Author: Randy Slovacek

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Out Film: ‘Mario’

(scene from ‘Mario’)

After successfully making the rounds of the international film festival circuit, Mario, a gay-themed movie steeped in the world of professional European soccer will finally be available in the U.S. via Video On Demand October 30.

The film follows Swiss-German soccer hopeful Mario (Max Hubacher) who is assigned housing with a new-teammate, dark and swarthy Leon (Aaron Altaras), a striker from Hanover, Germany.

Chemistry (or biology) is what it is, and one night during a video game session, a bout of tickling leads to a kiss.

Passions now ignited, the real story of Mario begins as the two young athletes face many obstacles, both personal and professional, as their dreams of becoming soccer stars loom in the distance.

There are swirling rumors among team mates, tamping down concerns by veteran sports agents, a threat of blackmail, and personal demons to address that have been long-buried in the pursuit of athletic achievement.

Credit director Marcel Gisler for developing the palpable chemistry between Altaras and Hubacher throughout the film.

The film had its premiere at BFI Flare London LGBTQ Film Festival in early April this year, and premiered in North America at Miami’s Outshine Film Festival later in spring.

The Swiss film was so well-received it managed to take home trophies in the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ categories at the most recent Swiss Film Awards.

The Guardian called the film “a heartfelt and human drama with the texture of truth and characters to care about.”

The Independent wrote, “Every gay man will instantly connect with either Mario or Leon and their relatable worries of life and love.”

And The Hollywood Reporter hailed “the small, very human moments” of the movie that ensures Mario “feels authentic and is, finally, moving.”

This heart-warming rollercoaster of a film, set on and off the field, offers a dynamic and realistic picture of how gay professional athletes are still struggling to live their authentic lives in the 21st century.

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News Round-Up: October 17, 2018

• Rapper and bodybuilder Léo Stronda, 26-years-old from Brazil (above), is my new InstaHunk find! #woof
Léo Stronda

Some news items you might have missed:

• Rapper and bodybuilder Léo Stronda, 26-years-old from Brazil (above), is my new InstaHunk find! #woof

• Arkansas (of all places) is issuing gender-neutral IDs to non-binary citizens

• Lawmakers in Thailand are working on legislation that would give same-sex couples legal recognition via civil unions. Passage of the new law would make Thailand the first country in Asia to recognize gay/lesbian relationships.

• Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame hints at an AbFab reunion saying she “might be writing a little something.”

• A new report from Essex University seems to say that if your ring finger is longer than your index finger, it could indicate you’re gay. Not sure I believe that…

• Non-binary singer/songwriter Grayson has released their new single, “Brother.” The track is a personal anthem about needing to break free from both internal and external pressures.

“‘Brother’ is about the sometimes chaotic relationship with yourself, and everyone else,” says Grayson.

Grayson is new to me, so let’s check out “Brother.”

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Progress For Schools Becoming More LGBTQ Inclusive Is Slowing

GSA bus in Pride parade (image via Flickr/jglsongs – CC License)

According to the 2017 National School Climate Survey from GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), progress in making schools more inclusive and less hostile for LGBTQ students has slowed down after years of improvement.

The survey polled more than 23,000 students across the United States ages 13-21 between April and August of 2017.

The average age of participants was 15.6 years-old and four in ten of those surveyed identified as gay or lesbian.

The results of the survey showed that after years of declining harassment, the improving climate seems to have plateaued (see graphic below).

The data from the survey shows:

• Almost 60% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation; 44% because of their gender expression

• Almost 35% of LGBTQ students say they missed a day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe

• 4 in 10 avoided gender-segregated spaces like bathrooms or locker rooms due to safety concerns

• 98.5% of LGBTQ students have heard the term “gay” used in a negative way; 70% say they hear these remarks frequently

• 70.1% of LGBTQ students say they’ve experienced verbal harassment based on sexual orientation; almost 60% based on gender expression

• Almost 30% say they’ve been physically harassed (pushed, shoved) based on sexual orientation; 24.4% based on gender expression

• 12.4% of LGBTQ students say they’ve been physically assaulted (punched, kicked) based on sexual orientation; 11.2% based on gender expression

• 42.2% of LGBTQ students say they considered dropping out of school due to harassment

• 48.7% of LGBTQ students have experienced cyberbullying in the past year

• 57.3% of LGBTQ students reported being sexually harassed in the past year at school

The majority of LGBTQ students (55.3%) who were victimized in school did not report the incident believing no effective intervention would happen or the situation could become worse.

