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Schitt’s Creek’s Dan Levy Brings The Funny On SNL

Schitt's Creek star Dan Levy hosts SNL

Schitt's Creek star Dan Levy hosts SNL
Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy hosts SNL
What to do after your hit TV series Schitt’s Creek garners not only 5 Golden Globe nominations but 5 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations? If you’re Dan Levy, you host Saturday Night Live! Levy had a great outing last night in SNL including taking part in a clever skit involving out cast members Bowen Yang, Punkie Johnson, and Kate McKinnon that ‘celebrated’ the 10-year-old It Gets Better Project. Note: We all love the It Gets Better Project, so, don’t take any of this as bashing a great organization. It’s all just fun. It all begins quite upbeat as the four assure viewers that things do, indeed, ‘get better.’ But as the details of ‘better’ are explored, it seems ‘better’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘perfect.’
L-R Bowen Yang, Kate McKinnon, Punkie Johnson (screen captures)
Yang shares how, once he learned to love himself, he found he was no longer bullied…by straight people. “Then I pretty much immediately started getting tormented by gay people…for my taste in music.” “It’s scarier when gay people are mean because they are so organized,” laments Yang. “I tweeted one vague opinion about Chromatica and I had to move. Not just apartments but cities.” Levy’s character says he doesn’t get bullied anymore because he’s a very successful 30-year-old. But life’s problems weren’t completely solved. “You know what feels very similar to being shoved in a locker though? Income tax,” says Levy’s character. “I know that’s not what you guys do, but stuff about taxes would have been extremely helpful.” Emmy Award winner Kate McKinnon knocks it out of the park with her post-It Gets Better issue – her two kids’ iguana which now dominates her life. “It’s ruined my floors with its urine, and now there’s an evil dinosaur living in my house.”

And Punkie Johnson has real-life advice: “Don’t wear basketball shorts cause when you’re out with your girl, people are going to think YOU the one who fights.” Brian Wenke, executive director for It Gets Better Project, sent out an email embracing the humor:

Last night Saturday Night Live and its incredible cast of queer talent held up a mirror to the It Gets Better Project and made us laugh. I am sure you can imagine the flurry of calls, texts, and emails inspired by the skit. I am honored to be a part of an organization that continues to maintain relevance 10 years after the viral social media campaign that gave it life.”

Another sketch that landed also addressed how life changes when you get older. “Are you bored? Looking for something to spice up your life? You used to want sex – but you’re in your late 30s now,” say the sexy-voiced cast members. “You need something new, something exciting. I need a new fantasy.” And what better fantasy that scrolling through pictures and pictures of that house you can’t afford? “You need…Zillow.” The skit’s not only pretty spot-on but – bonus! – includes Levy as part of an aroused gay couple. “I’d never live in North Carolina,” says Levy before adding in an echoing sensual voice, “But if I did – I could buy a big, gross mansion.”

Let me know what you thought about Levy’s appearance last night. Score or snore?

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Study: HIV+ More Likely To Be Hospitalized Due To COVID

(image via Depositphotos)
While not a big surprise, it appears folks living with HIV fare worse against COVID-19 than those without HIV. The Journal of the American Medical Association published research this week showing a connection between people living with HIV and increased hospitalization and death rates among New York State residents. The study found those already living with HIV experienced poorer COVID-related outcomes relative to persons living without diagnosed HIV. A previous HIV diagnosis was associated with higher rates of severe disease requiring hospitalization, and hospitalization risk increased with progression of HIV disease stage. A total of 2988 persons living with diagnosed HIV received a diagnosis of COVID-19. Of these persons living with diagnosed HIV, 896 were hospitalized and 207 died in the hospital through June 15, 2020. After standardization, persons living with diagnosed HIV and persons living without diagnosed HIV had similar diagnosis rates, but persons living with diagnosed HIV were hospitalized more than persons living without diagnosed HIV.

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Men Who Escaped Deadly Gay Purge Arrested & Returned To Chechnya

Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Chechnya, denies reports of the deadly gay purge in his country
Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic in ‘Welcome To Chechnya’
Two gay men who escaped from the deadly gay purge in Chechnya in April 2020 were discovered in Russia, detained by Russian police and are being returned to their country. From Pink News:

Salek Magamadov and Ismail Isayev escaped homophobic Chechnya, the site of deadly so-called gay purges, in June 2020. The Russian LGBT Network helped them relocate to Nizhny Novogorod, a city around 400 kilometres east of Moscow.

