Just hours after the deadly Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, two years ago, an Indiana man was arrested and police confiscated weapons, ammunition and bomb-making materials found in his car.
In court this week, James Wesley Howell pleaded no contest to charges of unlawful assault weapon activity, possession of a destructive device on a public road or highway and possession of a destructive device. The 22-year-old was sentenced to 7 years in state prison on Thursday.
Howell was found sitting in his car in Santa Monica in the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, after police responded to a call regarding a man knocking on residents’ windows and doors.
Inside his car, police found three rifles — including an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223 caliber rifle that police described as an assault weapon — and two 30-round magazines.
In addition to the guns, Howell was also driving with a full five-gallon container of gasoline and a 25-pound container of “Shoc-shot,” a commercially sold two-component explosive that detonates when hit by a high-velocity rifle round, Santa Monica police said at the time.
Howell also had a black hood, a Taser, handcuffs, a Buck knife, a security badge and additional ammunition for the guns, court records show.
At the time of his arrest, Howell told police he was planning on attending LA Pride, but the Indianapolis Star later reported he had been charged with sexually molesting a 12-year-old girl in Indiana.
As a result of the Pulse shooting and the dangerous materials found in his possession, security measures were heightened at the Pride festival.
Infamous reality TV celeb Omarosa has released her new ‘tell-all’ about her time in the Trump administration titled, Unhinged – An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.
The former Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump White House provides a jaw-dropping look into the corruption and controversy of the current administration.
Few have been a member of Donald Trump’s inner orbit longer than Omarosa Manigault Newman. Their relationship has spanned fifteen years—through four television shows, a presidential campaign, and a year by his side in the most chaotic, outrageous White House in history. But that relationship has come to a decisive and definitive end, and Omarosa is finally ready to share her side of the story in this explosive, jaw-dropping account.
A stunning tell-all and takedown from a strong, intelligent woman who took every name and number, Unhinged is a must-read for any concerned citizen.
The results of a new medical research study presented at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam shows men who are HIV+ currently undergoing treatment do not pass the virus to negative partners.
According to the PARTNER 2 study, when HIV+ men are on effective HIV treatment bringing their viral load to ‘undetectable,’ not one incidence of transmission was noted even in cases of condomless sex.
While the original PARTNER study focused on sero-discorant couples (one positive, one negative), that study looked primarily at opposite-sex couples, although there were 635 same-sex couples included.
PARTNER 2 involved data from those 635 couples plus another 337 same-sex couples added to the mix. Overall, couples from 14 countries took part in the study.
Looking at over 77,000 condomless sex acts between the partners, not one incident of transmission occurred when the HIV+ partner had a viral load under 200 copies/ml.
This seems to validate a previous study, Opposites Attract, which came to the same conclusion.
When you combine the participants of the two studies, medical experts couldn’t find one case of HIV transmission in examining 126,000 incidents of anal sex without a condom.
Researcher Alison Rodger told aidsmap.com, “We looked so hard for transmissions. And we didn’t find any.”
“This is the moment when science trumps stigma,” said Executive Director of NAM, Matthew Hodson, a leading HIV/AIDS organization in the United Kingdom. “This is the moment when facts must conquer fear.”
“The knowledge that when we are undetectable we can’t pass the virus on to our sexual partners has the power to encourage people to test and to remain adherent to their treatment,” added Hodson. “Just as importantly it can have an impact on the way that people with HIV think about themselves, removing some of the stress and fear that many in our communities experience.”
All of this helps to underscore the message “Undetectable = Untransmittable,” which countless sexual health organizations have been supporting in an effort to reduce the stigma of being HIV positive.
“This should be reassuring to every gay and bisexual man who is HIV-undetectable that you are not a danger to anyone and no person should use your status as a way to reject you,” said Ian Howley, Chief Executive of HERO – Health Equality and Rights Organization.
French President Emmanuel Macron (image via Twitter)
Why is it when a man is good-looking and successful, the gay rumor has to come out?
French President Emmanuel Macron has now had to deny (for the second time) that he’s not gay after his hunky now-former head of security was fired due to a scandal about police violence.
Alexandre Benalla was fired recently after video surfaced of him taking part in a rough beatdown involving protesters earlier this year.
