LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items as we close out the weekend:
• Boy Culture: Madonna made a “surprise” appearance at the Abbey for about 25-30 minutes playing club mixes from her upcoming album Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II.
• GQ Magazine: Not for nothing, Josh Hutcherson is looking oh-so-handsome in his recent photoshoot for GQ. Continue reading “Madonna Surprises Crowd At The Abbey + Josh Hutcherson + More News”
Some news items you might have missed:
• Ok, I can hear you already, “Randy, that hot pic of Gus Kenworthy is just click bait! Why do you do this to us?” But it’s not – see that phone grip that says ‘Be True?’ Proceeds from sales will help Gus raise $1 million for his AIDSLifeCycle campaign. Click here to buy. See? I’m here to help 😉
• Josh Hutcherson revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he and Hunger Games co-star Liam Hemsworth once stripped naked together at Berlin fetish club. Pics or it didn’t happen…
• Manchester Pride has announced they’ve added a black and brown stripe to their Pride flag to represent Black, Asian and ethnic LGBTQ people. What do you think – do we need a new version of the iconic rainbow flag? I think the original flag already represented everyone…
• Fox and New Regency have announced that they’ll release a karaoke version of box office juggernaut Bohemian Rhapsody in 750 theaters across the US and Canada starting this Friday, January 11.
• Seniors and ‘ultra conservatives’ shared about seven times more ‘fake news’ on social media than younger adults, moderates and super liberals during the 2016 election season.
• It may be the middle of winter, but Aussie singer Troye Sivan has his head in summer sunshine with his new music video for “Lucky Strike.”
Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson hosted on Friday the third annual Celebrity Basketball Game Benefiting Straight But Not Narrow. SBNN is an ally organization that prepares and trains young adults on how to become allies of their LGBTQ peers.
At the event, Hutcherson noted not only the progress made in recent years but the ground yet to be covered:
“There’ve been some great stepping stones and we’re moving in the right direction, but [the battle] is definitely not won. I mean, marriage equality is great, but it doesn’t help a lot of people, especially young people who are in school. They can’t even get married yet. So those are the ones who are dealing with [bullying] and at such a formidable age well.”
Hutcherson also announced a new campaign – Power On – in conjunction with Straight But Not Narrow, The Trevor Project, and human I-T.
Noting that more than half of LGBTQ youth who were not out in person had used the internet to connect with other queer people and like minded individuals, the program will encourage teens to donate their unused laptops, tablets, and smartphones to be refurbished and distributed to LGBTQ resource centers across the United States.
Those interested in donating to the initiative can find instructions at human-i-t.org/ally. The organization will collect and refurbish all donated devices free of charge.
OUT has a disarmingly honest and self-assured interview with LGBT ally and movie star Josh Hutcherson.
Just a bit of what Josh shares over a lunch with OUT:
We’ve barely started lunch, and I’m nowhere near my usual open-ended sexuality question, when Josh Hutcherson offers this: “I would probably list myself as mostly straight.”
That “mostly” is what makes Hutcherson winningly uninhibited, but also typical of his generation. New research published in The New York Times in 2010 shows that an increasing number of guys his age identify as “mostly straight,” and Hutcherson’s ease in embracing ambiguity over neat and secure boxes speaks to his self-assurance.
“Maybe I could say right now I’m 100% straight,” he says. “But who knows? In a fucking year, I could meet a guy and be like, Whoa, I’m attracted to this person.”
Hutcherson seems delighted by the complicated nature of human sexuality, but he doesn’t take sex too seriously—“Sometimes the rhythm isn’t right or you’re trying to make a new position work and it really doesn’t, and you have to laugh”—and isn’t allergic to oversharing. Of nude photos it’s rumored he posted to a dating site, he shrugs off any comment except to say, “I find it so shocking still that nakedness is so shocking.”
He definitely doesn’t understand judgmental attitudes toward gay people, which is why he cofounded Straight But Not Narrow, a youth organization that focuses on arming allied kids with the confidence and tools they need to speak out against homophobia. “Sometimes it’s frustrating to comprehend how people are not OK with it. If you can try to tell me how it’s hurting you, you’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy. Like, what do you mean it’s not natural? Even if—even if, which, I disagree, but even if—why the fuck do you care?”
Read more of the interview at OUT
This will be a hit. Just watch.
Red hot Chris Hemsworth (“Avengers”) and Josh Hutcherson (“Hunger Games”), along with one of my favorite actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan, star in this remake of the 1984 original.
Like the original movie, the plot revolves around a group of high schoolers who defend themselves against an invasion — only this time it’s North Korea infiltrating a small town, not the Soviets.
The movie opens November 21.
Josh Hutcherson, star of “The Hunger Games” on the Red Carpet for the GLAAD Awards in Los Angeles where he will be honored as the youngest ever recipient of the Vanguard Award.
Hutcherson will receive the Vanguard Award, which is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community. Hutcherson leads the next generation in the movement for LGBT equality.
In 2010, Hutcherson starred as the son of a lesbian couple in the critically acclaimed film “The Kids Are All Right,” which received a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film Wide Release, two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Hutcherson currently stars as Peeta Mellark in the blockbuster film “The Hunger Games.”
Hutcherson is one of the founders of the LGBT ally organization Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN), and has remained outspoken about why equality for LGBT people is important.
In an interview with SamaritanMag.com, Hutcherson said, “We just launched [SBNN], and it’s a very exciting time for us and it hits close to home for me. I have a lot of gay friends in Los Angeles. My roommate’s gay and I lost two uncles when I was young to AIDS, so it’s an important cause in my family.”
Earlier this year, Hutcherson and fellow SBNN co-founder, actor Avan Jogia, met with Gay-Straight Alliance leaders at the GSA Network to film a video discussing the importance of GSA clubs in schools. In March, Hutcherson made a surprise appearance at a high school in Los Angeles where he spoke to GSA members about about the importance of being an ally for LGBT young people.
The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson will be presented with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s Vanguard Award in Los Angeles on April 21, making him the youngest recipient of that award in the organization’s history.
GLAAD’s Vanguard Award is annually presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community. The 19-year-old Hutcherson, who came to the LGBT community’s attention playing the son of two lesbian mothers in last year’s The Kids Are All Right, co-founded the Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN) campaign with his close friend, actor Avan Jogia.
“As the youngest person to ever receive the Vanguard Award, Josh Hutcherson represents a new generation of equality advocates who know that no one should be denied vital legal protections or face discrimination because of who they are,” GLAAD’s Mike Thompson says in a statement. “Through his work in trailblazing films like The Kids Are All Right, as well as his leadership in projects like the Straight But Not Narrow campaign, Josh is helping countless Americans understand the importance of equality.”
The award will be given at the 23rd annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremony.