Author: Randy Slovacek

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Out Music: Gia Woods ‘HUNGRY’

Gia Woods (photo: Alex Michael Kennedy)
Out singer/songwriter Gia Woods’ latest single and music video – “HUNGRY” – is a powerful slice of seductive pulp fiction. Woods has so much to say in so many ways, she plays three different characters to express it all: a diamond-clad dancer sliding down a stripper pole, a cheerleader wielding handcuffs and a baseball bat, and a chill homey hanging with her besties. The grungey synth-pop sound pairs perfectly with Woods’ rebellious message of independence, empowerment, and instincts. I had the chance to dive a little deeper into what brings the sultry Persian-born singer to this musical moment.

The Randy Report: “HUNGRY” is definitely edgy, violent and a ’take-no-prisoners’ kind of visual story. What was the inspiration for the song and/or video? Gia Woods: People have a lot of opinions about every aspect of your career, especially in the entertainment industry! Obviously, there are some people who I want feedback from, but a lot of it is unsolicited and unnecessary. I was frustrated about it all one day, so I wrote this as sort of an “eff you” to unwanted opinions. TRR: Is there a reaction or take-away you have in mind for listeners of “HUNGRY?” GW: I just hope it inspires people to trust their intuition and to not be afraid to take risks because there’s no such thing as “living” if you’re always fearful or dependent on opinions — you’re better off when you trust your gut. And that’s with everything. TRR: Lil Nas X just won a couple of Grammy Awards after having the longest run ever on the top of the Billboard chart. Are things getting better for LGBTQ music artists? What’s your experience? GW: I think using one artist as the token for an entire community is kind of strange. Overall, we’re seeing more LGBTQ representation in music, but I don’t think Lil Nas X’s sexuality has anything to do with his accomplishments, nor should it. Talent should always come first, but I am very lucky to live in a time where the industry isn’t forcing artists to stay in the closet. TRR: What do you do outside of music that contributes to your creativity? GW: Every song of mine comes from personal experiences and that comes from spending time with my friends and family, so when I’m not doing music I’m spending time with them. And then I always somehow have something I want to write about. TRR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? GW: Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable.

Click here for my previous coverage of the formidable Ms. Gia Woods, and make sure you check out the music video for “HUNGRY” below. You can follow Woods on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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Murkowski To Vote ‘No’ On Impeachment Witnesses

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced Friday she will vote against calling witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. And with that announcement, we are likely to see the trial come to an end soon. “I carefully considered the need for additional witnesses and documents, to cure the shortcomings of its process, but ultimately decided that I will vote against considering motions to subpoena,” Murkowski said.

The announcement came just prior to a four-hour debate and a vote on whether to allow new evidence, scheduled for Friday. A few of things I’ll point out here: One, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have already announced they would vote ‘yes’ on calling witnesses. IF Murkowski had voted ‘yes’ as well, it would have put Chief Justice John Roberts, currently presiding over the trial, in the position of having to break a tie. The optics of him choosing a side in the proceedings would have been horrible for the Republicans. This surely led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold Murkowski to a ‘no’ vote. Two, Murkowski isn’t up for reelection this year, and she comes from an overwhelmingly red state. She needed to look like she was standing with her party. Contrast that with Collins who IS up for reelection with a tough campaign ahead – in a state that isn’t a solidly red state. Finally, in the 20 U.S. impeachments since 1797, this is the first one to have no witnesses. Think on that.

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Billy Porter To Deliver LGBTQ State Of The Union Address

On February 4, Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Billy Porter has announced he will deliver the LGBTQ State of the Union address at Noon ET on Logo TV, Facebook Twitter and YouTube. Porter notes that his speech will contain ‘more complete sentences’ than the Donald’s. Watch the video announcement below.

Porter offered his own LGBTQ State of the Union address last year as well. You can watch the 2019 speech below.

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Video Mistaken For ‘Gay Wedding’ Lands 10 Men In Jail

When a video clip of a birthday party in Mauritania was posted to social media and wrongly perceived to be a same-sex wedding, authorities rounded up ten men in the video and arrested them. “The prosecutor’s office sent the young homosexual delinquents to prison to await judgment for acts contrary to morality, committing acts forbidden by Allah and circulating a ceremony of debauchery,” a source told Agence France-Presse. Even though police later determined the event in the video was a birthday party, the men remain incarcerated with no trial date scheduled. Mauritania, located in northwest Africa, is governed by strict Islamic law known as Shariah. Article 308 of Mauritania’s criminal code prohibits same-sex behavior between Muslim adults calling such relations as “acts against nature.” In more than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable by the death penalty although Amnesty International reports no executions have been carried out in more than a decade. AFP reports that although investigators established the party was “the birthday party of a homosexual,” the ten men were detained “to help investigations.” Brahim Bilal, the president of a human rights organization in Mauritania, said in a statement the arrests were “a serious attack on the individual and collective freedom of these young people who have the right to display their difference and intimate preferences.” Watch the video which began the ordeal below.

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Podcast: Gay Rom-Com For V-Day, Billy Porter On Sesame Street, HRC Ranks States On LGBTQ Life

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • A Kentucky high school is being sued for outing a queer teen • Professional ice hockey player Zach Sullivan comes out • The Human Rights Campaign issues its annual States Equality Index • Freeform channel previews upcoming gay romantic comedy for Valentine’s Day “The Thing About Harry” • Billy Porter is taking a stroll down Sesame Street • LGBTQs and their allies score at the 2020 Grammy Awards All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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News Round-Up: January 30, 2020

Ryan Worley (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Ryan Worley (above), of the world-famous Chippendales, is totes adorbs watching this kitten’s fascination with a string of lights. Follow him on Instagram here. • Advocate: The South Dakota House of Representatives Wednesday approved a bill that would make it a crime for doctors to give gender-transition treatment to minors. Doctors could receive up to a year in prison and a fine of $2,000. • Super Bowl: RuPaul took to social media to remind folks that he was the first drag queen to star in a Super Bowl commercial back in 2000. Here’s some #TBT action for you:

• AP: A bill proposed by a group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday that would have amended the Iowa Civil Rights Act by removing protections against discrimination for transgender people is dead. • ABC News: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Donald Trump would “definitely” encourage primary challengers to run against any GOP Senators who vote against him in the ongoing impeachment trial. “You could very well see the president encouraging or creating primaries against senators that are up this year if they went and voted the other way,” • Sesame Street: The long-running children’s television show announced on Facebook today that Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award winner Billy Porter will be “bringing those fierce vibes to Sesame Street” in an upcoming episode. The post showed Porter posing in his iconic tuxedo dress from the Oscars.

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Justice Dept Lawyers Contradict Trump Impeachment Team

Throughout the impeachment trial, Donald Trump’s lawyers have said that the House impeachment investigation should have played out in court. They’ve repeatedly said that subpoenas for witnesses and documents must take place in the courtroom because the judicial branch is an essential check on the legislative branch. But House Manager Adam Schiff incited laughter in the Senate when he announced that Trump’s Justice Department argued in court today that judges have no place to enforce subpoenas because of the impeachment power. According to reports, when the judge asked DOJ lawyers “If Congress can’t enforce its subpoenas, what remedy is there?,” the attorneys said, “Impeachment.” As Schiff said in front of cameras today, “you can’t make this up.”

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Jonathan Van Ness Stars In Pop-Tarts Super Bowl Spot

Super Bowl commercials aren’t just for drag queens, don’t you know? Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness stars in a new spot for Pop-Tarts Pretzels set to air during the second quarter of the big game on February 2. If you’re “struggs to snack,” Van Ness wants you to know Pop-Tarts ‘fixed that for you.’ “From ho-hum to so-yum, Pop-Tarts Pretzel is the perfect combo of sweet and salty,” extols the exuberant hairstylist. But wait – there’s more!

The Street reports that immediately after the ad airs, Pop-Tarts plans a live giveaway for fans who follow @PopTartsUS to win gifts like the sparkly jersey Van Ness wears in the commercial and more. Look for more LGBTQ representation during the Super Bowl. • RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Miz Cracker and Kim Chi will star in a spot for Sabra hummus plus: • Openly lesbian Katie Sowers, an Offensive Assistant Coach for the San Francisco 49ers, will be featured in a Microsoft ad • Transgender actresses Trace Lysette (Transparent) and Isis King (When They See Us) appear in a Turbo Tax spot • Bisexual Lilly Singh (Late Night with Lilly Singh) in an Olay commercial • And talk-show queen Ellen DeGeneres will star with wife Portia de Rossi in an advert for Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa.

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The Mooch To John Bolton: ‘Welcome To Life Under The Bus’

Anthony Scaramucci (screen capture)
Donald Trump’s former White House Communications Director (for 11 days) Anthony Scaramucci pens a new op-ed in the Washington Post adorned with the headline, “Hey John Bolton, welcome to life under the bus!”

President Trump’s White House has launched another disinformation campaign against a former staffer. This time, John Bolton, the last national security adviser, is the target, thanks to revelations from his unpublished book.

Trump said Monday that Bolton’s claim about withholding aid to Ukraine in a quid pro quo “was only to sell a book.” The president later added Bolton “begged” him for a job and proffered advice that would have led to “World War Six by now.” But he still hired Bolton.

I know what Bolton is going through very well because Trump did the same to me. After I criticized him, the president started calling me a “nut job” and said I “wheedled” my way into his campaign.

[snip]

I, for one, never felt more alive than when the president of the United States called me an “unstable nutjob” on Twitter. His bullying and intimidating methods have frozen many in his party, but when I began receiving them myself, I realized I was finally free. Bolton might learn that speaking the truth is the best method of recovery for Trump Employment Syndrome.

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Jonathan Hernandez: My Brother Came Out To Mom During Prison Visit

Jonathan Hernandez (screen capture)
The New York Post reports Jonathan Hernandez, brother of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, tells Dr. Oz that his brother came out to their mother during a tearful prison visit. In his first TV appearance since the premiere of the Netflix true-crime documentary series Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, Jonathan says his brother told his mother, Terri Hernandez, he was gay prior to his 2017 suicide. “He’s like, ‘Mom, you’re going to die never knowing your son,’” Hernandez says in the interview scheduled to air today. “My mom being my mom, started mouthing with Aaron, and they started bickering back and forth, and all of a sudden they have this conversation, and they’re both flooded with tears across from each other.” Putting the moment in context, Jonathan adds, “Here’s the weight of what’s on my brother being expressed, and for a mother to be looking at it across from the scratched glass.”

One of the questions Killer Inside explores is whether the fear that kept Aaron’s sexuality hidden might have been a driving force for killing his former friend Odin Lloyd in 2013. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the crime at the time of his death. Dr. Oz asks Jonathan his thoughts on a possible motive during the interview. “That’s one of the questions and, you know, head-scratchers that they still have regarding really this entire case,” says the brother. “There’s just so many questions regarding everything. And, for me to sit here and say it was this or that, I can’t say. All you can do is look at the evidence that was provided.”

Jonathan Hernandez speaks to Dr. Oz
In another segment, Dr. Oz asks how Hernandez’s father Dennis (who died in 2006) might have responded to Aaron sharing he had ‘conflicting thoughts’ on his sexuality. “I don’t know if he would have been able to finish his sentence,” Jonathan said. “My dad would have thought he could beat that out of him.”

Earlier this week, Aaron’s former fiancee said she didn’t know if he was gay. “If he did feel that way, or if he felt the urge, I wish that I was told,” Shayanna Jenkins told Good Morning America. “I wish that he would have told me because I wouldn’t have loved him any differently. I would have understood. It’s not shameful.” (source: New York Post)