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News Round-Up: May 22, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Obaid Habibi was being a little cheeky I think when he posted the above pic asking, “Should I buy this?” My first reaction was, “I’ll take two!”

• Colton Haynes tweeted (then deleted) his thoughts on Hollywood needing to be more inclusive of LGBTQ actors. #WhyDelete?

• A federal court in Virginia has sided with trans student Gavin Grimm saying that federal law protects transgender students from being forced to use separate restroom facilities.

• Congress has voted to rollback the Dodd/Frank bank regulations that helped save the country from another Great Depression. #SRSLY?

• A new study shows that brain activity in transgender people resembles that found in cisgender people of their gender more than their sex assigned at birth.

• A new children’s picture book tells the story of social activist Harvey Milk and his collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the man who designed the iconic symbol for the LGBTQ community: the rainbow pride flag.

• Bonus – I love the artist Silverjow on Instagram. Why didn’t cartoon characters look like this when I was growing up?

Hunks of the week #69A post shared by Silverjow's art (@silverjow) on May 22, 2018 at 11:57am PDT

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NYC Lawyer Whose Racist Rant Went Viral Apologizes: “I Moved To NYC For The Diversity”

After being revealed as a bigoted racist in a viral video showing NYC attorney Aaron Schlossberg ranting at two women speaking Spanish in a lunch time restaurant, Schlossberg has issued a public apology
NYC attorney Aaron Schlossberg

After his bigoted, racist rant in a Midtown Manhattan lunch spot went viral, pro-Trump lawyer Aaron Schlossberg has become the target of much attention.

Reporters following him down streets and into buildings; folks have thrown mariachi parties in front of his building on the Upper West Side.

Well, it seems as though Schlossberg has raised a white flag of surrender.

Today, the New York City-based attorney issued a public apology telling the world seeing himself on video “opened” his eyes, and who we see in that hate-filled rant “is not the person I am.”

Here’s the full message:

To the people I insulted, I apologize, seeing myself online opened my eyes — the manner in which I expressed myself is unacceptable and is not the person I am. I see my words and actions hurt people, and for that I am deeply sorry.

While people should be able to express themselves freely, they should do so calmly and respectfully. What the video did not convey is the real me, I am not racist. One of the reasons I moved to New York is precisely because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city.

I love this country and this city, in part because of immigrants and the diversity of cultures immigrants bring to this country. Again, my sincerest apologies to anyone and everyone I hurt.

Not to be cynical, but in all honesty, what other move could he make without being a pariah now that he’s so famous as a bigoted, racist?

The man who spoke so freely in that video does NOT love diversity.

By the way, check out the ratio between “Likes” and “Comments” on Schlossberg’s tweet. When you’re that upside-down, you’re not getting high fives in the Comment section.

Some reaction from the Twitterverse:

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Lena Waithe To Be Honored With MTV’s “Trailblazer Award”

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Lena Waithe (image via Instagram)

Actress/writer/producer Lena Waithe will be honored with this year’s Trailblazer Award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

Waithe made history earlier this year as the first woman of color to be awarded the Emmy Award for ‘Best Writing in a Comedy Series’ for her work on HBOs Master of None. The episode that won her the Emmy Award was based on her own coming out story.

The award recognizes content creators that introduce fresh, fearless and unique voices within the entertainment industry.

Past recipients include Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Channing Tatum and Shailene Woodley.

“Honored,” she responded on Twitter, adding an #IWantMyMTV hashtag.

Waithe recently starred in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and is the creator/writer/producer of Showtime’s The Chi.

She also has the upcoming television show Twenties, based on her own early years in Los Angeles, which she is writing & producing for TBS.

Waithe pays it forward by mentoring young, diverse writers through The Black List initiative.

“Lena is shaking up Hollywood and breaking cultural boundaries through her innovative and authentic storytelling,” said Amy Doyle, general manager of MTV, VH1 and Logo, in a statement. “Her unwavering passion for equality and inclusion make her the perfect recipient for this year’s Trailblazer Award.”

The MTV Movie & TV Awards will air on Monday, June 18 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Trump: “There’s A Substantial Chance” North Korea Summit Won’t Work Out

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Donald Trump

The New York Times is reporting Donald Trump’s much-ballyhooed summit meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, may not take place as scheduled.

“There’s a very substantial chance that it won’t work out,” Mr. Trump told reporters before a meeting in the Oval Office with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in. “It may not work out for June 12.”

Mr. Trump expressed continued enthusiasm for the diplomatic encounter, saying he believed it could usher in a period of prosperity for North Korea. But he acknowledged that recent statements by North Korea had cast a pall of uncertainty over the timing of the meeting, which is set for Singapore. He appeared as baffled as anyone else about what might come next.

