Former President Barack Obama (screen capture)
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News Round-Up: November 18, 2020
News Round-Up: October 19, 2020
Cameron Hawthorn (photo: Matthew Holler)
• Axios: The Supreme Court denied a request from Pennsylvania’s Republican Party to shorten the deadlines for mail-in ballots in the state. Thanks to the court’s 4-4 deadlock, ballots can be counted for several days after Election Day. • Jewish News: Ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, some 75 percent of U.S. Jews would vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, while 22 percent would vote to re-elect U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a poll released on Monday by the American Jewish Committee. In 2016, 71 percent of American Jews voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, while 24 percent voted for Trump. • Politico: In an episode that has since become legendary within the CIA, Donald Trump was reportedly in the middle of a highly classified briefing on Afghanistan at his New Jersey golf club when he suddenly craved a malted milkshake. “Does anyone want a malt? We have the best malts, you have to try them,” Trump insisted, as he beckoned a waiter into the room where code-word classified intelligence was being discussed. • Fox News: Donald Trump called CNN “dumb bastards” during a campaign stop today for continuing to cover a worldwide pandemic that’s killed over 220,000 Americans and continues to surge across the country.
“They are getting tired of the pandemic, aren’t they? You turn on CNN, that’s all they cover. ‘Covid, Covid, Pandemic, Covid, Covid.’ You know why? They’re trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren’t buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards.” — Trump pic.twitter.com/QobvMA6Yz0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 19, 2020
Podcast: Dangers On Grindr, ‘Special’ renewed, Plus Tips For The Holidays With The Family
In this week’s podcast: • Two Dallas men plead guilty to using Grindr to commit hate crimes against gay men • The first LGBTQ-welcoming senior housing opens in New York City • An Elder at an anti-LGBTQ Missouri church has been charged with soliciting sexual favors from college guys • The acclaimed Netflix series “Special” is renewed for Season 2 • Plus, tips for introducing your significant other to your family during the holidays All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
News Round-Up: November 20, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct: A real-life gay couple (above) kissing in an Australian underwear ad got a lot of attention. Some called it “beautiful,” but others said the ad was “offensive.” • Washington Blade: The number of hate crime incidents targeting gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in the United States in 2018 increased by nearly 6 percent over the previous year and the number of anti-transgender hate crime incidents increased by 41 percent during that same period, according to the FBI’s newly released annual Hate Crime Statistics Report. • Newsweek: Donald Trump regularly struggles to “remember what he’s said or been told,” an anonymous senior government official writes in the newly-released book, A Warning. • The Sun: A United Airlines passenger refused to sit next to 16-year-old Taylor Richardson on a plane “because she was black.” • NBC News: Preparing to enroll their two-year-old in pre-school, two gay dads were asked: “Who is the mother?” • Rolling Stone: Michelle Obama, Lizzo and Lil Nas X all scored Grammy Award nominations today. • Gaily Grind: Acrobatic dancers Guillaume Paquin and Arthur Morel Van Hyfte received a standing ovation after performing a dance routine meant to combat homophobia on La France a Un Incroyable Talent (France’s Got Incredible Talent) last night. The dance routine is part of the CircusQueer project, which is described on social media as “a series of performance videos to address social issues and hopefully inspire a kinder world” and meant to address “gender identity, trans youth, and the conditioning of gender expectations.”
News Round-Up: November 13, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Dan Tai (above) offers this Hump Day inspiration, “Nothing will work unless you do, so chalk up and get it done.” I offer this photo of Dan as Hump Day inspiration. #woof • Advocate: A New Orleans judge has rejected an arrest warrant for gay ex-radio host Seth Dunlap, who is accused of fabricating an antigay tweet from his former station. • Socialite Life: Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was finally voted off Dancing with the Stars this week. In true Trump form, the Donald deleted his tweet of support for Spicer once the Spice man got the boot. 
• FBI: The FBI has released its annual Hate Crime Statistics report for 2018 which shows anti-LGBTQ hate crimes increased by almost 6 percent compared to 2017. • NY Daily News: Michael Troina, a former NYC firefighter who said he experienced hazing from colleagues including taunts to “have sex with a stripper” to prove he is straight, received an $80,000 settlement from the city after filing a lawsuit. • Funny: Michael Henry’s latest ‘funny but makes you think’ video confronts gay men’s obsession with parties, drinking, and sex. Eventually, all that sex-crazed fun stops being fun, and that just leaves a lot of loneliness in the gayborhood. “When’s the last time you tried to make any gay friends that didn’t involve parties, drinking, or sex?” Henry asks the lonely party bunny. “All you ‘sexys’ only have surface friendships because you’re stuck in this loop of connecting and validating each other through some sort of sexual activity. Wear some pants and take an improv class, nobody’s having sex there.” #wisdom
News Round-Up: August 2, 2019
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| Calum Von Moger (via Instagram) |
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Bodybuilder and fitness expert Calum Von Moger shares the above pic with a humorous touch embracing his inner peacock as he writes, “I was made for this moment.” • LGBTQ Nation: While crime overall in major cities has declined over recent years, a new study shows hate crimes increased 9% over the last year. That makes for the 5th consecutive increase and the largest jump since 2015. • Gr8erDays: Follow this Instagram account for celebrity trivia from Hollywood days gone by.
• Morning Consult: New polling shows the second round of debates among Democratic presidential candidates did little to shake up current standings. Thirty-two percent of Democratic voters still say former Vice President Joe Biden is their first choice, just 1 percentage point down from MC’s polling after the first debates. None of the candidates shifted more than 2 points. • Wall-Street Journal: While median income in the U.S. has gone up 14% in 30 years, housing prices have gone up 290% and college tuition has risen 311% making life for the middle class even more difficult. • Out Music: Swedish pop star Tove Lo drops her latest single, “Bad as the Boys,” a light, breezy, summertime pop bop which finds the singer teamed-up with Finnish singer ALMA. “’Bad as the Boys’ is about my first summer girl crush when I was in my teens,” says the singer. “It’s about that sting you feel in your heart when you know summer is coming to an end and so is the romance.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fk0YGYsSNA
News Round-Up: April 10, 2019
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunk Dan Tai gets up close to a mama elephant. If that’s not enough elephant action for you, check this baby elephant pretending to be brave. #ElephantsRock
• Following an overall trend of increased hate crimes since Donald Trump took office, a Colorado transgender man was attacked on his own front porch for “acting gay.”
• It’s National Siblings Day, so here’s a shout out to my brother, Gary, who I fought with throughout my childhood. But, as adults, we found common ground – wonder what that was…? #MoreWine
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| Happy Siblings Day to my big bro, Gary |
• A gay guy wrote an essay titled, “Why Pete Buttigieg Is Bad For Gays,” and he’s wrong.
• Hollywood powerhouse producer/director Ryan Murphy announced he will make the hit Broadway musical The Prom (about a high school girl asking another girl to the prom) into a Netflix movie.
• Testifying before Congress today, Education Secretary Betsy Devos admitted she knew rolling back Obama-era guidance that protected trans students would lead to lower attendance and depression for those students.
.@RepBonamici: “Did you know when you rolled back the guidance that the stress of harassment and discrimination can lead to lower attendance and grades as well as depression for transgender students?”Secretary @BetsyDeVosED: “I do know that.” pic.twitter.com/nEMvk2sFUQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 10, 2019
News Round-Up: April 3, 2019
Some news items you might have missed:
• Here’s a t-shirt (modeled by InstaHunk Ramses Principe) that I can totally relate to 😉
• The governor of Utah has signed into law the state’s new, tougher hate crimes law with stricter punishments for those who commit crimes specifically due to bias. Yes – Utah!
• Even though Netflix cancelled the terrific One Day at a Time reboot, the streaming giant may be standing in the show’s way of finding a new home.
• Starting out at a bus stop as young boys, James Corden and Tony Award winner Ben Platt tell the story of a life-long friendship using 9 different sets and 12 carefully curated songs all captured in one take.
• Investigators on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team say the four page letter by Attorney General William Barr didn’t adequately portray the findings of their investigation.
• Stoning gays to death officially became the law of the land in Brunei today. Even Ellen DeGeneres has joined the boycott of hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
• Donald Trump’s choices for ambassadorships has been, interesting, to say the least. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates — a wealthy real estate developer with no diplomatic experience. Ambassador to Morocco? A well-heeled car dealer. For Iceland? While well-traveled, the nominee had never even been to the Nordic country.
• The brilliant satirist, Randy Rainbow, offers his parody of the Disney classic, “Cruella DeVille,” with a nod to our current clueless Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
🎶She might be even dumber than her boss…🎶 #CruellaDeVos 🍎😈 pic.twitter.com/8PhLorHukv— Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) April 2, 2019
White Supremacist Pleads Guilty To 29 Federal Hate Crimes
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| James A. Fields Jr. (mugshot) |
James A. Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd of people killing Heather Heyer during a rally for white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges.
Fields originally pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea Wednesday. Those crimes carried the possibility of the death penalty.
From CBS19News:
James Fields, Jr. has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges for his car attack on a crowd of people on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville.
The attack killed Heather Heyer and injured many other people. As a result of the plea, the death penalty was taken off the table.
The courtroom was filled with several people who had been injured in the car attack and Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer. Fields had to answer questions about his competence, and he said he was making the decision of his own free will. He did not express any remorse.
The plea deal had to be approved by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and prosecutors obtained that approval.
Fields was convicted of first-degree murder and several counts of malicious wounding during his state trial in December. He already faces a life sentence plus 419 years for that conviction.
Report: Counties That Hosted Trump Rallies Saw 226% Increase In Hate Crimes
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| Donald Trump |
Earlier this week, Donald Trump was asked whether he sees “today that white nationalism is a rising threat around the world?” Trump’s response: “I don’t really.”
In the aftermath of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where a young white man rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer, Trump tried to mitigate white nationalists’ responsibility for the violence telling the public that “there’s blame on both sides.”
He has repeatedly asserted that he bears no blame or responsibility for the violence.
But analysis by the Washington Post shows that counties that had hosted a 2016 Trump campaign rally saw a 226 percent increase in reported hate crimes over comparable counties that did not host such a rally.
It is hard to discount a “Trump effect” when a considerable number of these reported hate crimes reference Trump. According to the ADL’s 2016 data, these incidents included vandalism, intimidation and assault.
What’s more, according to the FBI’s Universal Crime report in 2017, reported hate crimes increased 17 percent over 2016. Recent research also shows that reading or hearing Trump’s statements of bias against particular groups makes people more likely to write offensive things about the groups he targets.