Of the students who did report an incident, 60.4% say school staff did nothing or told the student to ignore it.

One piece of good news: more students reported having a Gay/Straight Alliance (53.3%) at their school than ever before.

The data shows that when a school offers a GSA, LGBTQ students were less likely to hear homophobic or transphobic slurs; saw more intervention by school personnel; and were less likely to feel unsafe at school due to their sexual orientation.

Head over to GLSEN to read the full report.

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RuPaul Wants You To #SissyThatVote!

In a new video, RuPaul encourages fans to make sure they register to vote and then show up to vote on November 6.
RuPaul wants YOU to vote

In a new video, RuPaul encourages fans to make sure they register to vote, and then actually show up on November 6 to vote in this year’s midterm elections.

“Do you love RuPaul’s Drag Race?” asks Mama Ru. “Well, we love giving it to you. And here’s how you can give back: Go to vote.gov to find out how you can register. And then, on November 6, you better vote, sis!”

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Founder of White Nationalist Group Proud Boys Defends Using “Faggot”

Gavin McInnes (screen capture)

A group of Proud Boys, a homophobic, white nationalist group, took to the streets of Manhattan last Friday after attending a speech by the group’s founder, Gavin McInnes at the Metropolitan Republican Club.

Several members of the racist group (the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the Proud Boys as a hate group) were captured on video after the event beating and kicking three individuals.

During the attack, one of the assailants can be heard yelling, “You’re not so brave now, faggot.” Another member of the group calls one of the victims “a f**king foreigner.”

In the aftermath, the New York Police Department, which had already arrested three of the protesters, has said it believes it can bring charges against nine Proud Boys who took part in the attack.

McInnes, though, took to his podcast on Sunday to defend the use of the word “faggot” by his followers.

As reported by Media Matters, McInnes says the incident began when a protester attempted to steal one of the Proud Boys’ MAGA hats.

“You know, someone jumps you, steals your hat and then gets beaten so bad that the kid, the antifa kid they beat up was in tears. He was crying. Now, while this person is crying, I’m sorry, but faggot is a handy term. It’s very rarely used against gays. In fact, Louis C.K. has this whole bit about how I would never call a gay a faggot because you don’t call homosexuals faggots, you call faggots faggots. It means someone — it means a man who is crying, basically. In fact, most gays I know are a lot tougher and more alpha than most straights.”

In an appearance on the conservative media outlet Newsmax, McInnes tried to say the word “faggot” is just a term used when hyped up in fist fight.

“When someone’s adrenaline is pumping, he’s going to say, ‘Are you brave now, f-word?’” McInnes said. “He didn’t mean it like it was some sort of homosexual attack.”

He also put the blame on the protesters, known as Antifa, for getting the Proud Boys so wound up that they had to use the word “faggot.”

Here’s more background on Gavin McInnes and his Proud Boys:

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‘The Connors’ Premieres (Sans Roseanne) To Strong Ratings

Last night saw the highly-anticipated premiere of the Roseanne spin-off, The Connors, on ABC.

Roseanne Barr’s rebooted sitcom was cancelled earlier this year after the comedian tweeted racist messages about former Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Barr eventually agreed to step away from the show and characters she helped create so dozens of jobs associated with the sitcom could be saved.

And so, we have The Connors.

(Warning – Spoiler alert)

As previously reported, Roseanne’s character was killed off in the debut episode via an opioid overdose. Longtime fans of Roseanne have seen the show tackle several controversial issues, like the current opioid epidemic, over the years.

The issue was treated with the seriousness and gravity that it deserves.

The episode opened three weeks after the passing of Roseanne’s character and the family members are still pretty much in shock. Especially husband, Dan, played by John Goodman.

When the cause of death is revealed, Dan remains in denial saying he knew he’d flushed Roseanne’s prescription pain killers.

But a pill bottle belonging to a neighbor (played by Mary Steenburgen) is soon found in a coat pocket. It seems the uninsured neighbors traded prescriptions occasionally to help each other out.

Dan initially blames and shames her for giving the pills to Roseanne, but soon even more hidden stashes of pills are found.

“She was going to do what she was going to do,” admits Dan in a line that easily could have been directly about Roseanne Barr herself. “She never listened to a damn person in her life.”

This being network sitcom-land, the family comes to a landing of sorts by the end of the half-hour, but not before the always dependable Laurie Metcalf delivers the “moment” of episode. Her affecting, layered, measured performance is definitely worth the watching.

For her part, Barr, who earlier had told the world she would move to Israel rather than stay in the U.S. for the premiere, tweeted in classic Roseanne fashion, “I AIN’T DEAD, BITCHES!!!!”

Later in the evening, in a lengthy statement issued through her longtime friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Facebook, Barr called the decision to kill off her character with opioids in “The Conners” debut episode “grim and morbid.”

“While we wish the very best for the cast and production crew of The Conners, all of whom are deeply dedicated to their craft and were Roseanne’s cherished colleagues, we regret that ABC chose to cancel Roseanne by killing off the Roseanne Conner character,” the statement read in part. “That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show.”

According to CNN, the premiere of The Connors drew about 10.5 million viewers, which is on par with the last four episodes of Roseanne last season.

Writing for Vanity Fair, television critic Sonia Saraiya praised the evolution of the show and its characters.

The Conners felt richer, after one episode, than the revived Roseanne season did after nine. Barr’s personality took up a lot of space on the Roseanne set. Without her, the cast and the characters have a chance to breathe. And the result is an unlikely, appealing family sitcom with a motley crew of characters all held together by the same loss.

In advance of the premiere, the producers of The Connors released this featurette yesterday.

What do you think, readers? Do you plan on watching The Connors?

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Manafort Ordered To Wear Orange Jumpsuit To Sentencing Hearing

Paul Manafort

Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort requested, through his lawyers, if he could be allowed to wear a suit to his sentencing hearing later this week.

The request was denied.

It looks like Manafort will be donning a crisp shade of orange for his next court appearance.

From Politico:

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Paul Manafort’s request to wear a professional suit during a hearing later this week about his sentence, noting the former Trump campaign chairman is now a convicted felon who has lost the right to wear street clothing in all his court proceedings.

“This defendant should be treated no differently from other defendants who are in custody post conviction,” U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III wrote in a sharply-worded order.

The decision and its tone signals Manafort may be facing a very different environment when he returns Friday to the same Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom for a hearing to discuss his ongoing cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller and to begin the process of setting a sentencing date.

I hear the president is fond of orange, no?

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After Massive Tax Cuts For The Rich, GOP Senate Blames Rising Deficits On Medicare/Social Security

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

Remember when the Trump tax cuts were not only going to pay for themselves but lower the deficit?

Yeah, not so much.

From Bloomberg News:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed rising federal deficits and debt on a bipartisan unwillingness to contain spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and said he sees little chance of a major deficit reduction deal while Republicans control Congress and the White House.

“It’s disappointing, but it’s not a Republican problem,” McConnell said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg News when asked about the rising deficits and debt. “It’s a bipartisan problem: unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the demographics of America in the future.”

McConnell’s remarks came a day after the Treasury Department said the U.S. budget deficit grew to $779 billion in Donald Trump’s first full fiscal year as president, the result of the GOP’s tax cuts, bipartisan spending increases and rising interest payments on the national debt. That’s a 77 percent increase from the $439 billion deficit in fiscal 2015, when McConnell became majority leader.

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Julián Castro “Likely” To Run For President In 2020

Julián Castro (image via Facebook)

Finally a guy who doesn’t pussyfoot around.

Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio and secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration, tells Rolling Stone Magazine he’s “likely” to make a run for president in 2020.

For months, the 44-year-old Castro has been hopscotching between Nevada, Florida, Arizona and other battleground states to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2018 midterms. He dutifully trekked to the Iowa State Fair in August for a turn on the famous political soapbox.

On the subject of his presidential aspirations, he gave the clearest indication yet about his plans for 2020. “I’m likely to do it,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I’ll make a final decision after November, but I’m inclined to do it.”

Many in the Democratic Party have been looking for younger blood to infuse the Dems with some youth and energy.

With the Hispanic community becoming the fastest growing minority in the country, a Latino candidate could provide a lot of energy.

We shall see. Get to know Castro better at the Rolling Stone link.

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Trump Calls Stormy Daniels “Horseface,” Daniels Responds Pointing Out His “Shortcomings”

Stormy Daniels

After a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by porn star Stormy Daniels against Donald Trump alleging he had defamed her by calling her claims of a one night stand a lie, Trump took to Twitter to call the adult performer, among other things, “horseface.”

Trump tweeted, “Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials lawsuit versus Trump. Trump is entitled to full legal fees.” @FoxNews Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!”

You may notice that last misplaced comma basically shows Trump calling himself “a total con.”

But Stormy Daniels is not one to stand down. The porn star slapped back with her own biting critique addressing him as “Tiny.”

For his part, Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti also jumped into the fray: