Category: News

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News Round-Up: July 9, 2020

Robbie Rodriguez (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: So, who noticed openly gay Florida nurse and Crossfit athlete Robbie Rodriguez (above) on NBC’s ‘Titan Games’ recently? Follow the inspiring healthcare provider on Instagram here. • Washington Blade: The African nation of Gabon has decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations becoming one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to legalize them. A 2019 law that criminalized same-sex relationships by a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a 5 million Central African CFA franc ($8,561) fine was repealed by both chambers of Parliament and the president of Gabon signed the measure on Tuesday. • Instinct Magazine: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) and Broadway producer Justin Mikita are officially fathers. The couple announced that their newborn baby boy, Beckett Mercer, was welcomed into the world on Tuesday, July 7. • CNBC: As the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, 32% of U.S. households have not made their full housing payments for July yet. About 19% of Americans made no housing payment at all during the first week of the month, and 13% paid only a portion of their rent or mortgage. • NY Times: Joy Reid has been announced as the new anchor for the 7 p.m. ET hour on MSNBC. Her new show, “The ReidOut,” will premiere in the slot previously held by Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” on July 20. The new assignment makes Reid one of only a few Black women who have anchored a major American evening news program. • AP News: Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa in late June that drew thousands of participants and large protests “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed new cases on Monday, a one-day record high, and another 206 cases on Tuesday. During the week before the Trump rally, there were 76 cases on Monday and 96 on Tuesday. • LGBTQ Nation: Out actress Javicia Leslie has been cast as the new Batwoman in the CW series, following Ruby Rose’s departure after just one season in the titular role. She will be playing Ryan Wilder, a different character from Rose’s Kate Kane. She’s described as “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed.” While Ryan is “nothing like Kate Kane,” the new character is also a lesbian. Ruby Rose congratulated her successor on social media.

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‘Central Park Karen’ Charged With Filing False Police Report

(screen captures)
The gay birdwatcher who was the target of hysterical threats by ‘Central Park Karen’ Amy Cooper says he won’t be participating in her prosecution since she’s “already paid a steep price.” Cooper became infamous in May when she encountered Christian Cooper (no relation) in a quiet part of Central Park. A Harvard graduate who works in communications, Mr. Cooper is on the board of the New York Audubon Society and an avid bird watcher. Just before 8 a.m. on May 25, Mr. Cooper’s birdwatching was interrupted by Ms. Cooper who was calling loudly after her unleashed dog. When he asked her to put the dog on a leash as park rules require, she refused. As the incident escalated, she called the police claiming “an African-American man is threatening my life.” In the aftermath of the encounter, she lost her dog and her job as well as being publicly shamed. Since the video was posted to Twitter, the clip has been viewed over 44 million times. https://twitter.com/sanosbo1/status/1280225043306463235 The New York Times reports the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Ms. Cooper on Monday “with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.” But Mr. Cooper, who is openly gay, says he has not been involved in the investigation and doesn’t plan on taking part in her prosecution. “On the one hand, she’s already paid a steep price,” Mr. Cooper said in a statement to the Times. “That’s not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on.” “If the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges,” he added. “But he can do that without me.” Ms. Cooper’s attorney, Robert Barnes, predicts his client will be found not guilty for what he characterized as a “misunderstood 60-second video.” “She lost her job, her home, and her public life,” Mr. Barnes said in a statement to the Times. “Now some demand her freedom? How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media?” Most cases of filing a false police report don’t end up with charges filed as the police generally want citizens to report crimes. Legal analysts say in this case, the racial component as well as the strong evidence makes for broader implications in regard to future instances of white people calling in false police reports against Black people.

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Supreme Court: Manhattan DA Can See Trump Taxes, Congress Will Have To Wait

The current U.S. Supreme Court (image: public domain)
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. can see Donald Trump’s taxes and business records, but Congress will have to wait a bit longer. From the New York Times:

Vance is investigating whether the Trump Organization falsified business records to conceal hush payments to two women, including pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged they had affairs with Trump years ago. Trump has denied those claims.

