LGBTQ news and entertainment
In this week’s episode of The Randy Report podcast: former out Congressman and LGBTQ icon Barney Frank died this week at the age of 86. Plus…
• Adult entertainment studio Falcon | Naked Sword has gone mainstream with a ’safe for work’ non-porn murder mystery “The Last Guest” starring the studio’s popular leading men. Click here to watch for free on YouTube. Continue reading “Podcast: New Short Form Murder Mystery From Falcon + Barney Frank + More”
Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), one of the first openly gay members of Congress, has died at the age of 86 after months of being treated for congestive heart failure. Continue reading “Former Rep. Barney Frank Dies At 86”
Some news stories you might have missed:
• The Independent: Among alllllllll the other things we’ve learned about Jeffrey Epstein, a new report found multiple young men were drugged and raped at the late pedophile’s remote Zorro Ranch in New Mexico near Santa Fe. Authorities have recently reopened the investigation.
• Politico: Former Rep. Barney Frank, the first member of Congress to come out as gay while in office, has entered hospice care at his home in Maine. As one of his last acts, the liberal icon is preparing to release a book calling out progressive Democrats for embracing “an agenda that goes beyond what’s politically acceptable.” Continue reading “Multiple Men Were Drugged, Raped At Epstein Ranch + More News”
On last night’s Real Time on HBO, host Bill Maher brought up Rachel Maddow’s much-hyped “reveal” of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax returns this week.
Maher reiterated his respect for Maddow saying she needs to be on the air but called the two pages of Trump taxes a “big nothing-burger,” and that the exposure probably helped Trump.
He said, “This is probably the best tax return he’s ever filed, which makes me think this came from Donald Trump!”
Former Congressman Barney Frank and journalist Andrew Sullivan chimed in with my favorite exchange of the evening:
Andrew Sullivan: “There was a giant cloud of smug above Rachel Maddow when she was doing that. Liberals have to be careful not to sound so fucking condescending and smug… and start actually engaging the other side and persuading people.”
Barney Frank: “Andrew, I think you might want to teach by example on that last part…”
The highlight of the show, though, was Maher’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
As I’ve noted several times on The Randy Report, Tapper continues to be my favorite journalist on TV these days as his patience with Donald Trump’s lies grows ever thin.
The subject of Trump comes up as Maher mentions, “You certainly sound different from the many years I’ve watched you.”
Pointing out that “politicians lie. It wasn’t invented on January 20th,” Tapper goes straight to the heart of the matter:
“I’ve never really seen this level of falsehood. Just quantitatively. It’s not just ‘If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor,’ it’s conspiracy theories based on nothing that have members of his own party distancing themselves from him,” said Tapper. “And it’s combined with an attempt to discredit the entire fourth estate, the entire media, we’re all fake news except for Fox And Friends.”
When Maher points out that Trump supporters may see Tapper’s reporting as proving the media is biased against the president, Tapper says, “I don’t buy into that paradigm. The truth of the matter is that there’s no bias when it comes to facts and there’s no bias when it comes to decency. It is empirically indecent to make fun of the disabled. You don’t have to be a Democrat or a Republican or Independent or socialist or libertarian. That is just indecent. My children know better than that.”
Watch below:
Openly gay retired elder statesman of Congress, Barney Frank, stopped by Conan last night and chimed in on the recent kerfuffle over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act:
“In Indiana the calvary arrived, by which I mean the business community. In America, it’s nice to have the morally committed people on your side, but when the profit motive comes into the fight then you’re in great shape.”
It also seems that Frank is not a fan of the Netflix hit series HOUSE OF CARDS, saying “I’m a great believer in free speech and I defend the right of people to say obnoxious things about me and everybody else, but if I was going to make an exception, I would ban House of Cards from being shown.”
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| Soon-to-be-former Congressman Aaron Schock |
“I don’t know a lot of straight guys who go to the gym and parade around with their shirts off. Generally gay men do that to attract other men.”
– Barney Frank speaking to the rumors regarding the sexuality of soon-to-be-former Congressman Aaron Schock
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| Former Congressman Barney Frank |
Upon learning the news of GOP Congressman Aaron Schock’s resignation, former Massachusetts Democratic congressman Barney Frank at first assumed the issue had been Schock’s sexuality:
“He was outed or what?” Frank said when Business Insider asked for his thoughts on the sudden resignation by the 33 year old congressman from Illinois.
Frank was one of the first openly gay congressmen, having come out in 1987. He is currently promoting his recent memoir “Frank: A Life In Politics From The Great Society To Same-Sex Marriage.”
The former congressman from Massachusetts did have this to offer regarding young Schock:
“I will say this, I don’t know if he’s gay or not. But if he is, he’s forfeited any right to privacy because he votes anti-gay,” Frank said of Schock. “My view is that people who are gay who vote to support the right of other people to do it have a right to privacy, but the right to privacy does not include hypocrisy.”
Schock had a severely anti-gay voting record while in office having voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the repeal of DOMA and many other pieces of LGBT legislation.
Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) joined yesterday’s “Meet the Press” with Chuck Todd to discuss his new memoir, “Frank.”
During the appearance, Frank said things have gotten better for gays because we “stopped hiding:”
“Well, I tell you, our reality as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people beat the prejudice. I mean, the central mechanism is that we stopped hiding. And it turns out we weren’t what the stereotype was. But clearly, there was a point when the notion that I could get married to Jim while I was still in Congress would’ve been the most bizarre possibility.
“I remember the time I got married, someone said, “Well, would it be controversial if you got married while you were still in Congress?” And the answer was, yes it was. A lot of my colleagues were mad that they didn’t get invited. So our reality is that. On the other side, I think the fundamental issue, and it does go back to a Clinton campaign statement, “It’s the economy, stupid.””
“There was one thing that sort of troubled me in the discussion about it — nobody was particularly quoted; they attributed something to governor’s office and others — was that the governor would want to appoint someone who’s either a minority or a woman. And what troubled me is the question of LGBT people was just kind of swept out.
“I’ve never asked for any appointment based on me being gay, but when they begin talk about the importance of diversity and leave us out, that troubles me. It’s almost as if some people didn’t listen to the president when he said, ‘Seneca, Stonewall and Selma,’ and didn’t hear the Stonewall part. Just as it was in the House, I think being a same-sex married couple in the Senate could have took an important lesson home to some of them.” – Former Rep. Barney Frank to the Washington Blade about being passed over for the interim Massachusetts Senate post.
I’m surprised, to be honest. Instead of Frank, Gov. Deval Patrick chose his former chief of staff, William “Mo” Cowan.
While Barney Frank has clearly stated he’d like to be the interim Senator from Massachusetts (should John Kerry become Sec. of State), he’s now endorsed MA Rep. Ed Markey for the special election that would take place:
Markey was the first candidate to announce that he is running in the special election. Frank’s endorsement comes days after Kerry, Victoria Kennedy, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and other Democratic groups announced that they are backing Markey, in an apparent attempt to coalesce around one Democratic nominee and avoid a contentious primary. However, not all Democrats are ready to unite around Markey. U.S. Reps. Michael Capuano of Somerville and Stephen Lynch of South Boston and state Sen. Benjamin Downing of Pittsfield are all still considering running.