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News Round-Up: May 18, 2016

Frankie J. Alvarez, Jonathan Groff and Murray Bartlett of LOOKING

Some news stories you may have missed:

• HBO will premiere the “wrap-up movie” of it’s now-cancelled gay series Looking July 23rd at 10PM.  I was a big fan of the series, so I’ll definitely be watching 🙂

• 72% of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s own constituents don’t want to see him be Trump’s veep pick. With friends like these…

• RuPaul tells ABC News that he doesn’t think RuPaul’s Drag Race could ever go “mainstream.”

•Donald Trump says he would “protect all people” in the same breath he mentions he would rescind President Obama’s historic directives protecting transgender folks from discrimination. But he loves everyone, don’t you know…

• Frequent homophobe Azealia Banks got her butt booted from Twitter for her homophobic/racist rant on former One Direction member Zayn Malik.

• In addition to a win for Hillary Clinton, last night’s Kentucky primary also produced the state’s first openly gay Democratic Senate candidate.

• Ted Olson, who successfully argued for the demise of California’s Prop 8, has been brought on to author an amicus brief in support of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s hateful HB2 law.

• Hillary Clinton calls for the decriminalization of HIV. Just one more reason why #ImWithHer

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Nick Jonas “Checks That Shape” On Sesame Street

Nick Jonas, extolling his love of pentagons and octagons, joined Sesame Street characters Cookie Monster, Bert, and the Count for a reworked version of his song “Chains”, adapted as “Check That Shape.”

Sesame Street has a long tradition of famous singers dropping by the Street with educational versions of their current hit songs.

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Donald Trump Names His Top Picks For SCOTUS

In an unusual move for a presumptive presidential nominee (let alone someone who hasn’t been elected president yet), Donald Trump released a list of 11 judges he says would be his top picks for possible Supreme Court replacements.

In prefacing the list, Trump said he assembled the names “based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.”

From Politico:

The roster is made up of a combination of six George W. Bush appointees to federal appeals courts and five currently serving on their states’ highest courts — not exactly extreme choices from a candidate who has run such an unconventional race.

According to the campaign, the list includes: Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.

Willett in particular caught observers’ attention for his apparent kinship when it comes to Twitter. However, his feed includes some not-so-flattering assessments of the presumptive Republican nominee, including a reference to “Darth Trump” and a haiku dedicated to the prospect of Trump packing the highest court with his picks.

Think Progress has compiled “Your Ultimate Guide” to these folks and how their histories on the bench might indicate what kind of Supreme Court Justice they might be.

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Carol Channing Thanks Winner Of RuPaul’s Drag Race For “Colorful Impersonation”

This past Monday, Bob the Drag Queen was crowned winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8.

Along with the title comes scepter, tiara and $100,000 prize money.

BUT – the true icing on the cake was a personal message from the iconic Carol Channing to Bob for his “colorful” impersonation during the Snatch Game challenge.

I love me some Carol Channing 🙂

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Wayback Wedbesday: Charlie’s Angels On The Captain & Tennille Show

I’ve never seen this, but regular readers know how much I love the camp of 70s TV.

How cool that Farrah, Jaclyn and Kate did this – not really in their wheelhouse, but good on them for being good sports.

And to this day, I can still stop in my tracks if I come across an episode of the original Charlie’s Angels.

(tipped by hubby Michael)

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First Openly Gay Secretary Of The Army Confirmed By U.S. Senate After Long Delay

Eric Fanning

After being delayed for almost 8 months, Eric Fanning has been confirmed as the first openly gay Army Secretary.

Fanning had previously served as undersecretary of the Air Force and acting secretary of the Air Force.

Via NBC News:

Fanning thus becomes the first openly gay leader of any U.S. military service — a milestone not lost on gay rights groups and coming five years after the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which had prohibited gay and lesbian service members from being open about their sexuality.

“Eric Fanning’s historic confirmation today as Secretary of the U.S. Army is a demonstration of the continued progress towards fairness and equality in our nation’s armed forces,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., had held the nomination on hold over a dispute regarding Obama administration efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and possibly transfer detainees to the United States.

Roberts dropped his opposition after receiving assurances that detainees would not be transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

Prior to the vote today, Roberts said, “He will be a tremendous leader as Army secretary and will do great by our soldiers at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley.”

Politicians and advocacy groups alike celebrated the news: