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Ryan Murphy Plans To Give Millions To Help Elect Pro-LGBTQ Politicians

Ryan Murphy (Credit: Getty on behalf of The Trevor Project)

Out producer/director/writer Ryan Murphy announced at The Trevor Project’s annual gala on Sunday night that he is on a mission to vote out of office anti-LGBTQ lawmakers.

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

Janet Mock presented the Hero Award to Ryan Murphy and the cast of POSE.

Murphy accepted the award and shared, “When I was 19, in Indiana, I myself called a suicide hotline. Overwhelmed by the AIDS crisis, by the fact that I was the only ‘out’ person in my friend group, the only ‘out’ person I knew at the time, and alienated from my family, I felt profound despair. I made a call one late night in November. I made a connection, got some hope, and carried on. It’s powerful life saving work this organization does. In my roundabout way, I know this first hand.”

Murphy also told the audience he will launch a multi-million dollar initiative in 2020, “Pose Gives Back,” to target those legislators in Congress who work against the rights of LGBTQ Americans, according to Variety.

“Why don’t we consider ever targeting the people who are causing the problem here?,” the TV guru asked the crowd. “The homophobes, the trans naysayers, and the small restricted and dangerous minds who are causing so many young people to needlessly hate themselves and doubt themselves…”

Noting the results of this year’s midterm elections which saw over 20 anti-LGBTQ politicians defeated in a single night, Murphy says he felt inspired.

“We are going to send a message which says you cannot make discrimination against us a political virtue anymore,” said the 54-year-old producer of Pose and American Horror Story. “You can’t keep killing our vulnerable young people by promoting and nationalizing your rural, close-minded anti-constitutional viewpoints.”

Calling out some lawmakers by name, including Senators Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Congressman Steve King, Murphy said, “I want these hateful and wrong politicians to go, and to stop polluting our moral and ethical ether.”

According to Murphy, “Pose Gives Back” will provide financial support to at least 20 pro-LGBTQ candidates in 2020 in conjunction with corporate sponsors.

He ended his speech announcing a $50,000 donation to The Trevor Project.

You can watch Murphy’s acceptance speech and announcement below from The Trevor Project’s livestream below. Trans activist/writer Janet Mock introduces Murphy at the 124:00 mark.

The gala evening raised over $1.5 million Sunday night for The Trevor Project’s mission to help LGBTQ teens in crisis.

On a lighter note, Pose stars MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter thrilled the gala audience with a reprise of their duet of “Home” from The Wiz. Watch below.

MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter (Credit: Getty on behalf of The Trevor Project)

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Las Vegas Couple Beaten & Stabbed In Violent Hate Crime

A gay couple in Las Vegas, Nevada, were the target of a violent hate crime that sent them both to the hospital.

Charles Clements told local news affiliate FOX5 that when he picked his boyfriend Vincent up from work last Thursday night, they had no idea they were followed home.

As he was unlocking the front door of their home, Clements heard Vincent call his name.

“I was about to unlock the door, the next thing I hear, he’s calling my name,” Clements said. “I come back, I see my boyfriend fighting with the guy.”

As two men attacked Vincent, the assault moved to the front porch of their home where a glass table was knocked over and shattered. It was then that one of the attackers reached for a shard of glass.

“He picked up the glass and I was like, ‘Don’t do that,’” says Clements. “He started stabbing my boyfriend in the back. The guy was kicking him in his ribs.”

According to Clements, the attack drew the attention of neighbors who watched from a distance but did nothing to intervene. “Neighbors, everybody just looking,” he said. “Nobody called the police.”

After the two men got in their car and drove away, Clements realized he was bleeding. At the hospital, they learned that the attackers had punctured Vincent’s lung and broken several ribs.

After calling 911, Vincent told police he recognized one of the men as someone who works with him at Walmart.

“It was all about gay bashing,” Clements told FOX5. “The guy came up to my boyfriend’s job, calling him an abomination, calling him fag.”

“I never been through nothing like this in my life,” he added. “I was so scared.”

Clements is now frightened to continue living in their present home, “I don’t want to be in this apartment no more because I’m afraid they’re going to come back,”

Clements’ uncle is currently helping the couple to find a new place to live.

Police are investigating the incident but no news on any arrests at this time.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help with the couple’s hospital bills and moving expenses.

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Eric Trump Tries To Troll Kellyanne Conway’s Husband – It’s Doesn’t Go Very Well

Eric Trump

George Conway, also known as the husband of White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, is a frequent critic of Donald Trump.

That must make for interesting chit chat at the dinner table in the Conway home.

That said, Eric Trump, in another attempt to prove his less-than-stellar intellect, criticized George on Twitter calling out what he perceives as “disrespecting” Kellyanne’s place of employment.

This little episode began when George Conway responded to a Trump tweet calling out the

The code Conway cites is in regard to laws prohibiting witness tampering. Under 18 USC 1512(b) it is illegal to “cause or induce any person to withhold testimony.”

