Category: Round-Up

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News Round-Up: June 8, 2020

Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Joel Green (above) offers some good advice this Monday – ‘Do not give your past the power to define your future.’ Follow him on Instagram here. • Amazon Prime: The streaming video platform has curated a collection of LGBTQ films, documentaries, and television series all in one place for you to peruse including Rocketman, The Handmaiden, The L Word, RuPaul’s Drag Race and more. • Provincetown: The Massachusetts LGBTQ getaway is open for business just in time for Pride Month. The announcement by Governor Charlie Baker of Phase 2 of the reopening, effective today, allows lodging, restaurants, and retail to open under newly eased and specific guidelines mandated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
(image via Provincetown Instagram)
• Out: Oregon State Head Coach Jonathan Smith dismissed sophomore football player Rocco Carley after learning he’d used racist and homophobic language in a recently discovered audio recording. Smith, along with the school’s Athletic Director Scott Barnes, agreed on booting Carley from the team saying what they heard was “entirely unacceptable, regardless of the circumstance or environment.” Carley has issued an apology saying – like just about everyone who finds themselves in this predicament – the recording doesn’t ‘represent’ who he is today. • The Advocate: L.A. Pride organizers have stepped away from the previously announced Black solidarity march after the event came under fire for its involvement with law enforcement. Some activists noted that any partnership with cops is counterintuitive to the purpose of the protests taking place in response to the killing of George Floyd, police brutality, and race-based violence. Pride organizers say they are “in full support” of the new protest, which is now named the All Black Lives Matter March. • New Music: Dig the super-catchy new single from pop-rock band Neon Trees, “New Best Friend,” from the band’s upcoming album, I Can Feel You Forgetting Me. “They call me crazy, but crazy’s my new best friend.” “’New Best Friend’ is about embracing the crazy that lives within all of us,” shared out frontman Tyler Glenn. “The nostalgic highs, the unflattering lows, and the beautiful messiness of being human. I’ve realized that there are memories with people that have come and gone in my life, and while I reminisce on those moments, ultimately at the end of the day I’m still left with myself.”

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Monday Man Crush

Ramses Principe and King share a ‘cheat meal’ (via Instagram)
Catching up on how some of my favorite InstaHunks spent their weekend. First up (above), fitness expert Ramses Principe shared his ‘cheat day’ meal with his handsome bestie, King. David Mcintosh also spent some weekend time with his perfectly adorable pooch:

Dan Tai summarized his quarantine experience thusly:

 

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“Summarise you’re quarantine in one photo” Me:

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Graphic artist Silverjow’s Hunks of the Week celebrate Pride Month together: “Being visible should never leave you feeling vulnerable”

 

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#pride #pridemonth Hunks of the week #127

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Blacktain America is super-proud of his new fade – “Barbers are back”

 

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Barbers are back ☺️

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News Round-Up: June 5, 2020

(image via sadanduseless)
Some news items you might have missed: • Summer Fashion: So, I don’t know if it’s a ‘thing’ but someone is apparently trying to make lace shorts for guys (above) a ‘thing’ this summer? #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm • Washington Blade: In yet another attack by the Trump administration to enable legal discrimination against LGBTQ people, the Justice Department is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to allow religious-affiliated adoption agencies that receive tax-payer dollars to refuse child placement into LGBTQ homes. • Out Music: 80s pop icon Limahl (“Neverending Story”, “Only For Love”, “Too Shy” with Kajagoogoo) returns with “Still in Love,” his first foray into the mainstream in over eight years. American Songwriter calls the new track “a soulful and sultry pop ode to the darker side of love, that recurrent backfire of amore, and finding oneself after being crushed by it.”

