Megan Rapinoe Loves Her Fox News-Watching Parents
Rapinoe spoke about how she and her parents continue to have an open dialogue despite her thinking her dad voted for Trump, who went off on her in a Twitter tirade.
www.advocate.com/sports/2019/8/20/megan-rapinoe-loves-her-fox-news-watching-parents
Antigay youth pastor busted from sexting teen boy, asking for x-rated pics
Another day, another antigay preacher busted for being a pervert. This time it’s Paxton Singer, a former youth pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel in Aurora, Illinois, who allegedly asked a 16-year-old boy to send him nude pics and sneak away with him for a weekend alone together.
According to prosecutors, 24-year-old Singer “knowingly enticed a person under 17 years of age to remove their clothing for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification of the defendant or the child.”
He and the teen met at a church event. Afterwards, Singer allegedly sexted the boy for almost a year, between October 2016 and August 2017.
When leaders at Harvest Bible Chapel learned about the relationship in January 2018, they claim Singer was “involuntarily terminated for cause” and that they notified authorities immediately.
“Three incidents related to the former employee in question were all reported to DCFS during the second and third week of January 2018.” Scott Milholland, the senior executive pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, told the Chicago Tribune. “Further contact between our staff and DCFS beyond that time period were follow-up related and did not involve any new incidents.”
But officials at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) tell a different story. They say the charges against Singer, which include disorderly conduct and sexual exploitation of a child, didn’t result from the church calling them in January, but instead came after a hotline call placed several months later.
“The DCFS child protection investigation was completed in October 2018, and Paxton Singer was indicated for sexual exploitation,” officials say.
Meanwhile, Newsweek reports:
On Friday, Kane County Circuit Judge Michael Noland ruled that another alleged teen—whose exploitation Singer was not being charged with—could testify about inappropriate texts and Snapchat messages. Noland said the texts to the “uncharged victim” were similar enough that his testimony was relevant. (Another alleged victim is not being allowed to testify, as he was 17 at the time and therefore wasn’t legally considered a child.)
Singer’s trial was originally scheduled to begin in July, but was rescheduled to start September 4.
According to church rules, Harvest Bible Chapel believes that God “is the sole authority in matters of marriage and sexuality for all people, and that marriage involves the sacred joining together of one man and one woman in faithful, permanent union.”
Related: Antigay pastor has breakdown in pulpit, admits to having “affair” with underage boy to entire church
Everybody on the Floor: Todrick and Ciara Just Dropped a ‘Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels’ Remix: LISTEN
Todrick has enlisted Ciara for a tongue-popping remix of his summer anthem “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels” that should have you shablam-ing through Labor Day.
Said Ciara to Billboard: “Todrick is such a visionary, I have been a fan of his work for some time now. It’s exciting to see what he’s going to create every time he drops something. He reached out to me a while ago to join him on one of his songs, and this was the track that I loved … This is such a fun song that anyone can dance to, especially in the club! I’m so excited that it is finally out!”
The post Everybody on the Floor: Todrick and Ciara Just Dropped a ‘Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels’ Remix: LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Everybody on the Floor: Todrick and Ciara Just Dropped a ‘Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels’ Remix: LISTEN
Colton Haynes shares heartbreaking photos taken during his addiction to pills
Colton Haynes is once again opening up about his struggles with addiction in hopes of helping others.
Yesterday, the Arrow star shared several photos with his 6.4 million followers on Instagram that were taken while he was suffering from an addiction to prescription pills.
“I don’t want worrying about if I look hot or not on Instagram to be my legacy,” Haynes writes. “I no longer want to project a curated life.”
Haynes goes on to say that “worrying about what time to post on social media so I can maximize my likes or being mad at myself that I don’t look the same way I did when I was addicted to pills is a complete waste of why I was put on this earth.”
“I’m posting these photos to let y’all in on my truth,” he says. “I’m so grateful to be where I am now ( a year after these photos were taken) but man these times were dark. I’m a human being with flaws just like you. If ur in the middle of the dark times…I promise you it doesn’t have to last forever.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Colton Haynes (@coltonlhaynes) on
Earlier this year, Haynes spoke with Attitude about his struggles with drugs and alcohol.
“In 10 years, there were maybe 25 days I didn’t drink,” he said. “I used to blame it on my anxiety or depression issues, but really the root of all my problems was the alcohol and drugs.”
He continued, “Once I went to treatment, I found this amazing amount of true love for myself, and started figuring out who I am without those vices, and recognizing the people in my life who lifted me up instead of tearing me down.”
“I’m always going to be in recovery. There are so many people struggling out there, but not a lot of them talk about it. Life is much more beautiful than I could have imagined. It’s just a different life now.”
Harry Styles Strips Down for ‘Rolling Stone’
The world looks likely to see a new album soon from One Direction’s Harry Styles as we’re seeing a publicity blitz kicked off with a shirtless Rolling Stone cover, photographed by Ryan McGinley.
On newsstands September 3rd@RollingStone
: Ryan McGinley pic.twitter.com/XJ0jRSwddU— HSHQ (@HSHQ) August 20, 2019
Styles finished his solo world tour a little more than a year ago at The Forum in Los Angeles.
During the concert he reacted to a gay fan who was holding up a sign for the singer.
Said Styles after approaching the fan: “Can I read [the sign]? It says ‘I’m gay and I love you.’”
“I love you as well,” Styles replied. “Thank you for coming. I mean, we’re all a little bit gay.”
Styles showed support for the LGBTQ community throughout the tour. He sold tour merchandise – rainbow t-shirts with the phrase “Treat People With Kindness” – that benefited GLSEN. He held up a rainbow flag that said “Make America Gay Again”.
Styles sent fans into a frenzy on social media in March 2018 after performing his track “Medicine” at a gig in Basel, Switzerland. Some suggested the lyrics meant he was coming out as bisexual.
Styles was tight-lipped when asked about his sexuality in a 2017 interview with UK tabloid The Sun.
“It’s weird for me — everyone should just be who they want to be,” said Styles. “It’s tough to justify somebody having to answer to someone else about stuff like that.”
When asked if he gives his sexual orientation a label, Styles said: “No, I’ve never felt the need to really. No.”
But he praised artists like Miley Cyrus, who do discuss it: “Being in a creative field, it’s important to be progressive. People doing stuff like that is great.”
Styles also told a French talk show that he sees LGBT equality as something that’s “fundamental” and not political.
In 2014, Styles told One Direction bandmate Niall Horan “Hey, don’t knock it ’til you try it,” when Horan was asked about dating men.
The post Harry Styles Strips Down for ‘Rolling Stone’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Ihan Omar Defends LGBTQ Palestinian’s Protests in West Bank
She also slammed Israel in the process.
www.advocate.com/politics/2019/8/20/ihan-omar-defends-lgbtq-palestinians-protests-west-bank
Colton Haynes Shares Photos of ‘Dark Times’ During Addiction to Pills
Arrow actor Colton Haynes shared several photos on Monday taken during his addiction to pills in an effort to be more transparent about his life and help others struggling with the same issues.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Colton Haynes (@coltonlhaynes) on
Wrote Haynes: “I don’t want worrying about if I look hot or not on Instagram to be my legacy. I don’t want to skirt around the truth to please other people or to gain economic success. I have far more important things to say than what magazine I just shot for or what tv show I’m a part of (Although I’m very thankful I still get to do what I love).”
“I no longer want to project a curated life,” he added. “I get immense joy when someone comes up to me & says that my willingness to open up about depression, anxiety, alcoholism, & addiction has helped them in some way. I’ve struggled the past year with trying to find my voice and where I fit in & that has been the most beautiful struggle I’ve ever had to go through.”
“Worrying about what time to post on social media so I can maximize my likes or being mad at myself that I don’t look the same way I did when I was addicted to pills is a complete waste of why I was put on this earth,” he continued. “I’m posting these photos to let y’all in on my truth. I’m so grateful to be where I am now ( a year after these photos were taken) but man these times were dark. I’m a human being with flaws just like you. If ur in the middle of the dark times…I promise you it doesn’t have to last forever. Love y’all ”
The post Colton Haynes Shares Photos of ‘Dark Times’ During Addiction to Pills appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Colton Haynes Shares Photos of ‘Dark Times’ During Addiction to Pills
#AM_Equality Tipsheet: August 20, 2019
TRANSGENDER IMMIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE ABUSE, NEGLECT AND HARASSMENT IN U.S. DETENTION FACILITIES: “I was placed where everyone can see me,” said Ishalaa Ortega (@Ishalaa), a transgender woman from Tijuana, Mexico. “My makeup was destroyed, facial hair was growing, and they could laugh at me. Even the police officers were laughing at me.” Read more from Alexia Puente at the Texas Observer.
THIS BACK TO SCHOOL SEASON, LEARN MORE ABOUT HRC FOUNDATION’S HBCU PROGRAM: The HBCU Program empowers LGBTQ young people to lead effectively at the intersections of race, religion, gender identity, class and sexual orientation on their campuses and in their communities: Learn more here.
This #BackToSchool season learn more about @HRC Foundation’s #HBCU Program, which empowers LGBTQ young people to lead effectively at the intersections of race, religion, gender identity, class and sexual orientation on their campuses and in their communities. #HBCUatHRC pic.twitter.com/pWuOvkkIf1
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 18, 2019
TUESDAY TWEET — KARAMO BROWN SHOWS HIS SUPPORT FOR TRANS & NON-BINARY PEOPLE AFTER TRUMP-PENCE EFFORTS TO ABANDON PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER EMPLOYEES: More here.
#HeyFriends, our Trans & Non Binary loved one are under attack! The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to rule that federal law that prohibits employment discrimination NOT protect transgender people. #ThisIsNotOkay pic.twitter.com/xkYIDssneh
— Karamo Brown (@Karamo) August 19, 2019
HOW NON-BINARY IDENTITY IS RESHAPING FASHION: More from The New York Times.
THE GUARDIAN SPORTS WRITER NICKY BANDINI (@NickyBandini) COMES OUT AS TRANSGENDER: More from The Guardian.
Some personal news…t.co/6DhG9cor9G pic.twitter.com/MxVPRpwMnH
— Nicky Bandini (@NickyBandini) August 16, 2019
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
LEADER OF CONSERVATIVE RULING PARTY IN POLAND CONDEMNS LGBTQ PRIDE MARCHES: More from Openly.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY POLICE BAN PALESTINIAN LGBTQ ORG FROM HOLDING ACTIVITIES IN THE WEST BANK: More from The New York Times.
BERLIN MEMORIAL TO LGBTQ PEOPLE KILLED IN HOLOCAUST VANDALIZED: More from Associated Press.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Outsports interviews openly bisexual track and field athlete Kaitlyn Long (@kaitlynlong34); Los Angeles Blade reports on disturbing reports of anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ actions in Southern California.
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-august-20-2019?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Before Trump Eyed Greenland: Here’s What Happened Last Time the US Bought a Large Chunk of the Arctic
Editor’s note: Reports that President Donald Trump has urged aides to look into buying Greenland make us think of the last time the United States bought a major territory in the Arctic: the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Two years ago, we asked William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, a visiting professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, to write about that historic sale.
On March 30, 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and Russian envoy Baron Edouard de Stoeckl signed the Treaty of Cession. With a stroke of a pen, Tsar Alexander II had ceded Alaska, his country’s last remaining foothold in North America, to the United States for US$7.2 million.
That sum, amounting to just $125 million in 2019 dollars, brought to an end Russia’s 125-year odyssey in Alaska and its expansion across the treacherous Bering Sea, which at one point extended the Russian Empire as far south as Fort Ross, California, 90 miles from San Francisco Bay.
Today Alaska is one of the richest U.S. states thanks to its abundance of natural resources, such as petroleum, gold and fish, as well as its vast expanse of pristine wilderness and strategic location as a window on Russia and gateway to the Arctic.
So what prompted Russia to withdraw from its American beachhead? And how did it come to possess it in the first place?
As a descendant of Inupiaq Eskimos, I have been living and studying this history all my life.
The lust for new lands that brought Russia to Alaska and eventually California began in the 16th century, when the country was a fraction of its current size.
That began to change in 1581, when Russia overran a Siberian territory known as the Khanate of Sibir, which was controlled by a descendant of Genghis Khan. This key victory opened up Siberia, and within 60 years the Russians were at the Pacific.
The Russian advance across Siberia was fueled in part by the lucrative fur trade, a desire to expand the Russian Orthodox Christian faith to the “heathen” populations in the east and the addition of new taxpayers and resources to the empire.
In the early 18th century, Peter the Great – who created Russia’s first Navy – wanted to know how far the Asian landmass extended to the east. The Siberian city of Okhotsk became the staging point for two explorations he ordered. And in 1741, Vitus Bering successfully crossed the strait that bears his name and sighted Mt. Saint Elias, near what is now the village of Yakutat, Alaska.
Although Bering’s second Kamchatka Expedition brought disaster for him personally when adverse weather on the return journey led to a shipwreck on one of the westernmost Aleutian Islands and his eventual death from scurvy in December 1741, it was an incredible success for Russia. The surviving crew fixed the ship, stocked it full of hundreds of the sea otters, foxes and fur seals that were abundant there and returned to Siberia, impressing Russian fur hunters with their valuable cargo. This prompted something akin to the Klondike gold rush that happened 150 years later.
But maintaining these settlements wasn’t easy. Russians in Alaska – who numbered no more than 800 at their peak – faced the reality of being half a globe away from St. Petersburg, then the capital of the empire, making communications a key problem.
Also, Alaska was too far north to allow for significant agriculture and therefore unfavorable as a place to send large numbers of settlers. So they began exploring lands farther south, at first looking only for people to trade with so they could import the foods that wouldn’t grow in Alaska’s harsh climate. They sent ships to what is now California, established trade relations with the Spaniards there and eventually set up their own settlement at Fort Ross in 1812.
Thirty years later, however, the entity set up to handle Russia’s American explorations failed. Not long after, the Russians began to seriously question whether they could continue their Alaskan colony as well.
The colony was no longer profitable after the sea otter population was decimated, Alaska was difficult to defend and Russia was short on cash due to the costs of the war in Crimea.
The Russians were ready to sell. But what motivated the Americans to buy?
In Alaska, the Americans foresaw a potential for gold, fur and fisheries, as well as more trade with China and Japan. The Americans worried that England might try to establish a presence in the territory, and the acquisition of Alaska – it was believed – would help the U.S. become a Pacific power. And overall the government was in an expansionist mode backed by the then-popular idea of “manifest destiny.”
So a deal with incalculable geopolitical consequences was struck, and the Americans got quite a bargain for their $7.2 million.
The U.S. gained about 370 million acres of mostly pristine wilderness – almost a third the size of the European Union – including 220 million acres of what are now federal parks and wildlife refuges. Hundreds of billions of dollars in whale oil, fur, copper, gold, timber, fish, platinum, zinc, lead and petroleum have been produced in Alaska over the years – allowing the state to do without a sales or income tax and give every resident an annual stipend. Alaska still likely has billions of barrels of oil reserves.
The state is also a key part of the United States defense system, with military bases located in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and it is the country’s only connection to the Arctic, which ensures it has a seat at the table as melting glaciers allow the exploration of the region’s significant resources.
Alaska finally became a state in 1959, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act.
This is an updated and shortened version of an article originally published on March 29, 2017.
William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, Visiting Distinguished Professor, University of Alaska Anchorage
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The post Before Trump Eyed Greenland: Here’s What Happened Last Time the US Bought a Large Chunk of the Arctic appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
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