Category: News

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Minneapolis City Council Bans So-Called ‘Conversion Therapy’

(stock photo via Depositphotos)

Minneapolis will become the first city in the state of Minnesota to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ which claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The new ordinance, authored by Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins and Council Member Phillipe Cunningham, was passed unanimously by the Minneapolis City Council.

According to the Star Tribune, the only step left is for Mayor Jacob Frey to sign the ordinance into law.

The ban will prohibit any licensed mental health professional from providing or attempting conversion therapy on minors. Violations will be subject to fines of up to $1,000.

Members of the clergy who are “acting in their roles as clergy or pastoral counselors” will be exempt from the regulation.

Cunningham, the first transgender man of color to be elected to public office in the U.S., called the harmful practice “tantamount to torture.”

And he speaks from personal experience having been subjected to conversion therapy as a child in his church.

Speaking to the local NBC News affiliate, Cunningham said succinctly, “It tries to convince people that they are not who they are.”

Conversion therapy, also known as ‘ex-gay therapy,’ has been widely denounced as discredited pseudoscience by leading professional medical associations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association.

Studies have shown that the controversial practice can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 18 states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice.

This week the American Medical Association announced its support for a federal ban on the dangerous practice.

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GOP Rep. Nunes Could Be Involved In Digging Ukraine Dirt On Biden

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes (screen capture)

Wait a minute.

So, Rep. Devin Nunes – Donald Trump’s attack dog on the House Intelligence Committee might have been involved in digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine, too???

From CNN:

A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani tells CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.

The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.

“Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” said Bondy.

Shokin was ousted from his position in 2016 after pressure from Western leaders, including then-vice president Biden, over concerns that Shokin was not pursuing corruption cases.

Nunes denies the allegations calling the report “demonstrably false.”

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News Round-Up: November 22, 2019

Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunk: Paleontologist Dr. Francesc Gascó (above) is also a bit CrossFit fan. This totally says TGIF to me. • KIT212: Kenneth has the low-down on what’s what in gay rags across the country. • Agence France-Presse: Several government ministries in Indonesia are banning LGBT job hunters in favor of what one called “normal” applicants, the Ombudsman said Friday. Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of some 260 million, has seen a jump in discrimination against gay and transgender people in recent years. • ABC News: Florida officers encounter a strange scene – a car circling in reverse with the owner’s dog Max inside. The dog’s owner had made a wrong turn, pulled over and got out of the car leaving the dog inside, who somehow hit the gear shift putting the car in reverse.

• Politico: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has begun booking a huge quantity of TV ad time in media markets across the country, to the tune of possibly $10 million for only one week. As of 10:30 a.m. Friday, Advertising Analytics tracked buys in 100 local markets across the country. • Instinct: A 21-year-old man was attacked early Friday morning on a NYC subway platform. An assailant hit the man with a hammer, yelled homophobic slurs and threw him onto the subway tracks in the path of an oncoming train. • NY Times: A report by the Justice Department’s inspector general is expected to absolve those at the top of the FBI in regard to abusing their authority out of bias against President Trump, according to people briefed on a draft. • CUT: A gay man’s parents are asking to decipher the people he has slept with from a lineup of 8 potential partners (including one woman).

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New Music: Kyle Motsinger Considers The Road Not Taken In ‘Parallel Universe’

L-R Sam Perwin, Kyle Motsinger (photo: Tyler William Milliron)
Raised in Illinois, out singer/songwriter Kyle Motsinger picked up and moved to the big, bad city – New York – to follow his dreams as soon as he could. But in his latest single, “Parallel Universe,” Motsinger considers what his path would have been like had he stayed in his hometown:

In a parallel universe I stayed / After college I moved back to town / No other plans were made / Got a job, got a dog right by my side / Settling for a slower life / Completely satisfied / Wouldn’t know any better, any worse, In that parallel universe  

Then there’s the other side of the ‘what if’ coin – what if Motsinger’s hometown beau moved with him to the big city?

Opportunities I couldn’t find here / In a town not ruled by courage but by fear / In another universe you moved with me / We rented an apartment in the heart of NYC / We’d explore the city side-by-side / End our days making love completely satisfied

“I wrote ‘Parallel Universe’ after an encounter with a former lover while visiting family for the holidays in Illinois,” says the handsome artist. “I started imagining different scenarios in which we could be together. It felt like each scenario was a different parallel universe. What if there were multiple versions of us out there that were living these scenarios? I do love a good science fiction story!”

L-R Sam Perwin, Kyle Motsinger (screen capture)
On first listen, I felt like the song had a sense of theatrical story-telling to it, in a similar vein as some classic Billy Joel songs. And it seems that it wasn’t my imagination. “I was also more than a little bit inspired by the play/movie, Rabbit Hole, written by David Lindsay-Abaire,” shares Motsinger. “I wrote it as a pop/rock ballad and worked with fellow singer/songwriter Corey Tut to get the sound right in the studio. Chris Bonner recorded bass and Adam Stoler recorded guitars while on the road with the Broadway musical, Come From Away. So, yes, there is a pedigree of theatrical roots to the track. Motsinger says he hopes “this song makes you think about how choices can lead to many different outcomes.” I previously showcased Motsinger’s disco-tastic “Love On Each Other” featuring big dance beats and slinky 1970s strings. “Parallel Universe” is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and other digital music platforms.

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Unveiling Of New Tesla Cybertruck Doesn’t Go As Planned ‘Oh My F*cking God!’

Things went a bit awry at the unveiling of Telsa’s futuristic Cybertruck in Los Angeles on Thursday. In an attempt to show the assembled crowd at the event how ‘bulletproof’ the windows on Tesla’s first pickup truck are, CEO Elon Musk asked his chief designer Franz Holzhausen to throw a metal ball at the driver’s side window. Unfortunately, the glass was smashed. Holzhausen tried again with the same cracked result. “Oh my fucking God, maybe that was a little too hard,” exclaimed Musk before adding, “It didn’t go through, it didn’t go through.” Production is expected to begin in late 2021.

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Podcast: Pete Buttigieg, RuPaul, Tom Goss & The Epic Fail Of ‘Straight Pride’

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: • Sen. Kamala Harris calls Mayor Pete Buttigieg “naive” for relating his experience as a gay man to other marginalized communities. • A homophobic photographer in Kentucky has filed a lawsuit to block Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance just in case a gay couple were to ask her to shoot their wedding. • Three federal judges have blocked a new rule announced by the Health and Human Services Department that would allow healthcare professionals to deny service to LGBTQs. • The Straight Pride event in Dallas was the biggest fail yet. • Netflix releases teaser video for RuPaul’s upcoming scripted comedy series AJ and The Queen. • Out singer/songwriter Tom Goss’s new album explores new emotional Territories. All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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News Round-Up: November 21, 2019

(photo: Tibo Norman)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Joel Green (above), photographed by Tibo Norman, is definitely giving off some super-hero vibes a la The CW. • The Hill: A new poll shows that 66% of Republicans believe adoption groups should not be able to turn away LGBTQ parents, compared to 75% of Democrats and 73% of independents. Overall, 72% say adoption agencies should not be allowed to deny service to members of the LGBTQ community, while 29 percent disagreed. • NBC News: A Florida jury has awarded a gay man more than $157 million in a wrongful death lawsuit after his husband died from lung cancer caused by smoking cigarettes, in what an attorney said is the first such case involving a same-sex married couple. • Raw Story: The Republican National Committee admits to buying nearly $100,000 worth of Donald Trump Jr.’s new book just days before it was released. When the tome landed on the NY Times Bestseller list, it received a connotation that ‘bulk purchases’ were involved in the sales numbers. NY Times reporter Nick Confessore confirmed the bulk purchase today with the RNC today.

