Tag: bisexual

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LGBTQ Member Of Congress Resigns Amid Accusations Of Affairs

Rep. Katie Hill (D-Santa Clarita)
Rep. Katie Hill (D-Santa Clarita) of California, the only openly bisexual member of the House of Representatives, recently came under investigation due to “allegations she had an improper relationship with a congressional staffer.” Hill was accused of having a sexual relationship with her legislative director, Graham Kelly, and a female campaign staff member. Hill denies any relationship with Kelly, but in a letter to constituents on Wednesday admitted to becoming involved with the campaign staff member during “during the final tumultuous years of my abusive marriage.” Hill has been in divorce proceedings with her husband of nine years, Kenneth Heslep. “I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment,” Hill wrote to her constituents. “For that, I apologize.” “It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress,” Hill wrote in a letter shared on Twitter. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country.” “This is what needs to happen so that the good people who supported me will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to happily provide a platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation,” she added.

It was just last weekend when conservative website RedState reported that Hill and her husband had, until recently, been involved in a sexual relationship with a staffer in her 20s who worked on Hill’s campaign. RedState posted explicit images purporting to be of Hill and the staffer. Hill subsequently told The Hill, a political news outlet, that the U.S. Capitol Police were investigating how the photo was obtained and published by RedState.

“Intimate photos of me and another individual were published by Republican operatives on the internet without my consent,” Hill said at the time.

That was followed by RedState releasing text messages that appeared to be between Hill’s husband, Heslep, and the campaign staffer. In response to the #MeToo movement and high-profile sexual harassment accusations involving members of Congress, the House adopted rules last year that prohibited members from having sexual relationships with congressional staffers. Those rules do not, however, address any relationships that occurred prior to members taking office. Hill has been viewed as a ‘rising star’ in the Democratic Party having flipped her district to blue when she won her election in 2018. She is the vice-chair of the House Oversight Committee, and she is among a group of freshman Democrats who were nicknamed the “Big Six” after being selected for high-profile leadership posts. (source: Politico)

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News Round-Up: October 24, 2019

The men of Chippendales rock Belgium
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: The Chippendales stopped in Belgium for a one-night-only performance, and the place sold out completely. Keep up with the men of Chippendales on their Instagram here. • Advocate: A gay reporter for ABC News traveled to Chechnya to document the horrific treatment of LGBTQ people in the Russian republic. Along the way, he became part of the story. • Washington Blade: Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), the only out bisexual in the U.S. House, is in the middle of an increasingly growing scandal in which she has now admitted she had an “inappropriate” relationship with her campaign staffer before she took office. • Playbill: Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie is now hosting her own weekly podcast, The Ladies Who Lunch. Each episode, McKechnie will gather with friends at Sardi’s to discuss their showbiz pasts and more. For her first episode, McKechnie (who originated the role of Cassie) welcomes her A Chorus Line castmates: original Morales Priscilla Lopez, original Connie Baayork Lee, and original Sheila Kelly Bishop. • CBS News: After Donald Trump trolled rock icon Bruce Springsteen from the campaign stump, the rocker responded: “The stewardship of the nation has been thrown away to somebody who doesn’t have a clue as to what that means. And unfortunately, we have somebody who I feel doesn’t have a grasp of the deep meaning of what it means to be an American.” #BOOM

• OUT: Facebook and Instagram have issued new guidelines about sexual expression on the social media platforms. Users will no longer be able to add eggplant or peach emojis to messages that have a sexual nature anymore. Plus, no more using emojis to cover nude body parts. AND – no more linking to sites with sexual content. So, no more promoting OnlyFans or JustForMyFans pages from Facebook or Instagram. • Twitter: At a rally last night, Donald Trump told the crowd his administration is “building a beautiful wall” in Colorado. I keep wondering if anyone told him it’s New Mexico, not Mexico, that borders Colorado…? #4thGradeGeography

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Cyber-Bullying Leads To Teen Suicide In Tennessee

