During a sit-down with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump told the viewing audience that the issue of “filth” in major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City “started two years ago.”
The topic came up with Carlson mentioned traveling abroad to cities like Tokyo and Osaka, where graffiti and homeless people going to the bathroom in the streets aren’t issues abundantly seen. Carlson asked why American cities seem to have this problem.
According to Trump, “it’s a phenomenon that started two years ago” and he described it as “disgraceful.”
But Trump’s issue with the “filth” and the homeless weren’t borne out of concern for those living on the streets.
His first thought was that police officers are “getting sick just walking the beat.”
Trump did reference the homeless, however, when he hypothesized that “perhaps they like living that way.”
Seriously???
The Trumpster also expressed dismay that people working in office building have to “walk through a scene that nobody would have believed possible.”
Somehow, this is all the fault of ‘the Liberal establishment.’
Trump explained that when he first arrived in Washington D.C. two years ago, he saw a similar problem and shares, “I ended it very quickly.”
At no time does the president ever express any humanitarian concern for those living in the streets.
Melissa Etheridge kicked off the festivities (photos: Lawrence Pfeil Jr)
By Lawrence Pfeil, Jr.
There could not have been a more ideal setting for World Pride Closing Ceremonies than Times Square at the “crossroads of the world.”
As twilight fell across New York City and Pride marched on down in the Village, thousands gathered for a star-studded finale to Pride Month for one last official celebration of the LGBT+ Community where it all began.
It was electric, fabulous, fierce, funny, emotional, and PROUD.
Grammy Award winner, Melissa Etheridge took to the stage opening the evening with her brand of ferocious acoustic music which has inspired both the LGBT+ community as well as cancer survivors for decades.
Melissa Etheridge
Comedian Margret Cho brilliantly hosted the evening with hilarious observations on gay men.
Cho said she “prefers being a ‘Bear Hag’ because she knows there’s going to be food, with “twinks there’s no regularly scheduled meals.” She also pointed out that “twinks are having so much work done, they look like a “queer caught in headlights.”
Later, Cho did a full discussion of her “fat pussy” with surprisingly detailed descriptions of different kinds, ie Keto, sandwich, etc. Watching the muscle-stud ASL interpreter sign her graphic descriptions was hilariously horrifying.
Hunky sign language guy
More of hunky sign language guy I think Lawrence was trying to tell me something 😉
Broadway’s The Prom stopped by strutting their stuff in a celebration of Love is Love with the entire cast thrilling the audience with the show’s finale, “It’s Time to Dance.”
Mel C – ‘Sporty Spice’ – of the Spice Girls
Big electrifying numbers from MNEK, Spice Girl Melanie C with Sink the Pink, and Jake Shears wowed the capacity audience, but it was an unexpected small moment that spoke to the occasion.
Accompanied only by a guitar closing out his set, Shears sang:
Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They’re only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they’re wrong wait and see
Someday we’ll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
Jake Shears
Those who came together last night as a global community united in pride were not prepared for what happened next.
In a flowing white gown, Deborah Cox took the stage like a twister hitting Dorothy’s farmhouse with “Absolutely Not,” and from her Broadway debut in Aida at the Palace Theatre across the street, “Easy as Life.”
Cox talked about spending 18 months touring in The Bodyguard the Musical in Whitney Houston’s iconic role. On the giant video screen, a rainbow ribbon could be seen on her dress.
She explained, it wasn’t just a rainbow ribbon but an “Orlando Ribbon,” given to her by a survivor of the Pulse Nightclub massacre. Dedicated to their memory she sang, “I Will Always Love You” as tears streamed our cheeks.
I don’t know if at Pride Island they could hear what was happening in Times Square; but if they did, what they heard was, “Madonna, go home and try again.” Deborah “Nobody’s Supposed to be Here” Cox Threw. It. Down. and blew it up! Taking a crowd from emotional heartbreak to ecstatic joyous dance party like it’s nothin but a thing takes a fierce dancefloor diva. It was a feat not many performers could pull off. Deborah Cox didn’t just drop the mic, she dropped it, buried it, never to be seen again.
Empire State Building lit up in rainbow for Pride
Special thanks to Lawrence Pfeil Jr. for his awesome work this weekend as special World Pride correspondent for The Randy Report!
Make sure you click over to his own site, theOUTfront.com, for more of his uplifting pride and prose.
• Don’t know who today’s hottie (above) is, but sure wish I did… #woof #DaddyDefined
• NewNowNext: A survey of Pride Month media coverage shows LGBTQ reports don’t even come close to making up at least the 4.5% that we do in the population.
• NY Daily News: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced $19M in new LGBT programs for his city.
• The Hill: The prediction model that accurately predicted Democratic gains in the House four months before the 2018 midterm elections says President Trump will lose Electoral College 278-197 in 2020.
• Gallup Polling: U.S. adults greatly overestimate the American gay population – most guess 23.6% of Americans are gay or lesbian when most reliable reports say 4.5% of Americans are LGBT.
