Author: Randy Slovacek

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Mayor Pete Buttigieg: “I Do Think We Should Be Realistic About What’s Going To Work”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in an interview that will air on “The Axe Files” tonight at 7pm on CNN, shared his thoughts with David Axelrod about promising pie-in-the-sky programs being bandied about on the campaign trail.

“I do think that we should be realistic about what’s going to work,” said Buttigieg. “And just flipping a switch and saying we’re instantly going to have everybody on Medicare just like that — isn’t realistic.”

More from CNN:

“I think that when it comes to a lot of these policies that we’re being pushed to do — say that we can pay down the last penny of tuition for any student including the child of a billionaire. These are things that are questionable on their merits and of course also pretty far out … from where Americans are.”

Of the 20 candidates on the two debate stages during the first round of Democratic debates, just four raised their hands when asked who backed the elimination of private health insurance — Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, along with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“The best way to do that is a Medicare for all who want it. We take some flavor of Medicare, you make it available on the exchange as a public option. And you invite people to buy into it,” he said at a CNN town hall in March.

From Mayor Pete’s website:

For lower-income families, we must make public college truly debt-free. We can do this through a state-federal partnership that makes public tuition affordable for all and completely free at lower incomes — combined with a large increase in Pell Grants that provides for basic living expenses and keeps up with inflation.

Middle-income families at public colleges will pay zero tuition. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) are vital for this country and our communities and deserve to receive more dedicated support.

Additional policies:
• Confront student loan debt
• Provide more support for students entering public service
• Ensure the highest degree of transparency and accountability for higher education institutions
• Apply strict standards to for-profit higher education institutions

I agree with Mayor Pete. I think there are lots of people (perhaps those who get their health insurance through their employers) may be happy with what they have.

I would totally support a program where folks can buy into a version of Medicare or keep their existing insurance. It seems more realistic than wiping out all private healthcare insurance companies.

Maybe some day we get to a place where we don’t have private companies, but I believe the path to that result will take incremental steps.

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Mike Pence Visits ‘Humane And Compassionate’ Border Camps

Vice President Mike Pence (arms crossed)

Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Lindsey Graham and other GOP officials visited one of the detention border camps.

Pence dressed like he was going to one of Donald Trump’s country clubs as the men there were locked in cages, calling for help.

It looks like he’s visiting an animal shelter – look at that body language. He then took to Twitter to say the detainees were getting, “humane and compassionate care” from CPB.

I’ve not found one report that he spoke to or asked any of the detainees how they were.

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Bitter Queen Pens Ill-Written Hatchet Job On Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A hack writer (using the term loosely here) somehow got a tacky, ill-written hatchet job on Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the New Republic website.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A hack writer (using the term loosely here) somehow got a tacky, ill-written hatchet job on Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the New Republic website.

I won’t link to it because it was yanked down once the writer, Dale Peck, was presumably tackled and handcuffed to a radiator somewhere.

The author, who’s clearly a bitter old queen, took Mayor Pete to task for coming out in his mid-30s and claims that disqualifies him from the presidency.

When contacted about the article, editor Chris Lehmann (who must have been at happy hour when the author hacked into NR’s website) responded saying, “The New Republic recognizes that this post crossed a line, and while it was largely intended as satire, it was inappropriate and invasive.”

Here’s just a sample. Click to enlarge.

Trust and believe, this was not satire. Satire requires wit.

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Detroit Man Charged In Murder/Robbery Used Grindr To Find Victims

A Detroit man has been arrested in the assault and murder of two gay men.

According to DetroitNews.com, Demetris Nelson used the gay dating app, Grindr, to find and contact his victims.

Demetris Nelson, 26, was charged Friday in 36th District Court in Detroit with several crimes, including first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to rob while armed and felony firearm possession, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison for the murder charge.

A magistrate ordered him held without bail and scheduled a probable cause hearing for July 26 and a preliminary examination into the case for Aug. 2.

Police say Nelson shot and killed Brian Anderson, 31, and shot and critically wounded Malcom Drake, 26, both of Detroit, last Saturday during an attempted robbery.

Prosecutors allege he shot them because they are gay and used a social networking app to locate the two victims.

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News Round-Up: July 12, 2019

• InstaHunk Max Souza (above) is a study in gorgeous contrast between that gorgeous skin, the blue ocean and his whiter-than-white swimsuit. #Brazil

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Max Souza (above) is a study in gorgeous contrast between that gorgeous skin, the blue ocean and his whiter-than-white swimsuit. #Brazil

• Washingtonian: A bisexual man, frustrated he couldn’t donate blood, decided to donate a kidney in protest. Current FDA policy bans men who have sex with men from donating blood (but not organs) unless they are refrain from same-sex intimacy for a year.

• Sacramento Bee: California lawmakers have approved a bill that will require presidential candidates to provide five years of tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot. Gov. Gavin Newsome, who provided six years of his own tax returns for his 2018 gubernatorial race, is expected to sign the bill into law.

• Washington Post: The U.S. House voted Friday to prevent Donald Trump from launching into war with Iran without first getting the approval of Congress. More than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats to include the provision, which includes an exception for cases of self-defense, in the House’s annual defense authorization bill.

