Philipp Tanzer today (screen capture via BBC) Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: Former gay porn star turned far-right “men’s rights activist” Philipp Tanzer (above) has failed to win a seat in the Scottish elections. Tanzer was a well-known porn actor and identified as gay until the age of 32 – but he then renounced his sexuality and began dating women. • Variety: POSE star MJ Rodriguez has already booked her next gig – she will star opposite Maya Rudolph in an upcoming Apple comedy series. It follows Molly (Rudolph), a woman whose seemingly perfect life is upended after her husband leaves her with nothing but 87 billion dollars. Rodriguez will play Sofia, the hard-working executive director of the non-profit funded by her absentee billionaire boss, Molly. • C&C: Gifs of actor Andrew Garfield shooting a movie scene in NYC wearing a fake penis have surfaced. In the images, you can see Garfield giving high fives and trying to hug people as he filmed a scene for Mainstream in 2019. Click the link to see uncensored gifs. • ABC News: A new poll shows nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Olympic Games to be cancelled, less than three months before the Games are due to open. The Olympics, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic, are set to open on July 23. • AP News: The Transportation Security Administration said that slightly more than 1.7 million people were screened at airport checkpoints on Sunday, the highest number since March 2020, when travel was collapsing because of the coronavirus outbreak. • Gr8erDays: The Hollywood nostalgia site celebrates the birthday of actor and race car driver Bruce Penhall as their Mantique of the Day for May 10. Penhall, who turns 64 today, is best known for his role on the NBC series “CHiPs” and the “Savage Beach” (1989) movies. https://www.instagram.com/p/COrA7E6BrMN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Horse trainer Bob Baffert blames “cancel culture” after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. According to Mediaite, at least 29 of Baffert’s horses failed a drug test during his career. “We live in a different world now,” says Baffert during an appearance on Fox News. “This America’s different.” “We did not cheat to win the Kentucky Derby,” he added.
Bob Baffert blamed “cancel culture” after his horse, Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby, failed its post-race drug test. “We live in a different world now. This America’s different.” pic.twitter.com/bsQeiV7oXi
What does cancel culture have to do with horse doping? 😐 This gaslighting convinces me that that using that steroid was intentional and the trainer knew about it. If he didn’t know, he would have just said Churchill Downs is following their process and the truth will come out.
Old rich white dudes can’t get away with all the shit they used to so easily anymore. Cancel culture to them is basically just what everyone else knows as consequences
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: For a second year in a row, Skittles is releasing limited-edition Pride Packs, which feature all gray packaging and all gray candies inside. “Only one rainbow matters during Pride,” reads the packaging. One dollar per pack purchased will then be donated (up to $100K) by Skittles to GLAAD. • Instinct Magazine: Caitlyn Jenner, who has declared she opposes transgender girls compete in sports with cisgender girls, was twisting in the wind again this week when footage of Jenner competing in a 2016 LPGA tournament surfaced. Yes, in the tournament Jenner competed against – you guessed it – cisgender women. • NewNowNext: Actor-comedian Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) has teamed up with GLAAD to tell the world about his two moms: Helena McElhenney and her wife Mary Taylor.
• Washington Blade: A Puerto Rico Senate committee on Thursday killed a bill that would have banned so-called conversion therapy on the island. • Winston Salem Journal: A Forsyth County minister, T. Elliott Welch, has been arrested on a child-pornography charge, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. An arrest warrant alleges that Welch copied material showing a nude girl, who appeared to be between the ages of 10 and 12, being raped by a man. Welch is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Stanleyville whose website is chockful of anti-LGBTQ pronouncements. • Newsweek: A Minnesota man, identified by his social media accounts as Thomas Humphrey, posted a video of himself that appeared to show him stealing a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from CVS in order to “test it at a lab.” “I just want to read it. I just—you know, I’m taking the vaccine, I just want to read it,” he then reached across a counter and grabbed a white box. #theft
An anti-vaxxer – Thomas Humphrey – has been going around stealing vials of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, proclaiming it poisonous and urging people to turn their backs on it.https://t.co/ThIS0N6dT5
Sergio J. Matos and Jim Newman Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: The Village People’s Jim Newman (above) moved to Brazil for love. The Broadway daddy would love a return to performing, but for now he’s happy hunkering down on the beach with his fiancé, Sergio J. Matos. • Instinct Magazine: Ryan Reynolds wants his anti-hero super-hero Deadpool to be pansexual (per the original source comics) in the upcoming Marvel Studios film Deadpool 3. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like the latest issue of WireMag (below) featuring body builder Steve Rogers. • NBC News: Middle school students in Texas have accused a teacher of defacing their chalk art of Pride flags by scrawling “heteros rule” over top of it. The school district is apparently dodging the issue by sending out a “vague” email implying there was a dustup (but didn’t explain what happened). • Axios: Oklahoma has secured a $2.6 million refund for a malaria drug purchase once touted by Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19. Trump repeatedly promoted hydroxychloroquine last year despite health officials warning that the drug should not be prescribed for treating COVID-19 outside of research or hospital settings due to serious side effects. • Twitter: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told a Trump supporter he “led the fight” to overturn the 2020 election (take that Josh Hawley). But as the cultist grows more fervent, Cruz (aware a camera is on him) has to pull away.
