Category: News

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News Round-Up: April 17, 2020

Sean Hayes on Seth Rudetsky’s Back to School podcast
Some news items you might have missed: • Podcast: Before Sean Hayes (above) was winning Emmy awards, he was winning the Golden Crutch award for being the clumsiest person in his high school drama department. Hear how he earned the title, plus how he coped with getting hazed, on this week’s episode of Seth Rudetsky’s Back to School. Continue reading “News Round-Up: April 17, 2020”

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Some Florida Beaches Reopened Today

(screen capture)
What could possibly go wrong?… Via the New York Post:

Beaches in Jacksonville, Florida, will be reopened for limited hours beginning Friday evening, following President Trump’s announcement that governors could decide when to open their states back up, the city’s mayor announced Thursday.

Mayor Lenny Curry said beaches and parks would reopen in the county for essential uses including recreational activities at an appropriate social distance, including walking, fishing, biking, swimming and dog walking.

“This can be the beginning of the pathway back to normal life,” Curry said. “Please respect and follow these limitations. Stay within the guidelines for your safety as well as for the safety of your neighbors.”

The beaches will open from 6 to 11 a.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m. each day for the limited activities, ABC News reported. But swimmers and surfers will go into the water at their own risk.

The Jacksonville parks will also reopen but gatherings must still be limited to 50 people or less.

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News Round-Up: April 16, 2020

(image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Gorgeous photo of the moon over Turkey from Instagram user mostafa.rok (above). Follow him here. #AnyoneSeeAMoon? • The Advocate: Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is being sued (again) after refusing to bake a birthday cake for a transgender woman. • Washington Examiner: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Thursday that Ohio will begin to reopen some of its businesses on May 1. The governor has a stay-at-home order in place until May 1 and opted not to extend it as he begins to roll out his plan for relaxing some of the social distancing guidelines. • Gallup Polling: As Donald Trump works to contain the damage from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., the rally in support he enjoyed as the nation entered a virtual lockdown has faded. His job approval rating, now 43%, has slipped six percentage points since mid-March when he earned 49% approval, which tied his personal best.
(graphic via Gallup)
• OUT: Illustrator Tommy Taylor has transformed Disney Princes into the quarantined gays we know and love. • Newsweek: According to survey averages from Real Clear Politics, Biden is ahead of Trump in half a dozen states critical to the Electoral College map this November: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. • Twitter: I am not mad at Spain’s army uniforms for members of its elite La Legión, and neither is the internet.

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Judge Rules No New Trial For Trump Confidante Roger Stone

Roger Stone (screen capture)
Donald Trump’s longtime friend and ally, Roger Stone, has failed in his quest for a new trial after he was found guilty on seven felony counts including obstructing the congressional inquiry, lying to investigators under oath and trying to block the testimony of a witness whose account would have exposed his lies. From the New York Times:

The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against Roger J. Stone Jr. refused on Thursday to grant him a new trial, rejecting the defense’s argument of juror misconduct that President Trump has also repeatedly trumpeted.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the United States District Court in Washington ordered Mr. Stone to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons as soon as he is notified to do so. She also released him and his lawyers from a gag order she imposed months ago.

The judge’s decision appears to end one of the most politically fraught federal criminal cases in recent years. In a last-ditch effort to keep their client out of prison, Mr. Stone’s lawyers had claimed that the jury forewoman had improperly concealed a bias against Mr. Stone, justifying a new trial.

The jury convicted Mr. Stone, 67, in November of seven felonies for an attempt to thwart a congressional inquiry that threatened his longtime friend Mr. Trump, and Judge Jackson sentenced him in February to 40 months in prison.

Additionally, CNN reports, “All 12 of Roger Stone’s jurors wrote in a series of powerful, anonymized statements this week that they feel harassed, afraid and do not want more information about them revealed to the public, especially after President Donald Trump and right-wing media criticized them for their conviction of the longtime Trump friend.” Donald Trump is certain to pardon Stone. Mark my words.

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Gus Kenworthy Shares Isolation Struggles, Announces Fundraiser For First Responders

Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy
Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy checked in via Instagram on Wednesday noting that while he’s been “MIA” for several weeks on social media. Kenworthy candidly shared that the stay-at-home isolation thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 health threat has weighed heavily on him and his mental health. “One thing I’ve learned is that just because we’re in isolation it does NOT mean that we’re alone,” wrote Kenworthy. “We really are in this together! If you’re struggling w/ depression and you’ve been feeling down and worthless know that I have been too.” “In school, in sports and in life I’ve always hated asking for help because I’ve wanted to seem strong, brave, tough, self-assured, etc but I’ve realized that sometimes you just need help and when you do you need to ask for it,” he continued. “It’s literally what friends are for. Swallow your pride and text a friend saying ‘I’m feeling really down, can you talk?’ It will help.”

 

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I know I’ve been MIA for the past month and a half but tbh this whole thing has been really hard on me. I know has been a struggle for most everyone. One thing I’ve learned is that just because we’re in isolation it does NOT mean that we’re alone. We really are in this together! If you’re struggling w/ depression and you’ve been feeling down and worthless know that I have been too. In school, in sports and in life I’ve always hated asking for help because I’ve wanted to seem strong, brave, tough, self-assured, etc but I’ve realized that sometimes you just need help and when you do you need to ask for it. It’s literally what friends are for. Swallow your pride and text a friend saying “I’m feeling really down, can you talk?” It will help. I’m thankful for my friends and all of you for being my support system; I’m thankful for the people who have used this time to create fun, funny content that has made me laugh and offered levity amidst the darkness; I’m thankful for my health and, most especially, I’m thankful for my family. We had some serious scares this past month and it’s put into perspective, more than ever before, the importance of family. My 9-month-old nephew, Bodhi, had a bad cough/ fever and started having trouble breathing. He ended up being flight for life’d to Denver Children’s Hospital to be put on a respirator and spent a week in the ICU. Shortly after he returned home my 4-year-old niece, Bobbie, fell ill and had to be rushed to the same hospital to undergo two emergency surgeries. They’re both finally home again and recovering! I’m incredibly thankful and forever grateful to our healthcare workers on the front line of this pandemic. I can’t show my gratitude enough but, in an effort to help out, I’ve decided to join Cameo to make personalized videos for anybody who wants one w/ 100% of my proceeds going to #FirstRespondersFirst to raise money for the doctors & nurses risking their lives to save others. If you wanna buy a video there’s a link in my bio and I’ll match whatever we raise up to $10,000! Thank you all for staying home to help flatten the curve and also for reading my unsolicited novel of a caption. Let’s #BeatTheVirus ❤️

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on

Kenworthy added that both his 9-month-old nephew and his 4-year-old niece had recently experienced two health scares involving some pretty serious maneuvers. Now that both are home and recovering, Kenworthy plans to show his appreciation for healthcare workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic “I can’t show my gratitude enough but, in an effort to help out, I’ve decided to join Cameo to make personalized videos for anybody who wants one w/ 100% of my proceeds going to #FirstRespondersFirst to raise money for the doctors & nurses risking their lives to save others,” says the woofy Olympian. For those not familiar with Cameo, the website allows fans to connect with celebrities and purchase personalized video greetings for just about any occasion. Kenworthy says he’s only joining the site for a limited time during the COVID-19 isolation. Donations to #FirstRespondersFirst will provide essential supplies, equipment and resources for protecting frontline healthcare workers and their patients. In addition to doing the personalized videos, Kenworthy announced he will match whatever he raises up to $10,000. You can find Gus Kenworthy’s Cameo page here.

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News Round-Up: April 15, 2020

Daniel Newman (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Walking Dead star Daniel Newman (above) asks that you please forgive his “messy room.” • NPR: Despite pleas from cities across the state, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has held out on issuing a statewide stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But an outbreak of COVID-19 at Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, S.D., has infected nearly 450 workers and caused the number of cases in the city to grow so quickly that the mayor, Paul TenHaken, calls it an explosion. • KIT212: Kenneth’s ‘Wrestle Wednesdays’ (below) certainly help brighten Hump Day. Find all of his WW posts here.
(via kenneth-in-the-212)
• Axios: Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said Wednesday he will be issuing an executive order requiring all New Yorkers to wear masks or face coverings in public situations in which social distancing is not possible. • Vox: Kentucky’s heavily Republican legislature voted Tuesday to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID, overriding Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto in the process. Meanwhile, all of the state’s offices that issue such IDs are….wait for it…closed. • NewNowNext: In the new film, Sublet, Michael (played John Benjamin Hickey), a New York Times travel writer, journeys to Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The energy of the city, and his relationship with a younger man (played by Niv Nissim) who becomes his tour guide, brings him back to life. Director Eytan Fox shares a scene from the movie where Michael and Tomer meet on the beach in Tel Aviv after spending a few days together. “This sensual setting sparks real intimacy between them for the first time,” says Fox. “As these two men sit there, they open up to each other about matters of the heart—and soul.” The film was to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this year which, clearly, was canceled. No word on when the movie will be officially released but the scene below certainly sparks my interest.

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NY Times: Trump Accuses WHO ‘Of Making All The Mistakes He’s Made’

In an effort to diffuse the critiques of his slow and ineffective response to the COVID-19 threat, Donald Trump informed his administration he plans to stop U.S. funding for the World Health Organization saying the off-shoot of the United Nations was at fault for “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the virus worldwide. From the New York Times:

“So much death has been caused by their mistakes,” the president told reporters during a White House briefing.

In effect, Mr. Trump was accusing the world’s leading health organization of making all of the mistakes that he has made since the virus first emerged in China and then spread rapidly. As of Tuesday, there had been about two million cases of the virus worldwide, and nearly 125,000 deaths. In the United States, there have been over 600,000 cases and 25,000 deaths from the virus.

The basis for the president’s anger at the W.H.O. was his contention that it was too quick to believe information about the virus coming from the Chinese government at a time when it should have been more critical. He said the W.H.O. “willingly took China’s assurances to face value” and “pushed China’s misinformation.”

But it was Mr. Trump himself who went out of his way to publicly and repeatedly praise the Chinese government for its handling of the virus at a time at the beginning of the year that his administration was negotiating a trade deal with China.

In March, Trump famously declared, “I don’t take any responsibility at all” for the coronavirus threat. Defending the decision on Fox News, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway embarrassingly declared, “This is COVID-19, not COVID-1 folks, and so you would think the people in charge of the World Health Organization, facts and figures, would be on top of that.” Apparently, no one told Kellyanne the “19” refers to the year 2019, the year the virus appeared. This isn’t the 19th version of the coronavirus. #smh

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Podcast: LGBTQ Activist Phyllis Lyon, Grindr Used To Set Up False Arrests, Homophobic Florida Police Chief

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: • A Florida police chief is on administrative leave after telling his officers a sheriff’s deputy died from coronavirus because he was gay • Georgia police use Grindr to setup allegedly false drug arrests • Michigan teen’s mother files lawsuit after her son suffered a concussion from anti-gay bullying at school • Ireland’s openly gay Prime Minister is returning to medicine to help in the COVID-19 crisis • Trailblazing lesbian activist Phyllis Lyon died this past week at the age of 95 • And leftover fabric from the AIDS quilt is being used to save lives during the COVID-19 threat All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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News Round-Up: April 14, 2020

Former Rep. Aaron Schock (3rd from right – screen capture)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instagram: The rules are clearly different for folks like former Rep. Aaron Schock (above) who doesn’t seem to be keeping any ‘social distance’ down in Cabo. • OUT: Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is making headlines again as thousands of petitioners are asking that she be replaced on her show by Ellen Page in a campaign that seems partially comedic and partially serious. • Twitter: A group of housemates in the UK decided to recreate their favorite nightclub G-A-Y, since they couldn’t visit it in person. Check out the results complete with promo street team, doorman/bouncer, bartender, a couple making out, disco lighting, and Rihanna’s gay anthem, “We Found Love.”

• 48 Hills: San Francisco Pride announced today that it is canceling (not postponing) this year’s June Parade and Celebration—the largest in the Western United States—as COVID continues to take its toll. • Wonkette: Someone should tell Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson that breast cancer and opioid addiction aren’t contagious like COVID-19. • Out Music: LGBTQ singer and TV personality, Trent Crews, drops his new single, “Papi,” which also features transgender rapper, ballroom scene personality and actress Precious (“Viceland’). The new track – a bouncy, urban pop bop – is an undeniably groovy listen. Crews is perhaps best known for his previous role in season 8 of VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York. Let me know what you think in the comments 🙂