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When Chasten Buttigieg Was Outed At Work: ‘Is It True You’re A F**?’

Chasten Buttigieg
Chasten Buttigieg
Chasten Buttigieg (image via memoir website)

Chasten Buttigieg, husband of newly-confirmed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, recently shared a workplace incident when he was brazenly outed by a co-worker.

What we know of Chasten’s employment history to date is that he taught theatre classes in public schools in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Chasten doesn’t specify where the incident mentioned took place other than a “break room.”

“I’ll never forget when an assistant manager found out I was gay in the break room, marched out onto the floor, came right up to my face and said ‘wait, is it true you’re a f**?’” Buttigieg tweeted. “Now imagine if my manager didn’t like that about me either.”

“At the time, it would have been legal in far too many places in America for them to simply show me the door,” he continued. “It is time to codify true equality for LGBTQ people and pass the #EqualityAct.”

Chasten followed that with a link to the Human Rights Campaign’s info page about the Equality Act.

The Equality Act, currently working its way through Congress, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. It would be the first time LGBTQ Americans would have nationwide protections against discrimination in areas of employment, housing and medical facilities. Currently, 21 states and 5 U.S. territories have no explicit prohibitions for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in state law. The legislation passed in the House last week by a vote of 224-206. But the bill faces a steeper climb in the Senate as 10 Republican senators will have to vote with Democrats in order to overcome a possible filibuster. LGBTQ activists and advocates are unsure if the 10 GOP votes will be there when the time comes. President Joe Biden has been a vocal proponent of the Equality Act promising the sign the legislation if it reaches his desk. Chasten’s story inspired other LGBTQ people on Twitter to share their own experiences – closeted or not – in the workplace.

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Out Music: Scott Cruz ‘The Reason’

Out recording artist Scott Cruz releases his latest, "The Reason"

Out recording artist Scott Cruz releases his latest, "The Reason"
Scott Cruz (photo via Instagram)
Out artist Scott Cruz – who describes his music as “elements of rock and pop with a pinch of soul, blues, R&B, and sometimes funk” – recently dropped his new single, “The Reason.” In that he also works as a TV and film composer, Cruz can spin out classical and cinematic styles as well. “As cliche as it sounds, I like to be seen as a recording artist with different expressions,” says the handsome artist. That wide musical perspective can be heard in “The Reason” as Cruz mixes up the beats with winning results on the track. His muscular vocals soar effortlessly above the pop/rock soundscape.

Cruz told Instinct Magazine the new single was “actually written to the world.” “In this time of massive polarizing divides, the one thing people seem to be certain of are their self entitlements,” said Cruz. “It seems people have gotten so wrapped up with the injustices of the collective and their individual world, they’ve forgotten they must still bring something to the table themselves.” “’The Reason’ is my way of calling it out and reminding people, you still need to give someone a reason to love you too instead of demanding everyone love you. We need to live and be (with every ounce of our being) the reason for people to love us.” Hit the play button for “The Reason,” and follow Cruz on Instagram here.

 

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A post shared by scott cruz (@thescottcruz)

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LGBTQ Artists Honored At 78th Golden Globe Awards

Photo of the Golden Globe Award

Photo of the Golden Globe Award
(image via Hollywood Foreign Press Association)
There was definitely some good stuff last night at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards. Queer women, actresses and roles, did really well throughout the evening. Gillian Anderson took home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. The very next category, Best Actress in a Motion Picture Supporting Role, went to out actress Jodie Foster who accepted the award for her work in the political thriller The Mauritanian, sitting with her wife wearing matching pajamas.

While those Supporting Actress statues went to out actresses, the two Lead Actress film awards went to straight actresses playing queer characters. Rosamund Pike scored the Best Actress in a Comedy honor for her role as lesbian scammer Marla Grayson in I Care a Lot. And Andra Day (who I adore) won for Best Actress in a Drama for playing Blues legend Billie Holiday in Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday becoming only the second Black woman to win the award in the history of the Golden Globes.

Schitt’s Creek, whose sixth season was honored with nominations in five categories, won for Comedy Series and for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Catherine O’Hara. Co-creator and series star Dan Levy accepted the award for Comedy Series and in his acceptance called out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for lack of diversity among the nominees.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (which I didn’t care for) won Best Musical or Comedy, and Nomadland (which I loved) won the award for Best Drama along with a statue for Best Director for Chloe Zhao. She is the first woman to win the award since Barbara Streisand won for directing Yentl in 1983.

And speaking of diversity, the week before the awards ceremony a news report found that out of the 87 members of the HFPA, there are zero Black journalists. Throughout the evening, folks took the HFPA to task for that eyebrow raising factoid. And good for them for doing so. Watch this short report from NowThis News.

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Protestant Adoption Agency Will Now Work With Same-Sex Couples

a lesbian couple with their child

a lesbian couple with their child
(image via iStock Photo)
Good news for same-sex couples considering adoption as the largest Protestant adoption and foster agency in the U.S. has announced it will now work with LGBTQ parents. From The Hill:

The largest Protestant adoption and foster agency in the country has decided to open up its services to LGBTQ parents nationwide, a win for same-sex couples as several religious agencies have declined them services in the past, the company announced to staff Monday.

Chris Palusky, the president and chief executive of Bethany Christian Services, informed staff of the evangelical organization that the change would go into effect immediately, according to an email obtained by The New York Times. The adjustment comes as several cities and states have mandated that adoption agencies accept same-sex parents in order to receive government funding.

Previously, the Michigan-based organization in most states referred LGBTQ parents to different agencies, although the process was not official, Bethany leaders told the Times.

Read the full article here.

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“When Straight Men Sleep With Men It’s Not A ‘Gay’ Thing, It’s A ‘Guy’ Thing?”

Three men drinking beer doing 'guy things'
Three men drinking beer doing 'guy things'
Here’s to ‘guy things?’ (image via Depositphotos)

In a recent TikTok post, a sex therapist told viewers straight men can have sex with guys and still be completely straight.

Dr. Joe Kort, whose website says he has a Ph.D. in Clinical Sexology, tells his TikTok followers “when straight men have sex with men, it’s not a gay thing, it’s a guy thing.”

Kort goes on to say that, in general, “men have more transactional sex with one another” while women don’t.

“So, when men have objectified sex where it’s just about the act, it’s just about getting off, people ‘man shame’ him,” adds Kort, who makes a point of noting he’s openly gay.

Underscoring his point, Kort says, “When straight men have sex with men, they’re still straight, it doesn’t erase heterosexuality any more than when gay men have sex with women. They’re still gay. It doesn’t erase their homosexuality.”

https://www.tiktok.com/@drjoekort/video/6931336646684085509?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6923718272396248581&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0

The TikTok post received over 1,400 comments ranging from calling for Kort’s practice and license to be revoked to others agreeing with the good doctor saying they “completely get” what he’s saying.

Now, a straight guy having some kind of sexual encounter with another male doesn’t necessarily make him “gay.” We have other words – like “bisexual” – that could apply.

Certainly there are men who have sex just to get off and file that under “friction is friction.”

And then there’s the Kinsey scale which describes a person’s sexuality on a range of 0 (being exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (meaning exclusively homosexual). Folks can be a 1 or a 5, capable of “having sex” of some kind without feeling the emotional need for committed relationships with someone of the same or opposite sex.

Kort’s official website for his psychotherapy practice shares that he has “counseled thousands of sexually confused men over the years.”

But Kort’s comment section was filled with calls of “denial” and “nonsense.”

Watch the clip and let us know what you think, readers.

A group of guys doing 'guy things'
(image via Depositphotos)
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Instagram Announces ‘Live Rooms’ With Up To 4 Participants

Up to four people can now take part in a public video chat on Instagram

Up to four people can now take part in a public video chat on Instagram
(image via Instagram)
Instagram is upping its IG Live function today by allowing users to invite up to three people to join a Live broadcast. Via Mashable:

Called Live Rooms, the feature ups the number of accounts that can join an IG Live from two to four. So it’s kind of like Zoom, but publicly viewable and restricted to four participants.

“We hope that doubling up on Live will open up more creative opportunities — start a talk show, host a jam session or co-create with other artists, host more engaging Q&As or tutorials with your following, or just hang out with more of your friends,” said Instagram in their blog post.

Starting a Live Room is much the same as starting a Live — simply swipe left, add a title, then tap the Rooms icons to add other users.

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Fauci: ‘I Would Have No Hesitancy’ Taking J&J Vaccine

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci (screen capture)
During an appearance on Meet The Press today, Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked about differences between the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines versus the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The primary difference is the J&J vaccine is a single shot vaccination where the first two you have to return for a follow-up shot 3-4 weeks later. Also, the J&J vaccine can be shipped and stored at normal refrigerator temperatures compared to the other two which have to be stored frozen at ultra-cold temperatures. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines demonstrated higher efficacy rates in trials but Fauci says direct comparisons with the J&J vaccine is difficult because J&J’s was conducted as more contagious variants of the virus were circulating. According to the New York Times, the FDA approved the J&J version this weekend following presentations showing the vaccine was 85 percent protective against severe Covid-19 disease across all clinical trial sites and provided 100% protection against hospitalizations and deaths. “All three of them are really quite good, and people should take the one that’s most available to them,” Fauci told NBC News host Chuck Todd. “If you go to a place and you have J&J, and that’s the one that’s available now, I would take it.”

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InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition

Fitness guru Joel Green

Fitness guru Joel Green
Joel Green (via Instagram)
Checking in with some of my favorite InstaHunks this week: First up, fitness guru Joel Green (above) lays some truth on us: “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Continue reading “InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition”

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Juan Pablo Di Pace’s Gorgeous New Music Video “Te Sentí”

Juan Pablo Di Pace

Juan Pablo Di Pace
Juan Pablo Di Pace in “Te Sentí” (screen capture)
Actor Juan Pablo Di Pace recently turned heads when he starred in this holiday season’s gay cowboy Christmas movie, Dashing in December, and found him totally charming. So, I’m excited to learn the Fuller House star (who came out in 2019) is also an accomplished singer and dancer, and has released his first Spanish song, “Te Sentí.” Described as a love letter to his heritage and to his identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Di Pace co-wrote “Te Sentí” with Latin Grammy winner Paulina Aguirre. The new song is from his upcoming EP Vascular scheduled for release later this year. The music video for “Te Sentí” is a gorgeous, sensual affair playing light against shadows, sharing an inclusive story of desire and lost love.

I felt you / Understood love when I stared at you And my poor heart beat so fast for you / Left me breathless I died trying but in the end I lost you

“It’s important for me to showcase a strong musical style and stories that are honest and truthful to whatever is going on in my life at the time…” Di Pace says in a press statement. “With ‘Te Sentí,’ I was inspired by the feeling of losing someone, and that immobilizing pain you feel when you know it just cannot be.” Whether you understand Spanish or not, you’ll understand what the dashing Juan Pablo Di Pace is singing about here. I like 🙂

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Top 10 U.S. Cities With Same-Sex Families

A gay couple with child

A gay couple with child
(image via Depositphotos)
A new report by the U.S. Census Bureau has crunched the numbers regarding the statistics on same-sex couple households in the nation. First, the data shows there are about 980,000 same-sex households in the U.S. Of those, 58% were married and 42% were unmarried partners. Among both the married and unmarried same-sex couples, there were more lesbian couples than gay couples. The national average of same-sex households broken down by states is 1.5% with eleven states and the District of Columbia having higher percentages. Washington, D.C. had the highest concentration in the country with 7.1% followed by Delaware (2.3%) and Oregon (2.2%) in the second and third positions.
Map of the U.S. showing concentration of same-sex households
(graphics via US Census Bureau)
The top 10 cities with the highest percentage of same-sex couples: 1. San Francisco, California 2. Portland, Oregon 3. Seattle, Washington 4. Orlando, Florida 5. Austin, Texas 6. Miami, Florida 7. Boston, Massachusetts 8. Denver, Colorado 9. Phoenix, Arizona 10. Baltimore, Maryland AP News noted that three of the country’s largest metropolitan areas – New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago – didn’t make the top 10 list. While those cities have highly visible LGBTQ communities, due to the vast size of those metro areas the concentration of gay/lesbian households becomes diluted.