Milwaukee’s alarming HIV outbreak is being called the largest STI cluster In U.S. history
At least 125 people, including a small group 0f high school students, have tested positive for HIV, syphilis, or both.
Monthly Archives: March 2018
Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH
Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH
The upcoming coming-of-age-coming-out romance Love, Simon is apparently a movie for everyone if the reactions from a set of adults who were shown the film are to be believed.
Followers pushed the ‘Adults React’ YouTube page to post a video about the film, which sneak peeks tonight in selected theaters and premieres nationwide a week from tonight.
The verdict: it’s a tearjerker.
Said one affected viewer: “I came out in 1990 when I was 20 years old and there were no laws that protected gay people and I can’t believe that in only 27 years that a major movie production company has made a film so impactful…”
Greg Berlanti (Dawson’s Creek, Brothers & Sisters, Green Lantern, Everwood, Political Animals, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow) directed the film.
The film also features Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Miles Heizer, and Tony Hale.
WATCH THIS NEXT: Dad Makes His Gay Son a Shocking Grindr Offer in New Clip from ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH
The film’s synopsis:
Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it’s a little more complicated: he’s yet to tell his family or friends he’s gay and he doesn’t actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing.
Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, who co-executive produce the new NBC show This Is Us, wrote the script.
Said Berlanti to EW about choosing to direct the film: “There’s this one section of the film where Simon imagines this one boy and imagines them kissing underneath the mistletoe at Christmas. In every other major studio film, it’s always the guy and the girl. And there was something so powerful about it being just a guy imagining himself with this other guy in a film again that was going to be marketed and sold as a mainstream romantic comedy.”
The post Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH
HIV Outbreak in Milwaukee Underscores Importance of Funding Critical Prevention Programs
HIV Outbreak in Milwaukee Underscores Importance of Funding Critical Prevention Programs
Milwaukee health advocates are calling for the restoration of funding to combat the epidemic of HIV and STDs in the wake of a shocking uptick in their city. More than 125 people, including teenagers, recently contracted HIV and/or syphilis, a situation that the National Coalition of STD Directors characterized as “a symptom of under-resourced STD programs.”
In 2012, Governor Scott Walker signed an abstinence-only sex education bill, which experts like Advocates for Youth say are ineffective at stopping sexual activity or reducing teen pregnancy. Reinstating evidence-based in-school sexual health education programs, which Walker cut, is also essential to addressing the epidemic. Wisconsin has also rejected expanding Medicaid, which provides critical health care to at-risk populations.
News of the epidemic comes just two months after the Trump-Pence administration proposed to slash more than $60 million for HIV & AIDS prevention programming from the federal budget.
“These numbers are alarming and clearly indicative of a disturbing gap — not only in the provision of services, but in public education among Milwaukee’s young people,” said HRC Wisconsin State Manager Wendy Strout. “The failure to fund critical prevention programs leads to outbreaks like this, ultimately costing us more in terms of dollars and lives than any public education campaign ever would. To achieve an AIDS-free generation, we must fight for it. Here, and across the nation, we must insist that our elected officials treat this epidemic like the national emergency it is, and ensure that cities and states have the tools to combat it.”
The outbreak in Milwaukee exemplifies what sexual health advocates already know: failure to fund critical prevention programs can have devastating effects — just ask Mike Pence.
During his term as governor of Indiana, Pence repeatedly ignored warning signs that there was a potential for an infectious disease outbreak of HIV in his state, and fought against programs designed to slow the surge of HIV cases in the state’s hardest-hit communities. It was only under enormous pressure that Pence was dragged “kicking and screaming” into taking action.
“As we have seen before in places like Indiana, in order for the public to stay safe and healthy, communities need comprehensive, fully-funded, evidence-based public health programming. HRC hopes that the Milwaukee community, working with leading HIV & AIDS prevention experts, can curb this outbreak, get those affected the treatment that they need, and put in place more community health resources to prevent a similar public health crisis in the future,” said Peter Cruz, HRC Foundation Associate Director of HIV & Health Equity.
To learn more about the HIV epidemic and HIV prevention and treatment, visit What Do I Do? A Handbook to Understanding Health & HIV, a resource by HRC and AIDS United.
Don’t miss these LGBTQ-inclusive films and VR experiences at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival
Don’t miss these LGBTQ-inclusive films and VR experiences at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival
Featured Image Attribution:
Photo Credit: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Jeong Park
The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival will take place in New York City next month, April 18-29. The festival’s lineup was announced earlier this week, and includes several LGBTQ-inclusive films that will be either premiering or screening during the 12-day festival. The year also marks a record for the festival, 46% of the 96 movies in the feature film program are directed by women, an all-time high for the festival. The lineup also includes 46 first time directors.
Tribeca also includes a smaller program highlighting stories told through virtual and augmented reality and 360-degree video, Tribeca Immersive. One of the five Storyscapes competitors this year is Queerskins: a love story, which puts the participant into a haptic touch virtual reality experience as a mother in Missouri in the early ’90s who is getting to know Sebastian, the estranged son she lost to HIV and AIDS, through a diary and a box of his belongings. Another Immersive experience is the world premiere of She Flies by Her Own Wings, a virtual reality experience telling the story of transgender Air Force veteran Shannon Scott.
Below, check out the LGBTQ-inclusive films coming to Tribeca this year. These are listed in alphabetical order, and synopses are taken directly from the Tribeca website. We will update this post as further announcements are made.
Call Her Ganda, directed by PJ Raval, written by PJ Raval, Victoria Chalk. Produced by PJ Raval, Lisa Valencia-Svensson, Marty Syjuco, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala. (USA, Philippines) – World Premiere. When a transgender Filipina woman is found dead in a motel room with a U.S. Marine as the leading suspect, grassroots activists demand accountability. The ensuing case lays bare a constellation of social and political tensions between the United States and the Philippines.
Disobedience, directed by Sebastian Lelio, written by Sebastián Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Produced by Frida Torresblanco, Ed Guiney, Rachel Weisz. (UK) – U.S. Premiere. After the death of her estranged rabbi father, a New York photographer returns to the Orthodox Jewish community in North London where she grew up and, in doing so, reignites long-dormant passions and controversies. With Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola. A Bleecker Street release.
Duck Butter, directed by Miguel Arteta, written by Miguel Arteta, Alia Shawkat. Produced by Mel Eslyn, Natalie Qasabian. (USA) – World Premiere. Two women, jaded by dishonest and broken relationships, make a pact to spend 24 uninterrupted hours together, having sex on the hour. Their romantic experiment intends to create a new form of intimacy, but it doesn’t quite go as planned. With Alia Shawkat, Laia Costa, Hong Chau, Kate Berlant, Kumail Nanjiani, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Lindsay Burdge. A release from The Orchard.
Every Act of Life, directed and written by Jeff Kaufman. Produced by Jeff Kaufman, Marcia Ross. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Documentary. Every Act of Life presents a revealing portrait of four-time Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s ground-breaking, six-decade career in the theater, fight for LGBTQ rights, and triumph over addiction. With Terrence McNally, Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Larry Kramer, Angela Lansbury, Christine Baranski. After the movie: A conversation with director Jeff Kaufman, playwright Terrence McNally, actor/director Joe Mantello, and actors F. Murray Abraham, Christine Baranski, and Chita Rivera. Moderated by New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich.
The Gospel According to André, directed by Kate Novack. Produced by Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi. (USA) – New York Premiere, Feature Documentary. From the segregated South to the fashion capitals of the world, The Gospel According to André recounts fashion editor André Leon Talley’s storied life and career through intimate conversations, rich archival, and testimonials from fashion luminaries including Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, and Marc Jacobs. With André Leon Talley. A Magnolia release. After the movie: A conversation with director Kate Novack and subject André Leon Talley, producer Andrew Rossi, executive producer Roger Ross Williams, and producer Josh Braun.
Howard, directed and written by Don Hahn. Produced by Don Hahn, Lori Korngiebel. (USA) – World Premiere. Howard Ashman, the once-in-a-generation songwriting talent, penned the lyrics for Little Shop of Horrors and revitalized Disney with his work on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Howard is a tribute to the lyricist and to the power of musical storytelling. With Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Lauch, Sarah Gillespie, Peter Schneider.
Mapplethorpe, directed by Ondi Timoner. Screenplay by Ondi Timoner. Produced by Eliza Dushku, Nathaniel Dushku, Richard J. Bosner, Ondi Timoner. (USA) – World Premiere. In the late 1960s, art-school dropout Robert Mapplethorpe moves into the Chelsea Hotel with dreams of stardom. He quickly becomes the enfant terrible of the photography world as the downtown counterculture of 1970s New York reaches its zenith. With Matt Smith, Marianne Rendón, John Benjamin Hickey, Brandon Sklenar, McKinley Belcher III, Mark Moses.
McQueen, directed Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, written by Peter Ettedgui. Produced by Ian Bonhôte, Andee Ryder, Nick Taussig, Paul Van Carter. (UK) – World Premiere. Legendary couturier Alexander McQueen’s rags to riches story is vividly brought to life by his closest friends and family, and through his revolutionary body of work, as inspired, tortured, and visionary as the man himself. A Bleecker Street release.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post, directed by Desiree Akhavan, written by Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele. Produced by Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtlelaub, Cecilia Frugiuele, Jonathan Montepare. (USA) – New York Premiere. After Cameron is caught having sex with another girl on prom night, her conservative guardians send her to gay conversion therapy. There, she forges an unlikely community with her fellow teens in this Sundance-winning coming of age story. With Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle.
The Party’s Just Beginning, directed and written by Karen Gillan. Produced by Mali Elfman, Andru R. Davies, Claire Mundell. (Scotland) – International Premiere. Liusaidh is a sharp-witted, foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking twenty-something who is still reeling from a recent loss. This surreal coming-of-age tale is a love letter to Gillan’s hometown in the Scottish Highlands. With Karen Gillan, Lee Pace, Matthew Beard, Paul Higgins, Siobhan Redmond, Jamie Quinn, Rachel Jackson.
Studio 54, directed by Matt Tyrnauer. Produced by Matt Tyrnauer, Corey Reeser, John Battsek. (USA) – New York Premiere. In 1977, Studio 54 and its founders, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, epitomized New York hedonism. But by, 1979 the fantasy was over. Studio 54 goes inside that meteoric rise and catastrophic fall. With Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager, Nile Rodgers, Norma Kamali, Karin Bacon, Myra Scheer. An A&E release.
We the Animals, directed by Jeremiah Zagar, written by Dan Kitrosser. Produced by Jeremy Yaches, Christina D. King, Andrew Goldman, Paul Mezey. (USA) – New York Premiere, Feature Narrative. This lyrical coming-of-age tale, based on the acclaimed novel, weaves magic realism into an exquisite portrait of three brothers, their troubled parents, and the secret that the youngest of them holds. With Raul Castillo, Sheila Vand, Evan Rosado, Isaiah Kristian, Josiah Gabriel. A release from The Orchard.
Ticket packages are available now, with single ticket sales launching on March 27.
March 9, 2018
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Oh la la, Weekend is here
Oh la la, Weekend is here
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Open Photo shoot in Los Angeles, CA
Open Photo shoot in Los Angeles, CA
Open NOH8 Photo Shoot and Pop Up Sale in Los Angeles, CA
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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 Episode 7 | Reaction
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 Episode 7 | Reaction
Ellen DeGeneres and celebrities keep the pressure on Bermuda as repeal of marriage equality moves forward
Ellen DeGeneres and celebrities keep the pressure on Bermuda as repeal of marriage equality moves forward
Last month, Bermuda became the first national territory ever to strip away the right to marry when the island reversed the Supreme Court of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda ruling in May 2017 that legalized marriage equality. Most recently, the marriage equality repeal was delayed for three months. This delay has been connected, in part, to the island’s lucrative tourism industry, according to Bermuda’s Minister of Home Affairs, who said, “Commencement [of the repleal] has been delayed to allow for any same-sex marriages that have licenses already issued and have been scheduled to be conducted in Bermuda, or on-board Bermuda-registered ships, to actually take place.”
GLAAD has called for business and tourism leaders to speak out against the repeal. The tourism industry has contributed $431 million to the island’s economy in 2017, up 20% from 2016, according to a report from The Research and Business Intelligence team of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
In the words of GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis: “It is now imperative for international businesses that play major roles in Bermuda’s economy, such as cruise lines and the travel industry, to make their voices heard These brands and their business leaders should demonstrate true leadership and stand for those customers they’ve courted by helping to combat this harmful decision.”
This week Ellen DeGeneres spoke out against the repeal, announcing she would be canceling a vacation. Other celebrities and influencers including Tegan and Sara and Patricia Arquette, have also spoken out:
Bermuda just banned marriage equality. I guess I’m canceling my trip. Anybody else? t.co/c5bwUbyjZt pic.twitter.com/VpT5QQAFsq
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 7, 2018
Thinking of our friends in the LGBTQ community in Bermuda. “Bermuda is the first country in the world to remove the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples.” Learn more here and consider supporting the fight for justice and equality. t.co/LR2zNJSVzB t.co/gUgk7lOSad
— Tegan and Sara (@teganandsara) March 8, 2018
Bermuda just overturned marriage equality. Boycott #Bermuda t.co/1ekRl1hAog
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 23, 2018
Things like this make me so sad. I guess I’ll never be going back to Bermuda. t.co/ha30pH0izH
— Suze Orman (@SuzeOrmanShow) February 10, 2018
Boycott Bermuda. t.co/Y6ENFnScAm
— Bradley Whitford (@WhitfordBradley) February 9, 2018
Progress is precious. This should worry us all! #BoycottBermuda t.co/R5tsVWTdgI
— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) February 8, 2018
Join the call and make your voices heard! Tweet your own message about this attack on LGBTQ rights, retweet Ellen and amplify those who have spoken out, and visit Same Love Bermuda’s CrowdJustice page for more information.
March 9, 2018
We’ve Got Surprises For You at SXSW in Austin
We’ve Got Surprises For You at SXSW in Austin
We’re DTFiesta in Austin. Join OkCupid all week for music, panels and freebies
Everything is bigger in Texas—including OkCupid’s presence in Austin for SXSW, a celebration of the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. All this week, we’re chatting stereotypes in dating, podcasting about ghosting, and throwing you a (really big) party. OkCupid is taking over Austin during SXSW — and we’d love to see you there. Here’s where you can find us.
‘Why’d You Push That Button’ Live with The Verge
Get spooked (sort of) and chat ghosting on dating apps with OkCupid’s Engineering Manager Jordan at Why’d You Push That Button Live with the Berge— a podcast about the choices technology forces us to make. Listen to the live stream at 4:00 PM CST on the Why’d You Push That Button podcast, or RSVP here.
When: Friday, March 9
Where: The Belmont, 305 W 6th St.
Time: 4:00 PM CST
More details here.
Better Than Stereotypes | Challenging View of Race, Gender, Sex and Age
Since the dawn of OkCupid, we’ve openly discussed stereotypes and the importance of inclusivity. Now you can join our Engineering Manager Jordan on the Better Than Stereotypes panel and learn about how OkCupid challenges the status quo today more than ever. RSVP here.
When: Saturday, March 10
Where: Capital Factory, 701 Brazos St., Voltron Room
Time: 3:00 PM CST
More details here.
Finding Magic Moments: How to Look Beyond the Touchpoint
Data-driven. It’s something marketers know they should be—but infinite amounts of data and analytics don’t automatically translate into insights. Chat with our CRM Sr. Product Manager Ana about how she uses data to guide CRM choices at OkCupid to meet critical KPIs in a cross-platform world. RSVP here.
When: Saturday, March 10
Where: CB’s at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, 801 Red River St.
Time: 9:00 AM CST
More details here.
The Lost Weekend 2
If there’s one thing to catch during your time in Austin, it’s a sweet lineup of emerging bands. Together with BrooklynVegan, we’re bringing you The Lost Weekend 2 — three days of great music and partying, plus OkCupid swag, a photo booth, and one complimentary drink with an OkCupid profile. The best part? It takes place at Austin favorite Cheer Up Charlie’s. RSVP here.
When: Thursday March 15 — Saturday March 17
Where: Cheer Up Charlies, 900 Red River St.
Time: 12:00 PM — 6:00 PM CST every day
Link: 2018.do512.com/lostweekend
Can’t make it to Austin? That’s totally fine. Find someone in your area on OkCupid now to recreate the festival experience in your own city.
We’ve Got Surprises For You at SXSW in Austin was originally published in The OkCupid Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
