In observing Pride Month, Ellen DeGeneres shared a video montage of her favorite inspiring LGBTQ+ Pride moments on her show.
The three-minute video includes Ellen’s announcement of her wedding, Laverne Cox’s appearance on TIME Magazine and Sam Smith saying he wants to be a spokesman for the LGBTQ community.
Also in the highlight reel are transgender military veterans sharing their stories as Donald Trump proposed banning their service as well as touching coming-out stories.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to rule on the case of Washington state florist Barronelle Stutzman who refused to create flower arrangements for a same-sex wedding in 2013.
Although SCOTUS didn’t take the case, the justices instead vacated the 2017 ruling against Stutzman by the Washington state Supreme Court and ordered the state’s top court to take another look at the case and consider the SCOTUS ruling earlier this month regarding Colorado baker Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop.
In that case, SCOTUS didn’t decide the central dispute which is: do anti-discrimination laws in 22 states bar “creative artist” business owners from legally discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation or do “deeply held religious beliefs” trump the rights of LGBTs?
Instead, 7 Supreme Court justices found that the Colorado state commission on civil rights appeared to show hostility towards religion in reaching its decision against the baker. In doing so, SCOTUS reversed the fine ordered on Phillips.
Today, SCOTUS told the Washington state Supreme Court to revisit the Stutzman case to see if similar anti-religious bias existed in coming to its decision regarding the florist.
In 2013, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed were planning to marry after Washington state legalized same-sex marriage the year before. But when they approached Stutzman for flowers for their event, Stutzman refused citing her Christian beliefs. Washington state’s public accommodation laws ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Stutzman was fined $1,000 and ordered to sell floral arrangements for same-sex weddings if she were to continue selling arrangements for heterosexual weddings.
Although she’s cried about financial burdens due to the ongoing court case, its important to remember that over $174,000 was raised via crowd funding for Stutzman.
GoFundMe eventually shut down the campaign based on the company’s policy that campaigns can’t be used to raise funds for legal cases where formal charges have been filed.
Stutzman was allowed to keep the $174,000.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement in response to today’s decision saying their work for LGBT equality will continue:
“The Supreme Court today asked the Washington courts to re-examine our clients’ case in light of the recent decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop,” said James Esseks, director of ACLU’s LGBT and HIV Project. “To be clear, the court made no indication the lower courts ruled incorrectly and made no decision on the case’s merits. We are confident that the Washington State Supreme Court will rule once again in favor of the same-sex couple, and reaffirm its decision that no business has a right to discriminate. Our work to ensure LGBT equality is the law and the norm in all 50 states will continue.”
It’s hard to believe that after all my years living in New York City, I somehow never saw Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, the longest running Off-Broadway comedy in history.
The “environmental/immersive theatre” piece puts audience members in the middle of a traditional Italian-American wedding and reception.
Fortunately, the play has just opened in Las Vegas at Ballys Las Vegas performing at real-life Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo Fridays through Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
I definitely recommend checking out the new production – the interactive theater experience is absolutely hilarious.
Audience members are treated as guests at the wedding by the interactive, improvisational comedy cast which includes over-the-top stereotypes like the hunky/built new husband, the self-absorbed bride, the totally-not-gay gay brother of the bride, a drunk ex-boyfriend, a pregnant matron of honor and more.
With its original director Larry Pellegrini at the helm and an ensemble cast featuring Breon Jenay as Tina and Joseph Ben Shimon as Tony, the production incorporates today’s popular culture into the show’s repertoire.
In addition to the comedy, the cast’s terrific actor/singers serenade you with current and classic pop hits.
And yes, you are at a wedding reception, so included in the ticket price is full on Italian dinner with Caesar Salad, Chicken Parmesan, Bake Ziti, Wedding Cake and Drinks. And if you buy the VIP package ($129), in addition to dinner, you also get a two-hour open bar and a post-show meet and greet. Whoo-hoo!
On her Fox News show last night, Jeanine Pirro railed about “unhinged leftists” who are “normalizing outrageous behavior” regarding the story of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being asked to leave a restaurant due to the owner’s deeply held moral convictions.
“Political debate at the very heart of the founding of this country has devolved into political harassment and outright political abuse. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, one of the most of prestigious jobs in Washington, D.C., out to dinner, places her order and is then told to leave by the owner because she works for the president of the United States. Sarah quietly leaves.
“The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen this week was literally screamed and heckled out of a restaurant while eating her dinner. Trump supporters are being harassed all across this country by a hysterical left unwilling to accept the decision and the will of the American people who put Donald Trump in office. These unhinged leftists are normalizing outrageous behavior which is only getting worse.”
Of course, what’s hysterical is Pirro is one of the most fervent supporters of the king of ‘normalizing outrageous behavior,’ Donald Trump.
Pirro being offended by a restaurant owner quietly asking Sanders to leave when the Trumpster has spent years saying every kind of offensive thing he can think of about his political opponents is truly laughable.
I thought Republicans had decided that businesses are allowed to discriminate and don’t have to serve people they don’t want to serve. Or is that just for gay couples who want wedding cakes baked for them?
Watch the opening rant below.
“What’s happening in this country today is beyond anything we’ve ever seen in American politics. Political debate, at the very heart of the founding of this country, has devolved into outright political abuse.”
On the occasion of Pride in NYC this week, Steve Hayes’ popular web series Tired Old Queen at the Movies deconstructs the film adaptation of the Broadway play, The Boys in the Band.
From Hayes: “Mart Crowley’s iconic play about the lives of several gay men in the 1970’s comes alive in William Friedkin’s THE BOYS IN THE BAND (1970). Featuring the brilliant original Broadway cast, its alternately hysterical, funny, sensitive, touching, at times lacerating and ultimately unforgettable.”
With all the attention being paid to the current all-star, all-gay Broadway revival of the play, its interesting to see the actors from the original production bring their roles to life on film.
• The Czech government has agreed to support same-sex marriage with the draft of a first of its kind bill in the former communist bloc country. While the Czech Republic has allowed domestic partnerships since 2006, Germany is the only formerly communist country to legalize same-sex marriage.
• Conservative family groups in Canada are hoping to force Canadian schools to be required to alert parents when their children join LGBTQ groups on school campuses. LGBTQ advocates say that would amount to outing students.
• New York state gubernatorial candidate and actress Cynthia Nixon shared that her oldest child is transgender in a celebratory graduation post on social media.
• The Hungarian National Opera in Budapest was forced to cancel 15 performances of the musical Billy Elliot following a story on a conservative site that accused the musical of turning boys gay.
• Watch LGBTQ seniors read letters to their younger selves.
“I’m very pleased to tell you that you are happy, married to a wonderful man, have two dogs, a cat, and a mortgage.”
“It will come full circle. The word ‘queer’ will be an empowering, pride-filled word.”
Check out the three minute from vlogger Davey Wavey below:
In ‘Fathers’ AIDS activist Vito Russo becomes president instead of dying of AIDS
In his latest project, filmmaker Leo Herrera posits, “If AIDS never happened, who would we be?”
The new web series Fathers imagines in fictional documentary-style an LGBTQ utopia called ‘Stonewall Nation,’ a collection of queer communes in a parallel universe where the AIDS crisis never happened.
The official website for the series describes the sci-fi “documentary” as “Cruising meets Black Mirror meets Beyonce’s Lemonade.”
In the alternate timeline, communities called ‘Stonewall, Oregon’ and ‘Stonewall, Nevada’ exist peacefully as LGBTQ folks openly thrive.
The Fathers Project imagines AIDS never existed.
Everyone shown here represents someone we lost.
Instead of the LGBTQ community being decimated by disease and seeing the nascent gay rights movement stymied by rising anti-LGBTQ animus in the 1980s, Herrera envisions gays running for president, unconstrained by discrimination and disease, living openly across the country.
The 1980s were a golden age for the gay population.
It was a decade defined by our dominance of the arts, victories in politics
and groundbreaking developments in healthcare.
Relying on LGBTQ historians for accuracy, the characters/people featured in Fathers are actual gay leaders of the past as well as survivors, friends, and family members.
The pilot episode (below) is just the beginning as Herrera plans future installments to explore “the election and presidency of gay president Vito Russo (the real AIDS activist who was killed by the disease in 1990), and will be a direct reflection on the political climate today. They will also deal with the plight of gay seniors and the sexuality of modern queer culture.”
The name ‘Stonewall Nation’ comes from an actual group of queer separatists who hoped to establish their own city in Alpine, California, in 1970. Without proper resources, the plan was never implemented.
You can help fund the project here, and check out the first episode below:
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia Friday night when the owner apparently decided he didn’t want to serve her party out of “moral conviction.”
The news was shared in a Facebook post by the waiter from The Red Hen who shared, “I just served Sarah huckabee sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner asked her to leave and she complied. Her family left on their own accord, we didn’t actually refuse service or ‘kick her out.'”
Sanders tweeted the news herself on Saturday morning, writing, “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left.”
“Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so,” Sanders added.
After the waiter’s social media post went viral, hundreds of competing Yelp and Facebook reviews began being posted from both Democrats and Republicans. The reviews ranged from low one stars to top five stars.
According to Newsweek, most reviewers thanked the restaurant for taking a moral stand.
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
.@PressSec got kicked out of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va tonight. Apparently the owner didn’t want to serve her and her party out of moral conviction. pic.twitter.com/jr3bfiY3XY
Ok, so how about this…We'll support people who are complicit with this morally bankrupt Administration not being denied service, if you support a gay couple who want to get married not being denied service. Deal? https://t.co/I1QondM89d— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) June 23, 2018
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has fought gay marriage, gays in the miiltary and she agreed with her dad when he called gays "subhuman." She should get used to being denied entry at nice places, like restaurants, democracies and heaven#SarahSanders— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) June 23, 2018
If people think it's OK to deny service to homosexuals because they believe it goes against the word of God, then there's nothing wrong with denying service to Sarah Sanders who bears false witness as @PressSec@WhiteHouse every day.— TheOUTFront (@TheOUTFront) June 23, 2018
