Pat Robertson Blames Health Crisis on Marriage Equality, Abortion

God won’t heal the land because we haven’t repented of those sins, says the extremist preacher.

www.advocate.com/religion/2020/4/21/pat-robertson-blames-health-crisis-marriage-equality-abortion

Zoom asks people to kindly stop using its platform for virtual hookups

As quarantine lingers on (and on), more and more people are turning to virtual platforms to fulfill their, ahem, needs. “Zoom sex parties” are officially a thing, but in a statement to Rolling Stone, the company says it really doesn’t want people using its app for x-rated purposes.

“Zoom’s user policies explicitly prohibit any obscene, indecent, illegal, or violent activity or content on the platform,” a spokesperson for the company says.

Related: 3000 guys showed up to an online sex party in the UK

The spokesperson adds that the company is prepared to take “number of actions” against anyone who uses the platform for “any activity that is harmful, obscene, or indecent, particularly as would be understood in the context of business usage,” including “displays of nudity, violence, pornography, [and] sexually explicit material.”

“We encourage users to report suspected violations of our policies, and we use a mix of tools, including machine learning, to proactively identify accounts that may be in violation.”

Related: Judge working from home caught shirtless during court hearing on Zoom

There are also security issues to be concerned about. The company is currently under investigation for its data and security practices. Then there’s also “zoombombing,” when hackers break into conference calls. And the fact that a person can easily record a virtual sex party and then upload it to another site later.

One gay man from Brooklyn who goes by the pseudonym Oscar Buzz tells Rolling Stone that he’s not worried about any of this.

Buzz says he’s been using Zoom to host nightly sex parties for queer men, describing them as “a way to connect with the community, make sure they’re OK, and make sure they feel good about themselves.”

Related: Coronavirus and sex: What gay guys need to know before hooking up

And he doesn’t care what Zoom has to say about it either.

“I think this is another instance of a business that wants to pretend it doesn’t do these things, but of course it does,” he says.

Gay sex columnist Dan Savage agrees. Earlier this week, he tweeted, “Seems like Zoom could maybe turn a blind eye to consenting adults organizing safe online sex parties on their platform. How hard would that be?”

What are your thoughts on Zoom sex parties? Sound off in the comments section below…

www.queerty.com/zoom-asks-people-kindly-stop-using-platform-virtual-hookups-20200421?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Psychedelic Furs, ‘Legendary’, Bill Barr, Idris Elba, Chloroquine, Orville Peck, Richard Quest, Jwan Yosef: HOT LINKS

LOCKDOWN. Attorney General Bill Barr threatens legal action against governors who oppose opening economy: “We have to give businesses more freedom to operate in a way that’s reasonably safe,” Barr said. “To the extent that governors don’t and impinge on either civil rights or on the national commerce — our common market that we have here — then we’ll have to address that.”

CLARIFICATION OF THE DAY. Novak Djokovic says he’s “opposed to the vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be able to travel.” “But if it becomes compulsory, I’ll have to make a decision whether to do it, or not. This is my current feeling. I don’t know if it will change, but it really influences my profession.” Backstory HERE.

IDRIS ELBA. We should do lockdown every year, to remember this… “I think it’s… other species use it. It’s called hibernation. But it does remind you that the world doesn’t tick on your time.”

LOVE OF HER LIFE. Lady Gaga is in the deep end with her current flame Michael Polansky.

ELECTION STOLEN. Senate Intel Committee reaffirms support for intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in 2016 election to help Trump, hurt Clinton. “Tuesday’s bipartisan report, from a panel chaired by North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, undercuts Trump’s years of efforts to portray allegations of Kremlin assistance to his campaign as a ‘hoax,’ driven by Democrats and a ‘deep state’ embedded within the government bureaucracy.”

CHLOROQUINE. There are no benefits to the anti-malaria drug against COVID-19, says new study.

END OF JUNE. Most Americans don’t think it will be safe to end lockdown until end of June. “Sixty-five percent of Americans surveyed said they expect the coronavirus pandemic to be controlled enough to allow for gatherings of more than 10 people by the end of June or later.”

ANOTHER JOURNALIST. CNN’s Richard Quest tests positive for coronavirus: “I have caught coronavirus. I am blessed in that I have few symptoms – just a cough. I am saving my prayers and thoughts for those less fortunate. Stay in. And protect lives.”

TALK SOUP. Joel McHale wore a mask and showed off his guns at a farmer’s market in L.A.

CUTTHROAT. This is how American Idol‘s remote shows are going to work. “It’s going to be more cutthroat because you’re going to see more people eliminated each week than normal. So there is going to be less room for error. And I think that will make it more exciting.”

LYRIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. The Psychedelic Furs “No One”.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY. Orville Peck “Summertime”.

TRAILER OF THE DAY. Legendary.

TAKE IT OFF TUESDAY. Jwan Yosef.

View this post on Instagram

Week 5 (clothing optional) #yourspaceistheplace #stayhome

A post shared by Jwan Yosef (@jwanyosef) on Apr 17, 2020 at 10:23am PDT

The post Psychedelic Furs, ‘Legendary’, Bill Barr, Idris Elba, Chloroquine, Orville Peck, Richard Quest, Jwan Yosef: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Psychedelic Furs, ‘Legendary’, Bill Barr, Idris Elba, Chloroquine, Orville Peck, Richard Quest, Jwan Yosef: HOT LINKS

LGBTQ People Must Condemn Violence Against Asian-Americans

Asian-Pacific Islanders are facing bigotry related to the current health crisis, and we must stand up for them, Emmett Schilling writes.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2020/4/21/lgbtq-people-must-condemn-violence-against-asian-americans

Notorious ex-gay preacher Sy Rogers dead at 63

“Ex-gay” preacher Sy Rogers died yesterday morning after a long struggle with kidney cancer.

Rogers rose to notoriety as a member of Exodus International in the 1980s. He claimed to have lived life as a gay man, and later, as a transgender woman, before undergoing a religious awakening. He spoke at length about his “conversion” throughout the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. He also spoke about his extremely abusive childhood, having grown up with an alcoholic mother and an emotionally distant father. Rogers also claimed to have been bullied for his effeminate manner, and to have been sexually abused.

Related: What seeking conversion therapy in my conservative county taught me

Rogers later met his wife, Karen, in a Bible study. They wed in 1982. The couple had several children and grandchildren together. The family would relocate to Singapore in the mid-80s to open a ministry in hopes of using conversion therapy to combat the AIDS crisis.

Though he gained fame as an advocate of conversion therapy, Rogers would distance himself from his “ex-gay” messaging after the closure of Exodus International in 2013. He began to preach a more generic message about salvation through Christianity. Exodus subsequently apologized for the harm it did to the LGBTQ community, though Rogers never did personally.

www.queerty.com/notorious-ex-gay-preacher-sy-rogers-dead-63-20200421?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Says U.S. Should Open Economy Because ‘There Are More Important Things Than Living’ — WATCH

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick on Monday doubled down on his assertion that it’s okay to sacrifice human lives for the American economy.

Said Patrick: “I’m sorry to say that I was right on this. … At the end of January, Dr. Fauci, who I have great respect for, said this wasn’t a big issue. Three weeks later, we were going to lose 2 million people. Another few weeks later it was 1 to 200,000. Now it’s under 60,000. And we’ve had the wrong numbers, the wrong science and I don’t blame them, but let’s face reality of where we are. In Texas we have 29 million people. We’ve lost 495. And every life is valuable. But 500 people out of 29 million. And we’re locked down. And we’re crushing the average worker. We’re crushing small business. We’re crushing this country. What I said when I was with you that night, there are more important things than living, and that is saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. And I don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die but we’ve got to take some risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running.”

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Says U.S. Should Open Economy Because ‘There Are More Important Things Than Living’ — WATCH