NEW VIDEO: @TedCruz wants you to know that HE led the effort to overturn the election in the Senate… take that, Josh Hawley! pic.twitter.com/eadMdgbc1B
A bar owner in California’s Central Valley has been arrested for selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards. From NBC News:
Charges against Todd Anderson, 59, include identity theft, forging government documents, and falsifying medical records, according to a statement from San Joaquin District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar.
An investigation was opened after California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control received a complaint about fake cards being sold at the Old Corner Saloon in Clements, about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento.
Anderson was also found with a loaded unregistered firearm, a felony, during his arrest.
Charges included falsifying medical records and several counts of identity theft. Just get the shot, folks…
George Floyd, handcuffed on the ground as Officer Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the detaining and eventual death of George Floyd have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights. From the New York Times:
The indictment charges Mr. Chauvin, 45, and other former Minneapolis Police Department officers Tou Thao, 35, J. Alexander Kueng, 27, and Thomas Lane, 38, with willfully depriving Mr. Floyd of his constitutional civil rights during his arrest.
The indictment alleges that by holding his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck and his right knee on his back and arm as he lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, Mr. Chauvin used unconstitutional, unreasonable force that resulted in Mr. Floyd’s death.
Mr. Thao and Mr. Kueng were charged with willfully failing to stop Mr. Chauvin from using unreasonable force. All four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him, depriving him of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which included Mr. Floyd’s right to be free from an officer’s deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, the indictment said.
Chauvin, who was found guilty on state charges of murder and manslaughter in regard to the incident, was also indicted for another incident involving a 14-year-old boy in 2017. Chauvin reportedly held the teen by the neck and beat him on the head with a flashlight before holding the teen down with his knee on his neck while handcuffed face down on the ground. Sound familiar? Thao, Kueng, and Lane still face state charges in the Floyd incident with the trial scheduled for August.
(image via Disney Parks) Some news items you might have missed: • Disney Parks: Just in time for Pride Month 2021, fans around the world can showcase their LGBTQ pride with all-new bespoke products featuring Disney brands. To learn more, visit RainbowDisneyCollection.com. • Pink News: An anti-transgender bill in Texas that would ban trans students from playing sports on the team corresponding to their gender identity has failed to advance out of a House committee. It failed to get the requisite seven votes to move forward, instead receiving a 6-5 vote in favor. • Kenneth-in-the-212: This week’s installment of Wrestle Wednesdays was a truly worthy honoree (below). Click here for more of KIT212’s regular Hump Day feature. Make sure to follow David Torres here on Instagram • OUT: A Republican state lawmaker in Kansas was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery charges for kneeing the groin of a teenaged boy who was in a class he was substitute teaching. • Edge Media: Olympic athlete Tom Daley is back in familiar form after winning two gold medals at the 2021 FINA World Cup in Tokyo. The event was the diver’s first competitive performance in 14 months, and the judges unanimously agreed that Daley didn’t miss a beat. • Twitter: Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson says thousands of Americans have died after they received a COVID-19 vaccine, pointing to CDC numbers. What he doesn’t say: “Reports to VAERS of death ‘following’ vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine ’caused’ the death.” VAERS is an open-access system. It’s designed so that anyone — parents, patients and health care professionals — can freely report any health effects that occur after a vaccination whether or not those effects are believed to be caused by the vaccine. People have died after watching Carlson’s TV show. It doesn’t mean they actually died from his show (although I guess that’s possible).
