• Bonus National Puppy Day pic – Gus Kenworthy’s South Korean pup, Beemo, has her own Instagram page and already has 70K followers. Deservedly so, I should add.
A post shared by Robbie Rogers (@robbierogers) on Mar 22, 2018 at 8:04pm PDT
• The anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel has pulled its support for the anti-LGBT bill The First Amendment Defense Act because it’s not anti-gay enough.
• Craigslist has shut down its personal ad section after the U.S. Senate passed Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). Some say shuttering these ads is dangerous for the sex workers it purportedly protects as sex workers advertising online are not soliciting work on the streets, where they are more likely to encounter dangerous situations.
• Comedian Jim Carrey has been sharing his artwork of late relating to the Trump regime, if you will.
The latest shows Donald Trump in flagrante delicto as allegations of sexual relationships with porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal dominate the headlines.
While there’s no Canadian version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, CBC Arts has produced Canada’s a Drag, a new series of short documentaries that sent out filmmakers from communities across Canada to profile a group of drag performers — both kings and queens.
The series began a few weeks ago with Toronto’s Allysin Chaynes followed by Edmonton’s Lourdes the Merry Virgin, Winnipeg with Prairie Sky, Montreal with both Tranie Tronic and Guizo La Nuit, Vancouver with Berlin Stiller, Halifax with Elle Noir and then back to Toronto with Gay Jesus and Sofonda Cox.
I recently got a chance to chat with Vancouver’s Berlin Stiller (who’s episode airs tonight) about the exposure, the power of drag and how its impacted the acclaimed drag queen’s life.
The Randy Report: In that RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought so much attention (and acclaim) to the drag community, do you feel the show has helped the drag community in Canada as well?
Berlin Stiller: RuPaul has definitely had its influence in helping the drag scene at least here in Vancouver.
When I first left home and joined our fabulous gay village, we had really just a handful of queens I can remember.
As the show carried on and its popularity grew, we’ve seen a drag baby boom. Every year you can count on a new crop of barely legal gurls stomping into the clubs, serving it bigger and better than before. We have so much talent in our city and I feel as though Drag Race has played a big part in allowing others to feel confident and comfortable expressing themselves through the art of drag.
TRR: Why do you think there hasn’t been a Canadian version of Drag Race yet?
BS: That’s honestly hard to say. I don’t think there has been much of a platform (on an international level) for drag queens in Canada. I know there are many queens eagerly waiting in hopes of a Canadian spin off. However, I think Canada has a mark to make in Drag culture and when it does, maybe Ru will notice us over here.
TRR: You represent Vancouver in the new CBC series Canada’s A Drag. How was the experience shooting your episode? Have you seen your episode yet?
BS: The experience was honestly nerve wracking. The interview for me was the hardest. I speak about my personal struggles with my family not accepting me as well as my own personal acceptance. My journey into the drag community and my personal struggles with Alcohol and drugs.
I haven’t seen the episode yet but I’m looking forward to seeing it on Friday when it’s released. I’m nervous for my story to be out there in the open for the world. I was pretty open with what I had to say in my interview and fingers crossed, it’s received well.
TRR: Drag brings together so many facets of performing: acting, movement, comedy, fashion and makeup design. What would you like audiences to know about the art of drag?
BS: Drag has so much power, it’s art. It can give you a powerful platform to express what you are feeling, light up people lives, share artistry and to explore your own self.
I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t had the opportunity discover myself and grow into the person I am today. Drag has done that for me and can do so or does for so many other people.
It’s not just about looks and beauty – Drag is an overall expression. For me acting, movement, comedy etc, are all smaller facets that help and compliment the deeper meaning of drag and complete the final art piece.
Berlin’s final piece of advice? “Just get through high school and everything will be so much easier. And don’t shave your eye brows off.”
You are not ready for this. Stop, drop and scroll down to watch this.
Broadway/recording diva Shoshana Bean teams up with choreographer divine Travis Wall to brings visual life to her acoustic cover of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s “This is Me” from the Hugh Jackman film, The Greatest Showman.
Wall conceived, directed, produced, and choreographed the music video wherein Bean talks Wall through the fears and doubts that life dumps on us.
Wall, like Bean, is a Broadway veteran having made his Broadway debut in the 2000 revival of The Music Man before becoming a major force in the dance world as a fierce competitor on the second season of Fox’s reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance in 2006.
Bean, of course, starred on Broadway in Wicked as the wicked witch “Elphaba” and brought down the house in Hairspray. She’s since moved on to conquer the music charts with her own R&B/pop albums, touring the country to sold out audiences. I’ve previously written about Shoshana extensively – find more posts about the diva here.
It was only recently that I learned Bean recorded the original demo of “This is Me,” which won the 2018 Golden Globe for Best Original Song. But, with her still strong Broadway roots, it comes as no surprise.
Bonus point for the recording – Proceeds from downloads and streams of the new cover benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
While I enjoyed the song in the context of the film, the powerful point on view here is both Wall and Bean bring their impressive powers to bear on a collaboration where, in my opinion, the song finds its new universal destiny.
Talking about the recording, Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein wrote, “My daughter, Shoshana Bean, takes this song and makes it her own, which means… she makes it OURS.”
The Human Rights Campaign has endorsed Assemblyman Nelson Araujo (D-Las Vegas) for Nevada Secretary of State. This endorsement is the organization’s first ever for a secretary of state race.
If elected, Araujo would become the first LGBTQ person elected to statewide office.
“Millions of Americans–including LGBTQ people of color and transgender Americans–are more vulnerable to discrimination at the ballot box than ever before,” said HRC Nevada State Manager Briana Escamilla. “Nevadans can trust they have a proven champion of fairness and justice in Nelson Araujo and HRC is proud to endorse his candidacy for Secretary of State. We look forward to Assemblyman Araujo making history in November as the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in the Silver State.”
“The Human Rights Campaign has been an incredible force in the fight for equality in America. As a member of the LGBTQ community who has been working diligently to advance pro-LGBTQ policies in Nevada, this endorsement is personal. As Secretary of State, I will do all I can to ensure that we develop a more diverse, inclusive Nevada that works for everyone,” said Araujo.
Araujo has been a member of the Nevada State Assembly for two terms, serving as Assistant Majority Floor Leader in the most recent legislative session. Throughout his time in the State Legislature, he has consistently led the fight on LGBTQ equality, and was instrumental in last year’s push for a statewide ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors. He was also political co-chair of the HRC Las Vegas steering committee from 2011 to 2014. If elected, Araujo would be the first Latinx Secretary of State in Nevada and the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Nevada.
He will be facing incumbent Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who is seeking a second term. During her time as a state legislator prior to becoming Secretary of State, Cegavske opposed marriage equality and was the lead sponsor of a bill that would have allowed discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing and public accommodations.
Folks love a local success story.
Araujo is a native Nevadan born and raised in Las Vegas. He received both his bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In the 2017 session, all seven of the priority bills Nelson authored were passed by a Democratic legislature with bipartisan support and signed into law by a Republican governor.
So this is a guy who works well with others to get things done.
Ahead of Stormy Daniels’ upcoming interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS’ 60 Minutes this Sunday, her attorney Michael Avenatti trolled Team Trump with a photo of a CD-R in a safe with the caption, “If ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ how many words is this worth?????#60minutes #pleasedenyit #basta”
Through many TV appearances, Avenatti has ducked and weaved on questions of Daniels having physical evidence of her alleged affair with Donald Trump in 2006.
However, he has stated over and over again that folks who watch the interview will find Daniels version of events “compelling.”
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump’s national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation, will resign and be replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United States ambassador to the United Nations, White House officials said Thursday.
General McMaster will retire from the military, the officials said. He has been discussing his departure with President Trump for several weeks, they said, but decided to speed up his departure, in part because questions about his status were casting a shadow over his conversations with foreign officials.
The officials also said that Mr. Trump wanted to fill out his national security team before his meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. He replaced Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson with the C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, last week.
Voters in 2016 that went for Trump voted for him, in part, because of Trump’s hard line opposition to the Iraq War. And now, he brings in the ultra-hawkish John Bolton who still thinks the Iraq War was a good idea.
This marks Trump’s 3rd national security adviser in only 14 months in office.
Btw – the stock market crashed 724 points over Trump’s proposed $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.
But, there’s NO CHAOS in the White House. Got that?
