LGBTQ news and entertainment
L-R Michael Caprio, Barry Manilow, me
RIP Mart Crowley, who wrote Boys In The Band. He was justly acclaimed, ignorantly attacked and finally given his due. He dissected and celebrated gay lives, and as a person, he was funny, generous and brave. He got there first, and the theater is in his debt pic.twitter.com/eQoJyjGPp2
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 9, 2020
Some news items you might have missed: • Super Tuesday: Fourteen states are holding primaries or caucusing for the Democratic presidential candidate today, so make sure you get out and vote! Interesting factoid: CBS News reports early exit polling shows slightly more voters in Super Tuesday states want a return to Obama’s policies rather than more liberal policies. • The Advocate: Donald Trump’s Justice Department is weighing in on the side of a Kentucky photographer who doesn’t want to provide services to same-sex weddings, continuing its history under the Trump administration of supporting discrimination. Chelsey Nelson, a photographer in Louisville, filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court against the city challenging its LGBTQ-inclusive Fairness Ordinance. Note – has never been asked to photograph a same-sex couple’s wedding. • NowThis News: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a bill Monday banning conversion therapy for minors. According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ+ legislation, Virginia will become the 20th state — and the first in the South — to ban the controversial therapy for minors. • The Verge: Apple has tentatively agreed to a $500 million settlement after admitting to slowing down older phones. It covers people who bought any product in the iPhone 6 and 7 lineup — which Apple secretly throttled to conserve battery life. By default, Apple will offer $25 to any current or former owner of a covered iPhone. Named class members will receive $1,500 or $3,500. • NewNowNext: Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a number of new amendments to the country’s Constitution, including one that would define marriage as between “a man and a woman.” Last month, he said same-sex marriage will not be permitted in the country as long as he is president. • KHOU: After Pete Buttigieg announced he was ending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden told reporters he would definitely approach the former mayor of South Bend to take a role in his administration.
Just finished 1 on 1 interview with @JoeBiden after his event @TexasSouthern Asked him about reports @PeteButtigieg and @amyklobuchar will endorse him tonight in #Dallas. #Biden wouldn’t confirm but did say this ⬇️ #khou11 #HtownRush pic.twitter.com/Acer6Vghul
— Marcelino Benito (@MarcelinoKHOU) March 2, 2020
(stock photo via Depositphotos)
(image via Instagram)
• NBC News: Just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session, seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday. If passed, the bills would ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children, repeal municipal and county ordinances protecting LGBTQ workers, and legalize so-called gay conversion therapy in places that had banned the medically debunked practice. • AP: Ken Jennings won the “Jeopardy!” greatest-of-all-time title (and $1 million) by going all in with his 32,800 points for the Final Jeopardy round. The clue: “This area of Greece, home to Pan, is synonymous with a rural paradise; it’s a setting for Vergil’s shepherd poems the ‘Ecologues.'” And Jennings wrote the correct answer: “What is Arcadia?” • Netflix: A new fashion competition series from the streaming giant that features designers teaming up to create visionary looks that work for everyone. The winner will receive a $250,000 prize and the opportunity to debut their collection with fashion retailer Net-a-Porter. Hosted by Queer Eye’s Tan France and designer Alexa Chung, all 10 episodes of Next In Fashion launch on Netflix January 29.
