LGBTQ news and entertainment
More than 30 years after it was published, Armistead Maupin’s Letter To Mama is still so powerful that Laura Linney, Ellen Page, and their Tales Of The City co-stars can barely get through reading it without crying.
Such an incredibly talented cast. Watch how Olympia Dukakis takes in each line before connecting with the camera with devastating honesty.
If you haven’t watched the new Netflix revival of Tales of the City, you really must.
Billboard recording artist, Broadway veteran and People Magazine’s first-ever openly gay“Hottest Bachelor,” Matt Zarley has received critical acclaim as an out LGBTQ artist for years.
It’s worth noting Zarley was never closeted as an artist. Long before it was considered ‘brave’ decided to come out, Zarley proudly took center stage – no mask, no hiding.
In a recent Instagram post in honor of Pride Month, he wrote: “When I released my very first recording in 2002, I was out. I have always been out. I was out when some called it brave and a risk to be. I was just me.”
With his uplifting music video, “Change Begins With Me”, Zarley scored the 2012 OUTmusic Single of the Year.
Oh, he also picked up Album of the Year that year.
He’s alright – if you like talent.
I never grow tired of this.
Chippendales ‘take a Tebow’
Asked by @AprilDRyan whether he has reconsidered his rash demand for the death penalty for the five teens who had since been exonerated of all charges in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, President Trump sided with Linda Fairstein and fellow denialists. pic.twitter.com/tXYGsRGeWU— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) June 18, 2019
• A new study by Pew Research shows bisexual adults are less likely to come out to important people in their lives than gays or lesbians. • In the middle of Pride month, the U.S. Senate confirmed another anti-LGBTI Trump judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, to a lifetime appointment to the federal bench in the Northern District of Texas with a 52-46 vote. • In a 243-183 vote, the Democratic-controlled House passed an amendment to the $1 trillion Defense spending bill that prohibits Donald Trump’s transgender military ban from being funded. • Check out the new music video from Lucy & La Mer, “Blue Dress,” about discovering one’s bisexuality and the “lightbulb” crush that begins bisexual exploration. I liked the quirky, folky, fun aesthetic. “I wrote the song right after a first date — last year, actually — just reflecting on that initial lightbulb experience about being curious and attracted to another gender than you thought you were,” Lucy told Billboard. “I wanted it to be something that was positive and energetic, not so serious or tortured or anything like that.”
Pride Month includes all of our diverse communities, so I love sharing this music video.
Back in 2013, over 200 “bears” joined together to make guitar-toting Tom Goss’s super-fun music video for “Bears.”
Complete with lots of robust, hirsute men playing with Super Soakers, careening down a slip and slide, and dancing in a club (usually in slow motion), the video celebrates all the furry goodness.
Prominent figures in the “bear” and LGBTQ community star in the film including model and Bear World Magazine’s “Bear of the Month,” Miles Windsor (a.k.a. Lumberjack Bear), Charger Stone (DC Bear Crue), and well-known drag queen, B’Naka.
Aside from his personal tastes (his husband since 2010 is a self-professed Bear), Tom wanted to showcase the diversity of the gay community in a high caliber production.
“We are overrun with images of perfect men, in perfect clothes and perfect bodies, and as a result, many people doubt their self-image,” says Goss. “This video showcases what it means to be beautiful and sexy, regardless of size,” he continues.
Even before it’s formal release, the buzz both online and through the production had already resulted in Goss receiving dozens of emails from men thanking him for boosting their self-image.
All things Tom Goss can be found at his official website here.
 |
| (image via Flickr/JeepersMedia – CC License) |
Tennessee hate pastor and Knox County Sheriff’s Detective Grayson Fritts has been told to ‘sashay away’ by popular southern restaurant Cracker Barrel.
Fritss, who recently made national headlines for a series of sermonshe gave calling for police to round up and kill LGBTQ people (whom he referred to as ‘filthy animals’), had planned to hold a meeting at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Cleveland, Tennessee, on June 29.
But the restaurant has turned the pastor and his church group away citing the company’s zero-tolerance policy for “discriminatory treatment or harassment of any sort.”
 |
| Grayson Fritts |
In a statement posted to the company’s Twitter account, Cracker Barrel wrote, “We strongly disagree with their statements of hate and divisiveness” and added that Fritts and his group “will not be permitted on site.”
