LGBTQ news and entertainment
What if you “gotta dance” but really can’t?
Maybe you make a really complex stop-time video that twists time and space enough that you can get down with the best?
This was some kinda process. Wow.
Watch below.
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| Donald Trump |
Earlier today, Donald Trump declared via Twitter that he has “the absolute right to PARDON” himself.
The Trumpster goes on to wonder, “But why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”
It’s hard to get beyond the idea that Trump is evening TALKING about his ability to pardon himself…
If you’re innocent, why would you even bring up pardoning yourself???
Just, odd.
As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018
Under this thinking, why didn’t Bill Clinton “absolutely pardon” himself?
Or, why didn’t Richard Nixon just pardon himself and remain president?
Thankfully, I’m not the only one who thinks this was weird:
The Supreme Court has interpreted the acceptance of a pardon as an admission of guilt.So Trump’s pardon of Trump would be Trump’s confession. https://t.co/ZQ9IRNSCGX
— Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) June 4, 2018
The real end game begins: Trump asserts the “absolute” right to pardon himself only because he knows what he did, and he knows he’s going to be indicted for it. New strategy is: “Ok, yea I did it, but you can’t get me because I’m president.” The ultimate test of the rule of law.— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) June 4, 2018
WHY DOES trump KEEP SAYING “ I HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT 2 PARDON MYSELF”,UNLESS
HE KNOWS HES GUILTY‼️
WHY WOULD AN INNOCENT MAN KEEP SAYING WHAT HE HAS”THE POWER 2 DO”, UNLESS HE ANTICIPATES WHAT HE’LL B FORCED 2 DO⁉️psWHAT ABOUT”IM LOOKING 4WARD 2 TESTIFY B4 MUELLER”⁉️— Cher (@cher) June 4, 2018
Asked why Trump thinks he has an absolute right to pardon himself, Sarah Sanders says, “Thankfully the president hasn’t done anything wrong and wouldn’t have any need for a pardon.” Pressed, she repeats that line nearly word for word.— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 4, 2018
Sarah Sanders on Trump’s claim that he has an absolute right to pardon himself:“Thankfully, the president hasn’t done anything wrong and wouldn’t have any need for a pardon.” pic.twitter.com/GO9kRjkJ4m
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) June 4, 2018
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| Lieutenant James Tracy (click image to enlarge) |
For Pride Month, NBC Out is putting the spotlight on 30 individuals who are bringing positive awareness to and for our LGBTQ community not only through their actions but living by example.
The series is called #Pride30.
So, meet Lt. James Tracy of the Englewood Cliffs Police Department in New Jersey.
Yes, let’s stop and take in the photo and all. It’s pretty fab.
Now, aside from the biceps and chest on display (when you got a Porsche, you don’t keep it in the garage), Officer Tracy has been instrumental in bringing LGBTQ inclusivity to police departments all across Bergen County in the Garden State.
From NBC Out:
Tracy, 40, helped to initiate the Bergen County Police Academy’s very first LGBTQ bias training program in 2016. Now, the New Jersey native is working to expand this program throughout the whole state.
Last June, during LGBTQ Pride Month, Tracy started an initiative where every officer in his department wore “rainbow pride bracelets.” The program was intended to show the town’s LGBTQ community that their police officers are dedicated to inclusion and are supportive of everyone’s rights. The program also initiated a dialogue between officers and numerous residents who asked questions about the bracelets and how they could get one for themselves.
In addition to LGBTQ equality, Tracy has also been dedicated to engaging with youth and training the next generation of law enforcement officers. Tracy is the co-founder and leader of the Junior Police Academy, which is held annually in Englewood Cliffs. It’s a weeklong summer program that trains young people who may want to pursue a career in law enforcement. The program is now in its 14th year.
In true Pride Month fashion, the 40-year-old police veteran shares that he was ‘in the closet’ for the first 10 years of his career as a police officer.
Acknowledging he worked with great professionals in the police department, he was still wary of telling his co-workers the truth about his sexual orientation for fear that they would not accept him.
Eventually, the weight of his personal truth became too much to carry and he slowly began to share with his co-workers.
“The relief that I experienced after coming out can’t be described with words; it was just this enormous weight off my shoulders,” says Tracy. “After experiencing that, I wanted to help other gay officers who may be dealing with the same struggles. Ten years of hiding who I am was much too long; life is too short to hide anything about yourself.”
Because of his personal experience, Tracy helped to initiate the Bergen County Police Academy’s very first LGBTQ bias training program in 2016. And now the native New Jerseyan is moving to share that program throughout New Jersey.
Tracy says he finds “do’s” and “don’t” in bias training shuts down interaction due to fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.
“If you train people from a diversity and inclusion perspective, you don’t need to spend a lot of time on ‘don’t do this’ and ‘don’t do that.’ The LGBTQ population is the only demographic that crosses into every race, ethnicity and religion. Essentially, we are a minority within a minority, and if agencies are not providing bias training on LGBTQ issues, they are missing a huge minority segment.”
NBC Out closes it’s profile of the handsome officer by asking what pride means to him. His answer is spot on.
“Pride to me is about being proud of yourself, accepting yourself, and everything about yourself — regardless of what other people think.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Make sure you follow NBC Out’s series #Pride30 which includes Tracy, Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez, trans Virginia lawmaker Danica Roem, Hollywood producer Greg Berlanti, and a whole bunch of way impressive/inspiring LGBT folks you should know.
One more thing: I’m gonna say normally I resize photos for The Randy Report so the images fit my blog.
In this case, however, I couldn’t bring myself to deprive you of the full-size awesomeness that is Lt. James Tracy.
So click the image to enlarge the pic above.
#HappyPride2018
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| (image via Instagram) |
Some news stories you might have missed:
• Loving this new InstaHunk account find – Muscle_Woof (above). #WoofWoof
• A local veteran in a small Maine town has a big problem with a rainbow flag flying during Pride Month calling the show of LGBT support a “travesty.”
• Researchers in Australia have found a direct correlation between low cognitive ability and folks who hate gays.
• Promising news from the National Institutes of Health – a new experimental HIV vaccine has been shown to neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world.
• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked a top aide to purchase a “used mattress” from the Trump International Hotel for him…?
• UK trio Clean Bandit dropped their new self-directed music video for their single “Solo” featuring Demi Lovato released earlier this month which garnered over 20 million streams during its first week.
The song is a paean to “self-love” (solo, get it?) and even better, the story resolves with a rainbow-furred dog. What’s not to like? Hit the play button below 🙂
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| The cast of “Roseanne” (image via ABC) |
According to several sources, ABC is considering a revamp of it’s now cancelled reboot of Roseanne.
In the aftermath of cancelling the sitcom after Roseanne’s racists tweets last week about Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, the network is said to be looking at reshuffling the show to shift the focus to the character of “Darlene” played by out actress Sara Gilbert.
Gilbert, who has been acting as an executive producer for the reboot, has apparently been reaching out to the show’s cast members about interest in continuing with a revamped show.
TMZ reports that John Goodman is “very interested.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC is scheduling a confab later this week to explore other options for the show.
One caveat: Any new format would “have to be without Roseanne Barr, and the actress and former head writer of the sitcom would not be able to financially benefit from any new incarnation of the series.”
In that Roseanne was a creator of the original show, I’m not sure how you could utilize the same characters without compensating Roseanne.
What do you think, readers? Would you watch “Darlene?”
While today’s ruling from the U.S.Supreme Court was disheartening to say the least, the good news is that the opinion as written by Justice Anthony Kennedy reaffirms our “dignity and worth” in an open marketplace.
While the court sided in a narrow ruling that Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission handled their decision against baker Jack Phillips in a sloppy manner, it did not set precedent for “legal discrimination” against LGBTs.
Plus, there was a lot of support out there on the interwebs for our community.
Take a look:
I’m gay and agree with the #SCOTUS ruling. Masterpiece Cakeshop shouldn’t be forced to hide their disdain for LGBT monogamy. They should be subject to whatever scrutiny their *opinion* of it warrants. I want to know who disagrees with my lifestyle so I don’t give them my business— Richard Armande Mills (RAM) (@RAMRANTS) June 4, 2018
Jack Phillips insists he will serve gay people, just now weddings. Who wants to place some orders for Pride flag cupcakes? Ya know, just to see.— Jeremy Hooper (@goodasyou) June 4, 2018
While #MasterpieceCakeShop is a ruling on *procedure*, not the legality of discrimination, I need the Supreme Court to remember something for future cases:People CHOOSE to be religious.
People are BORN gay.Try to keep up…#SCOTUS
— D. Russo (@DRusso97) June 4, 2018
Anyone who claims to love or respect LGBTQ human beings, and votes Republicans in upcoming elections—might as well also bring rocks for their stonings. #SupremeCourt #SCOTUS #MasterpieceCakeshop #PrideMonth #VoteCommonGood pic.twitter.com/H5FB0ZQA2X— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) June 4, 2018
Remember everyone, if you have a “sincerely held religious belief” against someone wearing a MAGA hat, you no longer have to provide service to them.Anyone who has a problem with that should be against the Supreme Court’s ruling today. It works both ways.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) June 4, 2018
The Supreme Court has made a gross mistake in issuing the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision by, once again, hiding clear discrimination behind a veil of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” As a country, we have to be #OpenToAll, or else we lose any hope of realizing justice.#SCOTUS— Louis Lainé🇭🇹 (@MrLouisLaine) June 4, 2018
THREAD: Today, #SCOTUS ruled for the baker in #MasterpieceCakeshop – but the ruling reaffirms important nondiscrimination principles and underscores why federal and state lawmakers should step up for #LGBT folks.— Ryan Thoreson (@ryanthoreson) June 4, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of an anti-LGBT baker in Colorado who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding.
With Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority, the court rules that when the Colorado Civil Rights Commission considered the Masterpiece Cakeshop matter “it did not do so with the religious neutrality that the Constitution requires.”
The plaintiffs argued that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed animus against baker Jack Phillips suggesting that members of the commission believed that Phillips Claimed religious freedom in an effort to justify discrimination.
From the Associated Press:
The Associated Press reports:
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Lakewood baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of religious beliefs did not violate Colorado’s anti-discrimination law. The case pitted Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, and the couple, Charlie Craig and David Mullins.
The court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s actions violated the free exercise clause. In arguments before the court in December, Justine Anthony Kennedy, the author of all the court’s major gay-rights cases, worried that a ruling in favor of Phillips might allow shop owners to put up signs saying “We do not bake cakes for gay weddings.”
Only Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor opposed the narrow ruling in favor of the baker.
In his conclusion, Kennedy makes clear that the ruling here only addresses vacating the decision by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission regarding religious neutrality.
Kennedy states that this is not a license to discriminate against gay persons “seeking goods and services in an open market.”
From the last paragraph of the ruling:
The outcome of cases like this in other circumstances must await further elaboration in the courts, all in the context of recognizing that these disputes must be re- solved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market.
Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU, issued a statement which read, “The court reversed the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision based on concerns unique to the case but reaffirmed its longstanding rule that states can prevent the harms of discrimination in the marketplace, including against LGBT people.”
Lamda Legal issued a statement which read, in part:
The Court today has offered dangerous encouragement to those who would deny civil rights to #LGBTQ people and people living with #HIV. Religious freedom under our Constitution has always meant the right to believe whatever you wish but not to act on your beliefs in ways that harm others. The Court alarmingly fails to heed that distinction.
More from LGBT activists:
To those of you replying to me re: Masterpiece Cakeshop with: “Well, it’s all for the best, you shouldn’t have to serve blah blah.”
Sorry, SCOTUS didn’t rule that.
SCOTUS basically said the baker's concerns were handled sloppily IN THIS CASE.— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) June 4, 2018
SCOTUS previously turned away other similar cases, including ruling vs. New Mexico wedding photographer.
So, this issue is unresolved at best. That is a problem for LGBTQ right for sure. More discrimination will happen. But so will more cases. Court didn’t rule.— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) June 4, 2018
there will be lots of analysis about what this means, but sure feels like SCOTUS just sanctioned anti-LGBTQ discrimination….and that’s how those who hate us will interpret it https://t.co/J2TybwL089— Joe Sudbay (@JoeSudbay) June 4, 2018
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| Sean Hayes in ‘Will & Grace’ |
“You are exactly who you are supposed to be.”
You could say that’s one of the ineffable messages of Pride Month.
And underscoring yet again the impact Will & Grace has had on LGBTs and allies alike, this one minute video gets to the center of what has made the show such an enduring success.
Humor with heart.
The newly-released mash-up from the iconic sitcom in honor of Pride Month reminds us why the Will & Grace reboot been an amazing revival for NBC and the LGBT community.
Take, for example, the clip from the latest season between Will and guest star Ben Platt:
Will: “My coming out was pretty typical – my mom cried, my dad drank…”
Ben: “I told my parents when I was 8. They both threw me a coming out party on the same weekend.”
Will: “That’s not a coming out story. How’s James Franco supposed to win an Oscar playing that???”
While it gets a good laugh, the brief scene combines comedy and light with a subject many experienced as painful.
The quick video tribute offers coming out moments from Will and Jack, as well as the infamous “television kiss” between the two dashing urbanites.
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| Eric McCormak (L) and Sean Hayes (R) |
We’re also treated to moments of pride by parents on the show, something most of America had never seen before W&G.
And why? Because as Jack tells us, “That’s what we do in the community – we ‘gay it forward.’”
Because Pride Month isn’t just about a party, or history, or a slogan.
“The minute you forget what we went through to get here, is the minute it could all be taken away.”
Well done, NBC.
Happy Pride, folks.
(h/t The OUTFront)
Whoopi Goldberg surprises The View‘s audience with a sneak peek of Frozen on Broadway — and star Caissie Levy’s performance of ‘Let It Go’ makes a television debut!
Seriously, the stage magic and costume change are spectacular.
Spec-ta-cu-lar.
Back in the day, I was told legendary producer David Merrick wouldn’t allow the “Hello, Dolly!” number to be performed on television because he felt like it was giving the big moment away.
I think there can be some wisdom there. Although, to be fair, shows like Wicked have performed their “big” moments on the Tony Awards for years, so…
In any case, Caissie Levy sings the hell out of the incredibly difficult song, and that costume change… wow.
Watch below.
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| Tony Award winner Billy Porter in POSE |
In the first episode of Ryan Murphy’s new groundbreaking series, POSE, Tony Award winner Billy Porter announces, “You ain’t dead yet.”
Porter, starring as the drag ball emcee Pray Tell, is giving some tough love to House mother Blanca Rodriguez (Mj Rodriguez). “There is nothing more tragic than a sad queen,” he adds.
The show, which centers on marginalized queer and brown people, signals early on there will be no resorting to sad-sack tropes about unhappy, suffering queers.
From Buzzfeed:
By centering negotiations of identity and oppression — as well as love and desire — between queer characters of color, the show allows for thoughtful exploration of intra-community hierarchies and conflicts. There are some limitations to this woke soap approach, but the show stands out in a television landscape dominated by straight stories “about race” and white stories “about queerness.” In telling a kind of intersectional fairy tale of queer brown lives, the show highlights just how limited the scope of most TV creators’ imaginations still is.
Pose’s story — as laid out in the first four episodes made available to critics — is ostensibly organized around a battle between two warring ball houses: the House of Abundance, mothered by Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson) and their upstart rivals, the House of Evangelista, led by former Abundance daughter Blanca Rodriguez (Mj Rodriguez). The show uses the House structures and the ball setting to dramatize the stories of the gay men and trans women of color who were — and are — the real-life protagonists of those settings, in service of Murphy’s usual goal of turning characters who might be written elsewhere as sidekicks into stars.
Ultimately, Pose is a queer fantasy, and a savvy take on the importance of fantasy for subjects marginalized through race, gender, and sexuality. “How lucky are we?” a house daughter says to Elektra at one point. “We create ourselves. Shit, we are the real dream girls.”
And in the glossy world of Pose, they finally are.
POSE premieres tonight at 9PM on FX.