A Stonewall Veteran Remembers: Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt on the Fight For Equality

For artist Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, a “gay street kid” in New York City in 1969, the Stonewall Inn was an escape — a place where he and his friends could be fully themselves.

Even though Stonewall wasn’t much to look at back then, Lanigan-Schmidt and his friends couldn’t afford to sit at the bar. So, to look like customers, they’d scrounge empty beer cans and fill them  with water so they could listen to Motown and dance.

Lanigan-Schmidt who was at the Stonewall Inn during the riots, explained in a recent interview with HRC that, while there were many elements to what caused them, the desire to listen to music together and dance was at the heart of it.

“Generally, me and my friends — the other street kids — we would go there just to dance with each other because it was the only place we could really feel free dancing with each other and not have to worry about getting harassed or anything. And we could dance slow with each other,” he said.

Lanigan-Schmidt said that dancing slow “added a ritual to our lives that straight people had that we didn’t have. Dancing slow is when you feel affectionately, fully human — and that was denied to us.”

This connection with others, this chance to fully be yourself, were “what the police were trying to annihilate … and that really outraged everyone because in there,” he said, “we felt like we were safe, we were untouchable by the usual things.”

As Lanigan-Schmidt recounted in “Mother Stonewall and the Golden Rats,” his handwritten account of the events leading up to and on the night the riots started, it was a night that “Betty Badge got carried away.” The police, he wrote, came in with nightsticks raised, the juke boxes were broken, and “the dancing stopped.”

But that night and those that followed, LGBTQ people came together to resist police violence and oppression.

For Lanigan-Schmidt, the riots represented not just one moment of resistance, but rather a coalescing of a resistance that was happening all across the U.S., including on the street outside Stonewall.

“All the different stoops on Christopher Street were full of people socializing, young people exchanging ideas very much in the spirit of the 60s, within the civil rights movement way of thinking — all about hope for our rights,” he said.

“I was 21, but there were people there as young as 14,” he said. “They were full of hope for better lives — but no hope of going back to their families.”

Lanigan-Schmidt, fellow Stonewall veterans and other early activists were part of an LGBTQ rights movement being built with daily acts of resistance across the country, in the connections and conversations happening in spaces like Stonewall and along Christopher Street “cementing together a movement that was organic, but not called a movement yet,” he said.

Fueled by the energy and focus of the riots, the LGBTQ movement got going very quickly after Stonewall, Lanigan-Schmidt said. It was a movement that “always had a diversity — there were all different kinds of people coming together.”

Fifty years later, Lanigan-Schmidt wants to make sure that the equality movement is doing all it can — all we can — to support LGBTQ young people, including strong messages of love and affirmation from parents.

Lanigan-Schmidt has his own message of resistance, resilience and celebration for activists carrying the fight for LGBTQ equality forward: “Things are fought very hard for, and certain things are gained, but they have to keep being fought for because they can easily be lost.”

“Keep at it and, most of all, keep on dancing.” 

Images of courtesy of the artist and Pavel Zoubok Fine Art, N.Y.

hrc.org/blog/a-stonewall-veteran-remembers-tommy-lanigan-schmidt-on-the-fight-for-equali?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

I Have Pride Exhaustion

It’s ok to live a bit of life out from underneath the rainbow, writes Amanda Kerri.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/6/27/i-have-pride-exhaustion

DJ Casey Spooner is over the commercialization of pride

On Friday night—the first night of NYC’s historic World Pride weekend—the city’s glitterati will gather for a black-tie gala at Rockefeller Center’s iconic Rainbow Room.

Hosted by BD Wong, Kate Walsh, and Born This Way Foundation president and co-founder Cynthia Germanotta, the affair known as the Love Above All Ball will benefit Gaga and her mamma’s philanthropic org and feature fabulous live performances by Betty Who and Marina, among others.

Warming the crowd up with a sexy, optimistic disco set will be Casey Spooner. The singer-musician-performer-DJ is looking forward to a jam-packed pride weekend that will include a lot of drag, a lot of marching and a lot of music.

Ahead of Friday night’s glam event, Queerty chatted with Spooner about the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the state of Pride and the importance of working with organizations like the Born This Way Foundation.

Oh, and did we mention he’s planning to run for president?

Talk to me about the Born This Way Foundation. What’s your understanding of what they do?
What I like is their focus on youth and their combination of pop music and philanthropy. It seems like a cool way to help a vulnerable audience. And as I’m getting older, I’m starting to really feel like my audience are my children. So you feel a responsibility for educating and taking care of people.

You’re DJing the Love Above All Ball on Friday night. What are you going to play? What’s the vibe?
Well, I’ve been living in Paris and I’ve been listening to a lot of disco. Disco really makes sense in Paris. I want to play that. You know, it’s a black tie gala and I’m playing the early set. I can’t go hard and dark, backroom set immediately. I was raised on disco and I think there’s an inherent optimism and euphoria in it, coming out of the golden age of gays. I mean, what a dream: to play a disco set in the Rainbow Room for World Pride? I’ll do it!

What’s your personal WorldPride soundtrack right now?
I have a disco playlist on Spotify that I listen to a lot. “Spooner Juner.” It’s all my favorite disco tracks I’ve been listening to.

Are you particularly excited to see any of the other acts at the Love Above All Ball?
I’ll stick around to see Betty Who and everyone on the roster. I mean, I’m a little bit worried how I’m gonna get through it because Friday I’m gonna do Drag March. Drag March is my favorite march, period. We gather in Tompkins Square Park in drag and then we march to Stonewall. I might have to do it in black tie! I have a fitting today at Prada and I requested a dress, so I may be doing Drag March in Prada. And then I’ll run up to Rainbow Room.

How are you feeling about pride this year?
I’m exhausted. I’m over it.

Already?
A little bit. It’s a little aggressive. I’m all for visibility and I’m super excited that everyone’s excited. But I have to say, the commercialization of queer culture has been fatiguing. To go to Target and Lysterine has a rainbow on it, every shampoo has a rainbow on it. Everyone’s shoveling rainbows!

I definitely got offers for several Pride campaigns that I turned down because I thought the offers were…hypocritical. It’s all about visibility, but the rates were very low. And I was very uncertain how the financing actually impacted the community. Last night I DJed a benefit for the Queer March that’s happening, retracing the original steps of the first Pride March. So, I’ve been focused a little more on the philanthropic and the underground.

You’re doing the Queer March instead of the NYC Pride March. Talk to me about that decision.
I’ve been working a lot with Rise and Resist. They’re a lot of the people from the original ACTUP. I just love everything that Rise and Resist does. So, they reached out to me and said they’re doing the Queer March, and basically, I’ll consistently do anything Rise and Resist asks me to do.

I don’t want to diminish the main march. I think it’s great. I’ll do both. There’s no reason why you can’t do both. I can show my support for responsible corporations that support the community and I can show my support for grassroots organizations that need more visibility.

It sounds like you try to be really mindful of the pride gigs you take. What’s your criteria?
I just try to focus on things that are philanthropic and benefit-based. It’s got to have a good aesthetic, and it’s gotta have a good political intention, whether it’s a foundation or someone who needs support. I’m DJing a party called Barba on Saturday at Three Dollar Bill. It’s a queer techno party from Australia. I like the queerness of it, I like that it’s not sort of trapped in a toxic masculinity.

The other thing I’m doing this season is I’ve partnered with Nike. Their collection is all in partnership with the Gilbert Baker Foundation. They’ve gone back to the original Pride flag. I like that they’re educating people on the history of the flag and Gilbert Baker.

This year’s Pride is historic. What does the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot mean to you?
I mean, it’s amazing. I think what’s most important is educating people on what actually happened: what that event was and how it was started by the trans community and people of color. I mean, I’m still discovering more information about that moment.

And it’s important right now because of the general political climate, to kind of refresh ourselves on what it means to be politically active, to protest, what it means to go against the status quo. That’s what confusing about this pride. There’s a lot of acceptance and inclusion, but we’re trapped in this capitalistic system. Just because you’re selling something doesn’t mean it’s going to have a positive impact on the community.

So, there was a long wait between FischerSpooner albums. Are we going to have to wait another nine years for your next one?
Warren is very particular, and he prides himself on his slowness. Also, we are both artists who don’t work only in music. So a lot of times I’m moving between different projects. Right now I’m working on a film. I can’t even remember everything I’m working on. But I don’t think it’ll be a decade. I’m pushing to do a few more singles. People don’t make albums anymore—which is kind of unfortunate. But to make a great album you have to have a lot of time or a lot of money. But I’m getting ready to release two singles this summer under my own name. We’re preparing that now.

And also, I’m running for president. I’m making my official announcement on the Fourth of July.

Ok. I don’t know how seriously to take you.
Well, there’s a history of artists running for president. That’s part of the tour also, I’m trying to tie that into the presidential campaign.