“We’re moving along. We’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump said. “There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting.

“If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later,” he added. “Maybe it will happen at a different time. We will see. We are talking.”

According to Vox, a big part of the problem is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Moon is a leftist who took office in May of last year, back when Trump was threatening war with North Korea. He made a deep and concerted effort to try to broker negotiations between Trump and Kim to defuse the tension, and part of his strategy was making grandiose promises about what talks could accomplish — even floating the possibility that Trump could win a Nobel Prize to entice him to the table.

The problem, as Kelly points out, is that this was always a kind of shell game: Moon could never change the fact that the US and North Korea want fundamentally different things. Basically, he argues, this was a gambit to try to convince Trump not to go to war with North Korea — one that may yet fail.

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And The Winner Of “DWTS: Athletes” Is…?

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SPOILER ALERT: On Monday night’s finale of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: Athletes edition, out Olympian and self-proclaimed “America’s sweetheart” Adam Rippon took home the mirror-ball trophy becoming the Season 26 champion.

Rippon and his pro partner Jenna Johnson had to go head-to-head with fellow Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber, and Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess.

Rippon and Johnson were tasked with two final dance styles: jazz and freestyle.

The jazz dance (performed to the Broadway classic “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun), was a pure show biz routine that brought the audience to their feet and received a perfect score from the judges.

“It was so exquisitely theatrical,” judge Bruno Tonioli gushed. “Technically, it was brilliant. Your timing and partner work is flawless.”

But the Asian-inspired freestyle fan dance (set to DJ Kass’ “Scooby Doo Pa Pa”) complete with vogueing, fan-snapping and more received a slightly mixed reaction scoring 9s and 10s for a 28 out of 30.

The judges read on the freestyle was perplexing in that it was full of very specific style and Team Rippon were definitely on fire from the get-go.

As a dancer and choreographer myself, I was floored at the complexity of the dance routines. And not only Team Rippon’s.

NFL-er Josh Norman absolutely killed in his football-inspired freestyle to “Walk On Water” by 30 Seconds To Mars. Not only difficult choreography, but he was dancing in formations with several other dancers and totally on point!

And it didn’t hurt that he performed the number shirtless and ended up under a shower 😉

Even Tonya Harding came out guns blazing with her disco-themed turn to “Hush Hush; Hush Hush” by The Pussycat Dolls.

But in the end, the prophecy of the season’s first night cha-cha to RuPaul’s “Sissy That Walk” came to fruition as Adam and Jenna were named the champions.

This is Johnson’s first win on DWTS in only two seasons with the dance show.

“The Mirrorball has now taken on a new meaning, someone like me is accepted and I feel loved,” Rippon shared before his freestyle routine.

Rippon is the first openly gay winner of Dancing with the Stars. Congrats, Adam!

And as we close the books on this edition of DWTS, can we get one more peek at the awesome furry goodness that is Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer? #woof

A post shared by Chris Mazdzer (@mazdzer) on May 10, 2018 at 9:35am PDT
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News Round-Up: May 21, 2018

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(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Model Nick Sandell spent time at the beach; I was stuck in my office watching the sun go by. By the time I got done with work, the dang clouds had rolled in 🙁

• Andy Warhol’s iconic Interview Magazine has shuttered. Employees were told today at an “all-hands meeting” that the magazine had folded.

• A proposal to include discussions on the topics of transgender, sexual orientation and sexual identity in Fort Worth, Texas, public schools has found it’s protesters.

• As other states are trying to limit LGBTs ability to adopt or foster homeless children, Connecticut is actively trying to recruit members of the community to participate in adoption/fostering.

• Pope Francis told a gay man that God made him exactly as he is, and that God loves him just as he is.

• GLAAD and Bonnier Publishing USA have teamed up to release a children’s book series featuring LGBT stories (see below).

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Documentary Explores Closeted Pro Athletes “Alone In The Game”

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A new documentary from AT&T Audience Network, Alone in the Game, reveals the constant challenges that LGBT athletes face in the competitive arena of pro sports.

Interviews with former Olympic freeskier Gus Kenworthy, NBA center Jason Collins, MLS Cup champion Robbie Rogers, NFL draftee Michael Sam, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, former ESPN president John Skipper, and triathlete Chris Mosier are among those included in the film.

In a sobering moment that illustrates how deep the fear of coming out in pro sports can be, former NFL lineman Ryan O’Callaghan admits, “I’d always planned on killing myself when I was done with football.”

“I thought I’d rather be dead than an out gay man,” he adds.

