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News Round-Up: April 26, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Paleontologist Francesc Gascó (above) redefines the old saying, “Walk tall and carry a big… hammer?” Ok, I’m not complaining… 🙂

• Out Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon not only attended the TIME 100 Gala in New York City as one of the news magazine’s “100 Most Influential of 2018” but he got to sniff country music star Keith Urban along the way.

• Hottie Simon Dunn trolled anti-LGBT Australian rugby player Israel Follau for saying gays will go to hell by kissing his bf after his own rugby match and then retweeting the pic to Follau. Follau has doubled-down in his hateful comments saying he’d rather end his career than take back what he said.

• Diver Tom Daley, married to Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, says girls can still turn his head.

• A NYC subway rider found DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco so hot she took creeper pics of him. She didn’t know he did the same 🙂

• Parker Matthews dropped his new music video for “Hit and Run” recently. In writing about the video, Pop Dust gushed, “Matthews’ confidence in his sexuality glows onscreen.”

I interviewed the talented popster back in February. You can catch my chat with him here and check out the video below.

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Texas Governor Wants Disgraced GOP Congressman To Pay For Special Election

Former Congressman Blake Farenthold (R)

The governor of Texas wants Republican Blake Farenthold to pay for the special election necessary to replace the now-former congressman after his sudden resignation three weeks ago.

It was revealed in December that Farenthold had used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Initially, the Texas Republican signaled he would not seek re-election this fall and promised to repay the $84,000 funds.

But he never repaid the money and suddenly resigned from Congress earlier this month in an attempt to avoid writing that $84K check.

From HuffPost:

The House Ethics Committee was about to rule against Farenthold in its investigation into whether he sexually harassed members of his staff, used official money for campaign purposes and lied in previous testimony to the committee, according to the office of Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).

The committee gave Farenthold a heads-up about its ruling, which it is legally required to do before issuing a decision, so he quit, per Speier’s office. Speier, who is not a member of the committee, has been one of Farenthold’s biggest critics and a vocal advocate for changing how sexual harassment allegations are handled in Congress.

By stepping down, Farenthold was able to avoid whatever punishment the committee would have handed down.

Farenthold’s district must now hold a special election June 30 and Gov. Greg Abbott wants him to pony up the $84,000 to help pay for the election.

Life comes at you fast, huh, Mr. Farenthold?

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Meme Of The Day: Transphobia

Cartoon drawing shows a butterfly telling a snail "Hello, I am a butterfly." The snail replies, "Hello Caterpillar. You are a caterpillar."

Posted on the Drawings of Dogs Instagram account earlier this month with the caption:

Sorry I didn’t manage to post this on #TransDayofVisibility (the 31st March), but super proud that @londonlgbtpride did.

Trans women are women.
Trans men are men.
Non-binary people are non-binary.

Don’t be the snail. Treat people as experts in themselves.

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Miami Beach Honors Man Who Defended Gay Couple During Pride Parade Attack

Helmut Muller Estrada (center) honored for defending a gay couple in homophobic attack after Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade
Helmut Muller Estrada (center) honored for defending gay couple
in homophobic attack after Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade

When Dmitry Logunov and Rene Chalarca were attacked by four men after the Miami Beach Pride Parade earlier this month, a good samaritan named Helmut Muller Estrada jumped in to defend the gay couple.

His actions helped to contain the incident even though he found himself with his own hospital-level injuries requiring stitches to his head.

At the time, Estrada told CBS Miami: “To step up for those guys, I thought it was the right thing to do. I try my best. On sex and religion, I hope they get along someday.”

On Wednesday, the City of Miami Beach honored Estrada with a Miami Beach medallion.

Speaking at the ceremony,  Commissioner Michael Gongora cited Estrada for “for acts of heroism, bravery and significant contributions to our city.”

The four men who attacked Chalarca and Logunov turned themselves in to police and face possible felony assault charges.

Watch the report from the local CBS affiliate in Miami below:

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Trump’s Openly Gay Nominee Confirmed As U.S. Ambassador To Germany

Richard Grenell during Senate confirmation hearing

By a vote of 56-42, openly gay nominee Richard Grenell has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador to Germany making him the most high-profile openly gay appointee in the Trump administration.

From Chris Johnson at The Washington Blade:

Grenell — who has faced Democratic opposition over mean tweets he made about the appearance of women and other comments downplaying the significance of Russia’s influence in the 2016 election — was confirmed by a largely party line vote of 56-42.

Among the Democrats who joined Republicans in voting to confirm Grenell were Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (D-M0). All Republicans present voted for Grenell’s confirmation.

Both of the senators from Grenell’s home state of California — Sen. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein — voted “no” on his confirmation.

First nominated by President Trump in September, Grenell’s confirmation means an openly gay person high-profile seat in the administration and serve as U.S. envoy to the world’s fourth largest national economy.

Resistance to Grenell’s nomination came in part due to comments he made on Twitter years ago about the appearance of women, including Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Callista Gingrich and Rachel Maddow.

He has since deleted the comments online and apologized, but in the context of the #MeToo movement today the comments became a flashpoint anew.

Grenell famously resigned from the Mitt Romney presidential campaign in 2012 after only two weeks as a foreign policy adviser due to pressure from conservatives over his sexuality.

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Reporter Yashar Ali Raises $175K For Waffle House Hero

Journalist Yashar Ali has raised over $175,000 for Waffle House shooting hero James Shaw Jr. in less than two days via GoFundMe.

Ali says he was moved to help Shaw, who has a 4-year-old daughter, after Shaw’s selfless takedown of the Waffle House shooter in Nashville, and his fundraising efforts for the shooting victims.

From the campaign:

James Shaw Jr. put his life on the line when he took on the gunman who killed four people at a Nashville area Waffle House. Since that horrific shooting, he has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the victims and shown a level of humility that has inspired many of us.

I normally don’t get involved directly in these matters, but James’ grace has inspired me to start this page to give him the support I feel he deserves.

According to news reports, James has a four-year-old daughter. Perhaps this money can be used for her college fund or some other education related expense. But I’d be just as happy if James used some of this money to take his family on a nice vacation.

Funds will be transferred directly to James Shaw Jr. through GoFundMe.

James Shaw Jr. is now reportedly paying for all four of the funerals of the shooting victims out of the GoFundMe campaign money.

To date, Donald Trump has not acknowledged the heroic actions of Shaw during the shooting.

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Bill Cosby Found Guilty On 3 Counts Of Aggravated Indecent Assault

From CBS News:

The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial has found the comedian guilty of sexually assaulting a former Temple University women’s basketball administrator at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Cosby was charged with three counts of felony indecent aggravated assault. He faces 10 years in prison on each count.

The jury at Cosby’s first trial deliberated for more than 52 hours over six days last year without reaching a verdict.

Jurors in this trial began deliberating Wednesday in Norristown, Pa. after prosecutors in closing arguments portrayed the 80-year-old former TV star as a serial predator who drugged and molested the woman, Andrea Constand, 14 years ago.

Five other women were called to the witness stand and testified the same thing had happened to them.

According to court records, the 3 assault charges were penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.

After the verdict, Cosby apparently began cursing at the prosecutor in the courtroom.

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Rolling Stone: Janelle Monáe Comes Out As “Queer Black Woman”

In a new cover story interview for Rolling Stone, singer/actress Janelle Monáe comes out as “a queer black woman” and says she identifies as “pansexual.”

“Being a queer black woman in America,” she says, taking a breath as she comes out, “someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” She initially identified as bisexual, she clarifies, “but then later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am.”

As many have noted, Monáe’s latest music videos for her new album Dirty Computer have been filled with sexual themes and imagery.

Here’s her most recent, “PYNK.”

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Fox News: Trump Admits Michael Cohen Repped Him In Stormy Daniels “Hush Money” Deal

Donald Trump admitted today during a call-in interview with Fox & Friends that his lawyer Michael Cohen did represent him in the $130,000 hush money deal to porn star Stormy Daniels
Donald Trump

From The Washington Post:

President Trump acknowledged Thursday for the first time that his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen represented him in efforts to silence Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who has alleged a sexual encounter with Trump more than a decade ago.

Trump earlier this month denied any knowledge of the $130,000 payment to Daniels that was arranged by Cohen and is subject of a federal investigation, telling reporters: “I don’t know” about the payment or where Cohen got the money. And the White House repeatedly has insisted that Daniels’ allegations that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 were false.

But in an interview with Fox News on Thursday morning, Trump appeared to reveal that he had knowledge of Cohen’s payment to Daniels.

“Michael represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me,” Trump said. “And from what I’ve seen, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this.”

Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, weighed in a few minutes later on MSNBC and said that Trump had made a “hugely damaging admission.”

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Trump Lawyer Will Plead The Fifth In Stormy Daniels Case

Click image to enlarge

A court filing shows Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen will assert 5th amendment rights in all proceedings of the ongoing Stormy Daniels case.

You’ll recall in September of 2016 during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump told a campaign crowd in Iowa, “The mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”