L-R Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sara Gideon (images via campaigns)Quinnipiac University Polling released a new poll today showing 4-term Republican Senator Susan Collins trailing her Democratic challenger Sara Gideon by a whopping 12 points (54-42). From the latest survey:
• 89% of likely voters who selected a candidate in the Senate matchup say their minds are made up; 10% say they might change their minds before the election
• Collins has a negative favorability rating (43% approve, 51% disapprove) while Gideon garners a positive 49% favorability rating versus 37% unfavorable
• Asked if the candidates care about average people, 60% of voters say that Gideon cares and while say 51% believes that Collins cares
• 53% of voters say that they would want to see the Democratic Party win control of the United States Senate
Collins won her last election with nearly 70% of the vote. The same poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by 21 points (59% to 38%).
A scene from STALLS (screen capture) An opera house men’s room stall that features a hidden golden glory hole is the setting for the acclaimed queer short film, STALLS, now available for viewing (for free) on YouTube. Written and Directed by João Dall’Stella, the 3-minute short stars Andrew Ableson (The Gymnast, The Polar Express), and Matthew Jain (“General Hospital”). In the film, Jonathan heads into the lavatory as a glorious aria is heard in the background. Assuming his position in one of the stalls, the next couple of minutes play out as a tap dance of cruising excitement. As a member of the LGBTQ and Latin communities, João (who holds an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute) began making movies to create his own world where he celebrates queer/Hispanic stories and characters. (screen capture from STALLS) In a statement, the Brazil-based director shares that the idea for the film came from “many of my personal experiences looking for the perfect partner in the most creative environments.” “I wanted to create a love letter to the act of cruising,” says João. “Making a glory hole look glamorous and capturing the excitement and adventurous feeling that it can give to you.” “One day realized that cruising is a dance and that prompted me to make this film,” he added. STALLS has been screened at over 45 LGBTQ+ Festivals around the world including Outfest 2020, Los Angeles Queer Film Festival, NewFilmmakers NY, Oslo Fusion Film Festival, Gaze Film Festival, and the Madrid International Film Festival. You can watch the 3-minute short below.
L-R Blake Lee, Ben Lewis (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • TVLine: Blake Lee (Parks and Recreation, Mixology) and Ben Lewis (Arrow, Shadowhunters) – a married couple in real life (above) – have been announced to star in Lifetime’s first-ever holiday movie with an LGBTQ storyline, The Christmas Setup. Fran Drescher, of The Nanny fame, will play Lewis’s mother in the TV flick. • Boy Culture: Madonna’s biopic has been fast-tracked by Universal, and today we learn not only is the Queen of Pop co-writing the script with Diablo Cody, but Madge will direct the film of her life as well. • LGBTQ Nation: A city councilwoman in Minot, North Dakota, came out & delivered an epic smackdown to man complaining about a Pride flag. “So Mr. Walker, if you’re not aware, and I think a lot of people in this room are not aware and have come here just because this is a gay issue, I am proudly the first openly elected lesbian in North Dakota. So that is why I am not paying any heed to your crap.” • Pew Research: A new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey indicates America’s reputation has declined among many key allies and partners since Donald Trump took office. In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the U.S. is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago. • Edge Media: An Italian man has been accused of killing his 18-year-old sister in a rage because she was dating a transgender man. The suspect told authorities that he “wanted to teach her a lesson.” • CNBC: More on the death of civility – CNBC host Jim Cramer called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “Crazy Nancy” to her face during an interview on Tuesday morning — a derogatory term usually used by Donald Trump. The Mad Money host was asking Pelosi about stalled negotiations on a 4th coronavirus stimulus package when the nickname popped out. “What deal can we have, Crazy Nancy — I’m sorry, that was the president,” Cramer said, realizing the moment didn’t play as well as he’d planned in his head. “I have such reverence for the office, I would never use that term.” Pelosi (D-Calif.) stayed calm telling Cramer: “But you just did. But you just did.”
Deceased emergency room tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use) City officials in Louisville, Kentucky, have agreed to a $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, a young Black woman who was killed by white police officers during a botched drug raid. The officers were barged through the front door of Taylor’s apartment while executing a ‘no-knock’ warrant in the middle of the night as Taylor and her boyfriend were in bed. No drugs were found on the premises. The city has also announced plans to From the New York Times:
The settlement of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by relatives of Ms. Taylor, a young Black woman killed by white officers in a botched drug raid six months ago, is expected to be announced Tuesday by the family’s legal team and city officials, according to those briefed on the agreement.
Besides the multimillion-dollar settlement, among the highest to be awarded in a police killing in recent years, the city has also agreed to institute a number of changes in policing. They will impose more scrutiny on officers during the execution of search warrants, like the one that precipitated the death of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, and make mandatory safeguards that were common practice in the department but were not followed the night of the March 13 raid.
Ms. Taylor died after her boyfriend said he mistook police officers for an intruder, as they rammed in the door of her apartment after midnight to execute a search warrant. He fired his handgun, striking one of the officers, setting off a response in which a torrent of bullets sliced through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and two adjoining ones, leaving her bleeding in her hallway.
There was no effort to render her aid, as the officers outside scrambled to get an ambulance for the wounded officer.
A new poll by Monmouth University of battleground state Florida shows former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 3 to 5 point lead over Donald Trump in Florida, depending on a range of likely voter models.
Among all registered voters in Florida, the race for president stands at 50% for Biden and 45% for Trump. Under a likely voter scenario with a somewhat higher level of turnout than in 2016, the race is unchanged at 50% for Biden and 45% for Trump. The margin narrows slightly to 49% Biden and 46% Trump when using a likely voter model with lower turnout.
A notable stat in the new survey shows Trump leading Biden by four points – 50 to 46 – among active military or veteran voters. In 2016, Trump won the military vote by double digits. Among registered voters, 47% say they have a favorable view of Biden and 44% have an unfavorable opinion of him. But Trump’s favorable numbers are underwater with 41% reporting a favorable view of the president and 51% having an unfavorable opinion of him. The Real Clear Politics average of recent Florida polls shows Biden leading by 1.6 points. FiveThirtyEight gives Biden a 60% chance of winning in November. The last two presidential elections in Florida were decided by a single percentage point. If Trump were to lose the Sunshine State’s 29 electoral votes, he would have a very difficult path to victory.
L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden As the U.S. heads into the final weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign, gay dating app Hornet surveyed 10,000 gay men on who they support in the race for the White House. Twelve percent of those polled (1,200) identified as American citizens and 51 percent indicated they plan to vote for former Vice President Joe Biden. Forty-five percent said they plan to vote for Donald Trump. Those numbers align fairly closely with recent national polling. Real Clear Politics average of polls shows the former Vice President currently averaging 49.9 percent while Trump’s support is 42.9 percent. Data-crunching website FiveThirtyEight also reports Biden leads in national polling by 7 or 8 percentage points. Here’s the breakdown of responses to the question “Describe your support of Donald Trump:” • 49% said “I do not support him at all” • 11% said “I disagree with him on most issues” • 9% responded “I disagree with him on some issues and agree with him on others” • 11% said “I agree with him on most issues” • 16% responded “I fully support him” (graphic via Hornet) Overall, among the 10,000 respondents worldwide, 66 percent said they support Biden while 34 percent indicated support for Trump. What’s surprising is the American LGBTQ community historically skews to the left politically. For Trump to garner slightly higher support in this poll than current national averages raised some eyebrows. Plus, as has been widely reported, the Trump administration’s track record regarding the LGBTQ community has been hostile on numerous fronts including the transgender military ban, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court LGBTQ people shouldn’t be protected under federal civil rights law, supporting taxpayer-funded religious adoption agencies that refuse to place children in LGBTQ homes, and opposing passage of The Equality Act. Related: White House Spokeswoman ‘Trump Has Great Record On LGBTQ Issues’ (Oh My Sides…) The Washington Blade reported that national exit polls for the 2016 presidential campaign showed Hillary Clinton garnered a lopsided 78 percent of the queer vote versus Trump’s 14 percent – which is the lowest percentage for a Republican presidential candidate in modern history. In 2012, President Obama won 76 percent of the vote compared to Mitt Romney’s 22 percent support. Of course, many point out Trump’s surprise win in 2016 seemed to defy most polls, so this poll by Hornet could be an outlier. You can check out more from the Hornet survey here.
Professional English Rugby player Levi Davis (image via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • Gay Star News: Professional English Rugby player Levi Davis (above) has come out as bisexual – a first for a professional player with his career still ahead of him. The 22-year-old is also famous for his other love – music. Last year he formed a band to take part in the Celebrity X Factor competition and got through to the semi-finals. • Attitude Magazine: “I realized that being gay and growing up around people and in a culture where that wasn’t celebrated – where it was reviled, in many ways – had an impact on me. Happy as I am, I’m still working out the fear I grew up with: that by revealing who I really am, I will somehow lose the love of the people who are important to me.” – Jim Parsons in a new interview with the UK publication. • Lambda Legal: A federal district judge ruled in favor of a woman who was denied Social Security survivor benefits after her partner of more than two decades had passed away. Helen Thornton and Marge Brown lived as a couple for 27 years, purchasing a home together, and raising a child. Brown passed away in 2006 of cancer years before marriage equality came to Washington state. The Social Security Administration (SSA) refused to give Thornton survivor benefits after Brown passed away. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman • The Atlantic: “They may or may not have dirt on him (Trump), but they don’t have to use it. They have more effective and less risky ways to employ him. He has aspirations to be the kind of leader that Putin is, and so he admires him. He likes authoritarian strongmen who act with impunity, without checks and balances. So he’ll try to please Putin. In the Army we call this ‘free chicken,’ something you don’t have to work for — it just comes to you. This is what the Russians have in Trump: free chicken.” – former National Security Council official Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman. • Axios: In a new clip from an interview with Bob Woodward, Donald Trump said that his relationships with world leaders are better “the tougher and meaner they are,” naming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an example. • CBSN: Meeting with officials in California to discuss the wildfires that are devastating the state on Monday, Donald Trump pushed back when Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California’s Natural Resources Agency, told him the science regarding climate change needed to be looked at. “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch,” said Trump. “I wish science agreed with you,” Crowfoot replied. “I don’t think science knows actually,” Trump remarked with a smirk.
(photo: Honeybee’s Photography) How much do I love this photoshoot?I’m pretty sure this is the exact opposite of ‘toxic masculinity.’ Photographer Kait Lewis, who lives in Virginia, recently posted this collection of photos to Facebook featuring her fiancé, Devon (bearded), and his bestie since 8th grade, Trevor. Lewis recently launched her own family photography studio, Honeybee’s Photography, and when Trevor (who lives hours away) came to visit, she suggested the fun, lighthearted photo shoot. Both men are straight and have no issues in expressing their friendship. And did I mention they’re both totally woofy?(photo: Honeybee’s Photography)(photo: Honeybee’s Photography) “How hilarious is this session?” wrote Lewis on Facebook. “My fiancé’s bestie came to town so I jumped at the opportunity to capture their *unique* friendship!” She prefaced the post with a ‘Viewer Discretion Advised’ tag which apparently confused a few folks. “I LOVE these photos!” wrote one gay man in the comments. “It’s important to show two men can have a friendship like this and it be completely okay. Disappointed in the ‘viewer discretion advised.’ I saw that you said you’re a family-friendly business, but if this were a male-female couple, or two female friends the advisory wouldn’t be there. As a gay man, I’m disappointed because it only perpetuates male physical contact as inappropriate which encourages fragile masculinity and homophobia.” Lewis later added that it was the inclusion of alcohol and the suggestive poses, not the men’s genders, that prompted the advisory tag. “The viewer discretion was added because I am a family friendly photographer and the sexual posing and alcohol needed to be warned to AVOID offending people,” said Lewis. “It has nothing to do with the genders. Everybody’s interpretation on what is sexual and what is not is very different.” “I stand by the advisory and will not be removing it,” she added. “I wasn’t anticipating this post to reach 6,000,000+ people in a matter of 2 days. Unfortunately, with a lot of views, comes a lot of opinions and you can’t please everybody.” “If you are offended by ANY of this (the photos or the caption), feel free to keep scrolling.” (photo: Honeybee’s Photography)(photo: Honeybee’s Photography) The photos picture Devon and Trevor walking hand in hand wearing daisy duke shorts, hugging it out, pouring beer in each other’s mouths, and even recreating a famous moment from the film Titanic. Lewis playfully suggested in her post that Busch Beer should sponsor her. (photo: Honeybee’s Photography)(photo: Honeybee’s Photography) And while some photographers may have issues with shooting same-sex couples, Lewis said she would “absolutely” welcome the opportunity to photograph LGBTQ couples and weddings. “People who refuse clients for any reason regarding who they love is beyond me,” Lewis recently told Queerty. “It’s baffling, disgusting, and downright ridiculous. The sex of the people getting married makes no difference to me.” Since sharing the photos on September 7, the post has been shared over 42K times and received 24K comments. The vast majority of Facebookers applauded the fun and spirit of the shoot. “Thank you for sharing the story of their friendship and your love together! I love it!” wrote one woman. Another commented, “The photography is beautiful, the friendship is next level, and these guys are hilarious & adorable! It’s obvious they’re having a great time!” (photo: Honeybee’s Photography) More responses: “Men comfortable enough in their sexuality to appreciate a bromance. It’s truly heartwarming. These guys are amazing.”“These are fantastic.. a true friendship… bromance at its best. Good for them.”Thank you for breaking down the barriers! I love when men are open enough to love their friends and show it.”“If you have never been around men in the military then you might not understand the closeness that some men are able to share due to either a long relationship or a relationship forged in tough circumstances. I feel sorry for people that will never be this close to each other.” Lewis and Devon plan to tie the knot on April 10, 2021. Congratulations to the happy couple. You can view all the photos from the shoot on Honeybee’s Photograph Facebook page here and check out the official website here. (photo: Honeybee’s Photography)
I reported earlier today about Donald Trump’s visit to Nevada over the weekend where he held an indoor campaign rally with a few thousand supporters in violation of the current Nevada guidelines regarding gatherings of more than 50 people. I just came across this, however, which has to go in the ‘You can’t make this stuff up’ file. Watch these hundreds of Trump fans race past the barricades (barely a mask in sight) all to the tune of the Village People’s gay anthem, “Macho Man.” It’s also worth noting that Victor Willis, the only original member of the Village People still with the group, sent a cease and desist letter to the Trump campaign in June asking that the group’s music (Trump also loves using “YMCA” and “In the Navy”).
Just watched a sea of people rush to the front of the barricades ahead of tonight’s rally in Minden, NV. pic.twitter.com/pawt9D2P3Z
