LGBTQ news and entertainment
Since 1993, the smoking hot firefighters of Australia have raised over $2.3 million for various charities via their charity calendar.
This year there’s not one but three calendars to choose from: The Animal Calendar, The Puppy Calendar and the Hot Firefighters Calendar. Click here to order.
And you can check out some woofy behind-the-scenes action from the guys’ photo shoots below.
In this week’s podcast:
• Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey had a really, really bad week
• A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military
• Don’t miss the marriage equality documentary, “The Freedom To Marry,” now on Netflix
• The first openly gay winner of “The Voice Australia” released his latest single, a marriage equality anthem as the mail-in same-sex marriage survey comes to a close
All that and more on this episode of The Randy Report
p.s. I want to thank all the folks who’ve hit “Play” on the podcast. I’m humbled by the support.
If you like the podcast, I’d appreciate it muchly if you would post a review on iTunes. Not for my ego, but it helps the podcast be found more easily on iTunes.
Should the “Yes” votes in the current postal survey regarding marriage equality carry the majority, and IF the Australian government then fulfills its promise of legalizing same-sex marriage, the city of Sydney will allow gay couples free use of prominent parks and buildings for 100 days to celebrate new same-sex marriages.
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
A motion passed on Monday night will allow same-sex couples to hire community facilities, halls and parks for free for 100 days if same-sex marriage is legalised following the postal survey.
The offer will only be available for same-sex weddings, but existing bookings for straight couples will not be cancelled or moved to accommodate the expected influx.
Gay couples will still need to pick up the tab for audio visual services, catering and security, but will be able to hire facilities such as Paddington Town Hall free of charge.
However, Liberal councillor Christine Forster – who is gay and has taken a leading role in the “yes” campaign – voted against the motion after unsuccessfully trying to make it apply to straight couples as well.
In this week’s podcast:
• California’s governor signs “first in the nation” legislation that will require training meant to help high unemployment among transgender people
• Donald Trump joked that Vice President Mike Pence wants to “hang” all gay people
• The “Yes to Marriage Equality” campaign in Australia appears to be leading
• Georgia state lawmaker considers quarantining HIV+ people
• Rentboy.com CEO goes to prison even as female escort websites continue without penalty
• Out Canadian country music artist Patrick Masse headlines Las Vegas Pride
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
Jesse Mulligan, host of New Zealand’s The Project, has some bitingly satirical “advice” for Australia as the deadline for the current “vote by mail” survey on same-sex marriage grows near.
#GoKiwis
#VoteYes
As the deadline for sending off their “yes” or “no” votes nears closer, Jesse has a quick message for our Aussie neighbours! #TheProjectNZ pic.twitter.com/ttqwsWQLtQ— The Project NZ (@TheProject_NZ) October 12, 2017
According to a new poll of nearly 5,000 Australians, it’s looking good for the “Yes” vote for marriage equality down under.
Via SkyNews:
An exclusive Sky News ReachTel poll has revealed the ‘yes’ vote is on track to win the government’s postal survey.
The poll of nearly five thousand people found more than 64 per cent of those surveyed have sent back their ballot and voted ‘yes’.
A further six per cent still plan to vote ‘yes’ and 15.5 per cent have already voted ‘no’.
According to the figures, 79 per cent of Australians have already completed and posted their response.
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| Macklemore performs at 2017 NRL grand final |
Macklemore performed his pro-LGBT mega-hit “Same Love” at the National Rugby League grand final this weekend.
With Mary Lambert on vocals, Macklemore lifted the place up. It’s heartening to see the vast majority of comments on Twitter are positive.
Macklemore’s message comes at a timely moment for the folks down under. Australia is currently in the middle of a “vote by mail” survey on support for marriage equality. Polls show overwhelming support but we’ve learned to not take anything for granted.
Results of the survey will be released in November.
Released in 2012, “Same Love” returned to the top of iTunes Australia charts thanks to the announcement of Macklemore’s pre-game show. The hip-hop artist has pledged the recent profits will go to pro-marriage equality campaigns in Oz.
Watch the performance below.
— NRL (@NRL) October 1, 2017
Performing Same Love at the #NRLGF was one of the greatest honors of my career. Thank you @NRL for the opportunity & supporting equality— GEMINI (@macklemore) October 1, 2017
By the way, the Melbourne Storm beat the NQ Cowboys 34-6.
Since we’re talking Australian rugby, we’ve got to see some rugby players, right?
— NRL (@NRL) October 1, 2017
https://t.co/KVXhz2S1jk ‘s @nthqldcowboys player ratings:https://t.co/Xk6ey2Dh5G …#NRLGF #NRL pic.twitter.com/JLgRzQ9oov— NRL (@NRL) October 1, 2017
— NRL (@NRL) October 1, 2017
Some news items you may have missed:
• Check out grown up Michael Angarano (above) who played Sean Hayes’ son “Elliott” on Will & Grace during the show’s initial run. Like other W&G alumni like Bobby Cannavale, Minnie Driver and Harry Connick Jr., Angarano will return for an appearance during the show’s revival.
• Admiral Mike Mullen, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has filed a Declaration in support of transgender military servicemembers.
• Why did Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price spend $60,000 of taxpayer money on five private jet flights over three days when his predecessors flew commercial airlines back in their day?
• Avengers star Liam Hemsworth advocates for marriag equality in Austalia via Instagram:
• Five football players from a Christian-focused college in Illinois face felony charges after attacking a freshman and attempting to sodomize him.
• The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan over a law that allows publicly funded adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against LGBT folks over “religious beliefs.”
• The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, while chatting with Hillary Clinton about her new memoir What Happened, presented the former Democratic presidential candidate with a packet of “victory jokes” he never got to use on election night that included a Katy Perry video and naked male butts. Watch below.
International superstar Olivia Newton-John visited with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra in hopes of the Australian government ponying up more funding for brain and breast cancer research at her Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center.
Olivia lost her sister four years ago to brain cancer and is currently on her second cancer journey as her breast cancer from 25 years ago returned earlier this year.
She also reaffirmed her support for same-sex marriage as Australia prepared to vote on approving marriage equality.
A longtime LGBTQ ally, Olivia was one of the very first Aussie celebrities to speak out in support of same-sex marriage: “With respect to marriage equality I believe that no one has the right to judge and deny couples who love each other the ability to make a marriage commitment. Love is love.”
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| (image via Pinterest) |
Some news items you might have missed:
• Welcome to a brand new fresh week! Today is just about as fresh and ready for you as, well, this guy (above).
• Former 90210 star Brian Austin Green’s 4-year-old son Noah has been seen out in public occasionally wearing dresses, and Green has no problem with that. “I feel like at 4, at 5, that’s a time when he should be having fun,” the actor continues. “He’s not harming anyone wearing a dress. So if he wants to wear a dress, awesome. Good on him, you know?”
• In just the past week, 3 GOP Congressmen have announced they will not be seeking reelection in 2018. This potentially opens up more possibilities for the Democrats to regain control of the House. Cook Political Report analyst Dave Wasserman moved his rating of one of the races from “likely Republican” to “toss up.”
• InfoWars idiot Alex Jones says Donald Trump behaves erratically because White House insiders are slowly drugging his Diet Cokes. #NoLie
• A transgender man in New Jersey, who was wrongly accused on shoplifting, is bringing legal action after being forced to show his vagina and prosthetic penis to a female grocery store employee. A security guard apparently mistook the bulge in the man’s pants for stolen goods.
• One of the new characters being written into the upcoming 8 episode reboot of Roseanne will be the 4-year-old “gender-creative” son of “Darlene” played by Sara Gilbert. The young son’s name will be “Mark” who is described as “Sensitive and bright, Mark occasionally likes to wear girls’ clothing.”
• Folks are a little worried “down under” as recent polling shows 58.4% say they would back a “yes” vote on marriage equality, down 6 points from two weeks earlier; support for a “no” vote rose two points to 31.4%. In a world of Brexit votes and Donald Trumps becoming president, folks don’t want to take anything for granted. Make sure your Aussie friends vote!