Vance is seeking Trump’s tax returns, among other records. The president has refused to make them public, unlike previous modern presidents. Because the records are for a grand jury investigation, they would not likely be disclosed before the election.

Separately, three House committees have sought bypass the president to obtain his financial records from his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, and financial institutions. The committees, all controlled by Democrats, say they are needed to check Trump’s financial disclosures and inform whether conflict-of-interest laws are tough enough.

In both cases, the justices ruled 7 to 2, with Trump nominees Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh joining the majorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.”

Predictably, Trump went on an epic Twitter rant claiming ‘Prosecutorial Misconduct!’

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News Round-Up: July 8, 2020

Gustavo Naspolini (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Gustavo Naspolini (above) knows how to find his ‘post-beach/sunset light’ on the Rehoboth boardwalk. • Pink News: The Netherlands’ House of Representatives voted 124 to 26 in favor of a measure to amend the country’s constitution to add explicit protections based on sexual orientation. The measure now heads to the 75-seat upper chamber of the country’s Parliament. In 2001, the Netherlands was the first nation in the world to legalize marriage equality. • Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro, the virulently anti-LGBTQ leader of the South American country who recently tested positive for COVID-19, told aides and visitors to his office that “Wearing masks is a faggot thing.” • WHJL: Sonya Holt, the homophobic Tennessee resident who became a viral sensation after footage of her harassing a Black Lives Matter protester went viral, has lost her job over her hideous behavior. Among other things, video captured Holt telling a protester, “You’re a gay homosexual piece of crap who’s going to burn in hell.” • The Advocate: In a decision that has broad implications for LGBTQ+ workers, the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that federal anti-discrimination laws do not apply to teachers at church-sponsored schools if instruction in religion is part of their jobs. In recent years, there have been many teachers and other church employees fired for being LGBTQ+, often because they had married a same-sex partner. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Check out this deft parody of the now-infamous Corey Hannon, who took to the beaches of Fire Island this past weekend believing he had COVID-19. In a follow-up tweet, Chase shared that many of his followers on Twitter didn’t get the ‘parody’ part. LOL

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Shepard Smith Will Host One-Hour News Show On CNBC

Shepard Smith (screen capture)
Openly gay news anchor Shepard Smith, formerly of Fox News, has been announced to host a one-hour news telecast on CNBC at 7 pm ET beginning this fall. After 23 years at Fox News, Smith abruptly announced his departure from the conservative-leaning news outlet last October after being warned of criticizing both Donald Trump and his Fox News ally, Tucker Carlson. From CNBC:

The newscast, which will be called “The News with Shepard Smith,” is set to launch in the fall. Smith’s title will be chief general news anchor and chief breaking general news anchor.

Smith joins CNBC after spending 23 years at Fox News Channel, where he anchored “Shepard Smith Reporting,” “The Fox Report” and “Studio B.” He also served as chief news anchor of the network and managing editor of the breaking news division.

“I am honored to continue to pursue the truth, both for CNBC’s loyal viewers and for those who have been following my reporting for decades in good times and in bad,” Smith said in a press release.

CNBC Chairman Mark Hoffman said Smith has a track record of fact-driven storytelling.

“We aim to deliver a nightly program that, in some small way, looks for the signal in all the noise,” Hoffman said in the press release. “We’re thrilled that Shep, who’s built a career on an honest fight to find and report the facts, will continue his pursuit of the truth at CNBC.”

Dan Colarusso, CNBC’s senior vice president of business news, said Smith’s program aims to go beyond financial markets, “to tell rich, deeply reported stories across the entire landscape of global news.”

Smith casually came out during an interview with HuffPost in October 2016.

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Video: Black Woman Sits Under Tree, Church Suddenly Posts ‘No Trespassing’

(screen captures via TikTok)
A young woman sits down under a sheltering tree on the lawn of a church in North Hollywood, California. Because churches are welcoming and all that…right? Apparently not so much if you happen to be a young Black woman. TikTok user Thaddeus Shafer shared this video taken by his friend Alex, an actor and stunt woman in Los Angeles who’s appeared in films like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. In the video, an elderly woman records the incident as a gentleman (who we’ll refer to as ‘Handyman Joe’ for this little post) is hanging a ‘No Trespassing’ sign on a tree. Please note he’s hanging it on the side of the tree NOT facing the street or sidewalk. “Did you go buy that just for me?” asks Alex. “Just for you,” replies Handyman Joe. “You know, we used to be real nice about it.” “You could still choose to be nice about it – you’re choosing not to be,” Alex points out. As he drills a hole in the side of the tree, Alex asks, “So, this is a precursor to you calling the cops?” “Yes,” says Handyman Joe. Just for clarity, Alex inquires, “So you’re willing to call the cops on someone sitting on the grass when there are clear crimes they could be taking care of?” “Yes, ma’am,” says Handyman Joe. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the issue of race comes up as Handyman Joe turns to declare, “All lives matter.” Even Joe’s assistant is a bit shook over the random remark.

@thaddeusshaferTomorrow I’ll try to hang out there as a white person minding my own business like Alex did and see what happens. Stay tuned.♬ Ride It – Regard

Out of respect for folks at the church who may not know this foolishness occurred, I won’t type the name here. However, I literally lived just down the street from this church when I first moved to Los Angeles. Over on reddit, folks found the situation to be pretty over-the-top ridiculous.

“Let’s drill a hole into our tree so we can install a no trespassing sign facing the building.”

“It was 100 percent targeting her specifically because it’s facing away from the street.”

“Unprompted, he blurted out ‘ALL lives matter!’ confirming that race was forefront in his mind. I’ll bet he’s been watching the demonstrations and riots and raging at his TV, and has been itching for an opportunity to confront one of those people.”

“One might think all Christians would embrace anyone chilling out on the church lawn and see it as chance to make a heart-felt connection to someone from the world community.”

In four hours, the post on Reddit has received over 25k upvotes and over 2.5k comments. What are your thoughts, readers? Was this a racist action? Do you think a white person would have been received in the same manner? Share your opinions in the comment section below. (source: reddit)  

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Another One: Tech CEO ‘Apologizes’ After Racist Rant Goes Viral

Michael Lofthouse (via screen capture)
Another crazy racist acts out with full knowledge of a camera recording his foolishness and ends up issuing an empty ‘apology.’ According to USA Today, Jordan Chan and her family were celebrating her aunt’s birthday Saturday when one patron, Michael Lofthouse, CEO of Solid8, LLC, a San Francisco cloud computing services company, began harassing the family from a nearby table.

Chan began recording Lofthouse as he continued harassing her family at Bernardus restaurant in Carmel Valley, California.

The video starts with Lofthouse flipping off Chan after she asked him to repeat what he’d said previously. People at the table can be heard saying “you need to leave.”

After getting up, Lofthouse then says, “You f—— need to leave! You f—— Asian piece of s—!”

A server, in frame, then immediately yells at him, “No, you do not talk to our guests like that. Get out of here.”

When confronted on social media after the incident, Lofthouse doubled down on his ugly behavior. And then, once busted by the news media, Lofthouse ‘apologized’ in a statement to ABC7:

My behavior in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.

You have to wonder: Is Lofthouse mentally ill that he would have such enormous emotional mood swings? Or is this a case of the obvious – he got caught and wrote a hollow apology that ‘sounds like’ what he should say in order to save his butt?

 

View this post on Instagram

 

❗️❗️❗️SHARE THIS POST❗️❗️❗️ Trigger warning: Racism, Vulgar Language (FYI he had a LOT more to say after I stopped recording) This is the face of the man who relentlessly harassed my family and I completely UNPROVOKED, UNWARRANTED, and UNCONSCIONABLE. We were celebrating my tita’s birthday, literally just singing happy birthday to her and taking pictures, when this white supremacist starts yelling disgusting racist remarks at us. (“Fuck you Asians” “Go back to whatever fucking Asian country you’re from” “You don’t belong here”) It is no coincidence that this man has the audacity to showcase such blatant racism on the 4th of July. White supremacy has a notorious habit of masquerading as patriotism! The fact that Donald Trump is our president (i.e. THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD) gives racists a platform and amplifies voices of hate. The surfacing of racists is so prevalent right now, even in such an ethnically/culturally diverse and liberal state like California, because Trump HIMSELF uses his position to incite racial tension and to promote aggression towards POC, foreigners, and immigrants. We need change! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE THIS UPCOMING RE-ELECTION. PROTECT ALL PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF SKIN COLOR AND ETHNIC ORIGIN. ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

A post shared by @ jordanlizchan on

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News Round-Up: July 7, 2020

Craig Ramsay (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: New American citizen Craig Ramsay (above) has a message for his fellow citizens – “Wear a f**king mask, America🇺🇸” • Washington Post: A long-acting drug injected every two months is more effective at preventing HIV than the pills most commonly used by people at risk of acquiring the infection. The injectable drug cabotegravir (tested on more than 4,500 men and transgender women who have sex with men) proved to be even better than oral drug Truvada in blocking the virus. • Pink News: It only took around 240 mixed-sex couples across more than 16 years, but executives for the UK reality series Strictly Come Dancing are now allegedly considering not one, but two same-sex couples for the show’s upcoming season. • Boy Culture: Daniel Ryan Maples, a white insurance agent wearing a red ‘Running the World Since 1776′ shirt, lost his ever-lovin’ shit when asked by a fellow customer to wear a mask inside Costco. He approached the other customer aggressively, shouting the words that will follow him for the rest of his miserable life: ‘I Feel Threatened.’

• Indiana Lawyer: The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock and his campaign committee, Schock for Congress, are off the hook regarding the law firm’s unpaid legal bills totaling $159,946.37, plus interest. • Provincetown Reimagined: The gay mecca’s acclaimed international film celebration will present a modified festival with drive-in and virtual screenings running July 16-19, 2020. The Festival will kick off with two nights of screenings at the Wellfleet Drive-In including Mischa Richter’s documentary, I AM A TOWN, shot entirely in Provincetown; the 2020 Sundance hit, SAVE YOURSELVES!; and a special night hosted by John Waters with film titles announced soon. The Festival will also feature virtual screenings with selections curated to speak to this moment in time. • Twitter: Still no official word as to why RuPaul deleted his Twitter account and wiped his Instagram clean last week, but Twitter user @cheritaisrandom posits it might have something to do with several old photos of RuPaul dressed in Confederate flag attire, including a 2013 Instagram post that appears to be captioned, “The South will rise again!”.

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Racist Warning: Keep Your Husband & Kids Well Behaved, No One Is Interested In Your ‘Struggles’

An interracial family in Raleigh, NC, received a threatening racist letter (screen capture)
  An interracial family living in a north Raleigh neighborhood shared with local news station WRAL an unsigned letter warning against posting any signs in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The note read:

“Before you think about putting any signage up in your yard, or if you had any idea about making a public statement on your property regarding George Floyd or racism, please remember that the rest of us live in an upscale neighborhood and have spent the extra money to stay out of mixed neighborhoods and/or the ghetto.

“No one wants trouble or any circumstance arising which could turn our neighborhood into a “semi-ghetto.” Please keep your husband and teenage kids well behaved and orderly because no one is interested in your or their “struggles.”

Keep matters inside your own house and do your best to keep this area upscale and free of that element. Most of us would not hesitate to call the police if your kids or husband gets unruly, so please be considerate of everyone else living amongst you.”

“Free of that element…” The letter was signed without a name but expressed “sincere gratitude.”

(screen capture via WRAL)
The family declined to appear on-camera but several neighbors spoke to WRAL regarding the ugliness of the missive. Kate Pirrung, a neighbor in the Wakefield Plantation neighborhood told WRAL, “I was horrified, appalled, disappointed…sad.” “I couldn’t believe that someone in my neighborhood – that close to me – would have written something so mean,” said neighbor Marianna Morin. Neighbor Armand Morin pointed to the implicit threat in the note. “In the end, underneath all the context, it was a threat: Don’t do this. We’ll report you. We’ll send people over to your house – the police in this particular incident,” said Armand. In response to the note, the family sent out copies to all of their neighbors along with a message of their own. “If you did not write this letter, we wanted you to be aware of what has happened in our neighborhood,” the family wrote. “If you are the person that wrote this letter, we will not be intimidated by your cowardly act and ignorance. We are happy to have a discussion regarding love, respect and racism if your have the courage.” “Something has to change,” Pirrung said. “We are all God’s children. What happened to love thy neighbor, treat each other with respect and kindness?” “It’s not just in the city,” said Marianna Morin of the explicit racism. “It’s not just in the streets. It’s in this neighborhood.” The family issued a public statement regarding the letter to WRAL. “We want to acknowledge that this letter does not compare to some of the more dire circumstances many people find themselves in on a regular basis due to bigotry,” wrote the family. “However, it was shocking and ignorant.” “The outrage, support and kind words expressed to us by so many in our community have overpowered the hate expressed from the one person who wrote the letter,” they continued. “Our hope is for this to inspire respectful conversations and courageous self-examination about bias and racism.” “To the person who wrote the letter, we pray for your heart to be released from bitterness and filled with understanding and compassion for others,” the family added. “Black lives do matter.” You can watch the report from WRAL below.

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County Commissioner Loses Reelection Bid After Coming Out

Nathan Ivie (via Instagram)
  Republican county commissioner Nathan Ivie came out to his Utah constituents last year via social media, and at the time, the announcement appeared to be well received. But a year later, Ivie has lost his bid for reelection and the 41-year-old says there’s no doubt in his mind that his sexuality “was part of the issue.” With all of the votes counted, Ivie suffered a bruising primary loss to former Marine Lt. Col. Tom Sakievich by a margin of 60.4 percent to 39.6 percent according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Contrast that with his first campaign in 2016 when he won his primary with nearly 59 percent of the vote and won in the general election with 81 percent. What a difference four years can make. “I can’t tell you the number of hate emails I received,” Ivie told the Tribune. “I didn’t make an issue out of it in the campaign because that’s not the kind of person I am. But there is no doubt that the Eagle Forum [a conservative group] and its lies were absolutely in play here.” Sakievich denies the allegations saying Ivie’s openly gay status “was not an issue” in the race. “Most people that I talked to said that they’re aware of his coming out,” said Sakievich. “But to them, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was the taxes and how the government is being run.” Ivie had voted for an unpopular property tax increase, the first in 23 years, to address neglect he discovered when he was elected in 2016. Ivie says his opponent “ran around telling everybody that he was going to cut taxes, increase services, and then use a tax fund that you can’t use to pay for it. That’s a lie. … It’ll be interesting to see what happens when reality sets in.” Ivie has accepted the results of the primary, though, adding that while he’s sad for Utah, he’s upbeat about his own future. “For me personally, I get to go back to my ranch and ride horses full time,” he shared. “I have a lot of work to do with the LGBT community, especially with troubled youth, to reach out to them.”

When he came out in May 2019 (video above), Ivie said it was due to several factors. One, he said he wanted “the 22-year-old version of himself” out there to know things will be ok. “Obviously we have a problem in our community, especially in the LGBT community, of suicide,” he shared. “As someone who’s been there and pulled the trigger once: don’t.” He also says that seeing two men holding hands on a river trail in Boise deeply affected him. “It was just two regular human beings who loved each other who were walking holding hands as an intimate, caring couple, and that image really stuck with me for whatever reason,” he told the Herald Extra. “And that was probably one of the first times in my life I went, ‘Maybe I’m not screwed up. Maybe I’m not broken.’” (source: Salt Lake Tribune)