• Buzzfeed News: A police officer in Salem, Oregon, was caught on video warning a group of white supremacists to seek shelter before the police were planning to tear gas the area and  avoid being arrested for violating a curfew so officers “don’t look like [they’re] playing favorites.” • Newsweek: Donald Trump finally got his wall/fence. But instead of being a barrier on the U.S. southern border, it’s a barricade around the White House. I’m sure you can parse the irony on your own. • The Advocate: Police fired bang shots at a queer bar owner in North Carolina after he’d set up a first aid station in his parking lot to treat peaceful protestors who had gotten injured.

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News Round-Up: June 4, 2020

DJ Thiago Oliveira (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: DJ Thiago Oliveira (above) getting in some straight-up social distancing at the beach in Spain. Follow the ‘Daddy Wolf’ on Instagram here. • NBC News: The Trump administration submitted a brief to the Supreme Court on Wednesday arguing that a taxpayer-funded organization should be able to refuse to work with same-sex couples and others whom the group considers to be in violation of its religious beliefs. • Out Music: Trey Pearson, who first found fame fronting the Christian rock band Everyday Sunday, channels LGBTQ Pride’s history of protest in his latest music video, “1984.” Pearson, who came out as gay four years ago, called the song “a love letter sent to us from the LGBT community of the ’80s” to inspire people in a time of crisis and uprising.

• Washington Post: Donald Trump’s former chief of staff John F. Kelly defended former defense secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday over Mattis’s criticism of the president’s handling of nationwide protests. Kelly also dismissed Trump’s assertion that the president fired the retired general in 2018. “The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation. The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused.” • Out: Following fellow gay dating app Grindr, Jack’d and Scruff have announced they will disable their ethnicity filters in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. “We stand in solidarity with the fight against systemic racism and historic oppression of the Black community.” • Lincoln Project: The conservative anti-Trump PAC drops this new campaign ad writing, “Trump is no longer hiding that he’s a brazen authoritarian, so desiring of control and power that he’s willing to turn our once peaceful cities into #warzones.

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News Round-Up: June 2, 2020

The number of senior LGBTQs is expected to double in the next 10 years
Some news items you might have missed: • LGBTQ Nation: Experts say there are 2.4 million LGBTQ seniors in the U.S. and that number is projected to reach seven million by 2030. Check out this list of organizations that offer valuable resources for aging LGBTQ people. • Instinct: The British government has announced that strangers (or couples living apart from each other) are no longer legally allowed to have sex for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The text of the legislation outlaws indoor gatherings “when two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other or to undertake any other activity with each other.” • Pink News: Levi’s has released a pair of denim chaps for Pride Month which are apparently “inspired by the resilience and beauty” of the LGBT+ community. The Pride offering is described as a “classic Levi’s silhouette, reimagined as a pair of unapologetically bold chaps.” #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm
(image via Levi’s)
• The Advocate: The state of Minnesota has filed a human rights complaint against the Minneapolis Police Department following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died last week while being pinned him to the ground by a white police officer. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights will begin an investigation into the MPD’s conduct over the past decade to determine if officers “engaged in systemic discriminatory practices.” • New York Times: The ongoing protests across the country have spurred political campaign donations to Democrats via their ActBlue website. Between Friday and Monday, the online donor platform processed over $60 million in donations. • NowThis News: Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the bishop who oversees St. John’s Episcopalian Church in Washington DC, was outraged over the use of force on peaceful protesters and church clergy by Donald Trump. Bible in hand, Trump posed awkwardly for a photo and then walked away from the chaos, but many are calling this an abuse of power and a dangerous stifling of the 1st Amendment right to peaceful protest.

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News Round-Up: May 29, 2020

Guillaume Cizeron (above right – via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Out: Olympic medal-winning ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron (above) has come out publicly as gay. Though the athlete, who won a silver medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics never considered himself in the closet prior, having spoken openly to family and his friends about his sexuality, he acknowledges that a new interview in the French-language magazine Tetu is his first time speaking publicly. • TikTok: A teen in North Carolina came out to her mom by making some cupcakes that said “I like girls” and recorded herself surprising her mom with them. The TikTok sharing the moment has more than 3 million views. • KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in local gay rags like this month’s issue of DNA Magazine featuring Nick Bracks (below) chatting on his new role as a mental health advocate.
Nick Bracks covers the new issue of DNA Magazine
• The Advocate: Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was shot to death by a police officer Wednesday morning in Tallahassee, Fla. McDade, 38, was accused of having fatally stabbed another man just minutes before his own death. • New Music: Lady Gaga released her highly anticipated sixth studio album Chromatica via Interscope Records, which has already debuted at #1 on the iTunes charts in 57 countries. Gaga has previously released duets with Ariana Grande (“Rain On Me” – the biggest Spotify debut of 2020 reaching #1 on the Global and US Spotify charts) and with Blackpink (“Sour Candy” – #1 on iTunes in 53 countries) from the collection. Check out the banging dance collaboration “Sine From Above” with international superstar Elton John below.

• The Hill: Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States is “terminating” its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) over its response to the novel coronavirus, following through on a threat issued earlier this month. Trump accused the WHO of being under China’s “total control” and of failing to make reforms requested by his administration. The president said he would “redirect” funds promised to the WHO to assist other global health needs. • TechCrunch: SpaceX had just conducted yet another static fire test of the Raptor engine in its Starship SN4 prototype launch vehicle on Friday when the test vehicle exploded on the test stand in Boca Chica, Texas. This was the fourth static fire test of this engine on this prototype, so it’s unclear what went wrong vs. other static fire attempts.

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News Round-Up: May 27, 2020

A man asks sex advice columnist if isolation could make him gay (stock image)
Some news items you might have missed: • Chicago Tribune: A 32-year-old man wrote to sex advice columnist Anna Pulley to ask if being isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic could be responsible for developing a sexual attraction to men. • KSTP: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for the police officer involved in the incident that led to the death of George Floyd to be arrested. Floyd was pronounced dead Monday night after he was taken into custody by police in south Minneapolis. A video that was circulated online shows an officer holding his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for several minutes. • The Lincoln Project: As the COVID-19 death toll crossed the 100,000 mark in the U.S. today, the conservative anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project released a new campaign ad criticizing the Donald’s handling of the coronavirus health threat. The spot features Trump announcing on February 26 that “You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.” As his words echo, a shot of seven body bags slowly pulls back to reveal thousands.

• Out: NBA great Dwyane Wade and his daughter Zaya were celebrating this weekend by posting pics on social media of their matching bright red-dyed hair. It was yet another way the Hall of Fame parent is supporting and empowering his teenage trans child. • Hollywood Reporter: California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed a lawsuit against the executive producers of the CBS series Criminal Minds, Disney and the network itself. The filing alleges multiple instances of sexual touching by Gregory St. Johns, a director of photography on the show. According to the lawsuit, over a dozen male employees were fired at the request of St. Johns when they complained or didn’t respond to his behavior which included butt slaps and pinches. • EXTRA: Pose star Billy Porter shares that quarantining with his husband Adam Smith has been “a very deepening time for our relationship.” Along with expressing the importance of self-care, Porter added, “I am mentally solid, I have been going through some trauma therapy that’s really intense.”

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News Round-Up: May 26, 2020

Francisco José Alvarado (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Washington Post: Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country’s ban. Costa Rica is the first country in Central America to make marriage equality the law of the land. • 13WMAZ: A married youth pastor in Georgia created a wild story about being kidnapped to cover up his family learning he’d hired a male prostitute to meet him at a local motel. • Reuters: The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. coalition of labor unions, endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president on Tuesday, promising to launch an effort to beat Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election. The group represents 55 unions and 12.5 million workers. • Instinct Magazine: Francisco José Alvarado (top photo), a 30-year-old doctor from Spain, beat COVID-19 and became Mr. Gay World 2020. This year’s competition was canceled, but the organizers decided Alvarado – who was the runner-up in 2019 – should be given the title for as this year’s global ambassador for LGBTQ rights.

