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Elton John To Deliver Major HIV/AIDS Speech In Honor Of Princess Diana

Elton John

Five-time Grammy Award-winner Elton John will deliver this year’s “Diana, Princess of Wales Lecture” on HIV this June in association with the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The National AIDS Trust began the lecture series in 1999, in honor of Princess Diana who had passed away just two years earlier.

On June 8, John will address an audience of health workers, politicians, civic leaders, celebrities, and people living with HIV/AIDS in London.

John shared a close bond with Diana and her commitment to ending HIV/AIDS.

In his speech, John is expected to call on governments to target the elimination of HIV/AIDS by the year 2030.

“I am delighted to be able to deliver this lecture and to remember the enormous contribution Diana, Princess of Wales made to this cause,” John says in a statement. “In the quarter century since the Elton John AIDS Foundation was established, the global AIDS fight has changed beyond recognition. Yet tolerance and courage has never been more important in the fight to create an AIDS-free generation and make the world a more accepting place for those living with HIV.”

“2018 is a critical time in the global HIV epidemic,” says NAT chief executive Deborah Gold. “We have all the tools we need to beat HIV, yet we lack the level of investment or political priority necessary to use them fully. We are delighted that Sir Elton John, who has enormous credibility in this battle, will be speaking on this subject.”

At 71-years-old, John is keeping a full-on, robust schedule after announcing his upcoming Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour earlier this year.

In addition to a massive world tour, the pop music legend is also busy working on a musical adaptation of hit movie, The Devil Wears Prada, and penning new tunes for the upcoming live-action film of his huge Broadway blockbuster, The Lion King.

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InstaHunk Round-Up

Steve Raider (via Instagram)

It’s the first weekend of Pride Month 2018, so let’s take a look-see at what the Hunks of Instagram have been up to.

Steve Raider was into some Sunday Funday, looking for a playmate (above).

Raider, who famously loves his time at the beach, was in full-on “Live, laugh, love” mode for Pride:

A post shared by Steve Raider (@steve_raider) on Jun 2, 2018 at 5:20am PDT

Eliad Cohen took his Papa Party to Barcelona:

Architect Preston Brock was in Dallas for Fur Ball:

Superstar Ricky Martin was grooving in the Las Vegas heat and onstage:

A post shared by Ricky (@ricky_martin) on Jun 2, 2018 at 6:02pm PDT

ModernBear was brought us this scruffy InstaGay:

Celebrating Pride in Israel:

A post shared by Steve Peña (@therealstevepena) on Jun 2, 2018 at 3:48pm PDT

Pride in São Paulo:

And illustrator Silverjow could be looking ahead to Daddy Day later this month with this:

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White House Lawyers Admit Trump Dictated Cover-Up Letter For His Son

Don Trump Jr. (L) and Donald Trump (R)

Wow.

In a newly released memo, Donald Trump’s lawyers admitted for the first time that Trump dictated a statement to deceive the public about his son’s June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian government lawyer.

From CNN:

In a confidential letter to special counsel Robert Mueller in January, President Donald Trump’s legal team acknowledged for the first time that Trump “dictated” the first misleading statement put out about his son’s controversial 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower.

“You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr.,” the letter said, according to The New York Times, which published a copy of it. “His son then followed up by making a full public disclosure regarding the meeting, including his public testimony that there was nothing to the meeting and certainly no evidence of collusion.”

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow, NBC interview, 7/16/17: “The President was not — did not — draft the response. The response came from Donald Trump Jr. and — I’m sure — in consultation with his lawyer. … Let me say this — but I do want to be clear — that the President was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. It came from Donald Trump Jr.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, daily press briefing, 8/1/17: “He certainly didn’t dictate, but he — like I said, he weighed in, offered suggestion like any father would do.”

The White House has denied any involvement in the misleading statement which originally described the meeting was about child adoption. Instead, emails showed Russian actors were offering dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. took the meeting after responding, “I love it!”

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Donald Trump Throws Former Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Under The Bus

Donald Trump (L), Paul Manfort (R)

President Trump continued his attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice this morning, this time for not informing him during the 2016 election cycle that his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was being investigated at the time.

Ranting on Twitter, Trump tweeted that Manafort “came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time,” but said the campaign “should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him, and he wouldn’t have been hired!”

Manafort joined the campaign team in June 2016, but stepped down two months later after media reports of his dealings with the Ukraine government came to light.

It might be time to cut that deal with the Special Counsel, Mr. Manafort.

Manafort has been charged with dozens of crimes including bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and more.

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Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons On Roseanne Scandal – “How Did You Type That?”

Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons on Roseanne's racist tweets - "How? Why?"
Jim Parsons

In a candid interview, CNN’s Van Jones asks The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons if Roseanne Barr went too far with her tweets.

Addressing the recent scandals with Roseanne Barr, who saw her #1 series on ABC get cancelled over racist tweets, and Samantha Bee, who got in hot water calling Ivanka Trump the “c-word” on the air, CNN’s Van Jones asked Parsons if it’s difficult to be funny without consequences in the age of Donald Trump.

“It crosses my mind every single time I sit down for an interview or speak in public, anything,…It’s hard to speak your mind,” said the 45-year-old actor from Texas.

“We’re easily offended right now, frequently about things that are probably not that important.”

Jones asked how Parsons processed the recent Roseanne debacle to which Parsons says, “I only thought about it on an emotional scale, which as ‘how’ and ‘why?’ That was my reaction to it.”