Ryan O’Callaghan in “Alone in the Game”

In one scene of the film, a gay Division I football player asked to have his face and voice disguised to explain why he won’t come out of the closet: “I’m not ashamed, just scared.”

“If there wasn’t homophobia in sports, and if everyone felt comfortable to be who they were, then everyone who was gay would be out,” says Olympic soccer player Megan Rapinoe.

“We’re giving viewers a rare look into the lives of these elite athletes’ unique journeys and open their eyes to the daily challenges these athletes face on and off the field of play,” says executive producer and creator of Alone in the Game, David McFarland.

“With added attention to this issue, I’m hopeful we can affect real change at the highest levels of American sport and that the next generation of LGBTQ athletes will be judged by their athletic performance, rather than their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

With the retirement of Robbie Rogers from pro soccer and Jason Collins from the NBA, there are currently no out athletes in any of the major professional team sports in the U.S.

Watch the trailer below. Alone in the Game premieres June 28 on AT&T Audience Network.

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Bipartisan Group Of Lawmakers Look To Protect Trans Military Service Members

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives is looking to protect transgender military service members with a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The amendment, if adopted, would codify the Obama-era open-service policies into law, thus blocking Donald Trump’s proposed ban of trans service members.

The amendment to the NDAA was drafted by Democratic Reps. Jackie Speier (Calif.), A. Donald McEachin (Va.) and Susan Davis (Calif.) and moderate Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), whose son is transgender.

The House Rules Committee, which will determine which amendments will actually get a vote on the floor of the House, is set to meet Monday and Tuesday this week.

As you may recall, Donald Trump surprised folks when he tweeted from out of nowhere that he wished to place a ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military.

In August of last year, Trump told reporters that he was “doing the military a great favor” by attempting to ban trans service members.

In October, a federal judge effectively blocked Donald Trump’s proposed ban on transgender service members in the military saying the ban was “driven by a desire to express disapproval of transgender people generally.”

Last month, top military leaders of the Navy and Marine Corps said they have seen no evidence of morale, discipline or unit readiness problems with transgender troops now serving openly in the military.

Trump’s ban is currently in legal limbo as four different federal courts have placed a hold on the executive order.

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Jennifer Aniston To Play First Lesbian President In Upcoming Netflix Comedy ‘First Ladies’

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Jennifer Aniston (image via Flickr)

Jennifer Aniston is heading to the White House in Netflix’s upcoming comedy, First Ladies.

Netflix has announced that Jennifer Aniston and comedian Tig Notaro are set to star in the political comedy playing the most powerful couple in the world: president and first lady. Aniston will play POTUS and Notaro will play FLOTUS.

We’ve seen a few female presidents in movies and TV up to now, but never a lesbian couple taking up residence at the most famous address in the world.

The project was pitched by Notaro and her wife Stephanie Allynne, who will also write the screenplay.

According to the log line, “First Ladies is a political comedy about America’s first female President and her wife, The First Lady. When Beverly and Kasey Nicholson move into the White House, they’ll prove that behind every great woman… is another great woman.”

While the script hasn’t been written yet, the streaming network has already lined-up producers including Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Adam McKay, and Betsy Koch as well as Aniston and Notaro.

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FDA Approves PrEP For Use By Teens At Risk Of HIV

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In 2012, HIV medication Truvada was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use by adults as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV.

The results have been excellent to say the least as studies show the use of PrEP reduces the chances of HIV exposure by over 90%.

Now, the FDA has expanded the approval of Truvada as PrEP to include adolescents. The new approval will now include teens at risk for HIV who weigh at least 77 pounds.

The decision was based on the ATN113 study, which enrolled 78 high-risk adolescents ages 15 to 17.

Over the course of 48 weeks, the participants checked in on a monthly basis for the first three months, and then moved to clinic visits every three months.

Adherence to taking the drug on a daily basis was fairly high during the first three months. But once the study moved to checking in only every three months, researchers found the teens were more likely to skip a dose.

That drop off in adherence led to the conclusion that teens may need monthly monitoring in order to achieve the best results on PrEP.

(photo by Jeremy McKnight)

The side effects reported among the adolescents were similar to those observed in adults on Truvada, the most common being weight loss, headaches and abdominal pains.

In a press release from Gilead Sciences, which manufactures Truvada, Sybil Hosek, PhD, clinical psychologist at the Cook County Health and Hospital System’s Stroger Hospital in Chicago and lead investigator of the study wrote, “Study ATN113 has demonstrated that Truvada for PrEP is a well-tolerated prevention option for adolescents who are vulnerable to HIV.”

“In addition to traditional risk-reduction strategies, health care providers and community advocates are now equipped with another tool to help address the incidence of HIV in younger at-risk populations,” she added.

(h/t Poz)