“We take pride in serving as a home away from home for all guests and in showing our communities and our country that the hospitality we practice is open to everyone,” continued the statement.
In closing, the company wrote, “We serve everyone who walks through our doors with genuine hospitality, not hate, and require all guests to do the same,” said in closing.
Local LGBTQ activist David Tierney had spoken to the restaurant and jumped into action organizing a phone campaign.
Speaking to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tierney said, “It is a small victory for our community and it took a lot of work for us to even get this accomplished.”
“This is all started as an online campaign and action, organized by direct message (online), then grew into a real action, and then got picked up by the states Democratic Party,” Tierney told the News Sentinel. “It really just spread like wildfire over the course of 5 days.”
The community action helped spur the Tennessee Democratic Party to contact Cracker Barrel as well.
Party chair Mary Mancini penned a letter to Cracker Barrel CEO Sandra Cochran reminding the executive of the company’s own pledge to honor inclusivity and diversity.
A letter to @CrackerBarrel CEO Sandy Cochran from @tndp chair @marymancini re: Grayson Fritts’ church, All Scripture Baptist, hosting an event at their store in Cleveland, TN. pic.twitter.com/VI6carVyaY— TN Democratic Party (@tndp) June 18, 2019
As Fritts’ controversial sermons went public earlier this month, he was allowed to use paid sick days until a Voluntary Workforce Reduction Buy Out program kicks in July 19 when he will retire with benefits.
Fritts has used his ‘sick leave’ to travel this past weekend to Orlando, Florida, where he took part in the three-day “Death to Gays” rally celebrating the 3rd anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting which left 49 dead and more than 50 more injured.
|
| (image via Flickr/Paul Woolrich – CC license) |
A transgender woman alleges a Chicago Police sargeant forced her to perform oral sex on him to avoid being arrested.
On March 5, the woman arrived at Rush University Medical Center and told the staff she had been sexually assaulted, reports the Chicago Tribune.
According to the unnamed woman, she was in an area on Fifth Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood known for prostitution. She admitted she was with a man who she referred to as her boyfriend.
A Chicago police car pulled up and asked her what she was doing in the area. The woman says she explained she was “going home.”
According to her statement via police report, he allegedly told her that if she didn’t want to go to jail she would have to perform oral sex on him saying, “Because that’s what you do.”
She says she was ordered to get in the front seat of his car, and the sargeant drove off leaving her male companion there.
He allegedly stopped in an alley, exposed himself and ordered her to perform the sex act in the vehicle. At some point, the woman says she was able to preserve DNA evidence.
During the alleged sex act, the 39-year-old woman says the officer told her, “I can make you one of my regulars.”
At the hospital, she gave staffers the DNA evidence that she said would prove her story.
But she left the hospital before filing a police report saying she was fearful of “retaliation” by police officers.
Eventually, police detectives were able to discern the woman’s identity but found contacting her to be difficult. At the same time, detectives searched through surveillance video in the area she said the assault took place.
Weeks later, detectives became aware the woman was in police custody for a shoplifting charge and were able to interview her.
The Tribune reports that the Chicago Police Department “stripped the officer of his police powers on April 6 based on the findings of an internal investigation.
A week later, the sergeant was allowed to officially retire from CPD without being charged in connection with the alleged assault.
Police say they are still awaiting the results of DNA testing.
According to the Tribune, this isn’t the officer’s first brush with internal police charges.
In 1997, he was investigated after it was discovered he threatened to plant drugs on a suspect unless they handed over a gun. While Internal Affairs recommended he be fired, he was eventually given a 30-day suspension.
|
| Just me… |
I do my thing here on The Randy Report because what I share here are things that are: 1. Important to me and I think folks should know, or… 2. Things that remind me I’m human, and we should never lose touch with that So, it was an extremely lovely surprise to see a tweet I was tagged in that led me to an article on PRNewswire.com by Rocky Parker listing me among LGBTQ+ bloggers who share “unique insights, advice, and great writing on a variety of topics including activism, news, parenting, travel, gaming, and more.”
And the list was full of heavy-hitters I read every day!
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, widely considered to be the start of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in the U.S. The first Pride marches in support of the LGBTQ+ community were organized one year later.
To mark the anniversary, this year’s NYC Pride will celebrate #WorldPride with events throughout the entire month of June and expects 3 million parade attendees.
Each year during Pride Month, we take time to recognize and celebrate those in the LGBTQ+ media that are bringing their unique voices and stories to the conversation.
In past years, we’ve recognized some of the top LGBTQ+ influencers and news sites.
This year, we’re shining a light on LGBTQ+ bloggers that are sharing their unique insights, advice, and great writing on a variety of topics including activism, news, parenting, travel, gaming, and more.
These are a few of our favorites, in no particular order.
Color me extremely humble and grateful.
|
| Mayor Pete Buttigieg (screen capture) |
In a chat with the Des Moines Register, Mayor Pete Buttigieg shared that, while he’s not shied away from being open about being gay and his marriage, “it’s not the only thing that defines” him.”
“I am proud of who I am,” Buttigieg told the Des Moines Register. “I’m certainly very proud of my marriage and my husband. We don’t shy away from that. It’s also not the only thing that defines me.”
“I think some people have an image of what a gay person or an LGBTQ activist is supposed to look like. And I think if you’ve met one gay person, you’ve met one gay person,” he said. “We have different styles and different approaches. But what I try to do is just be who I am … I don’t know who else to be.”
Mayor Pete also addressed the topic of “healthy identity” politics in which “each identity [can] connect with every other one.”
And he drew a contrast between himself and how the current occupant of the Oval Office handles those who are ‘different’ saying, “This is a moment where anybody who can be marked down as different is in some way vulnerable because of the way this administration works.”
 |
| Former Vice President Joe Biden |
Former Vice President Joe Biden surprised folks today by visiting the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City.
NBC News reports that, following two fund-raisers, Biden strolled into the West Village bar and chatted up patrons while taking photos with supporters.
Philadelphia Gay News founder Mark Segal, who was present at the 1969 Stonewall uprising, was there during Biden’s visit.
“If you would have suggested something like this 50 years ago, the 18-year-old me would think you were an alien,” Segal told NBC News in an email.
“His staff hearing that there was a Stonewall pioneer in the room brought us together,” Segal added.
He said he and Biden shook hands and that Biden said, “Thank you for your service.”
Chauncey Dandrige, a queer DJ and activist, was also caught off guard when Biden entered the bar.
“Just handed two Stonewall t-shirts to Joe Biden for him and his wife! Just another day at the office,” Dandrige wrote on Twitter.
Just handed two Stonewall tshirts to Joe Biden for him and his wife! 🙂Just another day at the office… — at The Stonewall Inn https://t.co/Pz4jeKeaXx
— The House Of Dandridge ❌ (@DJChaunceyD) June 18, 2019
In that this is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which began the modern LGBTQ rights movement, the landmark has garnered several visits by high profile folks like Madonna, Taylor Swift and now Biden.
|
| Donald Trump (L) Joe Biden (R) |
I know, I know, it’s way early but I always find polls (from reputable firms) interesting to gauge the mood of voters.
A new poll of Florida voters from Quinnipiac University shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by 9 points in a hypothetical head-to-head match up 50% – 41% respectively.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would trump Trump by 6 points, 48% – 42% respectively.
Some Democrats did better than Trump but within the statistical margin of error:
• Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren 47% to Trump’s 43%
• California Sen. Kamala Harris 45% to Trump’s 44%
• Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke 45% to Trump’s 44%
• Mayor Pete Buttigieg 44% to Trump’s 43%
Also from the survey:
• Democrats back Joe Biden 91 – 3 percent versus Republicans backing Trump 90 – 7 percent.
• Florida voters are not hip on impeaching Trump 62 percent against versus 32 percent who support.
• 54 percent of Florida voters say they are better off today than they were in 2016; 23 percent say they are worse off.
• But Trump’s approval rating is still upside down: 44% approval versus disapproval at 51%.
On the Democrats side, Joe Biden has a huge lead among his fellow contenders garnering 41 percent.
It drops a lot to the second place with Sanders getting 14 percent, Warren 12 percent, Buttigieg 8 percent and Harris scoring 6 percent.
While Trump won Florida’s 29 electoral votes in 2016, he beat Hillary Clinton by only 1.2 points – 49 percent to 47.8 percent respectively. So anything along the lines of this poll is devastating for Trump.