Author: Randy Slovacek

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Madonna To Be Honored As “Advocate For Change” At GLAAD Media Awards

Madonna (via Instagram)

GLAAD will recognize Madonna, the Queen of Pop, with this year’s Advocate for Change Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City on May 4.

Madge is the first woman, and only the second person, to receive the honor. President Bill Clinton was the first to receive the award in 2013.

It’s a fitting accolade for the international music star and longtime LGBTQ ally who has supported the community since the beginning of her stellar career in the 1980s.

“Change” is certainly a word we all can attribute to Madonna. Not only for her own ever-evolving pop culture persona, but for the way she impacts the world around her.

Madge hasn’t just ‘talked the talk,’ but truly walked the walk when it comes to addressing issues important to LGBTQ people.

From performing at early AIDS benefits, speaking out for more action by the federal government on the AIDS epidemic, and including crucial information about the disease in a flyer packaged with her album Like A Prayer.

She’s raised her voice calling for LGBTQ protections and equality in far-flung countries like Russia, Romania and Malawi.

In 2010, when two men were sentenced to 14 years in prison for marrying in Malawi, she didn’t hesitate to speak out.

“As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. This week, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved.”

Addressing the bullying of LGBTQ youth and the high incidence of LGBTQ youth suicide have also been high on Madge’s agenda.

Truly, “Advocate for Change” is a fitting title for the Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner.

This won’t be her first trip to the GLAAD Awards, either.

In 2013, she presented CNN’s Anderson Cooper with the prestigious Vito Russo Award.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the GLAAD Media Awards as well as the 30th anniversary of her mega-hit album, Like a Prayer, which spawned huge hits like “Express Yourself,” “Like a Prayer,” and “Cherish.”

Funds raised from the GLAAD Media Awards support GLAAD’s crucial programs working to accelerate acceptance for LGBTQ people.

For ticket information to attend the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel on May 4, click here.

And head over to GLAAD.org a complete list of this year’s nominees for the GLAAD Media Awards.

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Bernie Sanders Will Give His Own Response To SOTU At Same Time As Democrats’ Response

Sen. Bernie Sanders has announced he will give his own response to Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the same time as the Official Democratic Response
Sen. Bernie Sanders

UPDATE: Sen. Sanders has reversed himself (see tweet below) saying he will issue his rebuttal following Stacey Abrams’ official Democratic response.

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The Hill is reporting that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will give his own response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

The senator’s office confirmed with The Hill that he will give his rebuttal speech via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at the same time as Democrat Stacey Abrams delivers the official Democratic Response.

He’s got to give his response at the same time???

The senator, who is listed as an Independent but caucuses with the Democrats, is considering another run for the White House in 2020.

And you can bet it will be as a Democrat.

#smh

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Rami Malek Pans Working With Bryan Singer “It Was Not Pleasant, Not At All”

Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Rami Malek, whose acclaimed performance in the musical biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, has won him a Golden Globe Award and made him the front runner for the Oscar, has finally come clean about his working relationship with film’s director, Bryan Singer.

Malek shared during an interview at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival that his relationship with Singer was combative, reports The Guardian.

“In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all,” said Malek. “And that’s about what I can say about it at this point.”

As the press has previously reported, Singer was dismissed from Bohemian Rhapsody with two weeks left on the shooting schedule. He was replaced by Dexter Fletcher, although Singer is still listed as the only director on the film.

Malek did offer this for those people who are uncomfortable with Singer sharing in the success of Bohemian Rhapsody:

“For anyone who is seeking any solace in all of this, Bryan Singer was fired. Bryan Singer was fired, I don’t think that was something anyone saw coming but I think that had to happen and it did.”

Malek has previously told the Los Angeles Times that the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at Singer were “honestly something I was not aware of” when he was working with the director.

A recent article by The Atlantic detailed the accusations of four men who say Singer had sex with them while they were under age.

Singer has denied all allegations of sexual abuse.

Bohemian Rhapsody, however, is doing just fine having banked over $800 million at the box office worldwide.