• CNN: Democrats are anticipating a busy December that will be filed with proceedings before the House Judiciary Committee, including public hearings and a markup, and a likely vote to impeach Trump on the House floor by Christmas Day, according to multiple Democratic sources. • HuffPost: Donald Trump traveled to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday to tour a manufacturing plant with Apple chief executive Tim Cook, touting the opening of a “new” facility that would bring high-paying jobs back to America. Except – the plant has been making Apple computers since 2013, long before Trump was elected. • Billboard: Randy Report favorite Randy Rainbow debuted at #1 this week on the Billboard Comedy chart with his new release, Hey Gurl, It’s Christmas!

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Screening Of ‘Stonewall Outloud’ Celebrates History With A Homecoming

By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr. Over the last fifty years, the story of what took place at the Stonewall Inn in the sweltering early hours of June 28, 1969, has become more legend and lore than verifiable fact. The first recorded archival accounts by those who were there didn’t take place until twenty years later with the audio documentary, Remembering Stonewall. StoryCorps has preserved the vital historic accounts of those events and this year also launched an effort to record the stories of the LGBTQ Community through its app. Thirty years after the firsthand stories were recorded, filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato have brought them to life in Stonewall Outloud and home to the Stonewall Inn. Narrated by RuPaul, the film honors past with present and reminds us exactly how monumental those nights were, and our history is as a community. In a special screening at the legendary bar on Wednesday night, a capacity crowd was transfixed listening to the words of those who had paved the way for them as some of today’s most recognizable LGBTQ talent (Lance Bass, Daniel Franzese, Michael Turchin, Charlie Carver, Laith Ashley and more) channeled their spirit.

Lance Bass and Michael Turchin
Afterward, Michael Musto hosted a Q & A with Bailey and featured Stonewall veteran and Stonewall bartender, Fredd E. “Tree” Sequoia. In Stonewall Outloud, Tree is “played” by none other than Adam Rippon. If you think he’s sassy, pull up a barstool and have a chat with Tree. He has spent 51 years working at gay bars in the Village, has all the Tea (and spills it) and has no plans to retire. He said, “I plan on dropping dead behind the bar here. Then the owners will have to clean me up!” Stories are not just a community’s history; it is their pride. If we find time to listen to each other’s stories, we’d learn they are also our joy. You can watch Stonewall Outloud below.

  Lawrence Pfeil, Jr., is a freelance writer/playwright who has reviewed film and theatre, both on and off-Broadway, for media outlets including The Randy Report, the New York Blade, and Edge Publications.

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Franklin Graham: I Spoke To Chick-Fil-A CEO And They Haven’t Changed

Chick-Fil-A

Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A recently announced a shift in its charitable donations clearly intended to stave protests by LGBTQ activists and allies who have brought much-unwanted attention to the restaurant’s support of anti-LGBTQ organizations like the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. But homophobic evangelist Franklin Graham posted a message on his Facebook page saying he’s spoken to the company’s CEO who he claims promised: “they haven’t changed.”

“Has Chick-fil-A caved? Some are saying they’ve rolled over, that they’ve conceded to the LGBTQ protests because they released a statement about their charitable giving. They announced that in 2020 they’re giving to fight hunger and homelessness and support education. What’s wrong with that?

“I picked up the phone and called Dan Cathy. Dan was very clear that they have not bowed down to anyone’s demands, including the LGBTQ community. They will continue to support whoever they want to support. They haven’t changed who they are or what they believe. Chick-fil-A remains committed to Christian values. Dan Cathy assured me that this isn’t going to change. I hope all those who jumped to the wrong conclusion about them read this.

“In my opinion, the gay movement wouldn’t ever be happy with Chick-fil-A unless they were open on Sunday, gave all of their charitable donations to LGBTQ organizations, and flew the rainbow flag over their stores! Their hatred for Chick-fil-A is rooted in founder Truett Cathy’s strong stand for biblical ‘traditional’ values and his desire to honor God.

“No fast food chain does a better job. I went through the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A yesterday morning, and I thought I might get dinner there — but a whole lot of other people had the same idea! A Chick-fil-A sandwich with waffle fries sounds really good right now!”