That time two dudes got engaged at the top of a tree in the Panamanian rainforest
In February 2016, National Geographic explorer Kevin McLean, who researches arboreal mammals in neotropical forest canopies, brought his boyfriend, Dan, along for the treetop exploration in the jungles of Panama.

www.queerty.com/time-two-dudes-got-engaged-top-tree-panamanian-rainforest-2-20190802?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

‘The L Word: Generation Q’ Finally Has a Release Date!

It’s time to start planning viewing parties. 

www.advocate.com/television/2019/8/02/l-word-generation-q-finally-has-release-date

Photos: Meet the sexy guys of Guadalajara
The photos for this article were shot in gorgeous and queer-friendly Guadalajara, “the San Francisco of Mexico.”

www.queerty.com/photos-meet-sexy-guys-guadalajara-20190802?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Amy Klobuchar, 90210, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Will Hurd, Mustard Ice Cream, Lee Pace, Lauv, Tove Lo: HOT LINKS

2020. Amy Klobuchar announces she has met the donor threshold to participate in third and fourth debates: ‘In an email to supporters less than forty-eight hours after debating in Detroit, Klobuchar announced more than 130,000 donors catapulting her into the fall phase of the Democratic primary. “Now onward and upward,” the supporter email — first reported by NBC — read. Klobuchar’s campaign previously said she’d met the polling qualification of at least two percent in four major surveys for the ABC-hosted debate in Houston, Texas. But meeting the donor threshold makes her the eighth of 24 candidates to check both qualifying boxes. ‘

MAGA. Trump supporter arrested after beating postal worker outside Cincinnati rally: “Dallas Frazier, 29, was arrested Thursday in the 300 block of Broadway Street, according to Lt. Steve Saunders with the Cincinnati Police Department.”

REBOOT TALK. The cast of the Beverly Hills 90210 reboot talks about playing exaggerated versions of themselves.

SAOIRSE KENNEDY HILL. Grandaughter of RFK dies of apparent overdose at Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port. ‘The authorities issued a statement confirming a death at the property but did not disclose the identity of the victim or the cause of death. “Early this afternoon Barnstable police responded to a residence on Marchant Avenue in Hyannis Port for a report of an unattended death,” said Tara Miltimore of the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office. “The matter remains under investigation by the Barnstable police as well as state police detectives assigned to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office.”’

ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines.

WILL HURD. The only Black House Republican says he won’t seek reelection: “I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.”

POLAND. Catholic church doubles down on anti-gay rhetoric: ‘In a sermon given to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising by Polish resistance fighters against Nazi occupation, the archbishop of Krakow, Marek Jedraszewski, described Poland as under siege from a “rainbow plague” of gay rights campaigners he compared to Poland’s former Communist rulers.’

$2.5 MILLION. Katy Perry told to pay up.

LEE PACE. On growing up as part of the queer community.

RELIGIOUS RIGHT. Leaders won’t call Trump a racist. “He judges people on whether they support him,” Jeffress said. “If you embrace him, he’ll embrace you. If you attack him, he’ll attack you. That’s the definition of colorblind.”

MUSTARD ICE CREAM. It’s a thing.

ALL IN THE FAMILY. Matt Baume takes another look at Beverly LaSalle. “In the last Culture Cruise video, I talked about how the show All in the Family introduced Beverly LaSalle, presenting a female impersonator as being worthy of love and respect at a time when TV tended to depict queer people as mere punch lines. But Beverly was also one of the first queer characters on television to come back for more than one episode, growing closer to the Bunkers over the course of years… until her storyline took a dark turn.”

NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. f*ck, i’m lonely (with Anne-Marie)

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Ariana Grande, Social House “boyfriend”.

LYRIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Tove Lo “Bad As The Boys”.

FRIDAY FLASH. Loren.

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The air is thicc out here

A post shared by Loren (@thekennedy_) on Apr 16, 2019 at 8:41am PDT

The post Amy Klobuchar, 90210, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Will Hurd, Mustard Ice Cream, Lee Pace, Lauv, Tove Lo: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Amy Klobuchar, 90210, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Will Hurd, Mustard Ice Cream, Lee Pace, Lauv, Tove Lo: HOT LINKS

Executive Order Issued in North Carolina Aimed at Protecting Youth From “Conversion Therapy”

Today, HRC praises an executive order issued in North Carolina adding some protections for youth from the dangerous, debunked practice known as “conversion therapy.” The order prohibits the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services from using taxpayer funds on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors.

“The executive action, signed by Governor Cooper, restricting the use of public funds to support the dangerous, debunked practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is an important step forward in North Carolina, and we are grateful to the Protect Our Youth NC Coalition — led by Equality North Carolina and the Campaign for Southern Equality — for pursuing this important campaign to protect LGBTQ youth,” said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign. “We look forward to working alongside our partners to pass a law — similar to those enacted in 18 other states — that would cover all state-licensed professionals working with minors. For North Carolina to be a leader in the South, the governor and the legislature must prioritize full LGBTQ equality.”

There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people resulting in depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness, and suicidal behavior. The harmful practice is condemned by every major medical and mental health organization, including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and American Medical Association.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including at least fifty cities and counties in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.

According to a recent report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 20,000 LGBTQ minors in states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed healthcare professional if state officials fail to act. Last year, national organizations representing millions of licensed medical and mental health care professionals, educators, and child welfare advocates declared their support for legislative protections against conversion therapy.

www.hrc.org/blog/executive-order-issued-in-nc-aimed-at-protecting-youth-from-conversion-ther?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Lyft Adopts New Policies After Drag Queens Refused Rides

The rideshare company has changed their ways.

www.advocate.com/news/2019/8/02/lyft-adopts-new-policies-after-drag-queens-refused-rides

Top state department official fired for being too homophobic to work with

One of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s senior aides was just fired after several members of her staff threatened to quit over her “abusive” management style.

Kiron Skinner was informed yesterday while she was on a trip to China that she was being ousted from her position as director of the agency’s Policy Planning Staff.

Politico reports that Skinner was let go because of “her ‘abusive’ management style, including making homophobic remarks and accusing people of having affairs.”

According to Politico:

Two other State Department officials said Skinner acted unprofessionally in multiple ways, including yelling in public spaces and using homophobic language. She retaliated against employees by kicking them out of their offices and even alleged that some people were having affairs, the two officials said.

Sounds like a nightmare.

Skinner, who was one of the few African American members of the Trump administration, was hired last year by Pompeo, who described her at the time as “a national security powerhouse” and “a one-woman, strategic thinking tour de force.”

But, according to the people who worked under her, she was such a terrible boss and micromanager that almost a third of her staff quit or transferred to other positions within months of her taking charge and another five recently threatened to leave if she wasn’t immediately let go.

In addition to allegedly mistreating her staff, Skinner, who has authored several glowing books about racist president Ronald Reagan, was also in charge of overseeing the Commission on Unalienable Rights, which investigated U.S. human rights polices.

The commission has drawn fierce opposition from human rights activists who say it has been designed to chip away at the rights of women and LGBTQ people.

Neither the State Department nor Skinner have released any comment over her firing.

www.queerty.com/top-state-department-official-fired-homophobic-work-20190802?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29