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Oakland A’s Brandon McCarthy blasts “kiss cams”

Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy blasted the practice of often focusing baseball stadiums’ “kiss cams” on two men to spark laughter as silly and homophobic.

When the kiss cam shows two men they often make faces of disgust, while the crowd erupts in laughter. The 28-year-old player recently tweeted, “They put two guys on the ‘Kiss Cam’ tonight. What hilarity!! (by hilarity I mean offensive homophobia). Enough with this stupid trend.”

McCarthy elaborated on his feelings to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“There’s that stupid, little comedic value of it if you don’t really think about what it implies,” he said Tuesday. “It kind of got old on that level. Then I actually started thinking about why we were supposed to be laughing, and it bugged me.”

It’s hypocritical for Major League Baseball teams to film It Gets Better videos and continue with anti-gay baiting via the kiss cam, McCarthy says.

“If there are gay people who are coming to a game and seeing something like that, you can’t assume they’re comfortable with it,” he said. “If you’re even making a small group of people … feel like outcasts, then you’re going against what makes your model successful.”
(source)

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Betsey Johnson stores to close

Popular New York fashion designer Betsey Johnson’s chain went bankrupt Thursday, and most of her 63 freestanding boutiques will close.  From the NY Daily News:

The filing will likely result in the dismissal of 350 employees and the closure of most of the brand’s 63 stores. It listed “severe liquidity problems” and $4.1 million in outstanding unsecured obligations owed to vendors, manufacturers, service providers and other creditors including jewelers, watchmakers, banks and accountants. Steve Madden, who has owned the 34-year-old brand’s intellectual property rights since 2010, said in an email that the group will continue to support the company and ensure existing orders will be produced and ship on time.

Her clothing will continue to be sold Saks and other high-end stores.

Betsey Johnson graduated from Syracuse University and spoke at my graduation.  I’ve always kept tabs on her success over the years having met her and having the S.U. connection.

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On the book tour road with Olivia

One thing that amazes me are the autograph hounds who stalk every stop we make while Olivia is promoting her new cookbook “LivWise.”

Every single place Olivia goes, the autograph seekers seem to know and are waiting with several pieces of memorabilia for Olivia to sign. When she asks their name for the autograph, they never want her to write a name – clearly so they can sell the signed items.

And the same guys are at every stop. Some follow on bicycles, some run alongside the car and ask at stop lights.

Kind of amazing…

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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I met Zach Wahls today

 
Today,  I met Zach Wahls in the lobby of CNN where he was doing promotional appearances for his new book My Two Moms.
As regular readers of The Randy Report know, on January 31, 2011, Zach Wahls addressed the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in a public forum regarding civil unions. The nineteen-year-old son of a same-sex couple, Wahls proudly proclaimed, “The sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character.” 

Hours later, his speech was posted on YouTube, where it went viral, quickly receiving more than two million views. By the end of the week, everyone knew his name and wanted to hear more from the boy with two moms.

I recently was talking about how celebrity sightings don’t usually affect me much, but I have to say seeing Zach at 20 feet I dropped my bag and approached him directly.  I introduced myself and explained what I do and how much I admire him.  He could not have been more gracious as this stranger babbled to him.  He was exactly what you would expect from  his public appearances, as were his two moms.

My Two Moms also delivers a reassuring message to same-sex couples, their kids, and anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider: “You are not alone.”  Make sure you check out his new book.

 
I was visiting CNN with Olivia Newton-John who is also on a book tour promoting her new healthy cookbook LivWise – Easy Recipes for a Healthy Happy Life for which all proceeds go to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
Olivia is a long-time ally of the LGBT community and has made her own public statement supporting marriage equality: “With respect to marriage equality, I believe that no-one has the right to judge and deny couples who love each other the ability to make a marriage commitment. Love is love.”
My very cool honor to get to introduce these two LGBT allies to each other.
Olivia Newton-John and the Wahls family
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Mitt Romney on the Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts of America’s habit of discriminating against gay members and troop leaders is again in the spotlight thanks to the allegedly patriotic group’s decision to ban lesbian Jen Tyrrell from heading her son’s group.

Hoping to keep the issue center stage, and put the squeeze on strategically anti-gay Republican Mitt Romney, GLAAD is pointing to video of the presidential candidate backing gay Scouts inclusion in 1994, when he was running for senator against Ted Kennedy.

Says Romney in the clip, “I believe that the Boy Scouts of America does a wonderful service for this country. I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

(source)