Category: News

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Emmy/Grammy Winner Billy Porter Comes Out As HIV+

Grammy/Emmy/Tony Award winner Billy Porter

Grammy/Emmy/Tony Award winner Billy Porter
Grammy/Emmy/Tony Award winner Billy Porter (screen capture – THR)
After a deeply moving episode of the acclaimed FX series Pose on Sunday which drew in part from his own personal life story, Grammy/Emmy Award winner Billy Porter has come out as HIV+ today in a candid and revealing interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

I was the generation that was supposed to know better, and it happened anyway. It was 2007, the worst year of my life. I was on the precipice of obscurity for about a decade or so, but 2007 was the worst of it. By February, I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. By March, I signed bankruptcy papers.

And by June, I was diagnosed HIV-positive. The shame of that time compounded with the shame that had already [accumulated] in my life silenced me, and I have lived with that shame in silence for 14 years. HIV-positive, where I come from, growing up in the Pentecostal church with a very religious family, is God’s punishment.

The 51-year-old actor also shares how Pose changed the equation for him:

Then came Pose. An opportunity to work through the shame [of HIV] and where I have gotten to in this moment. And the brilliance of Pray Tell and this opportunity was that I was able to say everything that I wanted to say through a surrogate. My compartmentalizing and disassociation muscles are very, very strong, so I had no idea I was being traumatized or triggered. I was just happy that somebody was finally taking me seriously as an actor.

Porter had made a pact that he wouldn’t tell his mother because he felt she’d already gone through so much due to his ‘queerness.’ But on the last day of shooting his scenes for Pose, he had an epiphany.

Then I woke up on the last day of [shooting] Pose; I was writing in my gratitude journal and my mama popped into my head. I was like, “Let me just call her.” Not two minutes into the conversation, she’s like, “What’s wrong?” I said, “Nothing.” She’s like, “Son, please tell me what’s wrong.”

So I ripped the Band-Aid off and I told her. She said, “You’ve been carrying this around for 14 years? Don’t ever do this again. I’m your mother, I love you no matter what. And I know I didn’t understand how to do that early on, but it’s been decades now.” And it’s all true. It’s my own shame. Years of trauma makes a human being skittish. But the truth shall set you free. I feel my heart releasing. It had felt like a hand was holding my heart clenched for years — for years — and it’s all gone.

While Pose may be coming to an end, the future is full of new adventures for Billy.

Every single solitary dream that I ever had is coming true in this moment, all at the same time. I’m getting ready to play the fairy godmother in Cinderella. I have new music coming out. I have a memoir coming out. Pose is out. I’m directing my first film. And I’m trying to be present. I’m trying to be joyful, and one of the effects of trauma is not being able to feel joy.

I celebrate Billy’s inspiring and uplifting journey to his truth, and his sharing it with us. Please read the full article (and watch the video interview) at The Hollywood Reporter.

DaShawn Usher, Associate Director – Communities of Color for GLAAD, issued a statement on Billy’s announcement:

“The tremendous levels of stigma facing people living with HIV today can only be broken by icons like Billy Porter showing the world that HIV is not at all a barrier to a healthy and successful life. People living with HIV today, when on effective treatment, lead long and healthy lives and cannot transmit HIV, plus medications like PrEP protect people who do not have HIV from contracting HIV, but these leaps in HIV prevention and treatment have largely been invisible in the news and entertainment industries.”

“When the groundbreaking show Pose goes off air in a few weeks, there will be zero television characters living with HIV. That is truly unacceptable when 1.2 million Americans and about 38 million people globally are living with HIV. Billy’s powerful interview needs to be a wake-up call for media and the general public that it’s time to end the stigma that people living with HIV face and to educate each other about HIV prevention and treatment.”

GLAAD and Gilead Sciences last year released a survey that measures American attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV. Among those findings were only 55% of LGBTQ Americans and 51% of non-LGBTQ Americans report feeling knowledgeable about HIV.

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News Round-Up: May 18, 2021

K-pop singer Wonho is killing it at the gym

A scene from the 2007 film 300
A scene from ‘300’ (photo: Warner Bros.)
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: Film director Zack Snyder says that he worked on a sequel to his 2007 film 300 (above) during the pandemic, but Warner Bros. passed on it because it ended up being a gay love story. • Reuters: Cuba draped its health ministry with a giant rainbow flag on Monday to mark International Day against Homophobia, in a key year for LGBT+ rights as the Caribbean country decides on a new family code that could approve same-sex marriage. • Socialite Life: K-pop star Wonho posted a workout video last week that featured the singer working his back, lower body, and arms. Judging by his massive thighs (below), whatever he is doing is definitely working.
K-pop singer Wonho (image via Twitter/AlphaCeleb)
• Edge Media: Tennessee will be the first state in the U.S. to require businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multi-person bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms associated with their gender identity. • Pink News: Serenity Hollis has become at least the 25th transgender person to be killed in the United States so far this year as anti-trans violence continues to escalate. Hollis was shot dead in Albany, Georgia on May 8. • The Advocate: Caitlyn Jenner shared a transphobic meme from Donald Trump Jr. but Alexandra Billings, veteran actress and star of Transparent and The Conners, had the perfect response.

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State Dept Ends Policy Denying Citizenship To Children Born Abroad To Gay Parents

Gays dads with their daughter

Gays dads with their daughter
(image via Depositphotos)
The U.S. State Department has reversed a Trump-era policy of denying U.S. citizenship to children born abroad to gay parents via assisted reproductive technologies. From Axios:

The Trump administration had denied citizenship to children born abroad to same-sex parents in several cases.

The State Department under Trump defended a long-standing policy that categorized children born abroad via surrogate as “out of wedlock” even when a couple was married.

Several same-sex couples sued the agency for their children’s citizenship, but the State Department continued to enforce the policy.

Under the new policy, children born abroad to parents, at least one of whom is a U.S. citizen and who are married to each other at the time of the birth, will be U.S. citizens from birth if they have a genetic or gestational tie to at least one of their parents and meet the INA’s other requirements. I reported on several lawsuits by gay parents during the Trump years whose children were denied citizenship.

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University Investigating Attempted Invasion Of LGBTQ Student House

A sign in front of Fran's House at Bucknell University
A sign in front of Fran's House at Bucknell University
Sign in front of Fran’s House at Bucknell University (image via Facebook)

A group of male students terrorized the residents of an on-campus home for LGBTQ students at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, last week.

The incident occurred last Thursday evening at Fran’s House – an gender-neutral housing facility for LGBTQ students.

In a letter to the university president, Tyler Luong, a resident assistant for the residence, says he was studying when he received a message in a group chat to lock the doors and windows. “Nobody come in or out right now. Don’t open any doors. Lock Windows.”

He found several students in an upstairs bathroom holding a window closed as a group of nearly 20 men had gathered outside yelling, “Let us in! This isn’t your home! This is our home.”

The group was identified as members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity which had been housed at the home until being banned from the university two years ago.

The fraternity was removed by the school for hazing infractions that included the use of dog shock collars and throwing darts at members’ bodies.

Luong says one of the men urinated on the front porch of the house while others pounded on the front door and banged on a metal flag pole where a Pride flag was displayed. Several reportedly climbed up on the roof in an attempt to enter the building.

The students called the Public Safety Department to stop the invasion, but Luong says it took “way too long” for any help to arrive.

And when two officers finally arrived, they “bonded” with the fraternity members “reminiscing their college days and calling them handsome young men.”

According to the resident adviser, the officers didn’t even ask the residents to see if they were ok.

The New York Times reports that several of the students could barely sleep through the night, terrified the fraternity members would return. Luong shared he slept with a “sharp object” under his bed.

“This was especially traumatic for a lot of us to deal with,” said Carolyn Campbell, a leader of Fran’s House, “because we never thought that something, like, so overtly horrible could happen to the house like this to strip away the sense of safety.”

The residents of Fran's House
The residents of Fran’s House (image via Facebook)

In the days that followed, students from the school organized to stand guard outside the house in shifts. And a march against toxic masculinity was organized.

The residents of Fran’s House issued a statement saying that while they were still processing the incident, they were “astounded by the amount of advocacy and kindness” they’d received from the university community.

They also called for those responsible to be held accountable, writing, “Never again should someone feel entitled to come to our home and say it’s ‘their house and not ours.’”

In a letter to students, University President John Bravman acknowledged the “horrific incident” saying he was “outraged and sorrowful” that the residents endured the “violation of the space” where they live.

Bravman also noted the response by the Public Safety Department was “lacking in myriad ways” and has retained an outside firm to investigate the incident. He added that additional educational and professional development would be implemented at Public Safety to help foster a better sense of safety and belonging at the university.

When approached by the Washington Post, the university’s Public Safety Department declined to comment any further than Bravman’s letter.

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News Round-Up: May 17, 2021

Guillermo Flores, dancer/choreographer and member of Drag Race Espana's Pit Crew

Guillermo Flores, dancer/choreographer and member of Drag Race Espana's Pit Crew
Guillermo Flores, dancer/choreographer and member of Drag Race Espana’s Pit Crew
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: Police in Brazil announced the arrests of three suspects in the brutal murder of gay activist teacher, Professor Lindolfo Kosmaski. The body of the 25-year-old was found bullet-ridden in a burned car on the side of a highway in the municipality of São João do Triunfo on April 30. • CNN: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a controversial bathroom bill into law Friday that will deny transgender students access to the bathroom and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Lee also signed a transgender sports bill into law in March that requires students to prove their sex at birth in order to play middle and high school sports. • Instinct Magazine: For the inaugural season of Drag Race España, the Pit Crew has been supersized with twelve brand new members.  That’s Pit Crew member Guillermo Flores up top. #woof https://www.instagram.com/p/CO4EFFTjo4V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • BosGuy: The longtime Boston-based blogger reminds us in his weekly ‘Men In Kilts’ feature that wool kilts can be itchy. His ‘Monday Morning Mancandy‘ is worth a peek as well. • Huffpost: Universal Pictures is postponing the international distribution of Promising Young Woman amid outrage that male actors were hired to dub Laverne Cox’s voice in European editions of the movie. • Mediaite: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed this week that a Democrat-backed bill would “automatically register” millions of illegal immigrants to vote. CNN fact checker Daniel Dale wasn’t having it, bluntly responding to a video clip of Cruz by saying, “None of what you just heard is correct.” Here’s the fact check:

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Matt Gaetz Party Pal Pleads Guilty To Sex Trafficking

Joel Greenberg
Joel Greenberg
Joel Greenberg (official county photo)

The news continues to worsen for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his party pal/wingman Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty in a Florida court room this morning to six felony charges including sex trafficking of a child.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Greenberg was led into court by U.S. Marshals and appeared in a dark colored jail jumpsuit, shackled at the wrists and ankles and flanked by two attorneys. He spoke succinctly during the hearing, responding with one or two words to questions from a magistrate judge.

In all, Greenberg faced 33 federal charges. But prosecutors will drop the other 27 counts against him. Greenberg also pleaded guilty to identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

Greenberg now faces possibly 12 years in prison for the crimes he’s copped to. 

The plea deal calls for Greenberg to forfeit at about $654,780 in assets he obtained through illegal acts, as well as cooperating with any investigation by the prosecutors.

Ruh-roh, Matt Gaetz.

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Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge To Abortion Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court (2021)

The U.S. Supreme Court (2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court (2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Mississippi that directly challenges the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade which established a constitutional right to abortion. With the current 6-3 conservative majority on the high court, this very well could lead to a huge restriction in abortion rights. From the New York Times:

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19- 1392, concerns a law enacted by the Republican-dominated Mississippi legislature that banned abortions if “the probable gestational age of the unborn human” was determined to be more than 15 weeks. The statute included narrow exceptions for medical emergencies or “a severe fetal abnormality.”

Lower courts said the law was plainly unconstitutional under Roe, which forbids states from banning abortions before fetal viability — the point at which fetuses can sustain life outside the womb, or around 23 or 24 weeks.

Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic sued, saying the law ran afoul of Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that affirmed Roe’s core holding.

Judge Carlton W. Reeves of Federal District Court in Jackson, Miss., blocked the law in 2018, saying the legal issue was straightforward and questioning the state lawmakers’ motives.

In his ruling, Reeves wrote that he believed the Mississippi lawmakers knew exactly what they were doing when they passed the law setting up an eventual appearance at SCOTUS. A 3-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, agreed with Reeve’s ruling. It should come as no surprise that the basis for the legislation was written by the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.

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Podcast: Catholics Defy Vatican, Skittles Loses Rainbow For Pride, More States Ban Gay Panic Defense

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 headlines: • Catholic priests in Germany defy the Vatican and bless same-sex unions • GLAAD looks at social media safety for LGBTQ users • A 20-year-old gay man was beheaded by his own family in a brutal ‘honor killing’ in Iran • The gay panic defense is banned in two more states…and counting • Skittles defers to the true “rainbow” for Pride Month • New music from out singer/songwriter Milahroy ‘Daylight’ (Link to music video) All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Gay Officers Group Responds To Banning Of Cops From NYC Pride

Gay Officers Action League flag

Gay Officers Action League flag The Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) has issued a statement reacting to the decision by New York City Pride to not allow gay officers to participate in uniform at this year’s Pride parade.

The Gay Officers Action League (“GOAL”) is disheartened by the decision to ban our group from participating in New York City Pride. Heritage of Pride (NYC Pride) has long been a valued partner of our organization and its abrupt about-face in order to placate some of the activists in our community is shameful.

GOAL and our members have had our hands in every police reform and policy revision touching on the LGBTQIA+ community in New York City. As the result of our advocacy alongside our allies, NYPD revised its Patrol Guide in 2012 to include procedures specific to transgender and gender nonconforming New Yorkers.

For nearly 30 years, GOAL has provided LGBTQIA+ training for every new NYPD recruit at the academy, educating future officers on the unique challenges facing our community. We also serve as victim advocates for those in our community that have needed to navigate the criminal justice system. These are just a few of the countless initiatives that GOAL has undertaken to change the culture of law enforcement. We are doing the work that leads to progress.

…

There are many partners for change throughout law enforcement. For them to succeed, they need to be supported by leading LGBTQIA+ groups, not excommunicated by them.

Read the full statement here.

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Prosecutors Have Filed Charges On 411 Capitol Invasion Suspects

Police officer crushed in doorway at U.S. Capitol

Police officer crushed in doorway at U.S. Capitol
(screen capture)
The Washington Post reports federal prosecutors have filed charges against 411 suspects in the January 6 invasion of the Capitol building including about 75 people charged with assaulting police officers. Nearly 70 are current or former U.S. military service members, law enforcement or government officials who swore to uphold the law. The Post also notes that  most of the defendants (181 of 411 or about 44 percent) won’t serve time at all because they are charged with low-level misdemeanors like trespassing or disorderly conduct. Read the full article.