Nathan McCallum (via Instagram)
• LGBTQ Nation: A gay man’s sister kidnapped him & forced him into conversion therapy where he was beaten and flogged. His family thought being gay was “demonic,” so his sister hired a “prophet” to beat it out of him. • Variety: Kevin Spacey has settled a lawsuit with the estate of a man who had accused him of sexual assault, following the accuser’s death in September. A trial was set to take place in federal court in June 2020, but when the accuser died, the accuser’s estate filed a notice dismissing the lawsuit on Monday. Each side agreed to pay their own costs. • WRAL: The United Methodist Church appears poised to split into two separate denominations over the issue of LGBTQ inclusion. The United Methodist Church is currently the third largest Christian denomination in the United States. • Politico: Why Pete Buttigieg enrages the political left – “The unspoken truth about the furor Buttigieg arouses is that his success threatens a core belief of young progressives: that their ideology owns the future, and that the rise of millennials into Democratic politics is going to bring an inevitable demographic triumph for the party’s far left wing.” • Twitter: As many have pointed out, before the 2012 presidential election, Donald Trump repeatedly predicted (wrongly) that President Obama would start a war with Iran in order to secure re-election. We all know Trump projects his own thoughts on others as this video clip resurfaces:
Not only tweets, we got video. Remember, folks – Trump is about projection. He always accuses others of what he would/will do. pic.twitter.com/QdEu8gpY8V
— The Randy Report (@randyslovacek) January 3, 2020
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Here in Las Vegas, they do things a little differently during the holidays. For instance, a cactus could be used as a Christmas tree. But I could only find this pic (above) of a Chippendale and…what was I saying? Dangit – I know I had some point to make. Oh well 🙂 • The Daily Beast: Stonewall House, the first-ever LGBT-welcoming senior housing development in New York City has officially opened. The first residents are expected to move into the 145-unit building in Brooklyn before Christmas, with the rest of the residents moving in throughout January. • CNBC: A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who served for several months as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016. Judge Maxwell Wiley said during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court that New York’s double-jeopardy law barred the state indictment against Manafort. • Medium: Over 1,000 American historians have signed a letter supporting the impeachment of Donald Trump. “It is our considered judgment that if President Trump’s misconduct does not rise to the level of impeachment, then virtually nothing does.” • Reuters: Germany could become the first major European power to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ across the entire country. The legislation, which parliament is expected to pass by the summer, will punish violations with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 30,000 euros ($33,100). • Christmas Music: In its first 12 months, the 1984 all-star charity recording “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” raised £8 million to help efforts to ease famine in Ethiopia. The original recording remains one of the biggest selling singles in UK history.
(stock photo via Depositphotos)Minneapolis will become the first city in the state of Minnesota to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ which claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The new ordinance, authored by Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins and Council Member Phillipe Cunningham, was passed unanimously by the Minneapolis City Council.
According to the Star Tribune, the only step left is for Mayor Jacob Frey to sign the ordinance into law.
The ban will prohibit any licensed mental health professional from providing or attempting conversion therapy on minors. Violations will be subject to fines of up to $1,000.
Members of the clergy who are “acting in their roles as clergy or pastoral counselors” will be exempt from the regulation.
Cunningham, the first transgender man of color to be elected to public office in the U.S., called the harmful practice “tantamount to torture.”
And he speaks from personal experience having been subjected to conversion therapy as a child in his church.
Speaking to the local NBC News affiliate, Cunningham said succinctly, “It tries to convince people that they are not who they are.”
Conversion therapy, also known as ‘ex-gay therapy,’ has been widely denounced as discredited pseudoscience by leading professional medical associations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association.
Studies have shown that the controversial practice can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 18 states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice.
This week the American Medical Association announced its support for a federal ban on the dangerous practice.
In this week’s podcast: • Allegations of sexual battery have led to the cancellation of a California high school’s football season • A federal judge has struck down Tampa Florida’s ban on so-called conversion therapy • The FDA has approved a second drug to be prescribed for PrEP • A Russian man is suing Apple for $15k because his iPhone made him gay? • And a Tennessee teen honored as part of his school’s homecoming royalty, graciously accepted in a sequin gown All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
A gay man in Oklahoma has filed a police report after members of the First Assembly of God Church in Blackwell allegedly held him down and punched him in an attempt to ‘pray the gay away.’ Sean Cormie, 23, came out as gay this past spring. Since that time, his family has asked him to attend services at the church. His partner, Gary Gardner, was invited to attend as well. “I wanted to go to church to make my mom proud,” Cormie told local news station KFOR. On September 8, the couple joined family members at the church, which Cormie had attended several times. Cormie says there was nothing unusual about the service until the end when Cormie and Gardner were asked to come up to the alter. As they did, church members stood up and began to circle the couple. At the same time, the pastor began to preach against homosexuality. “It’s a sin, it’s an abomination, you need to realize, wake up, and see it for a sin,” recalls Cormie. As the praying by 12-15 congregants grew louder and louder, Cormie and Gardner felt uncomfortable and moved to leave. But while Gardner made it out of the church, Cormie says he was physically restrained by the congregants. Gardner told News 9 that Cormie was “slammed to the ground by his stepfather.” “They hold me down, pin me down, and I’m crying, and the Holy Spirit just comes through me, and they keep speaking in tongues, praying over me,” said Cormie. At some point, Cormie says he was punched in the face. “I was just crying ‘mercy, mercy,’” he added.