• IndyStar: Gay high school teacher, fired for being in a same-sex marriage, sues Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

• TGIF: Groove into the weekend with Dinah Jane and her ‘tell-off’ video, “Heard It All Before.” The R&B diva recently brought her talent and sass to St. Louis PrideFest as well as the BET Awards Experience. DJ

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Interview: Singer/Songwriter Tom Goss On Open Hearts & Open Relationships

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Tom Goss (photo: LafamosPR)

Out singer/songwriter Tom Goss drops this chill summer single, “Quayside,” from his upcoming album, Territories. The song shares the delicate story of entering into a polyamorous relationship.

In a departure for the ‘guitar-toting troubadour,’ Goss explores new musical territory in “Quayside” (pronounced ‘key-side’). The track, featuring acclaimed songwriter Gregory Douglass and produced by Ian Carmichael, finds Goss shifting into a contemporary synth-pop vibe.

I recently chatted at length with Goss about the new track and how his own perceptions of love and relationships shaped the narrative of the upcoming album.

“‘Quayside’ explores an entirely new set of boundaries that I encountered when visiting my lover at his home on a quayside in London for the first time,” explains Goss. “I was concerned about being respectful to him, and his public (or daily life with his husband) while still being respectful to my own husband, and the love we’ve fostered for so many years.”

“It’s been a tumultuous three years or so for me, in that my husband and I opened our relationship, which is very difficult for me,” shared Goss in our candid interview. “I spent a lot of time struggling with that, and a lot of time just being really introspective.”

“This has all been an evolution trying to understand my role in helping my husband find the thing he was searching for and support him in the changing man that he was becoming,” explained the singer.

“And I was a little lost in knowing where I fit in along those lines,” added Goss. “So, I think that that definitely made me very introspective and I think changed the ways in which I tell stories because it was painful for me.”

“There’s a whole world out there that’s very frightening because you we live in a society that tells us what sex is, and what relationship is, and what monogamy is and what this is,” said Goss. “And when you come out as gay, a whole bunch of that falls to the ground and you have to learn how to live with that.”

“And when you open your relationship, it does the same exact thing”, he added. “A whole bunch of those internal constructs that you believe are innate to you, you start questioning. Are these innate to me or are these something that’s learned? Is this a learned behavior?”

“And this is a learned thought,” says Goss with a sense of resolution.

(photo: LafamosPR)

To make sure everyone is on the same page here, the discussion is not about cheating on one’s spouse or partner.

Polyamory is described as the practice of intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved. It has been called ‘consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy.’

That said, Goss is clear that seeking purely physical connections are not in his wheelhouse.

“I want to have really impactful emotional experiences,” shares the singer. “I think, for me, the, the idea of physicality and openheartedness is very important, and I want my intimate experiences with my husband, or with another person, to be really open and connective.”

Shifting the conversation to the music, Goss is upbeat, saying, “The whole record is really me trying to understand how I engage with the world at large in a positive, honest way.”

“And it really puts a spotlight on the openness of the opening of the relationship, and the falling in love with another person, and the wanting to be respectful of that person, and wanting to be respectful of my husband, and wanting to be respectful of me, and wanting to be respectful of my lover,” he says. “It has been all of these things and it just becomes a mind f*ck very quickly.”

“I’m so proud of this record – I’ve never heard anything like it. And, I’ve never shied away from saying something ‘different’ in my career,” says the man who put the bear community front and center in his music video celebrating the furry form.

(photo: Daren Cornell)

A veteran musician of seven albums, Goss has played over a thousand shows in over a hundred cities around the globe, and his music has been featured on ABC, HBO and Univision.

A college wrestler turned Catholic seminarian turned polyamorous gay songwriter, Goss is well-known in the LGBT world for his music videos for “Bears,” “Round in All The Right Places,” and his cover of the Dusty Springfield classic “Son of a Preacher Man,” which reimagines the video as a poignant ballad about two gay teens.

Racking up more than 12 million views of his music videos, Goss has been praised by press outlets such as The Washington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Huff Post, Billboard and more.

“Quayside” is now available now on all digital download sites.

For more info about Tom and his future tour dates, click over to TomGossMusic.com.

You can listen to our full chat below.

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News Round-Up

homepage 24

UPDATE – The bill that would have banned ‘conversion therapy’ in Utah has stalled and died for this legislative session. Republicans had tried to insert an amendment that would allow professional therapists to ‘talk’ about changing a teen’s sexuality, but not promising to ‘reverse’ it. Utah lawmakers have gutted legislation that would have banned so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the state. With recent changes, the new bill allows therapists to continue using the same techniques, just not with a promise of a certain outcome. The new version also doesn’t ban therapy intended to change transgender youth. From The Salt Lake Tribune: Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, left the morning hearing fuming about the committee’s decision. The majority of the committee, he said, sided with “quack therapists” and “snake oil salesmen” by approving a version of the bill that would be easily sidestepped by practitioners of conversion therapy. The substitute bill by Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, focuses on prohibiting practices that cause pain or physical distress to a minor patient. It also would ban claims that a therapy could fully and permanently reverse a child’s sexual orientation and assertions that such a change is necessary. All of the nation’s leading mental health and medical associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have rejected conversion therapy as dangerous and ineffective, and 15 states have banned certain counselors from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors. The practice has been linked to suicide and depression, and supporters of Hall’s legislation have framed it as a potentially life-saving legal change. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Craig Hall, told the committee, “This bill, substitute 4, just to make it clear, will not prevent conversion therapy.” Federal courts have upheld bans on ‘conversion therapy,’ and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused, thus far, to hear appeals on the subject.