Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
In this episode of The Randy Report podcast: MJ Rodriguez makes Golden Globes history, researchers find a new HIV strategy, and Elvira Mistress of the Dark on her gay fanbase. Continue reading “Podcast: 2022 Golden Globes, New HIV Strategy, And Elvira Mistress Of The Dark”
The current restrictions on gay and bisexual men wanting to roll up their sleeves and donate blood are back in the headlines this week amid reports of one of the worst blood crises in recent history. Continue reading “FDA Urged To Drop Restrictions On Gay Blood Donations”
Some news items you might have missed:
• Pink News: DC Comics writer Tom Taylor revealed he’s been making donations to LGBTQ charities in the names of hateful homophobes who send him abusive messages over his bisexual Superman storyline. Continue reading “News Round-Up: January 13, 2022”
Some news stories you might have missed:
• The Advocate: France has lifted its homophobic ban on queer men giving blood. The regulation has been in place since the early days of the HIV epidemic. Continue reading “News Round-Up: January 12, 2022”
Israel’s Health Ministry has removed its decades-old restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men calling the prior policy discriminatory and “denigrating.” Continue reading “Israel Removes Blood Donation Restrictions On Gay Men”
In this week’s headlines:
• For the first time in five years, the LGBTQ community not only received full-throated support from the man in the Oval Office, but President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris all issued video greetings to LGBTQ Americans for Pride Month
• Congress votes to make Pulse Nightclub a national memorial
• Gay men in the UK will have an easier time donating blood
• A bakery in Texas experienced hideous homophobia for saying ‘Happy Pride’ and then the internet stepped in
• Eli Lieb drops the perfect anthem for Pride Month ‘Boys Who Like Boys’
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: Sexually active gay men who have had the same sexual partner for the previous three months will now be able to donate blood, platelets, and plasma in the U.K. after new eligibility criteria go into force on World Blood Donor Day.
• OUT: The Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League suspended defensive lineman Chris Larsen after learning of his potential involvement in a hate crime that left the victim with a broken nose, cheekbone and orbital bone shattered, a splint required for his hip bone and a concussion.
• Pride.com: American Idol alum David Archuleta has come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a new post on Instagram. “I like to keep to myself but also thought this was important to share because I know so many other people from religious upbringings feel the same way,” the 30-year-old wrote.
• Wall Street Journal: A new Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax was found to be 90.4% effective at preventing symptomatic disease in adults in a large clinical trial involving nearly 30,000 participants. Those results could move the shot a step closer to global use.
• The Daily Beast: Number crunchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle studied COVID-19 stats from all over the world, charted the trends and concluded that as many as 9.7 million people could die by late September. If the trend line continues, COVID-19 could kill 20 million by 2023, according to IHME’s model.
• Politico: Out Democrat Matt Putorti is launching a campaign against Trump cultist Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), aiming to knock out one of the Republican Party’s rising stars and a newly minted member of House leadership. Putorti is a 37-year-old attorney from Upstate New York focused on LGBTQ+ equality, reducing gun violence, and immigration.
I’m Matt Putorti. I’m a gay man, an attorney, and the Democrat who will beat Elise Stefanik. This community made me who I am. I’m going to give it everything that I have. So join me, let’s flip this seat: https://t.co/m8DBKDrQ7x
— Matt Putorti (@MattPutorti) June 14, 2021
Some news items you might have missed:
• NewNowNext: Alpine ski legend Hig Roberts (above) has come out as gay. “Not being able to be who I am and not be able to be openly gay as a professional athlete was truly hindering my performance,” the 29-year-old told The NY Times.
• Instinct Magazine: The UK is loosening its restrictions for gay and bisexual men to donate blood – a bit. The National Health Service of the United Kingdom announced men who are sexually active in a relationship with a single male partner for the prior three months can now be considered for donation.
• Pink News: Disgraced former influencer Milo Yiannopoulos has vowed to ‘burn the Republican Party to the ground’ after losing everything for ‘Daddy’ Trump. The gay ‘Straight Pride’ figurehead has vented about his life being “completely destroyed”, as Republicans struggle to accept the defeat of Donald Trump.
• Eonline: A new Guardians of the Galaxy comic story depicts the superhero Star-Lord, played by Chris Pratt in the Marvel movies, in a polyamorous, bisexual relationship. It’s unclear whether the character’s sexuality will be addressed in any Marvel movies, including the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder.
• Vice: Pornhub is removing all videos on its site that weren’t uploaded by official content partners or members of its model program. Before the content purge on Sunday evening, the website hosted around 13.5 million videos, a large number of them from unverified accounts. On Monday morning as of 9 a.m., that number had dropped to only 4.7 million videos.
• Boy Culture: Hillary Clinton was feeling good after voting as an elector in New York state for Joe Biden.
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Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: You’ve gotta love a guy not afraid to wear a face mask during this pandemic. Ignacio Pérez Rey (above) proves you can look good AND be safer. Follow him on Instagram here.
• Instinct: An openly gay New York state senator was rejected from donating blood even though he qualifies to do so under the new federal guidelines.
• LGBTQ Nation: Homophobic and transphobic rapper Boosie Badazz posted a video on social media admitting that he hired a sex worker to give oral sex to his son and nephews when they were 12- and 13-years-old. While some commenters cheered Badazz for his actions, others were horrified and said that someone should call Child Protective Services to remove the children from his care.
• PEOPLE: Beckett Cypher, the son of Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher, has died at age 21 of an opioid overdose. Etheridge and Cypher ended their relationship in 2000 but continued to co-parent their children. Musician David Crosby was later revealed to be Beckett’s biological father.
• Buzzfeed News: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey emailed employees on Tuesday telling them that they’d be allowed to work from home permanently, even after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown passes. Some jobs that require physical presence, such as maintaining servers, will still require employees to come in.
• CNN: Donald Trump voiced frustration Wednesday at the nation’s top infectious disease specialist after he warned a day earlier against reopening schools and businesses too quickly. “I was surprised by his answer, actually,” Trump said when asked about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s warnings during televised congressional testimony that reopening states too quickly could have dire consequences. Trump added, “It’s not an acceptable answer.”
President Trump says he was “surprised” by Dr. Fauci’s warning about reopening schools during the pandemic and says it’s “not an acceptable answer” https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/oX2LkydkPp
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 13, 2020
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