According to their lawyer Alexander Nemov, Magamadov and Novogorod had been arrested in April 2020 and tortured by the Chechen special police for running an opposition Telegram channel.

On Thursday (4 February), the Russian LGBT Network reported that the pair had gone missing.

The network’s assistance coordinator had received a call from one of the men that day around 3pm and heard screaming in the background. Nemov arrived at their apartment 30 minutes later and described seeing evidence of a scuffle.

Upon submitting a missing persons report, the lawyer found out that the two men had been handed over to the Chechen police. They are now being forcefully returned to their hometown, Gudermes.

Sadly, Novogorod and Magamadov were found to be missing on the same day that President Biden called for LGBTQ rights to be promoted and respected around the world. Since 2017, there have been hundreds of reports of the deadly gay purge in Chechnya consisting of abductions, detentions, and torture (sometimes resulting in death) perpetrated against those in the LGBTQ community.. Ramzan Kadryov, the leader of Chechnya, has casually denied such reports while denying the very existence of any LGBTQ people in his country. In 2017, the United States placed sanctions against Kadyrov due to the hideous atrocities.

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Utah: Pride Flag Thief Apologizes With New Flag & Note

New flag hanging after being stolen

New flag hanging after being stolen
(screen capture via Fox13Now)
How about some good news for a Saturday? Julie Cordell-Seamons of Eagle Mountain, Utah, had several rainbow Pride flags stolen last Halloween. So she was surprised to find a new flag sitting on her porch along with an apology note this week. “I’m sorry for taking your flag last fall,” read the note reports local news station Fox13Now. “It did not sit right with me, so I’m making it up to you guys for my actions. Have a good 2021.” the note read. (Editor’s note: Corrected for punctuation)
The apology note which read, "I'm sorry for taking your flag last fall. It did not sit right with me, so I'm making it up to you guys for my actions. Have a good 2021."
(screen capture)
The gesture not only surprised but touched Cordell-Seamons. “I’m assuming it was a trick-or-treater. It looked like a kid from what I could tell,” Cordell-Seamons told FOX 13 on Monday. “But I was so impressed — to have an adult do that, let alone a kid, you know, admit they were wrong and try to make up for it… I seriously started tearing up.” “In this day and age, we don’t see that a lot, so it meant a lot to me. It warmed my heart.”

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News Round-Up: February 5, 2021

Photo of a studly football referee during the 2016 Super Bowl

Photo of a studly football referee during the 2016 Super Bowl
Remember him? (via 2016 Super Bowl)
Some news items you might have missed: • Super Bowl: So, I grew up watching tons of football because my dad was a sports writer. And I still enjoy it, so you can be sure I’ll be watching the big SportsBall game on Sunday for moments like the one above – remember the attention this ref (rightfully) received during the big game in 2016? • Out: Florida Democrat and one-time candidate for governor Andrew Gillum has opened up with more details of that fateful night in Miami when he was found in a hotel room passed out with a male prostitute. “At this point I’m like, ‘This is set up.'” • Kenneth-in-the-212: Don’t miss Kenneth’s weekly round-up of LGBTQ publications like Valentine’s hotties Franco & Roberto covering Hot Spots Magazine (below).
(cover image via Hot Spots Magazine)
• The Advocate: A group of 185 actors came out in Germany to demand more LGBTQ+ diversity in film, television, and theater through a manifesto in a national newspaper. Among the issues raised is the fear of losing the opportunity to portray straight people due to biases in casting. “We are actors. We don’t have to be what we play. We act as though we were — that is our job.” • LA Times: Fox News Media has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the program hosted by one of Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters. The cancellation comes a day after voting software company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and three of its hosts — Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. • AP News: Johnson & Johnson asked U.S. regulators Thursday to clear the world’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, an easier-to-use option that could boost scarce supplies. The vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, according to early findings from a study of 44,000 people, but it was 85% protective against the most serious symptoms. • Deadline: Christopher Plummer, who starred in The Sound of Music, won an Oscar for Beginners and was nominated for All the Money in the World and The Last Station, died peacefully today at his home in Connecticut, his family confirmed. Along with becoming the oldest person to win an Oscar, Plummer also won a pair of Emmys and two Tonys during a nearly 70-year career.

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Senate & House Approve COVID Stimulus Blueprint

Vice President Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris (screen capture)
After a long night in the U.S. Senate, which ended with Vice President Kamala Harris using her tie-breaking power for the first time, lawmakers in the House have quickly followed up approving the blueprint for President Biden’s proposed coronavirus stimulus bill. From the New York Times:

The House gave final approval on Friday to a budget blueprint that included President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, advancing it over unanimous Republican opposition as Democrats pressed forward with plans to begin drafting the aid package next week and speed it through the House by the end of the month.

Senate leaders could begin working on their own bill in hopes of delivering a final package to Mr. Biden’s desk before supplemental unemployment benefits are set to expire in mid-March.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, cited poll numbers showing bipartisan support among American voters for the plan, brushing aside criticism the White House was sacrificing bipartisan solidarity for partisan celerity.

“He didn’t run on a promise to unite the Democratic and Republican Party into one party in Washington,” she said in her Friday briefing at the White House.

While the budget reconciliation approach will allow Democrats to pass the legislation without Republican votes, Biden has signaled he is open to some adjustments to the legislation including targeting direct payments of $1,400 to lower income and middle income Americans. The Senate also agreed to a proposal prohibiting an increase in the minimum wage during the pandemic. Biden’s plan hoped to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.

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Biden Issues Memo Aimed At Protecting LGBTQ Rights Abroad

President Biden has issued a proclamation recognizing June 2024 as LGBTQ Pride Month.

President Biden issued a presidential memorandum aimed at promoting and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad.
President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden issued a presidential memorandum on Thursday aimed at promoting and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad. From the White House, the memorandum reads, in part:

“All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. Around the globe, including here at home, brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) activists are fighting for equal protection under the law, freedom from violence, and recognition of their fundamental human rights.

“The United States belongs at the forefront of this struggle — speaking out and standing strong for our most dearly held values. It shall be the policy of the United States to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by the power of our example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.

“Through this memorandum, I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.”

The memorandum goes on to list specific actions to be taken abroad: 1. Combating Criminalization of LGBTQI+ Status or Conduct Abroad. 2. Protecting Vulnerable LGBTQI+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers. 3. Foreign Assistance to Protect Human Rights and Advance Nondiscrimination. 4. Swift and Meaningful United States Responses to Human Rights Abuses of LGBTQI+ Persons Abroad. 5. Building Coalitions of Like-Minded Nations and Engaging International Organizations in the Fight Against LGBTQI+ Discrimination. 6. Rescinding Inconsistent Policies and Reporting on Progress. During the presidential campaign, Biden made promoting and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad a key issue in his LGBTQ platform. Read the full memorandum at WhiteHouse.gov.

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Former WWE Star Comes Out As Transgender Woman

Gabbi Alon Tuft
Former WWE star comes out as transgender in a deeply personal social media post.
Gabbi Alon Tuft (image via Instagram)

A former WWE wrestling star, who performed under the stage name ‘Tyler Reks,’ has come out as transgender. This is Gabbi Alon Tuft.

She shared the news with fans in a social media post on Thursday writing, “This is me. Unashamed, unabashedly me. This is the side of me that has hidden in the shadows, afraid and fearful of what the world would think; afraid of what my family, friends, and followers would say or do.”

“I am no longer afraid and I am no longer fearful,” she adds. “I can now say with confidence, that I love myself for WHO I am.”

“However,” she said, “the day I stopped caring about what other people thought, was the day I truly became limitless and allowed my authentic self to come into the light.”

From 2008 to 2014, Tuft was cheered by fans battling opponents in matches on major professional platforms including Raw, Smackdown and Wrestlemania.

Tuft finally retired in 2014 in order to spend more time with her wife Priscilla and their daughter. Since then, she and Priscilla created a fitness company, Body Spartan, which aims to “positively transform the body, mind and spirit of men and women through targeted video workouts, nutritional programs and motivational sessions.”

While that was the public side of Tuft’s life, privately she had been keeping a secret since childhood.

In an interview with EXTRA’s Billy Bush, she shared, “When I was 10… when my parents weren’t home, I would sneak into my mom’s closet and try out her clothes and it just felt right. But I suppressed it my whole life, just because of society, knowing that people didn’t accept it. So I pushed it down as far as I could.”

Tuft teased the announcement for several days on her Instagram account in a countdown featuring playing cards and photos of friends and family.

After calling the previous eight months “some of the darkest” of her life, Tuft thanked fans and social media followers today for “the incredible outpouring of support.”

“As I walked to my neighbor’s house yesterday, and for the first time since I began my transition, instead of walking with my head down in fear – I held it high, my fingers were no longer clenched and hiding my nails, and my hair was no longer hiding my face,” she wrote. “You have reaffirmed what I already knew, which is that we as humans truly are beings of love and light.”

The world of professional wrestling has seen very little in regard to performers coming out. In 2017, Anthony Bowens came out first as bisexual, and then as gay in 2019.

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Ohio ‘Karen’ Gives Quite The Performance

An Ohio 'Karen' puts on quite a show (and gets arrested)

An Ohio 'Karen' puts on quite a show (and gets arrested)
Ohio Karen really thought she was proving a point (she wasn’t)
After viewing this installment of ‘The Karen Chronicles,’ I sat back and wondered, as I often do with ‘Karens’ – “What is it these folks THINK they are accomplishing?” Police in Brook Park, Ohio, were called to a Marc’s Deeper Discount Store as Karen (yes, her name really is Karen) was putting up a snit about having to wear a face mask while shopping in the store. The Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 pandemic guidelines currently require masks public. As you’ll see, she really seems to think she’s going to prove some kind of a point, but instead was arrested for resisting police, trespassing, and failure to disclose information, according to cleveland.com. Folks – for the last time, stores and restaurants have the right to refuse service to anyone if their rules aren’t followed. For years we’ve heard ‘no shoes, no shirt, no service’ due to health regulations. For now, we’re adding ‘no mask, no service.’ If a state or municipality has a public accommodations law/ordinance, that only requires that everyone be treated the same. If the ‘same’ means everyone wear a mask or leave, that’s being treated the ‘same.’ You can be removed (and arrested) for trespassing.  No one has a constitutional right to shop at a grocery store. GET OVER IT. We’re all just trying to get through this pandemic as best we can. Watch below as Miss Karen really puts on quite the performance.

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News Round-Up: February 4, 2021

Out singer/songwriter John Duff releases his new music video "Do It"

Out singer/songwriter John Duff releases his new music video "Do It"
Out singer/songwriter John Duff (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: For the first time in history, three of the national legacy LGBTQ equality organizations (National LGBTQ Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, and National Center for Lesbian Rights) will be led by Black executive directors. • Back2Stonewall: Former Vice President Mike Pence has been hired by the virulently anti-LGBTQ hate group, The Heritage Foundation, which spends significant energy to extremist policy recommendations to deny access to abortion and birth control and to harm LGBTQ people. • Boy Culture: Joe Manganiello made waves with his retro-punk new look, and now he is immortalizing it on several covers of L’Officiel Fashion Book Hommes Australia (below), all shot by out photographer Mike Ruiz.
Joe Manganiello covers L'Homme Magazine
Joe Manganiello covers L’Official Fashion Book Hommes Australia (photo: Mike Ruiz)
• Pink News: A long-awaited study of patients at the NHS Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) has confirmed the majority of transgender teenagers who take puberty blockers to treat severe gender dysphoria feel happier. • NBC News: Fox News is being sued by Smartmatic for $2.7 billion for repeating false rigged election claims. The suit names Fox News, as well as network personalities Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, and Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. • Out Music: Hottie John Duff (top image) gives us something to bop about with his new single and music video, “Do It,”  an empowering self-love anthem for anyone out there hoping to follow their dreams. In the new music video, Duff dances in his home paying homage to the likes of Risky Business, Richard Simmons, and even a few of his favorite pop divas. Fun song.