Channing Smith (images via family/FOX17)
Channing Smith, a high school junior in Manchester, Tennessee, committed suicide last week after another student posted private text messages between Smith and another boy resulting in outing  the teen as bisexual, reports Buzzfeed News. Smith had apparently kept his attraction for other boys a secret, but an argument with another teenager who is close to the boy he’d been messaging became upset that she “didn’t know about the sexting and posted the screenshots to be vindictive, according to Keylee Duty, a fellow student at Smith’s school. “She was just doing it to be mean,” Keylee told Buzzfeed. Smith had been dating 17-year-old Hailey Meister for a month prior to his suicide. “He didn’t deserve that,” she shared. “He was kind and loving and a very good person.” Meister added that Smith told her when the screen captures were shared on social media “how bad it made him feel and it was a mistake.” She also says Smith was “trying to find himself” and hadn’t explicitly identified as bisexual before his death. His older brother, 38-year-old Joshua Smith, says the nature of the text messages were explicit to the point that “there was no room for Channing to be able to claim it was a misunderstanding.” “When he saw the screenshots on social media he called some people around 10 p.m. Sunday night, freaking out,” he added. “His last posting on Instagram was about people he couldn’t trust.” Smith’s body was found by his father at around 4 a.m. The father had noticed Smith’s light on in his room and went to check on him. “He’s still in shock,” says Joshua. The older brother explained that life in their “small, Southern town” could be “complicated.” “You could be gay and still like the Confederate flag and shoot pistols,” says Joshua. But to be labeled “gay, queer, or a sissy” would be devastating for a high school junior he added. The local Fox affiliate reports that Joshua says his brother called the female classmate who posted the private messages and said her he was going to kill himself. According to Joshua, she didn’t reach out to Channing’s family or any suicide prevention hotline.

A complication in the case comes as the family feels Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott isn’t being appropriately pro-active in investigating the cyber-bullying Channing experienced by fellow students. Joshua told Buzzfeed that “investigators spent only a day” on the case, and “didn’t confiscate the kids’ phones’ saying they didn’t have the technology to ‘bypass the passcodes.’” In June, statements by Northcott in a 2018 video surfaced where he said he disagreed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling which made same-sex marriage legal in the U.S. He also shared that he doesn’t prosecute domestic cases involving LGBTQ people because he doesn’t believe marriage exists. In a statement regarding the Smith case, Northcott said that while he can’t comment on an open investigation, he said allegations that his office had failed to act are “inaccurate” as the investigation has not been completed. Smith’s family and friends are also critical of Channing’s high school for not making a public statement about his death or to condemn bullying. “They haven’t made any mention about him or his death on their website, on Facebook, anywhere,” Joshua said. “They haven’t offered counseling to the kids or gathered them to talk about anti-bullying.” “The principal told my father that he felt like we would not want anything at our memorial service that says justice for Channing, which was total bullshit,” added the older brother.

(screen capture)
When Channing’s friend attempted to make a statement wearing t-shirts asking for “Justice for Channing,” the principal demanded they remove the shirts. “We refused. Not only me, but his close friends and people who loved him stood during the assembly holding our posters,” said Keylee. “We believe the school refused to do anything because what happened to Channing involved gay rights.” If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found atbefrienders.org. You can also text TALK to 741741 for free, anonymous, 24/7 crisis support in the US from the Crisis Text Line.

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NFL Free Agent Ryan Russell Comes Out As Bisexual

NFLer Ryan Russell comes out as bisexual in an ESPN op-ed Ryan Russell, currently an NFL free agent, hopes to return to the game after missing all of last season with a shoulder injury. But before he begins his journey to redemption, he had a little business to take care of. In a first-person essay for ESPN, Russell has come out as bisexual, writing, “My truth is that I’m a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man.” “Today, I have two goals: returning to the NFL, and living my life openly,” penned the 6’5″ 267-pound defensive end. “I want to live my dream of playing the game I’ve worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I’ve always been.” Back in 2015, Russell was a fifth-round draft pick for the Dallas Cowboys. Alas, he only played in a single game for the Cowboys before being traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Having missed all of last year’s season, he’s now working to get back in the game. More from his ESPN piece:

Growing up, I always felt as though my existence slipped between the cracks of two worlds.

I wasn’t flamboyant, tidy, or any other stereotypes kids are forced to construct their world around.

