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2017 Tony Award Nominations Announced

The 2017 Tony Award nominations are out, and it’s a wonderfully diverse set of honorees.

I personally hate when one show is THE juggernaut and wins everything.

As expected, lots of noms for creative darling, “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” That show, which moved from off-Broadway due to an exalted run got the most nominations totaling 12.

The gorgeous new revival of American musical classic “Hello, Dolly!,” scored 10 noms, and angst-ridden fave “Dear Evan Hansen” scored nine.

The Dallas Theater Center will be recognized as this year’s Regional Theater Tony Award winner.

And my dear friend Baayork Lee with be honored with the Isabelle Stevenson Award for her work educating young theater artists around the world.

The awards air on CBS on June 11 at 8PM ET.

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Nevada Legislature Takes Steps To Remove State Constitutional Ban On Marriage Equality

The Nevada legislature is taking steps to remove the state’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality just in case the U.S. Supreme Court might reverse it’s 2015 Obergefell ruling.

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

The Nevada Senate on Monday approved a proposed constitutional amendment recognizing same-sex marriage, a preemptive move to protect gay marriage should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its previous ruling.

Assembly Joint Resolution 2 passed 19-2 after it was amended to include an exemption stipulating religious organizations and clergy could not be forced to solemnize gay marriages.

Republican Sens. Joe Hardy of Boulder City and Don Gustavson of Sparks voted no.

It now goes back to the Assembly to concur with the Senate’s amendment. It was approved earlier in the Assembly 27-14, with Republican Lisa Krasner of Reno in support. The resolution would have to be approved by the Legislature again in 2019 before it is sent to voters for ratification in 2020.

Introduced by Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, AJR2 also would repeal a constitutional provision passed by voters in 2002 that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June 2015. But there are concerns about the future legality of gay marriage in the U.S. under Republican President Donald Trump and potential vacancies on the high court under his administration.

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Could Sean Hannity Be The Next High Profile Fox News Host To Leave?

Sean Hannity

Could Sean Hannity be the next to exit Fox News?

In the aftermath of the resignation of Fox News co-president Bill Shine officially on Monday, the media is getting hints Hannity could get out.

From The Daily Beast:

Shine was Hannity’s long-time ally whom he personally recommended the network hire two decades ago to produce Hannity & Colmes. In recent days, Hannity warned it would be the “total end” of Fox News should Shine leave, and he rallied conservative activists to back him up.

Initially, insiders said, Hannity’s army of lawyers had hoped to discuss with Fox ways of protecting his 8-year-old primetime show, amid fears that Lachlan and James Murdoch—fresh off the ousting of Bill O’Reilly—were looking to push the network away from hard-right politics.

However, with Shine’s departure on Monday, one source told The Daily Beast, there’s no reason for Hannity to stay.

“The network now belongs to the Murdoch sons,” another Fox insider said after learning that Shine was gone.

One insider speculates that the negotiations could end this week and Hannity might be out by Friday. Another said his final show could even be tonight or Tuesday evening, given Shine’s Monday resignation.

Fox News, however, said in a statement speaking on behalf of Hannity and the network: “This is completely untrue.”

There are rumors that Hannity has a “key man clause” in his Fox News contract that allows him to leave the conservative network at any time.

Should he leave, Hannity would be following several high profile hosts at Fox News including Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly.

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Congressional Democrats To Re-Introduce The Equality Act Tomorrow

Via press release:

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 2 at 11AM ET, members of the U.S. Congress will gather in the Capitol’s Rayburn Room with advocacy leaders and LGBT Americans who have suffered discrimination to announce the re-introduction of historic legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT individuals in federal law.

The Equality Act would outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas of law where discrimination is already prohibited for other protected classes.

In most states, this discrimination – including being fired, refused an apartment or mortgage, or refused service at a restaurant based on LGBT status – is not explicitly outlawed. The Equality Act would make clear that LGBT Americans are fully protected from discrimination under federal law.

WHO:
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley
Rep. David Cicilline
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer
Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Cory Booker
Chad Griffin, President, Human Rights Campaign
Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Emily Martin, General Counsel and Vice President, National Women’s Law Center

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News Round-Up: May 1, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• A bit of Man-Crush Monday (above) with Rodiney Santiago (photo credit: Jeffrey Beasley).

• Very interesting dialogue between two long-term HIV survivors who have polar opposite views on longterm survivorship, Mark King and Sean McKenna. I really recommend reading it.

• Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga say they may have a clue as to what might make a gay man a bottom. According the scientists, tell-tale signs include having an older brother and being left-handed. Additionally, the preference could be linked to the amount of prenatal testosterone they received in utero. Interesting stuff! Read more here.

• Virulently anti-LGBT Brian Brown, of the ironically named National Organization for Marriage, says he’s found kindred spirits in Russia as he travels the world campaigning against marriage equality.

• Neo-nazi adviser to President Trump, Sebastian Gorka, will be leaving the White House in the aftermath of his “PhD” being exposed as fake. The professor who discovered Gorka’s fake doctorate has said the degree “is as real as one issued by Trump University.”

• Kelly Ripa announced today that her new talk show co-host will be…. Ryan Seacrest!

• Check out this terrific Star-Spangled Banner moment – Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the Ducks and Oilers in Edmonton, and the performer’s mic has a technical prob. So, he gets the whole place, Canadians and all, to sing our National Anthem. #Awesome

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Trump Gets Defensive Dodging Questions Regarding Calling Obama A “Sick Man”

President Trump gets very defensive when asked if he stands by his allegation that President Obama “wiretapped” his phones.

Watch below as CBS’ John Dickerson asks Trump if he stands by his statement that Obama is a “sick” and “bad” man, which he tweeted in early March.

Answer – “I don’t stand by anything.”

Trump kept telling Dickerson to “figure it out yourself.”  And when Dickerson says, “I want to hear it from you – you don’t want it to be ‘fake news.'”

Trump replied, “You don’t have to ask me because I have my own opinion; you have your own opinion.”

Frustrated with actual questions, Trump finally dismisses Dickerson with a wave of his hand.

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Matt Baume “Debriefs” Trump’s First 100 Days For LGBTs

As President Trump attempts to spin his empty list of “accomplishments” during his first 100 days in the White House,  Matt Baume offered this list of actions Trump has moved on since taking office including:

• rescinding LGBT protections under federal contractors
• rescinded transgender protections for students
• ended data collection by the federal government on LGBTs so they could even know who, what and how many there are
• appointed a SCOTUS justice who seems set to rule against any LGBT rights
• and his cabinet is decidedly anti-LGBT

Quite a list from the guy who said he would be “better for the gays” than Hillary Clinton.

Watch below.

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Trump Ponders Andrew Jackson: “He Was Really Angry That He Saw What Was Happening With Regard To The Civil War”

During an interview on SiriusXM’s “Main Street Meets the Beltway,” President Trump gave the impression that he believed Andrew Jackson was alive during the U.S. Civil War.

In the segment set to air today, Trump hypothesizes that Jackson could have ended the Civil War.

If, you know, he hadn’t been dead already. Jackson died in 1845, and the Civil War began in 1861.

Jackson came up in the interview as Trumps says “they” (whoever these “they” people are) compare Trump’s campaign to Jackson’s. He then went on to ponder the Civil War.

“I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, “There’s no reason for this.”People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not been worked out?”