• Donald Trump boasted about having “new Sherman tanks” for his upcoming commandeering of the July 4th celebration in Washington, D.C.
The results of a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have each surged nearly ten points since the first debates last week.
Harris saw the biggest increase from 8 percent support to 17 percent, and Warren jumped 8 points from 7 percent to 15 percent.
Former Vice President Joe Biden dropped a precipitous ten points from 32 percent support to 22 percent.
And Mayor Pete Buttigieg, despite getting strong response for his debate performance, dropped one percent.
Asked ‘who did the best job in the debates,” the hands-down favorite was Harris with 41 percent saying she won.
With 165 units from around the world, across the country, and from every borough of the city, New York City’s Pride March was a spectacular show of love, community, and most of creativity.
Estimated to last eleven hours before it began, the dazzling rainbow extravaganza was still going strong as the midnight hour approached with NYC Pride organizers revising their estimated finishing time to 1:00AM, or later.
Which begs the obvious question, “was anybody still watching it at that hour?” Absolutely!
According to marchers whose pride light up the night, crowds were still lining the route when one couple finished at 11pm and hadn’t gone anywhere when another couple finished at midnight.
Considering Madonna was simultaneously performing at Pride Island while Deborah Cox was closing World Pride in Times Square, it gives you some indication of the fabulously creative, spectacle of Pride winding through the streets of Chelsea and the Village.
Here’s a look at the first several hours of the largest Pride March in history, which the world gathered to witness and as they celebrated “Stonewall 50.”
Paying respect to those who were the reason for the celebration of Pride, the lead car honored two of the Community’s heroines.
With New York City hosting the first bi-annual celebration of World Pride in the US, some of the 1200 InterPride were welcomed down Fifth Avenue. Each of the 57 member units brought their own creative greeting from as far away as Australia, Germany and London; or as close to home as Nevada and Palm Springs.
Nordics for Equality
Amsterdam Pride
Many LGBT+ organizations brought the Pride, including Trevor Project, also serving as one of the Grand Marshals), New York’s own LGBT Center, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and GALA of the NYPD.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
NYC Pride Center
Trevor Project
There has been some controversy regarding corporate takeover of the Pride March and commercialism overshadowing activism. So much so that it caused a schism and an anti-march was held.
It’s worth noting the first corporate float didn’t appear until 2:30 minutes into the March, after international and national LGBT+ groups and government officials who fight for equality and civil rights.
Certainly, there were corporations, like Deutche Bank and CapitalOne, whose presence were egregiously offensive considering they finance and launder money for and/or are a tenant of the President actively rolling back LGBT+ civil rights and promoting hate.
Pride and creativity were not only on display in the street but was everywhere in the crowd as well.
You never knew when you might spot a fabulous celebrity ally.
Longtime LGBTQ ally – film/TV/recording star Vanessa Williams
Broadway actor Jim Newman (L) enjoying the march
At some point, you gotta march!
The crowds were huge!
Some political statements were made along the way…
SAVE executive director Tony Lima suspended after praising four accused gay-bashers
SAVE, South Florida’s longest serving organization dedicated to protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, is facing awkward questions after it appears to have honored four men accused of taking part in a violent attack on two gay men.
I reported on the attack when it occurred in May 2018 after the Miami Beach Pride Parade.
Dmitry Logunov and Rene Chalarca were severely beaten by four men as they walked home after celebrating LGBT Pride. Surveillance cameras captured the violent beating and helped lead to the four attackers’ arrests.
The four men – Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, 21, Luis Alonso-Piovet, 20, Juan Carlos Lopez, 21, and Adonis Diaz, 21 – were soon arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery and could face up to 30 years in prison.
The Miami Herald reported at the time that Miami-Dade prosecutors also filed enhanced aggravated battery with prejudice hate crime charges.
All four pleaded not guilty to the charges and the cases are still pending.
The four men accused of the 2018 Miami Beach gay-bashing
South Florida Gay News reports that at the SAVE Champions of Equality gala two weeks ago on June 14, SAVE executive director Tony Lima recognized the four men telling the crowd they were “wrongly accused.”
In a Facebook video, Lima told SAVE supporters that the father of Lopez, openly gay Juan Lopez, reached out to SAVE weeks ago to arrange for his son to volunteer with the non-profit.
The father has maintained that his son could not have committed the violent hate crime and that he “loves LGBT.”
Since that time, Lima says the men have each spent a few hours volunteering with SAVE participating in tasks like data entry for the group. Additionally, the four purchased their own tickets to the annual gala.
In response, WLRN reports that SAVE has “placed Executive Director Tony Lima on paid administrative leave” while the organization conducts a thorough review of the episode. Lima has served as executive director for SAVE since 2013.
Terry Gonzalez-Chaveza, a spokesperson for the Office of the State Attorney, has issued a statement flatly denying any mistake in charging the men. “The defendants in the case are not wrongly accused,” said Gonzalez-Chaveza, according to SFGN.
Russell Cormican, a Broward County criminal defense attorney, told SFGN that the men may have decided to volunteer in an attempt at personal penance, or perhaps to ‘put their best face forward’ hoping it might help their cases.
“We want to extend our deepest apologies first, to the victims, and equally, to the community for any insensitivity that may have been conveyed on our behalf by their attendance and mention at the gala,” read the statement.
“Our number one priority is to promote, protect and defend equality for all people, and it was never the intent of our organization to send a message that we in any way support, exonerate or justify the actions of these individuals.”
SAVE goes on to say the organization is “currently investigating this matter more thoroughly” and promises to provide “an update to our supporters and the community at large as soon as we gather all the appropriate information.”
The New York Times reports Mayor Pete Buttigieg received $24.8 million in campaign donations over the past three months.
According to the Times, that figure is triple Mayor Pete’s 1st quarter reporting, and will be one of the largest disclosed by the current Democratic presidential contenders.
Mr. Buttigieg’s haul, from more than 294,000 donors, is the clearest indicator yet of how a candidate who only months ago was little known among voters has become a formidable contender in the race for the Democratic nomination.
His strong fund-raising gives him the financial resources to build a robust campaign operation and compete with rivals who entered the race as far better-known figures, such as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is also expected to report a big fund-raising total for the quarter.
Mr. Buttigieg had more than 230,000 new donors in the quarter, bringing his total number of donors during his presidential bid to more than 400,000, his campaign said. The average contribution over the course of his campaign has been $47.42, according to his team.
Campaign press secretary Chris Meagher told CNN that Mayor Pete heads into the 3rd quarter of 2019 with $22.6 million in cash.
All of the candidates are required to report their fund-raising numbers to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.
Thank you to the over 400,000 of you who have invested in this campaign, and who helped us raise over $24,800,000 this quarter alone. You inspire us every step of the way, and we’re just getting started. Text SHOWUP to 25859 to keep the momentum going! pic.twitter.com/g1SIlgt4Eo
Wow. Quite a Q2 fundraising haul for @PeteButtigieg. Waiting for others to turn over their cards but this is an eye-popping number. https://t.co/6RpEQDmbop
.@PeteButtigieg will be in the top three in the most cash on hand for presidential campaigns, including the incumbent President.
His average donation is $47.
This reminds me of my old boss’s Barack Obama’s June 2007 fundraising numbers.
This man is for real.
— Christopher J. Hale (@chrisjollyhale) July 1, 2019
In related news, LGBTQ Victory Fund – a political action committee that works to elect LGBTQ politicians to office – endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg this weekend. The nod is the first presidential endorsement in the organization’s history.
BREAKING: Tonight, we are officially endorsing Mayor @PeteButtigieg’s campaign for President of the United States. Mayor Pete has the experience, record of service, and vision that is required to not only lead this nation – but also to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. https://t.co/Dmu2qpHVmT
I’m honored to have your support. My candidacy is possible only because of the hard work and sacrifice of LGBTQ activists who stood up for change 50 years ago today, and the leaders who continue that fight for equality at organizations like @VictoryFund. #Stonewall50https://t.co/rXivvf0Alh
Madonna closed out the massive World Pride celebrations in New York City last night with a 4 song set during the festival’s ‘Pride Island’ on Manhattan’s Pier 57.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, New York Pride hosted this year’s World Pride festivities.
Taking to the stage, the Queen of Pop began with a raucous rendition of her 1990 classic, “Vogue,” which was quickly followed by her 2003 hit, “American Life.”
A post shared by Versace (@versace) on Jul 1, 2019 at 12:22am PDT
Madonna then stopped to address the weekend’s celebrations.
“It’s weird, I know we’re on a pier and this pier has a lot of history; God knows it has a lot of history,” she began, referencing the piers history as a cruising area for gay men in the 1970s and 80s.
“So, fifty years people,” she continued. “Fifty years of revolution, fifty years of freedom fighting, fifty years of putting up with discrimination, hatred and indifference, fifty years of blood, sweat and tears, fifty years of not bowing down to fear. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“We have been on this journey together, and I am so proud and honored to share this historical evening with you,” added the 6-year-old pop-star.
“Since I came to New York as a wee little girl, I have always been embraced by queer nation,” bringing the conversation to the personal. “I always felt like an outsider but you made me feel like an insider. You must know how much I love and appreciate everyone here tonight – all members of the LGBTQ community.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she concluded before launching into her latest single from Madame X, “God Control,” a controversial (what’s new?) meditation on gun violence in the U.S.
She closed with the anthemic “I Rise,” also from Madame X.
According to organizers, approximately 4.5 million people took part in the multiple NYC Pride events throughout the weekend.
Head over to Boy Culture where Matt Rettenmund has lots of fantastic pics of the 4-song set by Madge.
