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News Round-Up: April 2, 2021

With the warmer weather finally here, make sure you get out in the sun and enjoy the warmer weather.
With spring finally here, make sure you get out in the sun and enjoy the warmer weather.
Time to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather (stock image via Depositphotos)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Andrew Christian: With the weather finally warming up, it’s time to get out to the great outdoors for a date that includes some Vitamin D. Check out these ideas for you and your boo to do.

• LGBTQ Nation: On March 31, Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy White House Press Secretary, became the first out Black woman to host an official White House Press Brief. She delivered the briefing standing mid-flight aboard Air Force One.

• Kenneth-in-the-212: Don’t miss Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the best in LGBTQ publications including the feature in Hot Spots Magazine (below) on LGBTQs and our furry family members.

Hot Spots Magazine covers LGBTQ people and their furry family members
(image via Hot Spots Magazine)

• Broadway Cares: The virtual edition of Broadway Backwards delivered an exuberant evening of performances and raised a record $749,555 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. The free online event can now be viewed by clicking here through 11:59 pm Eastern on Saturday, April 3.

• Instinct Magazine: Virginia is now the 13th state to ban ‘gay panic’ and ‘trans panic’ legal defenses in cases of violence and murder on LGBTQ people.

• Tostitos: The chip maker brings out Emmy Award winners Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) and Kate McKinnon (SNL) together for this cute new ad spot where the comic geniuses one-up each other describing the flavor of new Habanero Tostitos. McKinnon thinks the chips are “drama” but Levy says they are “pelvicular.”

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Major Biden Back At White House

Major Biden in the Oval Office
Major Biden in the Oval Office
Major Biden in the Oval Office (image via White House)

Look at what a good boy Major Biden is after spotting a tennis ball on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President Biden chats nearby.

You may have heard Major had a bit of a ruff start at the White House when he got a bit aggressive with a Secret Service agent.

But after going through some training back in Delaware for a few weeks, he returned with the president and First Lady Jill Biden to the White House this week.

According to the president, the 3-year-old rescue was just startled by an unfamiliar person in his new home.

“You turn a corner, and there’s two people you don’t know at all,” Biden told Good Morning America. “And he moves to protect.”

Biden made it clear that Major didn’t bite or penetrate the skin in the incident.

An American success story, Major is the first dog to go from rescue shelter to the White House.

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New Music: John Duff’s Poised Pooch Premieres ‘100% Baby’

John Duff and Baby
Out recording artist John Duff with Baby
John Duff and Baby (photo: David Laffe)

DJ Baby Duff’s new single ‘100% Baby’ is fun, funny, and a total ear-worm.

Out singer/songwriter John Duff constructed the track and music video as a tongue in cheek laugh about overly-deep lyrics.

“Sometimes I feel like my lyrics are too smart and that nobody has an attention span to actually listen to them,” Duff explains. “So, with this one, I wanted to do something extremely stupid as stupid is always relatable.”

There might also be some subtle shade here aimed at over-paid DJs who score beaucoup bucks without bringing all that to the table. “It’s not all DJ’s, but definitely some,” Duff clarifies.

Baby Duff steps up and steps out doing all of her own stunts (thanks to dog trainer Kirstin McMillan).

Photographer Davide Laffe captured the poised pooch from all her best angles.

And animator Sqott pulls the whole thing together with awesome video skills. “I didn’t want the video to be too sexy,” says Duff. “She’s so young.”

Will Baby save Planet Earth? Hit the play button to find out.

You can find my previous coverage of John Duff and his music here.

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Brody Knows Star Quality When He Sees It

Brody became fascinated with seeing himself on TV
Brody became fascinated with seeing himself on TV
Brody was fascinated by seeing himself on TV

Checking in from Brody Land…

The other night, Michael put a video of the Brody-O playing with Mama Scarlett on the TV in the master bedroom via Air Play.

Brody heard the sounds of dogs playing, and when he turned to look he became fascinated by the image of two dogs on the screen. He stared so intently, and at one point you’ll see him almost lean into what he sees.

It was like he was watching the ‘dailies’ of his life movie. He clearly knows star quality when he sees it.

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News Round-Up: February 25, 2021

Some news items you might have missed:

• Throwback Thursday: Thinking about days of dachshunds filling the house (above) . Not sad, just glad it happened. 

• Instinct Magazine: Heavily armed police attempted to arrest a gay couple for kissing on a public beach in Tulum, Mexico, until a crowd gathered shouting down the officers’ actions.

• Buzzfeed: Seventeen straight guys shared their same-sex hook-up encounters which ran the gamut from meh to hilarious.

• Paramount Plus: The Real World Homecoming: New York, a multi-episode docu-series starring all seven of the original housemates from the classic MTV show, will debut on March 4. Running for 25 years on MTV before moving to Facebook Watch in 2019, the series helped launch the reality show genre. Word is the new series is being shot in that same NYC loft apartment.

• Axios: 41% of Republicans say they don’t plan to get a coronavirus vaccination if it’s available to them while 70% of Democrats and a plurality of independents (47%) say they do plan to get vaccinated.

• The Hill: As the second impeachment trial failed to convict Donald Trump, two House Democrats plan to introduce legislation that would reform the Former Presidents Act of 1958 by stripping past presidents convicted of a felony of their $219,200 annual pension, office space and a budget to pay for staff.

• The Advocate: Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL) put up a transgender Pride flag in a show of support for her daughter. Her congressional ‘neighbor,’ the hideous Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene R-GA) then trolled her with a sign reading “There are only two genders: male and female. Trust the science.” Oddly, Facebook removed Newman’s post calling her pro-trans remarks ‘hate speech.’

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Lady Gaga Offers $500K For Stolen Bulldogs

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga (image via Instagram)

International pop star Lady Gaga is offering a $500,000 reward in hopes of retrieving her two French bulldogs stolen from her dog-walker Wednesday evening.

From NBC News:

The sources said the pop star “is offering half-a-million dollars to anyone who has her 2 dogs, no questions asked. Anyone who has the dogs can use this email — KojiandGustav@gmail.com — to retrieve the reward.”

According to Los Angeles police, the victim was walking the dogs when an unknown male shot him about 9:40 p.m. local time in the 1500 block of North Sierra Bonita Avenue. The dog walker was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, police said.

He was “recovering well,” according to the sources close to Gaga.

Authorities are searching for the shooter, who they said used a semiautomatic gun and sped from the scene in a white vehicle.

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News Round-Up: February 23, 2021

Champ and Major visit President Biden in the Oval Office
Champ and Major visit President Biden in the Oval Office
Champ and Major have Oval Office walk-in privileges (photo: WhiteHouse/Flickr)

Some news items you might have missed:

• White House: It looks like Champ and Major Biden (above) have Oval Office walk-in privileges. Great to see dogs in the White House again 🙂

• BBC: Olympic champion figure skater Eric Radford tells BBC Sport that he felt as though “someone had taken invisible bricks off his shoulders” when he came out and that becoming the first openly gay male Winter Olympics champion in 2018 made him “explode with pride.”

• NowThis News: Dr. Anthony Fauci reflects on the U.S. surpassing 500k COVID-19 deaths and how political polarization contributed to the tragic milestone.

• Edge Media: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg shares his thoughts on being a member of both the LGBTQ and faith communities, and essentially how the divide between the two can be bridged.

• Gay City News: Check out this report on Black/queer-owned businesses, the obstacles they might face – plus 12 brands you can support right now.

• Raw Story: It appears the notorious ‘eye-gouger’ who allegedly beat a Capitol Police officer with a pipe at the violent invasion of the U. S. Capitol building is a former NYPD cop.

• Instagram: RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Ross Matthews announced today that he recently got engaged to his boyfriend, Dr. Wellington García. Congratulations to the happy couple!

 

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A post shared by Ross Mathews (@helloross)

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Newsmax Criticizes First Dog Champ As “Rough” & “Unpresidential”

Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly calls First Dog Champ "rough" and "junkyard"

Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly calls First Dog Champ "rough" and "junkyard"

Newsmax host Greg Kelly and a guest on his show on Friday criticized the appearance of First Dog, Champ, prompting a wave of criticism and ridicule on Twitter. Kelly said that Champ, a German Shepherd, looks like he’s “from the junkyard.”

“This dog looks like, I’m sorry, like it’s from the junkyard,” Kelly said.

He even had presidential historian Craig Shirley on during the segment who remarked Champ looks “dirty and disheveled” and “unlike a presidential dog.”

This is what they spend time on at Newsmax?

For the record, Champ is a 12-year-old German Shepard the Biden’s adopted when Joe was Vice President. I’m a dog guy, and Champ looks pretty fantastic for a 12-year-old.

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Champ & Major Biden Will Bring Dog Energy Back To The White House

(images via Joe Biden/Jill Biden Instagram)

As part of the Biden family, I’m thrilled to see we’ll be welcoming Champ and Major Biden as the nation’s ‘First Dogs.’

Presidential pets have long been a tradition in the White House although Donald Trump is the first president since James Polk to not have a pet while in office.

According to PEOPLE, Biden’s German shepherd, Major, will also make history as the first rescue dog to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Biden family adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association in November 2018, 10 years after the couple welcomed their first German shepherd, Champ.

Champ was welcomed on Christmas 2008 and the beloved pet lived at the vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory during Biden’s two terms with former President Barack Obama.

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Build Bark Better. Happy #NationalDogDay

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