LGBTQ news and entertainment
Donald Trump (screen capture)
Trump was greeted by a chorus of boos and chants of “Vote him out” as he arrived at the Supreme Court to pay respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. pic.twitter.com/NweWCyB2J5
— The Randy Report (@randyslovacek) September 24, 2020
To all the many, many good cops out there – this doesn’t help anything. From the New York Post:
A Seattle cop was filmed rolling his bicycle over a man’s helmeted head as he lay down on the street during violent Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the decision not to charge cops for Breonna Taylor’s death.
The dungaree-wearing protester — called “trumpet man” by others in the crowd — was shown prone on the ground more than once as groups of bike cops pushed the mob back after declaring the march an unlawful protest.
As the officers advanced another time, one appeared to have had enough — and steered his bike’s wheels over the protester’s white safety helmet, according to a CJTV Media live stream. The officer — who was walking the bike at the time — then appeared to use it to hit another man to stop him getting too close.
Seattle police said it was “aware” of the video.
Two police officers swerved. One (riding) swerved to avoid him. The other (walking) swerved to run over his head and neck. Two very different kinds of cops exemplified in one video.
— Firefly (@Firefly3083) September 24, 2020
Donald Trump (screen capture)
He refuses to say he’ll accept the results of the election. He won’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Donald Trump is the most disloyal, un-American President we’ve ever had. https://t.co/xJLQLosdqC
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 23, 2020
Rather than commit to a peaceful transfer of power, the president just said that if you get rid of the ballots, he can guarantee it will be peaceful because there will be no transfer and he will continue rule.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 23, 2020
People who are very chill about the President not committing to the peaceful transfer of power unless they “get rid of the ballots” are too chill for me. This seems an awfully serious thing to be dismissive about. At the very least it’s a good reason to oppose him vigorously.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 23, 2020
In case you’re just tuning in, the President has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
I don’t want to hear one molecule of shit from conservatives who say “that’s just the way he talks” because if Obama had even hinted at this they’d have been psychotic with rage.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 23, 2020
BTW, this isn't just the president saying that he won't commit to a peaceful transfer of power. This is the president saying he wants to "get rid of the ballots" so that he wins and so that there is no need transfer power to anyone else. https://t.co/j2BlBxCC6L
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) September 23, 2020
From the Chicago Tribune:
Business leaders in Chicago’s largest LGBTQ neighborhood announced Wednesday that they would stop marketing the area as Boystown, following complaints that the 30-year-old name excludes women and gender nonbinary people.
Boystown will be called Northalsted and promoted as “Chicago’s Proudest Neighborhood,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the Northalsted Business Alliance, the local chamber of commerce.
The announcement follows an online survey by the Northalsted Business Alliance, answered by 7,900 people.
Of those survey-takers, 58% favored keeping the Boystown moniker and 20% said they felt unwelcomed by the Boystown name, according to Northalsted Business Alliance spokesperson Jen Gordon.
The push for changing the neighborhood’s name began with a Change.org petition which currently has 1,400+ signatures. However, a competing petition – which calls for keeping the Boystown moniker – has over 2,000 signatures.
Deceased ER tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use)
A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective on Wednesday for endangering Breonna Taylor’s neighbors by recklessly firing his gun during a raid on her apartment in March. No officer was charged with killing Ms. Taylor.
Grand jurors indicted Brett Hankison, the former detective, on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” saying he had threatened three people’s lives by firing bullets that traveled through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and into theirs. A pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child were asleep in that apartment, and the bullets shattered a glass door but did not harm the couple and their child.
Mr. Hankison had fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment building, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight.
He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
The Times notes that several legal experts had theorized the officers wouldn’t be indicted for Taylor’s death since it was her boyfriend who fired his gun first when the cops entered the apartment without apparently announcing who they were under a ‘no-knock’ warrant. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour countywide curfew beginning at 9 pm in anticipation of protests. Taylor’s family agreed to a $12 million settlement last week.
No officers were charged directly with Breonna Taylor’s death.
A Kentucky Grand jury indicted one officer for shooting into the neighboring apartment.
The 3 wanton endangerment charges against Hankison are for Breonna Taylor’s neighbors.https://t.co/1MDaA4LQOH
— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) September 23, 2020
Protesters are confused and livid. “Is that it?” Someone asked. #Louisville #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/A2jou7MLgi
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 23, 2020
Wow.
We are seeing live photos of protesters crying in the street learning of the charges, lack of charges against the three @LMPD officers involved in the raid that killed #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/3kFtiegs6A
— Marvis Herring (@Marvis_WLKY) September 23, 2020
Breonna Taylor was killed in her sleep by the police.
This is not even close to justice. This is an ugly reminder that our justice system does not hold police officers accountable for their actions.https://t.co/DnMQTxtyjR
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) September 23, 2020
(image via Facebook)
Out actor Jonathan Bennett (photo: Sonny Tong)
“Working through some difficult decisions, Mitchell family matriarch Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) and patriarch Bill (Treat Williams), have summoned their two grown sons — Mike (Robert Buckley) and Brandon (Bennett) — home for the holidays. It is their hope that bringing the family together to recreate the Christmas house will help them find resolution and make a memorable holiday for the entire family and community. As Brandon and his husband, Jake (Brad Harder), make the trip home, they are anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child. Meanwhile, Mike reconnects with Andi (Ana Ayora), his high school sweetheart.”
Hallmark Channel faced serious backlash last December when the network pulled a commercial that featured same-sex weddings. While the cable channel quickly reversed course and began airing the spot again, the criticism led to an announcement in July that the Hallmark Channel would be announcing “LGBTQ storylines, characters and actors” in upcoming projects. In August, Hallmark aired “Wedding Every Weekend” that included a same-sex wedding. Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming for Crown Media Family Network (Hallmark Channel’s parent company) said in a statement, “Our holiday table is bigger and more welcoming than ever.” “This year’s movies reflect our most diverse representation of talent, narratives and families,” Vicary added. “Our movies are rooted in warmth and positivity, meaningful connections, family gatherings and seasonal traditions — a winning formula we hope will bring our millions of viewers much-needed levity and holiday cheer at the end of a tough year.”
Cindy McCain (photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore – CC License)
Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, is the latest prominent conservative to urge Republicans to cross party lines and support Joe Biden for president.
“There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden,” she tweeted Tuesday evening.
McCain’s endorsement comes nearly a month after she contributed to a video that aired during the Democratic National Convention that detailed the friendship between her late husband and the Democratic presidential nominee.
Ms. McCain says she hopes she can encourage disillusioned voters in Arizona, which her late husband spent years representing in the Senate, to consider Biden over Trump amid the country’s current woes. In response, Trump predictably clapped back on Twitter saying he hardly knows Cindy McCain: “Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!”
My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020
Joe and I don’t always agree on the issues, and I know he and John certainly had some passionate arguments, but he is a good and honest man. He will lead us with dignity.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) September 22, 2020
I hardly know Cindy McCain other than having put her on a Committee at her husband’s request. Joe Biden was John McCain’s lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2020
Ellen Degeneres (screen capture)
L-R Stanley Tucci, Colin Firth in Supernova (image via The Bureau)
“‘Supernova’ is a deeply romantic, modern love story,” writer/director Harry Macqueen told Variety when the film was announced in October 2019. “It follows two people who are bound together by their love for each other but being pushed apart by the situation they find themselves in.” Macqueen described the movie as “an intimate, naked portrayal of a relationship facing a fissure that threatens to cut it to its very core.” In the trailer, Tusker stands at a family dinner to address his failing faculties, but the writer finds he’s unsure about reading his own words. And as Sam steps up without pause, we are devastated. We also get cute ‘longtime couple’ moments that put the two stars’ chemistry on display like when they share a narrow bed or, while traveling in the RV Tusker asks Sam is they could perhaps “explore the outer regions of 5th gear.”
In his review for Variety, Guy Lodge writes, “As a couple staring down the barrel of early-onset dementia, a peak-form Firth and Tucci give nuance and ballast to Harry Macqueen’s small but beautifully formed sophomore film.” Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw was effusive in his praise: “The veteran pair are on magnificent form in a drama about love and mortality that is all the more powerful for its restraint.” And noting the “two finely calibrating performances,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Dalton observed, “It is also refreshing, even in 2020, to see a drama about a gay couple that does not make sexuality a key theme or problematic plot point. The film is premiering today at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain and is also slated for its UK debut on October 11 at the BFI London Film Festival. Expect to see the film’s release in time for the upcoming awards season as the duo (who each raise the daddy factor in the film) are already generating a lot of honors buzz. 