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News Round-Up: October 8, 2020

LGBTQ ally and anti-bullying advocate Ben Cohen

Some news items you might have missed:

• Calendar Season: LGBTQ ally and anti-bullying advocate Ben Cohen (above) announces his 2021 calendar is available for shipping by October 30. #WeLoveBenCohen #Woof

• The Advocate: Monica Roberts, the transgender activist and blogger who founded TransGriot 15 years ago, has died. She was honored with special recognition award for her blog at the 2016 GLAAD Media Awards and named one of The Advocate’s 2020 Women of the Year in May.

• Pink News: CNN’s Anderson Cooper condemned Trump’s “recklessness” while carrying a deadly disease (coronavirus) while pointing out that HIV positive people can be jailed for the same offense.

• Instinct Magazine: How do you show up for Black Lives? By actually showing up where they are and getting to know them.

• Forbes: Democrats raised $15 million in just over 12 hours after the start of Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate—a sign that Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-Calif.) performance against Vice President Mike Pence resonated with at least some viewers.

• Fox News: Take a few seconds to take in the epic clap back from former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg when he dropped by Fox News prior to last night’s veep debate. The hosts tried to score a dig at Sen. Kamala Harris and Buttigieg didn’t hesitate to throw shade with a straight face. Watch below.

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News Round-Up: September 3, 2020

Anderson Cooper (art design: Sean Penn)

Some news items you might have missed:

• The Advocate: Dictionary.com has replaced references to homosexual and homosexuality with gay, gay man, gay woman, or gay sexual orientation. Additionally, Pride is now capitalized and its own separate entry that refers to the celebration of LGBTQ+ identity and events that raise the visibility of the community. The website also added a host of other LGBTQ+ terms including ace, ambisextrous, asexual, biromantic, deadname, gender-inclusive, gender diversity, and trans+.

• ABC News: Russia has sought to “amplify” concerns over the integrity of U.S. elections by promoting allegations that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud, according to an intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News. The warning was issued after finding with “high confidence” that “Russian malign influence actors” have targeted the absentee voting process “by spreading disinformation” since at least March.

• Instinct Magazine: Get your first look at the upcoming LGBTQ-themed Christmas season film, Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen, and Dan Levy. The filmmakers hope to release the film in theaters around Thanksgiving.

 

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Happiest #Pride from #HappiestSeason. 🏳️‍🌈 In theaters this Thanksgiving. Photo by: Lacey Terrell

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• The Gaily Grind: A married youth minister, Thomas “Tommy” Callaway, who slapped a female reporter’s butt on live television as she delivered a report in Georgia has pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge. The 44-year-old was sentenced to a year probation, 200 hours of community service, and fined $1,000 by a Savannah judge who accepted his plea for the misdemeanor count on Tuesday.

• USA Today: Rick Synder, former GOP governor of Michigan, endorses Joe Biden for president – “For years, I mentioned in most of my speeches the need to bring back civility to our nation. We will not continue to be the greatest nation in the world if we can’t get along among ourselves. We have only become more divided over the past four years. We need a leader who believes in civility and bringing Americans closer together.”

• Variety: Filming has been suspended in the United Kingdom on the upcoming movie The Batman as the star of the flick, Robert Pattinson, has tested positive for COVID-19.

• Instagram: Bravo’s Andy Cohen decided to have some fun sharing a shirtless pic of his buddy, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, as a lighthearted way to rib his pal. But 2-time Academy Award-winner Sean Penn took things to another level as he celebrated the photo posting his own updated version including rainbows and hearts along with the caption, “Good morning to Twunk Zaddy Anderson Cooper and his tiny hard sharp nips.” #AforEffort

 

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Good morning to Twunk Zaddy Anderson Cooper 🔥 and his tiny hard sharp nips 😍 🔪

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News Round-Up: August 21, 2020

L-R Jim Parsons and Matt Bomer in ‘The Boys in the Band’ (image via Netflix)

Some news items you might have missed:

• EW: Netflix has released the first look photos (above) of the upcoming movie version of the acclaimed Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band set to premiere September 30. The cast of the Tony Award-winning production is reuniting for the film including The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons, The Sinner’s Matt Bomer, NOS4A2’s Zachary Quinto, Black Monday’s Andrew Rannells and Tuc Watkins, Teen Wolf’s Charlie Carver, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Michael Benjamin Washington.

• Washington Blade: The State Department has stubbornly appealed a federal judge’s ruling that said it must recognize the U.S. citizenship of a gay Maryland couple’s daughter who was born in Canada via surrogate. Section 301(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that states “a baby born abroad to married parents is a U.S. citizen at birth when both parents are U.S. citizens and one of them has resided in the United States at any point prior to the baby’s birth.” Both parents are citizens, both had resided in the U.S.

