White House Goes to War with Omarosa Over Tell-All

Rather than ignore it, the White House has chosen to confront former staffer and Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault’s Trump tell-all Unhinged, head on.

RELATED: Omarosa: Trump Used the N-Word, and It’s on Tape

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement on Friday afternoon blasting the book: “Instead of telling the truth about all the good President Trump and his administration are doing to make America safe and prosperous, this book is riddled with lies and false accusations. It’s sad that a disgruntled former White House employee is trying to profit off these false attacks, and even worse that the media would now give her a platform, after not taking her seriously when she had only positive things to say about the President during her time in the administration.”

The post White House Goes to War with Omarosa Over Tell-All appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

White House Goes to War with Omarosa Over Tell-All

HRC Endorses Scott Wallace for U.S. Congress

Today, HRC announced its endorsement of Scott Wallace for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District.

“Scott Wallace is a strong champion for equality who will work hard to ensure that every Pennsylvanian is able to live, work and provide for their family without fear of harassment and discrimination,” said HRC Pennsylvania State Director Allison VanKuiken. “We thank him for supporting the federal Equality Act, which would provide essential protections to the LGBTQ community and proudly endorse his candidacy to represent Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District.”

“I am proud to stand with Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ community and to recommit to always being a partner in the battle for justice for every American and Pennsylvanian no matter who they love,” said Scott Wallace. “As your next Congressman from Pennsylvania’s first district, I promise to be your loyal ally in Congress and I am honored to accept an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign. I know that with this endorsement comes great responsibility to the LGBTQ community and I do not take this responsibility lightly.”

A longtime attorney and non-profit leader, Scott Wallace has a long history of public service. He is a staunch supporter of LGBTQ equality, including the Equality Act, landmark federal legislation that would provide the same basic nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people as other protected groups under federal law. Wallace also opposes the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, a federal bill that would legalize state sanctioned discrimination. 

In Pennsylvania, HRC has identified more than 2.3 million “Equality Voters” — voters who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies,  including marriage equality, equitable family law, and laws that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in Pennsylvania in the 2018 cycle, and has already put four staff members and resources on the ground in the state. Last July, HRC announced a coast-to-coast campaign called HRC Rising, which represents the largest grassroots expansion in the organization’s 38-year history.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-endorses-wallace-for-u.s.-congress?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: August 10, 2018

HRC, PARTNERS AND ALLIES UNITED AGAINST HATE ONE YEAR AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE WHITE SUPREMACIST RALLY AND DEADLY ATTACK: Said HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin). “The horrific violence that occurred, and the murder of Heather Heyer, tragically reinforced the extent to which racism, anti-Black violence, anti-Semitism, bigotry and xenophobia continue to plague America. We must use our voices, our power and our energy to be good allies, fight white supremacy and be united against hate in all of its forms.” More from HRC.

• Today, HRC is launching a #UnitedAgainstHate Digital Weekend of Action.
• This afternoon from 3-4 p.m. ET, HRC will join the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and other civil rights organizations in a Twitter storm utilizing the hashtag #AgainstHate.
• Roberta Kaplan, the famed civil rights lawyer who has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10 plaintiffs against the white supremacist rally organizers, will also take over HRC’s Twitter this afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, to provide an exclusive update on the lawsuit.

MORNING MUST READ FROM HRC PRESIDENT CHAD GRIFFIN ON SESSION’S SO-CALLED “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY TASK FORCE”: “It’s attempting to weaponize religion despite the broad chorus of religious leaders who object to these kinds of thinly-veiled attacks against LGBTQ people, Griffin writes. “At a time when two-thirds of all LGBTQ people report experiencing discrimination, this administration is actively working to make the problem worse. The Constitution already protects the ability to exercise one’s religion. What our Constitution does not protect is using taxpayer funds to wield religion as a weapon of discrimination.” More from Advocate.

FIRED UP FRIDAY — DIVE INTO HRC’S 2018 MIDTERM ELECTION EFFORTS: For the final days of the election season, HRC is hiring an additional 45 organizers and deploying 50 more staff, who will join 35 existing staff already on the ground in key districts and states leading get out the vote efforts, training hundreds of local organizers and volunteers across the country and organizing online as part of the largest grassroots expansion in the organization’s 38-year history. For more than a year, HRC has been on the ground building support for pro-equality candidates with priority investments in six key states — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. More from Towleroad.

NEW HRC VIDEO — HRC’S SARAH MCBRIDE SITS DOWN WITH THE CAST AND CREW OF “THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST”:

.@ChloeGMoretz, @MathewShurka & @DesireeeAkhavan stopped by @HRC to chat about The Miseducation of Cameron Post (@campostfilm), a story of an LGBTQ teen’s survival of so-called “conversion therapy” and the importance of protecting youth from the dangerous & discredited practice. pic.twitter.com/wVncCSCnhh

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 9, 2018

VATICAN ALLEGEDLY PROPOSES HISTORIC TALK ON LGBTQ EQUALITY BY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Father James Martin will speak about LGBTQ faithful at the World Meeting of Families held in Dublin, Ireland, between August 21 and 26. More from Pink News.

RESEARCH CONFIRMS THOSE TAKING FEMINIZING HORMONE THERAPY CAN TAKE PrEP: More from The Body Pro.

WYNN RESORTS CHANGES BATHING SUIT POLICY AFTER GAY MAN KICKED OUT OF POOL FOR WEARING SPEEDO: The updated policy will enforce the same bathing suit requirements for all genders. More from Out Traveler.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

COSTA RICA’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT INSTRUCTS LEGISLATURE TO ENACT MARRIAGE EQUALITY WITHIN 18 MONTHS: This means the country could become the first in Central America with marriage equality. More from The Costa Rica Star.

