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News Round-Up: October 22, 2019

Jon Howes of the Chippendales celebrates a birthday! ( via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Happy birthday wishes to Jon Howes of the world-famous Chippendales here in Las Vegas. Jon graciously took part in my little anniversary event last week, and he clearly improved the scenery 🙂 • Outsports: After a relatively short but impactful career on the U.S. independent scene openly-gay wrestler Jake Atlas has inked a deal to join the WWE in 2020. Atlas spun his 2017 Southern California Rookie of the Year award into multiple championships and stellar performances for high profile indie promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Defy Wrestling. • ClickOrlando: After receiving an anonymous phone call, the assistant principal of a Florida school fired Monica Toro Lisciandro, a theater arts teacher, for having a girl-friend and attending a Pride festival. And this is totally legal because Florida does not protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace. #WeveGotWorkToDo • Advocate: Entertainer Marie Osmond shared on The Talk that she once questioned her heterosexuality after surviving sexual abuse. Talking on recent comments by Miley Cyrus, who said she “thought I had to be gay” in a world of “evil” men, Osmond said at the age of 8 or 9 she thought he might have been gay “because I had been sexually abused to the point that men made me sick. I didn’t trust them. I didn’t like them.”

• New York Times: An anonymous Trump administration official who published a September 2018 essay in the Times regarding the active resistance to Donald Trump’s agenda and behavior from within his own administration, will publish a book next month titled, A Warning. • PEOPLE: The stars of The Facts of Life are coming back together, just in time for Christmas! Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn, and Nancy McKeon will reunite in the Christmas movie You Light Up My Christmas, premiering Dec.1 on Lifetime. The TV film, inspired by true events, tells “the story of Emma (Fields), who returns to her hometown to find that the lights in the once festive town have gone dim — prompting her to reconnect with a former flame (Adrian Holmes) and reignite the town with holiday cheer.” • Star-Telegram: A gay Trump supporter, Pete Gomez (from my own hometown) says, “I just want everyone to know in the LGBT community that Trump is for us, the Second Amendment is for us. We literally are going to make America more greater than it’s ever been, and keep it that way.” #MoreGreater

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Acting Ukraine Ambassador: Trump Pressured Ukraine Into Investigating Biden In Exchange For Aid

President Zelensky of Ukraine and Donald Trump (image: public domain)
Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William B. Taylor Jr., told impeachment investigators behind closed doors on Tuesday that Donald Trump withheld vital military aid for Ukraine and refused a White House meeting with Ukraine’s leader until he agreed to make a public pronouncement pledging to investigate Mr. Trump’s political opponents. From the New York Times:

In testimony that Democrats in attendance called the most damaging account yet for the president, Mr. Taylor provided an “excruciatingly detailed” opening statement that described in blunt and unsparing terms the quid-pro-quo pressure campaign that Mr. Trump and his allies have long denied.

When he objected to that effort, Mr. Taylor said in his opening statement obtained by The New York Times, Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union and a Trump campaign donor, sought to explain Mr. Trump’s actions by noting that he was a businessman.

Mr. Taylor recounted Mr. Sondland saying that “when a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check.”

Taylor testified today that Trump had made his position clear: Ukrainian President Zelensky would not be invited to the White House or secure much-needed security aid unless the Ukrainian leader made a public announcement that his country would launch the investigations sought by Trump. Before Trump supporters begin their expected attacks, it’s worth noting that Taylor is a West Point graduate who served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne.

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Trump Equates Constitutional Process With ‘Lynching’

Donald Trump
Donald Trump took to Twitter today to rant (again) about the ongoing impeachment inquiry. In this edition of Trump Twitter Tantrum, the Donald equates the current Constitutional process of impeachment with “lynching.”

Trump’s buddy, Sen. Lindsey Graham, jumped on the “lynch” wagon as well calling the impeachment inquiry a “lynching in every sense.”

Others had different thoughts on the use of the word “lynching.”

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Tennessee Commissioner: “We Got A Queer Running For President!”

Sevier County Commissioner Warren Hurst (screen capture)
During a commission meeting in Sevier County, Tennessee, Monday night Commissioner Warren Hurst decided he had somethings he wanted to get off his chest. While the public meeting was meant to discuss a pending vote on becoming a gun sanctuary city, Hurst shifted topics. “We got a queer running for president – if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get,” said Hurst with a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. “Look what we got running for president in the Democratic party. We can go over here to Hoss’s jail [Sevier County Sheriff] and get better people out of there than those running for democratic to be President of the United States.” “I’m not prejudiced – but, by golly, a white male in this country has very few rights and they getting took more every day,” added the 77-year-old commissioner. “Now, your kids and your grandkids is gonna pay for what we’ve let happen.” Local news station WVLT reports one woman stood up and left the meeting telling Hurst, “This is not professional. This is [expletive].” But many attending the meeting laughed at Hurst’s comments. Hurst later defended his comments to WVLT saying he stood by his remarks but claimed – get ready for it – that ‘some of his best friends’ are African-American. Of course, they are. On Tuesday morning, Perrin Anderson, assistant to the Sevier County Mayor, issued a statement denouncing Hurst’s remarks: “The statements made by Commissioner Hurst at the Sevier County Commission meeting of October 21, 2019, do not reflect the opinion or position of Sevier County administration,” said Anderson. “Sevier County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or status in any other group protected by law.” Sevier County includes the cities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (home of Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood). Their economies survive on tourism, so you have to wonder why would anybody want to visit there now? You can watch Hurst’s comments below. https://www.facebook.com/WVLT8/videos/520357218510468/

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Trump Rages At Republicans Not Defending Him Enough

Donald Trump threw another bitter tantrum Monday saying that Republicans in Congress were not united enough in defending him against his “vicious” political enemies. From the New York Times:

Mr. Trump lashed out at Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, the only member of his party who has signaled he may be open to impeaching Mr. Trump, arguing that the senator’s defection showed weakness in the party.

Launching into a series of attacks on Democrats, Mr. Trump said approvingly that they were “vicious and they stick together. They don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst — they don’t have people like that.”

“They stick together,” Mr. Trump added, during a lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters at a cabinet meeting. “You never see them break off.”

It was the second time in as many days that Mr. Trump — coming to terms with the fact that he will most likely be impeached by the Democratic-led House within weeks and face a Senate trial immediately after — has complained about a lack of support from Republicans as he faces the greatest threat yet to his presidency.

On Sunday night, Trump tweeted, “When do the Do Nothing Democrats pay a price for what they are doing to our Country, & when do the Republicans finally fight back?”

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Sydney, Australia, Will Host WorldPride 2023

WorldPride will head ‘down under’ in 2023 as Sydney, Australia, has won its bid to host the biennial LGBTQ+ celebration. Choosing between Sydney, Montreal, and Houston, members of the worldwide InterPride network of Pride organizations gave Sydney 60% of the vote.

The celebration, comprised of cultural activities, parades, and festivals, will take place at the same time as the 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. With its winning bid, Sydney becomes the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the event. In 2021, WorldPride will be hosted by two cities in two countries for the first time. The events will be held from August 12-22 in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and the Swedish neighboring city Malmö in the Řresund Region. The two cities are a short 15-minute commute from each other. This past summer, WorldPride was held in New York City to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, long considered the birth of the gay rights movement.

Back in 2012, during my first visit to Sydney, I made this travelogue video about the gorgeous men city:

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News Round-Up: October 21, 2019

Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunk: Fitness trainer Ramses Principe (above) heading into the week like a boss. Make sure to follow him on Instagram here for more Monday motivation. • Irish Times: A man in Dublin, Ireland, thought he was meeting a Grindr date but was instead ambushed by a group of teenage boys with weapons. The victim, who needed medical treatment after the attack, says at least four teens armed with hammers came after him shouting anti-gay slurs including ‘faggot.’ • ABC News: Former Defense Secretary James Mattis trolled Donald Trump over the weekend at an event after Trump declared Mattis to be “the world’s most over-rated general.” Mattis clapped back saying, among other things, “I earned my spurs on the battlefield … Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.” The ‘spurs’ comment was a reference to Trump’s many deferments from the Vietnam war.

