Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown (L) and fiancé Ian Jordan (R) (image via Instagram)
One of the Queer Eye guys popped the question last night and will soon be heading down what is certain to be a very styling aisle.
At a surprise birthday party in Los Angeles at sbe’s HYDE Sunset, Queer Eye’s culture expert Karamo Brown proposed to his partner of eight years, director Ian Jordan.
(image via Instagram/Karamo Brown)
Dropping to one knee, Brown put a ring on it – a gorgeous David Yurman ring no less – with these words:
“You are the funniest man I know, the kindest man, my biggest cheerleader. All of these things I accomplish, is only because when I get home, I know that I have you. You made me feel like I could do anything and I just want you to know that I hope we can conquer the world together for the rest of our lives, Ian Lamont Jordan, will you marry me?”
Surrounding the happy couple were family members, Karamo‘s two sons, their closest friends, and his Queer Eye co-stars Tan France, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski.
Back in April, I reported on a violent anti-LGBT attack on a gay couple that occurred in Miami Beach shortly after the city’s Pride Parade.
The couple, Dmitry Logunov and Rene Chalarca, were violently beaten by four men.
In addition, Helmut Muller Estrada, a good samaritan who jumped in trying to stop the attack, was also severely injured requiring a hospital visit.
The couple said they were targeted because of their sexual orientation.
Which brings me to today’s news as The Miami Herald is reporting the four attackers have been charged with aggravated battery committed with prejudice. That means the police now officially view the attack as a hate crime.
If convicted each of the men – Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, 21, Luis Alonso-Piovet, 20, Juan C. Lopez, 21, and Adonis Diaz, 21 – could face up to 30 years in prison.
The attackers turned themselves in shortly after social media folks spread video and surveillance photos far and wide.
• This was a looooong day. LA stuntman Trevor Lapaglia (above) shows how to finish a tough day like a boss.
• Out actor Mario Cantone explains why he’s not in the current Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band. (Tip of the hat to kenneth-in-the-212)
• With almost 15,000 transgender service members in our military, Rolling Stone did a deep dive into what it’s like to be trans and serve while our Cheeto-In-Chief attacks them on a regular basis.
• A teacher in Texas who was twice voted teacher of the year and received “exemplary reviews” found herself on “administrative leave” because she was accused of promoting a ‘homosexual agenda.’ Now she’s suing.
• TV’s wonder producer Ryan Murphy is donating all of his profits from his upcoming FX series Pose to LGBTQ charities.
I am donating 100 percent of my profits from my new FX show POSE towards trans and LGBTQ charitable organizations. These groups do amazing work and need our support. Every day for the next 14 days I will highlight a group I’m supporting, and encourage you to do the same!
In a matter of 24 hours former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman lost his office after reports that he had physically assaulted four women he’d been romantically involved with.
Schneiderman initially tried to play-off the accusations saying the behavior was “role-playing and other consensual sexual activity.”
Well, the kink community is NOT claiming him as one of their own.
The story brought new attention to the world of kink that’s often known as BDSM — standing for variations of bondage, dominance, submission and masochism. The practice — though still a taboo topic in some respects — has made incursions into the cultural mainstream in recent years, in part because of the popularity of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels and films.
However, some of Schneiderman’s critics noted that “Fifty Shades” hero Christian Grey meticulously negotiates a contract with Anastasia Steele before she agrees to submit to his demands.
A Seattle dominatrix named Mistress Matisse called any non-negotiated encounter “ABUSE. End of story.” Others expressed hope that it would increase public understanding of BDSM and help highlight the distinction between its traditions and non-consensual violence.
It is unconscionable. Kink and abuse are very different things. He is not a welcome part of our community. https://t.co/QP7Um34jm7
Disgraced ex AG Schneiderman will try to couch his abuse as sex play. Don’t buy it. As a former pro BDSM practicioner, I can say that NONE of the reported incidents bear any resemblence to safe, consensual BDSM play. He’d have been banned from any kink community for his behavior.
In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this place.
“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors.
“When I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together…
“When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage…
“At a certain point I’ve just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
His endorsement came less than a week after Vice President Joe Biden embraced the issue during an appearance on Meet The Press.
And I feel that made a world of difference.
Please note – the sky has not fallen. Just saying…
Sexy actor/model Nyle DiMarco recently played a woofy cowboy in the music video for “Tequila” by country artists Dan + Shay, and the video has now been nominated for “Best Video of the Year” and “Best Duo Video of the Year” by the CMT Music Awards.
The music video has racked up over 16 million views on YouTube alone since it’s release.
The former DWTS and ANTM champ took to Twitter today to celebrate the news of the nominations, writing, “THIS IS HUGE!!!!! SO HONORED TO BE A PART OF THIS!”
Last night was the first big night of mid-term election action as Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia held their primaries.
Republicans were highly tense over the possibility that coal baron, Don Blankenship, might prevail in the West Virginia race for the GOP nod.
Blankenship, who had gone to prison for his part in the accidental deaths of 29 coal miners, was surging in the polls in the final days before last night’s voting.
Along the way, Blankenship trolled Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he would not support McConnell if elected and referred to the Majority Leader as “‘Cocaine’ Mitch.”
To the Republicans’ relief, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey prevailed.
But McConnell couldn’t resist trolling Blankenship with a rather sassy image of himself seemingly covered in a white powdery substance with the caption, “Thanks for playing, Don.”
The image appears to be a doctored promotional image from the Netflix drug lord series “Narcos.” The campaign’s meme superimposed McConnell’s face onto the figure of Pablo Escobar covered in white powder. The Hill‘s Will Sommer found the relevant promo.
The campaign’s meme was apparently a reference to “Cocaine Mitch,” the nickname Blankenship tossed at McConnell in a bizarre attack ad released in the final days of the campaign. The Blankenship spot also took swipes at the “China people” behind the senator, a reference to McConnell’s wife’s family.
Donald Trump was asked by a reporter today at the White House if he felt he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to North and South Korea – even though nothing’s happened yet.
Trump’s response? “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it.”
“I want victory for the world because that’s what we’re talking about. So that’s the only prize I want,” he added.
Trump has famously harbored competitive feelings towards former President Barack Obama.
In 2009, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Watch the Trumpster humble-brag below.
Does Pres. Trump deserve the Nobel Prize? “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it,” Pres. Trump says.
With LGBTQ youth still facing inordinately high rates of bullying, anxiety and depression today, no one is a more relentless protector than a mom.
So just in time for Mother’s Day, the Human Rights Campaign has announced a new “Moms for Equality” campaign featuring mothers of famous LGBTQs urging their fellow parents and allies to join the fight for equality.
Kelly Rippon, Sally Field, Betty DeGeneres, Jodie Patterson and more share tributes and truth in the new campaign, chronicling their journeys to becoming fierce advocates of LGBTQ people.
“Everyone, LGBTQ or otherwise, should get to live as freely as Adam does –– and, as one of HRC’s Moms for Equality, I’m committed to making that happen,” says Kelly Rippon, mother of out Olympic bronze medalist (and “America’s sweetheart”) Adam Rippon.
“This whole campaign has become such a family affair. All of us are in this fight for LGBTQ equality for Adam, of course, but also for all those young people like him who haven’t had an easy time openly being themselves,” added Rippon. “They need allies to support them, now more than ever!”
(image via HRC)
“At 20, Sam came out proudly as a gay man: to us and to a world where some still hate you just for being different. Ten years later and that hate seems to have only gotten stronger,” says Oscar winner Sally Field writes in a touching tribute for the “Moms for Equality” campaign. “But with you, we can help stop hate in its tracks.”
“It’s on us to change the world for these kids and make it a better place. Just like my Ellen did 21 years ago and continues to do to this day,” says Betty DeGeneres, mother of Ellen DeGeneres. “I’m a proud Mom for Equality and a longtime member of HRC.”
Jodie Patterson, recently named one of “The 20 Most Influential Moms of 2018” by Family Circle magazine, shares, “As a mom, I’ve always wanted to fix things. But, as I soon realized, there wasn’t anything about Penelope that needed fixing. He, like every transgender child, was simply announcing to me and to the world how he truly saw himself.
“He was boldly claiming his identity,” said Patterson. “I joined the fight for transgender equality that very day and I’m here, seven years later, to keep that fight going as one of HRC’s Moms for Equality!”
The new interim memorial for the victims and survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting was unveiled yesterday in Orlando, Florida.
The tribute features panels and murals honoring not only the 49 victims of the deadly shooting which took place on June 12, 2016, but the families, first responders and community members who came together in the aftermath of the tragedy.
According to Pulse nightclub owner and foundation founder Barbara Poma, every aspect of the design came directly from those affected by the shooting.
“Everything you will experience here is intentional,” Poma told the press. “It has purpose.”
Photos, commemorative art and images of LGBTQ pride left behind by visitors for almost two years, are now on display on the wall that surrounds the former nightclub. Visitors can leave messages on a digital board in front of the main mural.
Additionally, the iconic Pulse fountain, which had been badly damaged during the shooting, has been rebuilt.
After a dedication ceremony, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, told the Orlando Sentinel the temporary memorial would give survivors of the shooting, as well as the Orlando community, a more appropriate setting to reflect.
“As a gay, Latino man who lives here in Orlando there’s no way that this tragedy couldn’t have been deeply deeply personal for me,” Smith said. “We can’t forget what happened here on the darkest day of our city’s history. It’s also part of our world and human history.”
This tribute will remain until the permanent memorial and museum designs are selected.