The issue came to a head when French publication Le Monde identified Benalla in video on July 18.
President Macron (L) Alexandre Benalla (R)
Newspapers began to publish unconfirmed reports that Benalla was living in a large, luxury apartment for free, and was receiving a huge $140,000 a year salary.
After firing Benalla, Macron assured members of his own En Marche party that Benalla never had his country’s nuclear codes.
As GayStarNews reports, Macron began a 30 minute address to his colleagues about the firing by saying, “Alexandre Benalla has never had the nuclear codes; Alexandre Benalla never lived in a 300 square-meter apartment in Alma; Alexandre Benalla has never earned 10,000 euros.”
That was followed immediately by a light-hearted, “Alexandre Benalla is not my lover.”
The 40-year-old French president also took responsibility for Benalla’s actions in the video saying, “What happened on May 1 is terrible, serious and, for me, it was a disappointment and a betrayal.”
Maybe the gay rumors began because both men are very attractive and masculine, but it comes across as homophobic.
Last year, Macron was forced to address rumors of an affair with another hottie, Mathieu Gallet, president of Radio France.
Mathieu Gallet (image via Twitter)
Macron has been married to his wife, Brigitte, for 11 years. Their 24 year age difference has proven to be a point of fascination for some. (h/t GayStarNews)
#HILLARYCLINTON CAME TO #“HELLODOLLY TONIGHT!! What a thrill! The crowd stood, clapped and chanted her name until the lights went down😂. It made us all unbelievably happy to see her…
The New York Times: You would think that a sexually polymorphous musical that combines a Renaissance pastoral romance with the songs of the 1980s California rock group the Go-Go’s would at the very least be a hoot, a show that could get sloppy drunk on its own outrageousness. Yet “Head Over Heels,” which opened on Thursday night at the Hudson Theater, feels as timid and awkward as the new kid on the first day of school.
The New York Post: The new musical “Head Over Heels,” which opened Thursday on Broadway, takes the songs of ’80s American girl group the Go-Go’s, plops them in a British story from the 16th century and adds a bunch of modern, self-referential jokes. It’s an idea that’s so crazy, it just might work! It doesn’t. This indulgent show is wackier than it is fun, and elicits more “huh?” than “ha”. Worse, it treats the catchy pop music like a side of spinach.
Entertainment Weekly: Directed by Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), the joyful production dials the camp to 11; this is a show with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, except when it’s in someone else’s mouth.
(photos by Joan Marcus)
Variety: It’s really hard to laugh when somebody’s holding a gun to your head. That’s the way this Go-Go’s feels in “Head Over Heels,” an over-written, over-designed, and generally overdone production directed by Michael Mayer. From the sets and costumes to the performance style, the basic principle seems to be: Less is boring and more is never enough. Thanks, no doubt, to the Oracle of Delphi (played here by the impishly funny Peppermint), it’s a miracle that at least some of the wit in Jeff Whitty’s original book gets through.
Deadline: For better or worse, Broadway’s Head Over Heels is stuck with being known as “the Go-Go’s musical” – better because of the good will floating on stage with all those lighter-than-air hits by Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, et.al., worse because the hard-working new production can’t seem to keep itself from popping those effervescence tune bubbles one by one.
amNY: Um, no. Contrary to the affirmatively cheery chant of its opening number, “Head Over Heels,” a new jukebox musical on Broadway in which the hit songs of the all-female 1980s pop-punk band The Go-Go’s are inserted into a ridiculous Elizabethan-era pastiche, has not “got the beat.” That probably got lost long ago in the development of this oddball property.
Chicago Tribune: A lot of harder-edged Go-Go’s fans who find their way through the door will wonder what on earth all of these silly theater people are doing with their beloved music, not just because it feels so far removed from its original pioneering context but also because the sensibility here so doubles down on fluttery theatricality at the expense of raw, charged, visceral, feminist pop.
Hollywood Reporter: If you have trouble imagining songs like “Vacation” and “Cool Jerk” fitting into a scenario depicting a royal family’s romantic complications, you still will after seeing this relentlessly frothy musical, for which the term “check your brain at the door” could have been invented. The farcical, gender-fluid shenanigans are as campy as things get on Broadway. And that’s saying something.