“Reading the tweet, I thought, ‘How did you type that?’”

Parsons did pivot to the current political thought regarding Donald Trump’s infamous “grab’em by the pussy” remark: “It’s ok to say certain things as an elected official right now that it’s not necessarily ok to say as an entertainer. And I find that fascinating.”

The actor also lamented the unemployment effect of Roseanne’s hideous tweets on her fellow actors and crew of her sitcom. Riffing on the current whisper campaign in Hollywood about possible spin-off series for Sara Gilbert or Laurie Metcalfe, Jones inquired if Metcalfe should be given her own show.

Parson emphatically responded, “Laurie should always be given her own show.”

From Parson’s Instagram recently:

A post shared by Jim Parsons (@therealjimparsons) on May 29, 2018 at 3:14pm PDT

Jones shifted to the issue of red-state citizens feeling locked out of the Hollywood industry to which Parsons (a native Texan) shared, “I have so many conservative traits about me. I’m such a family-first type of guy.”

And speaking of traditional values and family-first, Jones brought up Parsons wedding in 2017, “As recently as 2012, people like Barack Obama was a bit hesitant to say publicly he was for marriage equality. Five years later, 2017, you’re married and it’s no big deal. Nobody cares at all.”

“In fact, the big deal, which really took me by surprise considering how traditional I am, was how meaningful the day was,” said Parsons.

“We did it because it was meaningful, but to actually go through the wedding; to be there in front of all of your loved ones, your family. It really gave such meaning to doing this so people could bear witness to it. It meant so much more to me than I was prepared for. Especially having grown up where it wasn’t a possibility.”

One of the busiest men in show business, Parsons not only has his long-running Big Bang Theory sitcom on CBS but he opened on Broadway this week in the iconic, groundbreaking gay-themed play, The Boys in the Band.

And, his new movie, A Kid Like Jake, landed in theaters on Friday wherein Parsons plays the father of a four-year-old who enjoys “gender-expansive play” dressing up in whatever gender clothes feels best at the time.

Watch the CNN segment below and you don’t forget to check out The Boys in the Band and A Kid Like Jake, both open now.

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Missouri: African-American Drivers Are 85% More Likely To Be Pulled Over Than Whites

African-Americans are 85% more likely to be stopped by police in Missouri than whites
(image via Depositphotos)

A new report from the Missouri Attorney General’s office shows African-American drivers are 85% more likely to be pulled over than whites.

That’s a ten percent jump from the previous year and the highest level in the 18 year history of the annual report.

More from the AP:

Attorney General Josh Hawley on Friday released his office’s annual Vehicle Stops Report. The “disparity index” comparing traffic stops among races showed a jump from last year, when blacks were 75 percent more likely than whites to be stopped. Until now, last year’s percentage had been the highest since the reports began in 2000.

John Gaskin, spokesman for the St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP, said the numbers are shocking.

“Quite frankly, it’s really deplorable,” Gaskin said. “It’s why we’ve ended up in a situation where people are talking about travel advisories and African-American groups are less likely to come and do business in our state.”

In light of last year’s vehicle stop data and other racial concerns, the NAACP issued a travel warning to the state.

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California Bans Official Travel To Oklahoma Over Anti-LGBT Law

On Friday, the first day of Pride Month 2018, the state of California announced that there will be no state-funded travel to yet another state thanks to recently passed anti-LGBT legislation.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has issued a statement that his state will ban state-sponsored travel to Oklahoma thanks to the Sooner State’s latest anti-LGBT legislation.

Under a 2017 California law, the state’s attorney general is required by to keep a list of all states subject to a travel ban because of “laws that authorize or require discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”

California Secretary of State Xavier Becerra

Last month, Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law anti-LGBT legislation that allows adoption and foster care agencies to reject same-sex couples on the grounds of religious beliefs.

“California taxpayers are taking a stand against bigotry and in support of those who would be harmed by this prejudiced policy,” said Becerra.

Michael McNutt, a spokesperson for Fallin, slapped back at Becerra in a statement which read in part, “With our state’s economy being as strong as it is, we won’t miss a few Californians traveling on state business showing up in our state.”

Oklahoma becomes the ninth state to fall under California’s 2017 travel ban law.

Kansas enacted similar legislation the same week as Oklahoma, but the Sunflower State was already on California’s banned list (along with Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and South Dakota) due to a 2016 law that allows campus religious groups to exclude LGBT students.

June 22 is the date California’s ban on Oklahoma travel goes into effect.

(h/t Instinct)

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Loving The New ‘Queer Eye’ Theme Remix Featuring Betty Who

Betty Who & the ‘Fab 5’

Earlier this year, Netflix brought the gay-tastic ‘make-better’ show Queer Eye back in a fabulous reboot celebrated by critics.

With warmth and humor (and lots of style), the series put a spotlight on social issues that focus on the LGBTQ community, but also issues of religion, racism, and police brutality.

The ‘Fab 5’ are back on June 15, but you don’t have to wait that long for new QE.

Series stars Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Bobby Berk and Karamo Brown teamed up to get down with Aussie electro-pop star Betty Who for a music video of the remixed “All Things,” the groovy theme song of hit Netflix series.

And it’s just a bit of boyband heaven. Hot, pure colors, high-fashion lighting; a beat to bop to; and Antoni in crop top after crop top after crop top.

Check out the revamped theme song below: