Category: News

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Dr. Rachel Levine Becomes 1st Transgender Senate-Confirmed Appointee In History

Dr. Rachel Levine could become the first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate.

Dr. Rachel Levine could become the first transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate.
Dr. Rachel Levine (image via Twitter)
Dr. Rachel Levine was confirmed today by the U.S. Senate as assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. By a vote of 52-48, Levine made history as the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voted yes along with all Senate Democrats. Levine was previously Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, where she led the commonwealth’s COVID-19 response. LGBTQ advocacy groups applauded the news. Liz Seaton, policy director for the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund:

“Her qualifications as a physician and Surgeon General of Pennsylvania and her experience dealing with the public health issues affecting our country today made her an incredibly qualified candidate for this position. Our country will be in good hands as we face unprecedented health challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic to the epidemic of opioid addiction and the longstanding HIV/AIDS epidemic.”

Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings:

“The Senate’s confirmation of Dr. Levine marks the return of science, competence, and empathy to one of the most important institutions in our government and at one of the most critical public health moments in our nation’s history. Throughout her impressive career as a doctor and public servant, Dr. Levine has demonstrated a commitment to equity in health care and an understanding of how public health is inextricably linked to social justice.”

And Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, said the following about her confirmation:

“President Biden committed to appointing our nation’s most qualified leaders to tackle the pandemic and he delivered in choosing Dr. Levine.

“Yet the importance of this moment extends well-beyond the health of our nation alone. At a time when hateful politicians are weaponizing trans lives for their own perceived political gain, Dr. Levine’s confirmation lends focus to the contributions trans people make to our nation and deflates absurd arguments calling for their exclusion.

“Her experience leading the health department in Pennsylvania will serve our country well and her unique perspective regarding healthcare for trans people will be invaluable.”

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News Round-Up: March 24, 2021

Megan Thee Stallion and Adam Levine in 'Beautiful Mistakes'

Megan Thee Stallion and Adam Levine in 'Beautiful Mistakes'
Megan Thee Stallion and Adam Levine in ‘Beautiful Mistakes’
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: Paul Bettany, who plays the android Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers films, recently told Conan O’Brien that during the making of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, director Joss Whedon became a bit obsessed with the scene of the Vision being born naked and sporting full-on peen. • New Music: SoCal’s iconic donut shop, Randy’s Donuts, has teamed up with Maroon 5 to create a limited-edition donut box and custom donut, in conjunction with the band’s new video for hit single, “Beautiful Mistakes” and its numerous odes to donuts. Directed by Sophie Muller, the “Beautiful Mistakes”music video takes viewers on an archetypal LA drive, which turns it into a surreal fantasy with a colorful world of flying cars, donuts and a dreamlike narrative. #YouHadMeAtRandy

• Williams Institute: As Republicans push back on Democrats intentions to make Washington, D.C. a state, it’s worth noting that the District has the largest per capita LGBTQ population in the country and 47% of the residents are Black. Also, D.C. has a larger population than Vermont or Wyoming. • Stonewall Gazette: In a recent interview, actor Ronen Rubinstein (9-1-1: Lone Star) recently shared that he identifies as ‘part of the LGBTQ community.’ Rubinstein plays out character TK Strand on the hit TV series. https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkcOuaDjSD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • Data For Progress: Voters across the ideological spectrum overwhelmingly support an 8-year pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who pass a background check – 69% support versus 25% oppose. • NPR: The co-founder and former CEO of Parler has sued the conservative social media platform over his firing this year. John Matze claims Parler’s leadership took away his 40% stake in the company in an “arrogant theft,” intimidated and bullied him in an ouster he says was illegal and left him owed millions of dollars. • Variety: A holiday-themed romantic comedy centered on gay men is coming to Netflix. Single All The Way will star Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers and Luke MacFarlane. Synopsis: Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter (Urie) convinces his best friend Nick (Chambers) to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James (MacFarlane), the plan goes awry.

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COVID Denier Hurls N-Word At Bakery Employee

Stephanie Denaro of Queens, NY
Stephanie Denaro of Queens, NY
When an employee at Davidovich Bakery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan asked a woman ordering bagels to mask up while in the establishment, she lobbed the n-word his way. Oh, and it turns out she’s a COVID denier as well. From the New York Daily News:

A security guard tells the clerk it’s up to him if he wants to serve her — and he said he did not — the guard tells the customer: “Ma’am, he’s not going to serve you, so please leave.”

“Why, cause he’s a b—h-ass n—–?” she responded, and then repeated the slur.

The woman, who spoke to The News on Tuesday, identified herself as Stephanie Denaro of Queens. “I said, ‘You’re a bitch-ass n—-r,’ a term they use,” she said in a phone interview. “All of my children have a Black father. That’s a term I’ve heard them use all my life.”

When asked if she was concerned about the video going viral, she said, “It’s actually great, because they’re forcing people in New York City to wear masks. It’s political theater. I don’t believe in COVID-19. It’s a hoax to convince people to use absentee ballots to steal the election from Donald Trump.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMv4EaLhTCd/ That’s it. The entire planet – all the hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S., Brazil, Europe, the UK…all of that was staged in order to scrounge up absentee ballots so Trump would lose. Okay… Davidovich Bakery issued a statement expressing its strong support for the employee via social media:

We want to commend our employee on his handling of the sad incident which occurred at the Essex Market. As is true with any family an attack on one member of the family is an attack on all of us. Davidovich is a family run business and a family. We stand with all our employees for handling this situation of hate and bigotry with professionalism and grace. We intend to make it clear that this customer or anyone who uses racism and any insensitive language, simply is not welcome in our stores.

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Podcast: Captain America, Japan & Marriage Equality, The LGBTQ Tribe Takes The Call

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: • Japan takes a baby step towards marriage equality • A transgender student won a large settlement in his discrimination lawsuit against a school district in Minnesota • A pharmacist came to the aid of LGBTQ seniors in Brooklyn • New polling shows strong support for the Equality Act • Marvel Comics has announced a gay Captain America on the way • And the LGBTQ tribe answers the call – link to Twitter thread here. All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report podcast

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Georgia Sec Of State: ‘The Kraken Cracks Under Pressure’

Attorney Sidney Powell

Attorney Sidney Powell
Attorney Sidney Powell (screen capture)
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, issued a statement today regarding former legal adviser to Donald Trump Sidney Powell who repeatedly claimed there was election fraud in the Peach State. Among other things, Powell alleged without evidence that Dominion Voting Systems was part of a massive international communist plot to rig the election. Powell never presented any evidence to back up her claims. In January, Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Powell over her conspiracy theories. But this week, Powell’s legal team filed a statement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for the case to be dismissed saying “no reasonable person would conclude that [her] statements were truly statements of fact.” The statement from Raffensperger, titled ‘The Kraken Cracks Under Pressure,’ states, “In the face of legal action, Sidney Powell admitted that her effort to make millions lying to the American people had no facts to begin with.” In the court filing, Powell and her lawyers point to Dominion’s criticism that Powell’s claims were “wild accusations,” “outlandish claims,” “inherently improbable,” or “impossible” as evidence that “reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims.” Powell and her legal team now say that her claims about voter fraud, stolen elections, or switched votes were merely “her opinions and legal theories.” It’s worth noting that Powell’s claims in the weeks following the 2020 election helped fuel belief that the election was ‘stolen’ which led to the violent insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6. Seven people died as a result of that event as well has dozens seriously injured. Over 4,000 lawyers have signed an open letter calling for disciplinary action to be taken against Powell for her outrageous behavior following the 2020 election.

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Gaetz Says He Allowed Adult ‘Son’ To Spring Break In Florida

REp. Matt Gaetz talks about 'allowing' his 'son' to spring break in Florida

Rep. Matt Gaetz talks about 'allowing' his 'son' to spring break in Florida Spring break madness is currently trending in the news cycle as thousands of students make a pilgrimage to Florida beach towns where there are little-to-no COVID restrictions. During an appearance on Fox News last night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told Sean Hannity he’d “allowed” his “son” Nestor to head to Panama Beach, Florida. “My son is a college freshman,” said Gaetz. “He had no real graduation, no prom, and I struggled with whether or not to allow him to enjoy spring break at Panama City beach. I allowed him to have an abbreviated one.” He added that he “did not have a good night’s rest the entire time he was there until I knew he was safe, okay, and back at school.”

Now, the remark drew attention primarily because Nestor Galban is not Gaetz’s son. Galban is the younger brother of an ex-girlfriend of Gaetz. The 19-year-old has apparently been living with the congressman on-and-off since he was 12. While Gaetz refers to Galban as his “son,” he’s never adopted him. The relationship came to light last year when after a clash during a hearing in Congress, Gaetz announced Nestor to the world as his son.

Gaetz had never mentioned to the public he has a “son,” and had only referred to Galban in the public as a “local student,” “helper,” and “House page.” Never as a “family” member. Look, if the 38-year-old Gaetz wants to have a younger boo, that’s fine as long as he’s of legal age. What isn’t cool, though, is voting against legislation like the Equality Act. Gaetz also told Hannity’s viewers that people should feel free to “come to Florida and enjoy freedom.” He added that folks could go out to eat, get in some beach time and “get a little weird, not too weird.” Asked to define “weird,” Gaetz explained, “Maybe a little body-paint here and there, maybe throw some beads, but don’t hurt anybody.” Body-paint and beads. Good times… At nearly 20-years-old, it seemed a bit odd to some that Galban would need permission from Gaetz to be “allowed” to spring break somewhere. Many in the Twitterverse thought it a bit odd as well.

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Nutjob Holds National Guardsmen At Gunpoint After Attempting To Run Them Off The Road

Larry Harris of Willcox, Arizona

Harris
Larry Harris (mug shot)
Larry Harris, of Willcox, Arizona, terrorized 11 National Guardsmen transporting COVID-19 vaccine to Matador, Texas, on Monday morning. According to WAFB, Harris followed 3 vans in Lubbock, Texas, attempting several times to run them off the road. Eventually, he swerved into their path and stopped the vans. Identifying himself as a “detective,” he ordered the unarmed Guardsmen out of the vans demanding to search the vehicles. He later told authorities he believed the vans were carrying a kidnapped woman and child. All of the guardsmen were in full uniform. Police say Harris was in possession of a loaded Colt 1911 pistol .45 Caliber along with an additional loaded magazines. Harris was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint of 11 National Guard Soldiers, unlawful carrying of a weapon, impersonating a Public Servant, and interference with Texas Military Forces. Eric Williams, Idalou Police Chief, said in a statement that Harris “appeared to be mentally disturbed.”  

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News Round-Up: March 22, 2021

Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans got ripped during COVID lockdown

Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans got ripped during COVID lockdown
Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans shared the above photo with his Instagram followers proving that everyone didn’t get out of shape during the pandemic. #bastard #morewine • Kenneth-in-the-212: If you’re a fan of classic TV sitcoms, don’t miss Kenneth’s 25 facts about the finale episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Hubby Michael and I recently binge watched all 168 episodes and, yep, we still love it. • Pantene: The hair care giant recently shared this ad spot about a trans teen and her two moms – “Hair is a large part of our identity. And for LGBTQ+ youth like Sawyer, who choose to express themselves, their style, & their creativity through their hair style, it can help them feel seen. Catch up with Sawyer and her mom Ashley & see how this family is.” #BeautifulLGBTQ

• The Advocate: The Arkansas legislature has passed a bill allowing health care providers or insurers to deny care that conflicts with their religious beliefs. Civil rights groups say it opens the door to widespread discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and others. For instance, pharmacists could refuse to fill prescriptions for transgender patients’ hormone treatment. • NY Times: Normally one of the ratings stalwarts of daytime TV, The Ellen DeGeneres Show has seen a huge drop in ratings over the last six months. DeGeneres has lost over a million viewers since the beginning of 2020. • Gr8erDays: Believe it or not, William Shatner (Star Trek, TJ Hooker, Boston Legal) is 90 years old today. #LiveLongAndProsper https://www.instagram.com/p/CMsmMFJBKmS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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NY Republican Congressman Apologizes For Sexual Misconduct

Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)

Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)
Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)
A congressman from New York, who believes businesses can refuse to serve LGBTQ people based on religious beliefs and has called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be impeached over sexual impropriety allegations, has apologized for his own sexual misconduct. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), a six-term congressman who represents New York’s 23rd District, has addressed allegations that he unhooked a woman’s bra and then began to slide his hand up the woman’s thigh in 2017. From the Washington Post:

In the story that published Friday, Nicolette Davis, a former lobbyist for Aflac insurance, said that Reed rubbed her back and unhooked her bra during a gathering with other lobbyists at a Minneapolis pub in 2017. She was 25 years old at the time and on her first networking trip. He was 45.

Reed last week declined to answer detailed questions about the incident, saying only, “This account of my actions is not accurate.”

But on Sunday, Reed apologized profusely to Davis as well as to his family, constituents and other supporters.

“Even though I am only hearing of this matter as stated by Ms. Davis in the article now, I hear her voice and will not dismiss her,” he said in the statement. “In reflection, my personal depiction of this event is irrelevant. Simply put, my behavior caused her pain, showed her disrespect and was unprofessional. I was wrong, I am sorry, and I take full responsibility.”

Reed blamed the incident on his struggles with alcohol. Reed also announced that while he won’t resign, he will not be seeking reelection in 2022 which is a rather empty statement since he declared when he was first elected he wouldn’t serve more than six terms. Read more at the Washington Post.

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Biden’s Approval Rating Continues To Rise As Vaccinations Increase

President Joe Biden in the Oval Office

President Joe Biden in the Oval Office
President Joe Biden (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
With the passage of the COVID relief package in Congress plus the increase in vaccinations for the coronavirus, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday shows the number of Americans who approve of President Joe Biden continues to increase. From Reuters:

The March 17-18 national opinion poll found that 59% of adults in the United States approved of Biden’s overall job performance, while 35% disapproved and 6% said they were not sure.

The number of adults who approve of Biden is up by about 4 percentage points since a poll that ran in late January, and the increase is largely due to a rise in Biden’s popularity among independents.

About six in 10 independents said they approved of Biden in the latest poll, up from about five in 10 who felt the same way in January.

Read the full article here. As some right-wing pundits discussed with glee Biden tripping on the steps of Air Force One, this tweet pretty much summed up the situation for me: