PHOTOS: Folsom Street Fair shows why shirts are going out of style
Daily Archives: October 2, 2018
Russell Tovey defends Disney casting straight actor in its first openly gay role
Russell Tovey defends Disney casting straight actor in its first openly gay role
“Just let him act.”
Catching up with Johnson Ong – the DJ challenging Singapore’s colonial-era gay sex ban law
Catching up with Johnson Ong – the DJ challenging Singapore’s colonial-era gay sex ban law
Johnson Ong
Johnson Ong is an unlikely activist. And yet —like many who find themselves in such situations — he finds himself in the center of a legal battle in his home country of Singapore because he knows it’s the right thing to do.
On September 10th, Ong and his lawyer, Eugene Thuraisingam, filed a case against the Singapore government to overturn Section 377A of the penal code, a remnant of the colonial-era that bans gay sex. The law states that acts of “gross indecency” between men are punishable with a jail term of up to two years. They found the motivation to do so after India’s Supreme Court struck down the same law just weeks earlier.
Ong is a 43-year-old professional DJ with a law background. He resided in Los Angeles for seven years, where he became accustomed to living openly as a gay man. He travels around the world constantly, playing huge LGBTQ events for crowds of thousands and regularly produces his own music under the moniker DJ Big Kid.
The first challenge to the archaic law was filed in Singapore in 2014 but failed. And since Ong first filed his suit, the movement has been picking up momentum. A petition mounted by the local LGBTQ advocacy group PinkDot to repeal the law currently has 46,500 signatures. But debate remains amongst Singaporeans over whether or not the country’s culture is ready for the cultural shift in attitudes towards its LGBTQ citizens. Despite the fortuitous timing in India, Ong filed his lawsuit because he felt it was his civic duty.
“I don’t think there’s an opportune time,” he explained. “Any time is a good time for human rights.”
Last Tuesday, a Pre Trial Conference (PTC) took place, which gave Ong and Thuraisingam two months to submit all of their evidence and affidavits to the court (by Nov. 20th). The next Pre Trial Conference will take place on December 3rd.
GLAAD caught up with Ong to talk with him about his journey and the sacrifices he’s making in order to try to change the culture of his home country.
GLAAD: HOW DID YOU END UP DECIDING YOU WANTED TO BE THE PERSON WHO WOULD CHALLENGE SECTION 377A THIS TIME AROUND? WAS IT YOUR IDEA? OR WERE YOU APPROACHED BY OTHERS?
ONG: My lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and I have known each other since we were kids, as we were in the same grade in (the equivalent of) Grade school. We went to the same high school and eventually went to the same law school in Singapore. We kept in touch on and off all these years, and he approached me to be the applicant in the suit. I don’t think I would have proceeded with the suit, if we didn’t have that friendship and mutual respect and if I didn’t think he was one of the best litigation lawyers in the business to handle such a high profile case like this one.
WHY DO YOU THINK NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME TO FINALLY TAKE THIS LAW OFF THE BOOKS? WHAT IS IT ABOUT SINGAPORE SOCIETY WHICH HAS PREVENTED IT FROM HAPPENING UP UNTIL NOW?
The recent India ruling and Professor Tommy Koh’s challenge for the LGBTQ community to bring a class action suit energized me. It’s time for a change; there’s no better or worse time for equality. The LGBTQ community in Singapore has suffered enough discrimination and abuse as a result of an unjust and archaic colonial law that has absolutely no place in Singapore in 2018.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOU FEEL A REPEAL WOULD MAKE IN THE LIVES OF LGBTQ FOLKS IN SINGAPORE?
With S377A still on the books, LGBTQ groups are not allowed to organize. We don’t see ourselves represented on mainstream media, and when we do, we are almost always portrayed in a negative light. Additionally, without access to help and resources, growing up is a lonely and arduous process for LGBTQ Singaporeans. Hopefully, with a repeal, all of that will change!
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES SO FAR FOR YOU PERSONALLY, SINCE ANNOUNCING YOUR INTENT TO OVERTURN THIS LAW?