Just some of the reactions from the Twitterverse:
When NYT reported recently Trump was going to change his legal team, he denied it on Twitter. When we reported last week he was changing his national security adviser, Sarah Sanders denied. He did both about a week later after the denials.
Will Trump announce Kelly’s departure around the time #StormyDaniels is on #60Minutes this Sunday? I wouldn’t put it past him. Today’s replacement of McMaster with Bolton paves the path. Remember that Kelly resisted bringing Bolton into the administration.
The betrayal has occurred. Iraq War hawk John Bolton is joining the Trump Administration as national security adviser after Trump got elected asserting how dumb the Iraq War was over and over https://t.co/BkCuQcNh3r
"can i join u in the bomb shelter HR" "sure rex" "how about me HR" "sure reince" "cool can i com…" "fuk u jared" pic.twitter.com/6HOzk7mnEb— darth™ (@darth) March 22, 2018
• First, it was Superman star Henry Cavill going all clean-shaven. Now, one of my favorite InstaHunks, Alex Abramov, (above) is teasing his followers writing, “Trim your scruff!” #KeepTheFur
• LGBT series EastSiderswas nominated for 6 Daytime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Daytime Digital Drama Series, Outstanding Writing & Directing for creator and star Kit Williamson and Outstanding Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series for Van Hansis.
• CNN president Jeff Zucker went THERE calling out competitor Fox News as “state-run TV.” He added, “It is a pure propaganda machine, and I think does incredible disservice to this country.”
• Two separate research teams believe they’re found links between genetics and being transgender.
• Emmy Award-winner Lena Waithe covers the latest Vanity Fair in style – her own style. Hit the link because if you don’t know her yet, you will love the uber-talented out writer actress after.
At the recent Black Women in Hollywood Awards, she told the crowd, “Being born gay, black and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.” Now, how you not gonna love that?
A new ad campaign from Pink Parcel looks to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation, and included in the spots is transgender male model, Kenny Jones.
Titled the ‘I’M ON’ campaign, the ads will encourage women to talk about their periods and hopefully remove negative perceptions about periods.
Jones, who was identified as a girl at birth and named Kelsey, shares how he coped with his periods when transitioning having come out as trans at the age of 14.
Before beginning hormone blockers at the age of 17, the London-based model continued to have periods every month.
“During my transition I did have to deal with experiencing periods each month and many of the negative stereotypes that can come along with it,” Jones said. “Assuming periods are inhibiting to people tends to perpetuate period shame even more, and makes people even more reluctant to talk about them.
“I always found the fact that no one seemed to openly talk about periods quite difficult and made me want to hide mine even more. That’s why I wanted to be involved in the I’M ON campaign.
“We need to encourage everyone to talk about periods, whether they experience them directly or not. Sparking conversation is the first step to normalising periods within society.”
A recent survey of 2,000 British adults showed 34% of Brits see periods as a taboo subject, and a 25% feel embarrassment during their period.
Surprisingly, 50% say they have never spoken to their partner about periods.
Rex Tillerson took time today to give his colleagues at the state department a proper farewell as his tenure as Secretary of State comes to an end.
But as he ended his speech to state department employees, Tillerson offered a none-too-veiled swipe at President Trump before heading out the door.
Addressing the value of integrity and respect for others, Tillerson closed with this:
“This can be a very mean-spirited town,” he said, pausing to a round of applause, “but you don’t have to choose to participate in that. Each of us get to choose the person we want to be, and the way we want to be treated, and the way we will treat others.”
He also encouraged State Department employees to protect their personal integrity, which he called “the most valuable asset you possess.”
You’ll recall that Tillerson’s relationship with Trump had been troubled for some time. Last summer Tillerson reportedly called the Trumpster “a f*cking moron.”
And when it came time to fire Tillerson, Trump did the deed via Tweet. Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly made a point of telling the press that he officially informed Tillerson while on the toilet.
Tillerson now heads into what may be his retirement and great wealth. Last summer, there were reports that Tillerson was worth in the neighborhood of $300 million.
You can watch the full speech below as well as the end of his comments.
I give Rex Tillerson 8/10 points for his shade. The delivery was weak, but the read still landed. pic.twitter.com/2vipogK3h5
