Jobless Numbers, Gov. Cuomo, Dr. Fauci, Auli’i Cravalho, Lil Nas X, ‘Modern Family,’ ‘Tiger King,’ Brandi Carlile, Lady Antebellum: HOT LINKS

OUT OF WORK: U.S. jobless claims top 6 million for second straight week

FLATTENING THE CURVE: N.Y. Reports Highest Daily Death Toll; Hospitalizations Plunge

200 coronavirus patients in New York State were hospitalized Wednesday; lowest amount since March 18.

“All of this data suggests that we are flattening the curve so far,” NY Gov. Cuomo says. pic.twitter.com/Trrnj0PyJC

— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 9, 2020

COVER UP: All DC Grocery Store Shoppers Must Wear Masks, Mayor Says

‘IT CAN BE IN THE CARDS’: Fauci Is Cautiously Optimistic About Summer Gatherings

When asked by @TonyDokoupil if he can envision a summer where we’re returning to beaches, celebrations, etc., Dr. Fauci said yes, “if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence” and “identify, isolate, contact, trace,” to avoid future spikes. pic.twitter.com/FBExwKcjrY

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 9, 2020

EASTER FOOLS: Kansas Republicans Undo Governor’s Coronavirus Order Prohibiting Large Religious Gatherings

UN-SAFEWAY: California Woman Arrested After Allegedly Licking, Contaminating Supermarket Items Worth $1,800

LIGHTS STAY OUT: Broadway Will Stay Closed Until At Least June

AND SO IT BEGINS: Poll finds Biden with 11-point national lead on Trump

EXIT INTERVIEW: Stephen Colbert Grills Bernie Sanders: Are You Endorsing Biden or Not?

TIKTOK OF THE DAY: Auli’i Cravalho, Star of Disney’s ‘Moana,’ Comes Out as Bisexual

‘I 100% WANT TO REPRESENT THE LGBT COMMUNITY’: Lil Nas X Said He Was Planning To Die With The Secret That He Was Gay

‘BROKEBACK’ THROWBACK: Jake Gyllenhaal Reveals Heath Ledger ‘Refused’ to Present at Oscars Over Brokeback Mountain Joke

BEHIND THE SCENES: Fox to Air One-Hour TMZ Special on ‘Tiger King’ Backstory

END OF AN ERA: The ‘Modern Family’ Series Finale Reminds Us Why It Changed History—and Why People Stopped Caring

LATE-NIGHT PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Brandi Carlile Pays Tribute To John Prine: “Hello In There”

VIRTUAL JAM OF THE DAY: Lady Antebellum’s ‘Islands In The Stream’ Cover For Kenny Rogers Tribute Will Blow You Away

TRAILER OF THE DAY: Homecoming, Season Two

TRAILER OF THE DAY NO. 2: The Half of It

THURSDAY THIRST: RogerZach

View this post on Instagram

Summer 2018 #patience #instalife #instalike #armylife #memories #cyprus #sunnyday #fitness #2018 #oldies #photography #photoshoot #fashionmen #gymlife

A post shared by RogerZach (@rogerzacha1998) on Apr 4, 2020 at 11:35am PDT

The post Jobless Numbers, Gov. Cuomo, Dr. Fauci, Auli’i Cravalho, Lil Nas X, ‘Modern Family,’ ‘Tiger King,’ Brandi Carlile, Lady Antebellum: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Jobless Numbers, Gov. Cuomo, Dr. Fauci, Auli’i Cravalho, Lil Nas X, ‘Modern Family,’ ‘Tiger King,’ Brandi Carlile, Lady Antebellum: HOT LINKS

An Easter Service for LGBTQ Christians in the Social Distancing Era

No need to pack a church — Believe Out Loud is offering an LGBTQ-centric service to be viewed online.

www.advocate.com/religion/2020/4/09/easter-service-lgbtq-christians-social-distancing-era

PHOTOS: Guys are posting thirsty pictures of themselves for the “Quarantine Pillow Challenge”

Coronavirus cabin fever is taking hold.

Quarantined people the world over have started styling their bedding into fashion and then posting their photo spreads to social media.

One influencer, Conor McKenzie, took it to an extreme level by putting on an entire “blanket couture” runway show in his apartment.

“I have this really gorgeous blanket on my bed, I was like let me see if I can play around,” McKenzie tells New York Post, adding that he wanted to “bring a smile to people’s faces.”

While others may not be getting quite as elaborate as McKenzie with their bed chamber fashion looks, plenty are still having fun with the challenge. Anything to pass the time, right?

And now, the photos…

Related: Dance instructor slays with his kitchen quarantine fashion displays

www.queerty.com/photos-guys-posting-thirsty-pictures-quarantine-pillow-challenge-20200409?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Pence Throws Tantrum Over CNN Not Airing Trump’s Daily White House Campaign Rallies

Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly barred the nation’s top health officials from appearing on CNN, until the network resumes airing President Donald Trump’s White House coronavirus briefings in their entirety.

“When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air,” a representative for Pence told the network.

CNN reports: Pence’s office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members. CNN often only broadcasts President Donald Trump’s question and answer session, which sometimes includes the health care officials, live on-air. After Trump leaves the podium, CNN frequently cuts out of the White House briefing to discuss and fact-check what the President had said. A CNN executive said that the network usually returns to such programming because of the extensive length of the full briefing that includes Pence, which can run in excess of two hours.

More from Business Insider: CNN is one of several networks that often cut away from the briefings to fact-check the president’s statements and don’t always air the full events, which can last a few hours. Trump regularly makes false or misleading claims about the pandemic in the briefing room. … Many critics have argued that the daily events often bear more resemblance to campaign rallies than informational briefings. Trump has invited some top donors in the business world, who are helping produce essential medical supplies, to promote their companies and praise him. Last week, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell celebrated the president, saying, “God gave us grace on November 8, 2016, to change the course we were on.” 

The post Pence Throws Tantrum Over CNN Not Airing Trump’s Daily White House Campaign Rallies appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Pence Throws Tantrum Over CNN Not Airing Trump’s Daily White House Campaign Rallies

Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN

Jerry Falwell Jr., the rabidly anti-LGBT president of Liberty University, reportedly has obtained arrest warrants for journalists from the New York Times and ProPublica after the outlets published stories critical of his reckless decision to reopen the school’s campus amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Falwell Jr. told right-wing radio host Todd Starnes on Wednesday that he also plans to file defamation suits against the two publications. He claims it was the journalists — not him — who put Liberty University students at risk by traveling to the school from coronavirus “hotspots” to cover the story.

“We had signs posted at every entrance — no trespassing except students, faculty, staff and anybody with official university business,” Falwell said. “To us, it’s so hypocritical for them to come to a campus that’s doing everything right — social distancing, takeout food only, protecting our students who have no place else to go and no classes — and come on on our campus from New York, or Washington or wherever the hotspot is they come from, and put our students at risk. … It’s gonna be an ugly legal fight, I’m sorry to say, but you know I feel like they forced us into a corner, and I don’t think God wants Christians to just sit back and not protect what they believe in. … It’s just sad that they would take advantage of something that’s killing people, a virus that’s a horrible thing. This is not a time to be partisan, but what do they do? They go after the one school — that’s doing it just like every other school — that’s not liberal, that’s conservative and Christian, and they use this virus as an excuse to politicize and attack Christians, and to attack conservatives, and that’s the really sad part.”

Politico reports: Photocopies of the two warrants published on the website of Todd Starnes, a conservative radio host, charge that Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer for the Times, and Alec MacGillis, a ProPublica reporter, committed misdemeanor trespassing on the Lynchburg, Va., campus of the college while working on their articles. Falwell and Liberty, one of the most high-profile evangelical schools in the country, have come under fire for welcoming students back to campus after the school’s spring break despite the pandemic, while nearly every other college in the country has ordered students off campus. In an interview on Starnes’ show, Falwell ripped a New York Times report that nearly a dozen students were experiencing symptoms of Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The Times cited “the physician who runs Liberty’s student health service,” who said three students so far had been tested for coronavirus, with at least one student, who lives off campus, testing positive.

