The Terrifying Early Days of AIDS Chronicled in YA Book, ‘VIRAL’
Ann Bausum’s VIRAL is the first ever history of the AIDS pandemic written specifically for teen readers. Read an exclusive excerpt below.
www.advocate.com/books/2019/6/25/terrifying-early-days-aids-chronicled-ya-book-viral
Don Lemon stares down death threats to call out racism & homophobia
Name: Don Lemon, 53
Who he is: News anchor
How he’s contributed: The host of CNN Tonight and self-proclaimed “Twitter king,” Lemon is fearless, whether the topic is Donald Trump, gun violence, racism, or homophobia. He came out publicly in 2011 in a New York Times interview about his memoir, Transparent, which details his youth in Louisiana and the years he spent working his way into the echelons of national broadcast news. Even before that, he revealed on-air that he’d been molested as a child. In typical Lemon fashion, his statement wasn’t planned, but a spontaneous and emotionally powerful response to a pedophile scandal he was reporting on.
With the advent of the Fearmonger-in-Chief, Lemon upped the ante, opening one of his broadcasts with, “This is CNN Tonight, I’m Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist,” after Trump called Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations “shithole countries.” After two black men were killed at a Kentucky supermarket in 2018, Lemon called white men “the biggest terror threat in the country”—an assertion that resulted in a Twitter hate storm, a barrage of racial slurs, and even calls for his lynching. He’s been a favorite target of Trumpians, even withstanding a bomb threat made during the taping of his CNN show, and yet he just won’t quiet down.
Lemon’s humanity is often on display. He’s made on-air gaffes and isn’t afraid to ask unpopular questions—we’re assuming for rhetorical purposes—such as “Is being gay a choice?” While taping a 2017 New Year’s Eve special in New Orleans, a visibly tipsy Lemon kissed his boyfriend Tim Malone on air, exclaiming, “I love you, baby!” For any public LGBTQ figure to kiss their partner on live television is still a boundary-breaking act—even more so for a black man. Lemon and Malone were engaged to be married in April.
Why we’re proud: At great personal risk to himself (see: death threats), Lemon continues to push the boundaries of equal treatment for both LGBTQ people and African-Americans, and especially for the intersection of the two. Earlier this year, when Kevin Hart appeared on the Ellen show after being fired by the Oscars for his anti-gay tweets, Lemon addressed the issue directly, saying, “We in the African-American community need to stop low-key cosigning homophobia. It’s not cool,” and asking, “If I don’t speak for that community, who’s going to?”
And Lemon doesn’t just break barriers while onscreen. This touching story by Garren Keith Gaynor details how Lemon turned a backstage interview at the Native Son Awards into a personal coaching session, encouraging the young reporter to be honest and come out to his mother, who was likely “stronger than you think.” Gaynor did so, with great results.
As Lemon said during their interview:
“Being out both personally and professionally is liberating. I am a completely emancipated person. I am free. That’s a great place for people to strive to be. I think everyone should be out in all places.”
Zachary Quinto, Wilson Cruz, Joel Grey and 15 Celebs Portray Trump Officials in Play Ripped from the Pages of the Mueller Report: WATCH
The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts, a play based on the Mueller Report, got a staged reading last night by actors Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Frederick Weller, Ben McKenzie, Michael Shannon, Noah Emmerich, Justin Long, Jason Alexander, Gina Gershon, Wilson Cruz, Joel Grey, Alyssa Milano, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Piper Perabo, Zachary Quinto, and Aidan Quinn.
The play was written by Robert Schenkkan and produced by Law Works. You can watch some highlights below, plus, the full streamed production underneath that (it starts with a 1:24 trailer).
The post Zachary Quinto, Wilson Cruz, Joel Grey and 15 Celebs Portray Trump Officials in Play Ripped from the Pages of the Mueller Report: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
#AM_Equality Tipsheet: June 25, 2019
TODAY — MARKING SIX YEARS SINCE SHELBY COUNTY V. HOLDER DECISION: On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to civil rights in Shelby County v. Holder by striking down a key provision in the Voting Right Act (VRA). More from HRC.
Six years after #SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act, @HRC joins with our partners across movements in urging Congress to #RestoreTheVote. Expanding access to the ballot box & protecting our democracy are central to the fight for full equality. t.co/l8struR303
— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) June 24, 2019
HRC JOINS ACTIVISTS IN LETTER TO SEC OF STATE MIKE POMPEO ASSERTING STATE DEPARTMENT “HAS ABANDONED FULL SUPPORT OF LGBTI PEOPLE”: “We cannot but conclude that you and the president have embarked on a clear-cut effort to undermine LGBTI progress at home and disavow LGBTI populations abroad,” the letter says. More from The Washington Blade.
TUESDAY TWEET — JOIN HRC IN STOPPING HHS PROPOSAL THAT WOULD ENDANGER LGBTQ HEALTH CARE: A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposal seeks to strip away explicit health care protections on the basis of gender identity, effectively targeting transgender and gender non-conforming people’s access to critical care. More from HRC.
.@HHSgov seeks to rip away health care protections on the basis of gender identity. This is not only discriminatory, but against the public health & mission of HHS.
Share your comment & tell them discrimination in health care is wrong. #ProtectOurHealth t.co/yOORArVnCt pic.twitter.com/XZQUM7RCVF
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 24, 2019
NEW REPORT SPOTLIGHTS CHALLENGES FACING LGBTQ COLORADANS: The Colorado Health Foundation (@COHealthFDN) finds that LGTBQ Coloradans face challenges when it comes to financial stability, mental health and substance use issues. More from Public News Service.
PRIDE MONTH ROUNDUP
IN USA TODAY — “WHY WE OWE PRIDE TO BLACK TRANSGENDER WOMEN”: “Black transgender women deserve credit for the state of LGBTQ progress today,” writes Rasha Ali (@RashaFierce) and David Oliver (@doliver8) in an oped. Read more in USA Today.
#SLIDEFORPRIDE — AKA HAVING FUN WHILE DOING GOOD: Tinder is partnering with HRC and asking participants to email their senators urging support for the Equality Act. More from Bustle and Pix11.
Hey NYC. Head to Flatiron Plaza today and #slideforpride! Each person who slides we will donate $10 to @HRC. Come slide! pic.twitter.com/TvSEqjQK3F
— Tinder (@Tinder) June 24, 2019
SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM OPENS NEW EXHIBIT, “ILLEGAL TO BE YOU: GAY HISTORY BEYOND STONEWALL”: More from New York Daily News.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
STRUGGLE AMONG PROGRESS — A GLOBAL REVIEW OF THE STATE OF LGBTQ EQUALITY IN THE PAST YEAR: From Taiwan legalizing same-sex marriage and India’s Supreme Court decriminalizing same-sex relations, to the ongoing systemic violence against LGBTQ people in Chechnya, J. Lester Feder (@jlfeder) provides the update at The New York Times.
“THEY CAME DURING THE NIGHT” — GAY MAN DESCRIBES HORRIFIC TORTURE IN CHECHNYA: “I don’t feel safe here at all,” said Ahmed. More from NBC.
UKRAINE LGBTQ PRIDE HAS HISTORIC TURNOUT, ENCOUNTERS PROTESTERS DURING PARADE: More from Pink News and Radio Free Europe.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Mashable spotlights how Afro-Latinx artist and organizer Sage Grace Dolan-Sandrino (@graceadvocates) showcases activism through storytelling; My San Antonio shares list of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities; HuffPost shares ‘American Crime’ star Connor Jessup’s (@connorjessup) powerful coming out story
“If you’re gay, bi, trans, two-spirit or questioning, if you’re confused, if you’re in pain or you feel you’re alone, if you aren’t or you don’t: You make the world more surprising and bearable.”
Thank you @connorjessup for sharing your truth and inspiring other LGBTQ people.��️�� t.co/oOA7atEBH6
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 25, 2019
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!
hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-june-25-2019?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Iran Says Trump White House is ‘Mentally Retarded,’ Calls Sanctions ‘Outrageous and Idiotic’
Iran President Hassan Rouhani blasted new U.S. sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini on Tuesday.
USA Today reports: ‘For his part, Iran’s president described the White House as “afflicted by mental retardation.” President Hassan Rouhani went on to call the sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “outrageous and idiotic,” especially as the 80-year-old Shiite cleric has no plans to ever travel to the United States.
Trump on Monday named the wrong Ayatollah when announcing the sanctions.
The post Iran Says Trump White House is ‘Mentally Retarded,’ Calls Sanctions ‘Outrageous and Idiotic’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Iran Says Trump White House is ‘Mentally Retarded,’ Calls Sanctions ‘Outrageous and Idiotic’
So I think I’ll go Back to my Man
Julie Bracken posted a photo:
When I met you, in Rosie’s Cantina,
You looked so lonesome and sad.
I bought you a drink, and I said with a wink,
Maybe things won’t be so bad.
You ordered… a large champagne cocktail,
Then vodka and wine from Jerome.
And as I bought it I suddenly thought it’s
No wonder that you’re on your own.
You took me… across town to your place,
My eagernes I could not hide.
When we reached your floor, you closed the front door,
Tell me… why did you leave me outside…?
So I went… and sang ‘neath your window,
From midnight ’til turned half past three.
Oh tell me sweet lady, sweet lady pray tell me,
What was it you emptied on me…?
I hoped… when I met you Maria,
You’d be the love of my life.
I gave you my heart, but you tore it apart,
So I think I’ll go back to my man….
Makeup and styling by the talented Kelayla of www.transvista.co.uk/
DSC00676
8 Aug 18
LGBTQ Substance Use: Why Treatment Starts With Self-Acceptance
There’s a clear correlation between discrimination and substance abuse, writes Dr. Michael Murphy.
www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/6/25/lgbtq-substance-use-why-treatment-starts-self-acceptance
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