Pope Francis Holds Private Meeting With Transgender Man and Fiancée

After being rejected by members of his church in Spain, a transgender man wrote to the pontiff — and landed a private meeting with the pope.

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Stevie St. John

www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2015/01/26/pope-francis-holds-private-meeting-transgender-man-and-fianc-e

Gay, Closeted, and Heartbroken in Morocco (VIDEO)

I’m From Driftwood is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit archive for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer stories. New stories are posted on the site every Wednesday.

While abroad in Morocco, one of 77 countries in which it is illegal to be gay, Anthony Mercurio was dumped by his first love. “I was pretty devastated,” Anthony recalls:

[F]or a week, basically, I was, like, in tears or crying or upset, and my host family had no idea what was going on, so they were so confused as to what was happening. They were like, “Is he homesick?” Like, they kept asking me questions, and I was like … “Everything’s fine. I’m just sad.” And you can only say that so much.

Unable to express the real reason for his heartbreak, at least Anthony had his host grandmother there to comfort him:

She didn’t actually even speak Arabic; she spoke Berber. So we literally could not communicate ever. There was no point in which we could, like, communicate verbally with each other. … So we couldn’t talk, but she would just … bring me a plate of food and, like, pat me on the back and, like, rub my back and then walk away. And then she would come back like 20 minutes later and take whatever — I probably hadn’t eaten that much — but she would, like, bring another plate of food, and then she would bring me tea or something, because that was her way of making me feel better, and that was glorious.

And as Anthony realized, his grief and distraction about his boyfriend were only ruining his experience:

I kind of buckled up and decided that I’m in Morocco for another three months, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I decided to kind of jump off and just be fully present in everywhere I was.

WATCH:

For more stories, visit I’m From Driftwood, the LGBTQ Story Archive.

www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-manske/gay-closeted-and-heartbroken-in-morocco_b_6538098.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

What To Watch This Week on TV: 'Murder' Returns, Ellen Debuts 'Design Challenge'

Bobby Hankinson

www.towleroad.com/2015/01/-what-to-watch-this-week-on-tv-murder-returns-ellen-debuts-design-challenge.html

Ben Carson: Gays Might Find Poison in Wedding Cakes

Same-sex couples should think twice about ordering cakes from bakeries that don’t want to serve them, says the potential presidential candidate.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/politics/politicians/2015/01/26/ben-carson-gays-might-find-poison-wedding-cakes

7 Snow Day Charts To Help You Weather The Storm
Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, whatever hyperbolic name you’re calling it, it’s here.

The Northeast is facing a snowstorm of epic proportions so we’re getting prepared the only way we know how: making sarcastic charts about our impending doom. Don’t you worry, though. As long as you’ve got shelter, food, water and Netflix, you’re probably going to be okay.

So for those of you who find yourself out of work, out of school or out of shows to stream during the storm, scroll down for 7 charts that will help you put #Snowmageddon2015 into perspective.

Images by Andy McDonald

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/26/funny-snow-day-charts_n_6549364.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Egyptian Appellate Court Upholds Acquittal of 26 Egyptian Men

Today, an Egyptian court of appeals upheld the acquittal of 26 Egyptian men in a widely watched case.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/egyptian-appellate-court-upholds-acquittal-of-26-egyptian-men?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Sam Smith Forced To List Tom Petty As “Stay With Me” Co-Writer, Dish Out Royalty Checks

There are famous, woefully obvious cases of musical plagiarism. Vanilla Ice’s unauthorized sampling of Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure in his much more forgettable Ice, Ice Baby comes to mind first.

That’s the clearcut, shaking my head sort of copyright infringement. But the waters get much murkier in terms of who owns what in a musical canon that isn’t getting any smaller. There are only twelve notes in the Western scale, and only so many ways to arrange them.

Which brings us to the bit of news that Tom Petty has been awarded a percentage of songwriting royalties and a writer’s credit on Sam Smith‘s 2014 breakout hit “Stay With Me.”

Huh? You might ask.

Well unbeknownst to us, when the track was released in April of last year, many well-tuned listeners thought the chorus bared a striking resemblance to Petty’s “Won’t Back Down.”

Petty’s lawyers agreed, and reached an agreement with camp Smith for a whopping 12.5% of royalties. They settled back in October, but the details have only just emerged.

In addition, Pettey and singer-composer Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame) have been given songwriting credits, as shown here on the song’s credit on ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers):

Consequence of Sound quotes one source close to the case saying:

“When Sam’s track was originally released, it was clear to a lot of musicians that there were notable similarities between the tracks,” referring specifically to melodies of the respective choruses. “After it was pointed out to Sam’s camp, they didn’t try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged.”

A rep for Smith added:

“Not previously familiar with the 1989 Petty/Lynne song, the writers of ‘Stay With Me’ listened to ‘I Won’t Back Down’ and acknowledged the similarity. Although the likeness was a complete coincidence, all involved came to an immediate and amicable agreement in which Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne are now credited as co-writers of ‘Stay With Me’ along with Sam Smith, James Napier and William Phillips.”

“Stay With Me” was one of the most successful singles of 2014, selling around 4 million copies. It’s also up for Best Pop Performance and Record of the Year at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
Here are the two choruses played over one another. What do you think? 

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/uFAlnIwQFYc/sam-smith-forced-to-list-tom-petty-as-stay-with-me-co-writer-dish-out-royalty-checks-20150126

Alabama's First Openly Gay Lawmaker Threatens to 'Out' Anti-gay Colleagues Having Extramarital Affairs

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/01/alabamas-first-openly-gay-lawmaker-threatens-to-out-anti-gay-colleagues-having-extramarital-affairs.html