Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
Some news items you might have missed:
• Instagram: Country music star TJ Osborne shared an uber-cute pic with his boyfriend Abi Ventura on his Instagram Stories Monday. Continue reading “News Round-Up: November 23, 2021”
Joining the #FreeBritney movement, Madonna speaks out for Britney Spears and her ongoing battle to end her conservatorship.
Last month, the Queen of Pop dropped a one hashtag remark – #diditfirst – about Lil Nas X’s scintillating BET Awards performance (complete with male-on-male lip-lock) referencing her own same-sex smooch with Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards that became its own pop culture moment.
But some folks got a bit twisted that Madge didn’t take the time to make a statement of support for Spears and her current situation.
Shell bring Britney up to overshadow a queer poc artist but not bring Britney up for her court hearing last week pic.twitter.com/GJ0fPzH9da
— Ma-mood 🇪🇬 (@Masc4FemFatale) June 30, 2021
Well, now she has.
In her Instagram Stories last night, Madonna – wearing a Britney Spears t-shirt – penned a passionate plea demanding, “Give this woman her life back – Slavery was abolished so long ago!”
“Death to the greedy patriarchy that has been doing this to women for centuries,” Madonna added. “This is a violation of human rights!”
She closed the missive telling Spears, “Britney we coming to get you out of jail!”
Madonna is just the latest in a cavalcade of stars speaking out in support of Spears. Previous celebs raising their voices for Britney include Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Cher, former boyfriend Justin Timberlake and more.
Britney’s situation made headlines last month when a judge denied her request to remove her father as the conservator of her estate, according to NBC News.
Under the current terms of the conservatorship, Spears has alleged that she has been overworked without breaks, is forced to use birth control to prevent her from having more children, and is being medicated with lithium. The 39-year-old says all of those decisions were made by her father, Jamie Spears.
Her father denies the allegations and has said he only has his daughter’s “best interests at heart.”
In related Madonna news, the pop star recently told her fans the film of her ‘Madame X’ tour will be released on Paramount+ in October.
Following Lil Nas X’s fierce performance at the BET Awards this past Sunday, which culminated in a steamy kiss with one of his male dancers, folks on social media were quick to point out it wasn’t the first same-sex kiss to stir the award show airwaves.
Notably, there was Adam Lambert’s male-male kiss at the 2009 American Music Awards, and Madonna’s smooch with Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV VMAs.
Both became pop culture controversies, and now both artists have responded to Lil Nas X’s live lip-lock.
Speaking to Billboard this week, Lambert gushed over the moment saying it was “hot.”
Adam Lambert chats with Billboard about Lil Nas X's performance at the BET Awards.https://t.co/WH4AgvU1KO
— billboard (@billboard) June 29, 2021
“I think he is definitely like the gay pop star that is 2021 — he’s bold, he’s controversial, he’s pushing boundaries,” Lambert told Billboard. “That’s what we want our pop stars to do. It’s just taken this long to have it be a gay one.”
That said, the 39-year-old singer acknowledged the public responses to his kiss versus Lil Nas X were quite different.
Lambert says he was flying to New York City the next day to perform on Good Morning America but was canceled due to the controversy.
But Lambert notes that not only are we in a different place in LGBTQ awareness today, but he was in a different place in his career in 2009 – just months after coming in second on American Idol.
Pointing to streams, sales and radio chart position today, Lambert admits, “One of the great things about Lil Nas is when you look at ‘Old Town Road,’ you see that this massive worldwide hit helped give him some freedom to make some statements and to make some real art. Timing is everything.”
“There is so much good will for someone like him,” Lambert adds. “And I’m just happy to be able to have the perspective to appreciate it.”
Madonna responded to comparisons in her own inimitable way by posting a pic of her VMAs kiss next to Lil Nas X’s BET smooch in her Instagram stories with the hashtag, “#diditfirst.”
When the screen capture was shared on Twitter, folks got a bit riled up.
Some thought the Queen of Pop’s remark took away from Lil Nas X’s moment:
Not mad at the mirrored images themselves, but I guess it'd never occur to her or her team to have some grace and go for a "love to see the next generations living out loud" or something, since he is a gay man kissing a man vs. her w/a younger pop star in a bid to stay relevant https://t.co/Wmc9hyaMum
— @PiaGlenn (@PiaGlenn) June 30, 2021
Not Madonna thinking she did something with this comment… you had your moment let a queer black man have his moment!!! https://t.co/QTahm8JQPa
— Luis Nava (@Pinosaur13) June 30, 2021
madonna running to make every queer celebrity's moment about herself https://t.co/R6MxwkmFjC pic.twitter.com/mBndTfKlkp
— tyler ³³³ (@nashequenched) June 30, 2021
Others thought Madonna could have used the moment to speak up for Britney Spears’ ongoing legal issues:
Madonna dragging Britney into stuff to get dragged but she can’t say #FreeBritney? pic.twitter.com/xUucAxH1W4
— Fan Account (@breatheonmiley) June 30, 2021
not her using that Britney pic but it’s crickets when it comes to her trial
— ﹌ (@cyphariana) June 30, 2021
Shell bring Britney up to overshadow a queer poc artist but not bring Britney up for her court hearing last week pic.twitter.com/GJ0fPzH9da
— Ma-mood 🇪🇬 (@Masc4FemFatale) June 30, 2021
For his part, Lil Nas X wasn’t buying into the turmoil. He tried to cool things down on by defending Madge’s comment as a joke and reminding folks the two are friends.
But you know – Twitter’s gotta twitter…
At the end of the day, if Madonna wanted to make a statement – and we know she’s not shy about that – I doubt she would have hidden the remark in a ‘blink and it’s gone’ Instagram Story.
I thought we been knew y’all were friends pic.twitter.com/YSTwpN7sCz
— 🤍LilNasXfp🏹 (@NasxFp_2) June 30, 2021
Some news items you might have missed:
• Boy Culture: Michael Blevins (above), a close personal friend of actor Henry Cavill’s who has trained him since 2011, used Instagram Stories to argue against the COVID-19 vaccine and face masks, leaning on his belief that the main reason the virus has been so deadly — well over a million killed worldwide — is because too many of you are fat, fat, fat.
• PBS: A record number of bills to limit transgender rights have been introduced this year in state legislators across the country, with lawmakers in 28 states considering 93 bills targeting the rights of transgender Americans.
• KTLA: NSYNC’s Lance Bass is getting ready to open the nation’s largest gay club in West Hollywood. Bass signed a lease to rent the space that was once home to famed gay nightclub Rage, which closed in September after a 37-year run over a landlord dispute.
• AP: As Wisconsin stands on the precipice of another COVID-19 surge, the state Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate on Wednesday, stripping the governor of one of his last remaining tools to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
• New York Times: Pfizer and BioNTech report that their coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in adolescents 12 to 15 years old, perhaps even more so than in adults. No infections were found among children who received the vaccine in a recent clinical trial; they produced strong antibody responses and experienced no serious side effects.
• PEOPLE: Former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has announced she has tested positive for the coronavirus and is urging people to wear face masks.
• Kenneth-in-the-212: Over at KIT212 the ‘Song of the Day’ is Madonna’s “Live To Tell,” inspired by a Facebook post by one of my favorite LGBTQ journalists, Jeremy Kinser, who declares the tune is Madge’s best ballad. I agree with Jeremy and Kenneth. (Although, ‘Rain’ comes in a close second…)
Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado raised eyebrows today when he attempted to blame international pop-star Madonna and comedian Kathy Griffin for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.
The statement came during hours of debate today on whether to approve an article of impeachment against Donald Trump for inciting a violent mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol building as Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes.
Buck told his colleagues that Americans were ‘frustrated’ by a laundry list of things including the Special Counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia, efforts by Congress to impeach Trump (the first time), and more.
“They were frustrated when members of this House spoke over and over about impeaching the President days into his administration,” Buck said. “And then the socialists in Hollywood joined their allies in Congress.”
The socialists in Hollywood…here we go…
“Robert De Niro said that he wanted to punch the president in the face,” continued the Colorado lawmaker. “Madonna thought about blowing up the White House. Kathy Lee Griffin held up a likeness of the President’s beheaded head, and nothing was heard and nothing was said by my colleagues at that point in time.”
That’s not accurate, of course.
Griffin received considerable pushback from members of both political parties at the time of her ‘severed head’ stunt.
According to Newsweek she was investigated by the Secret Service and the FBI, placed on the no-fly list for months and lost her New Year’s Eve CNN gig with Anderson Cooper. She also found it difficult to book stand-up comedy appearances for a long period of time.
And while it’s true that Madonna did allude to ‘blowing up the White House,’ Buck takes her comment totally out of context.
Her statement occurred at the women’s march on Washington in January 2017 opposing the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Here’s the remark in full:
“Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: ‘We must love one another or die.’ I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love…”
Madge clarified her comments on Instagram the very next day writing, “I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in it’s entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context.”
View this post on Instagram
Madonna and Kathy Griffin were soon trending on Twitter for this very surprising reason.
During impeachment debate one of my republican colleagues just ranted about Robert De Niro, Madonna, and Kathy Griffin saying mean things about trump. He did this to defend trump’s insurrection. I wish I were making that up. This is the republican party.
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) January 13, 2021
My only take away…
“Kathy Griffin AND MADONNA”
🥰🔥👑 https://t.co/XdN6icGMik— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) January 13, 2021
me finding out Madonna was name dropped at the impeachment hearings pic.twitter.com/sTQE8z0fj4
— ryan farr (@rymfarr) January 13, 2021
This MF just blamed the coup on Madonna
— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) January 13, 2021
😲
I must have blinked and missed it. When was Robert DeNiro, Madonna and Kathy Griffen president?Was that when Hunter Biden was a candidate?
— HeyKd (@kaydykayd) January 13, 2021
Oh no celebrities are mean to meeee. Y’all stormed a government building in hopes to hang someone. So. Yeah. That’s so dumb.
— small mouth bass ✨ (@Danisorous) January 13, 2021
Ken Buck says it was “Hollywood socialists,” Robert deNiro. Madonna. And Ken Buck, who is an idiot, doesn’t know the difference between Kathie Lee Gifford and @kathygriffin.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) January 13, 2021
Some news items you might have missed:
• Gay Star News: San Francisco may finally see gay bathhouses return thanks to the city relaxing rules it brought in at the height of the AIDS crisis. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the city’s governing council, voted unanimously on Tuesday to remove the restrictions on saunas in hopes that the businesses will now ‘reopen as part of the city’s COVID-19 economic recovery’.
• Meidas Touch: A Democratic super PAC is launching an anti-President Trump ad that uses former President Reagan’s comments in a 1980 presidential debate when he was challenging then-President Carter. The ad is set to air exclusively on Fox News over the course of the next week and features Reagan’s famous debate moment when he asked the country if it was “better off” than it was four years ago.
• Queerty: Actresses Indya Moore and Angelica Ross, of FX’s Pose, have criticized the Emmy Nominations, just one day after their announcement. The two transgender actresses attacked the Television Academy for ignoring the trans performers on the show, and lashed out at the show’s network, FX, for a lack of promotion.
• KIT212: Kenneth helps us all over Hump Day with his latest installment of ‘Wrestle Wednesday’ (below).
• Boy Culture: When the man who wrote Encyclopedia Madonnica 20: Madonna from A to Z, literally THE BOOK on Madonna, calls the international superstar out over COID-19 batshittery, you know it’s serious.
• The Gaily Grind: Four plainclothes NYC police officers were caught on video jumping out of an unmarked grey Kia minivan in broad daylight, snatching an 18-year-old transgender protester off the street, wrestling her to the ground, and throwing her into the vehicle before speeding away from the intersection.
NYC is taking after Portland – a trans femme protestor was pulled into an unmarked van at the Abolition Park protest – this was at 2nd Ave and 25th Street pic.twitter.com/1PDhSYuK9h
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) July 28, 2020
Madonna raised eyebrows on Tuesday night when she posted a video of coronavirus conspiracy theory proponent, Dr. Stella Immanuel, who claims hydroxychloroquine can ‘cure’ COVID-19.
“The truth will set us all Free! But some people don’t want to hear the truth,” Madge captioned the Instagram post. “Especially the people in power who stand to make money from this long drawn out search for a vaccine Which has been proven and available for months. They would rather let fear control them and let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker.”
Madonna closed the post writing, “This woman is my hero … Thank you Stella Immanuel.”
Instagram blurred the video and labeled it “False Information.” The social media platform provided viewers with a link to a page debunking the claims and clarifying that there is currently no coronavirus vaccine.
Instagram then deleted the post hours later. Raki Wane, a spokesperson for the social media platform, said in a statement the post was removed “for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for Covid-19.”
The video shows Dr. Immanuel, a primary care physician in Houston, Texas, appearing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday with a group called America’s Frontline Doctors. In addition to claiming hydroxychloroquine is a COVID-19 ‘cure,’ Immanuel announced face masks aren’t necessary to stop the spread of the disease.
More about Immanuel from The Daily Beast:
Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.
She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious.
The doctor is also hideously homophobic having posted numerous times on her Facebook page demonizing LGBTQ people writing, “practicing and celebrating [homosexuality] will take you to hell.”
