• DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco (above) is living for the west coast sunshine – “Sun’s out, guns out!”
• The Alabama senate unanimously voted for a bill this week that would eliminate marriage licenses because some judges in the state don’t want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
• The organizers of Houston’s Drag Queen Story Time project are calling it quits after harassment and death threats by so-called Christians.
• America’s Next Top Model & Dancing with the Stars champ Nyle DiMarco is asking Instagram “wyd (what you doing) on Valentines?” #MeMePickMe
• Will & Grace star Sean Hayes is set to receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 28. The Stephen F. Kolzak prize “is presented to a LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting LGBTQ acceptance.”
• Movie star Chris Pratt got called out for attending an anti-gay church. So, of course, Ellen DeGeneres couldn’t wait to invite him on her show tweeting, “Whatever @PrattPrattPratt is selling, I’m buying!”
• Donald Trump, the first president in modern times to not have a dog, says he would feel “a little phony” having a dog. With all the lies he tells on a daily basis, having a DOG would make him phony? I’ve always felt if someone doesn’t like dogs, I probably wouldn’t like them.
• Lots of folks come to together to make dance/pop bop, “So Close,” a lively, infectious track.
With Swedish producers NOTD, German DJ Felix Jaehn and vocalist Georgia Ku onboard, plus California remixers Captain Cuts, the resulting collaboration makes for upbeat ear candy. That chorus definitely has some melodic, catchy DNA.
I like the music video, although the camera work gets a bit kinetic for me. Check it out.
Earlier this week, I teased an appearance on TBS’ Full Frontal by America’s Next Top Model & Dancing with the Stars champ, Nyle DiMarco.
The sexy, sexually fluid model guested in a segment titled “Deaf Lives Matter,” which aims to educate folks on the challenges deaf people face especially in encounters with the police.
It is a comedy/news show, so there were segments like, “Nyle Takes His Shirt Off – So You’ll Pay Attention To Deaf Rights.”
DiMarco and Bee had tips for law enforcement officers who don’t know how to interact with Deaf people:
• American Sign Language is big and expressive – don’t interpret ASL as threatening gestures.
• Don’t expect Deaf people to read lips, as many can’t and it’s too easily misunderstood. Try doing it yourself in a stressful situation as a police officer waves a flashlight in your eyes. Nyle suggests you call an interpreter.
• Don’t ask deaf people to write things out because English and ASL are not the same. Due to language deprivation, some Deaf people can’t read/write English fluently.
When police aren’t properly trained to cope with Deaf people, horrifying things can happen.
The show shared one incident when officers pulled over a driver, but as the driver reached for his ‘driver is Deaf’ placard, the cops responded with violence not knowing he’s deaf and cannot hear them.
Flash to a pic of the Deaf driver in the hospital with a bruised and swollen face.
Then, the segment cuts to video footage showing the officers realizing he is deaf. They respond by laughing about “messing up” the man’s face.
p.s. the highway patrolmen were cleared of any wrongdoing.
Many people wrongly assume all Deaf people are trained in sign language, but the facts are only 2% have access to a formal education in sign language.
Noting that 50% of all people killed by police officers have disabilities, Nyle shared the video writing he hopes to “raise awareness” to help police “peacefully interact with Deaf people.”
Nyle launched the Nyle DiMarco Foundation as a means to helping improve Deaf people’s lives. Check out the official website here.
Following up his sexy American Sign Language version of Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” music video, deaf model and activist Nyle DiMarco served up some hot cop realness in a new promo for TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Dressed in a police officer’s uniform, DiMarco and Bee invite the viewers to tune in tonight to learn how “police can responsibly interact with the Deaf community.”
Sam explains Nyle’s cop uniform is for “the reenactments.”
Here’s the promo – but make sure you watch to the end.
It looks like the dashing DiMarco’s time as the celebrity guest host at Chippendales is still paying dividends.
The duo followed that with another promo where Bee shares that tonight’s episode will focus on “another group mistreated by the police” – the deaf and hard of hearing.
She also finds out that ASL for ‘Full Frontal’ is way sexier then ‘Last Week Tonight.’
Tonight’s new episode suggests a totally revolutionary plan to police forces: stop shooting unarmed people! @NyleDiMarco helps break it down for you. 10:30/9:30c on TBS! pic.twitter.com/D8XeJNparn
Make sure you tune in for Full Frontal tonight at 10:30pm ET on TBS.
And since Nyle is in the mood to be ripping clothes off, let’s take a trip on the way-back machine to the time when he was thrilling audiences in Las Vegas alongside the hunky Chippendales.
Ah, good times…
Nyle DiMarco (photos courtesy of Chippendales)
Nyle DiMarco with Chippendales’ Mikey Perez and James Davis
Deaf activist and model Nyle DiMarco has dropped his own special version of Ariana Grande’s latest music video, “7 Rings.”
An outspoken advocate for the Deaf community, the dashing DiMarco tweeted Grande back in November when she released her “Thank U Next” video asking her to “add captions for 466 million people with hearing loss (deaf here and we do enjoy your music).”
Could you ask @Vevo to add captions for 466 million people with hearing loss
When la grand Grande released her “7 Rings” video, the former America’s Next Top Model champ tweeted the good news: “@ArianaGrande dropped WITH CAPTIONS!”
Even so, DiMarco decided to take things a little bit further and shoot his own version of the video with director Jake Wilson.
DiMarco’s take on “7 Rings” uses Ariana’s as a guide, but shifts the color scheme from pink to cool blue, and features American Sign Language by the sexually fluid hunk. Along the way, he’s joined by some fine looking dancers who drop some ASL alongside him.