PORTUGAL LAW ALLOWING CITIZENS TO CHANGE LEGAL NAME AND GENDER MARKER WITHOUT MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION GOES INTO EFFECT: The law also prohibits medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. More from The New Straits Times.

LEBANON ACTIVISTS HOPE JULY APPEALS COURT RULING WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR EQUALITY: More from The Daily Beast.

PETTY — TURKEY BOYCOTTS EUROVISION SONG CONTEST FOR ALLOWING LGBTQ PERFORMERS: More from Reuters.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

Variety shares a column by nonbinary activist Jeffrey Marsh about the history of trans representation in film; Polygon previews Steam’s Queer Games Bundle

                                                                                      Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC (www.hrc.org) and not authorized by any candidate or committee.

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-august-10-2018?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

64 Sexy and Sensational Pride Photos From Around the World

www.advocate.com/pride/2018/8/10/64-sexy-and-sensational-pride-photos-around-world

New Musical ‘Be More Chill’ Is Like an Incel’s Answer to ‘Mean Girls’: REVIEW

If every high school dram-com is about fitting in, each one needs something to set it apart. Mean Girls has a riotous script full of sharply drawn characters; Dear Evan Hansen has an inspired score with a vivid emotional center. Be More Chill, a frenetic and unnerving new musical that opened off-Broadway tonight, has none of these things.

What it does have is an already-fervent fan base (the limited commercial run sold out prior to opening) and a supercomputer chill pill that promises to make kids cool. It’s easy to see why the story struck a chord with young audiences online following its 2015 premiere at New Jersey’s Two River Theatre — an every-spaz trying to survive high school hell is standard YA fare (the musical is based on such a novel by Ned Vizzini). Just add propulsive pop-rock, and stir.

But Be More Chill is as confused and un-self-aware as a hormonal teenage boy — and nearly as reckless.

Fitting then, that it begins with one grousing in song that his porn won’t load so he can beat off before school. It’s funny, sure, and perfectly natural (no shame!). It’s also our first sign that the musical, with score by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz, considers frustrated male desire its primary problem in need of solving. Not by teaching its protagonist that he’s not entitled to the woman he wants, or that he should simply be himself and love will find a way, but by tempting him with a pill that helps him say all the rights things to score.

Jeremy (Evan Hansen alum Will Roland) doesn’t want to be a hero, he tells us, he just wants to survive — and nab a date with Christine (Stephanie Hsu), an equally spastic drama nerd. “Accept that you’re one of those guys who’ll be a virgin ‘till he dies,” he laments after botching their first encounter. It seems the only thing standing between Jeremy and life as an incel is that magic little pill.

The first coeds he tries out his new tricks on are the most popular girls in school (played by Lauren Marcus and Katlyn Carlson), who wind up competing for him by the second act. A requisite Halloween party scene finds one of them dressed as a slutty baby, enticing Jeremy into bed and singing, “Do you wanna get inside my diaper, boy?” The next day at school, the other tells him, “I’m not just a sexy dog you can kick, Jeremy. I’m a person.”

But of course, she isn’t.

Psychoanalysis might reveal that Jeremy’s absent mother and mopey father, who refuses to put pants on, are the source of their son’s issues with women. For now we’ll have to lay them at the feet of Be More Chill’s creators (including director Stephen Brackett), whose retrograde lens goes beyond the production’s Atari-inspired aesthetics and harebrained gender politics.

As the pill’s effects turn less-than-innocent, the ensuring dread recalls the sort of bygone orientalist panic distilled in 1980’s “Turning Japanese” (the pill hails from Japan). Undecipherable characters rain down ominously in projection (what they say doesn’t matter, only that they cannot be understood) as Jason Tam, playing an avatar for the pill embedded in Jeremy’s subconscious, dons increasingly nefarious-looking wigs.

It’s an unfortunate blindspot in a show already careless of the underlying message it’s delivering to young fans. Of course, the pill doesn’t exist, but the advice it serves Jeremy — stand up straight, play it cool, “you want someone to like you, hate who they hate” — doesn’t sound so absurd. “Everything about you is so terrible,” Tam’s character sings to Jeremy. We’re meant to laugh, but he’s hardly joking.

In the end, voices continue to echo in Jeremy’s head, the loudest of which he says is his own. The problem is, he still hasn’t learned that the only thing he needs to be is more…himself.

Recent theatre features…
New Go-Go’s Musical ‘Head Over Heels’ Is a Goddamn Queer Delight: REVIEW
New Rock Opera from ‘Hedwig’ Creator, ‘This Ain’t No Disco’ Is Right About That: REVIEW
Boys Will Be Boys in ‘Straight White Men’ Starring Armie Hammer and Josh Charles: REVIEW
Idina Menzel Opens In Off-Broadway’s ‘Skintight,’ a Daddy-Twink Romance Where ‘Hot Is Everything’: REVIEW
Starry Broadway Revival of ‘The Boys in the Band’ Lends Gay History a High Sheen: REVIEW
Get in, Losers: The ‘Mean Girls’ Musical Is Fun as Hell: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
(photos: maria baranova)

The post New Musical ‘Be More Chill’ Is Like an Incel’s Answer to ‘Mean Girls’: REVIEW appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

New Musical ‘Be More Chill’ Is Like an Incel’s Answer to ‘Mean Girls’: REVIEW