Category: Uncategorized

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Taiwan Parliament Approves Same-Sex Marriage

Taiwan celebrates marriage equality

In a groundbreaking vote, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on May 17th.

The decision comes two years after Taiwan passed the constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry reports BBC. The ruling comes just a week before the deadline to make a decision on May 24th.

Thousands gathered in Taipei anxiously awaiting the ruling.

Last November, 72% of the country voted against same-sex marriage in a referendum, but this did not interfere with the court’s decision for the vote.

Parliament voted between several bills that define same-sex marriage in different ways.

One bill proposed a “same-sex familial relationship,” with partners being called “same-sex family members.” The other bill aimed to call same-sex marriage a “same-sex union” with partners referred to as “domestic partners.”

The bill will officially recognize same-sex unions as marriages, just as they do with heterosexual couples, and define partners as spouses.

The bill will also allow same-sex couples to adopt each other’s biological children, but will not give the right to adopt non-biological children.

Same-sex marriages will begin being performed on May 24th. Over 200 couples have reportedly already registered to be married on that day.

Congratulations to Taiwan and all their LGBTQ+ citizens! May other Asian countries follow suit very soon!

(Source: Instinct)

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Gus Kenworthy Gives You Cut Abs & Bountiful Booty, So Donate To His AIDS/LifeCycle Campaign Already

Gus Kenworthy (via Instagram)

Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy is taking part in the AIDS/LifeCycle event, which takes place next month as rider bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles, 545 miles, to raise funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS.

I think Gus has a pretty good idea about what’s going to get his fans going, like these two pics taken in a biking singlet for his Instagram.

Whether you like his handsome face and striking abs, or his bountiful backside, enjoy the pics.

Then, click here and consider donating something – anything – to help.

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Trailer: The Gang Is Back Together For “BH90210”

The cast of BH90210

First teaser for the upcoming quasi-reboot of the hit 90s series, Beverly Hills 90210.

I write ‘quasi’ because there’s a twist to this revival. From the official synopsis:

Priestley, Garth, Ziering, Carteris, Green and Spelling will play heightened versions of themselves in a brand-new serialized drama – with a healthy dose of irreverence – that is inspired by their real lives and relationships.

Having gone their separate ways since the original series ended 19 years ago, Jason, Jennie, Ian, Gabrielle, Brian and Tori reunite when one of them suggests it’s time to get a “Beverly Hills, 90210” reboot up and running. But getting it going may make for an even more delicious soap than the reboot itself.

What will happen when first loves, old romances, friends and frenemies come back together, as this iconic cast – whom the whole world watched grow up together – attempts to continue from where they left off?

The gang is back together (sans recently deceased Luke Perry) and find the old TV theme song creeping back into their mornings.

The show returns to FOX on Wednesday, August 7.

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Report: Brazilian Crooks Received $62 Million In Funds Earmarked For Struggling US Farmers

The New York Daily News is reporting the Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million — taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers — to a massive meatpacking company owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.

The Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million — taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers — to a massive meatpacking company owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.

The Department of Agriculture cut a contract in January to purchase $22.3 million worth of pork from plants operated by JBS USA, a Colorado-based subsidiary of Brazil’s JBS SA, which ranks as the largest meatpacker in the world.

The bailout raised eyebrows from industry insiders at the time, as it was sourced from a $12 billion program meant for American farmers harmed by President Trump’s escalating trade war with China and other countries.

But previously undisclosed purchase reports obtained by the Daily News this week reveal the administration has since issued at least two more bailouts to JBS, even as Trump’s own Justice Department began investigating the meatpacker, whose owners are Joesley and Wesley Batista — two wealthy brothers who have confessed to bribing hundreds of top officials in Brazil.

Both brothers have spent time in jail over the sweeping corruption scandal.

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News Round-Up: May 15, 2019

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Guoyang510 (above) is looking forward to summer, just like I am. Who’s with us???

• Rep. Daniel Lipinski (Ill.), the only House Democrat not to co-sponsor the Equality Act, has announced he will now vote for the legislation. The House is expected to vote on the bill this Friday. Maybe that threat of a primary challenge moved the needle?

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and beleaguered Attorney General William Barr bump into each other at an event. Barr jokes about handcuffs, Pelosi goes one better…

• A reader wrote in to Slate’s sex advice column, How To Do It, asking how to handle an office situation when folks realize their new coworker (currently married to a woman) used to do gay porn? I’m not sure what the problem is, but I was curious about the columnist’s response.

• US News ranked the 50 states according to several metrics including health care, education, economy, roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it affords its residents. Click to see where your state lands on the list.

• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of Senate GOP leadership, said Wednesday that the chamber is unlikely to vote on any election security legislation, despite requests from a federal agency for more funding to improve election systems nationwide.

• Long-running animated series Family Guy hysterically went after Fox News host Sean Hannity. “High sodium Superman” was maybe my favorite description… LOL

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Out Music: Sons Of An Illustrious Father “Don’t Cha”

Sons of an Illustrious Father

Out actor Ezra Miller and his band, Sons of an Illustrious Father, were recently out at a sexy, queer party in Nashville while on tour. As the story goes, heterosexual folks started dropping by the shindig as it was the coolest thing in town that night.

Miller’s band mate, Lilah Larson, says the straight folks “were sort of uncomfortably ogling the frolicking queers — including us — in a way that belied their envy and lust.”

But when the Pussycat Dolls’ hit, “Don’t Cha,” came up in the music cue, the band realized they needed to cover the track, from their own perspective, as a way to “encapsulate this common experience.”

Wearing black leotards, dancing to a slowed, time-warped version of the song, the music video is an animal all unto its own.

At first, I didn’t know what to think.

I still don’t – but I watched.

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Eurovision Song Contest Audience Cheers Gay ‘Kiss Cam’ Lip Lock

Eurovision Song Contest audience roared for same-sex smooch (screen capture)

No matter where it happens, I get all excited when a ‘kiss cam’ zeroes in on a more-than-willing gay couple.

And such was the case during the first night of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest currently taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Trans singer and 1998 Eurovision Song Contest champ, Dana International, was performing an upbeat, bouncy version of Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are.”

Throughout the song, the audience was treated to shots of couples going in for the smooch.

But it was a gay couple’s lip-lock that got the biggest and best reaction from the crowd.

Click the Twitter video below and enjoy.

If you’re quick, you can see another gay couple in smooch-mode at the very beginning of the segment.

The Eurovision Song Contest has long celebrated a message of acceptance.

Dana, who won the international competition 21 years ago for Israel, told the crowd, “Love has no religion, love has no race, love has no limits, love is love. We all deserve to be loved.”

The show’s host, Assi Azar, shared before Dana’s performance that her groundbreaking win back in 1998 and her ‘unbelievable life story’ helped him to come out. He credited the singer with helping “millions of people around the world” to feel comfortable with who they are.

However, a TV host from Belarus, Yavhen Perlin, wasn’t so enchanted by the kissy-goodness.

On the air, broadcasting back to his country, Perlin initially got excited about the kiss-cam. But when he saw the first couple was gay, he told his viewers, “Oh, my goodness – maybe we’d better not watch.”

Perlin felt more at ease with the next couple, who were heterosexual (“Ok, so far so good!”), but expressed more dismay when the camera found the following male couple (“Oh, come on!”).

According to the BBC, several journalists took to social media to denounce Perlin’s comments.

“I feel so embarrassed,” wrote Radio Liberty’s Ales Piletski on Facebook. “The good thing is these boorish jokes are not heard in other countries.”

And speaking of other countries, many on social media were thrilled that the same-sex kiss was broadcast live, which meant many countries that aren’t so LGBT-friendly – like Russia – got a healthy view of man-on-man make-out session.

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Adam Lambert Drops Groovy Goodness “New Eyes”

Adam Lambert drops the lead single, “New Eyes,” from his upcoming album Velvet, and it’s a groovilicious affair.
Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert drops the lead single, “New Eyes,” from his upcoming album Velvet, and it’s a groovilicious affair.

The mid-tempo track has a definite pop/funk vibe with a dash of soul that feels like a throwback to glam-rock of the 1970s.

The music video mirrors that with funky retro style and a bit of psychedelic alchemy as Lambert hands out late-night party favors to strangers.

It’s all very much a departure from the EDM/synth-pop of Lambert’s 2015 album, The Original High.

“I wanted my first single to reflect my current state of mind and to bring listeners into a romantic, earthy vibe,” said the singer. “‘New Eyes’ is a love letter to innocence and to finding new passions.”

According to press materials, the new video (directed by Miles and AJ) is the first installment of a multi-part short film that leads up to the album release.

In the four years since The Original High release, the 37-year-old has been touring extensively as the frontman for iconic rock band, Queen, as well as making a cameo appearance in the Freddy Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Lambert is scheduled to perform “New Eyes” on the season finale of his old stomping grounds, American Idol, this coming Sunday. He’s also snagged a prime summer appearance on the Good Morning America concert series on June 28.

Check out the new single from Lambert below.

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Public Debate Of LGBTQ Legislation Can Lead To Rise In Homophobic Bullying

A new study shows that public debate over LGBTQ laws can lead to an increase in homophobic bullying.

A new study shows that public debate over LGBTQ laws can lead to an increase in homophobic bullying.

Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University and Columbia University collaborated on the study published in the medical journal Pediatrics on Monday.

The researchers crunched data that included survey results from almost five million middle and high school students in the state of California from 2001 to 2015.

Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage via state constitutional amendment, was approved by Golden State voters 52% – 47% in November 2008. It was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

The scientists looking at the survey results found that as the debate around Prop 8 began to heat up in 2008, incidents of homophobic bullying among young people began to spike.

During the 2008/2009 school year, homophobic bullying increased 10.8 percent. In the same time period, bullying related to ethnicity, race, religion or gender declined.

Stephen Russell, senior author of the study, told local NBC News affiliate KXAN, “We think that young people don’t hear what adults and lawmakers are talking about, but they do.”

Russell, who has studied the health of LGBTQ young people for nearly 20 years, points out that incidents of homophobic bullying actually exceeded the estimated number of students believed to be LGBTQ at the time.

“The data are telling us that straight kids are getting bullied for this, too,” said Russell. “It’s all about what the bullies perceive.”

The rate of anti-gay bullying began to decline in California after debate on Prop 8 subsided, and has continued to decrease every year since that time.

The study found that rates of homophobic bullying were lower at schools where there was a Gay/Straight Alliances on campus.

The data indicated that anti-gay bullying was below 10 percent at schools with a GSA versus nearly 13 percent on campuses without a GSA.

(image via Depositphotos)

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Alabama Legislature Passes Total Abortion Ban

In case you were wondering why conservatives/Republicans continue to support Donald Trump.

Because he’s appointing judges that will uphold laws like Alabama’s new near-total-ban on abortion.

From The New York Times:

The Alabama Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, setting up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to end a pregnancy.

The legislation bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison. It includes an exception for cases when the mother’s life is at serious risk, but not for cases of rape or incest — a subject of fierce debate among lawmakers in recent days.

The House approved the measure — the most far-reaching effort in the nation this year to curb abortion rights — last month. It now moves to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican. Although the governor has not publicly committed to signing the legislation, many Republican lawmakers expect her support.

Democrats tried to add amendments to the bill like providing women forced to have children with prenatal and medical care until the child reached the age of 13. But, apparently, Alabama Republicans only care about life before the child is born.

The law will be struck down by a lower court. That ruling will be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where Trump’s two justices will side against women’s rights, and overturn Roe v. Wade.

Republicans are getting what they want from Trump.

And, by the way, everyone has said, “Roe v Wade is settled law – it won’t be overturned.”

Now look.

So, for all those who say marriage equality can’t be reversed, I suggest you look around.