LGBTQ news and entertainment
(image via Instagram)
Joe Exotic and friend (image via Netflix)
Joe Biden accused President Trump of “a life-and-death betrayal of the American people” hours after journalist Bob Woodward revealed ahead of the publication of his new book, “Rage,” that Trump had concealed the true threat posed by coronavirus. https://t.co/UiDbqMI5bW pic.twitter.com/tpI6YCBeps
— CNN (@CNN) September 9, 2020
The Academy Awards has announced new criteria regarding diversity and inclusion for films that wish to be considered in the Best Picture category In an attempt to address “underrepresented groups,” producers will need to hire more LGBTQ+ people, women, folks of color, and those with disabilities. Per the new guidelines, films that want to be considered for Best Picture will have to submit a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form showing they have met at least two of the four standards laid out by the Academy. The four standards are as follows (via Queerty):
Standard A: The movie must have a lead or “significant” supporting actor from an “underrepresented racial or ethnic group,” or 30% of the more minor roles must come from under-represented groups (women, certain racial or ethnic groups, LGBTQ, disabled). Alternatively, the main storyline may be focussed on under-represented groups.
Standard B: At least two of the creative heads among the crew – director, casting director, costumer designer, etc – are from underrepresented groups (again, women, racial or ethnic groups, LGBTQ or disabled). Alternatively, at least six of the crew are from under-represented racial groups, or 30% of the crew come from under-represented groups.
Standard C: “The film’s distribution or financing company has paid apprenticeships or internships”, from the underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ and certain ethnic groups, as well as offering training opportunities and skills development for individuals from these groups.
Standard D: The final standard concerns the marketing and distribution departments of movies, saying, “The studio and/or film company has multiple in-house senior executives from” the aforementioned groups (women, certain ethnic groups, LGBTQ and/or disabled).
It all sounds good, but in truth, a film can easily meet standards C and D by having, for example, women on the publicity team, or queer staffers/assistants on the costume crew. Currently, the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
L-R Donald Trump, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf (photo: Flickr/WhiteHouse)
Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay the threat of violent white supremacy and of Russian election interference, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by a top intelligence official with the department.
Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a whistle-blower complaint filed on Tuesday that he was directed by Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of the department, to stop producing assessments on Russian interference.
The department’s second highest-ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy “appear less severe” and include information on violent “left-wing” groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump has regularly downplayed the threat of white supremacist violence during his time in office, including his infamous remarks that there were some “fine people” among the extremists who instigated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Murphy previously oversaw the intelligence division at DHS but was reassigned in August. He says the personnel change was retaliation for after he compiled intelligence reports on journalists and protesters in Portland, Oregon. He’s asking the inspector general to investigate.
Whistleblower Complaint: “Mr. Cuccinelli stated that Mr. Murphy needed to specifically modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe, as well as include information on the prominence of violent ‘left-wing’ groups.” https://t.co/9alng1aZR2
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 9, 2020
! Whistleblower Complaint: Acting DHS Secretary Wolf told Murphy on July 8 that “the intelligence notification should be ‘held’ because it ‘made the President look bad.’ Mr. Murphy objected … In response, Mr. Wolf took steps to exclude Mr. Murphy from relevant future meetings.” https://t.co/9alng1aZR2
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 9, 2020
BOMBSHELL WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINT RELEASED: – DHS’s Wolf and Cuccinelli covered up Russian intelligence attacks to keep Trump from looking bad – Covered for white supremacist terror groups, inflated Antifa threat – Lied about Intelligence to justify “The Border Wall” 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XjQsdWy6SL
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) September 9, 2020
(via Instagram/GusKenworthy)
• Instinct Magazine: Chasten Buttigieg, husband to former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, shares in his new book I Have Something To Tell You, that he ran away from home as a teen thinking he would only be a disappointment to his parents due to being gay. ” I was so convinced by everything that I had learned for 18 years that I would be a disappointment and the society I grew up in told me that I was twisted and broken.” • Washington Post: Broadway alone accounts for more tickets sold each year than for all of the metropolitan area’s professional sports teams, and the industry pumps on the order of $13 billion annually into the city economy. Check out this thoughtful exploration of what will be involved, and what it will take, to bring Broadway back to life post-pandemic. • The Advocate: A New Jersey man faces both federal and state charges – including malicious use of explosives, unlawful possession of two destructive devices, and unlawful possession of a short-barreled rifle – in connection with an explosion at a gym owned by a female couple. Some in the local LGBTQ+ community suspect it was a hate crime. • InstaHunks II: A few more photos from Gus Kenworthy’s faux Burning Man desert fun…
(image: Element5 Digital/Pexels)
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Tuesday that 1,000 Georgians voted twice in the state’s June 9 primary, a felony that he said will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
These voters returned absentee ballots and then also showed up to vote on election day June 9, Raffensperger said. County election officials are able to stop double-voting most of the time, but they weren’t able to catch everyone.
“A double voter knows exactly what they’re doing, diluting the votes of each and every voter that follows the law,” Raffensperger said during a press conference at the state Capitol. “Those that make the choice to game the system are breaking the law. And as secretary of state, I will not tolerate it.”
Of those, 1,000 voters had returned their absentee ballots to county election offices, and poll workers also allowed them to vote in-person.
In the report, Raffensperger doesn’t note the party affiliation of the double-voters.
(image via Instagram/Nicholasc_Budd)
• Instinct Magazine: Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has joined Joe Biden’s transition team. The transition team would help with government appointments and actions during the switchover between administrations were Biden to win the presidency. • Outsports: After literally coming out of a closet in his coming out video last fall, college football player Jaden Vazquez is now helping LGBTQ athletes by co-leading a new Fordham University student-athlete-support group. • Pink News: A man in Perth, Australia, has been jailed for five years after he failed to disclose that he was living with HIV to four sexual partners – all of whom later tested positive for the virus. The 30-year-old, who has not been named to protect the identities of his victims, told the four men that he did not have HIV before having condomless sex with them when he was actually diagnosed with HIV in 2012. • InstaHunks II: Just a couple more #poolboys from the Gram of Insta as we close out Labor Day…
Donald Trump has ordered the White House Office of Management and Budget to end anti-racism training programs in federal agencies calling them “un-American” and “divisive.” From the Washington Post:
In the two-page memo, OMB Director Russell Vought says Trump has asked him to prevent federal agencies from spending millions in taxpayer dollars on these training sessions. Vought says OMB will instruct federal agencies to come up with a list of all contracts related to training sessions involving “white privilege” or “critical race theory,” and do everything possible within the law to cancel those contracts, the memo states.
The memo, released on Friday, also tells all federal agencies to identify and if possible cancel contracts that involve teaching that America is an “inherently racist or evil country.”
“The President has directed me to ensure that federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions,” the memo states.
Trump is proudly declarin' he endin' racial sensitivity training in the U.S. government. Before the week's out, he's gonna tell us Rosa Parks shouldn't have been allowed on that bus in the first place.
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) September 5, 2020
I went to racial sensitivity training. It was very enlightening for me as a white woman. There were a few other white women in my class who were very defensive when POC described their experiences. I think they missed the entire point. Guarantee those women are MAGA supporters.
— nora j (@sasidechick) September 5, 2020
Jennifer Griffin of Fox News Channel
🚨FOX News of all places🚨 #TrumpHatesOurMilitary #TrumpHatesVets #TrumpResignNow pic.twitter.com/g0La7oLvur
— Icculus The Brave (@FirenzeMike) September 4, 2020
Gustavo Naspolini (via Instagram)quisling face of the Trump campaign’s LGBTQ outreach, snapped at a reporter Friday at the White House briefing for asking him about the global initiative Grenell himself had led to decriminalize homosexuality. #SoMuchWinning • KIT212: Don’t miss Kenneth’s round-up of the latest from LGBTQ publications like DNA Magazine (below) currently serving up “The Sexiest Men Alive 2020” with Argentine model Leonel Ledesma. 
(image via DNA Magazine)
(image: public domain/WhiteHouse/Flickr)
The Pentagon ordered the closure of the venerable military newspaper, Stars and Stripes on Friday. But hours later, President Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t allow that to happen “under my watch.”
The twists and turns played out as Trump faced a firestorm of criticism for reportedly calling American Marines who died in World War I as “losers” and “suckers.” Trump vehemently denied the remarks, though several news organizations have now cited sources saying he made the statements in 2018 during a trip to France.
Stars and Stripes remains popular among many military members and has bipartisan support in Congress, especially among those who previously served in the armed forced.
But a memo signed by U.S. Army Col. Paul Haverstick said the newspaper would be shut down by Sept. 30, the last day of the government’s 2020 fiscal year. The memo gave no reason for closing the publication other than saying funding was not in next year’s budget request.
We know Trump has serious issues with the free press but this really takes the cake. Considering the day he’s having with the article from The Atlantic about calling military service members “losers” it’s no surprise he reversed on this one.
The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch. It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
Trump Translation:
"I will no longer do the horrible thing that I was going to do, because decent people objected to how horrible it was and now I will pretend I'm decent for disagreeing with my horrible self from earlier today!"
You're like clockwork, Orange.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) September 4, 2020
CONVENIENT TIMING
The USA, under Trump's "leadership," was indeed due to cut funding to @starsandstripes but then the report from @TheAtlantic came out & suddenly Trump cares about the military newspaper!! Oh please. https://t.co/jvSrkrAcHX
— MURRAY 🗽 (@murray_nyc) September 4, 2020
TRANSLATION: "I didn't realize that people would figure out I ordered the Pentagon to shut down Stars and Stripes, so I'm going to undo that stupid decision I made."https://t.co/kKOJLb08XF
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) September 4, 2020