What’s your platform?
The thing that I’m trying to reconcile is the conflict between capitalism and democracy. It relates to campaign finance and immigration. We keep voting these people into office who want to run the government like a business but they’re not thinking about how that impacts people on a very human level. There has to be a paradigm shift in terms of how money and democracy interact.

Also, we have more and more gay candidates, but they have to be desexualized in order to be appealing. I think it’s very important to have a queer candidate who is unabashedly sexual. Especially when we have someone in office who is known for saying, “Grab ‘em by the pussy.”

I’ve been thinking about pride resolutions. So every June, we celebrate pride, and then we resolve to accomplice specific things for the LGBTQ community in the year ahead. So, what would your pride resolutions be this year?
I had this crazy experience where I went to a gay bathhouse in Paris. I met this guy, we had sexual relations and then we started talking. He was from Kurdistan. Someone had drugged him and filmed him having sex and they were threatening to release the video on Facebook and send it to his family. If his family saw that, they would be morally obligated to murder him. So, he had to leave his job, his family, his home. He had to take all the money and everything he could carry and just leave.

I would like to find a way to help people who are in these other places in the world find a way to find safety.

www.queerty.com/dj-casey-spooner-commercialization-pride-20190627?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Max Emerson Took Shirtless Selfies While the Titanic Sank: WATCH

In one of history’s forgotten chapters, social media personality Max Emerson went down with the Titanic.

How might our knowledge of that tragic night been different had influencers been on board to record all the swag on board, including an unboxing video of The Heart of the Ocean, shirtless selfies with the crew, the “killer content” moment when the ship struck the iceberg, and an Instagram live video of the violinist’s plaintiff melodies. Now we know.

The post Max Emerson Took Shirtless Selfies While the Titanic Sank: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Max Emerson Took Shirtless Selfies While the Titanic Sank: WATCH

SCOTUS Decision on Census Upholds Importance of Full Participation

Today, HRC responded to a decision by the Supreme Court in Department of Commerce v. New York rejecting the Trump-Pence administration’s proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census based on an inadequate administrative explanation.

“The Trump-Pence administration’s citizenship question is dangerous, unnecessary, and motivated by politics,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “The Supreme Court’s decision recognizes widespread concern over the administration’s political motivation and stated reasoning behind the addition. Our work is not over–every person in the United States needs to ensure they are counted next year. We will continue fighting with coalition partners to ensure that data remains protected and that the Census has a count that reflects the true character of America.”

Today’s ruling demands that the U.S. Census provide more extensive reasoning and explanation behind such a divisive addition.  Last month, the New York Times reported on newly discovered documents that showed how Republican operatives pushed to add a citizenship question to the Census in order to deny communities of color health care and other resources, so as to ensure the electorate is whiter and supports the GOP. 

HRC has pushed back against the Trump-Pence Administration’s demonization of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers at every turn. We have endorsed and lobbied for passage of the Dream Act, which would give a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people who were brought here as children – including tens of thousands of LGBTQ Dreamers. We have called out the horrific policies that tear families apart at the border and demanded humane treatment of LGBTQ people – and all people – in immigration detention. We have denounced the State Department’s severe cuts in refugee admissions and worked with our partners to tell the stories of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence at home. And we have joined the Muslim community in condemning Trump’s discriminatory Muslim Ban. 

hrc.org/blog/scotus-decision-on-2020-census-upholds-importance-of-full-participation?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Boston’s ‘Straight Pride Parade’ is happening and here’s when

The apparently serious organizers of a “Straight Pride Parade” gathered for a press conference on Wednesday to announce they’d been given the green light by the city of Boston to move ahead with their event.

The parade will likely take place on August 31 with everyone’s favorite alt-right homocon troll Milo Yinnopoulos serving as Grand Marshal.

Related: Meet the gay guy behind the effort to bring “Straight Pride” to Boston

It sounds like a really fun time.

The group’s next step is to obtain a license from the city; Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has stated he cannot turn away organizers based on their values.

Related: Who invited her? Tomi Lahren defends Straight Pride in fevered rant

“Permits to host a public event are granted based on operational feasibility, not based on values or endorsements of beliefs. The City of Boston cannot deny a permit based on an organization’s values,” he said earlier this month.

We’re going to let Eva Victor field how eye-rollingly silly the whole exercise is:

me explaining to my boyfriend why we’re going to straight pride pic.twitter.com/ZtXpLaV05s

— Eva Victor (@evaandheriud) June 4, 2019

www.queerty.com/bostons-straight-pride-parade-happening-heres-20190627?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

‘Real Housewives’ Husband Refuses to Pay for Son’s College Education Because He’s Gay: WATCH

James Marchese, the son of Real Housewives of New Jersey husband Jim Marchese, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for half his college tuition because, he says, his father disowned him and refuses to pay for his education because he’s gay.

“At the beginning of 2018, my father “found out” I was gay,” writes Marchese on a GoFundMe page. “This began two weeks of mental abuse that led to me being removed from his home when I told my Mom (her and my father are divorced) and went to court with her. Since this time, my father has been slowly cutting ties with me until I “live according to his standards.” Essentially, this meant – and still means – that I have to be “straight” and date women while “admitting” that I chose to be gay so that I could get something out of it from my mother. With this, my father has refused to help in paying for any schooling because he believes I have to live in his home and follow his preferred life-style to be good enough to receive any financial assistance with school.”

Continued Marchese: “All of this has not made me give up though as I have worked extremely hard my Senior year to get as much assistance with schooling that I possibly can through scholarships and the like. I also began working the summer of 2018 and continued to throughout the school year so that I can begin saving money for college. Even with all of my efforts, I have fallen short of the money I would need to be able to go to the college I have been working extremely hard to get into. For Fairfield University, for one year, is around ~65,000 dollars. The reason I am only asking for 35,000 is because, through my focus on my studies through this year,  I have been able to get Merit Scholarships for around ~30,000 dollars of that cost. I was able to be exempt from all of my Final Exams this year as well as getting an average of 95 for my final year in high school. I did not only work and study this year as I also was the Stage Manager for my high school’s theater company for their fall and spring production. Being the Stage Manager required me to stay after school Monday through Friday till as late as 10 pm in preparation for the shows. At this current time, I am unable to get a co-signer for my student loans and is the main reason I have decided to create a gofundme page to try and help raise money for my Freshman Year.”

Check out the GoFundMe HERE. Marchese also posted a video.

You may recall a series of tweets from Marchese’s father in 2018 defending Kevin Hart, who was fired as Oscars host over past anti-gay statements in which he declared he didn’t want his son to be gay.

Tweeted the elder Marchese: ‘So true NO STRAIGHT MALE wants his son to be gay. A gay son is a curse that takes away your #family traditions #heritage#lgtbiq is a a parents nightmare that destroys families. Ruins holidays like #Christmas#KevinHart we support you! #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder‘

In later tweets, the elder Marchese accused his critics of being bigots, and alleged that LGBTQ people are responsible for Europe “importing Muslim men” because there are no children being born. He also said that being gay is “a lifestyle choice like being vegan.”

So true NO STRAIGHT MALE wants his son to be gay. A gay son is a curse that takes away your #family traditions #heritage #lgtbiq is a a parents nightmare that destroys families. Ruins holidays like #Christmas #KevinHart we support you! #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder t.co/nuoTLLwQu6

— JamesMarchese MPA JD (@JLMarchese111) December 9, 2018

First: bigots are intolerant of others opinions. The comments below prove you are all bigots. Second, not one comment from a straight male who has sons. Third; Europe is importing muslim men because #lgtbiq has caused a crisis due to lack of children being born.

— JamesMarchese MPA JD (@JLMarchese111) December 11, 2018

For those pushing #LGTBIQ agenda show me a single credible study which links genetics. Being gay is a physical act derived in sexual deviance by definition. No one is born gay it is a lifestyle choice like being vegan. Get over it. You are #FakeNews

— JamesMarchese MPA JD (@JLMarchese111) December 11, 2018

homophobia: irrational fear or aversion to, discrimination against homosexuals. Its not irrational or discriminatory to want your children to marry opposite sex & have grandchildren..it is called #FAMILY #heritage I don’t hate #LGTBIQ sad for their Fatherst.co/rxFHHJhY7S

— JamesMarchese MPA JD (@JLMarchese111) December 11, 2018

The post ‘Real Housewives’ Husband Refuses to Pay for Son’s College Education Because He’s Gay: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

‘Real Housewives’ Husband Refuses to Pay for Son’s College Education Because He’s Gay: WATCH

Take Pride this National HIV Testing Day

HIV disproportionately impacts members of the LGBTQ community, especially Black and Latinx gay and bisexual men and transgender women. In 2017, gay and bisexual men accounted for approximately 66% of new HIV diagnoses. According to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if current rates persist, about one in two Black men who have sex with men and one in four Latino men who have sex with men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime. A 2019 study showed that today 44% of Black transgender women are living with HIV and 26% of Latina transgender women are living with HIV.

This LGBTQ Pride Month, HRC is highlighting the extraordinary work of community-based organizations and local health departments working to end the HIV epidemic. We are proud to call these incredible advocates members of the HRC family.

Tony Christian-Walker

Tony Christian-Walker is the Director of Prevention and Community Partnerships at AIDS Alabama. AIDS Alabama has two testing sites in Birmingham, Alabama. People can also schedule appointments at www.gcbham.com, along with an in-home testing option.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

It’s essential to get tested because testing is the only way to know whether or not one has HIV. Testing should be part of our regular preventive medical routine. For too many people, HIV testing is an event, and it shouldn’t be. HIV is a manageable disease, much like diabetes, but with fewer restrictions.

Terrance Peyton

Terrance Peyton is the Co-Founder/ Board Member of ManDate (Project Healthy Living), which works to improve the sexual health outcomes and influence healthy life choices for Black gay and bisexual men and their social and sexual networks. Consider Us Helping US in the Washington, D.C,. metropolitan area to be tested for HIV and other STIs.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

A world where there are no new infections of HIV can truly be ours to experience. It is important to test for HIV because knowing your status places you in the driver’s seat of your whole-life health. Grab the power by getting the test.

Holly Goldmann

Holly Goldmann is the Director of External Affairs at Casa Ruby, which provides social services and programs catering to the most vulnerable in the city and surrounding areas.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

It’s important to get tested, especially at community events that provide it, because you can encourage your peers to get tested, too. We test at Casa Ruby every Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m.!

Kenya Hutton

Kenya Hutton is the Program Manager at the The Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services. UCHAPS has developed an easy-to-use website where individuals can find testing locations and testing events happening across the country, through the UCHAPS National HIV Testing week initiative.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

In order for us to see an end to this epidemic, it’s important that we all know our status, and it’s just as important for service providers to provide access to free, painless HIV testing. Knowing your status, you can work with your health care provider to find out how you can reach and maintain an undetectable status.

Derick Wilson

Derick Wilson is the Director of Sexual Health Promotion at the Fulton (Georgia) County Board of Health. There are a number of places throughout Fulton County to get a free HIV test. Go here for details.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

It’s important for someone to be tested for HIV, along with regular screening and testing for other sexual health issues, so that they can live healthy — regardless of the outcome. Good health begins with knowing the facts about your health.

Nhakia Outland, MSW

Nhakia Outland is the Navigation Program Manager at the Mazzoni Center in Pennsylvania. If you are looking to get tested for HIV or screened for an STI, Mazzoni Center offers free, confidential and rapid services.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

Testing is the only way to know for sure if you have HIV. As a cis- gender black queer woman, I feel that getting tested for HIV is very important. Black women are not always included in the conversation around the importance of getting HIV tested, yet black women are bearing the burden of the HIV epidemic.

Getting tested for HIV also gives you control over your life and sexual health. It is often assumed that cis-gender black women are not at risk and therefore HIV testing may or may not be offered despite asking.  So many remain silent and asks go unheard because of stigma or perceptions. This has to change. All people need to be included in the discussion around HIV testing, prevention and treatment. Whether your result is negative or positive, it’s always better to know your status.

Lakarla Williams

Lakarla Williams is the HIV Counselor / P.a.s.i Specialist at Brotherhood, INC, which offers HIV testing at its office in New Orleans.

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

To know your status. It’s important for everyone to know there status, because if found positive, you can get medical treatment immediately. Knowing is half the battle!

Darnell Barrington

Darnell Barrington is the HIV Prevention Program Coordinator at the Virginia Department of Health

Why is it important to be tested for HIV?

Being tested for HIV is so important because it represents POWER. When you are tested you possess the power of knowing your status and making the decision that HIV stops with you. In Virginia, we have an amazing partnership with Walgreens Pharmacy that allows for additional community level access to HIV testing.

hrc.org/blog/take-pride-this-national-hiv-testing-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Why Lance Bass Opened a Gay Sports Tavern

The gay former pop star discussed his hopes for Rocco’s WeHo.

www.advocate.com/business/2019/6/27/why-lance-bass-opened-gay-sports-tavern

The Religious Roots of Pride

Anti-LGBTQ forces have falsely claimed ownership of organized religion. Time to take it back.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/6/27/religious-roots-pride