More from Talking Points Memo: Richard Tofel, president of ProPublica, told TPM that though there were reporters on Liberty’s campus to report out a couple of stories, he has received no word about the warrant. “We’ve heard nothing about this, and we’ve not heard from the University or from the authorities in Virginia on this at all,” he said. “As the story indicates, there was reporting there on obviously the most important news story of many years.” New York Times Senior Vice President of Communications Eileen Murphy expressed the outlet’s “disappointment” in Falwell’s action. “Our freelance photographer was engaged in the most routine form of news gathering: taking a picture of a person who was interviewed for a news story,” she told TPM in a statement. “We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university’s decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic.”

Listen to Starnes’ interview with Falwell below.

The post Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN

#AM_Equality: April 9, 2020

HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID ON SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS’ TREMENDOUS ADVOCACY: “Through his campaign and career in public service, Senator Bernie Sanders has driven equality forward for marginalized communities and energized voters from every walk of life,” said David (@AlphonsoDavid). “He created a movement centered on issues of justice that elevated issues long overlooked on the national stage. People of every community responded to the Senator’s call for changes to a status quo that has failed to address a variety of issues affecting marginalized communities across the nation. This important conversation will continue thanks to Senator Sanders’ tireless efforts.” Read more from HRC.

HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID ON DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS: “As in all emergencies, the most vulnerable are the most at risk during the COVID-19 crisis,” said David. “Data is emerging showing Black communities are contracting and dying from the virus at particularly high rates and our own research shows the economic and health impacts this pandemic may have on LGBTQ people. We cannot ignore the role that bias plays in health disparities.” Read more from HRC.

THANKFUL THURSDAY — HRC CELEBRATES “MODERN FAMILY” FOR 11 GROUNDBREAKING SEASONS: “When Modern Family premiered nearly a decade ago, we lived in a very different world. Modern Family brought Cam and Mitchell into the living rooms of Americans across the country, and the show’s portrayal of love and acceptance has moved LGBTQ representation forward like never before,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Modern Family has inspired us to embrace ourselves and others for who they are — and for that we cannot thank the cast and crew enough. Every step of the way, the Human Rights Campaign has been proud to share in these moments and you will each always be a part of our modern family.” Watch here.

• To celebrate yesterday’s finale of “Modern Family,” Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) also took over HRC’s Twitter to share memories from the show and explain how we need to keep moving the needle forward on LGBTQ issues. Read the full takeover here.

COVID-19 HEALTH CRISIS PUTS LGBTQ HOMELESS YOUTH AT INCREASED RISK: Read more from NBC Out.

• HRC has compiled a list of direct online and phone support services for LGBTQ youth. Learn more here.

TODAY — HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID TO JOIN NEW BI-WEEKLY BROADCAST SERIES FROM OUT LEADERSHIP (@OutLeadership): Learn more here.

GET CULTURED – Entertainment, arts and sports news!

LIL NAS X (@LilNasX) OPENS UP ABOUT “OLD TOWN ROAD,” HIS QUEER IDENTITY AND HIS DECISION TO COME OUT: Read more from The Guardian.

SINGER REBECCA BLACK (@MsRebeccaBlack) COMES OUT AS QUEER: More from Billboard.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

HRC GLOBAL FELLOWS — COLLABORATING WITH LGBTQ ADVOCATES IN ALBANIA: Last October, HRC Global welcomed Sidita Zaja (@siditazaja), an activist and executive director of United Pro LGBT in Albania. This past February, HRC Global Senior Manager Taylor N.T. Brown traveled to Albania to work with Zaja and community advocates in support of their campaign for LGBTQ acceptance and supportive policies. Read more from HRC.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

HRC unveils new LGBTQ Zoom backgrounds so you can Zoom with pride; Forbes covers five LGBTQ women writers to read during social distancing; NewNowNext covers the top 11 things we’ll miss about “Schitt’s Creek”

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-april-9-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed