How an HIV Testing Van Helped Recruit Ariadne Getty as an LGBTQ Ally

Variety‘s Philanthropist of the Year shared the remarkable story of how she came to support LGBTQ causes.

www.advocate.com/people/2019/7/31/how-hiv-testing-van-helped-recruit-ariadne-getty-lgbtq-ally

12 Pride-Themed Books to Keep Stonewall’s Spirit Alive

www.advocate.com/exclusives/2019/7/31/12-pride-themed-books-beach-or-poolside-reading

Hal Prince, Jeffrey Epstein, Wave Pool, Carly Rae Jepsen, Boston, Ben Carson, ‘Queen and Slim’, Pepe Muñoz: HOT LINKS

RIP. Broadway legend Hal Prince has died: ‘Hal Prince, the Broadway royal and prodigious Tony winner, the producer or director (or both) of many of the theater’s most enduring musicals, including “Damn Yankees,” “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, died on Wednesday in Reykjavik, Iceland. He was 91.’

JEFFREY EPSTEIN. Well this is F-ed up: “Jeffrey E. Epstein, the wealthy financier who is accused of sex trafficking, had an unusual dream: He hoped to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women at his vast New Mexico ranch. Mr. Epstein over the years confided to scientists and others about his scheme, according to four people familiar with his thinking, although there is no evidence that it ever came to fruition.”

INNER CIRCLE. Celine Dion’s team says Pepe Muñoz is not calling the shots.

GILROY SHOOTING. Gunman likely acted alone, police say. “He was by himself. He was not with anybody else. That is sort of supporting the thought now that he acted on his own,” police Chief Scot Smithee said Tuesday. “Our investigation is leading us more and more to believe that there was not a second subject involved.”

NORTH CAROLINA. Gun shop owner pairs photo of four congresswomen of color on ad. “I’m not inciting any violence or being racist,” Doc said. “It’s a statement. It’s an opinion.”

QUEER EYES. Antoni and Jonathan are not a couple.

BOSTON. My apartment building once hosted one of the oldest gay clubs in the state. ‘A 1982 Boston Globe article said “there are 20 homosexual bars and clubs within a 30-mile radius of Boston.” It referred to Fran’s Place as a “modest juke joint.” Bars like these were once all the LGBTQ community had, the only places queer people could freely express their love decades ago.’

BEN CARSON. Black HUD Secretary compares Baltimore to cancer patient: “You know, it’s sort of like if you have a patient who has cancer,” Carson said of Baltimore. “You can dress them up and put a nice suit on them, and you can try to ignore it. But that cancer is going to have a devastating effect. You have to be willing to address that issue if you’re ever going to solve it.”

HOTHEAD. Donald Trump blames Obama for the White House air conditioning, too.

HAMZA BIN LADEN. Son of Osama Bin Laden is dead. “Hamza bin Laden was killed in the past two years, during the Trump administration, but it took time to confirm his death, the officials said. In February, the State Department announced a $1 million reward for information about his whereabouts. However, by then, Mr. bin Laden had been killed — but his death had not yet been confirmed by the military and intelligence agencies.”

LIL NAS X. And hip-hop’s macho culture: ‘Hip-hop’s refusal to embrace anything queer has been a blemish on the genre for as long as its been around. Rap culture has always been powered by unbridled machismo, and one would be hard pressed to not find a gay slur embedded in the lyrics of any of the genre’s most famous architects. In fact, an entire lexicon dedicated to pointing out discomfort with gay men has permeated rap lyrics. Slang such as “sus” and “No homo” and “Pause” that use queerness as a punchline have been thrown around casually for years. But as the old guard has been replaced with a younger generation unconcerned with rigid labels and unbothered by genre, today’s rap and R&B scene isn’t as exclusively heteronormative as it once was.’

NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Gryffin and Carly Rae Jepsen “OMG”.

DEEP SEA ENCOUNTER OF THE DAY. Piglet squid.

TRAILER OF THE DAY. Queen And Slim.

WAVE POOL MALFUNCTION OF THE DAY. “According to reports, 44 people were injured in Yanbian, Manchuria (Eastern China) when a malfunction occurred releasing a giant wave into a wave pool full of people.”

HUMP DAY HOTTIE. Eddy Taro.

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Summer Fun Day With 太郎ちゃん – – #20190707 #台灣 #台北 #三峽 #夏天 #玩水 #柴 #柴犬 #白柴 #taiwan #taipei #summer #shiba #whiteshiba

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The post Hal Prince, Jeffrey Epstein, Wave Pool, Carly Rae Jepsen, Boston, Ben Carson, ‘Queen and Slim’, Pepe Muñoz: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Hal Prince, Jeffrey Epstein, Wave Pool, Carly Rae Jepsen, Boston, Ben Carson, ‘Queen and Slim’, Pepe Muñoz: HOT LINKS

HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Spotlight: Nicole Talbot

Post submitted by Children, Youth & Families Coordinator Pallavi Rudraraju

Nicole Talbot is a 17-year-old musical theater actress with Broadway aspirations and a passionate advocate for transgender equality — both in her home state of Massachusetts and across the U.S. She also happens to be an HRC Youth Ambassador.

HRC sat down recently with Talbot to learn more about her experiences and advice for the LGBTQ community.

“The work I’m trying to do is change the narrative,” Talbot told HRC. “Sometimes things are hard and we struggle, but at the end of the day, our struggles and our difficulties today will make us stronger people tomorrow.” 

For Talbot, becoming an HRC Youth Ambassador provided an opportunity to take her advocacy to a new level.  

“I felt this position would allow me to reach a broader audience to help more people,” Talbot said.