• NY Times: Northern Ireland will soon have marriage equality to celebrate due to an amendment to a routine bill on governance that Parliament passed in July after the region’s governing assembly collapsed nearly three years ago. The amendment goes into effect tonight at midnight. Beginning January 13, 2020, same-sex couples will be able to give 28 days’ notice before marrying. • The Independent: In Elton John’s first memoir, Me, the popstar has some choice words about now-deceased Michael Jackson: “Every time I saw him in his later years I came away thinking the poor guy had totally lost his marbles. I don’t mean that in the light-hearted way. He was genuinely mentally ill, a disturbing person to be around. It was incredibly sad, but he was someone you couldn’t help: he was just gone, off in a world of his own, surrounded by people who only told him what he wanted to hear.” • Politico: Donald Trump reportedly stunned military leaders by demanding his ‘Victory Day’ parade at his very first Pentagon meeting. • Instinct Magazine: I am not mad at the hot daddy ASL interpreter who turned it out at Todrick Hall’s Haus Party World Tour this past weekend. #GetItDaddy

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New Iowa Poll Shows Jump In Support For Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Mayor Pete Buttigieg told SiriusXM Radio he "can't read LGBT media anymore"
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (screen capture)
A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll in Iowa shows Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, has surged to within striking distance of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The new survey, conducted after last week’s Democratic debate, shows Biden at 18 percent support, closely followed by Warren at 17 percent support. Buttigieg jumps to third place with 13 percent. That represents a 7 point increase for the mayor since the last Suffolk poll in June. Back then, Biden held a wide double-digit lead over Warren, and Buttigieg was down at 6 percent support. Biden has since lost 6 points and Warren increased 4 points. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) registered no change in support since June, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) lost 13 points dropping from 16 percent support to 3 percent. Here are the results of the new poll including the amount of change from last June’s survey to today:

• Biden 18 (-6) • Warren 17 (+4) • Buttigieg 13 (+7) • Sanders 9 (no change) • Steyer 3 (+3) • Gabbard 3 (+2) • Harris 3 (-13) • Klobuchar 3 (-1)

There are a couple of reasons Buttigieg, the first openly-gay presidential candidate seen as a major contender, would have seen his support increase. He was the top fund-raiser at the end of the second quarter with $24.8 million. His campaign indicated it would not be afraid to spend those funds and they have made good on that promise. Since then, he has opened more field offices in Iowa (22) than any other candidate. And he’s tied with Warren for the most field offices in the crucial first four states of the Democratic primary season (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada). More organizers in a state lead to more in-person contact with voters. Also, he was widely seen as one of the winners of last week’s CNN/New York Times Democratic debate. The new poll shows that among those surveyed who watched the debate, Buttigieg came in first with 19 percent support ahead of Biden and Warren at 17 percent each. Sanders was the pick of 9 percent and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) garnered 6 percent. (source: USA Today)

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Hillary Trolls Trump With Parody JFK Letter To Khrushchev

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton trolled Donald Trump today tweeting a parody letter of Trump’s now-infamous letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Clinton’s tweet featured a fake letter from President Kennedy to former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that appeared previously on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ The parody missive reads, “Don’t be a dick, ok? Get your missiles out of Cuba. Everybody will say ‘Yay! Khrushchev! You’re the best!’ But if you don’t everybody will be like ‘what an asshole’ and call your garbage country ‘The Soviet Bunion.’ You’re really busting my nuts here. Give you a jingle later. Hugs, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.” #FTW