Before the news broke I was warned by some friends that I was going to get a lot of pushback from those who opposed the repeal. However, the support I have received has been nothing short of overwhelming. I have received many encouraging and affirming messages through my social channels and texts from friends and strangers alike, which is deeply moving on a personal level. I have nothing but gratitude to all these individuals and it is such support and love that will spur me on to see this challenge right to the end. I also realized since that this issue is bigger than any one person or any one campaign. It is a Singaporean issue and is heartening to know that many Singaporeans are now “woke” to the larger issue of equality and justice and fairness.
YOU’RE A DJ AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC PRODUCER WHO PLAYS AT HUGE LGBTQ EVENTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD. HAVE THOSE EXPERIENCES INFLUENCED YOUR SENSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND DESIRE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Definitely. I also lived in Los Angeles for a total of about 7 years, so I have experienced how it feels to live unencumbered by an anti-LGBTQ law hanging over my head. LGBTQ Americans are free to be who they are and no one bats an eyelid in LA when they find out who you are. It is a total non-issue. Traveling to different parts of the world also showed me that no matter where you come from or what your reality is, everyone wants to be treated with basic human dignity and respect. That is a universal truth and it is important to be able to stand up and be counted whenever that fundamental right is threatened.
October 2, 2018
Issues:
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www.glaad.org/blog/catching-johnson-ong-dj-challenging-singapores-colonial-era-gay-sex-ban-law
Gary McCann (2018)
Donald Trump Fortune Built by Defrauding the U.S. Government: REPORT
Donald Trump Fortune Built by Defrauding the U.S. Government: REPORT
Donald Trump’s fortune, described by him as self-made, was amassed by defrauding the U.S. government, according to a lengthy, explosive report built from never-before-seen documents.
The NYT reports: “Mr. Trump won the presidency proclaiming himself a self-made billionaire, and he has long insisted that his father, the legendary New York City builder Fred C. Trump, provided almost no financial help. But The Times’s investigation, based on a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, reveals that Mr. Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire, starting when he was a toddler and continuing to this day. Much of this money came to Mr. Trump because he helped his parents dodge taxes. He and his siblings set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents, records and interviews show. Records indicate that Mr. Trump helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more. He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing the tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.” Full story here.
The post Donald Trump Fortune Built by Defrauding the U.S. Government: REPORT appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Donald Trump Fortune Built by Defrauding the U.S. Government: REPORT
Messing with Photoshop
HRC Canvass Kick-Off with Elissa Slotkin
HRC Canvass Kick-Off with Elissa Slotkin
Michael Avenatti, Kim Petras, North Carolina, Monica Lewinsky, Gay Royal Wedding Food, Troye Sivan, Romania, Brian Brown: HOT LINKS
Michael Avenatti, Kim Petras, North Carolina, Monica Lewinsky, Gay Royal Wedding Food, Troye Sivan, Romania, Brian Brown: HOT LINKS
SPIKED. Michael Avenatti told Chris Cuomo that he knows someone who said “Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh would spike the punch with grain alcohol and quaaludes.”
WAR GAMES. Chinese submarine and US destroyer had an “unsafe” encounter in the South China Sea.
NORTH CAROLINA. Judge rules that transgender people are not barred from using restroom of their choice under law passed last year: “U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder also allowed a legal challenge to go forward on part of the new law that prevents local governments from passing any anti-discrimination ordinance dealing with public accommodations or public business practices until Dec. 1, 2020.”
EMBARRASSED. How Kim Kardashian felt about Kanye West’s MAGA rant.
TAKING A KNEE-TING? Kanye West claims he’s arranging a meeting between Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick.
KIM PETRAS. Her track-by-track breakdown of her new Halloween-themed mixtape EP. “I just feel like this is the way that I’m showing people that I’m not just extremely sugary, even though it has it’s really sugary moments.”
DELISH. Everything we know about the food at the gay royal wedding of Lord Mountbatten and James Coyle.
ROMANIA. Anti-gay marriage referendum stirs hate: “Dozens of human rights groups, which are encouraging people to boycott the ballot, have warned it will embolden further attempts to chip away at the rights of minority groups and push the European Union state onto a populist, authoritarian path. The referendum needs 5 million votes to be valid.”
ALAN CUMMING. On Monica Lewinsky: “To say she is a survivor is, unfortunately, quite literally true. She has been subject to more scrutiny, more unjust worldwide public rancor and humiliation, than any other human being in our lifetimes. But if anyone was going to survive all that, it was Monica.”
BRIAN BROWN. NOM President bragged about helping craft anti-gay propaganda law in Russia: ” It was a subcommittee, and I was asked to speak, and I willingly did. And I would do so again.”
BACK TOGETHER. Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
POP EMERGENCY. Troye Sivan and Charli XCX are teaming up for new single “1999”.
ORLANDO. Red Bull decks out bikes in rainbow colors for Come Out With Pride.
DAILY BEAST. On set with Will & Grace. “We got the thing going again and told everybody where these characters are and how they’re doing,” Mutchnick says. “But I think we’ve set it up so that big changes come this season. This is the year everybody in the cast ends up at a different place in their lives at the end of the year.”
MASH-UP OF THE DAY. A deer and Phil Collins.
LOOKALIKE OF THE DAY. Ben Affleck lookalike Steve Memmolo.
TWO HOT FOR TUESDAY. Davizvitor.
The post Michael Avenatti, Kim Petras, North Carolina, Monica Lewinsky, Gay Royal Wedding Food, Troye Sivan, Romania, Brian Brown: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Mulheres Contra Bolsonaro #EleNão • 29/09/18 • Belo Horizonte (MG)
Mulheres Contra Bolsonaro #EleNão • 29/09/18 • Belo Horizonte (MG)
midianinja posted a photo:
#EleNão • 29/09/18 • Belo Horizonte (MG)”>
#EleNão • 29/09/18 • Belo Horizonte (MG)”>
Foto: Mídia NINJA / Cobertura Mulheres Contra Bolsonaro
#EleNão
Manager of NYC’s ‘Monster’ Gay Bar Resigns in Wake of Racist Text Uproar
Manager of NYC’s ‘Monster’ Gay Bar Resigns in Wake of Racist Text Uproar
Yesterday we reported that Honey Davenport, a drag queen who performs at the Monster gay bar, an iconic nightclub in NYC’s Greenwich Village, walked out on Saturday night after revealing that she had seen a text exchange in which the bar manager Italo Lopez had told DJ/producer Mitch Ferrino to revise flyers he had produced for the club’s party “Manster” because it looked like they were promoting “black night” and that would be bad for business.
The Monster has released a statement saying that Lopez resigned and that employees would be undergoing racial sensitivity training.
Wrote owner Charlie Rice on behalf of the bar, on Facebook: “We are deeply upset as to how the language used in the recent text messages that came to light on social media miscommunicates our strong belief in community and diversity. We at The Monster are not going to make excuses. Rather, we are using this as an opportunity to learn and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. When any member of our staff does or says something insensitive, we know it reflects on all of us. For that reason, I am requiring all of our staff to partake in racial sensitivity training. After seeing vulnerable communities mistreated and addressed publicly that past few years, we know that sweeping it under the rug is not the answer. Facing it head on, using it as a teaching moment, admitting mistakes and encouraging growth is the way to progress. This week we will schedule an anti-bias training course for our staff to put us back on the right path.”
Added Rice: “As members of the LGBTQ community, we know it is often those who love us most who say something stupid, out of ignorance without thinking of how it will affect us. We are going to use those personal experiences to grow upon with relating to all minorities.”
Rice vowed that the bar would be more thoughtful about its advertising in the future: “I can’t take away any of the negative feelings you may have about us as a result of this situation, but I can promise that it does not represent us in the past, present or future. We will use this experience to grow and ensure our words, our behavior and our advertising represent us all.”
The post Manager of NYC’s ‘Monster’ Gay Bar Resigns in Wake of Racist Text Uproar appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Manager of NYC’s ‘Monster’ Gay Bar Resigns in Wake of Racist Text Uproar
