LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news stories for you as we close out the weekend:
• Attitude Magazine: TikTok says a ‘moderator error’ delayed the removal of Perez Hilton‘s livestream after the celebrity blogger appeared to self-harm on the platform for 15 minutes.
• Instinct Magazine: Long before Heartstopper introduced him to millions of viewers, Kit Connor appeared in Rocketman, portraying a young Elton John. Continue reading “TikTok: Glitch Delayed Removing Perez Hilton Livestream + More”
Some news items I thought worth your time:
• Substack: Pete Buttigieg said Friday that an anonymous child protective services allegation brought police and a Child Protective Services worker to his family’s home this week, forced his 4-year-old twins into forensic interviews, and left him briefly separated from them before authorities concluded the report was false.
Note – the kids are not, and were not, at risk. Hit the link – this is hideous. Continue reading “Pete Buttigieg’s Family Swatted By False CPS Report + More”
Some news stories you might have missed:
• X: I am not mad at hottie Zane Phillips (above) looking oh-so-buff in the latest episode of “The Comeback” (below) starring Lisa Kudrow. Continue reading “Zane Phillips On ‘The Comeback’ + Lil Nas X Assault Charges Dismissed + More News”
A man was shot inside the gay bathhouse Club Pittsburgh just around 2:15 a.m. on Friday at the social club located along Penn Avenue. Continue reading “Shooting At Club Pittsburgh Leaves Victim In Critical Condition”
After nearly 4 decades, gay bathhouses are now able to apply for permits to open in San Francisco. In the mid-1980s, the city’s health department put in place tight regulations in order to try and curb the burgeoning AIDS epidemic. At the time, the restrictions prohibited private locked rooms and required employees monitoring any possibly ‘dangerous’ behaviors. Basically, those rules amounted to a ban on bathhouses in the city. Currently, there’s one bathhouse operating in the area – Steamworks in Berkeley. That venue is currently closed due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions. There is one private sex club, Eros, located in the Castro district, which has operated along the 1980s era rules. According to the Bay Area Reporter, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has been working for a year to overturn the restrictions. He found out last week the city’s health officials had updated the regulations for adult sex venues. “It is symbolically significant right now,” Mandelman told the Reporter. “Whether it is significant on the ground depends on if entrepreneurs with the vision and financial capacities and the savvy to open can and operate one of these.” 
Mandelman sent a copy of the revised rules in advance of them being published. Titled, “Minimum Standards for Operation of Sex Clubs, Commercial Sex Venues and Parties,” the 3-page document lists sexual activities that could open the door to exposure to HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Those activities, including anal and vaginal intercourse without a condom and fisting without a latex glove, must be posted at entrances of the venues in English, Spanish, Chinese and Tagalog. Patrons, 18 years or older, will also be required to sign in writing they understand the posted regulations. Additionally, there can be no consumption of alcohol nor any sex-for-pay on the premises. The venues must also provide hot and cold running water, soap, towels, plus free lube and condoms. No word on if/when a business owner will apply for a permit especially in the middle of the COVID-19 health threat. Also, it remains to be seen how much of a market there may be for such businesses. Back in the day, gay bathhouses were popular for men looking for other like-minded men for sex. But with dating apps like Grindr and Scruff, we’ll have to see how popular a new bathhouse might be today when you can basically ‘order in’ for free. Mandelman, though, is hopeful a new bathhouse operator will step up. He told the Reporter, “It is a good development and sets the stage for bathhouses to be part of our economic recovery.” (source: Bay Area Reporter)
Men’s saunas may make a comeback in San Francisco
• Queerty: Actresses Indya Moore and Angelica Ross, of FX’s Pose, have criticized the Emmy Nominations, just one day after their announcement. The two transgender actresses attacked the Television Academy for ignoring the trans performers on the show, and lashed out at the show’s network, FX, for a lack of promotion. • KIT212: Kenneth helps us all over Hump Day with his latest installment of ‘Wrestle Wednesday’ (below). 
• Boy Culture: When the man who wrote Encyclopedia Madonnica 20: Madonna from A to Z, literally THE BOOK on Madonna, calls the international superstar out over COID-19 batshittery, you know it’s serious. • The Gaily Grind: Four plainclothes NYC police officers were caught on video jumping out of an unmarked grey Kia minivan in broad daylight, snatching an 18-year-old transgender protester off the street, wrestling her to the ground, and throwing her into the vehicle before speeding away from the intersection.
NYC is taking after Portland – a trans femme protestor was pulled into an unmarked van at the Abolition Park protest – this was at 2nd Ave and 25th Street pic.twitter.com/1PDhSYuK9h
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) July 28, 2020
District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the LGBTQ-centric Castro area in San Francisco, has introduced legislation that would lay the groundwork for allowing gay bathhouses to reopen. Back in 1984, as the AIDS epidemic was reaching a fever-pitch, San Francisco put new rules in place ordering owners to tear down individual cubicles with locks on the doors as well as having employees ‘monitor’ the sexual activities of patrons to ensure there was no unsafe sex taking place. But advancements in medical science in the decades since has changed the HIV landscape. Modern HIV medications are now capable of bringing viral loads down to undetectable making transmission of the virus nearly impossible. Plus, the advent of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) has led to a dramatic decline in new HIV infections, especially in San Francisco. According to the Bay Area Reporter, new diagnoses of HIV dropped below 200 in 2018. District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the South of Market neighborhood where most gay bathhouses were located back in the day, has expressed his support of the new legislation. Pointing to the advances in HIV drugs, as well as research which has shown monitoring sexual activity in bathhouses has “little to no effect,” Haney announced he will be co-sponsoring Mandelman’s legislation. The change in policies would instruct the city health director to “revise the health department’s minimum standards governing the operation of adult sex venues so they no longer ban locked doors or require sex monitoring by staff,” writes the Bay Area Reporter. The proposal could also include requiring bathhouses to provide free condoms and other safe sex supplies. The ordinance requires that these new minimum standards be adopted by no later than July 1, 2020, and that there be a public notice and public comment process. “When properly operated, by providing access to safer sex educational materials and supplies and HIV and STD testing, these venues assist rather than impede our efforts to control the transmission of HIV,” said Mandelman in a statement. “I hope that this ordinance will support our efforts to get to zero new HIV infections and will put a bookend on a painful chapter in the history of the queer community in San Francisco.” Although no bathhouses currently operate in San Francisco, there are gay sex clubs, like Eros, which is a condoms-only club and doesn’t offer individual, private rooms for sexual activity. (Source: Bay Area Reporter)