Photographer David Armstrong Dies at 60
The artist delighted in life’s imperfections
Jerry Portwood
www.advocate.com/%5Bprimary-topic-path-raw%5D/2014/10/27/photographer-david-armstrong-dies-60
#NOH8Ball4All
#NOH8Ball4All
Recently, in the small southern Indiana town of Vincennes a local committee comprised of high school parents and students voted 13-9 to maintain a decade long policy requiring “traditional couples only” for their “private, invitation only” New Years Eve Ball.
The 13-9 vote to maintain the policy was brought to light in a Huffington Post article (read here) that went viral. Among other things it asks: “Why exclude LGBT student-couples?”
Afterwards, the once amiable community found itself embattled in controversy. Long time neighbors and friends suffered hurt feelings, anger and rage. Many community members and students felt “attacked” by their lifelong friends. Social media exploded with accusations and indictments. Character assassins on Facebook and Twitter fired left and right, top to bottom. However, those few vitriolic voices were drowned out by the overwhelming live local and social media response from the community and the nation: a collective message of inclusion, affirmation, acceptance and love.
The world was watching. Local residents (read one mother’s plea here) and Vincennes Lincoln High School alumni from around the country as well as celebrity Ellen Page and Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez reached out via Twitter and Facebook to lend their support to Lincoln’s current student population–both gay and straight–voicing their solidarity for an all-inclusive New Years Eve Ball.
The ball committee changed their vote after the article’s publication and removed the words “traditional couples only” from the invitations. Now, according to the local newspaper, Lincoln High School LGBT students that receive an invitation, and who choose to attend, will no longer be forced to pair with someone of the opposite sex to qualify as a “traditional couple.”
Nevertheless, the undulation from my hometown’s divisiveness was felt in my adopted hometown of Miami, Florida. Fellow Lincoln High School alumna Andrea Ridgway reached out to me on Facebook from her California home. She’d felt the ripples too. Andrea and I had never met. She and I graduated from Lincoln almost a decade apart. After reading my HuffPo article she started a gofundme campaign.
Messaging back and forth via Facebook, Andrea and I decided that together we’d combine our social media voices to support all students at our beloved alma mater and throughout the county by using her campaign to raise funds and host an all-inclusive, open and affirming hometown celebration.
Together, with NOH8 Campaign’s assistance in facilitating national awareness alongside our “boots on the ground” backing from Vincennes University’s VUPRIDE, we want to host a #NOH8Ball4All–an open and inclusive spring 2015 dance for 9-12 graders (county high school students too!) plus a community awareness information fair. In other words, we hope to host in one day an afternoon of education followed by an evening of celebration!
YOU can help the #NOH8Ball4All campaign!
The power of social media served as an agent of change and it connected Andrea and me. Our efforts captured the attention of NOH8. (Check out “NOH8 in my ST8” here.) Now, collectively, we want to connect and share our campaign with you!
Our common goal is to raise enough funds to host the #NOH8Ball4All at the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center on the campus of Vincennes University. But we need your help!
By donating to the #NOH8Ball4All you too will lend your voice and support for southern Indiana LGBT and straight teens by allowing them the opportunity to celebrate diversity in addition to bringing awareness to the community. Let’s show the world there is NOH8 in Vincennes. Check out the www.gofundme.com/ball4all!
Post, tweet or send messages of support to southern Indiana LGBT students and their straight allies using #NOH8Ball4All or by joining the public Facebook group Vincennes #NOH8Ball4All and following J. Patrick Redmond on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Why would a LGBTI person set up a business when they'll be filtered out of the internet?
Why would a LGBTI person set up a business when they'll be filtered out of the internet?
Helen Belcher, trans activist, is considering legal action against firms that filter out LGBTI content
joem
Taking a Public Restroom for Granted
Taking a Public Restroom for Granted
I have had the opportunity to meet many inspirational people as the Director of HRC Alabama. While I have met many people out on the road across the state, I was surprised to have one of my most stirring conversations while applying makeup in a public restroom.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/taking-a-public-restroom-for-granted?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Conan Reveals Adam Sandler’s Animated Quest to See Shaq’s Penis
Conan Reveals Adam Sandler’s Animated Quest to See Shaq’s Penis
On the list of celebrity triptychs we never expected to see, Conan has managed to join Adam Sandler (remember that guy?) and former genie Shaquille O’Neal with a funny story about dicks. Okay, fine, we’ll watch, if you insist.
On an episode last year, Conan arranged for guest Sandler to relate the tale of trying to spy Shaq’s junk. That would be entertaining enough on its own, but now the story has been animated, because why not, and it’s about a million times more entertaining.
Legend has it that Shaquille O’Neal is, believe it or not, an incredibly funny guy who tells a great joke, which is exactly how the video culminates. We would like to believe that this is actually true, but we are having difficulty understanding how a guy who “gets” comedy could have an IMDb listing that includes Jack and Jill, Scary Movie 4, Freddy Got Fingered, and Kazaam. Then there’s also the matter of his homophobic ad from five years ago. (To be fair he was good on Curb Your Enthusiasm, so that’s nice?)
Anyway, here is the animated version of the story that is so good you’ll watch it and then wonder how much time will have to go by before you can steal it and tell it at parties like it actually happened to you:
matt baume
Jessica Lange Covering Lana Del Rey's 'Gods and Monsters' Tops iTunes Charts – WATCH
Jessica Lange Covering Lana Del Rey's 'Gods and Monsters' Tops iTunes Charts – WATCH
Over the past few weeks Jessica Lange has been serving up anachronistic covers of contemporary songs as American Horror Story’s Elsa Mars. The one thing that the Freakshow ringleader desires more than anything else in the world is the adulation of a captive audience, and according the iTunes billboard chart, she may be getting her wish.
Last Friday Lange’s cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Gods and Monsters” topped the iTunes soundtrack charts, ousting Disney’s Frozen and breathing new life into Del Rey’s original rendition of the song. Though this season of AHS takes place in 1950’s Florida, the songs that 20th Century Fox has released as digital singles have all been hits from other eras including David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” and Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.”
“I love what [Baz Luhrmann] does with his movies like Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge where you don’t play period stuff, you do stuff from all eras that fit the story,” Murphy told Entertainment Weekly of the show’s eclectic song choices. “So we decided we only were going to highlight musical artists who at some point in their career had identified themselves as feeling like freaks or misfits or outcasts, which our people are going through.”
Watch Jessica Lange’s cover of Lana Del Rey’s Gods and Monster from last Wednesday’s episode AFTER THE JUMP…
Charles Pulliam-Moore
#FILSA2014 #NICOLASTIENEDOSPAPAS LGBT TEVE II
#FILSA2014 #NICOLASTIENEDOSPAPAS LGBT TEVE II
Fuimos a Filsa (Feria Internacional del libro de Santiago) a preguntar a los visitante a Feria sobre NICOLAS TIENE DOS PAPAS la cual agradecemos la facilitación de un numero para esta Nota,…
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Where To Vote For Election Day 2014: Find Your Polling Place
Where To Vote For Election Day 2014: Find Your Polling Place
Election Day 2014 is almost here, and the tool below, created by Pew Charitable Trust in partnership with Google, can help you figure out where to cast your vote.
The tool uses official state data and does not require users to submit any personally identifiable information.
To find information on polling locations, voter ID requirements and candidate information, type the address where you are registered to vote into the tool below:
Dolly Parton: Anti-gay Christians are 'sinners'
Dolly Parton: Anti-gay Christians are 'sinners'
‘I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love.’
joem
www.gaystarnews.com/article/dolly-parton-anti-gay-christians-are-sinners271014
