LGBTQ news and entertainment
Going way back to almost the beginning of the aca-awesome group, Straight No Chaser performs their unique “12 Days of Christmas” for the first time, on December 7th, 1998, in the Musical Arts Center at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. Great arrangement. Clever, funny, and smart. If you don’t know these guys, make sure you check out their many holiday albums as well as their cover versions of pop songs here.
Some news items you might have missed: • Instahunks: Fashion designer Daniel Sheehan calls his white t-shirt the ‘sexiest basic’ you’ll own, but I don’t see anything ‘basic’ in this pic (above). • Newsweek: The Hallmark Channel has yet to produce any gay-themed Christmas movies, but a petition launched by outraged evangelicals is aimed at thwarting any future attempts at making a film with LGBTQ themes or characters. • The Hill: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) – “The President doesn’t give a shit about what’s good for our country, what’s good for Ukraine. It’s all about what’s in it for him personally and for his reelection campaign.” • Advocate: A Republican congressman has introduced a bill he positions as a compromise answer to the Equality Act, but it includes broad religious exemptions. • Twitter: Donald Trump said today that “it is wrong” that “laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mother’s womb in the 9th month.” #WhoWantsToTellHim?
WATCH: Trump decries the fact that “laws allow a baby to be born from his or her mother’s womb in the 9th month,” and says “it is wrong, it has to change.” It’s unclear if Trump is calling for forced abortions or for delaying births until the 10th month.pic.twitter.com/T4YOw3QD2D
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) December 7, 2019
Reid Chandler (photo: Yordan)
So I love my parents and I won’t tolerate mean comments… but understand we are from a really southern, conservative background and me coming out was tough. My brother coming out last week was tougher. It took me that long to process but my dad needed to hear this. pic.twitter.com/AFn5rtsWdj
— reid (@thereidfeed) December 6, 2019
Here’s the text of Chandler’s message to his father:
Hey, I want to preface this text by saying I love you and you’ll always be my dad. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me and I have a lot of respect for you.
But a comment you made on the drive to the airport has kept me up all night every night this week. I don’t expect a text back from you and I don’t even know if I want one. But this needs to be said.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it makes me and your mom feel like we’ve done something terribly wrong as parents.”
How do I not take that the wrong way? Essentially you are saying that me being gay is a result of terrible parenting. That this is a pestilence we were cursed with. That I am a curse.
The belief system you and mom were raised on are not mine or Layton’s responsibility to tiptoe around or be sensitive to. Whatever you were taught about gay people-it is wrong. Point blank, period. End of story.
Imagine a parent telling their straight son he is a mistake. How wrong does that sound? That’s how you sounded to me in the car.
It is just as likely your child will be straight, bi, gay, trans, etc. You just weren’t raised to believe that and I guess I have to accept that. But I won’t accept feeling the way I’ve felt all week.
Eight years ago I came out to you and it’s been a journey for our whole family. You’ve been amazing all things considered and I thought we’ve made a lot of progress. You even invited my boyfriend at one time on vacation. Yet my brother comes out and it’s like we hit the reset button. It’s like you forgot everything you learned about love and compassion.
Be better and do better. Expand your mind. And if you don’t, fine, I can’t force you to and I certainly won’t bring this up again. But the train has left the station, Dad. My life is on the path it was always meant to be. Get on board or don’t. I will find happiness one way or another. It breaks my heart I have to even ask this of you.
Just because I love men doesn’t make me less of a man. And just because you don’t accept that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
In follow-up posts, Chandler said he didn’t anticipate his message receiving the attention it has “but I guess that’s what happens when you put something on Twitter.” He added that he considered removing the tweet because it felt “too personal” admitting he was “in an emotional space” when he tweeted it. But after the overwhelmingly “warm and moving” responses he received (over 28,000), he decided to leave it up as it seemed to resonate with so many. He also tweeted that many followers had asked if he got a response from his dad. He has but “sharing more of our conversation feels a step too invasive.” Sharing that his father was “kind and loving” in his response, he added that, “Our family is very close and I know I’m privileged in that regard.”
A lot of you are asking if I received a response. I did. Sharing more of our conversation feels a step too invasive, but he was kind and loving, and I really appreciate that. Our family is very close and I know I’m privileged in that regard.
— reid (@thereidfeed) December 6, 2019
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
The Times’ editorial board was a reluctant convert to the impeachment cause. We worried that impeaching Trump on essentially a party-line vote would be divisive. It is also highly likely that Trump would be — will be — acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, and that, rightly or wrongly, he would point to that in his reelection campaign as exoneration.
