Defying Trump, Calif. National Guard Won’t Discharge Trans Troops
During a meeting with state lawmakers on Tuesday, one of the highest-ranking National Guard officers said they won’t abide by Trump’s ban.
www.advocate.com/politics/2019/2/07/defying-trump-calif-national-guard-wont-discharge-trans-troops
This ‘ABC Family’ star was told he had to stay in the closet or lose his career
He says it’s had a lasting impact on his life.
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
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.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Zac Efron (@zacefron) on
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.
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.
Trump Announces HIV Plan After Undermining Advocates’ Efforts
#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 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.
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:
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
8 Photos of Denis Taking a Bath by Stas Vokman
www.advocate.com/photography/2019/2/07/8-photos-denis-taking-bath-stas-vokman
Matt Dallas: Execs Told Me to Stay in the Closet During ‘Kyle XY’ or My Career Would Tank – WATCH
Matt Dallas, best known for his work on the TV show Kyle XY, talked about his experience as a closeted gay man while working on the show in a new Q&A with his husband Blue Hamilton.
Said Dallas: “I was told to stay in the closet, not talk about my sexuality, to be on every red carpet with a girl on my arm because you could not be successful if you were openly gay in the entertainment industry, at least in front of the camera.”
Dallas said that it still affects him: “Because of the advice that was given to me to stay in the closet, I became very disconnected from who I was, and there’s a lot of residual stuff that to this day that I still deal with where I find myself [thinking] ‘oh, I sound too gay’ or ‘I’m acting too gay’ because it was so drilled into my brain.”
“Be visible,” interjected Hamilton. “Be very, very visible. And gay.”
RELATED: Matt Dallas and Blue Hamilton Share Things Gay Husbands Do – WATCH
Dallas came out in 2013 when he announced his engagement.
Dallas and Hamilton also talked about parenting their adopted son Crow, creating their vlog, settling conflict, their longest relationships and what they took from them, spanking each other, “the detestable crime of sodomy,” what drives them crazy about each other, mental health issues, running for political office, advice for single people about self help,
The post Matt Dallas: Execs Told Me to Stay in the Closet During ‘Kyle XY’ or My Career Would Tank – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Matt Dallas: Execs Told Me to Stay in the Closet During ‘Kyle XY’ or My Career Would Tank – WATCH
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