Oh. Mah. Gawd. How I wish I knew who this guy is…! #woof
Happy Monday!
Just Because…
UPDATED: Alaska Air Asks Gay Couple To Separate So Straight Couple Could Sit Together
UPDATE: I personally spoke with Bobbie Egan, External Communications Director for Alaska Airlines, this morning who told me, “I think this is an incident of human error. It was a mistake, and it shouldn’t have happened.”
Ms. Egan also emailed a statement which read:
“We mistakenly booked two people in one seat. We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.”
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After boarding an Alaska Airline flight from New York City’s JFK airport to Los Angeles, a gay businessman and his partner were approached by a flight attendant and his companion was asked to change seats.
It appears a straight couple had been assigned the same seats and the gay couple was being asked to move in deference to the straight couple who wanted to sit together.
The man, David Cooley, is the founder and CEO of the prominent West Hollywood nightclub, The Abbey.
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| Dave Cooley (image via Facebook) |
Dave Cooley shared on Facebook, “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before. I was removed from an Alaska Airlines flight # 1407 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to LAX to give preferential treatment to a straight couple.”
“After my traveling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together.
“I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together,” Cooley continued. “He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane.”
“We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane.
“I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave. We will never be flying Alaska Airlines or their recently purchased Virgin Airlines Group ever again. Thank you to Delta Air Lines for getting us home safe.
“If you are an #LGBT person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta,” concluded the businessman.
According to GayStarNews, Alaska Airlines issued a statement acknowledging the incident:
When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class. We reseated one of the guests from Premium Class in the Main Cabin.
We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.
Was this a case of placing a straight couple’s ‘couplehood’ over a gay couple?
Was this discrimination?
Folks have wondered if perhaps Cooley’s partner might have been given a free upgrade, and if the straight couple had paid for their seats which might give priority to the straight couple…?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I’ve reached out to both Mr. Cooley and Alaska Airlines for any further details.
In the past, Alaska Air has shown support for the LGBTQ community. In 2015, the airline offered several discounts timed to coincide with Pride events. And, the airline’s official website has a dedicated section for LGBTQ travelers.
Podcast: Homeless Gay Teen Survives & Thrives To Become Valedictorian; ‘Riverdale’ Gets A Gay Romance
In this week’s podcast:
• A homeless gay teen becomes valedictorian of his class. Head to www.gofundme.com/hoyaseth to contribute to his college fund.
• Puerto Rico now allows transgender folks to change the gender on their birth certificates.
• The hit TV series Riverdale is getting a gay romance.
• The CW’s Supergirl will debut television’s first transgender super-hero.
• Ryan Reynolds wants to see more sexuality in his Deadpool movies
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.
Music Video: Woofy Raph Solo Shares His “Broken Heart”
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| Raph Solo (all photos – Michele Martinoli) |
London-based recording artist Raph Solo recently dropped the sexy music video for his song, “Broken Hearts,” which is the second single from his Word Of Love album.
Raph describes his current musical style as “POPTECSOL,” a new sound that combines pop, tech, and R&B soul.
With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.
“I wrote the song a few years ago at around the time I met my partner,” he said. “We were both newly out of major relationships that had left us broken and bruised. While the love making was hot, the baggage I carried from my past caused a lot of friction and undue fear in our relationship.”
“Broken hearts heal with time,” he sings on the fantastic track. Raph should know. Before meeting his partner, he experienced 7.5 breakups in nine years (one of the splits only scored a 0.5 on his pain-o-meter).
His hardest failed relationship was with a man he regarded as a father figure. “It crushed me. It changed my perception of love,” he admitted. “Though I still believe in love, I don’t view it through rose colored glasses anymore.”
Born to Lebanese/Chilean parents on the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria, West Africa, the singer, songwriter and music producer has released four full-length albums: Finally/The Album, Am I Too Much?, The Anonymous Icon, which features the hit singles “Star” and “Good Morning London,” and Word of Love, which features his 2017 summer hit from last summer, “Love Lives.”
Though fantasy, the video depicts the song in the way Raph’s love life truly unfolded. “It’s all shamelessly romantic and heroic,” Raph laughs, “but that’s me.”
The shackles he wears in the video are meant to symbolize the emotional baggage most people carry from failed relationships. Says Raph, “If you can free yourself from the shackles, you will one day reign over love.”
“Broken Hearts is about letting go of past loves, embracing what is new, and working to extend that love into tomorrow and beyond.”
For more information, visit raphsolo.com.
Air Force Football Player Receives Standing Ovation Coming Out To Teammates
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| Air Force football player Bradley Kim |
Air Force football player Bradley Kim took a big step out of the closet this week and says its as much for other young people as it is for himself.
“The biggest reason I want to share this is to be able to reach people who are in similar situations struggling with the same things I have struggled with,” he told Outsports this week. “I want to be that example for kids that you can be gay, you can pursue your dreams, and you can have an athletic career.
“My dreams got me to a D1 football program. I want to be there for people who don’t feel like they have anyone there for them, because I was that kid growing up in high school.”
And so it was that on Friday morning, Kim shared his coming out on Instagram, beginning with a Bible verse and that “God made me this way for a reason:”
While he had quietly told a few teammates over the past year, before sharing with the world, the Air Force Falcons safety came out to the other defensive backs on the team.
The reaction? A standing ovation. According to Outsports, the entire team, including head coach Troy Calhoun, had a reaction of full-fledged support.
“They tell me they appreciate the fact that I felt confident enough, and they meant enough, for me to tell them,” he said.
It was that unwavering support that steeled Kim as he posted his message on Instagram.
‘’I’ve spent too many years worrying what other people will think and letting it affect what I do in my daily life. And I’m kind of done with that. It doesn’t affect my ability to play football. It doesn’t affect my ability to serve my country. No one cares here. We all go through the same thing, we all go through basic training. What we go through going through the Academy goes way deeper than worrying about what someone will think.”
Video: Dog Stealing GoPro Camera Goes Viral
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| Dog’s grab and run of his owner’s GoPro has gone viral |
Folks are totes loving on this dog that apparently grabbed his owner’s GoPro camera and went running.
The dog’s eyes are the best part, but his starts and stops are funny, too.
The original video appears to have been posted on reddit here.
This is pretty much an awesome ad for GoPro, don’t you think? Watch below.
I could watch this dog steal a GoPro all day, tell you what. pic.twitter.com/v0nxYNlglh— pastordan (@pastordan) July 29, 2018
Tweet Of The Day
Tweet of the day by sports guy Ty Anderson calling out Judge Jeanine‘s warped view of “hatred.”
Trump Threatens Government Shutdown Over Funding “The Wall”
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| Donald Trump threatens to shut down federal government over “wall funding” |
Remember all during the 2016 presidential campaign Donald Trump’s promises of building a wall along the U.S. southern border and Mexico would pay for it?
Over and over he told his followers how “easy” it would be to get the Mexican government to pay for ‘the wall.’
Not sure whatever happened to that plan because now the Trumpster is threatening to shut down the federal government if Democrats in Congress don’t vote to give him tens of billions of dollars to build ‘the wall.’
This morning, Trump tweeted, “I would be willing to “shut down” government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!”
I would be willing to “shut down” government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
And the Twitterverse responded:
Pro tip on who’s responsible if government shuts down this fall:
(a) Republicans control House
(b) Republicans control Senate
(c) Republican President just told
you he wants to shut down the
government in the fall— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 29, 2018
Oh please do shutdown the GOP controlled Congress right before the midterms…Im begging you. Please Please please!!!— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) July 29, 2018
.@SenRonJohnson reacts to @realDonaldTrump threatening government shutdown over border wall funding: I don’t like playing shutdown politics… I don’t think it would be helpful so let’s try to avoid it. pic.twitter.com/Ok9pBledUv— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 29, 2018
“A shutdown falls on the President’s lack of leadership. He can’t even control his party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the President is weak”
-Donald Trump 2013— md (@MelissaDonell) July 29, 2018
InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition
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| (via Instagram) |
Checking in on some of our favorite InstaHunks this bright, shiny Saturday.
In fairy tales, folks head into the woods to figure themselves out. Rob Maya (above) is looking to be “the big bad wolf” of your story.
Here’s some more eye candy for your weekend enjoyment. Happy Saturday!
Britney Spears’ Woofy Boyfriend Shares How He Lost 100 Pounds
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| Fitness model Sam Asghari (image via Instagram) |
Sam Asghari, Britney Spears’ main squeeze, recently revealed that he wasn’t always the woofy, muscle hound he is today. He also shared how he was able to lose 100 pounds in becoming the fit beast he’s become.
In a recent profile in Men’s Health, the 24-year-old said he began to gain weight after being cut from his college football team. He eventually tipped the scales at an eye-popping 290 pounds.
“I was eating Doritos for breakfast, fast food, sugar, candy, no protein, a lot of carbs, and drinking sugary sodas,”Asghari shared. “My nutrition was extremely horrible. The stress and the fear of not going anywhere [in life] combined gave me my depression.”
After six months of seriously bad nutrition and not working out, Asghari committed to making changes in his life.
“I could either continue going through the same thing or I could give it another 100 percent,” he said. “I didn’t want to have to deal with that depression and disappointment anymore. I had to restart.”
Working three jobs was proving to be a deterrent to better health and fitness as well. Asghari quit two jobs and made fitness his primary job.
Along the way, he did swing a bit past center in the obsessive department: measuring his body fat percentage daily and limiting his calorie intake to 1,500.
In only six months, he was 100 pounds lighter, and had reached a stunning 9% body fat.
With all the changes in his health and appearance came high-profile gigs with A-list artists including his appearance in the Fifth Harmony video, “Work.”
Shortly thereafter he was cast in Britney’s “Slumber Party” video.
Hello + chemistry = couple-hood.
Now, Asghari shares his fitness regime with Brit via Instagram.
“The exercises, I come up with them, but the videos are because of my better half. She’s the video director,” he said. “It’s a very fun thing, and I look back at them and smile. Working out together is always nice and we try to do it a couple times. It’s super healthy, mentally and physically. It takes your mind off of everything else.”