• Vice: A member of a Facebook group dedicated to taking pictures of loaded weapons pointed at their d*cks finally shot himself in the balls, according to photos and video he posted on social media. The apparent point of the private group Facebook group “Loaded Guns Pointed at [B]enis” is to somehow ‘trigger the libs.’ I’m not sure how shooting your own junk ‘owns the libs,’ but you do you, boo.

• Journal Sentinel: Vandals burned a Joe Biden yard sign, a Pride flag and an American flag at a home in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. “I think it was (a) hate crime ‘cuz someone started the pride flag on fire,” the owner said. “We felt targeted.”

• KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s round-up of the latest in local LGBTQ publications.

• Washington Post: Trump’s latest attempt to shield his tax records from the Manhattan district attorney was rejected Thursday by a federal judge, who said Trump’s legal team failed to show the subpoena was issued “in bad faith.”

• CNN: Anderson Cooper spoke with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell about his campaign for an herbal “cure” for COVID-19 called oleandrin based on the oleander plant. Lindell has no background in medicine or science, but he does donate big bucks to the GOP and is a member of Donald Trump’s inner circle. Oh, and Lindell was added to the board of (and received a financial stake in) Phoenix Biotechnology, which produces the supplement. Trump is now touting the supplement as well.

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News Round-Up: June 10, 2020

Paulo Batista (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Woofy transgender bodybuilder Paulo Batista (above) is literally pumped to be back in the gym: “One of my first days back to a gym in a while! It felt great to get a real pump and sweat in!”

• Buzzfeed News: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling doubled down on her recent anti-transgender comments, releasing an extensive statement about her fears of “current trans activism,” which recycles dangerous anti-trans stereotypes and cliches. #DeeplyDisappointing

• People: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper opens up about being a dad to adorable baby Wyatt. “This is a dream come true,” the veteran journalist says of parenthood.

• Pride Month TV: The acclaimed documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, celebrates one of the icons of the gay rights movement, and the self-described “street queen” of NY’s gay ghetto in the 1960s. When Johnson’s body was found in the Hudson River in 1992, police called it a suicide and didn’t investigate. David France’s film seeks to uncover the truth of her death while celebrating her legacy. Streaming now on Netflix.

• The Hill: The final testing stage for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna is set to begin in July. John Mascola, the director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Wall Street Journal the trials will involve about 30,000 people at more than 50 sites, which will mostly be within the U.S.

• Washington Post: Last week, the hashtag #LadyGraham exploded on social media in response to allegations made on Twitter by gay adult-film star Sean Harding against Sen. Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina. The hashtag purportedly refers to Graham’s nickname among male sex workers. What followed has been a mixed bag of political commentary, wanton speculation and downright trolling.

• Politico: The Trump administration is preparing to open the door to oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coast — but will wait until after the November election to avoid blowback in a swing state whose waters both parties have long considered sacrosanct, according to four people familiar with the plan.

• Out Music: Acclaimed out singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright drops his latest music video, “You Ain’t Big,” from his upcoming album Unfollow the Rules.

“I originally wrote the song “You Ain’t Big” about the strange fact that in the music business worldwide until recently (our estimation has fallen considerably) no matter how well you’ve done anywhere else, if you couldn’t make it in the heartland of the US you weren’t really considered a true star,” shares Wainwright. “Think Little Richard, Elvis, the Beatles, and Julio Iglesias.”

“Its vintage sound harkens back to the classical American country music sound of the 40s and 50s and with the help of opposing images in the video of how different life was for white people compared to black people in the 1950’s, as it has sadly remained,” adds the two-time Juno Award winner. “I think it rings appropriate for this time and professes a certain truth.”

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Anderson Cooper Opens Up On Why His Ex Will Co-Parent New Son

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper (via Instagram)

Out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper Zoomed into Howard Sterns’ radio show this week to chat on the news of Cooper’s new son, Wyatt, who was born on April 27.

Along with the ‘proud dad’ announcement, Cooper has publicly shared that his ex-boyfriend, Benjamin Maisani, will co-parent Wyatt.

Since the couple broke up over two years ago, the news surprised some folks.

So, Howard went right to it asking: “Don’t you want a clean break from this guy?”

Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani (via Instagram)

Cooper’s response was both moving and disarmingly candid.

“I don’t really have a family, so my friends become my family,” said the 52-year-old journalist. “And this is somebody that I was involved with for 10 years. He’s a great guy.”

“We didn’t work out as a couple, but when I was a little kid, it was just my mom and my brother,” he continued. “But it was my mom and she was not the most parental person.”

Cooper’s mother was acclaimed artist, fashion designer and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, who passed away last summer at the age of 95. His father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, died in 1978 when Anderson was just 10-years-old.

His brother, Carter, died after committing suicide ten years later in 1988.

“I wish some adult, after my dad died, had stepped in, and just been like, you know what? I’ll take you to a ball game, or let’s go out to lunch every now and then, and let’s just talk,” he shared. “No one ever did that.”

“And so I thought, if something happens to me – or even if something doesn’t happen to me –  if more people love my son and are in his life, I’m all for that,” he said. “My ex is a great guy and it’s good to have two parents if you can.”

Considering the two-parent status, Sterns asked, “Are you both going to be ‘dad?’”

“Well, my ex is French, his name is Benjamin, so he’s going to speak to him in French and he’s going to be like, ‘papa,’” explained Cooper. “And I think I’ll be ‘dad’ or ‘daddy.’”

“He’s already speaking French to him, I have no idea what he’s saying,” he added before joking, “He could be turning the kid against me, I don’t know.”

I’ll say I completely understand Anderson’s thinking, and he knows he can trust Benjamin. Good on him.

 

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I want to share with you some joyful news. On Monday, I became a father. This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten. I hope I can be as good a dad as he was. My son’s middle name is Morgan. It’s a family name on my mom’s side. I know my mom and dad liked the name morgan because I recently found a list they made 52 years ago when they were trying to think of names for me. Wyatt Morgan Cooper. My son. He was 7.2 lbs at birth, and he is sweet, and soft, and healthy and I am beyond happy. As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth. Most of all, I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him. It is an extraordinary blessing – what she, and all surrogates give to families who cant have children. My surrogate has a beautiful family of her own, a wonderfully supportive husband, and kids, and I am incredibly thankful for all the support they have given Wyatt and me. My family is blessed to have this family in our lives I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him. I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues.

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Podcast: Anderson Cooper Is A Dad, Two Pioneering Gay Artists Pass Away, Plus News From Germany & Brazil

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter'

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter'

In this week’s headlines:

• Brazil changes course on regulations that limit gay and bisexual me from donating blood

• A gay couple in Tulsa speaks out after a neighbor posts anti-LGBTQ signs his front yard

• Germany bans so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for minors

• Out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announces he’s become a dad

• Two ground-breaking stars in their respective fields – rock and roll pioneer Little Richard and magician Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy – pass away

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Anti-LGBTQ Activist Scolds Anderson Cooper For Having A Child

Michael Brown (screen capture via YouTube)

Anti-LGBTQ activist Michael Brown scolds Anderson Cooper for having a child in an op-ed on CharismaNews.

Dear Anderson,

Isn’t it an amazing feeling to be a father? To know that the precious little baby that you hold in your arms is, in a real sense, your own flesh and blood? That in a unique way, he carries part of you in his very life and soul? Yet when I saw the announcement of his birth, I felt sadness more than happiness. Sadness for him and for you.

Anderson, a boy deserves his mother, yet if I understand your plan correctly, your son will not be raised together by her and by you. That’s what saddens me the most.

To be clear, I don’t believe that you simply chose to be gay one day. I don’t believe that any more than I “chose” to be straight.

And I don’t mean that you won’t try to be an amazing dad. And a devoted dad. And a caring dad.

[snip]

In many ways, you are a private person, and I’m not trying to intrude in your life. And you may simply write me off as a hateful gay basher.

But it is love that compels me to write. What is best for Wyatt Morgan Cooper?

Brown has a longtime antagonistic history with the LGBTQ community.

From railing at Netflix because the streaming company wouldn’t let a so-called ‘straight pride’ organization use their logo for advertising, to calming evangelicals that Donald Trump still hates gays even though he tweeted about Pride Month, to leading a hate march during Charlotte, North Carolina’s Pride Parade.

So, yeah, I’m definitely writing him off as “a hateful gay basher.” Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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CNN’s Anderson Cooper Becomes A Dad

CNN’s Anderson Cooper welcomes his son Wyatt Morgan Cooper to the world (images via Instagram)

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper shared with his audience at the end of his show last night that he became a dad Monday night.

“I’m a dad” he proudly said. “I have a son and I want you to meet him.”

In an Instagram post featuring Wyatt Morgan Cooper, Anderson wrote, “I want to share with you some joyful news. On Monday, I became a father. This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten. I hope I can be as good a dad as he was.”

Cooper goes on to share that Wyatt’s middle name is Morgan, which he chose because he recently found a list his parents made 52 years ago when thinking up names for Anderson.

“Wyatt Morgan Cooper. My son. He was 7.2 lbs at birth, and he is sweet, and soft, and healthy and I am beyond happy.”

He adds that, growing up knowing he was gay, he “never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth.”

Anderson also thanked the surrogate who carried Wyatt and watched over him during those months.

“I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him,” Anderson said in closing. “I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues.”

Congratulations to Anderson and his entire family as they welcome Wyatt to the world.

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I want to share with you some joyful news. On Monday, I became a father. This is Wyatt Cooper. He is three days old. He is named after my father, who died when I was ten. I hope I can be as good a dad as he was. My son's middle name is Morgan. It's a family name on my mom's side. I know my mom and dad liked the name morgan because I recently found a list they made 52 years ago when they were trying to think of names for me. Wyatt Morgan Cooper. My son. He was 7.2 lbs at birth, and he is sweet, and soft, and healthy and I am beyond happy. As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son's birth. Most of all, I am grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, and watched over him lovingly, and tenderly, and gave birth to him. It is an extraordinary blessing – what she, and all surrogates give to families who cant have children. My surrogate has a beautiful family of her own, a wonderfully supportive husband, and kids, and I am incredibly thankful for all the support they have given Wyatt and me. My family is blessed to have this family in our lives I do wish my mom and dad and my brother, Carter, were alive to meet Wyatt, but I like to believe they can see him. I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues.

A post shared by andersoncooper (@andersoncooper) on

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Anderson Cooper’s Interview With Las Vegas Mayor Was A Wild Ride

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman speaks to CNN’s Anderson Cooper (screen capture)

News watchers were glued to their screens this afternoon as Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper regarding opening up the city’s businesses in spite of the ongoing coronavirus threat.

From CNN:

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman on Wednesday repeatedly called for the city’s businesses to reopen while refusing to provide any social distancing guidelines on how to do so safely.

“I am not a private owner. That’s the competition in this country. The free enterprise and to be able to make sure that what you offer the public meets the needs of the public,” Goodman, an independent, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

“Right now, we’re in a crisis health-wise, and so for a restaurant to be open or a small boutique to be open, they better figure it out. That’s their job. That’s not the mayor’s job.”

On Tuesday, during an interview with MSNBC’s Katy Tur, Goodman said, “What I assume is that everybody is a coronavirus carrier — that 100% of our population is asymptomatic, but a carrier. My whole opinion is: get our people back to work.”

Goodman added, ”Assume everybody is a carrier. And then you start from an even slate. And tell the people what to do. And let the businesses open and competition will destroy that business if, in fact, they become evident that they have disease, they’re closed down. It’s that simple.”

The problem with that approach is, of course, it can take weeks for it to become evident a restaurant or casino has become an epicenter for the disease.

Cooper and Goodman spoke for a lengthy 15 minutes that seemed to ricochet from angle to angle.

Nearly halfway through the segment, Cooper attempted to explain how businesses in China are rearranging seating to try and tamp down infections, but as he brought up a graphic of a seating arrangement, Goodman replied, “This isn’t China, this is Las Vegas.”

Cooper could only offer up, “Wow, that’s really ignorant.”

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Anderson Cooper Calls BS On Blagojevich’s ‘Political Prisoner’ Claim

This is seriously must-see TV.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper spars with former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who calls himself a “political prisoner” days after being pardoned by President Trump.

Normally, I try and condense the news here on The Randy Report, so I don’t post 11-minute videos very often. But this is quite something.

Blagojevich’s sentence was commuted earlier this week by Trump after the Democrat (and former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant) had served eight years of a 14-year sentence for pay-for-play crimes. You may recall the former governor was caught on tape admitting he planned to ‘sell’ President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder.

At one point in last night’s interview, Blagojevich states he wants to work on reforming the criminal justice system. Cooper found that to be laughable.

“It’s a little ironic, and frankly a little sad and pathetic and hypocritical, you talking about getting a commutation of a sentence, which is within the president’s right, but you ignored a whole hell of a lot of other people who were hoping you might give them clemency when you actually mattered,” said Cooper.

At the end of the fiery interview, here’s Cooper’s summation:

“Look, I have no problem with you getting out. The president can commute whoever he wants. I just think you’re besmirching prosecutors who actually are no longer in government.

“But prosecutors are important in our system and you are going after the very basis of our justice system. Part of the thing is you got out – you do have an obligation to at least admit what you did wrong and you refuse to do that and you’re creating a whole new alternate universe of facts.

“And that may be big in politics today, but it’s still frankly just bullshit.”