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Rep. John Conyers Jr. Announces Retirement From Congress Amid Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct

Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan

Congressman John Conyers Jr. the longest-serving member of the House, announced today during a radio interview that he is retiring

Facing allegations of sexual misconduct, Conyers, who is also the longest-serving African-American in history, endorsed his son, John Conyers III, to replace him.

From The New York Times:

“I am retiring today,” Mr. Conyers said from a hospital in Michigan. “I am in the process of putting together my retirement plans. I will have more about that very soon.”

He continued to deny that he had harassed any of his former employees and said he did not know where the allegations came from.

“My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we are going through now,” Mr. Conyers said. “This too shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.”

The decision sets up a battle within the Conyers family for his Detroit-area House seat. Ian Conyers, a Michigan state senator and the grandson of Mr. Conyers’s brother, said he also plans to run for the seat held by his 88-year-old great-uncle.

“His doctor advised him that the rigor of another campaign would be too much for him just in terms of his health,” Ian Conyers, 29, said.

Listen to his announcement below.

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Director Bryan Singer Fired From Freddie Mercury Biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Bryan Singer (image via Instagram)

Just days ago, 20th Century Fox suspended production on the upcoming Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody noting director Bryan Singer’s “unexpected unavailability.”

Monday, however, Fox announced Singer is no longer with the project.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details:

“Bryan Singer is no longer the director of Bohemian Rhapsody,” the studio said Monday in a statement.

The decision reflected an escalating clash between Singer and actor Rami Malek and was caused by the helmer being missing from the set, necessitating the Dec. 1 production shutdown of the film in which Malek stars as Freddie Mercury, frontman of the rock group Queen. The pic has been shooting in London.

In announcing the shutdown last week, producers Fox, New Regency and Graham King initially said filming was being suspended because of Singer’s “unexpected unavailability.”

Denying he acted unprofessionally, Singer claimed the studio refused to allow him to tend to “a gravely ill parent” as well as to his own health. “I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen,” he said in a statement, “but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”

According to reports, this isn’t the first time Singer has disappeared during filming. He also went AWOL during the shoots for X-Men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns.

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Austria’s High Court Rules In Favor Of Marriage Equality

After seven years of affording same-sex couples “registered partnerships,” Austria’s Constitutional Court has ruled that by 2019 full marriage equality must be available to same-sex couples.

Via Deutsche Welle:

Same-sex couples in Austria have been able to enter only into “registered partnerships” since 2010, with nearly the same rights of married couples. But the court ruled that “the distinction between marriage and registered partnership … cannot be upheld in this day and age without discriminating against same-sex couples.”

“The resulting discriminatory effect is seen in the fact that through the different title of the family status, people living in same-sex partnerships have to disclose their sexual orientation even in situations in which it is not, and must not be, relevant and … are highly likely to be discriminated against,” the court said in its ruling.

It said that restrictions on same-sex marriage would be lifted at the end of 2018 unless the government did so itself earlier. The ruling will remove the words “two people of different sex” from the law on marriage. It will keep civil partnerships as an option and will open them up to straight couples.

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Alabama: Woman Shares Evidence Of Dating Roy Moore When She Was 17

Roy Moore

Amid the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, Alabama Republican Roy Moore has told the public on more than one occasion ” I do not know any of these women.”

Now, one of the women who dated Moore when she was a teenager has come forward with evidence that he did indeed know her. And she’s pretty mad he called her a liar.

From The Washington Post:

Debbie Wesson Gibson was in her attic hauling out boxes of Christmas decorations last week when she noticed a storage bin she said she had forgotten about. Inside was a scrapbook from her senior year of high school, and taped to a page titled “Those Who Inspire” was a graduation card.

“Happy graduation Debbie,” it read in slanted cursive handwriting. “I wanted to give you this card myself. I know that you’ll be a success in anything you do. Roy.”

Gibson said that after finding the scrapbook, she was not sure whether to make it public given the threats she received after publication of the original story. Then she heard what Moore said last week, s said, and contacted The Post.

“He called me a liar,” said Gibson, who says she not only openly dated Moore when she was 17 but later joined him in passing out fliers during his campaign for circuit court judge in 1982 and exchanged Christmas cards with him over the years. “Roy Moore made an egregious mistake to attack that one thing — my integrity.”

What made her decision to share the documents easier, she said, was watching and re-watching a video she has on her cellphone of Moore speaking last week and deciding that supporting the women who have come forward was more important than staying silent.

“At 34 minutes and 56 seconds into the video, he says, unequivocally, I did not know any of them,” Gibson said. “In that moment, it changed my perspective. I knew he was a liar.”

Even with the evidence Ms. Gibson has brought forth, it won’t make a difference.

Alabama voters have made it clear they have no problem with electing an accused child molester.

And regarding the age difference? The story has now shifted to indicate such age differences were normal for Alabama 30-40 years ago.

Real Clear Politics shows Moore leading by an average of 2.6% in the polls.

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Queer Cinema: “Princess Cyd”

Queer coming-of-age movie Princess Cyd, from writer-director Stephen Cone, is now playing in Los Angeles and will be available On Demand and all digital platforms beginning December 5.

Official synopsis:

16-year-old Cyd (Jessie Pinnick) decides to take a break from her depressive single father and spend a summer in Chicago with her aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence), a well-known novelist. Soon after her arrival, Cyd encounters Katie (Malic White), a young barista behind the counter. The two make plans to meet up after Katie’s shift and a new, charged relationship begins. The Chicago landscape expands, and we navigate intimate and fragile moments between Cyd and Katie as they explore their new attraction. Miranda functions as a counterpart to young Cyd’s new explorations of sexuality and love, and as the summer continues they develop a strong relationship founded on a shared openness and healthy criticism of particular personal moments.

The Los Angeles Times raves:

As comfortable to slip into as an afternoon in the sun, as satisfying as a late-night piece of cake, “Princess Cyd” is a jewel of a film that plumbs thematic depths far below its surface.

“Princess Cyd” is many things: a queer coming-of-age story (Malic White is fantastic as Cyd’s summer fling Katie), a tribute to intergenerational friendship, a redemption tale. But it also captures one deeply significant thing, that moment when family members transform from strangers to loved ones.

Naming Princess Cyd one of the “Ten Best Films of 2017, ” Vanity Fair‘s Richard Lawson wrote, “As kind a movie as there was this year. Cone quietly asserts himself as a major talent. How heartening to see big topics – like faith, like sexuality – discussed in such warm, considerate terms by two such gifted actresses.”

You can check out the trailer below.

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Netflix Announces “House Of Cards” Will Resume Production Without Kevin Spacey

Netflix has announced that production on the 6th and final season of House of Cards will resume in early 2018, according to chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Via Variety:

Production of “House of Cards” season 6 was suspended in October, following sexual assault allegations against star Kevin Spacey.

Season 6 of the political thriller will be eight episodes, starring Robin Wright, Sarandos said. The final season will not include Spacey, as previously announced.

“We were really excited we could get to an agreement… for the conclusion of the show,” said Sarandos, speaking Monday at UBS’s Global Media and Communications Conference in New York.

“House of Cards,” the first major original show for Netflix, is produced by Media Rights Capital (MRC) and is shot in Baltimore. Sarandos said he was gratified to have reached the deal for the team of 370 people who directly work on the show and for “the 2,000 people in Baltimore” who have jobs working on “HOC.”

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Donald Trump Endorses Accused Child Molester Roy Moore In Alabama Senate Race

The chyron says it all…

Donald Trump has wholeheartedly endorsed accused child molester Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race to be held in 8 days.

Via The New York Post:

“Just got off the phone with President Trump who offered his full support and said he needs a fighter to help him in the US Senate. I look forward to fighting alongside the President to #MAGA!” Moore wrote on Twitter, adding that the president exhorted him to “Go get ‘em, Roy!”

The White House also released a statement confirming Trump’s endorsement of the former judge.

“The President had a positive call with Judge Roy Moore during which they discussed the state of the Alabama Senate race and the President endorsed Judge Moore’s campaign,” spokesman Raj Shah said.

Moore’s wife also crowed about the president’s call on Facebook.

“Judge Moore just got off the phone with President Trump — we have his full support! Thank you Mr. President! Let’s MAGA!” Kayla Moore posted.

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Australian Lawmaker Proposes To His Partner During Same-Sex Marriage Debate In Parliament

It was an emotional moment when Tim Wilson, a member of Australia’s House of Representatives, addressed fellow lawmakers about the impending vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

“In my first speech I defined our bond by the ring that sits on both of our left hands, and they are the answer to a question we cannot ask,” Wilson said as his partner of seven years, Ryan Bolger, watched from the public gallery.

“There’s only one thing left to do: Ryan Patrick Bolger, will you marry me?” Wilson continued.

Bolger, a primary school teacher, smiled broadly and immediately answered, “yes.”

And the crowd goes wild.

After the legislation sailed through the Senate last week, the House is expected to vote later this week.

Watch the marriage proposal below.

(source)

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SCOTUS Will Let Stand Texas Ruling Denying Same-Sex Couples Equal Spousal Benefits

This is very bad.

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced it will let stand a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court that said the right to a marriage license did not entitle same-sex couples to spousal benefits under employee insurance plans.

From The Texas Tribune:

The high court on Monday announced it would not take up the case — which centers on Houston’s policy to provide spouses of gay and lesbian employees the same government-subsidized marriage benefits it provides to opposite-sex spouses — just months after the city of Houston filed its appeal, arguing the state court’s June decision “disregarded” precedent.

In that decision, the Texas Supreme Court threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized marriage benefits, and it unanimously ordered a trial court to reconsider the case. The ruling found that there’s still room for state courts to explore “the reach and ramifications” of marriage-related issues that resulted from the legalization of same-sex marriage.

That’s despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015 and noted that now-defunct marriage laws were unequal in how they denied same-sex couples the benefits afforded to opposite-sex couples.

In its decision, the Texas Supreme Court noted that Obergefell requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages just as they do opposite-sex marriages but did not hold that “states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons.”

That does not mean Houston can “constitutionally deny benefits to its employees’ same-sex spouses,” the court added, but the issue must now be resolved “in light of Obergefell.”

Following the Obergefell ruling, public employers in Texas, including state agencies and public universities, quickly extended marriage benefits to spouses of gay and lesbian employees.

“Equal recognition of same-sex marriage requires more than a marriage license; it requires equal access to the constellation of benefits that the state has linked to marriage,” Houston attorneys wrote in their brief to the court.

This is particularly disconcerting as SCOTUS prepares to hear the case of Colorado baker Jack Phillips tomorrow who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.

All eyes will be on that ruling.