The film won Best Motion Picture – Drama at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, and was nominated for the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and BAFTA Award for Best British Film.

The movie also picked up five nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Malek.

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Trailer: ‘Giant Little Ones’ Explores How Lies & Homophobia Can Rewrite Lives

Check out the official trailer for Giant Little Ones, a heartfelt coming-of-age film about high school friendships, self-discovery, and sexual awakening.
Josh Wiggins as Franky in ‘Giant Little Ones’

Check out the official trailer for Giant Little Ones, a heartfelt coming-of-age film about high school friendships, self-discovery, and sexual awakening.

The movie, directed by Keith Behrman, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and just released the official trailer.

The official synopsis for the film reads:

“Franky Winter (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas Kohl (Darren Mann) have been best friends since childhood. They are high school royalty: handsome, stars of the swim team and popular with girls. They live a perfect teenage life – until the night of Franky’s epic 17th birthday party, when Franky and Ballas are involved in an unexpected incident that changes their lives forever.”

Apparently, Ballas is the experienced pro at sex with his girlfriend, while Franky hasn’t made the leap into sexual intimacy with his girlfriend.

The ‘incident,’ as you might guess, is a drunken, late night sexual encounter in Franky’s bed. When the morning comes, Ballas freaks out and makes a hurried exit.

Soon, the school is buzzing with rumors that Franky may be gay (thanks to Ballas), and Franky (still a virgin) finds himself questioning his own sexuality before he can even figure out who he is.

His soul-searching leads him to finally cope with a personal, family issue he’s never resolved: his father (Kyle MacLachlan) leaving his mother (Maria Bello) to go live with a male partner.

While it’s not clear how much time has passed since the breakup, Franky is fairly estranged from his dad. The situation presents an unusual dynamic for a teen trying to understand his burgeoning sexuality.

Also, without his best friend Ballas to lean on in a difficult time, he finds solace with Ballas’ sister, Natasha, who is also a social outcast. The two renew their childhood friendship, but is the attraction their co-outcast status? Or is Franky trying to parse feelings for Ballas?

Darren Mann as Ballas in ‘Giant Little Ones’

Along the way, there’s also a transgender friend and a gay teammate on the swim team, so there’s much for Franky to accept or resent. And that includes possibly some internal homophobia over the idea he might be gay.

The fresh take here is that Behrman isn’t focused on our teen hero coming out, but exploring how lies can shift public perception, and how homophobia can rewrite a teen’s life.

The Hollywood Reporter praised the film calling Giant Little Ones “a confidently shot and beautifully acted story that manages to transcend quite a few — if clearly not all — of the coming-of-age genre’s cliches by delving into how the Millennial generation experiences sexuality, ostracism and growing up and how they try to relate to their parents and peers.”

The Film Stage called the movie “Flawless… adolescence with an authenticity rarely seen.”

And Seventh Row raved, “One of the most warm, thoughtful, and patient explorations of teen sexuality that the coming-of-age genre has to offer.”

Giant Little Ones is set to open in New York City on March 1, then in Los Angeles and select cities across the U.S. on March 8.

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Trump Might Propose New HIV/AIDS Initiative?

Politico is reporting that Trump plans to propose a strategy wherein health officials would “spend the first five years focusing on communities across roughly 20 states where the most HIV infections occur,” and then expand efforts to the rest of the country.
Donald Trump

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised he would be “much better for the gays” than Hillary Clinton.

So far, that hasn’t been the case with Trump in the White House.

Within hours of taking the oath of office, the White House website was scrubbed of all mention of LGBTQ Americans.

The president has proposed banning transgender military service members and has begun discharging soldiers with HIV.

After several members of his HIV/AIDS advisory panel quit saying “Trump doesn’t care about HIV,” he fired the remaining members in January 2018. (Note: the new advisory panel was sworn in just last week).

The Trump administration has sought to cut funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and has flirted with cutting funds to AIDS research.

While HIV/AIDS is not a ‘gay’ disease, the Centers for Disease Control reports the illness disproportionately affects bisexual and gay men. In 2016, gay and bisexual men accounted for 67% of new infections.

So, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Trump could be planning to announce a ten-year plan to end HIV transmissions by 2030 during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Politico is reporting that Trump plans to propose a strategy wherein health officials would “spend the first five years focusing on communities across roughly 20 states where the most HIV infections occur,” and then expand efforts to the rest of the country.

The plan reportedly has the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield.

According to Politico, Redfield announced at a CDC meeting last year that the eradication of AIDS by 2025 would be possible via “public health tools” like emphasizing more widespread condom use.

It’s worth noting that when Redfield was tapped to head up the CDC last year, the news was met with some objections.

At the time, Dr. Peter Lurie penned an essay for the Center for Science in the Public Interest that noted Redfield had supported policies opposed by a majority of health professionals including “mandatory HIV testing, reporting of positive HIV results to public health authorities without the patient’s consent, and quarantining of HIV-positive individuals in the military.”

He was also accused of “misrepresenting data about the effectiveness of an experimental AIDS vaccine that he was supporting” in the early 1990s.

While meaningful action on the HIV/AIDS epidemic would certainly be laudable, given this administration’s history on LGBTQ issues, we’ll have to wait and see.

One of Politico’s sources stressed the content of the SOTU speech is still in flux.

Over one million Americans have HIV with approximately 40,000 new infections each year.

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Donald Trump Says There’s A National Emergency At The Border

Donald Trump

Donald Trump wants you to know there is a National Emergency at the southern border of the U.S.

Is this how a president acts during a National Emergency?

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Podcast: Jussie Smollett Attacked, Rita Moreno Honored, An Armed Disruptor At Drag Queen Storytime

In this week’s podcast:

• Protester with a gun disrupts Drag Queen Storytime in Houston

• Anti-gay former county Clerk Kim Davis may have to pay big buck for denying same-sex couples marriage licenses

• New Jersey will soon have LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in schools

• Empire star Jussie Smollett attacked in homophobic, racist assault in Chicago – returns to the concert stage

• Arkansas Supreme Court reverses on Fayetteville city ordinance protecting LGBTQ people

• And my chat with the living legend and EGOT, Rita Moreno

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Gladys Knight Slays With Gorgeous National Anthem At Super Bowl LIII

Music legend and Atlanta native Gladys Knight came to slay at Super Bowl LIII as she delivered an elegant and stirring rendition of the National Anthem.
Gladys Knight sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl 53

Music legend, 8-time Grammy winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and Atlanta native Gladys Knight came to slay at Super Bowl LIII as she delivered an elegant and stirring rendition of the National Anthem.

Well done, Miss Gladys, well done.

Check it out below.

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Victoria To Become First Australian State To Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’

David Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, announced today that his state will be the first in Australia to introduce a ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy.’

Today, Cath and I will attend another Midsumma Pride March together.

We’ll march alongside thousands of other Victorians, united in the belief that everyone should be able to celebrate who they are with pride.

But for far too long and for far too many Victorians, an evil practice has instead peddled in shame and stigma.

These activities – commonly referred to as ‘gay conversion therapy’ – claim to be able to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity.

What they really are is a most personal form of torture, a cruel practice that perpetuates the idea that LGBTI people are in some way broken.

Some survivors, seeking genuine professional support, have instead found themselves on the other end of this bigoted quackery.

Others have sought it out, forced to believe that they somehow need to be ‘cured’.

But it’s not LGBTI people who need to change. It’s our laws.

That’s why, in an Australian first, we will introduce new legislation to ensure so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is against the law – once and for all.

We’ll drag these practices from the dark ages and into the brightest of lights.

We’ll put an end to the suffering and help survivors to heal.

And we’ll send the clearest message of all:

Here in Victoria, not only are you good enough – you’re worth celebrating.

As I’ve reported many times, major health care organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the America Academy of Pediatrics have denounced the harmful practice of conversion therapy, which treats being gay as a mental illness.

Study after study shows ‘ex-gay therapy’ can lead to anxiety, depression, and in some cases, suicide.

Bravo, Victoria, bravo!