Michael and I visiting a church Portofino
News Round-Up: September 24, 2019
News Round-Up: September 23, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • Deadline: Hunky Tom Welling (above – image via FB) will reprise his Smallville role of Clark Kent for the upcoming mega-crossover ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ on The CW. Two more former Supermen, Tyler Hoechlin and Brandon Routh, will also take part in the 5-part story arc which will unite the entire Arrowverse series franchise – Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman. • The Advocate: A federal judge has ruled that an anti-LGBTQ church, D. James Kennedy Ministries based in Florida, can be labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a matter of free speech. SPLC lists the church as a hate group “because it maligns the entire LGBT community, portraying it as perverted and a threat to the nation.” • Twitter: Two of my favorite tweets today come from Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden. In the first, he congratulates Billy Porter on his historic win last night at the Emmy Awards. In the second, Joe gets his message across in a single sentence.
Tonight, you made history, @theebillyporter. And as you did it, you reminded us that there is so much more that unites us than divides us. You blazed a trail that will mean so much to so many young people who can now imagine themselves standing on that stage because of you.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 23, 2019
So release the transcript of the call then. https://t.co/pWD7xmVLQO
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 23, 2019
News Round-Up: September 20, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Can we talk about the massive thighs (above) of hottie Dan Tai? That represents a whole lotta leg days… #dang • ESPN: Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy pens a personal essay explaining how he landed his new role on American Horror Story: 1984, and how quickly he felt the LGBTQ community was quick to ‘cut him down.’ • Twitter: Looking fabulous at 50, Jennifer Lopez closed out the Versace Spring 2020 show in Milan in a reimagined version of her iconic 2000 Grammy dress. #YouBettaWalk
Jennifer Lopez just closed the Versace Spring 2020 show in Milan in a reimagined version of her iconic 2000 Grammy dress. pic.twitter.com/aoX2XFlHdz
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 20, 2019
News Round-Up: September 19, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • American Horror Story: Who caught last night’s debut of the #ThrowbackThursday worthy American Horror Story: 1984 featuring out Olympian Gus Kenworthy (above)? • CNN: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and businessman Andrew Yang will not be taking part in either the LGBTQ Forum in Iowa tomorrow night or the CNN Town Hall on LGBTQ issues on October 10. Sanders has a town hall in North Carolina on September 20, and both campaigns site ‘scheduling conflicts’ for the October Town Hall. • Business Insider: A new poll shows only 13 percent of Americans would support the US joining Saudi Arabia in a military conflict as part of a response to a recent attack on two major Saudi oil fields. • ABC News: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized Thursday afternoon for photos from years ago showing him dressed in blackface and brownface. “This is something I deeply, deeply regret,” he told reporters, adding that wearing blackface is “always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. I should’ve understood it then, and I should have never done it.”
NEW: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau: “Darkening your face, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface.”
“I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.” https://t.co/9shXOtcjRG pic.twitter.com/wDtrhpK39D — ABC News (@ABC) September 19, 2019
News Round-Up: September 17, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • KIT212: Kenneth-in-the-212’s ‘Tennis Tuesday‘ serves up some serious booty workout tips from hunky Australian trainer, Coach Clayton (above). Definitely worth the click here. • NewNowNext: The 5th season of the acclaimed sitcom Schitt’s Creek will debut on Netflix on October 10, with the sixth and final installment to drop in January. The series, heralded for its positive portrayal of LGBTQ life, is nominated for 3 Emmy Awards this weekend. It is the first Canadian sitcom to receive an Emmy nomination for Best Comedy Series. • Variety: After snagging another Emmy Award this past weekend (for her guest appearance on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) Jane Lynch told reporters she and Cyndi Lauper are set to co-star in a new Netflix series that will be “a Golden Girls for today.” • The Sun: Nicole Scherzinger has accepted a reported ‘multi-million pound’ offer to rejoin her former Pussycat Dolls band mates for a 10th anniversary reunion/world tour. • Merriam-Webster: The venerable dictionary has announced a new definition for the word ‘they’ in referencing the gender identity of nonbinary people. • PBS: Longtime ABC News political reporter Cokie Roberts passed away at the age of 75 from complications due to breast cancer. She was NPR’s congressional correspondent for more than a decade beginning in 1978, and co-anchored ABC’s “This Week” from 1996 to 2002. • Roll Call: 13 House Republicans have announced they will not be running for reelection in 2020. • TVLine: Shortly after comedian Shane Gillis was announced to join the cast of Saturday Night Live this season, footage of racist and homophobic ‘jokes’ by Gillis surfaced and SNL reversed their casting decision. Gillis initially issued one of those ‘I apologize if anyone was actually offended’ statements, but then followed up with a bitter little tweet saying he was “always a MADtv kind of guy” anyway. p.s. MADtv got cancelled, too, so…maybe he is that kind of guy.
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 13, 2019
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 16, 2019
News Round-Up: September 13, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Steve Raider (above) is giving you total lawn lounging. Talk about ‘splendor in the grass’… • Metro: In the upcoming big-screen iteration of Downton Abbey, closeted valet-turned-butler Thomas Barrow (played by Rob James-Collier) gets his own storyline offering emotional insight – joy and otherwise – into what it was like to be gay in the 1920s. The film opens in theaters September 20. • CNN: As far back as the 1990s, Vice President Mike Pence argued that homosexuality was a choice during his fight against local efforts in Indiana to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. • CNET: Miami-based porn website BangBros has offered an ambitious $10 million bid to rename the former American Airlines Arena as The BangBros Center or BBC should the company win the bid. • Instinct: SNL has hired its first-ever Asian cast member, Bowen Yang, set to join the venerable comic troupe this fall. • New Music: My fellow Syracuse University alum, John Duff, offers his latest music video, “Rich,” which mocks and celebrates pop culture’s love-hate obsession with those who are already rich and famous. “I like to think I’m holding a mirror to what it is that we do every day, as a culture – what we worship, how we consume, how we cope,” says Duff. “That’s where the visuals really aid in my storytelling.”
News Round-Up: September 9, 2019
L-R Shannen Doherty, me, Ian Ziering, Jennie Garth, Michael Caprio
News Round-Up: September 6, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Dan Tai is heading to America next on his travels – presumably to put in place a Randy Report restraining order. 🙂 • The Guardian: Vice President Mike Pence was greeted by several rainbow flag displays this week as he landed in Reykjavik to meet with President Guðni Jóhannesson of Iceland. • KIT212: Click here for a round-up of what’s making news in LGBTQ publications around the country. • CNN: Major retailers have announced this week that they will respectfully ask customers not to openly carry guns into their stores in states where open carry is legal. Walgreens, CVS, and Wegmans announced the new policy Thursday afternoon, following announcements from Walmart and Kroger on Wednesday.
Stores that have stood up for gun safety: ✅Walmart ✅Walgreens ✅Kroger ✅Whataburger ✅Sonic ✅Panera Bread ✅Chili’s ✅Starbucks ✅Target ✅Costco ✅Trader Joes ✅Chipotle ✅HEB
Stores we encourage to do the same: ❌@Wegmans ❌@CVSPharmacy — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 5, 2019
• Washington Post: State and federal health officials investigating mysterious lung illnesses, which have caused two deaths and over 200 serious illnesses, linked to vaping. A chemical derived from vitamin E was found in samples of marijuana products used by people sickened in different parts of the country. In short – stop vaping, people are dying. • Politico: Four states are poised to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses, a move that would cut off oxygen to Donald Trump’s long-shot primary challengers. Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend. • Towleroad: After recording a video for the virulently anti-LGBTQ group Focus on the Family, New Orleans’ Saints quarterback Drew Brees became defensive when called out for working with the organization which has opposed marriage equality, called transgender people ‘mentally ill,’ and advocates legalizing discrimination against gays. Brees eventually apologized claiming ignorance of the group’s anti-LGBTQ lobbying efforts. • The Daily Beast: Influential progressive news site ThinkProgress, which rose to prominence during the Bush administration and helped define progressivism during the Obama years, is shutting down. #SadDay • New Music: Randy Report favorite Mika drops his latest single, “Sanremo,” from his upcoming album My Name Is Michael Holbrook due out October 4. The breezy, sunbaked groove is perfect for that chill, end of summer vibe. Smooth. Hit play below.
InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition
Checking in with our favorite InstaHunks this weekend… Hunky actor BJ Gruber (above) got his CrossFit workout done and done. #sweat Mario Hervas was a man in motion: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WYyEKCk2-/ Dan Tai is content with just a beach and coconuts: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jLCrOlMRU/ ABC news guy Gio Benitez and model hubby Tommy Didario had a movie date night checking out Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kLCSTFt8k/ Bodybuilder Bremen Menelli is celebrating bulking season: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kCRSjAUGb/ Austin Wolf got in one last workout here in Barcelona before joining me on Atlantis Cruise’s Mediterranean cruise. https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jljlKDVk-/ NYC real estate guy Brett Miles had to work this weekend (as a Realtor myself, I feel your pain, Brett): https://www.instagram.com/p/B1grqCvgcmw/ Max Emerson went camping in Yosemite National Park (funny, I’ve always called this something else…): https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jZnJdgfbP/ And fitness guru Ramses Principe waxed philosophical about learning from failure: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jbTSRHTHd/
Cyndi Lauper’s ‘True Colors Fund’ Is Now ‘True Colors United’
UPDATE – The bill that would have banned ‘conversion therapy’ in Utah has stalled and died for this legislative session. Republicans had tried to insert an amendment that would allow professional therapists to ‘talk’ about changing a teen’s sexuality, but not promising to ‘reverse’ it. Utah lawmakers have gutted legislation that would have banned so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the state. With recent changes, the new bill allows therapists to continue using the same techniques, just not with a promise of a certain outcome. The new version also doesn’t ban therapy intended to change transgender youth. From The Salt Lake Tribune: Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, left the morning hearing fuming about the committee’s decision. The majority of the committee, he said, sided with “quack therapists” and “snake oil salesmen” by approving a version of the bill that would be easily sidestepped by practitioners of conversion therapy. The substitute bill by Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, focuses on prohibiting practices that cause pain or physical distress to a minor patient. It also would ban claims that a therapy could fully and permanently reverse a child’s sexual orientation and assertions that such a change is necessary. All of the nation’s leading mental health and medical associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have rejected conversion therapy as dangerous and ineffective, and 15 states have banned certain counselors from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors. The practice has been linked to suicide and depression, and supporters of Hall’s legislation have framed it as a potentially life-saving legal change. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Craig Hall, told the committee, “This bill, substitute 4, just to make it clear, will not prevent conversion therapy.” Federal courts have upheld bans on ‘conversion therapy,’ and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused, thus far, to hear appeals on the subject.