Immanuel thanked The Daily Beast in a tweet for properly summarizing her views:
The Daily Beast did a great job summarizing our deliverance ministry and exposing incubus and succubus. Thank you daily beast. If you need deliverance from these spirits. Contact us. https://t.co/IwxmsrjbSw
— Stella Immanuel MD (@stella_immanuel) July 29, 2020
Woah CNN, MSNBC etc are doing free commercials on our deliverance ministry. Fire Power is main stream. Thank you CNN and let me know when y’all need some of them demons cast out of you. I will gladly oblige. You will feel a lot better. Keep up the good work. #cnn #MSNBC
— Stella Immanuel MD (@stella_immanuel) July 29, 2020
Madonna has revealed some interesting thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one post on Instagram, she’s shared that she ‘took a test’ and ‘found out she has the anti-bodies.’
“So tomorrow, I’m just going to go for a long drive in a car,” says Madonna. “And I’m gonna roll down the window, and I’m gonna breathe in, I’m gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air.”
In another post, later deleted, she shared a video showing her in a bathtub filled with rose petals.
In the clip, she said, “That’s the thing about Covid-19: It doesn’t care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell. It’s the great equalizer, and what’s terrible about it is what’s great about it. What’s terrible about it is it’s made us all equal in many ways.”
In any case, Twitter wasn’t having Madonna’s trip down in the underbrush of insanity:
You think 2020 can’t get any worse and then Madonna goes full demon semen
— God (@thegoodgodabove) July 29, 2020
Who had @Madonna promoting the Demon Sperm Alien DNA woman in a lab coat on their 2020 batshit bingo card? Dangerously misinformed and irresponsible and totally psychotic. Very disappointing.
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) July 29, 2020
I am not excited to have lived long enough to see the moment Madonna became a Karen pic.twitter.com/jn22ZGiZf5
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) July 29, 2020
3. Annie Lennox left this comment on Madonna’s now deleted Instagram post.
“This is utter madness!!! I can’t believe that you are endorsing this dangerous quackery. Hopefully your site has been hacked and you’re just about to explain it…” pic.twitter.com/etpmsbWwUv
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 29, 2020
Madonna is a delirious girl and she’s living in a delirious world.
— JRehling (@JRehling) July 29, 2020
I always respected @Madonna for her enormous talent. I had no idea she was a crackpot. https://t.co/3KZceLv6hh
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) July 29, 2020
Sorry, @Madonna, but you can't just delete and retreat. We deserve an explanation, and you should repudiate your hero for the day, Dr. Stella Immanuel. This goes beyond fandom. https://t.co/oPMoIdq58M
— Boy Culture Blog (@mattrett) July 29, 2020
I’ve loved @Madonna my whole life. But she gave me a nasty look at the Kabbalah center once. I’ll never forgive her for that, her last album or for promoting a quack doctor pushing #Hydroxychloroquine. Honey, you are cancelled.
— Damon Gonzalez (@TheyCallMeDaymz) July 29, 2020
I’ve stayed mentally strong for these past four-ish months, but Madonna sharing false, “censored” coronavirus content on Instagram may be what finally breaks me.
— Bradley Stern (@MuuMuse) July 29, 2020
Some news items you might have missed:
• Monday Memory: I came across this photo (above) from a couple of years ago when Michael, I and some friends were invited to the opening of a new club in Las Vegas. We got there kind of early I guess as not many people were there. A photographer told us to pose for a pic laying down and flexing. For some reason, I (top right) was more fascinated with my cocktail than my bicep.
• Boy Culture: Matt Rettenmund reminisces on Madonna making her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s acclaimed play, Speed-the-Plow, thirty-two years ago.
• NBC News: On April 20, Trump estimated the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus threat could be 50,000 to 60,000; by that point, there had been 40,000 U.S. deaths related to COVID-19. Earlier last week, he spoke of 60,000 to 70,000 deaths. During a Fox News town hall Friday night, Trump shifted his estimates to perhaps 100,000. At this writing, there are over 68,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US.
Trump: That’s one of the reasons we’re successful, if you call losing 80k-90k people successful
Bret: That number has changed Mr. President. You said 60
Trump: I used to say 65k and now I’m saying 80 or 90 and it goes up and it goes up rapidly pic.twitter.com/v4FbbygF5Q— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 3, 2020
• Gay Star News: Reports of Tunisia recognizing a same-sex marriage have put LGBT+ people in danger. Tunisian LGBT+ organization Mawjoudin – We Exist – told GSN the reports were probably based on an administrative mistake. Moreover, they said the reports have caused ‘a wave of queerphobic speech, attacks, and bullying’.
• Twitter: Star Trek star George Takei jokes about people disregarding social distancing guidelines, “I’m starting a rumor on the Breitbart (conservative website) chats that Covid-19 turns you gay. That should keep a lot of these idiots at home.
I’m starting a rumor on the Breitbart chats that Covid-19 turns you gay. That should keep a lot of these idiots at home.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 2, 2020
• Instinct: Trenton Councilwoman Robin Vaughn became unhinged during a city council conference call and launched vicious, homophobic personal attacks against Reed Gusciora – Trenton, New Jersey’s first openly gay Mayor. The slur-laden screed included calling the mayor a “pedophile” and “bitch-ass.” Gov. Murphy has called for her resignation. You can hear the conference call here.
• Pink News: Homophobe Franklin Graham has been asked to pack up his tents and leave New York after exploiting the setting up of a tent hospital during the coronavirus crisis to discriminate against gay people and evangelize.
• People: And finally, something uplifting to end this round-up. Check out the video below 🙂
You can feel the love in this video. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UqjmU2ysXv
— People (@people) May 5, 2020
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: DJ/producer David Nazar (above) sends regards from his “balcony vacation” in Miami, Florida. Follow him on Instagram here.
• Human Rights Campaign: May is officially recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, and now more than ever, it’s crucial to shine a light on mental health in the LGBTQ community. Click the link for information about how LGBTQ people are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts compared to their straight and cisgender peers.
• Broadway Bares: The 30th-anniversary performance of the annual striptease spectacular, featuring the sexist dancers on Broadway, is being postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the June spectacle has been postponed, plans are in the works to still celebrate Broadway Bares online this summer. Check out this clip from last year’s “Game Night” edition.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An internal poll conducted for the Georgia House GOP Caucus held bad news for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the former financial executive who dumped millions in stocks after receiving coronavirus briefings in January. Loeffler only received 11% support in the survey regarding her upcoming race this fall, and essentially tied with two Democratic candidates. U.S. Rep. Doug Collins leads the field with 29% of the vote and outpaces Loeffler among Republicans by a 62-18 margin.
• KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly look at what’s making news in LGBTQ magazines like South Florida’s Hot Spots! (below).
• Gay Star News: Magistrates in Israel have ruled the ironically named Rainbow Color print shop must compensate an LGBT+ association after it refused to print posters for the Ben Gurion University LGBT group three years ago. The Beersheba Magistrates Court said the duty to serve customers comes before religious beliefs.
• Instagram: In the middle of Madonna’s ‘Madame X’ themed post on Thursday, the pop-star revealed she’d “taken a test” and found out she “had the antibodies.” Madge didn’t elaborate as to when she was tested.
She added, “So tomorrow, I’m just going to go for a long drive in a car, and I’m going to roll down the window, and I’m going to breathe in, I’m going to breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining.” Note – scientists have not determined if having the coronavirus makes one immune going forward.
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: Hunky Green.Joel (above) makes it black and white – he wants you to “Rise up and attack the day with enthusiasm!!”
• Boy Culture: Matt Rettenmund pays tribute to Madonna on the 30th anniversary of the Blond Ambition Tour with lots of rare video clips from the record-setting production.
• The Gaily Grind: Ireland’s prime minister, openly gay Leo Varadkar, will be returning to medical practice to work as a doctor as the country battles the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister left the medical profession in 2013 after working as a doctor for seven years. By 2017, he’d become the country’s youngest-ever prime minister.
• Out Music: California native St. Panther recently released her debut single, “Infrastructure,” in advance of her upcoming album later this summer. The out hip-hop artist brings a 90s sensibility to a very ‘now’ soul sound. Drop the beat below.
• LA Times: Event production companies, that usually build tents, staging and facilities for tens of thousands of revelers at music, sports and dining events have seen hundreds of such events canceled. But they are now busy using their resources to help build temporary hospital stations to help accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic.
• NY Times: A member of the crew of the coronavirus-infected USS Theodore Roosevelt died Monday of complications related to the disease, 11 days after the aircraft carrier’s captain was fired for pressing his concern that the Navy had done too little to safeguard his crew. Of the 4,860 crew members aboard the Roosevelt, 585 have tested positive for COVID-19.
• NY Post: Bishop Gerald O. Glenn, the Pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Richmond who proudly defied coronavirus safety guidelines in order to hold church services, died from COVID-19 complications on Saturday. He told the congregation he’d keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital” because “people are healed” in his church.
• Broadway Cares: The stream of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ benefit concert celebrating Disney on Broadway’s 25th anniversary will be rescheduled for Friday, April 17, 2020, at 7 PM ET after the American Federation of Musicians dropped its opposition to the stream. The online playback will raise money for Broadway Cares’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, which is helping everyone in the theater and performing arts community impacted by the pandemic.