This is disingenous and dangerous. Tucker Carlson says thousands of Americans have died after they received a COVID-19 vaccine, pointing to CDC numbers. What he doesn’t say: “Reports to VAERS of death following vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the death” pic.twitter.com/Tj0Q1ltyJr
(image via Depositphotos) Over the past four months, at least 8 gay men in Atlanta have been reported being robbed by men they met on the dating app Grindr. During a press conference Wednesday, Sergeant Rodney Jones of the Atlanta Police Department’s robbery unit told reporters, “From February to May, we have had eight instances where male victims were lured to remote locations by use of the Grindr app.” “After the date concludes, the suspect will rob the victim, often taking their wallets, keys, or even vehicles,” added Jones. Each of the victims told the police they met their assailants on Grindr. The robbers, using stolen photos for their profile, would strike up a conversation with the intended victims and then move the chat to text messages. Jones says most of the robberies occurred with the perpetrators wielding a handgun “at the end of the date.” One victim reported that he had picked up the Grindr ‘date’ and drove to a remote part of Atlanta. Once there, the robber pulled a gun demanding the victim “give me the car and everything you got.” Police say they’ve traced at least one Grindr profile to some of the robberies, and described the potential suspects as being six feet tall, slim but muscular build, late teens to early 20s, dark-skinned Black men with short dreads. The authorities believe one alleged robber is responsible for many of the crimes which have taken place in the northwest part of the city, while another man (or possibly two) have committed similar crimes in the southeastern area of Atlanta. Officer Eric King, LGBT Liaison for Atlanta Police Department It’s possible even more Grindr-related robberies have occurred as police believe some men may be embarrassed to report the crimes. Also taking part in the press briefing was Officer Eric King, who serves as the LGBT liaison to the Atlanta Police Department. King offered some tips on how to improve safety when meeting someone new from Grindr. He advised having a video chat with the potential date before meeting up in person. And if you are driving to meet that person, look up the address to make sure it makes sense as opposed to showing up and finding it to be a remote location. “Find a partner or a friend that you trust that you can notify when you’re going to meet somebody,” added King. “Meet at a grocery store. Meet at a public place before you reconvene somewhere more intimate.” This isn’t the first time Grindr has been used to target victims. In January 2020, I reported on a Michigan man whose Grindr date went horribly wrong after being targeted via the dating app. And in 2017, four men pleaded guilty to violent home invasions set up on Grindr. Watch the press conference by the APD below.
TJ Osborne (screen capture via YouTube) The Tennessee state legislature was all set to honor Brothers Osborne country star T.J. Osborne (who recently came out as gay in February) but a Republican lawmaker suddenly objected and killed the tribute. Even though the state Senate voted unanimously (30-0) in favor of the resolution, Rep. Jeremy Faison used his position as chair of the House Republican Caucus to block the honor. “We have some concerns” said Faison from the floor of the state House about Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 609. NBC News reports that when asked what those “concerns” were, the GOP lawmaker said, “It wasn’t heard in committee, and I feel like it needs to be.” That move effectively killed the resolution because the committee that would discuss the SJR has closed for the year.
WATCH: “We have some concerns.” @JeremyFaison4TN and the @tnhousegop block a resolution to honor out gay country music star TJ Osborne of the @brothersosborne for no reason other than blatant bigotry and spite.
While Faison makes it sound like a procedural issue, other lawmakers responded saying “a lot of SJRs aren’t “heard in committees” yet they receive votes and are passed. Most folks are attributing Faison’s objections to the fact that Osborne is gay and Faison has a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ legislation. According to NBC News, SJR 609 states that “though T.J. Osborne is not the first country music artist to come out as gay, he is the first and currently only openly gay artist signed to a major country label.” “Though it may have been merely a consequence of being true to himself, he has nonetheless become a trailblazer and a symbol of hope for those country music artists and fans alike who may have become ostracized from a genre they hold dear,” continues the resolution. As folks on Twitter criticized Faison, the Brothers Osborne chose to reach out to the Republican publicly instead of attack. “We’ve lived in this state for over half of our lives,” wrote the brothers before pointing out that Faison had voted to honor conservative pundit Ben Shapiro who doesn’t even live in Tennessee. “Jeremy, let’s have lunch one day,” continued the tweet. “On us. Would really like to know more about you as a person.”
We’ve lived in this state for over half of our lives. @JeremyFaison4TN honored Ben Shapiro who doesn’t even live here. Jeremy, let’s have lunch one day. On us. Would really like to know more about you as a person. https://t.co/00w2rdwCec
For his part, Faison responded to the band saying he would be ‘honored to break bread’ with the Osborne bros, although ‘honored’ seems to be an awkward word choice given he had just done the exact opposite in objecting to the resolution. Brothers Osborne continued their classy approach saying they would follow up via direct messaging.
Still, the political gamesmanship didn’t sit well with many in the Nashville music scene. Country star Kacey Musgraves tweeted she was “massively disappointed” in the House Republicans for the ugly move.
As a lifelong Tennessean & a First Family of Tennessee, please let me apologize for our hateful leadership. Most Tennesseans are kind, generous, loving people, as I’m sure you know. We will try our best to rid our government of these hypocrites.
It’s so disturbing that there are still ppl out there in 2021 that are bothered by the way others harmlessly live their lives. It’s time for a clean slate in congress because I’ve about had it with the nonsensical way they supposedly “represent” their constituents.
In a recent CBS Sunday Morning interview, T.J. shared that he’s received “an incredible amount of support” since coming out. “And there’s been some people saying some off-color things to me,” continued Osborne before adding, “But it was a lot, a lot less than I expected.”
LGBTQ streaming platform Revry is launching a queer-centric news show ‘Culture Q’ Some news items you might have missed: • Revry: On May 6th, global LGBTQ TV network, Revry, will premiere it’s first original weekly news program CULTURE Q, an innovative entertainment, pop culture, lifestyle and politics news series. Emphasizing the queer milieu, CULTURE Q stands to be the leading, weekly forum for boundary-pushing LGBTQ discussions and commentary. • OUT: A gay man in Latvia was reportedly set on fire by a homophobic neighbor and died from the burn wounds that covered over 85% of his body. The man and his roommate had reported the numerous threats they received from their neighbor to police, but to no avail. • Pink News: Patrick O’Connell, a venerable AIDS activist who sought to smash stigma by creating awareness campaigns including the iconic red ribbon, has died. According to his brother, Barry, O’Connell passed away at age 67 of AIDS-related causes. RIP Patrick O’Connell.
AIDS activist and creator of the red ribbon, Patrick O'Connell, dies aged 67 https://t.co/dHIhY7ekYn
• Billboard Music Awards: P!nk will be honored with Billboard’s ICON Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards on May 23. The pop star will join the pantheon of previous honorees Garth Brooks, Cher, Neil Diamond, Céline Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. • New York Daily News: Baseball fans can get free tickets to a Yankees or Mets game if they get vaccinated against COVID at either of the team’s facilities, Gov. Cuomo announced on Wednesday. The doses available outside Citi Field and Yankee Stadium will be the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. • Fox News: After months of being banned from social media services like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, ‘former guy’ Donald Trump has launched a “communications platform,” which will eventually give him the ability to communicate directly with his followers. The platform, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” is part of Trump’s official website. Folks, it’s a blog.
Um, this “new platform” is just a blog on a personal web site that doesn’t even have a comments section. It has changed the game back to before 2008.https://t.co/IgaF4ibVqh
• ABC News: A new poll shows nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Olympic Games to be cancelled, less than three months before the Games are due to open. The Olympics, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic, are set to open on July 23. • AP News: The Transportation Security Administration said that slightly more than 1.7 million people were screened at airport checkpoints on Sunday, the highest number since March 2020, when travel was collapsing because of the coronavirus outbreak. • Gr8erDays: The Hollywood nostalgia site celebrates the birthday of actor and race car driver Bruce Penhall as their Mantique of the Day for May 10. Penhall, who turns 64 today, is best known for his role on the NBC series “CHiPs” and the “Savage Beach” (1989) movies. https://www.instagram.com/p/COrA7E6BrMN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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