Los Angeles Gay Bar Mattachine Closes Its Doors

Another gay bar has vanished, but this closing comes as something of a surprise.

www.advocate.com/small-business/2018/8/20/los-angeles-gay-bar-mattachine-closes-its-doors

Star of NBC’s ‘Champions’ Sitcom Comes Out as Transgender: ‘My Name Is Josie Totah — And I’m Ready to Be Free’

The actress formerly known as JJ Totah, 17, who starred on NBC’s Mindy Kaling sitcom Champions (which was canceled in June) came out as transgender in an essay in TIME magazine and says she’ll now be known as Josie Totah.

Wrote Totah in the essay, called My Name Is Josie Totah — And I’m Ready to Be Free: “When I was really young, growing up in a small town in Northern California, people would just assume I was gay. On the playground, I was the type of kid who wanted to sing with the girls, not play soccer with the boys. Then I found myself playing that role once I got into the entertainment industry, and people kept assuming my identity. Numerous reporters have asked me in interviews how it feels to be a young gay man. I was even introduced that way before receiving an award from an LGBTQ+ rights organization. I understand that they didn’t really know better. I almost felt like I owed it to everybody to be that gay boy. But that has never been the way I think of myself.”

Totah added, “My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah.”

Totah said she has known for as long as she can remember, on some level, that she is female, but that it crystallized at 14 when she saw the Jazz Jennings documentary I Am Jazz and realized she was the same.

Totah concludes that she is headed to college and excited: “I can only imagine how much more fun it’s going to be to play someone who shares my identity, rather than having to contort myself to play a boy. I’m going to gun for those roles, be it a transgender female or a cisgender female. Because it’s a clean slate — and a new world.”

A promo clip for Champions:

The post Star of NBC’s ‘Champions’ Sitcom Comes Out as Transgender: ‘My Name Is Josie Totah — And I’m Ready to Be Free’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Star of NBC’s ‘Champions’ Sitcom Comes Out as Transgender: ‘My Name Is Josie Totah — And I’m Ready to Be Free’

Kelly Clarkson Slams Homophobe Who Called Same-Sex Marriage a ‘Sin’

The Grammy winner defended a just-married woman whose engagement she facilitated during one of her shows two years ago. 

www.advocate.com/people/2018/8/20/kelly-clarkson-slams-homophobe-who-called-same-sex-marriage-sin

‘Teddys, raisins & son-in-laws’: Chappy users share their favorite pick-up lines from the app
We asked Chappy users to show us screenshots of their favorite pick-up lines from the app.

www.queerty.com/teddys-raisins-son-laws-chappy-users-share-favorite-pick-lines-app-20180820?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Actor Garrett Clayton Comes Out as Gay

Actor Garrett Clayton, best known for Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie, NBC’s Hairspray Live, and the feature film King Cobra, in which he played Brent Corrigan (above, second from left), has come out as gay. Clayton said he was prompted to come out by the subject matter of his upcoming film Reach, in which he plays a teen considering suicide.

Wrote Clayton in an Instagram post: “With the release of my new movie REACH coming up, I thought it was important to explain why I took on this project in the first place. REACH deals with some very serious and timely topics that have affected me personally, and have likely influenced many of your lives as well. (I also prefer to share things that are particularly important for me here on my IG) instead of in some random magazine or online article – because you are the ones that have been rooting for me and following me on my professional and personal journey in life.”

He added: “When I read the script for REACH, I immediately knew it was a film I had to be a part of. I have personally dealt with suicide within my own family, intense bullying in high school, and – on top of it all – myself and the man I’ve been in a relationship with for a long time (@hrhblakeknight) have both experienced shootings within our hometown school systems, and have witnessed the heartache that takes place in affected communities after such tragic events. These topics – not always easy to discuss- are all close to my heart, and, knowing how serious they are, I wanted to share this with you all. This film has come from the perspectives of people who care deeply about these issues, and if watching it helps even one person… then it was all worth it. ”

The post Actor Garrett Clayton Comes Out as Gay appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Actor Garrett Clayton Comes Out as Gay

Trans Woman Murdered and Dismembered in Pakistan

Police have arrested two suspects, one of whom was reportedly carrying a bag of the victim’s body parts.

www.advocate.com/crime/2018/8/20/trans-woman-murdered-and-dismembered-pakistan

Melania says grown-ups need to be less “destructive” on social media and Twitter is like “Girl, bye!”
Without the slightest trace of irony, first lady Melania Trump warned against the “destructive and harmful” uses of social media in a speech earlier today.

www.queerty.com/melania-says-grown-ups-need-less-destructive-social-media-twitter-like-girl-bye-20180820?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29