I wasn’t straight, hyper-masculine or aggressive; I cried quite a bit, and, as a young black man, I didn’t fit the bill.

I played football — so I put that in the straight column. I wrote poetry and romance stories — so I put that in the gay column.

Over time, I came to build two worlds. There was football, the drive to play at a professional level, a place that catered to my competitive instincts. Football was a world of opportunity where, if I performed well, I could earn a scholarship, support my family and build a life for myself long after I stopped playing.

Then there’s my personal world, which probably isn’t much different from most people who are figuring out who they are in adulthood.

I admire his honesty and authenticity. At this point, the question is, after the Michael Sam / NFL debacle of 2014, can an openly bisexual man return to the game? https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wP7kwgjmQ/

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Disney Channel Star Joshua Rush Comes Out

Joshua Rush, who played the gay teen ‘Cyrus Goodman’ on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, just came out as bisexual on his Twitter account Tuesday.
Actor Joshua Rush (image via Instagram)

Joshua Rush, who played the gay teen ‘Cyrus Goodman’ on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, just came out as bisexual on his Twitter account Tuesday.

Rush gained national attention when his Andi Mack character came out in 2017 becoming the first openly gay Disney Channel character.

In last month’s series finale, his character was revealed to be part of the first gay couple on a Disney series.

Now that the series has wrapped, Rush appears to have had one more ‘coming out’ to do.

On Twitter, the 17-year-old wrote, “First to respond to this tweet is bi.” He quickly followed that with his own response, “First! I win! It’s me. I’m bi.”

He added there were “a few things” he wanted to share with his fans.

The actor told his fans he thought it ‘ironic’ that his TV character’s coming out could send a message of empowerment to young LGBTQs, but until today he hadn’t found the courage to come out himself.

In fact, he says it’s his fans reaction to Cyrus’s journey that inspired him today.

Sharing that he had a close friend come out to him in fifth grade, Rush admitted he “suffered with some level” of his own “internalized homophobia” while playing a gay character on TV.

His solution at the time? “I stuffed the existential crisis of talking about my sexual orientation into a box in my mind for years,” he wrote, adding, “Today, I release it into the world.”

Noting that sexual orientation doesn’t make up “all” of his identity, Rush pointed to bi erasure and the challenges that trans women of color face every day as more pressing issues than his sexual identity.

He asked folks to donate to GLAAD (which promotes positive messaging for LGBTQs in the media) because his Disney Channel series “wouldn’t have existed in the form that it did without them.”

He also gave a shoutout to The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention to LGBTQ young people, before closing the thread with, “Thank you to you for giving me the courage to know who I am and tell you this today. Happy 20biteen!”

While he hadn’t come out yet, it was just a few weeks ago that Rush shared a photo on Instagram after attending his first Pride event.

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NYC High School Valedictorian Comes Out In Graduation Speech To Cheers

New York City high school valedictorian Mason Bleu came out as bisexual during his graduation speech to cheers from the crowd.

“I want to remind all of you to always be proud but to always remain humble,” the teen told the audience. “I’ve struggled to be proud of something all my life. Since I’m preaching about being proud today, it’d be hypocritical of me to continue hiding. I’m not someone who likes getting emotional so saying this is extremely personal and hard.”

“For a long time, I have struggled with my sexuality,” he continued. “I’ve dodged it and ignored it because I wasn’t proud of who I am. But today I’m changing that. I’m proud to be a bisexual man.”

And the crowd goes wild!

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News Round-Up: June 19, 2019

Chippendales ‘take a Tebow’
Some news items you might have missed: • That time the men of Chippendales (above) “took a Tebow” during a photo shoot. I think I know who did it better 🙂 • A new Hill/YouGov poll shows only 24% of Americans approve of the Trump administration’s handling of LGBTQ rights. • In 1989, with no real knowledge of the case, Donald Trump took out a full page ad calling for the execution of the five men accused in the ‘Central Park Jogger’ case where a woman was raped and assaulted. The five men were convicted and sent to prison only to be exonerated by DNA evidence. White House reporter April Ryan asked the Trumpster if he ever felt like apologizing for demonizing the black men. The answer was predictable.

• A new study by Pew Research shows bisexual adults are less likely to come out to important people in their lives than gays or lesbians. • In the middle of Pride month, the U.S. Senate confirmed another anti-LGBTI Trump judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, to a lifetime appointment to the federal bench in the Northern District of Texas with a 52-46 vote. • In a 243-183 vote, the Democratic-controlled House passed an amendment to the $1 trillion Defense spending bill that prohibits Donald Trump’s transgender military ban from being funded. • Check out the new music video from Lucy & La Mer, “Blue Dress,” about discovering one’s bisexuality and the “lightbulb” crush that begins bisexual exploration. I liked the quirky, folky, fun aesthetic. “I wrote the song right after a first date — last year, actually — just reflecting on that initial lightbulb experience about being curious and attracted to another gender than you thought you were,” Lucy told Billboard. “I wanted it to be something that was positive and energetic, not so serious or tortured or anything like that.”

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Podcast: Ricky Martin, Brazil, Music & Sexual Positions, Billy Porter’s New Pride Anthem

In this week’s podcast:

• Ricky Martin helps kill a religious freedom bill in Puerto Rico

• Brazil’s high court adds homophobic and transphobic crimes to the South American country’s racism laws

• We remember that bisexuals are part of Pride Month, too

• Do your music preferences reveal if you like the top or bottom bunk?

• Grammy Award winner Billy Porter drops a new LGBTQ Pride anthem

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report podcast.

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Whitney Houston’s Rumored Ex-Girlfriend To Pen Tell-All Memoir

Robyn Crawford, Whitney Houston’s long-rumored lesbian lover, says she will “set the record straight” once and for all in a new memoir titled, A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston, due out November 5.

Robyn Crawford, Whitney Houston’s long-rumored lesbian lover, says she will “set the record straight” once and for all in a new memoir titled, A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston, due out November 5.

During their decades-long friendship, both women denied any romantic involvement with each other. But fans have long speculated about the nature of their relationship.

Since Houston’s death at the age of 48 in 2012, there have been two documentary films of Houston’s life – Nick Broomfield’s Whitney: Can I Be Me?, and Kevin MacDonald’s Whitney. Both films addressed Houston’s rumored bisexuality and the women’s speculated relationship.

Crawford, notably, declined to take part in either project.

Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, famously told Oprah in 2013 that it “absolutely” would have bothered her if Whitney had been lesbian or bisexual.

Bobby Brown, Houston’s ex-husband, shared with US Weekly in 2016 that he felt Houston would still be alive today if the “I Will Always Love You” singer’s family had accepted Robyn.

According to the book’s official synopsis, “In A Song for You, Robyn breaks her silence to share the moving and often complicated story of her life and relationship with Whitney.”

Whitney Houston (image via YouTube/I Will Always Love You)

The memoir will follow the years from the women’s meeting in the 1980s, to the singer’s self-titled debut album in 1985, her record-breaking world tours, the success of The Bodyguard, and more.

The publisher of the upcoming book, Penguin imprint Dutton, describes the release as “the vital, honest and previously untold story that provides an understanding of the complex life of Whitney Houston,” and promises that “finally, the person who knew her best sets the record straight.”

The talkers at E! News’s ‘Daily Pop’ discuss the upcoming book below.

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Podcast: Texas, Bisexual Youth, Trump’s Trans Ban, New Netflix Series ‘Special’

Catch up on the week's LGBT headlines with The Randy Report podcast

In this week’s podcast:

• A majority of Americans say their are more than comfortable with a gay or lesbian running for president

• The U.S. House approved a non-binding resolution Thursday morning rebuking Donald Trump’s plan to ban transgender military service members

• Wisconsin couple told to remove their Pride flag or be evicted

• New data shows there are more bisexual youth and they need our attention

• GOP lawmakers in Texas approved a bill on Monday that would allow state-licensed professionals to discriminate against LGBTQ people, or anyone they want to refuse services, based on their religious beliefs

• Netflix drops the official trailer for ‘Special,’ an offbeat comedy series about a gay man with mild cerebral palsy

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report