Category: News

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News Round-Up: January 13, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • Mancrush Monday: As if it’s any secret I have a ‘thing’ for former pro rugby player Dan Tai (above). You can follow the handsome InstaHunk here. • Belfast Telegraph: Same-sex marriage comes to Northern Ireland today as couples are now able to give notice of their intent to form a civil same-sex marriage to the General Register Office for Northern Ireland. The first same-sex weddings are expected to take place from February 10, following the minimum period of notice of 28 days. • Buzzfeed News: After a year fighting with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — successfully overturning a policy widely regarded as discriminatory — and nearly two years of intense training, James Bushe, 31, became the first person with HIV to gain a commercial pilot’s license and fly a commercial flight. • TV Line: Rumored backstage tension at Will & Grace did not precipitate the series’ end, NBC’s top exec maintains. “Some things come to a natural end,” NBC Chairman Paul Telegdy explained to TVLine. “[Series creators] Max [Mutchnick] and David [Kohan] told the story they wanted to tell. Just wait for the finale.” • Detroit Free Press: As police search for more men who may have hooked up with accused murderer Mark Latunski, the Grindr cannibal is now pleading insanity. • Daily Dog: This little guy deserves some Twitter attention. Look at him go!

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Gay Student Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide After Video Protesting Drag Queens Went Viral

Wilson Gavin arguing with drag queen Diamond Good-Rim
A conservative gay student who led a protest against a Drag Queen Story Hour this weekend was found dead of apparent suicide early Monday morning. The death of Wilson Gavin, 21, came one day after he faced intense backlash on social media when video clips that went viral showing he and 15-20 fellow students from the University of Queensland Liberal National Club storming into the Brisbane Square Library. Note: The Liberal National Party in Australia is a center-right party. The group began chanting “drag queens are not for kids” as Gavin was recorded arguing with drag queen Diamond Good-Rim. The Daily Mail reports the students were protesting against children “being indoctrinated with radical gender theories.” Organizers of the event, Rainbow Families Queensland (RFQ) said, “They entered the event chanting and scared the children. Some parents got them outside the room where they continued to chant loudly.” Hours later, Gavin was found dead at Chelmer Railway Station, reports The Star Observer. Emergency medical technicians say he died from critical injuries but have provided no further details. This wasn’t Gavin’s first time to protest LGBTQ issues. In 2017, he helped lead the “Our Voice. Our Vote.” group that opposed legalizing same-sex marriage.
Wilson Gavin on Sky News in 2018 (screen capture)

During an interview with ABC Radio’s Patricia Karvelas, Gavin said, “Marriage has always been an institution between a man and a woman.”

Arguing that schools would “teach students about LGBTQ people” and churches would be forced to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies, he expressed concerns about what he called “the negative ramifications that can come directly from same-sex marriage.”

Sally Rugg, an LGBTQ activist who campaigned for marriage equality in Australia, tweeted, “Wilson Gavin was gay. I don’t know why he campaigned against SSM. I don’t know why he was so angry at a drag queen. I don’t know why he took his life. But I wish he was still here so he could have found us all. We would love him and forgive him. We do love and forgive him.”

If you or someone you know are thinking about suicide and need someone to talk to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, you can call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue Australia on 1300 22 4636.

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Abby Huntsman Is Leaving ‘The View’

Abby Huntsman (image via Instagram)
From People:

PEOPLE can exclusively announce that the Fox & Friends Weekend alumna is leaving the ABC talk show to help run her father Jon Huntsman Jr.’s campaign for governor of Utah.

Huntsman, 33, joined the show at the start of season 22 in September 2018; the show is currently in its 23rd season. Huntsman will announce her last day on-air Monday.

“Family has always been my number one priority, and is where I need to be focused at this time,” Huntsman said in a statement. “We are incredibly close and are there to support and help each other when it matters. It’s not often there is a political campaign that involves someone you love and believe in, but this is one of them.”

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Defense Sec Didn’t See Evidence Of Impending Embassy Attacks

L-R Defense Sec. Mark Esper, House Intel. Chairman Adam Schiff
During an appearance on CBS’ Meet The Nation, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he “didn’t see” specific evidence that top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was planning U.S. embassy attacks but added that he ‘believed’ such attack would have occurred. “The president didn’t cite a specific piece of evidence. What he said was he believed,” said Esper. “I didn’t see one, with regard to four embassies. What I’m saying is that I shared the president’s view that probably — my expectation was they were going to go after our embassies. The embassy is the most prominent display of American presence in a country.”  

But later in the broadcast, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff says there was nothing shown to him in ‘Gang of 8’ intelligence briefings that showed any specific evidence regarding attacks on 4 U.S. embassies.  

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Woof: Hot Guy Finds His Two Lost Dogs

Sandy Hernandez with Ragnar & Kloud
Woofy Miami resident Sandy Hernandez has two Siberian Huskies named Ragnar and Kloud who had jumped the fence and run away. The devastated dad looked for them everywhere and posted “missing dog” flyers all over his neighborhood. But it turns out they were taken to Miami-Dade Animal Services after being found on the street. The good samaritan who found Kloud and Ragnar came across the flyers and told Sandy to go to the shelter. And when Hernandez arrived, the Huskies were taking part in a pet adoption photoshoot being run by the organization and was captured on live TV. “They are my life,” Hernandez told CBS Miami. “They are my life.” #HappyDance

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Biden Holds Huge Lead Nationally Among Black Voters

Former Vice President Joe Biden
The Washington Post reports former Vice President Joe Biden holds a huge lead nationally among black American voters.

Former vice president Joe Biden is far and away the favored candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination among black Americans, boosted by his personal popularity, his service in the Obama administration and perceptions that he is best equipped to defeat President Trump, according to a national Washington Post-Ipsos poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) occupies second place in the Democratic field among African American voters, easily outdistancing the remaining candidates in the race. Sanders is leading among black voters under age 35, replicating his success with younger white voters in other national polls. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) runs third.

(via Washington Post)
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Trump Supporter Sentenced To Prison For Stealing Mother’s Social Security Checks

Karyn Turk (image via Instagram)
Trump supporter, self-styled conservative pundit and pseudo-socialite Karyn (with a ‘K’) Turk was sentenced to one month in prison this week after pleading guilty to stealing her elderly mother’s Social Security benefits, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Prosecutors brought charges on the 47-year-old former Mrs. Florida after she pocketed benefit checks that should have gone to the nursing home that was providing care and support for her mother, who was suffering from dementia. The mother has since died. The nursing home, the mother’s court-appointed guardian and the guardian’s lawyers are suing Turk in separate cases in order to collect money they say she owes them as the representative of her mother’s estate. The total amount owed according to the three lawsuits is more than $320,000. The day Turk was sentenced to federal prison and five months of house arrest, the former beauty queen shared a snap on Instagram taken in front of Donald Trump’s beloved Mar-a-Lago.

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News Round-Up: January 10, 2020

Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman (promo photo via ABC)
Some news items you might have missed: • PageSix: Burt Ward, recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his role of ‘Robin’ (above) in the campy 1960s series Batman, says ABC advised him to take pills to reduce the bulge in his Robin trunks. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm • Lambda Legal: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling in Roe & Voe v. Esper that halted efforts by the Trump administration to discharge members of the Air Force because they are living with HIV. The panel of three judges wrote, “Any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban.” • Deadline: Trevor: The Musical, an acclaimed stage adaptation of the 1994 Oscar-winning short film that gave rise to one of the nation’s most prominent LGBTQ organizations, will make its New York debut this April in an Off-Broadway staging. • CNN: The latest CNN/Des Moines Register polling shows four Democrats closely clustered at the top of the rankings: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (20%), Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (17%), former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (16%) and former Vice President Joe Biden (15%) all cluster tightly at the top of the pack. That’s an increase of 5 points for Sanders and a drop of 9 points for Buttigieg since the last DMR poll in November. • NBC News: After nearly 40 governors agreed to allow refugees in their states, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot became the first governor in the country to refuse to take in refugees today. However, 18 of his 26 Republican counterparts chose to open the door to refugees, much to the surprise of the Trump administration. • USA Today: Brazil’s Supreme Court has reversed a ruling that would have required Netflix to remove a satirical film depicting Jesus as gay. • Out Music: Randy Report favorite Halsey drops her new music video, “You Should Be Sad,” in advance of her third studio album Manic set for release January 17. The video is set at a country-inspired barn dance/rave and features choreographed sequences as Halsey channels her best Shania Twain. Fun clip and visually there’s lots of eye-candy.

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Pelosi Will Send Impeachment Articles To Senate Next Week

L-R Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
The Washington Post reports Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will transmit the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump next week.

As recently as Thursday, Pelosi continued to insist that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should release a resolution laying out rules of a trial before the articles were transmitted.

The crux of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that President Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Pelosi has delayed transmitting the articles for weeks in an effort to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to announce the rules for the impending trial. On Thursday, McConnell told senators they should keep their schedules flexible for the end of next week when they might take up impeachment. In related news, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she is working with a small group of fellow Republican senators towards the goal of ensuring witnesses will be called during the Senate trial.