Then a parade of current and former government officials who testified before the House Intelligence Committee established that Trump’s call was part of a larger effort to condition a White House meeting with Zelensky and the release of the aid on an announcement by Zelensky that he would initiate the specific investigations desired by Trump.
Holding the president accountable for gross abuse of power is the business of Congress. The House should get on with that business by writing articles of impeachment that make it clear to the Senate — and the American people — why the extraordinary remedy of impeachment is necessary. And Republicans who complain that the process is partisan could easily rectify that situation by abandoning their lockstep loyalty to Trump and looking at the facts.
The L. A. Times editorial board is calling for President Trump's impeachment for abusing his office, apparently to benefit for himself in his approaches to Ukraine and for his efforts thwart or hobble special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. https://t.co/J5OqqJ7EyP
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 7, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • Instagram: Celebrating the latest trip around the sun by my hot hubby, Michael, here in Puerto Vallarta. • Advocate: A Florida man is facing felony charges of child abandonment after dropping his underage son off at a closed police station. A police report indicated the man believed his son was gay and told him the police would find him a new home. • CNN: Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race. “Of course I would. Sen. Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely. I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid, she can be president someday herself, she can be vice president, she could go on to be a Supreme Court justice, she could be attorney general. I mean she has enormous capability.” • Desert Sun: Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” was easily scaled by two men in Mexicali.
This is the newly replaced wall along the US/MEXICO border. #TheWall pic.twitter.com/MIrD3HhVsE
— J. Omar Ornelas (@fotornelas) December 4, 2019
Donald Trump tweeted today that any news story that doesn’t have “an actual living name on it” should not be believed. It, of course, must be ‘fake news.’ I always think this is a bit of projection again on Trump’s part because he knows he made up ‘fake news’ sources over the years. So, he assumes everyone else does. Vox reporter Aaron Rupar reminds us of just a few times when Trump himself announced ‘fake news’ with no names attached. #TheresAlwaysATweet 
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin (image via Depositphotos)
And then, at the age of fifteen and a half, after reading about Elton John’s life and career, the anti-gay mindset “stopped overnight.” “I don’t know what happened,” he told Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. “I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ and then it all just stopped overnight. It was very interesting. Once I was like, ‘Yeah, so what if I’m gay.’” “Just growing up a bit and having a bit more exposure to the world, thinking, ‘A lot of my heroes are gay’ or whatever,” he realized. “Whatever they are, it doesn’t really matter.” Martin says that epiphany led him to consider other conflicting issues in his young life as well, including religion. “[It] made me question, ‘Hey, maybe some of this stuff that I’m learning about God and everything — I’m not sure if I subscribe to all of this particular religion,’” he shares. Describing his personal relationship with religion as “wobbly,” he eventually he settled on his “own relationship” with the concept of God, and realized “it’s not really any one religion for me.’” The Rolling Stone sit-down is one of just a handful of interviews the singer is giving in support of Coldplay’s newly-released album, Everyday Life. Check out the band’s latest music video, “Daddy.” https://youtu.be/OWhiCkEY-Yk (source: Rolling Stone)
Joe Biden campaigning in Iowa
Former vice president Joe Biden got into a heated exchange with a man in Iowa on Thursday, in which he challenged the man to an IQ test or push-up contest after the man questioned Biden about his son and said he was too old to be president.
During a question-and-answer portion of the event in New Hampton, Iowa, the man asked Biden a question about having “sent” his son to work for Ukrainian oil company Burisma. And he said that Biden is “too old” to serve as president. “You’re a damn liar,” Biden responded.
“Look, the reason I’m running is because I’ve been around a long time and I know more than most people know and I can get things done. That’s why I’m running. And you want to check my shape, man, let’s do push-ups together here, man, let’s run, let’s do whatever you want to do, let’s take an IQ test,” Biden said.
WATCH: A tense exchange with a voter at @JoeBiden’s event in New Hampton, IA this morning, where a voter started out by telling Biden he had two problems with him: he was too old, and his son’s work in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/ok7m0ShFPd
— Molly Nagle (@MollyNagle3) December 5, 2019
Marty Thomas In a recent chat, Thomas shares the inspiration for the collection: The Randy Report: Slow Dancing With a Boy is described as exploring the memories of a young gay man coming of age and questioning “the possibility of having lived those memories honestly.” Can you talk a bit about that journey in relation to these songs? Marty Thomas: School dances in my hometown were kind of a big deal. Small town living can make you blow special events out of proportion and can create impossible expectations. It was also the 90s in small-town America and I definitely didn’t have the confidence or feel a sense of safe space to come out and live honestly in high school. Looking across a dance floor and seeing a boy I had such a crush on, but couldn’t let anyone see me talking to, made those moments kind of excruciating. As grateful as I am to the girls who accompanied me to my school dances, those moments would have been vastly different if I could have danced with someone I was organically attracted to. All of the songs on this album have a specific meaning or memory tied to a life moment where I felt unable to live truthfully. Taking them back to rearrange them and place them firmly in the light was like cheap therapy. TRR: Is there a favorite song on the new album? MT: I’m so proud of this project, and I love so many tracks from the album. One tune that stands out is a country two-step cover of Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover.” It was a song that was HUGE when I was in high school. I grew up in a farm town in Missouri, and we had a school dance every year that was country themed in an old rock barn in town. It was definitely a dance that made me feel like a bit of an outsider and giving the song a two-step vibe definitely gave me a laugh. My producer Jamey Ray and my country singing friend Rachel Potter helped me bring this song to life. TRR: Was it hard to choose the songs on the album? MT: Oh yeah, there was a long list of possibilities for this record. I went back and forth with my producer to narrow it down. Though I’m thrilled with the final tracklist, NOT covering a Whitney Houston song from The Bodyguard soundtrack will probably be one of the great regrets of my gay life. TRR: What was your approach to finding your version of these songs? MT: I let the concept marinate for almost two years before I really started narrowing down the song list and creating the arrangements. Every time a jam would come on the radio that took me back to a nostalgic place, I would write it down and categorize it. Once I sat down with my producer, Jamey Ray to begin crafting the album, I really started picking and choosing the music that brought me back to specific, difficult emotional places. There is endless material that has inspired me as a performer, but this project really wasn’t about that. The songs on ‘Slow Dancing With A Boy’ had to be attached to specific memories of self-doubt and fear of fitting in. There were certain covers where the original version was incredibly important to honor, like “Remember Me This Way” by Jordan Hill from the Casper the Friendly Ghost soundtrack. It was the theme to my Junior prom and Jordan (who I also knew from my Star Search days) was cool enough to fly in and go to my country prom with me. Other songs like ‘Somewhere’ from the musical West Side Story and “As” by Stevie Wonder got a whole new approach to bring a renewed joy to the songs and contribute to the healing process. TRR: Do you approach recording projects differently than live performances? If so, how? MT: I definitely think about recording pretty theatrically. Studio work and stage work are very different skills and I’m always so excited about the opportunity to work in the studio. The concept of this particular project is a bit dramatic, I admit, but the process has been incredibly cathartic. 
TRR: When not working on music, what fuels your creativity? MT: I’m a hairdresser. It started as a fun passion project and turned into a second full-time career. I have a private salon where I take clients regularly and I also work with wigs for Disney International. It’s a constantly evolving business and art form that’s always exposing me to new people and situations. I feel like my two careers effectively support each other. TRR: Is there any particular piece of professional advice you’ve gotten that really resonated with you? MT: When I was a kid, I was on a show called Star Search with Billy Porter (Emmy Award winner – Pose). We were both working on Broadway at the time and for years after, Billy acted as a mentor to me. I sang backup vocals on his record, ‘On The Corner Of Broadway And Soul” and while we working on it – I was auditioning for anything and everything that would see me. He sensed my frustration and gave me some advice that I’ll never forget. With experience, he shared that the industry might take a while to get hip to who I am and what I have to say. He encouraged me to not try and change myself to fit in, or even to book a job. He encouraged me to just do me, and wait for the world to be ready for it. He lives his own advice and it sure has paid off for him. TRR: What’s next on the horizon? MT: I’m doing a concert on December 14 with Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown at the venue Subculture, where he has an artist’s residency. Slow Dancing With A Boy is a prom/school dance-themed project, so I’m throwing myself a “second chance prom”! January 5, at the Green Room 42 in NYC I’m inviting friends and fans to get dolled up and come dance with me. I hired a party band, DJ and a prom photographer for an authentic prom do-over! I’ll sing from the album and then open up the floor to some good old fashioned Footloose-style celebrating. Check out Thomas’ take on “Crazy For You” below and look for the new album, Slow Dancing With a Boy on all digital download sites December 6. And while we’re here, let’s revisit that moment in the 1990s when Thomas won the top prize over Britney on Junior Star Search.