• AlterNet: In late March, when every other European country was in lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Sweden’s officials decided that Swedes could be relied upon to follow sanitation guidelines themselves. Restaurants, shops, and recreational spots were allowed to stay open. As of May 19, Sweden had more coronavirus deaths per capita than any other country in Europe. • The Daily Beast: The Justice Department informed lawyers for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) there will be no insider trading charges filed against Loeffler. The senator and her husband, New York Stock Exchange chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, have denied that their sales of millions of dollars in stock – made shortly after a closed-door Senate intelligence briefing on the coronavirus in early January – had anything to do with that information. • Talking Points Memo: A new study produced by business school profs at Columbia and University of Chicago suggests that viewing Fox News is strongly correlated with ignoring social distancing guidance during the first weeks of the COVID19 epidemic and is in fact driving that non-compliance. • Social Media: The Bidens paid tribute to the nation’s veterans on Memorial Day, appearing in public at a wreath-laying ceremony near his Delaware home. Over the weekend, Biden took a swipe at Donald Trump’s golf habit tweeting, “The presidency is about a lot more than tweeting from your golf cart. It requires taking on the ultimate responsibility for the biggest decisions in the world. Donald Trump simply wasn’t prepared for that. I promise you I will be.”  

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Podcast: NYC Pride’s Big 2020 Plans, Uganda, Albania, Daytime Emmys, PrEP

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: • Prosecutors in Uganda have dropped charges against 19 LGBTQ people held in jail for 49 days • A ‘once every two months’ injectable version of PrEP has shown very positive results in clinical trials • Albania bans so-called ‘conversion therapy’ • NYC Pride has announced a huge 50th anniversary Pride television special featuring Billy Porter, Dan Levy, Janelle Monae, and more. • The 2020 Daytime Emmy nominations are out with big love for LGBTQ actors and shows Here’s the link to my recent interview with the Emmy Award-winning creators of the Amazon series ‘After Forever’ • Out singer/songwriter Clinton John’s new single “Cry” taps into those frustrating times when you realize you’re really not over that lost love. Link to download “Cry.” All that in this episode of The Randy Report.

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News Round-Up: May 22, 2020

(images via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Buzzfeed News: Mike Shultz (above), a gay nurse who attended the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach, shared side-by-side before and after photos on Instagram to demonstrate how COVID-19 had affected his body in six weeks. “I wanted to show it can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, have preexisting conditions or not. It can affect you.” • KIT212: Check out the what’s what in local LGBTQ publications like South Florida Hot Spots chatting with former American Idol alum David Hernandez (below).
(image via South Florida Hot Spots)
• Gay Star News: On March 3, three men shouting homophobic abuse at a 37-year-old in the heart of London pushed him into the street and attacked him. The police have arrested three men, all aged 21 years old, on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. • New Music: Superstar duo Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped their new music video, “Rain On Me,” at midnight and it immediately shot to #1 in 26 countries on iTunes. “Rain On Me” is the second single from Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated sixth studio album Chromatica, which will be released on May 29.

• New York Times: The W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain, currently has just one occupant among its hundreds of luxury guest rooms. Maintenance engineer Daniel Ordoñez has lived alone in the hotel since March handling tasks that must be done on a regular basis like opening the 1,400 water taps every five days. • Washington Post: A study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on six continents found that those who received an antimalarial drug promoted by President Trump as a “game-changer” in the fight against the virus had a significantly higher risk of death compared with those who did not. People treated with hydroxychloroquine were also more likely to develop a type of irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that can lead to sudden cardiac death. • Entertainment Weekly: I found this look back at the “mad, sad, totally fab life of Paul Lynde” by EW a great read. Click the play button below to relive some of the comedian’s funniest one-liners on the iconic game show, Hollywood Squares.