That seemed to have triggered young Eric:

Folks had a little something to say about that. Not only did Twitter users clap back at Eric, but Conway retweeted the shade.

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Kelly Clarkson Totally Fan-Girls Out Meeting Cher

Cher and Kelly Clarkson at the Kennedy Center Honors

For everyone (including me) who has ever fan-boy/fan-girled out over an artist you really, really, really admire…

Kelly Clarkson found herself on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Honors last night at the same time as honoree, Cher.

While Clarkson was there to sing in honor of country superstar Reba McEntire, Clarkson was adorable in her fan-moment speaking to Extra’s AJ Calloway.

“I’ve never met her,” she tells Calloway.

Calloway, surprised, asks, “Never?”

Clarkson: “No, never. And don’t do anything either – it’ll make me so nervous I’ll want to cry…”

You have to watch. I laugh because I’ve done the exact same thing in my life 🙂

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Gay Dating Apps Weigh In On Grindr CEO’s Marriage Equality Debacle

Last week, the blog INTO, which is owned by Grindr, wrote that Chen had shared an article on his Facebook regarding Cher Wang, the CEO of HTC, who apparently supported anti-LGBTQ organizations in the recent public referendum on same-sex marriage in Taiwan.

Responding to commenters on the post, Chen apparently wrote, in part, “There are people who believe that marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman.”

Many folks took his comment that “marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and a woman” as being anti-marriage equality.

INTO updated its report when Chen later issued a statement saying, in part, “The words I chose related to marriage between a man and a woman were meant to express my personal feelings about my own marriage to my wife – not to suggest that I am opposed to marriage equality.”

He went on to say that he has long considered himself “an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.”

“ I support gay marriage and I am proud that I can work for Grindr,” he added. “I apologize that my words did not clearly convey these feelings.”

Now, other gay dating app companies are chiming in on the subject.

CEO and co-founder of SCRUFF, Eric Silverberg, posted a video message expressing his concern that comments from the leaders of gay-centric businesses can have the power to set LGBTQ progress back in terms of equal rights and representation.

He began his message by stating up front that he is “unequivocally in favor of gay marriage.”

“When leaders in the gay community say these things, they disrespect the decades long work of marriage equality activists and give credibility to far-right politicians who are trying to roll back these rights.”

Silverberg also urged tech leaders to understand and further the moral agenda of the communities they serve.

“Let’s move our swipes and ‘likes’ to online communities led by people who stand behind their beliefs and actions, and who have a moral intuition that reflects our community,” he said in closing.

And dating app Jack’d posted a short video response via Instagram which shows Grindr’s recently announced ‘Kindr’ campaign, but it’s quickly overwhelmed by screen shots of the Chen/Grindr story.

Jack’d ends the message with the words “Love is Love.” Watch below.

A post shared by Jack’d (@jackdapp) on Nov 30, 2018 at 12:22pm PST

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India: Transgender Man Makes History Coming In 2nd In Bodybuilding Competition

Aryan Pasha, an Indian transgender man, made history this weekend when he came in second at the Musclemania bodybuilding competition held in Delhi.
Aryan Pasha (image via Facebook)

Aryan Pasha, an Indian transgender man, made history this weekend when he came in second at the Musclemania bodybuilding competition held in Delhi.

Musclemania is one of the world’s largest natural bodybuilding organizations with several categories (fitness, sports model, physique and natural bodybuilding).

After training for a year, Pasha competed in the Men’s Physique (Short) category.

Pasha, who transitioned at 18-years-old, tells Gaylaxy Mag that he’s had an interest in bodybuilding since a young age. And when he discovered a bodybuilding competition for transgender men held in the United States, he began training for it.

But he was unfortunately denied a visa to travel to the U.S.

Undeterred, he decided to enter the Musclemania event in India in the men’s category.

Buoyed by the full support of his family and members of his gym, Pasha competed this past Saturday in a field of 125 contestants.

“It was my dream to participate in Men’s category,” Pasha told Gaylaxy. “Till now I have won medals in female category but this is what I actually wanted in my life – to complete with other men.”

“I enjoyed every second when I was on stage because this is what I dreamt of,” he added. “I was not nervous at all and just wanted to complete poses like a champion.”

Pasha, who works as a lawyer, says he will next take part in the the International Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (IBFF) event to be held in February.

That competition features categories for “men” and “transmen.” Pasha intends on competing in both categories.

He says his ultimate goal is to compete at the world level.

(h/t GaylaxyMag)

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Tumblr Announces Permanent Ban Of Porn

Tumblr, the micro-blogging platform, has announced it will soon implement a permanent ban on adult content.

Tumblr, the micro-blogging platform, has announced it will soon implement a permanent ban on adult content.

Read that “no more pornography.”

A statement posted to the social media’s blog says, “Starting Dec 17, adult content will not be allowed on Tumblr, regardless how old you are.”

The ban comes after Tumblr was recently removed from Apple’s App Store over concerns about child pornography.

The announcement goes on to list exactly what will be considered adult content: “Photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.”

That said, there are some exceptions like photos of classical statues, breastfeeding or depictions of nudity for the purpose of political protest.

Literary erotica will be allowed.

The blog post says the company is reaching out to Tumblr users whose content might be suspect per new algorithms that will detect the offending material.

After December 17, that content will be set to ‘private’ preventing other folks from seeing it and from be shared.

Tumblr is urging users to export their content before the new policies take place.

“There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content,” said CEO Jeff D’Onofrio in a statement. “We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community.”

This announcement comes not long after another policy change, announced in August, which banned hate speech, revenge porn and posts that appear to be the “glorification of violence.”

Tumblr is owned by a subsidiary of Verizon that also owns Yahoo, AOL, MapQuest, and the Huffington Post.

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Did Donald Trump Just Pull A Fast One On LGBTQ Protections In USMCA?

Leaders of Mexico, United States and Canada sign new USMCA trade deal

Last Friday, while attending the G20 economic summit in Argentina, Donald Trump sat down alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sign the newly-minted United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The trade deal is meant to serve as a replacement for NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).

At the time, anti-LGBTQ House Republicans wailed about a provision that calls on the three countries to support “policies that protect workers against employment discrimination on the basis of sex, including with regard to pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity.”

According to Politico, the LGBTQ provisions were a Canadian priority championed by Trudeau.

That sounds great for the gay community, right? Not so fast.

Forty-five House Republicans signed a letter to Trump urging him to have the language removed.

And now, Canada’s Global News is reporting the clause may be rendered useless in terms of LGBTQ Americans due to a foot note.

The Global News reports, “The final agreement has a change in language that various analyses suggest will water down its reach: The new wording calls on each country to implement policies each ‘considers appropriate to protect workers against employment discrimination on the basis of sex.'”

A footnote in the agreement reads:

The United States’ existing federal agency policies regarding the hiring of federal workers are sufficient to fulfill the obligations set forth in this Article. The Article thus requires no additional action on the part of the United States, including any amendments to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in order for the United States to be in compliance with the obligations set forth in this Article.

See that part? “Existing federal agency policies regarding the hiring of federal workers are sufficient to fulfill the obligations…”

So, no new LGBTQ protections for Americans.

Geoffrey Gertz of the Brookings Institute called the footnote “ridiculous” and “the kind of thing that will make progressives even more suspicious of engaging with trade liberalization.”

It’s not all a done deal, though. Lawmakers in all three countries will have to pass legislation that actually ratifies the agreement in order for it to take effect.

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Daily Dance: Ken Berry For Kinney Shoe Store

Ken Berry(credit: ABC Television/WikiMedia Commons)

Over the weekend I learned that actor Ken Berry, star of such TV series as F Troop (1965-1967), The Andy Griffith Show (1968), and its spin-off, Mayberry, R.F.D. (1968-1971), had died at the age of 85.

He also appeared 19 times on The Carol Burnett Show (1968-1978), creating the character “Vinton Harper” on Mama’s Family (1983-1990), which was a spin-off of the show’s “The Family” sketches.

But what most folks don’t know is he was a highly trained singer and dancer having performed on Broadway (The Billy Barnes Revue) and toured extensively in a national company of the hit musical, George M!

I had several friends who worked with Berry in several musical productions, and everyone said he was a prince of a guy.

Check out Berry’s tap-dancing skills below.

(h/t Kenneth-in-the-212)

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Trump Disses Argentine President “Get Me Out Of Here”

I had seen this clip over the weekend of Donald Trump onstage in a photo opp with Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the G20 summit. Argentina played host for the economic event.

At the time, most thought Trump was just wandering off, as he is want to do.

Turns out, he just wanted to leave. CBS News now has audio of Trump off-stage telling someone to “get me out of here” as the Argentine president was just left standing there.

From McClatchy News:

Buenos Aires hosted the G20 economic summit this past weekend, focusing international attention on Argentina and Macri. It gave Macri, who is running for reelection next year, the chance to rub elbows and pose for photos with leaders of the most powerful countries.

But also high up on people’s mind was someone not even there, the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, the exciting and controversial far-right leader who is expected to shake up geopolitical order in the hemisphere.

Some anxiety about Bolsonaro is seeping into Argentine political and diplomatic circles, which have watched Trump and his administration fawn over the “like-minded” Bolsonaro in ways it once fawned over Macri.

“I think they’re going to be best friends,” said Julio Burdman, a Buenos Aires-based political consultant and pollster. “Now, they’re going to skip Argentina because, for Trump, maybe Bolsonaro is an attractive partner.”