Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

Pride & Pageantry On Display At Stonewall 50 Commemoration

The crowd at the Stonewall 50 Commemoration Rally (image via Twitter/NYCPride)

By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.

Steps away from “where pride began,” World Pride hosted the “Stonewall 50 Commemoration Rally” before an audience filling both Christopher and Grove Streets to capacity around Sheridan Square.

Marking the first night of the Stonewall Uprising, it was a historic event in World Pride’s impressive spectrum of attractions for visitors gathered from around the world as one to celebrate Community.

Starting off the proceeding with a true international flare was Fogo Azul, an all-woman Brazilian samba reggae drumline entering before the crowd in attendance quickly turning the summer night into a hot street dance.

New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio welcomed Pride visitors to the city and paid tribute to the Stonewall veterans who were the reason for the evenings gathering. Along with current Stonewall Inn owner, Stacy Lentz, the Mayor called those who rose up fifty years ago to the stage presenting them with a Mayoral proclamation declaring, June 28, 2019 as “Stonewall Day.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio (L) presents “Stonewall Day” proclamation
(photos: Lawrence Pfeil Jr)

Drag trio Stephanie’s Child took to the stage for a performance and served as mistresses of ceremonies for the night welcoming a roster of LGBT+ notables who have gotten the Community to today and continue to fight for equality, civil rights and justice throughout the world.

Stephanie’s Child

Notable among the speakers was Barbara Poma, owner of Pulse nightclub and founder of onePULSE Foundation.

Poma give a stirring speech recounting her son’s journey of coming out as a gay man and losing him to AIDS when he was only 28 years old. Through her son she learned the importance of “safe spaces” for LGBT+ people like nightclubs where they can gather and be themselves.

Barbara Poma (at podium)

In spite of the horrific tragedy of mass murder, hate crime at her own ‘safe space,’ Poma noted how the conversation about the safety of Black and Brown LGBTs has been elevated and needs to continue as they are disproportionately affected by hate crimes.

Considering all the people of color present when police raided the Stonewall Inn, maybe we haven’t come as far we’d like to be believe.

More photos from the event.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Rep. Jerrold Nadler

A blessing of unicorns

And some eye-candy in the crowd was nice, too 🙂
Posted on

Pride Music: Wrabel “The Village”

In August 2017, out musician Wrabel released his powerful music video for "The Village" as a sign of solidarity with the transgender community in the aftermath of Donald Trump's 'out of nowhere' decision to ban trans military service members.

In August 2017, out musician Wrabel released his powerful music video for “The Village” as a sign of solidarity with the transgender community in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s ‘out of nowhere’ decision to ban trans military service members.

Beginning with this quote, “In nature, a flock will attack any bird that is more colorful than the others because being different is seen as a threat,” the video follows a young transgender man’s journey into self-acceptance.

Wrabel sent this message to the LGBTQ community via social media over the weekend:

“To anyone that feels like an outsider, the problem isn’t you, it’s the village. I don’t know how else to raise my voice than in a song. And so, I wrote a song for you. #transrightsarehumanrights #thevillage”

The mournful tune focuses on issues of isolation that arise with the exploration of one’s sexuality and identity.

The lyrics urge the listener to remember there is nothing wrong with them. The issue is with those who treat them differently.

Watch below.

At the time of the video’s release, Wrabel tweeted:

Posted on

NYC: Lady Gaga Makes Surprise Appearance At Stonewall Day Concert

International pop star and LGBTQ ally Lady Gaga made a surprise appearance at Pride Live’s Stonewall Day Concert on Friday afternoon.
(Photo: Tim Soter for Pride Live)

International pop star and LGBTQ ally Lady Gaga made a surprise appearance at Pride Live’s Stonewall Day Concert on Friday afternoon.

Taking the stage in front of thousands of celebrants from around the world who gathered for WorldPride and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Gaga told the exuberant crowd, “Happy 50th anniversary of Stonewall! This is a historic day. You should be so, so proud of yourself.”

Continuing, she said:

“Look around you. Look at what you have done. You are the definition of courage, do you know that? … This community has fought, and continued to fight, a war of acceptance, a war of tolerance — and the most relentless bravery.”

“You are the definition of courage, do you know that? This is a celebration of all of you in every single way. I really, really hope you celebrate every inch of who you are today.”

Also appearing at the event were Alicia Keys, who performed Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Bob the Drag Queen, Wilson Cruz, Whoopi Goldberg, Chelsea Clinton, Donatella Versace, Geena Rocera, and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The entire event was live-streamed, and you can watch the full video here.

Posted on

InstaHunk Round-Up: June 29, 2019

First up, Bremen Menelli and bf Nick (above) are already getting their pride on as WorldPride takes over New York City. Ooh, ooh, I want a ride! Me next! Me next!

Catching up with our favorite InstaHunks this weekend. First up, Bremen Menelli and bf Nick (above) are already getting their pride on as WorldPride takes over New York City. Ooh, ooh, I want a ride! Me next! Me next! Eliad Cohen is putting the ‘sin’ in Sin City,  my hometown of Las Vegas: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzOE0JqAfN3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Thara loves a good post-workout selfie (and we’re not complaining): https://www.instagram.com/p/BzNziyflkbL/

Posted on

Poll: Large Majority Of LGBTQ Americans Say Sex Work Should Be Legal

Whitman Insight Strategies and BuzzFeed News surveyed LGBTQ Americans to get their thoughts on a range of issues.

Whitman Insight Strategies and BuzzFeed News surveyed LGBTQ Americans to get their thoughts on a range of issues.

Just some of the results:

• 87% believe Mayor Pete Buttigieg will face anti-gay bias in his run for the White House.

• 62% say they would vote for Buttigieg in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump, while former Vice President Joe Biden would garner 68% support in a race with Trump; Sen. Bernie Sanders got the highest support with 72% saying they would give him their vote if he faced Trump in the general election.

• 83% say sex work between consenting adults should be legal.

• 55% agreed that the Democratic nominee must be a woman, person of color, or identify as LGBTQ versus 45% who disagreed.

• 60% feel it’s not acceptable to out a closeted politician who supports anti-LGBTQ policies, 40% agree with me that it’s ok.

Click over to Buzzfeed for more details from the poll.

Posted on

Max Emerson ‘Goes Down’ On The Titanic

Max Emerson ‘goes down’ on the Titanic

YouTuber Max Emerson offers this entertaining ‘alternate universe’ where we find out the Titanic actually played host to one of our favorite shirtless YouTubers before going down in the Atlantic.

Emerson sets the stage by sharing, “There’s nothing worse than having your flight canceled. Luckily my agents got me a sponsored trip home from England on this big new boat!”

Showing off his cabin for his followers, Emerson shares the ‘unboxing’ of his influencer swag (the Heart of the Ocean diamond, naturally) while taking several shirtless selfies with crew members.

The handsome influencer even recreates the famous ‘naked drawing sequence’ from the film, sans a ‘Rose.’ Although, when you’re as hot as Max, who needs anyone else?

(screen capture)

When the ship hits ‘something,’ (gee, what could it be?) Emerson heads out to investigate for his followers where a crew member hands him a life jacket.

“Man, these influencers perks do not let up,” exclaims Emerson to his phone camera, complete with heart emojis.

“Oh my god,” says Emerson when he finds out the massive ship is sinking. “My viewer count has never been this high! Four million viewers???”

Needless to say, we pretty much know where this is heading, complete with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ instrumentals.

Major props to the creative team especially writer Deanna Director and director David Ma.

Cute, clever, and a fun mid-day brain break. Hit play below.

Happy Friday!

Posted on

Recapping Democratic Debate Night 2

Sen.Kamala Harris (L), Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R)

By most political experts’ accounts, the second night of Democratic debates was dominated by a stellar performance by California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Consensus also agrees Mayor Pete Buttigieg scored well as the first openly gay presidential candidate to take to the debate stage.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner in polling, found himself playing defense a surprising amount of time given that this is the first Democratic debate.

Check out these highlights for both via Twitter:

FiveThirtyEight teamed with Morning Consult to determine who ‘won’ the debates:

Among all 20 candidates, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro earned the highest scores for their debate performances relative to their favorability rating before they took the stage, according to the voters in our poll.

Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker also rated well, but their scores were more in line with their pre-debate favorability.

Meanwhile, voters didn’t exactly think Beto O’Rourke did badly on Night 1, but his grades were underwhelming given his popularity.

A CNN focus group agreed with the pundits:

Posted on

Trump Smirks As He ‘Warns’ Putin To Not Meddle In US Elections

Enjoying the attention of press and camera crews at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Donald Trump was asked if he was going to warn Russian President Putin against meddling in U.S. elections.

“Yes, of course I will,” replied Trump.

Turning to Putin with a smirk, Trump said, “Don’t meddle in the election, President.” He also gestured to the Russian delegation repeating, “Don’t meddle in the election.”

They all thought it to be quite hilarious.

All U.S. intelligence agencies have agreed that Russian forces worked to influence the 2016 presidential election which delivered a surprise win to Trump.

Trump also joked with the Russian leader about what he calls ‘fake news,’ telling Putin, “Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.”

“We also have,” replied Putin. “It’s the same.”

Posted on

White Supremacist Gets Life In Prison For Driving Car Into Crowd At Charlottesville Hate Rally

Alex Fields Jr. (mug shot)

NBC News reports that James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd protesting white supremacists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, has been sentence to life in prison.

James Alex Fields Jr. pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 hate crime charges in March in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty for murdering civil rights activist Heather Heyer and injuring more than 30 others when he intentionally mowed them down on a side street with his car on Aug. 12, 2017.

The 30th charge, which included a possible death sentence, was dropped. U.S. Attorney General William Barr directed and permitted prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors have said that Fields has shown no remorse for the violence and had a history of racist and anti-Semitic behavior.

According to reports, Fields admired Adolf Hitler keeping a photo of the German dictator next to his bed.

A former classmate of Fields testified during his trial that on a high school trip to a German concentration camp, Fields said aloud, “This is where the magic happened.”

This isn’t the end of legal troubles for Fields, though.

He has also been convicted on state charges, including first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one hit and run count for injuring dozens of others with his vehicle.

He has a sentencing hearing set on July 15 regarding those charges.

The jury in that case has reportedly recommended life in prison plus 419 years.