Prior to joining the HRC family, Talbot worked with the GenderCool project, an organization that helps showcase stories of transgender youth. She was also active in Massachusetts’ #YesOn3 fight, working with state legislators to help pass protections for transgender people. 

One of the highlights of Talbot’s time as a Youth Ambassador was speaking earlier this year at HRC’s Time to THRIVE conference in Anaheim, California. Participating in the conference, which attracts hundreds of youth-serving professionals from across the nation, was different than what she originally expected — LGBTQ young people dominated the national stage — and Talbot was asked to be a keynote speaker. 

Talbot says it felt surreal to be able to use her voice both as an activist and a performer on the conference stage, singing “Reflection” from the film “Mulan.” She bravely discussed the importance of gender affirmation and unconditional love, as well as eliminating toxicity from your life, even if that toxicity comes from a parent. 

“Music is my fire, and advocacy is my fire.” Talbot said. “And so, whenever I can, I try to combine them.”

Outside of her advocacy work, Talbot also participates in daily acts of visibility through other communities in which she’s involved. 

As a singer and as a person living with dyslexia, performing on stage or being unapologetically herself in class makes a powerful stand for transgender visibility. Her story then becomes not  about being trans, but rather about being a singer or an example for other kids her age who are dyslexic. 

“That’s kind of the goal,” Talbot said, referring to her performances of the national anthem at a  Boston Bruins game. “It’s about using my voice to have visibility in communities that wouldn’t always see LGBTQ people. It’s like ‘I’m Nicole Talbot, and I happen to be trans.’”

Talbot has five tips for other LGBTQ youth looking for support: 

1. Don’t accept hate and discrimination. 
2. Be who you are unapologetically. 
3. Find your chosen family and surround yourself with people who fuel your fire and your joy. 
4. Love yourself, love the people you are with and love the time you spend with them. 
5. Don’t settle for “less than.”

“Someday, the LGBTQ community will be accepted and be the norm,” Talbot said. “I don’t know if that’s going to be tomorrow or in a hundred years, but if we love ourselves, then the hate can’t win.”

The HRC Foundation Youth Ambassadors are a group of inspiring young people from across the country who show courage in sharing their stories and demonstrate a commitment to speaking out about issues facing LGBTQ youth. As Youth Ambassadors, they represent the HRC Foundation, using their voices to raise awareness about HRC’s youth-focused programs.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-foundation-youth-ambassador-spotlight-nicole-talbot?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Meghan McCain Rages at Buttigieg for ‘Socialists’ Remark, But Then FOX News Proves Him Right: WATCH

View co-host Meghan McCain snapped at Pete Buttigieg for asserting during last night’s Democratic debate that it was time for Democrats to stop worrying about what Republicans are going to say because they’re going to call Dems “socialists” no matter what happens.

Said Buttigieg at the debate: “If we embrace a far-left agenda, they’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, they’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. So let’s stand up for the right policy, go up there, and defend it.”

McCain took issue with Buttigieg’s comment, saying, “Mayor Pete, when you’re talking about Republicans are going to paint everybody as being socialists, that’s just ridiculous, and a really good way to lose the moderates. Do you know who I don’t think is a socialist? Joe Biden, I don’t think Tulsi Gabbard is a socialist. There are many candidates onstage I don’t think that. So please don’t put in my mouth (that) I’m going to paint all Democrats as socialist. I don’t think there is a socialist sitting at this table with me, and I think that is a cheap talking point, and I used to like him.”

But, FOX News proved Buttigieg right shortly after the debate.

The Daily Beast reports:

Discussing the debate Tuesday evening on The Ingraham Angle, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani suggested that former Vice President Joe Biden—who is participating in Wednesday’s debate— may have gotten a boost from the debate before, of course, painting the Democratic field as socialist.

“I think Biden probably gains tonight if he can have a decent performance tomorrow night,” he told host Laura Ingraham. “He is the one that naturally people would think of as a moderate, but Biden has been running to pretend that he can out-socialist all of them.”

The following hour, Fox News anchor Shannon Bream welcomed Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to weigh in on the debate. It didn’t take long for the RNC head to invoke socialism.

“What you saw from the Democrats tonight is the total socialist plan, takeover of all of our health care with this proposal from Medicare for All,” she groused. “They didn’t know how to pay for it. They were dishonest about the fact that it was would raise taxes on every single American.”

The Daily Beast notes that FOX Business Anchor Stuart Varney also called them socialists, as did Fox News contributor Doug Schoen, as did Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who said, “I would remind you that the lesser of two socialists is still a socialist. And what I heard last night even from the so-called less liberal candidates—I’m not impugning their integrity—even from the less liberal candidates, I heard a job-killing, soul-crushing socialist agenda.”

Buttigieg addressed the remarks on Morning Joe.

“Look, I view myself as progressive, but I think that response out of Trump world was pretty revealing, right, most of what we stand for, the American people stand with us. Whether it’s the idea that we ought to have universal health care or the fact that the minimum wage ought to be higher or what we think ought to happen around gun control. If we are crazy socialists then they’re saying the American people are a bunch of crazy socialists.”

The post Meghan McCain Rages at Buttigieg for ‘Socialists’ Remark, But Then FOX News Proves Him Right: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Meghan McCain Rages at Buttigieg for ‘Socialists’ Remark, But Then FOX News Proves Him Right: WATCH

‘Bar Dykes’ Dives Into Lesbian Life In the 1950s

The Flea Theater transports audiences to a lesbian bar in pre-Stonewall America. 

www.advocate.com/theater/2019/7/31/bar-dykes-dives-lesbian-life-1950s