• Handsome InstaHunk Jim Newman (above) has been running a fabulous “Days of Christmas” campaign over on his Instagram taking daily pics au naturel with items in his home blocking just the barest of body parts. Well-worth clicking over to as this was the most tame I can post here 😉
• An amateur photographer from England received a 16-year jail sentence for drugging and raping male models. “I get a kick out of robbing a straight guy out of his masculinity,” he shared in a conversation.
• Donald Trump, who promised his infamous wall along the Mexican border would be paid for by Mexico, now says “The wall will pay for itself.”
“The wall will pay for itself on a monthly basis,” Trump said, contradicting his previous claim that Mexico would pay for the border wall and threatening a government shutdown if a spending bill doesn’t include his $5B demand for funding it https://t.co/QTj5qScUCnpic.twitter.com/NUNy53tGWX
• Even though the play opened to very good reviews, the Broadway revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, starring out actor Michael Urie, has announced it will close January 6.
• The stock market moved into bear territory this week as the Dow fell another 417.11 points today, closing the week with a loss of 6.75% – its worst weekly decline since October 2008. #ThanksTrump
• In a year of ups and downs, the world searched for “good” more than ever before — according to Google Trends. From the epic headlines to the everyday moments, here’s to all the good that people discovered in 2018.
Donald Trump’s week just got that much worse as the Supreme Court has refused to reinstate Donald Trump’s asylum ban while a government appeal is pending.
The court was closely divided, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the four-member liberal wing in turning down the administration’s request for a stay of a trial judge’s order blocking the program.
The court’s brief order gave no reasons for its action. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they would have granted the stay.
In a proclamation issued on Nov. 9, President Trump barred migrants from applying for asylum unless they made the request at a legal checkpoint. Only those applying at a port of entry would be eligible, Mr. Trump said, invoking what he said were his national security powers to protect the nation’s borders.
Lower courts blocked the initiative, ruling that a federal law plainly allowed asylum applications from people who had entered the country unlawfully.
“Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States,” the relevant federal statute says, may apply for asylum — “whether or not at a designated port of arrival.”
In related news, NPR is reporting that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery Friday for early stage lung cancer.
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in New York performed a lobectomy, removing one of the five lobes of the lung.
Short of complications in recovery, doctors say prospects look good for a full recovery for Ginsburg, 85. She hopes to be back on the court for the start of the next argument session in early January.
Acclaimed singers Tom Goss & Liz DeRoche celebrate 200th anniversary of ‘Silent Night’
For a song to cross borders and oceans, cultures and languages, epochs and genres, one might imagine complex melodies and immense lyrics, not a lullaby for a troubled world.
An internationally recognized masterpiece would certainly be the work of profound composers, not a humble assistant priest and school teacher who played guitar.
And yet, this is the origin of one the world’s most cherished carols, “Silent Night,” celebrating its 200thanniversary on Christmas Eve, 2018.
Reminiscent of our own troubled times today, “Silent Night” was written in 1816 as a poem by Joseph Mohr under Austria’s oppressive rule, limited freedom of expression, and despair.
Two years later, Mohr asked Franz Gruber to set his words to music as an expression of solace, hope, and peace to be performed in Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria.
Accompanied only by the guitar, during Christmas Eve mass at St Nickola Church in 1818, the pair performed their composition, “Silent Night.”
Over the last 200 years, “Silent Night” become known as ‘the song of peace,’ having been translated into more than 300 languages and dialects
It’s the holiday hymn which brought a “day of peace” to the Western Front of WWI on Christmas 1914. It reminded soldiers of home and inspired the liberation of Austria from the Nazis during WWII.
Bing Crosby’s iconic recording of the song, released in 1935, is the 3rd best-selling recording of all time.
Recognized and listed by UNESCO as a work of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011, “Silent Night” has become a gentle anthem for world peace. Now, and for our future.
“I feel most inspired by being around those I love,” says Goss. “I wanted to honor the holidays, family, friends and love with Liz DeRoche, someone who’s musical light and tender heart always inspire me. And, of course, what better way to do that then with ‘Silent Night?’ A song that has been moving people for 200 years.”
Tom Goss & Liz DeRoche celebrate 200th anniversary of ‘Silent Nig
Tom and Liz bring their considerable musical powers to bear on the quintessential Christmas song in classic ‘Goss’ style.
Never veering from thoughtful, pensive attention to the lyrics, the two artists blend their voices in quiet homage that is sensitive, yet simultaneously brimming with emotion.
Ethereal and light, Tom and Liz find the heart of a delicate melody that is literally celebrated around the world without resorting to heavy-handed production or studio trickery.
The musical duo echo here the same peaceful sentiment born 200 years ago in Austria.
Speaking of ‘around the world,’ you can be a part of a global sing-a-long of “Silent Night” by clicking over to www.stillenacht.com on the 24thof December (5.00 p.m. MEZ; 4.00 p.m. UTC; 11.00 a.m US EST – east coast; 8.00 a.m. US PST – west coast).
Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Larry at the LGBTQ blog, theOUTfront.com, for collaborating on this post.
On December 1, just 21 days ago, Randall Coffman moved into his new apartment in Clay County, located just outside of Jacksonville, Florida.
The apartment has its own entrance but is attached to the home of his landlord, Jackie Cooper.
A couple of weeks after moving in, Cooper saw Coffman and told him she didn’t want him inviting girls over late into the night.
Coffman informed his landlord that wouldn’t be a problem since he’s gay.
“I’ve been gay since I was born,” said Coffman according to First Coast News. “After that, the harassment for being gay started.”
The next day, Cooper approached her new tenant and told him he had to leave – because he’s gay.
Sensing trouble, Coffman recorded the conversation. Watch the report from First Coast News below.
“Listen to me now, you have to leave this place,” says Cooper in the video. “You didn’t tell me you’re gay until yesterday.”
“Why do I have to tell you I’m gay?,” asked Coffman. “I don’t have to tell you.”
Cooper responded, “You think I want homosexuals coming in and out of my place like that?”
Cooper denies the issue is Coffman being gay, even though she’s caught on video saying exactly that. She says Coffman failed to provide a copy of his driver’s license.
Even though Cooper’s position is discriminatory, the law is currently on her side.
Jacksonville’s 2017 Human Rights Ordinance protects LGBTQ tenants from housing discrimination, but Cooper’s Clay County home is located outside of the city limits.
Neither Cooper nor Coffman signed a lease making his arrangement a verbal month-to-month agreement. In such cases, a landlord can kick a tenant out with 15 days notice.
According to Coffman, Cooper gave him until the 27th to vacate the apartment, which is just shy of the 15-day rule.
But Coffman, currently looking for a new place to live, says he won’t put up a fight. He tells First Coast News he’s uncomfortable about returning to the property.
Donald Trump summoned Senate Republicans to the White House this morning in a rallying cry to get them to somehow pass the newly-approved House spending bill that includes $5 billion for Trump’s border wall.
Remember the 2016 campaign? ‘Who’s gonna pay for ‘the wall?’ ‘Mexico!’
Mind you, you need 60 votes in the Senate to pass a spending bill. There are nowhere near enough Democratic votes (if one) to get close to 60.
But Trump took to Twitter this morning already blaming the Democrats for any government shutdown that might occur tonight at midnight.
Senator Mitch McConnell should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything. He will need Democrat votes, but as shown in the House, good things happen. If enough Dems don’t vote, it will be a Democrat Shutdown! House Republicans were great yesterday!
But if you take a little trip on the Wayback Machine, you’ll recall on December 11th in a nationally televised Oval Office meeting, Trump said:
“If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other, I will shut down the government. So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. I’ll tell you what, I am proud to shut down the government.”
As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer points out, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to keep the government open and running.
You own the shutdown—your own words, @realDonaldTrump. The Senate UNANIMOUSLY passed a bipartisan solution to avoid a shutdown. Then you threw another temper tantrum and convinced the House to ignore that compromise. #TrumpShutdownpic.twitter.com/h4R7Qk6E1i
In the case of a shutdown, nine federal departments and a number of agencies – Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury Departments – will all shutter.
More than 420,000 people will work without pay and an additional 380,000 workers will be furloughed.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich Wednesday issued an Executive Order, 2018-12K, changing the anti-discrimination policy for state employees to include “gender identity or expression,” reports local NBC News affiliate, WCMH.
With just weeks left in Kasich’s term as governor, the order bans discrimination based on “gender identity and expression” in state personnel decisions.
The new language replaces the executive order put in place by Kasich when he took office in 2011, which included race, color, religion, gender, national origin, military status, disability, age and sexual orientation, but not gender identity.
LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans says the executive order makes Kasich “the first Republican Governor of a state without statutory protections for LGBTQ people to issue an executive order protecting state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.”
An outspoken critic of Donald Trump, Kasich has indicated he’s considering a 2020 challenge for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020, and this may be an attempt to show GOP voters a more moderate side of the Republican Party.
This leadership has never been more important. At a time when the basic rights of transgender people to exist in public, to serve in our military, and to access basic health care are at risk, we applaud Governor Kasich for his recognition of our shared humanity with common-sense protections.
Although Kasich’s successor, Governor-elect Mike DeWine (R), could rescind the order when he takes office next month, Freedom for All Americansreports he has “expressed an openness to preserving Kasich’s executive orders.”
After indicating he would go along with a continuing resolution to keep the government open, Donald Trump reversed course today and said he would not sign the bill unless it included money for his long-promised wall.
House Speaker Paul Ryan emerged from a last-minute White House meeting Thursday between President Donald Trump and House Republicans to say that the president told them he will refuse to sign a stopgap funding bill as it’s currently written — a measure that would avert a shutdown before a Friday midnight deadline.
Ryan told reporters that he and other GOP leaders were going back to try to add more border security funding to the legislation.
“The president informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security, so what we’re gonna do is go back to the House and work with our members,” Ryan, R-Wis., said. “We want to keep the government open but we also want to see an agreement that protects the border.”
At the signing of a federal farm bill, Trump addressed his decision:
“I have made my position very clear. Any measure that funds the government must include border security, has to. Not for political purposes, but for our country, for the safety of our community,” President Donald Trump says amid the threat of a partial government shutdown pic.twitter.com/tkD85CaD4x
Earlier this week, after the White House indicated Trump would not shut down the government over funding for his wall, The Washington Examinerreported that conservative pundit Ann Coulter was heavily critical of the president saying she would not vote for him in 2020.
“No. Nor will, I think, most of his supporters. Why would you? To make sure, I don’t know, Ivanka and Jared can make money? That seems to be the main point of the presidency at this point.
“They’re about to have a country where no Republican will ever be elected president again. Trump will just have been a joke presidency who scammed the American people, amused the populists for a while, but he’ll have no legacy whatsoever.”
Recap: Basically, @POTUS plans to halt the payroll on 420,000 federal workers because Ann Coulter called him gutless.
An assistant principal at a West Virginia high school has been suspended after a complaint was filed alleging he had bullied a transgender male student in a bathroom.
Late last month, before boarding a bus for an after-school marching band trip, 15-year-old Michael Critchfield went to the boys bathroom and asked if anyone was present before entering a stall. As a trans boy, he had made a habit of checking to avoid potential confrontations.
Critchfield and his parents have been open with the school administration, since he began attending as a freshman last year, that he is transgender.
According to Critchfield, Liberty High School assistant principal Lee Livengood entered the bathroom and began harassing the student from outside the stall.
Critchfield says Livengood yelled, “Why are you in here? You shouldn’t be in here.”
Livengood reportedly misgendered Critchfield continually and ordered him to “come out here and use the urinal” to prove he was a boy.
“If you can’t use this urinal, then you shouldn’t be in here,” Livengood yelled, according to Critchfield. “What if a student said you were checking them out in here?”
Critchfield later told the ACLU of West Virginia he felt “degraded and discriminated against.”
According to The Huffington Post, other students could hear the screaming coming from the bathroom and alerted a parent who was acting as a chaperone that day.
The chaperone confronted the assistant principal outside the bathroom where Livengood allegedly admitted in front of Critchfield, “Not going to lie. You freak me out.”
When Caroline Critchfield picked up her son later that day, she found Michael terrified and traumatized.
The mother addressed the issue with Liberty High School administrators the next day where she was told Livengood would not have any further contact with her son and that an investigation would be launched into the matter.
But after several weeks, no update was forthcoming from the administration.
Additionally, Livengood would reportedly station himself in the cafeteria during Michael’s lunch period, which he hadn’t done before.
The family reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia for help regarding the incident.
We’re representing a transgender hs student that was bullied by an asst. principal in the boys restroom. Today, we sent a letter to Harrison County Schools demanding resolution. Every child deserves a learning environment free from harassment. https://t.co/RDP2rLLWcL
‘It shocks the conscience that they’ve apparently taken no steps to discipline Mr. Livengood on this,’ ACLU-WV Executive Director Joseph Cohen told The Daily Beast.
After sending a letter to the superintendent of Harrison County Schools, Dr. Mark A. Manchin, requesting a meeting about the altercation, neither the Critchfields nor the ACLU received a response.
That is, until the media began reporting on the incident.
On Tuesday this week, Manchin told local media that Livengood would be suspended without pay until 2019.
“I was able to confirm the interaction with Mr. Livengood and that indeed he acted inappropriately,” Manchin told West Virginia MetroNews. “We need to address it and we will address it.”
With the Christmas holiday next week, that suspension ‘without pay until 2019′ amounts for four days.
“While we are heartened to hear the administration admit to wrongdoing, a four day paid suspension of an employee is not sufficient,” Cohen said in a public statement. “The Harrison County School District needs to make significant changes to its culture.”
Cohen’s statement continued, “We look forward to meeting with Mr. Manchin and developing a real plan to ensure that every student is safe.”
BREAKING: In response to #ACLUWV letter, Harrison County Superintendent says Asst. Principal Livengood has been suspended with pay. Read our full statement below. pic.twitter.com/QalTuxIYgy
Cohen also underscored how the issue of harassment of transgender teens is literally a life or death issue as the American Academy of Pediatrics published a study earlier this year indicating 51 percent of trans male adolescents had attempted suicide.
Darren Criss first burst onto the national stage playing openly gay ‘Blaine Anderson’ on the hit TV series, GLEE.
He followed that with an acclaimed turn on Broadway in the decidedly queer title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
And now, after his star-making performance as ‘Andrew Cunanan’ in the TV mini-series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, he’s not only won a Prime-time Emmy Award but is nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
But Criss has decided to no longer take on gay roles – and for the very best reason.
“There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful,” Criss recently shared in an interview with Bustle. “But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”
Calling the creative experiences of playing these varied queer roles “a real joy,” Criss says he isn’t comfortable taking those roles, which he describes as “unfortunate.”
“The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” the 31-year-old told Bustle. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”
As we’ve reported several times on Instinct, there’s an important, ongoing discussion about straight people playing gay roles, cisgender actors taking on transgender characters
GLAAD noted in its 2018 “Where We Are On TV” report that of 857 series regular characters on the five broadcast networks (ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, The CW) in primetime in the upcoming TV year, only 75 were identified as LGBTQ. And, at 8.8 percent, this is the highest representation of LGBTQ characters the “Where We Are On TV” report has ever seen.
Criss acknowledges the issue of representation in film and television has been on his mind more lately having played ‘Cunanan,’ a Filipino-American. Criss’s mother hails from the Philippines and the bombastic role was the first time he was playing a character with which he shared that commonality.
He’s also aware that Asian-American roles only make up about 1% of leading roles in television and film.
Looking forward, as television series from the past are getting the reboot treatment – like the recent Queer As Folk announcement – Criss is pretty confident he’s not all that interested in returning to the world of GLEE.
When asked if he’d consider revisiting GLEE’s ‘Blaine Anderson,’ Criss is of a ‘never say never’ mindset, but also doesn’t think that would happen anytime soon anyway.
“It’s not because I don’t love GLEE, or didn’t love my time on GLEE, it’s just GLEE was a new thing,” he told Bustle. “The thing that made it special was its freshness. That’s hard to recreate.”
“I like what it celebrated,” adds Criss. “New faces and new voices and I’d want to see that incarnated but with somebody new.”
The Trump administration has quietly begun to discharge HIV+ soldiers from the U.S. military.
Despite the fact that they qualify due to fitness assessments and medical treatment, and strong support from their commanding officers, two airmen were informed shortly before Thanksgiving that they were found “unfit for continued military service.”
They have filed suit against Defense Secretary Jim Mattis after receiving the news they were being discharged.
Both active-duty airmen tested positive for HIV last year during Air Force screenings. After they started antiretroviral treatments, their doctors deemed them asymptomatic and physically fit to deploy, and their commanders backed their continued service. They intended to pursue lengthy Air Force careers after serving for more than half a decade in logistics and maintenance roles.
Last month, however, the two airmen received word that they had been deemed unfit for military service and would be discharged. The stated reason: The U.S. military bans personnel with HIV from deploying to the Middle East, where the majority of Air Force members are expected to go.
“Policies singling out service members living with HIV for starkly different treatment are an unfortunate vestige of a time when HIV was untreatable and invariably fatal,” the airmen argued in the complaint. “These anachronistic policies are no longer justified in light of modern medical science.”
Both airmen maintain they can head to the Middle East with no problem, so long as they take a supply of medication with them. But the ban on HIV positive service members there officially renders them unfit to deploy worldwide, placing them in a category of service members Mattis wants pushed out of the military. They weren’t offered alternative jobs, which both airmen said they would have accepted.
Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit with partner law firm Winston & Strawnon behalf of the two HIV-positive airmen.
Lambda Legal issued a statement today, which read in part:
“It’s disgusting that the Trump Administration is sending some men and women in uniform home for the holidays without jobs simply because of their HIV status,” said Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal.
“These decisions should be based on science, not stigma. Lambda Legal is suing to stop these separations and will not stop fighting until President Trump understands that there’s not a job in the world a person living with HIV cannot safely perform, including the job of soldier.”
