Justin Bieber, Rebecca Romijn, Donald Trump, Alan Turing, RBG’s Mentor, Joy Behar In Black Face, A Transgender Reveal Party, and More: HOT LINKS

Justin Bieber, Rebecca Romijn, Donald Trump, Alan Turing, RBG’s Mentor, Joy Behar In Black Face, A Transgender Reveal Party, and More: HOT LINKS

DON’T FORGET Star Trek: Discovery tonight!

On a scale of Number One to Number One, how excited are you to see @RebeccaRomijn tonight? #StarTrekDiscovery

— Star Trek: Discovery (@startrekcbs) February 7, 2019

BELIEVE IN THE SINNER The new Presbyterian moderator backs the church’s gay marriage opposition. But, he added the Church “abhors” homophobia and is “open and welcome to anyone”.

TRUMP’S HIV PLAN  NPR says halting the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030 is difficult but doable. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says Trump’s initiative would aim to reduce new infections by 75 percent in the next five years and 90 percent in the next 10 years. That would avert more than 250,000 HIV infections by 2030. “Several HIV/AIDS advocates say that the goal is achievable, but only if the administration reverses course in several major areas of health care policy, including efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act, cut funding for Planned Parenthood and limit LGBTQ and immigrant rights. The initiative’s fate will depend on Congress, which will decide whether to fund the new proposal and, if so, by how much.”

A KNIT KID A Wisconsin boy is hooked on crocheting and giving back. “After a very hard, busy, chaotic day in this busy world with school, it’s just nice to know that I can come home and crochet in my little corner of the house while sitting by the one I love most: my mom,” 11 year-old Jonah Larson tells NPR. Jonah regularly donates some of his goods and money to the Ethiopian orphanage from which he was adopted as an infant.

WHO WAS THE GREATEST PERSON OF THE 20TH CENTURY? The BBC says that person was openly gay mathematician Alan Turing. Attitude remarked: “Alan Turing has been named ‘The Greatest Person of the 20th Century’ during BBC Two’s Icons series. The scientist and World War Two codebreaker won the public vote after being other finalists including Nelson Mandela, Ernest Shackleton, David Bowie, Dr Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Pablo Picasso. During the final episode of the BBC Two series, Chris Packham delivered a speech about Turing’s tragic life and his legacy.

Packham says: “All he got for all of his toil and all of our trouble was a poisoned apple. A genius, a saviour, but he was also autistic and gay, so we betrayed him and drove him to suicide.

WALLS DESTROY Imminent border wall construction will destroy the most diverse butterfly center in U.S.

EcoWatch says: Construction equipment has arrived to build a border wall through the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, a protected habitat for more than 200 species of wild butterflies and other unique wildlife. A planned 5.5 mile section of concrete and steel border wall that is already funded will cut off 70 percent of the 100-acre property. The barrier will be built on top of a levee of the Rio Grande that runs through the sanctuary.

SELF CARE Single gay guys talk about self love. “If you don’t take care of yourself first, then you’re never gonna be able to give 100 percent to somebody else.”

YOU BETTER ASK SOMEBODY This Black queer legal pioneer helped launch Ruth Bader Ginsburg onto the Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has emerged as just about everyone’s favorite badass on the Supreme Court. But the notorious RBG stands on the shoulders of civil rights and gender equality champion Pauli Murray.

LGBTQ Nation says: “One of Ginsburg’s key legal accomplishments, was the 1971 case Reed vs. Reed. The Supreme Court accepted Ginsburg’s argument in the case that the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th amendment protected against discrimination based on sex. But the groundwork for Ginsburg’s argument came from Murray. Murray, a Howard University-trained lawyer, started arguing in the 1960s that the equal protection clause should apply to cases of sex discrimination just as it did to cases of racial discrimination. Murray’s “reasoning from race” used racial analogies to underscore women’s subordinate status, and may even have been a forerunner of today’s language of intersections between categories like race and gender.”

Remembering Pauli Murray — lawyer, activist, priest and author — who spent her formative years in Durham, NC. t.co/JXhOKCW5RK #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/WV1RGseMp3

— Self-Help (@SelfHelpCU) February 6, 2019

#TBT The cast of the Wonder Years reunite for this adorable photo!

I got to see these guys for lunch yesterday – it was so much fun to catch up and hear how their beautiful families are doing! And yes, @joshsaviano, I totally agree – *you guys* are like family… I mean, we DID grow up together, after all. #memories #TheWonderYears pic.twitter.com/X1xVjVSs6T

— Danica McKellar (@danicamckellar) February 6, 2019

LITTLE WOMEN REBOOT The perennial classic novel Little Women gets a slightly queer revisit in out YA writer Rex Ogle’s Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Retelling of Little Women  out now!

TRANSGENDER REVEAL! This supermom praised her transgender son’s coming out with “It’s a boy” photo shoot. Kentucky mom Heather Green was so extra for her son’s 20th birthday photos this year. Your son only comes out as transgender once, after all. 

Green’s photo shoot – which was themed as a baby gender reveal with blue balloons, glitter, “It’s a boy” messaging and a faux pregnant tummy to show she was gaining another son – is the ultimate show of support reported USA Today via Facebook.

SPOILER ALERT Marvel Studios has released the synopsis to Avengers: End Game.

“After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store,” the synopsis reads.

The movie opens in theaters on April 26.

NOT SO VOGUE The cover of the new issue of Vogue featuring Justin Bieber and new wife Hailey Baldwin is getting shade from other mags saying it looks more like a tabloid.

The newlyweds say married life is tough. “The thing is, marriage is very hard,” said Baldwin, 22. “That is the sentence you should lead with. It’s really effing hard.”

They’re now settling into a home Bieber purchased outside of Toronto. They bicker over decorating decisions and are in therapy to improve their communications skills. “Fighting is good,” added Bieber, 24. “Doesn’t the Bible talk about righteous anger? We don’t want to lose each other. We don’t want to say the wrong thing, and so we’ve been struggling with not expressing our emotions, which has been driving me absolutely crazy because I just need to express myself, and it’s been really difficult to get her to say what she feels.”

BIKING COAST TO COAST Will soon be a reality. “The Great American Rail-Trail has the potential to not just be a destination, but also a journey, and a journey through the heart of America,” said Brandi Horton, vice president of communications for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1986, the group’s mission is to work with trail-building groups and government agencies to convert former rail lines into a nationwide network of trails. When the group was formed, 250 miles of rail trails existed. Today, more than 23,000 miles of rail trails have been built” says REI.

WALLED OFF The bridge between Colombia and Venezuela has been blocked to stop humanitarian aid. “On the Venezuelan side of an unused bridge to Colombia, freight containers have been positioned across the road and security forces have been put in place behind them. That border crossing has become the focal point of the effort by Juan Guaido, the lawmaker trying to oust Maduro with the backing of the U.S. and other countries, to get aid into the country to help starving Venezuelans and further undermine Maduro’s grip on power, says Bloomberg.

JOY BEHAR’S BLACK FACE IS OK? Is it? Page Six says, “Behar showed her colleagues and the studio audience a photograph of herself with curly hair when she was 29. Co-host Raven-Symoné asks, “Joy, are you black?”

“Joy … are you my auntie, Joy?” Raven-Symoné quipped.

“I was so cute,” Behar responded.

Behar, now 76, explained that the picture was snapped at a Halloween party where she dressed up as a “beautiful African woman” and stressed that the hair was actually haira.“Did you have tanning lotion on, Joy?” Raven-Symoné asked. Behar answered that she wore makeup “that was a little bit darker than my skin.” Oy.

Joy Behar admitted during a taping of The View in 2016 to dressing as a “beautiful African women” at a Halloween party when she was 29 which involved makeup “that was a little bit darker than my skin”

The show even ran an image of the old photo pic.twitter.com/qKQqzDPxyn

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 6, 2019

DAWW Your daily dose of cute

HIM TOO

The post Justin Bieber, Rebecca Romijn, Donald Trump, Alan Turing, RBG’s Mentor, Joy Behar In Black Face, A Transgender Reveal Party, and More: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


Justin Bieber, Rebecca Romijn, Donald Trump, Alan Turing, RBG’s Mentor, Joy Behar In Black Face, A Transgender Reveal Party, and More: HOT LINKS

MNEK’s New Video Is About Being Bisexual And On The Low: WATCH

MNEK’s New Video Is About Being Bisexual And On The Low: WATCH

British-Nigerian singer songwriter Uzoechi Osisioma Emenike aka MNEK released the video for his R&B-pop hybrid track, “Girlfriend,” today.

The visual is centered around a closeted man who is in a relationship with a woman, but still continues to hook up with men.

The video opens with MNEK’s hookup getting a phone call from his angry girlfriend, who yells at him about missing their five year anniversary. The boyfriend promises his girlfriend he’ll see her soon, and goes back to bed with MNEK who’s not feeling it.

He sings at the camera:

If your girlfriend knew
‘Bout me and you
‘Bout what we do (what we do)
Tell me what would she do?
Yeah if you told the truth
And said the word
Someone like her
Just isn’t right for youI’m a little secret nobody’s supposed to know
You want to keep this on the hush, keep this on the low
I’m the reason she’s wondering why you’re never home
Why you’re never home (never, never)But imagine if she knew you were -ing me
And acting irresponsibly
While she’s home learning recipes
You’ve been in my bed constantly
Neither you or your story’s straight
It’s such a shame
For a second put yourself in my place

In between verses Billboard notes, MNEK continuously asks his hookup what he would if his girlfriend found out about them. “Neither you or your story’s straight,” MNEK sings, “It’s such a shame, for a second put yourself in my place.”

The post MNEK’s New Video Is About Being Bisexual And On The Low: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


MNEK’s New Video Is About Being Bisexual And On The Low: WATCH

Male model alleges gay affair with NFL star P.J. Hall and says he has receipts to prove it

Male model alleges gay affair with NFL star P.J. Hall and says he has receipts to prove it
An amateur male model by the name of Malik Joseph claims he engaged in a romantic relationship with P.J. Hall of the Oakland Raiders.

www.queerty.com/male-model-alleges-gay-affair-nfl-star-p-j-hall-says-receipts-prove-20190207?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Zac Efron and His Bro are Making Instagram Totally Wet

Zac Efron and His Bro are Making Instagram Totally Wet

Thirst alert: Zac Efron is celebrating his brother Dylan’s birthday by frolicking in a waterfall and the amount of wet stuff cascading over rock-hard abs is almost too much for Instagram’s like-meter to handle. Scroll through the pics below for details.

Wrote Zac in the caption: “Happy birthday @dylanefron! Honestly, I never in my wildest dreams, would’ve thought that the little terror, devil, monster that was my little brother would turn into my very best friend. I’m so proud of the man you are today. Let’s save the world together- one waterfall at a time. Love ya little brother!”

Efron is currently starring in the forthcoming biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, about serial killer Ted Bundy.

The post Zac Efron and His Bro are Making Instagram Totally Wet appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


Zac Efron and His Bro are Making Instagram Totally Wet

GLAAD and Color of Change Call Out Hate

GLAAD and Color of Change Call Out Hate

Today, in solidarity with the black LGBTQ community, GLAAD and Color Of Change, along with a number of celebrities, activists and LGBTQ leaders, launched Call Out Hate, a campaign that demands justice in the wake of the vicious attack against Empire actor Jussie Smollett. Last week, Smollett was assaulted in Chicago by two men who tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical over him while uttering homophobic and racial slurs. Call Out Hate is determined to expose what Smollett and black LGBTQ people in this country already know: that they are constantly the targets of racist, homophobic, and transphobic violence.

‘Our truths cannot be erased. Our lives must not be erased. We will not be erased.’ — Celebrities and activists are speaking out against hate after the racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett pic.twitter.com/bAygiGhhxw

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 6, 2019

In the campaign video, produced by NowThis, celebrities from Ava DuVernay to Lena Waithe call on elected officials and journalists to take a stand against the violence levied at black LGBTQ Americans. Their message is clear: hate, homophobia, and racism are being stoked everyday by the Trump Administration through its “make America great again” slogan, and ideology of white supremacy and white nationalism. Other celebrities included in the video include Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (UnREAL), Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery), Shalita Grant (NCIS: New Orleans), Keiynan Lonsdale (Love, Simon), Kendrick Sampson (Insecure), writer Kiese Laymon, director Dee Rees, DJ and singer Zeke Thomas, and Nico Tortorella (Younger).

The Call Out Hate website includes a petition that calls on media outlets to be more aggressive and honest in their reporting, as some outlets like Entertainment Tonight and others have shied away from calling the attack on Smollett a hate crime, opting for softer terms like “racially charged.” With Call Out Hate, powerful black voices in Hollywood are sending a clear message to journalists: it is their responsibility to call hate by its name, and they need to stop enabling or shielding those who inflict violence on people of color, LGBTQ people, and LGBTQ people of color, in the name of right-wing politics. 

GLAAD and Color Of Change have long been pioneers in holding media accountable for the language they use and the narratives they advance and this campaign is the next step in this long history. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis had this to say about Call Out Hate: “Jussie’s experience is sadly not unique in today’s America. Countless LGBTQ and people of color, as well as those at the intersections of these communities, are faced with hate-motivated violence on a near daily basis. GLAAD is proud to stand united with Color of Change to raise our collective voices in a show of solidarity for Jussie, and for all of those who experience hate-violence because of who they are or who they love.”

White no arrests have yet been made in the brutal assault against Smollett, actors, directors, screenwriters, politicians, fans and more have condemned the attack. This attack is also not by any means an isolated incident, as a recent FBI report has shown that hate crimes are on the rise nationwide. With Call Out Hate, more than a dozen celebrities send their support and solidarity to Smollett and speak out about life at the intersection of hate and homophobia.

Take action now by visiting the Call Out Hate website and signing the petition.

February 7, 2019
Issues: 

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-and-color-change-call-out-hate

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: February 7, 2019

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: February 7, 2019

HRC CALLS ON SENATE TO REJECT TRUMP’S ATTORNEY GENERAL NOM WILLIAM BARR & SLATE OF OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ NOMS: “[Barr’s] record makes clear that he will perpetuate the discriminatory agenda of Jeff Sessions and double down on the Trump-Pence administration’s harmful attacks on LGBTQ equality,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “[T]he Trump-Pence administration is continuing their efforts to stack the courts across the country with nominees who would not defend and uphold civil rights laws for all Americans — including LGBTQ people. The Senate must reject these anti-LGBTQ nonimees.” More from HRC.

  • HRC also called on the Senate to reject the nominations of Brian Buescher to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska; Matthew Kacsmaryk to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas; Eric E. Murphy to the U.S Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; Chad Readler to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; Allison Jones Rushing to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; and Wendy Vitter to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

HRC FOUNDATION TO HONOR ACTRESS JOSIE TOTAH AT TIME TO THRIVE CONFERENCE: Totah will receive an Upstander Award at the organization’s sixth annual Time to THRIVE Conference on February 15-17 in Anaheim, California. “By living her truth as a trans woman, Josie is setting an inspiring example for trans and gender-expansive young people everywhere that they can live and thrive as their true selves,” said Vincent Pompei, Director of HRC’s Youth Well-Being Project and Time to THRIVE conference. “We are so proud to call this amazing young actor part of our HRC family.” The band OneUp will perform on the opening night of the conference. More from HRC.

