Category: News

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Utah Becomes 19th State Protect To LGBTQ Youth From Conversion Torture

(stock photo via Depositphotos)
The National Center for Lesbian Rights reports conservative Utah has become the 19th state to protect LGBTQ youth from the harmful practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ which seeks to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Utah’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing adopted statewide rules protecting queer minors from the dangerous approach sometimes known as ‘ex-gay’ therapy. Utah Governor Gary Herbert directed the Division to develop the rules last year after proposed legislation to address the issue narrowly failed to pass the Utah Legislature. In addition to the 19 states, the District of Columbia and more than 60 local municipalities have adopted similar protections. Every leading medical and mental health organization in the United States, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics,  has rejected conversion therapy as ineffective and dangerous for minors. “Utah’s emergence as the most conservative state to address this issue shows how rapidly attitudes toward LGBTQ youth are changing in every part of this country,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter. Troy Williams, executive director of EQUALITY UTAH issued a statement that read in part: “Every reputable science-based organization in the country recognizes that conversion therapy is a dangerous fraud. It exacerbates depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation. We are grateful to Governor Herbert and the Board of Psychologists for acting swiftly on behalf of LGBTQ youth.” Studies show LGBTQ youth who are subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to experience depression, and nearly three times more likely to attempt suicide. (via email)

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News Round-Up: January 21, 2020

Joss Mooney and Rogan O’Connor
Some news items you might have missed: • Chippendales: MTV’s “The Challenge” hottest dynamic duo and reality star heartthrobs, Joss Mooney and Rogan O’Connor (aka JOGAN) will join the world-famous Chippendales as celebrity guest hosts for four shows only, January 24 and 25 (8:30 pm and 10:30 pm) at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. • New York Times: The impeachment trial of Donald Trump is underway, and it’s pretty much what I expected. Check-in with the New York Times for the lowdown on today’s developments including the Senate Republicans blocking subpoenas for new evidence. • OUT: Katie Sowers, who is an assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers, will make history when she steps on the field. Having been with the 49ers for just two seasons, she will become the first female, and the first openly LGBTQ+ assistant coach to work at the event • The Gaily Grind: Vice President Mike Pence called on all Americans to remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “in these divided times” while attending a church where an anti-LGBTQ bishop claimed that homosexuality is caused by “a demonic spirit” and is wrong because of “plumbing.” • Davey Wavey: It seems porn star Diego Sans finds kissing even more intimate than having sex (I can understand that) and so sex-positive DW offers some tips on the art and intimacy of kissing. Note – NSFW language. • HRC: The Human Rights Campaign has released its 2020 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report that measures how effectively America’s leading companies include and protect their LGBTQ employees and this year’s results show a record-high 686 businesses and law firms earned a perfect 100 on HRC’s scoring system. • Self-Improvement: Singer Calum Scott shared pics of his progress to get fit in 2020 and it’s pretty impressive. Good on him – slow and steady wins the race.

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News Round-Up: January 20, 2020

Devon Gibby for DadnDaddies/Instagram
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Devon Gibby (above) spent the day at Mystic Hot Springs in Utah. “Not only is it super accessible (no 5-mile hike like others I’ve been to), but it’s the perfect balance of man-made quirkiness mixed with natural beauty. And who wouldn’t love sitting in actual bathtubs where the water doesn’t get colder while you watch the sunset behind snow-capped mountains!?” • RawStory: ‘Emasculated’ Virginia gun nuts mocked for ‘purchasing toys, dressing up in costumes, and playing fantasy games’ as they march on Richmond today. • Washington Post: In a single year, Donald Trump doubled the total number of false or misleading claims he had made in the previous two years combined. Put another way: He averaged six such claims a day in 2017, nearly 16 a day in 2018 and more than 22 a day in 2019. Lies like this one:

• RealClearPolitics: With two weeks to go until the ‘first in the nation’ Iowa caucuses on February 3, the two most recent polls there both show former Vice President Joe Biden leading the pack of Democratic White House hopefuls by 6 points. • Washington Blade: Some LGBTQ folks got riled up when Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign decided to nix a fundraiser planned at a gay club in Providence which the venue says is over a dancing pole the owners refused to remove. The Blade interviewed male pole dancers who were offended and say the decision was ‘unwarranted.’ • CNN: About half of Americans say the Senate should vote to convict President Donald Trump and remove him from office in the upcoming impeachment trial (51%), according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, while 45% say the Senate should vote against conviction and removal. • CBS This Morning: Over nearly three decades, RuPaul Charles has left his mark on culture in music, movies and reality television including taking home his sixth Emmy Award in September for RuPaul’s Drag Race. Vladimir Duthiers spoke to RuPaul about doing “it all” and how his childhood impacted his career.

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‘A Very Stable Genius’ Reveals Trump Struggled To Read Constitution, Lacks Geographic Knowledge

Donald Trump (screen capture via Washington Post video)

An excerpt released from the new book A Very Stable Genius by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig details an incident when Donald Trump was asked (along with other prominent Americans) to read a portion of the U.S. Constitution.

The new tome draws its title from Trump’s self-declared intellectual brilliance and reveals an endless array of missteps by the Donald since taking office in 2017.

According to the authors, Trump apparently struggled to read the text and blamed aides in the room complaining,  “It’s like a foreign language.”

Additionally, the Trumpster barely knew of Pearl Harbor, incorrectly told Indian president Narendra Modi his country did not border China and asked the State Department to help him change a law banning Americans from bribing foreign officials for business deals.

The authors say the book is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with hundreds of sources and corroborated when possible with documentation.

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Record Number Of Guns Seized In 2019 At U.S. Airports

(image via TSA)
The Transportation Security Administration issued a statement this week announcing a record number of guns (the vast majority loaded) were seized at airport checkpoints in the U.S. in 2019. From NPR:

TSA announced that its officers seized 4,432 guns at checkpoints last year — the most in the agency’s 18-year history. It also says that 87% of those guns (some 3,855) were loaded.

“The continued increase in the number of firearms that travelers bring to airport checkpoints is deeply troubling,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement Wednesday. “There is a proper way to travel safely with a firearm. First and foremost, it should be unloaded,” Pekoske said. “Then it should be packed in a hard-sided locked case, taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared, and checked.”

Nationwide, TSA says it caught firearms at 278 airports. That includes, as NPR reported in July, a missile launcher found in a Texas man’s luggage at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Even if a traveler has a concealed weapon permit, firearms are not permitted to be carried onto an airplane. Individuals who bring weapons to a checkpoint are subject to federal civil penalties of up to $13,000, depending on the weapon. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100. For more information, click over to the TSA’s website here.

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Trump Legal Team: ‘Abuse Of Power’ Isn’t A Crime

Donald Trump
From the New York Times:

In a six-page filing formally responding to the House impeachment charges submitted shortly after and filled with partisan barbs against House Democrats, Mr. Trump’s lawyers denounced the case as constitutionally and legally invalid, and driven purely by a desire to hurt Mr. Trump in the 2020 election.

“The articles of impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president,” they said in the response, which was Mr. Trump’s first legal submission in the impeachment proceeding, ahead of a fuller brief that is due on Monday. “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away.”

The president’s lawyers did not deny any of the core facts underlying Democrats’ charges, conceding what considerable evidence and testimony in the House has shown: that he withheld $391 million in aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine and asked the country’s president to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden.

But they said Mr. Trump broke no laws and was acting entirely appropriately and within his powers when he did so, echoing his repeated protestations of his own innocence. They argued that he was not seeking political advantage, but working to root out corruption in Ukraine.

In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” attorney Alan Dershowitz (who is part of Trump’s legal team) argued that “abuse of power” is not a crime and therefore not an impeachable offense.

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Gay Stripper Gets Life In Prison For Murder Of Secret Lover

William Bradley Morgan (mugshot)
A former dancer at a gay strip club in Atlanta has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his boyfriend. William Bradley Morgan, 37, was convicted on multiple charges including the murder of 43-year-old Brian Campbell, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft by taking, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the two men met at a club in 2015. At the time, both were married to women. Morgan was employed as a dancer at the infamous all-nude Swinging Richards gay nightclub in Atlanta. His estranged wife lived in Alabama. Campbell, an executive for Comcast, lived in Delaware with his wife and children, but business trips brought him to Atlanta frequently. The two men soon became intimate and secretly began living together. But over time Morgan became financially dependent on Campbell. The financial situation, along with Morgan’s addiction to methamphetamines and the secret nature of their relationship eventually led Campbell to consider ending the romance. After spending the day at a racing event on October 1, 2016, Campbell apparently told Morgan he was leaving him.  It was at that point that Morgan shot Campbell twice in the head. Attempting to cover up the murder, he wrapped Morgan in plastic trash bags and hid the body in a closet. Morgan turned the thermostat down and lit a scented candle presumably to conceal the smell. On his way out the door, he stole Campbell’s Land Rover Discovery, two expensive watches, his cell phone, an iPad, his wallet and a handgun. It would be four days until Campbell’s body would be found when his wife contacted authorities filing a missing persons report. His abandoned vehicle was found in Calhoun County, Alabama. Two weeks later, Morgan was arrested in Jacksonville, Alabama, after a standoff with police. After his arrest, he admitted to the secret relationship and stealing Campbell’s belongings, but denied committing the murder. Morgan had previously spent time in prison for aggravated assault and domestic violence. This week, Fulton Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua sentenced Morgan to life in prison.

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News Round-Up: January 16, 2020

(image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: #TBT to when woofy Fran Dullon (above) was feeling a bit ‘country.’ #MamasPleaseLetYourBabiesGrowUpToBeCowboys • The Courier: It’s rare for people in the UK to die of AIDS-related illnesses, with the National Health Service immediately placing those diagnosed with HIV on antiretroviral therapy. Ross Scott, of Kirkcaldy, found out he had HIV in early 2017 after he began to develop health problems. A week ago he was placed in hospice care and warned he didn’t have long to live. Just hours after sharing his story yesterday, Scott passed away at the age of 25. • Bloomberg News: Vimeo Inc. defeated a lawsuit by a self-described “former homosexual” who accused the video hosting website of discrimination after it removed his videos promoting sexual orientation conversion efforts, according to a Wednesday ruling by the Southern District of New York. • Boxers NYC: Celebrating the sports gay bar’s first ten years in business, Boxers NYC shares this behind-the-scenes look at the hunky bartenders posing for its free (while supplies last) 2020 calendar.

• NBC News: Just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session, seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday. If passed, the bills would ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children, repeal municipal and county ordinances protecting LGBTQ workers, and legalize so-called gay conversion therapy in places that had banned the medically debunked practice. • AP: Ken Jennings won the “Jeopardy!” greatest-of-all-time title (and $1 million) by going all in with his 32,800 points for the Final Jeopardy round. The clue: “This area of Greece, home to Pan, is synonymous with a rural paradise; it’s a setting for Vergil’s shepherd poems the ‘Ecologues.'” And Jennings wrote the correct answer: “What is Arcadia?” • Netflix: A new fashion competition series from the streaming giant that features designers teaming up to create visionary looks that work for everyone. The winner will receive a $250,000 prize and the opportunity to debut their collection with fashion retailer Net-a-Porter. Hosted by Queer Eye’s Tan France and designer Alexa Chung, all 10 episodes of Next In Fashion launch on Netflix January 29.

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Trump On Lev Parnas: ‘I Don’t Believe I’ve Ever Spoken To Him’

From USA Today:

President Donald Trump and aides sought Thursday to distance him from a Soviet-born businessman who said Trump knew all about efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating U.S. political rival Joe Biden – a pivotal point in the Senate impeachment trial of the president. “I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him,” Trump told reporters about Lev Parnas, taking questions after an event announcing new federal guidance he has said will “safeguard” the rights of students to pray in school. Parnas said Trump knows him well and there are pictures of the two of them at various events. In an interview with CNN, Parnas said that every time Trump denies knowing him, “I’ll show him another picture. He’s lying.”

Here’s Trump telling reporters he meets thousands of people and doesn’t remember them, and that’s followed by tweets of photos and video showing the two men together.

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HIV Campaign Using Condoms With Risqué Double-Entendres Cancelled As ‘Lewd’

(image via Utah Dept. of Health)
A fun, new campaign in Utah meant to bring awareness to HIV has been summarily canceled by Gov. Gary Herbert over the use of condoms labeled with risqué double-entendres. Ben Winslow at Salt Lake City’s FOX 13 reports Utah’s Department of Health was ready to hand out 100,000 condoms with wrappers that took various Utah memes and gave them a sexy spin. Among the humorous designs were: “Greatest Sex on Earth” a riff on the state’s ski slogan ‘Greatest Snow on Earth;’ “SL, UT” as a play on the abbreviation for the state’s largest city; “Fillmore, Beaver” referencing a local landmark; “Don’t Go Bare” featuring an image of a bear; and “This is the Place” pictured over a bed – the phrase was famously uttered by Brigham Young when pioneers found the Salt Lake Valley. Other states, including Alaska and Wyoming, have taken part in similar campaigns. The sex-positive messages were created by the advertising firm Love Communication, which was hired by the Health Department. Before the governor’s action, Erin Fratto, of the Utah Department of Health’s Prevention Treatment and Care Program, told the Salt Lake Tribune, “It’s really just to destigmatize HIV in Utah, and get everybody talking about sexual health.” “If the condoms are fun, relatable, sex-positive — people are more apt to talk about them, which we’ve already seen,” added Frotto. But in a statement to FOX 13, Anna Lehnardt, a spokesperson for the governor wrote, “The Governor understands the importance of the Utah Department of Health conducting a campaign to educate Utahns about HIV prevention. He does not, however, approve the use of sexual innuendo as part of a taxpayer-funded campaign, and our office has asked the department to rework the campaign’s branding.” The Health Department issued an apology regarding the “offensive packaging,” and admitted, “the designs did not go through necessary approval channels.” “We remain committed to running a campaign to help in the prevention of HIV and intend to do so in a manner that better respects taxpayer dollars, and our role as a government agency.” (Source: FOX 13, Salt Lake Tribune)