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News Round-Up: March 5, 2020

The West End cast of City of Angels
Some news items you might have missed: • West End Theater: The Donmar Warehouse’s Olivier Award-winning production of the Broadway musical City of Angels (starring my college bestie Vanessa Williams above) hits the boards on the West End for its first preview tonight. Word in theater circles is the show is stylish, smart, and stunning. • Greenville Journal: A county in South Carolina was about to repeal a 1996 anti-LGBTQ resolution when religious dissenters, citing “traditional family values,” overwhelmed the County Council meeting just before the vote causing two council members to change their votes. • The Hill: Vice President Pence, who is heading up the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus threat told reporters today the United States does not currently have enough tests to meet the expected demand. • Washington Blade: Chris Johnson is one of my favorite LGBTQ reporters and he’s penned an excellent assessment of the historic candidacy of Mayor Pete Buttigieg: “He made a mark on American politics — and not just because he broke barriers as a gay presidential candidate.” • Washington Post: Now that Mike Bloomberg has exited the race for the White House, he has announced he plans to form an independent expenditure campaign that will absorb hundreds of his presidential campaign staffers in six swing states (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina) to work to elect the Democratic nominee this fall. • Out Music: Maia, who records under the moniker mxmtoon, released her exuberant single and music video, “fever dream,” where she dances with her past and future self.  “We wanted to work with the themes of the single to make a video that exemplifies the nostalgia the lyrics evoke but also the courage to move forward,” shares the out bisexual artist. With a blissfully nostalgic lilt, mxmtoon’s vocals are soothing and sure. The sentimental, upbeat melody is a refreshing escape from the clutter of today’s current news cycle. Her 2018 debut EP plum blossom – recorded in her parent’s guest bedroom – has garnered more than 100 million streams on Spotify. You can follow her on Instagram here.

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Sanders “Disgusted” And “Aghast” By Vitriol Hurled By His Supporters

During an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked about some of the attacks lobbed at his presidential primary opponent Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during the Democratic primary. Referencing the tweeting of images of snakes and more, Maddow asked Sanders if he felt that might hurt his campaign’s prospects. Sanders responded saying he was “actually disgusted” and “aghast” by online vitriol directed at Warren. “We condemn that,” Sanders said directly and without equivocation. “We want our supporters to be [talking] about the issues.”

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Nine More Coronavirus Diagnoses In NY State

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced he will resign amid allegations of sexual harassment

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (screen capture)
The New York Post is reporting nine more New Yorkers have tested positive for coronavirus bringing the current total to 22 cases in the Empire State according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Eight of the new cases are in Westchester, connected to a single New Rochelle lawyer, identified by sources as 50-year-old Lawrence Garbuz, while the ninth is on Long Island, Cuomo said.

The afflicted attorney’s wife, son, and daughter have also tested positive, as have a friend, his wife and three of their four kids, Cuomo has said.

A neighbor who drove Garbuz to the hospital has additionally been confirmed to have the potentially deadly disease.

Because he also has an underlying respiratory infection, Garbuz is currently hospitalized in Upper Manhattan, while the others are self-isolating in their homes.

In related news, the Dow Jones closed down another 969 points due to fears about the spread of the virus.

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New Poll Shows Biden With Huge Lead In Florida Primary

The latest survey by St. Pete Polls of Democratic voters in Florida shows former Vice President Joe Biden with a commanding lead in the upcoming Sunshine State primary. Democratic voters in Florida support Biden by 61 percent while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders garnered 12 percent support. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren only received 5 percent support. Mike Bloomberg was still in the field of active candidates when the poll was conducted and he received 14 percent support from likely voters.  Florida’s Democratic primary will be held in less than 2 weeks on March 17. There will be 248 delegates up for grabs.

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Elizabeth Warren Ends Bid For Presidential Nomination

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (image via campaign)
From the New York Times:

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday, ending a run defined by an avalanche of policy plans that aimed to pull the Democratic Party to the left and appealed to enough voters to make her briefly a front-runner last fall.

Though her vision excited progressives, it did not generate enough excitement among the party’s working-class and diverse base, and her support had eroded by Super Tuesday. In her final weeks as a candidate she effectively drove former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a centrist billionaire, out of the race with debate performances that flashed her evident skills and political potential.

Addressing supporters and the press in front of her house in Cambridge, Ms. Warren said that, from the start, she had been told there were only two true lanes in the 2020 contest: a liberal one dominated by Mr. Sanders, 78, and a moderate one led by Mr. Biden, 77.

“I thought that wasn’t right,” Ms. Warren said, “But evidently I was wrong.”

When asked if she would be making an endorsement in the Democratic race, she demurred. “Not today, not today. I need some space around this, and want to take a little time to think a little more.”

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Anti-Gay Homocon Aaron Schock Comes Out

Aaron Schock (image via Instagram)
Disgraced former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock has finally told the world the worst kept secret in the world. In a lengthy personal essay posted on his Instagram account as well as his personal website, the Republicans – who famously voted against LGBTQ interests while in the House of Representatives – tells the world, “I am gay.” After “working through a list of people” who he wanted to tell first hand over the past year including family members, he says >he’s ready to make a public statement. “The fact that I am gay is just one of those things in my life in need of explicit affirmation, to remove any doubt and to finally validate who I am as a person,” writes Schock. “In many ways, I regret the time wasted in not having done so sooner.”

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Link in profile to full text

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In his essay, he reveals how denial and mistakes led to even deeper denial and greater mistakes. He goes on to share “his story” which began in the rural Midwest and a family “centered in faith and its particular traditions.” It was in church life – “Memorizing Bible verses, going to church camp, attending services at least twice a week” – that Schock says he “thrived.” He chronicles his path through high school where he realized his “goal-focused personality” helped him to “force [his] thoughts in other directions” when he felt “drawn in the direction of [his] natural orientation.” After holding several local public offices, he says his arrival in Washington in 2009 as the youngest member of Congress was a heady experience as he received “a lot of attention,” which he admits he enjoyed. But soon he was aware of “speculation” he feels occurred because he was single, how he dressed, and his “preoccupation with physical fitness.” Soon after, he says “Untruthful stories were written” by the news media. Referencing the scandal that revolved around his office in Washington being redecorated in the style of a hit television show, Shock shares he wondered why “the news media would run with an utterly false story about me and a show I’d  never even heard of, and still haven’t seen, Downton Abbey.” Along the way, he takes swipes at the “woke” media calling reports about him “another way, albeit sophisticated, to be teased about being gay.” He explains his work in Congress included being responsive to the interests of his Illinois constituents. “Perhaps correctly, perhaps not, I assumed that revealing myself as their gay congressman would not go over well. I put my ambition over the truth, which not only hurt me but others as well.” He adds, “I also, in retrospect, realize that I was just looking for more excuses to buy time and avoid being the person I’ve always been.” Schock details the investigation that led to his resignation from Congress, during which he planned to come out to his family, but felt it would be best to wait until the legal wrangling was done. Once the charges of improper use of campaign funds were dropped in exchange for repaying $68,000 to his congressional campaign fund and $42,000 to the IRS, he again planned to come out to family. But first, he attended the Coachella Festival last year and photos of him with assorted men reached his mother before he did. When he spoke to her, she (and the rest of his family) reportedly did not take the news of his sexuality well. “Pictures online made clear what I was en route to tell my mother in person.  She told me to turn around and go back to LA. I wasn’t welcome at home for Easter.” Like many LGBTQ people who go through a similar reaction from family members, Schock holds out hope his family will eventually come around. He goes on to justify his anti-LGBTQ positions and votes (he opposed same-sex marriage, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) by pointing to political leaders at the time. “In 2008, as a Republican running in a conservative district, I took the same position on gay marriage held by my party’s nominee, John McCain,” writes the 38-year-old. “That position against marriage equality, though, was also then held by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as well.” While he’s correct about that timeline, what Schock misses there is McCain, Obama and Clinton weren’t secretly gay voting against their own interests. And, by the way, what about the 12 years since then? Also, Obama and Clinton never proposed or voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. And in 2010, as Obama was working to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Schock voted against the repeal. In fact, Schock’s record on LGBTQ issues was so anti-LGBTQ the Human Rights Campaign gave him a rating of zero. The former congressman says if he were still in office he would support LGBTQ issues “in every way” he could. He also hopes that sharing his story will “help shine a light for young people, raised the way I was, looking for a path out of darkness and shame.”

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Toasted 🥥☀️

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In closing his essay, he says family members still suggest so-called “conversion therapy” to him. But at a recent wedding, his mother did inquire as to whether he was seeing someone and if so, she is interested in meeting him. LGBTQ media has covered Schock’s story for quite some time over the past few years mainly because he is ‘one of us’ but wielded his position in a manner that didn’t help but hurt the LGBTQ community. In his post, he never apologizes for those political calculations. His lack of remorse is rather stunning. Imagine the mental Jui-Jitsu that compels you to run for Congress and advocate for conservative anti-LGBTQ legislation while having sex on the DL and then expecting sympathy and understanding. I wish he hadn’t been raised by narrow-minded people who taught him to hate or doubt himself. It’s worth noting that he finally comes out as a 38-year-old rich white guy living in Los Angeles. How brave. That said, I celebrate that Schock has come to a place in his life that he can live his truth out loud. I realize everyone comes to this in their own time. I do wish his essay wasn’t so layered with self-pity. But, in the end, we can all only be who we are. LGBTQ folks on social media responded:

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Netflix Announces ‘Schitt’s Creek: The Farewell Tour’

The cast of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ (via Instagram)
We haven’t seen the last of Schitt’s Creek just yet! Streaming giant Netflix has announced its first-ever comedy tour of North America – Schitt’s Creek: The Farewell Tour! Squee!!! The event will be a live, improvisational show featuring the stars of the hit sitcom. The comedy tour will also take part in Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration on May 1 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. “Couldn’t say goodbye without saying thank you to all of you,” Dan Levy wrote on Instagram. Levy adds that tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 am local time. Twelve dates have been announced so far including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Washington DC, Orlando, Boston and more. Levy notes that more dates will be added to the tour schedule. Dan and Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Annie Murphy, Noah Reid, and Emily Hampshire are all scheduled to appear on the tour.

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News Round-Up: March 4, 2020

Billy Porter (right) on the set of ‘Pose’ (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instagram: Emmy Award winner Billy Porter (above) looks euphoric as the cast of Pose begins working on Season 3. “I couldn’t be more excited to be back on set with my @poseonfx family today to start shooting season 3 of this show that I’m so proud to be a part of. I can’t wait for y’all to see what we have in store for you this season – it’s going to be epic hennies!” • Washington Post: Bipartisan congressional negotiators reached an agreement today on a roughly $8 billion emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus, hoping to send it to Donald Trump’s desk by the end of the week. The deal must still be voted on by the House later Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday. • New Music: Loving the latest from Malia Civetz, “Broke Boy,” a gospel-tinged, pop bop that finds Civetz extolling her guy’s assets even if they aren’t financial. Her raise-the-roof, full-throated vocals paired with a body-positive/sex-positive message is definitely a winning combination. I think we’ll be hearing a lot from the powerhouse vocalist. “I love my broke boy…there’s no credit card that’s gonna buy my heart, cuz I gave it all to a broke boy.” 

• Cape Town: Two teen boys, aged 14 and 17, allegedly gang-raped a lesbian over the weekend in an attempt to ‘correct’ her sexuality just a day before the annual Cape Town Pride Festival on Saturday. • NBC News: After failing to win any states on Super Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is reportedly “assessing” her path forward. Her campaign manager sent an email to staff Wednesday morning, saying that they are “disappointed” in the Super Tuesday results and that Warren will be “going to take time right now to think through the right way to continue this fight.” • Dazed: Straight men, like InstaHunk Ryan Yule (below), are apparently joining content-hosting fan sites like OnlyFans making soft porn for gay men. Yule makes a strong case for doing so: “I used to have a wank and wouldn’t get paid for it, and now, I get paid for it.” He reportedly has 250 subscribers at $15 a month. Minus the site’s 20 percent fee, that adds up to about $3,000 a month.

 

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Montana Governor Poised To Run For US Senate

Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana
Two-term Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana appears ready to reverse himself on previous statements and announce a run for the U.S. Senate for his state. From the New York Times:

For months, even when he was still a presidential candidate, Mr. Bullock has faced questions about whether he would take on Mr. Daines. And when he dropped out of the presidential race in December — after a spirited but underfunded campaign — he again said that he would not run for the Senate.

But Mr. Bullock, who is barred by term limits from running for re-election this year, has faced one of the most sustained lobbying campaigns of any would-be Senate candidate — a reflection both of his potential as a candidate and how badly Democrats need to put another seat in play.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, flew to visit him in Montana last month. And when Mr. Bullock was in Washington last month for the meeting of the National Governors Association, he also met with former President Barack Obama, as was reported by Politico.

More quietly, a handful of union officials have reached out to Mr. Bullock to assure him he would have all the resources he needs in a state that still retains a strong labor tradition, according to one of the party officials, who was familiar with the conversations.

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#WeLoveYouAlex – Alex Trebek Gives One-Year Update On His Cancer Journey

Who doesn’t love good news on Hump Day? Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, currently on a survival journey with pancreatic cancer, gave his fans an upbeat update today – his one year anniversary since his diagnosis. As Alex notes, the one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 18 percent. He adds that, while the two-year survival rate is 7 percent, his oncologist recently told him he expects to be sitting with Alex face to face next March 4. While he acknowledges there have been not-so-good days along the way, he jokes it won’t be cancer that kills him but the chemo treatments. As a cancer thriver myself, I completely understand that, and I’m more than appreciative that Alex is not only sharing his journey but doing so with such grace and conviction. Radiating positivity and courage, he closes his update saying, “If we – because so many of us are involved in this same situation – if we take it just one day at a time, with a positive attitude, anything is possible.” See you next year, Alex.