shining a light on an artist I have always loved and adored. With Kim Kardashian West, I do feel as though because of the mistakes she has made in the past, because she has profited before from black culture that she is an easy target to state ‘cultural appropriation’ to.

However dressing up in blackface as a NFL star standing up to an unfair system and president is something I can call out. That isn’t even cultural appropriation, it’s not funny, it’s blatant racism. And for the dresser’s response to be that he didn’t know the effect it would have or that it deemed to be this awful is plain ignorance.

The root of racism.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/patricia-yaker-ekall/halloween-costumes-cultural-appropriation_b_18429804.html

See the moment Wendy Williams lost consciousness on live TV
Yikes.

www.queerty.com/see-moment-wendy-williams-lost-consciousness-live-tv-20171031?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Jake Shears Launches Solo Record with ‘Creep City’ — LISTEN

Jake Shears is back!

The Scissor Sisters frontman is launching his solo music career today with a new, theatrical jam, “Creep City” from his forthcoming first solo record.

Shears introduced the track with a letter to fans:

Hello Friends and Family!

It’s been awhile. Like— a long while. I mean, I’ve been hanging around a bit, posting a photo here and there. But for the most part, I hung up my sequins and I’ve just been going about my life. But lord, I’ve been missing you guys. Like— REALLY MISSING YOU. I’ve missed playing shows for you in funky clothes that I look back later and say: “What in God’s name was I thinking?” I’ve missed sweating on the front row. I’ve missed everybody singing along and whooping it up. Above all else, I’ve missed putting out new music. And that, my dear friends, changes today. Let me introduce you to Creep City.

It’s a pretty theatrical jam, with quite a few twists and turns. It has all the touchstones of the sound I’ve been conjuring. It’s a song about being in a literally scary transition, reflecting a moment of my life when I found myself without my long time co-horts, without New York City, having to reassess my surroundings.

I’ve not put out much out the last five years, (musically that is) other than a collaboration here or there. The thing is, I’ve been working this whole time. But I promised myself that I would only put something out if it was really good. I mean REALLY good. There were a few years that I didn’t quite know what I wanted to say, unsure of direction, but I had faith if I kept at it, all would be revealed.

In the fall of 2015, I moved to New Orleans part-time. I needed a change of scene, and it’s a city I’ve always wanted to live in. I went down and began writing there and something funny happened: The good stuff started coming. And it kept coming. With the help of many talented musicians, I’ve been able to create the record I’ve been shooting for my whole life. It’s not only the most personal thing I’ve made, I truly believe it’s the best thing I’ve made. There was a moment in time, that I really wasn’t interested in making a solo record. I found the notion a little cheesy. But I was talking with a friend one day and he said: “There’s no issue with you making a solo record– as long as it’s fantastic.” I took that to heart.

There’s so much more to come in the next year, but I couldn’t wait any longer to give you a taste. If you want to hear more, I’ll be playing it all in NYC on Nov 12th at Elsewhere, and in London Nov 14th at Heaven. Please come, I want to celebrate with you.

And my time hasn’t been spent just making music. I’ve also completed another labor of love that I’ll share details on shortly. AND will soon be announcing another way that we can spend a couple hours in a room together in a way that we’ve never done before. It’s the big ‘ol slew of stuff.

So I invite you to come along with me in my new ride. It’s gonna be a little different, but isn’t it always?  For those of you who have been waiting patiently, I have a feeling that this is gonna do the trick and then some. The cool thing, is that we’ve already had so many great times together, and as the saying goes: “You can’t make old friends.”

The world is upside down right now. In the thick of it, I feel that we still need tunes that make us smile, that make us wanna sing and dance like fools. The power of coming together and finding some common ground can’t be underestimated. Let’s have some goddamn fun.

I love you,

Jake Shears

Listen to the new track “Creep City”:

The post Jake Shears Launches Solo Record with ‘Creep City’ — LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad.

‘Scissor Sisters’ Frontman Jake Shears Launches Solo Record with ‘Creep City’ — LISTEN

Adolf Hitler ‘Escaped Germany And Fled To Colombia’ Claims Report In Declassified CIA Document
Former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler escaped Germany after the war and fled to Colombia where he continued to be idolised by former Nazis.

That’s a claim that was passed to CIA agents in 1955, ten years after the official version of events, which states the Fuhrer and his wife of just one day, Eva Braun, both died in a suicide pact in a bunker in Berlin.

The newly declassified CIA document provides details from an informant who told an agent codenamed Cimelody-3 that Hitler was alive. A handwritten note alongside the agent’s name declares him “fairly reliable”.

It also names Phillip Citroen, identifying him as a former German SS trooper who claimed to have contact with Hitler around once a month in Colombia and alleged the former leader left Colombia for Argentina in January 1955.

The report states: “Citroen commented that inasmuch ten years have passed since the end of World War II, the Allies could no longer prosecute Hitler as a criminal of war.”

A photograph purportedly of Citroen with the man he claimed was Hitler is attached to the document, inscribed with the words Adolf Scrittelmayor, Tunga, Colombia, 1954.

The document remarks: “Neither Cimelody-3 nor this Station is in a position to give an intelligent evaluation of the information and it is being forwarded as of possible interest.”

A second document dated 17 October 1955 also references Citroen and his claim he met the man calling himself Hitler in Colombia, “which is, according to the source, overly populated with former German Nazis”.

It goes on to say: “According to Citroen, the Germans residing in Tunja follow this alleged Adolf Hitler with an ‘idolatry of the Nazi past, addressing him as ‘der Fuhrer’ and affording him the Nazi salute and storm-trooper adulation.”

It also mentions the picture Citroen allegedly produced of himself with the man attached to the earlier document, though notes with scepticism “because of … the apparent fantasy of the report, the information was not submitted at the time it was received.”

On 30 April 1945, it was reported that Hitler died by a gunshot to the head and Braun was poisoned by a cyanide pill in a suicide pact as Allied forces closed in on Berlin.

Their bodies were then taken outside and burned by staff, before being deposited in a shallow grave, it is claimed.

Abel Basti is one of those to detail this hypothesis in his book El Exilio De Hitler (Hitler in Exile), a new edition of which was published in Argentina last year.

Basti, who has written extensively on the dictator, told Sputnik News: “There was an agreement with the US that Hitler would run away and that he shouldn’t fall into the hands of the Soviet Union. This also applies to many scientists, the military and spies who later took part in the struggle against the Soviet regime.”

The historian believes Hitler exited the bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin via a tunnel, which took him to a nearby airport from where he was spirited to Spain.

Basti claims that from there, Hitler travelled to the Canary Islands, where a U-boat waited to take him to Argentina.

The former Fuhrer died there on 3 February 1971, Basti believes.

The post World War II connection to South America is widely known, with archaeologists in 2015 stumbling upon what they believed were the ruins of a secret jungle lair built especially for Nazi leaders of the Third Reich, should they have been forced to flee Germany.

A series of stone ruins located in Argentina’s Teyu Cuare provincial park in the north of the country with its border with Paraguay were discovered by researchers hacking their way through the undergrowth with machetes.

In the event, the lair was not needed, as Argentinian president Juan Peron welcomed thousands of Nazis and Italian fascists to the country with open arms.

Joseph Mengele, a doctor who conducted barbaric experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp and Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann, were known to have fled there.

Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents in 1960, taken to Israel where he was tried and executed.

In 2000 Argentinian President Fernando de la Rua issued a formal apology for the country’s role in harbouring Nazi war criminals.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/adolf-hitler-escaped-germany-and-fled-to-colombia-claims-report-in-declassified-cia-document_uk_59f890fde4b09b5c256935f4

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: October 31, 2017

#OpenToAll — HRC-LED AMICUS BRIEFS IN MASTERPIECE CAKESHOP CASE FEATURES TOP CHEFS, MAJOR BUSINESSES: HRC announced two amicus briefs featuring the nation’s leading bakers, chefs and businesses who oppose discrimination against LGBTQ people — the central issue in the pending Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The ‘Chefs for Equality’ brief includes bakers, chefs, restaurateurs and other culinary industry leaders from every state, plus Washington D.C. “The culinary community has joined this brief to relay a very simple message: ‘we welcome all,’” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “If a business is open on main street, it must be open to everyone, regardless of who they are or whom they love. It is important for the nation and the Supreme Court to affirm the equal dignity of every single American.” An HRC-led amicus brief featuring 37 businesses has also been filed in this case with the same argument —  businesses must be open to all. “These companies are sending a powerful message to LGBTQ people and their families that America’s leading businesses believe in equality,” said HRC Deputy Director of Employee Engagement Beck Bailey. “Across the country, corporate leaders know that businesses should be open for all. A business owner’s personal beliefs should never be reason enough to discriminate against a customer because of who they are or who they love.” More from HRC and Axios.

BREAKING: @HRC, top chefs & bakers announced amicus brief to SCOTUS in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. #OpenToAll t.co/Bw7iy95qRr pic.twitter.com/5YqZKm161K

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) October 30, 2017

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP-PENCE DISCRIMINATORY BAN ON TRANSGENDER TROOPS: HRC responded to the order by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly: “Today’s preliminary injunction is an important step in the ongoing efforts to protect transgender service members from the dangerous and discriminatory policies of Donald Trump and Mike Pence,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC’s Legal Director. “Donald Trump’s erratic tweets and half-baked orders disrespect the bravery of the countless transgender people who have fought, and in many cases died, for their country. The immediate harm to our national defense and to the thousands of transgender people serving and wishing to serve their country must be stopped — and we are grateful that a federal judge has blocked this administration from discharging any qualified individuals because of their gender identity while these cases continue to make their way through the courts.” More from HRC, PinkNews, NPR and USA Today.

BREAKING! Court blocks @realDonaldTrump’s discriminatory #transgender troop ban. #ProtectTransTroops pic.twitter.com/IytNOMZhiA

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) October 30, 2017

HRC OPPOSES SCOTT GARRETT NOMINATION TO LEAD EXPORT-IMPORT BANK: Garrett is the second Trump-Pence nominee with a significant anti-LGBTQ record shamelessly chosen to replace an openly-LGBTQ public servant. “Scott Garrett is not qualified to be the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and industry leaders have spoken out against him. Moreover, his virulent anti-LGBTQ record is gravely concerning to diverse communities who would utilize the bank’s services,” said David Stacy, HRC Government Affairs Director. “If Garrett’s anti-LGBTQ track record was not insulting enough, he has long opposed the very entity that he has been nominated to lead. The Trump-Pence administration continues to dispatch anti-LGBTQ officials to all levels of government and Garrett is simply another disgraceful agent in their crusade against equality. We urge the Senate to quickly reject his nomination.” More from HRC and PinkNews.

TUESDAY TRUMP TAKEDOWN TWEET: “I struggle to understand that an individual that says, ‘As our president I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful, foreign ideology,’ one day, but then who snuggles up yesterday with a domestic group that distributes pamphlets declaring homosexuality a public health issue — I struggle to understand how that individual is not universally and objectively viewed as lying, untrustworthy and bankrupt,” said actor Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) in a powerful speech at a recent HRC event, where he accepted an Ally for Equality award.

Actor @jfreewright spoke massive truth to power while ripping Trump’s hypocrisy on LGBTQ+ rights pic.twitter.com/fEDem9DtQr

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 30, 2017

BROWNBACK FACES OPPOSITION OVER ANTI-LGBTQ RECORD: HRC sent a letter to senators on the Foreign Relations Committee urging them to oppose Donald Trump’s nomination for the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, staunch anti-LGBTQ politician Sam Brownback. “Given Governor Brownback’s anti-LGBTQ record, it is deeply worrying that he could use this position to promote the harmful idea that individuals holding certain religious views should somehow be permitted be discriminate against LGBTQ people or other minorities,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “This is particularly concerning because LGBTQ people often face persecution in the same countries where where religious minorities face persecution. Gov. Brownback must not be allowed to use this position to reverse the State Department’s longstanding policies, reiterated by Secretary of State Tillerson earlier this year, to support ‘the fundamental freedoms of LGBTQ persons to live with dignity and freedom.’” More from McClatchy.

CONGRESS CONDEMNS ANTI-LGBTQ VIOLENCE IN CHECHNYA; TRUMP-TILLERSON REMAIN SILENT: HRC hailed a voice vote in the U.S. Senate condemning the violence against and persecution of LGBTQ people in Chechnya. To date, neither Trump nor U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have publicly condemned the atrocities. “The U.S. Senate just sent a powerful message with this unanimous vote that, despite the deafening silence from the White House, the people of the United States strongly condemn these anti-LGBTQ attacks in Chechnya,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “Members of both parties in both chambers have now unanimously condemned the anti-LGBTQ Chechen violence and persecution, and it’s far past time that President Trump and Secretary Tillerson also publicly do so. Given the growing violence and arrests of LGBTQ people around the world, the United States must not back away from leading on LGBTQ human rights.” The Senate and House measures call on Chechen officials “to immediately cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses.” More from HRC.

HRC STANDS WITH SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, NOW AND ALWAYS: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience sexual violence at similar or higher rates than heterosexuals. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects estimates that nearly one in ten LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence has experienced sexual assault from those partners. Learn more on sexual assault and the LGBTQ community here.

Our focus & support today/every day is w/sexual assault survivors & youth struggling to come out. We stand w/you. cc @rainn01 @trevorproject

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) October 30, 2017

HRC MOURNS STEPHANIE MONTEZ, A TRANS WOMAN MURDERED IN TEXAS: HRC was shocked and saddened to learn that Stephanie Montez, a 47-year-old transgender woman, was brutally murdered weeks ago near Robstown, Texas. Montez had been shot multiple times. Montez’s longtime friend, Brittany Ramirez, described her as “one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet,” who loved dancing and “had a great outlook on life.” The investigation into her murder continues. More from HRC.

NEW STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HORRIFYING INSTANCES OF WHITE SUPREMACIST BULLYING IN SCHOOLS: The report, issued by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, reveals that students are feeling emboldened by the toxic rhetoric of the Trump-Pence administration to bully and harass other students of color. Read the full report here.

ARIZONA’S AK-CHIN TRIBE TO RECOGNIZE MARRIAGE EQUALITY: A tribal court has ruled that same-sex couples have a “fundamental right to marry.” More from The Associated Press.

ANTI-LGBTQ EXTREMIST GROUP EXPORTS HATE AROUND THE WORLD: MassResistance, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group, promotes the lie that LGBTQ identities fuel “public health crises” and pushes an anti-marriage equality agenda in countries including Jamaica, the UK, Finland, Mexico, Taiwan, Australia and Nigeria. “It’s horrifying that anti-LGBTQ hate groups have become ‘exporters of hate,’ focusing on fighting equality in countries where anti-LGBTQ violence is already so prevalent,” HRC Press Secretary Nick Morrow (@NRMorrow) told Vice’s Sirin Kale (@thedalstonyears). More from Vice.

EGYPT EXTENDS DETENTION OF MAN ARRESTED FOR WAVING RAINBOW FLAG: Ahmed Alaa was arrested at a concert in Cairo, and is one of more than 60 LGBTQ Egyptians arrested over the past two months. More from The Associated Press.

HORRIFYING — PUERTO RICO LGBTQ DANCECLUB ATTACKED: A local newspaper reported that “incendiary devices” were thrown into the San Juan bar on Saturday night. More from Washington Blade.

READING RAINBOW

Reuters reports that Hong Kong will host the 2022 Gay Games;

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-october-31-2017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Senate passes resolution condemning Anti-LGBTQ violence in Chechnya while White House stays silent

www.glaad.org/blog/senate-passes-resolution-condemning-anti-lgbtq-violence-chechnya-while-white-house-stays-silent

Democrats Will Delay Vote on Brownback’s Ambassadorship Over Gay Rights Record

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats will delay the confirmation of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as ambassador for religious liberty because of his record on gay rights. Democrats plan to force Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take extra procedural steps on the Brownback nomination in order to get him confirmed, a Democratic aide told The Kansas City…

The post Democrats Will Delay Vote on Brownback’s Ambassadorship Over Gay Rights Record appeared first on Towleroad.

Democrats Will Delay Vote on Brownback’s Ambassadorship Over Gay Rights Record