By living her truth as a trans woman, @JosieTotah is setting an inspiring example.@HRC is honored to present Josie Totah with an Upstander Award at our #TimetoTHRIVE Conference next week.t.co/3c3SK0waX1 pic.twitter.com/WQJlHzlsEG

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) February 6, 2019

MORNING MUST READ — HOW HBCUs ARE A KEY TO ACHIEVING AN HIV-FREE GENERATION: On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,  Leslie Hall (@MrLeslieHall) HRC Foundation Director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, touts the efforts of HBCUs including Morehouse College, Spelman College and Jackson State University, writing, “[W]hile President Trump announced a commitment to stopping the spread of HIV, unfortunately, this administration continues to undermine the very tools we need to reach that noble goal… In the face of this intersection of injustices, HBCUs are uniquely positioned to address the current health crisis, and we already have inspiring examples to look to.” More from Advocate.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS — RAQUEL WILLIS, “WHERE’S ALL THIS ENERGY FOR THE ATTACKS ON BLACK TRANSGENDER WOMEN?”: “When Black trans women are brutalized, I have mostly come to expect silence from nearly every group that we’re a part of,” writes Out Executive Editor Raquel Willis. “After we are diminished and marginalized in our lives, should we then be murdered, we can expect careless investigators and police officers releasing inaccurate names and genders and an endless justification for our deaths, suggesting we were ‘tricking’ our assailants or that we made bad life choices that placed us in a precarious situation. The hierarchy of whose lives actually matter is clear.” More from Out Magazine.

  • Elizabeth Cole, a Navajo trans woman in Nevada, is fortunate to be alive after being subjected to anti-trans slurs and shot. Her bravery to push forward, live authentically and encourage others to do the same is remarkable. More from Las Vegas Journal-Review.
  • With hate crimes on the rise, particularly crimes against transgender people, it’s crucial that media cover their stories accurately. Here’s a helpful guide on getting coverage right.
  • Investigation shows FBI fails to include anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in data report:  A must-see report from Investigate TV on hate crimes reporting, including those targeting the LGBTQ community, reveals that multiple cases investigated by the FBI do not appear in the agency’s national database. More from KCWY.

We were all shocked by what happened to our brother Jussie Smollett and we also need to keep that same energy for the scores of Black trans sisters under attack as well. t.co/4m4NAnDQFm

— Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) January 31, 2019

STATEHOUSE ROUNDUP:

  • California lawmakers have introduced a bill to protect intersex babies from harmful and medically-unnecessary surgeries. More from Equality California.

MARK FEB. 28 ON YOUR CALENDAR — HRC & NEA TO SPONSOR NATIONAL DAY OF READING TO SUPPORT TRANS AND GENDER-EXPANSIVE YOUTH: Thousands of parents, educators and allies will join in solidarity with transgender and gender-expansive students by hosting school and community readings of I Am Jazz, a children’s book by transgender teen trailblazer Jazz Jennings, as well as additional titles. More from HRC.

HRC HONORS BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL WEEK: From February 4-8, educators across the country will come together to call on schools to hire more Black teachers and counselors, to teach Black history and to end “zero tolerance” discipline policies enshrining severe and punitive practices that disproportionately impact students of color. More from HRC.

NEW STUDY CONFIRMS THAT HAVING A LGBTQ STUDENT CLUB HELPS ALL STUDENTS FEEL SAFER IN SCHOOLS: More from The Star Vancouver.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

THIRTEEN JAPANESE SAME-SEX COUPLES TO FILE MARRIAGE EQUALITY LAWSUIT ON VALENTINE’S DAY: More from The Mainichi.

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

WBUR speaks to Chrysanthemum Tran and  Justice Ameer, two transgender poets of color; Gay Star News reviews an upcoming show on Netflix about a gay man with cerebral palsy; PowellsBooks.Blog shares an essay from parent-advocate and HRC Foundation Board Member Jodie Patterson (@jodie_GeorgiaNY)

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-february-7-2019?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed