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WILL & GRACE Creator Donates Copies Of Gay Bunny Book To Indiana School Libraries

Talk about a story with a “hoppy” ending!

Earlier this month, I reported that John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, announced his team had written and published A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a children’s book spun from the news that Vice President Mike Pence’s family had penned and illustrated their own children’s book, Marlon Bundo’s: A Day in the Life of the Vice President.

Jill Twiss, a writer on Oliver’s Last Week Tonight show penned the charming book with illustrations by E.G. Keller.

Marlon Bundo is the actual pet rabbit of the Veep’s daughter and both books follow Marlon as he hops around D.C.

But in the Last Week Tonight tome, Marlon Bundo falls in love with another male rabbit named Wesley, which probably irked the Veep as he’s known for his notoriously anti-LGBT positions and policies.

The LWT book sold-out and became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.

But wait – there’s more!

This week, Max Mutchnick, one of the creators of Will & Grace, has purchased and donated a copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to every elementary school in the Pence’s home state of Indiana.

Along with the books, Mutchnik sent a letter which read, in part:

“I would like to donate this copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to your library. After hearing about the book, I brought it home and read it to my twin daughters. It’s a poignant story about how love and community can rise above intolerance.”

You can check out A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo on Amazon here. Maybe there’s a child in your life that could benefit from some good, wholesome storytelling 🙂

I was blown away by the new John Oliver children’s book, “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.” With Easter upon us, I wanted to not only support the brilliance of John Oliver, but also celebrate the Gayest Bunny of Them All: The Easter Bunny. So I decided to buy a copy of Oliver’s “Bundo” (written by Jill Twiss) for every public grammar school in Indiana. All 1,121 of them. Here’s why: Mike Pence has had an enormous platform in Indiana, and as it relates to gay people, he’s used it to spread a message of intolerance. By donating these books, I hope to counter those efforts and provide positive role models and a story of inclusion for children in Pence’s home state. If this book can help one boy or girl in Indiana love and accept who they are, I know both Marlon Bundos would be proud—even though one of them is on the downlow.
A post shared by Max Mutchnick (@maxmutchnick) on Mar 30, 2018 at 2:12pm PDT

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Today Is International Transgender Day Of Visibility

Today marks International Transgender Day of Visibility. Founded by prominent transgender activist, Rachel Crandall, back in 2009, the day was created to raise the visibility of transgender people, bring attention to the accomplishments of trans people around the world, while fighting transphobia through the spread of knowledge. It is a time to celebrate transgender people around the globe and the courage it takes to live openly and authentically, while also raising awareness around the discrimination trans people still face. The journey toward living openly and authentically looks different for everyone, and, given the levels of violence and discrimination faced by transgender and gender expansive people, revealing and expressing one’s gender identity can be a complex and difficult process. The chart below illustrates why transgender folks need more visibility (click to enlarge):

For more information, head over to Trans Student Educational Resources  

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Breaking Barriers: Two Men Become 1st NFL Cheerleaders

For the first time in NFL history, two men will become cheerleaders for an NFL team.

Napoleon Jinnies and Quinton Peron will be part of the L.A. Rams cheerleaders squad for the 2018/2019 season.

All smiles on Good Morning America, Peron was asked what motivated him to try out: “I thought, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I do this?’ And called my friend and I asked her when auditions were for the Rams and she told me Sunday [March 11] and I showed up.”

Appearing with the men, LA Rams cheerleader captain Emily Leibert extolled the men’s qualifications:

“They really just fit the bill to be a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader. They are intelligent, they are eloquent, they are more than qualified to be ambassadors out in the community. They bring so much energy and there’s something so magnetic about their performance, you really can’t take your eyes off them.”

Full disclosure – in my senior year of high school, the cheerleading coach decided to add 4 guys to what had been an all-girl squad for decades. Just like Quinton, I thought “I want to do that!”

And I did. And had a ball.

When I got to Syracuse University, by a fluke, I happened to be in the university gym when the cheering squad was practicing and I stopped to watch. Eventually, I walked over to say ‘hi,’ and found out they had just lost a male team member. And, in a rarity for a freshman, I got the spot.

I cheered three years for the Orangemen and was captain of the squad my last year. It was thrilling to be on the grounds of the Carrier Dome cheering during football and basketball games.

If you’re a high energy guy in your college years, it’s a great way to burn some of that off. I loved it.

You can check out their amazing dancing at the tryouts and see the moments they discovered they made the cut:

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News Round-Up: March 30, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• #TGIF!  Israeli fitness model Shalom Bar (h/t Towleroad)

• 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Stephen Reinhardt, who authored the majority ruling that struck down Prop 8 in California in 2012, has passed away at the age of 87.

• This gay couple is living a Kafkaesque nightmare in trying to stay together thanks to Donald Trump’s travel ban.

• The ACLU has filed suit in Ohio for not allowing transgender people to update their birth certificates. The policy is the inconsistent with other state policies that allow transgender Ohioans to update their gender markers on their driver’s licenses and state identification cards. Ohio, Tennessee, and Kansas are the only states that don’t allow trans people to change their birth certificates.

• Country music star Kacey Musgraves told Billboard she regrets that once she laughed as a “gay guy” was bullied.

• Indie singer/songwriter Lauv dropped his latest single, “Chasing Fire” just in time for the weekend. And me like 🙂

Lauv, who Rolling Stone calls “Pop’s up-and-coming heartbreak king,” seems to find mucho inspiration in the relationships that don’t work out.

Lauv said of the single: “’Chasing Fire’ is about fighting for something that’s already over. It’s the beginning of the end. It’s desperation. It’s grand. But it’s hopeless.”

Hit play below and take a listen. I definitely hear some Coldplay/Maroon 5 influences even as Lauv stakes out his own territory.

Happy Friday, kids!

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McCabe Legal Defense Fund Raises Over $462K In One Day

Yesterday, I reported on the establishment of a legal defense fund via GoFundMe for former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who was fired less than 26 hours of reaching his retirement after a 20+ year career with the FBI.

The move was viewed by many as a punishment from the Trump administration for not “protecting” Donald Trump in the current investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

The “fair and balanced” folks at Fox News aren’t very happy:

Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser and retired three-star Army general, is on the brink of financial ruin, selling his Virginia home in order to pay his mounting legal bills.

Meanwhile, Andrew McCabe – the wealthy ex-FBI official fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions whose wife is a physician – raised an extraordinary $400,000 online from 10,000 people in one day to pay his lawyers.

Both Flynn and McCabe have been accused of lying. Only Flynn has been charged with a crime. But both are expected to continue racking up enormous legal fees in the months to come.

McCabe, who spent more than 20 years at the FBI, was fired earlier this month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the DOJ’s inspector general determined McCabe was not truthful during his review of the Clinton email investigation. The FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility recommended his firing.

Flynn was fired from the White House last year for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador and then pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

You’ll notice how Fox News colors the two men’s situations: McCabe was “not truthful” while Flynn “misled” Mike Pence.

Fox News also makes note that McCabe is “wealthy” but doesn’t mention that Mike Flynn is reportedly worth $7 million.

#FairAndBalancedMyAss

I think the results of McCabe’s legal fundraising shows a lot about who Americans believe and they are putting their money where their mouth is.

It also gives further credence to how fired up Americans are to oppose Donald Trump’s woeful administration.

At this writing, McCabe’s GoFundMe campaign has raised over $462,000 from almost 11,000 donors.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Former Fox Analyst On Decline Of Fox News – Rats, Russians & Witch Hunts

Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer, a former enlisted man and former strategic analyst for Fox News with deep experience in Russian studies.

Last week, he resigned his position from Fox, and today he goes into detail regarding why in a blistering op-ed for The Washington Post.

You could measure the decline of Fox News by the drop in the quality of guests waiting in the green room.

A year and a half ago, you might have heard George Will discussing policy with a senator while a former Cabinet member listened in. Today, you would meet a Republican commissar with a steakhouse waistline and an eager young woman wearing too little fabric and too much makeup, immersed in memorizing her talking points.

This wasn’t a case of the rats leaving a sinking ship. The best sailors were driven overboard by the rodents.

As early as the fall of 2016, and especially as doubts mounted about the new Trump administration’s national security vulnerabilities, I increasingly was blocked from speaking on the issues about which I could offer real expertise: Russian affairs and our intelligence community.

I did not hide my views at Fox and, as word spread that I would not unswervingly support President Trump and, worse, that I believed an investigation into Russian interference was essential to our national security, I was excluded from segments that touched on Vladimir Putin’s possible influence on an American president, his campaign or his administration.

I was the one person on the Fox payroll who, trained in Russian studies and the Russian language, had been face to face with Russian intelligence officers in the Kremlin and in far-flung provinces. I have traveled widely in and written extensively about the region.

Yet I could only rarely and briefly comment on the paramount security question of our time: whether Putin and his security services ensnared the man who would become our president. Trump’s behavior patterns and evident weaknesses (financial entanglements, lack of self-control and sense of sexual entitlement) would have made him an ideal blackmail target — and the Russian security apparatus plays a long game.

Listening to political hacks with no knowledge of things Russian tell the vast Fox audience that the special counsel’s investigation was a “witch hunt,” while I could not respond, became too much to bear.

There is indeed a witch hunt, and it’s led by Fox against Robert Mueller.

Head over to The Washington Post for more of what someone who’s actually trained in Russian studies has to say about Fox News’ handling of the investigation.

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Lady Gaga Covers Elton John’s “Your Song” For Tribute Album

Lady Gaga

Check out Lady Gaga’s powerful new cover of the classic “Your Song” (easily one of my favorite Elton John/Bernie Taupin tunes) taken from the forthcoming album, Revamp: Reimagining the Songs Of Elton John & Bernie Taupin.

Featuring new versions of Elton’s classic songs from Mary J. Blige, Alessia Cara, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Elton John & P!nk & Logic, Florence + The Machine, The Killers, Mumford & Sons, Q-Tip & Demi Lovato, Queens Of The Stone Age, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, Revamp is set to be released on April 6th, 2018.

John has announced a 300-date farewell tour over the next three years before retiring from touring.

Here’s a tease of Gaga performing “Your Song” from the upcoming tribute Elton John: I’m Still Standing – a GRAMMY Salute to be broadcast Tuesday, April 10 at 9/8c on CBS.

Here’s the full track by Gaga:

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Poll: 67% Of Younger Americans Disapprove Of Donald Trump’s Handling Of The Presidency

Donald Trump
A new poll released by the Associated Press today shows a large majority of younger Americans (age 15-34) disapprove of Donald Trump’s handling of the presidency, and call him “racist” and “unfit” to be president.

From The Hill:

Just 33 percent of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 approve of the president’s performance in office, nine points lower than the average of all adults in the same poll this month.

In addition, more than six in ten younger Americans say Trump “is a racist” and is “generally dishonest,” while 60 percent exactly say he is “mentally unfit” for the office of the president.

The poll also shows widespread support for progressive causes among this age bracket, including 60 percent who want the government to do more to fight climate change and 67 percent who want a health care system in which “the government provides health insurance to all Americans.”

Now, if we could just get more young folk to get out and vote…

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Hillary Responds To Detractors Who Say She Should “Get Off The Public Stage”

Hillary Clinton

At an event at Rutgers University Thursday, Hillary Clinton responded to criticism from her detractors who say she should “get off the public stage and shut up.”

From MSN.com:

“I was really struck by how people said that to me – you know, mostly people in the press, for whatever reason – mostly, ‘Go away, go away,'” Clinton said Thursday during an event at Rutgers University.

“And I had one of the young people who works for me go back and do a bit of research. They never said that to any man who was not elected. I was kind of struck by that,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s remarks came in response to a question from Eagleton Institute of Politics’ director Ruth Mandel about the former Democratic presidential nominee’s reaction to those who say she should “get off the public stage and shut up.”

“I’m really glad that, you know, Al Gore didn’t stop talking about climate change,” Clinton said to applause.

“And I’m really glad John Kerry went to the Senate and became an excellent secretary of State,” the former first lady continued. “And I’m really glad John McCain kept speaking out and standing up and saying what he had to say. And for heavens sakes, Mitt Romney is running for the Senate,” Clinton said.

I, for one, agree with Hillary. The men who lost presidential races stayed in the mix.

Why should she have to sit down and shut up?