Cormie says eventually it was his sister who convinced the congregants to let him go. When he was finally released, Cormie says he left the church with a black eye and bruises on his arms and face. He immediately headed to the Blackwell Police Department where he filed a report. According to KFOR, the police chief acknowledges the incident is being investigated. Bill and Tami McKissick, pastors for the First Assembly Church of God, issued this statement:
“On behalf of First Assembly, we have been asked by the media to respond to the allegations that have been made. This began as a family matter that escalated. Our church would never condone restraint of any person unless they were engaged in violent activity. There is much more to this incident, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement to hopefully bring all of the facts to light as a rush to judgment is not in anyone’s best interest.”
Since filing the police report, Cormie says he’s received anonymous threats to drop his allegations. He adds that family members, who he believes were involved in the incident, have urged his to let the issue go. But Cormie is firm in his belief that “what they did was totally wrong” and he feels there should be “some consequences out of it.” On a spiritual level, he says he believes being gay is a sin, but he is who he is. “I’m a full-fledged gay, you can’t change it,” he told KFOR. “It’s my nature, I’m born that way, so let it be.”
Over the weekend, two survivors of the deadly Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, hosted a rally promising ‘deliverance to the LGBTQ community through religion.’ According to the Orlando Sentinel, tens of people gathered at the rainbow amphitheater at Lake Eola Park. Members of the group Changed Movement told the attendees that they have “chosen identity in Christ” over being homosexual. The rally, which was staged much like a religious service, included testimonials from members who say they left the LGBTQ ‘lifestyle’ after finding religion. Among them were Luis Javier Ruiz, 36, (above) and Angel Colon, 29, who survived the Pulse massacre on June 12, 2016, which left 49 dead and 53 more injured. Since the deadly shooting, the two say they have become heterosexual through religion. After healing from their injuries, the two founded Fearless Identity, a religious ministry which, according to the official website, promises to bring “hope and understanding to the LGBTQ community and the church through education, biblical clarity, and support in a judgement free environment for those seeking the option to change.” The duo promise, however, that the ‘option to change’ is not about so-called conversion therapy. Ruiz made a point of underscoring that message at the rally on Saturday telling those gathered, “I want to make a public declaration: This is not conversion therapy, this is not electrotherapy, this is not shock therapy.” “This is all the Holy Spirit, this is the man that died on the cross,” he continued. “This man never cheated on me, never slept with my best friend. He’s the man on the cross.”
I walked by the freedom march today in Orlando, basically an anti-lgbt rally. I just wanted to walk around the lake with my boyfriend only to be reminded that Orlando isn’t safe from gross hatred towards my community pic.twitter.com/ro5Rkyz053
— Daniel – Gay Werewolf Extraordinaire (@RadeDRB) September 14, 2019
Far from a “Freedom March”, the Religious Right exploited desperate and vulnerable LGBT people to hold a “Fraud March” in Orlando, where these folks renounced their humanity to get a pat on the back from homophobic bigots. Fortunately, the Truth Wins Out.https://t.co/WPgRWTxD5b
— Wayne Besen (@WayneBesen) September 14, 2019
“I knew I was attracted to women, but I thought I could pray the gay away,” said Sheehan, the first openly gay elected official in central Florida. Sheehan told Besen that, as a teen, she attended a church that promoted ‘ex-gay’ therapy During meetings with the group, Sheehan was promised that an orange mucous was going to “emanate from me as the demon of homosexuality left my body.” Sheehan told Truth Wins Out her message to people considering taking part in an ‘ex-gay’ ministry program is to “get some counseling outside of the church and really get a handle on where you are at, because I think they will take advantage of you, they will make you dependent and they will not do what’s in your best interest.”