There was a bit of controversy regarding the NY Times review as critic Ben Brantley was forced to issue a statement to the public and edit his review after there was a huge outcry about his use of flippant language regarding transgender and non-binary people.
In his original text, Brantley referred to the word ‘binary’ as “what’s starting to feel like the decade’s most overused word.”
His statement read: “I feel horrible about having offended transgender and nonbinary communities. I was trying to reflect the light tone of the show, as well as a plot point in which one character learns to acknowledge another not as ‘she’ but as ‘they’ – this was meant to be a reference to the character of the Oracle, not Peppermint, the person who plays the role. This unfortunately read as more flippant than I would ever have intended, especially with regard to a performance that marks a historical first. I am deeply sorry.”
Additionally, The Wall Street Journal caught flack for publishing an article on Monday, “Theater Patrons Not Going Gaga Over Go-Go’s Musical,” bringing attention to weak preview ticket sales.
What do you think, readers? Does Head Over Heels sound like a show you’d like to ‘Go-Go’ see?
• Happy birthday to Spanish InstaHunk, Frandullon86! #woof
• Chelsea Handler will guest star on Will & Grace this fall as a “high-powered lesbian” who begins to date Grace’s sister.
• Former Apprentice star and White House Office of Public Liaison official Omarosa is releasing a tell-all titled “UNHINGED: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.” I’m guessing it will not be flattering for the president or his allies.
• A new Republican bill in Congress would ban any U.S. embassy from flying the rainbow Pride flag – ever.
• Gay men were egged outside a gay bar in Florida.
• The Roseanne spinoff, The Connors, will debut on ABC on October 16.
• Fox News anchor Shep Smith is not having the Trumpster calling journalists “fake news.”
“Over 22 years at this network, it’s been my experience that the journalists of Fox News and Fox Business and those of our colleagues at competitors at CNN and MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS, Bloomberg and PBS, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The Washington Post – all of them operate in the public interests. We work to discern what is truth. Then to present it to you in context and with perspective. As your representatives in the people’s halls, we report to you without fear or favor while striving to hold those in power to the same standards. This is the foundation of what we do.”
Watch one of the few sane voices at Fox News below.
Singer/choreographer Bobby Newberry recently dropped his stylish, sexy new music video, “Lit.”
And, trust and believe, the video lives up to its title.
The club-friendly track teams Newberry with sexy AF Brazilian rapper Aleff for the track and video who drops his raps in Portuguese. You’ll also spot RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranj working it out in the mix.
Fashion designer Jeremy Scott also brings his own brand of sexy/smooth to the video via clothing from his luxury fashion house, Moschino.
”I wrote the song about when you meet someone and have that instant, undeniable attraction and connection,” Newberry recently told OUT. “They give you that rush that’s almost intoxicating, like taking drugs but you’re high on the person. Like butterflies in the stomach, they got you feeling lit.”
Newberry shares that he’s been writing and recording for seven years now and knew when the time came, he would want to be an artist who’s true to himself.
“I made the decision to be open and talk about guys in my songs and be openly gay because I want to always be an authentic artist, be real,” he recently told HuffPost’s Curtis Wong. “And also to inspire up-and-coming artists so they can do whatever they want and be their authentic selves as well.”
Newberry’s also sporting some serious body. Check out below from his Instagram.
It was one year ago today that Donald Trump tweeted his intention to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. armed forces.
Now, the Trump administration seems to be turning his attention to HIV positive service members.
A February 14 Department of Defense memo announced a new “Deploy or Get Out!” policy which goes into effect on October 1.
The new policy orders the Pentagon to discharge those service members who are unable to be deployed outside the U.S. for more than a year. According to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the point was to ensure “readiness” within the U.S. military.
But an existing DOD policy dating back to the height of the AIDS epidemic prohibits HIV+ service members from being deployed overseas. Therefore, the new guidance would appear to make it impossible to serve their country.
HIV+ folks are prohibited from enlisting in the Armed Forces. Soldiers who are already serving but later seroconvert are allowed to stay in the military, but cannot be deployed in combat or overseas.
Two soldiers have filed separate lawsuits – Doe v. Mattis and Harrison v. Mattis – hoping to stop the new policy from going into effect.
Forty-one-year old Sgt. Nick Harrison is afraid his life would be dramatically affected by the new policy.
Sgt. Harrison hopes to make a difference for other members of the Armed Forces. He isn’t being secretive about his identity, either. Harrison was deployed to both Afghanistan and Kuwait, but was diagnosed with HIV shortly after returning home from Kuwait in 2012. “This case is not just about me,” Harrison said. “This is about every person living with HIV knowing that they can perform any job in the world, including serving in the military. Together, we must stop the Pentagon from closing its doors to successful and talented service members. I look forward to the day that I can serve my country to the full extent of my abilities, based on my performance and unfettered by unfounded fears and misperceptions about HIV.”
Harrison also claims that the military’s policy wrongfully blocked him from ascending to Judge Advocate General officer of the D.C. National Guard, reports Bloomberg, because members living with HIV also cannot achieve officer status.
Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, issued this statement regarding the discriminatory policy:
“Soldiers, sailors, fighter pilots and marines are seeing their promising careers cut short, their dreams of service shattered and their health jeopardized due to antiquated notions about HIV and the stigma that results. This must end. If the court doesn’t intervene, the Trump administration will continue to discharge more promising service members living with HIV, denying them the ability to continue serving their country. Every day, people living with HIV are suffering professional setbacks and losing out on career advancement opportunities, and we are asking this court to put an end to these harmful actions.”
According to HIVPlusMag, approximately 1,200 service members could be affected by the policy change.
A senior lesbian married couple in Missouri have been turned away by a senior housing community because of the couple’s sexual orientation.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting on a new law suit filed by Bev Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, who have been denied housing by the Friendship Village senior living community because they are married to each other.
The couple, who have been together for almost four decades and legally married since 2009, had toured the Sunset Hills location several times and even put down a $2,000 deposit.
According to the lawsuit, the couple were denied housing because their same-sex relationship violated Friendship Village’s cohabitation policy that views marriage as “the union of one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible.”
The Post Dispatch received a statement from Friendship Village which read: “We have just been made aware of a lawsuit that we have not yet seen and have not had an opportunity to review. This matter will be discussed with legal counsel and (we) have no further comment at this time.”
Nance and Walsh are being represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU and Washington-based law firm of Relman, Dane & Colfax.
The couple’s legal team says the policy violates the Fair Housing Act in terms of sex discrimination. Since the women are married to females, not men, the decision to deny them occupancy is, in essence, discrimination based on their sex.
“Mary and Bev were denied housing for one reason and one reason only — because they were married to each other rather than to men. This is exactly the type of sex discrimination the Fair Housing Act prohibits,” said Julie Wilensky, an attorney for the NCLR, said in a statement to the press. “Their story demonstrates the kind of exclusion and discrimination still facing same-sex couples of all ages.”
The couple attempted to move into Friendship Village in 2016. After multiple visits and several conversations with the staff they put down a $2,000 deposit in order to get on a waiting list. It was only after that they were informed of the “longstanding” policy on cohabitation.
The Friendship Village website says it is a nonprofit that provides “a fulfilling, worry-free lifestyle” to more than 1,000 seniors in Chesterfield and Sunset Hills. Its mission statement says, “Guided by Biblical values, continually serve the senior community with quality offerings that promote lifelong well-being.”
Walsh and Nance considered other housing but said Friendship Village was the only place in the St. Louis area “that can provide increased levels of care without an increased monthly cost to residents.”
According to the lawsuit, a letter to Walsh dated July 29, 2016, from Michael Heselbarth, a top administrator with the retirement village, said: “ Your request to share a single unit does not fall within the categories permitted by the long-standing policy of Friendship Village Sunset Hills.”
Legal experts are divided on the possibility of winning the lawsuit.
Anders Walker, a constitutional law professor at St. Louis University, told the Post-Dispatch, “My gut instinct is they’re probably out of luck.”
“When a private body doesn’t want to rent a room to you, for them, that’s freedom of association,” he added. “They’re probably entitled to their deposit back.”
But Marcia McCormick, an employment and labor law expert, says Friendship Village’s religious freedom claim “does have to be sincere. The defense of the First Amendment does not excuse discrimination in the Fair Housing Law.”