Through it all, DiMarco stalks the camera making eyes at me the viewing audience.
“Captioning enhances the viewing experience,” DiMarco recently told Out. “It should be a standard part of any filmed media, and not as an afterthought, but as a part of the ultimate golden standard of universal design.”
On the official website for his foundation, DiMarco shares, “Two percent (2%) of the world’s Deaf population has access to education in sign language.”
Additionally, only 25% of parents use sign language to communicate with their Deaf child.
Imagine living in a world where language was not available to you.
Check out Nyle DiMarco’s ASL version of “7 Rings” below.
Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco covers Gay Times Magazine this month to sexy effect.
Posing naked for the camera, the handsome model and activist was covered with the phrase ‘I love you’ in American Sign Language with body paint by artist Cacho Falcon sending a message of support to the LGBTQ deaf community.
In his interview, DiMarco points out some of the immense challenges that deaf people face in a hearing world.
“There is a massive number of people, groups of people, who are not being heard or who are overlooked. Despite the power of social media, which could be a useful tool to educate people, we’ve become so divided and so afraid to open up, listen, and communicate. We need to start listening to each other.
“How can 466 million people with hearing loss join in on that conversation and find their ‘identity’ if they are denied access to what they’re saying? Often there are not interpreters at Pride events for Deaf LGBTQ people and allies. The best solution is to have Deaf and people with disabilities involved in organising Pride events.”
On growing up deaf, the 29-year-old says, ““I’m the fourth generation in my family that is Deaf. My two brothers, parents, grandparents, and great grandparents are all Deaf.”
Calling American Sign Language his native language, DiMarco shares that “ASL gave me the language foundation I needed for success from an early age.”
“Growing up with ASL I was able to dictate my life, able to define myself, and able to identify myself as Deaf Queer with pride and confidence – without language and communication barriers,” he added.
And speaking of barriers, DiMarco would like to see more come down for deaf people in Hollywood. “We need to empower Deaf people in Hollywood because we have thousands of fascinating stories to share,” he told Gay Times. “And those stories need to be told by Deaf people through our unique Deaf eyes and perspective.”
Talking on the intersectionality of being both deaf and queer, DiMarco believes there should be greater participation of people with disabilities in the planning of LGBTQ Pride events.
“Often, we are deprived of information due to lack of captioning. We miss important information. When an inspiring LGBTQ role model speaks at a huge LGBTQ event on national television, we miss that information. I think that does take a toll on our LGBTQ pride and can be easily fixed.”
“I remember back in the day YouTube was one of the biggest platforms where people could openly discuss their sexuality, but there were no captions. How can 466 million people with hearing loss join in on that conversation and find their ‘identity’ if they are denied access to what they’re saying?”
“Often there are not interpreters at Pride events for Deaf LGBTQ people and allies. The best solution is to have Deaf and people with disabilities involved in organising Pride events.”
And when it comes to sexual identity, DiMarco calls for more education on the concept of sexuality as a spectrum. “When a person asks me what being fluid means, I always tell them that there is no one right way to define fluidity,” said the outspoken activist. “There needs to be more positive representation of male fluidity. Everyone should feel represented and valued and that has a lot to do with who we see on screen.”
Explaining he has always felt “different,” he shares that he never talked about sexuality because he had no role models. “When I started talking about it, it got much easier,” said DiMarco. “It helped me discover my identity. Talking about it also helped me realize that despite not having role models growing up, I could be one for the future generation.”
You can head over to Gay Times for more from the sexy hottie. Check out a behind-the-scenes video below for more of yummy Nyle DiMarco.
• A promising HIV vaccine demonstrated its power by neutralizing HIV strains in animals and is almost ready for human testing.
• A cop, charged with rape and indecent assault and battery performed in a broom closet, says the sex was consensual. At the time of the encounter, the officer was married to a woman who happened to be the chief of police.
• S-Curve Records has signed this year’s Eurovision Song Contest champ Netta. The Israeli pop maverick’s viral smash “Toy” has been viewed over 76 million times since the competition.
• 60% of LGBTQ+ student loan borrowers say they regret taking out student loans. On average, LGBTQ borrowers have $112,607 in student loan debt — $16,000 more than the general population average of $96,211.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement authorities need a warrant before tracking a cell phone’s location data. In the ruling, SCOTUS likened cell phones to GPS ankle monitors.
• Barbra shared this short clip via Instagram and I had to watch five times. From “Barbra The Concert,” its currently available on Netflix.
DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco covers the latest issue of the UK magazine Gay Times with ‘I love you’ in ASL painted on his body.
The sexually fluid model, actor and activist speaks to the publication about living at the intersection of both his queerness and deafness.
On Instagram, the former Chippendales celeb host shares, “This front cover is very special to me. The Sign Language for “I Love You” 🤟🏽 is painted all over my body. Why? Because love conquers all. Love is powerful.
“And because I LOVE to love. I love who I am. I love people. I love everything in life. We need to spread love everyday ❤️🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽 Thank you @gaytimes”
Just in time for Pride Month, woofy Nyle DiMarco is here to help you break down the sign language barrier for when you meet that hot deaf dude at a Pride festival.
The America’s Next Top Model/Dancing with the Stars champ (who has come out as sexually fluid) took to social media to help out with some easy-to-learn American Sign Language.
Nyle is an avid advocate for ASL since out of the estimated 70 million deaf people in the world, only 2% have access to education through sign language.
I had to chance to spend time with Nyle a while back and learned deaf folks appreciate even a small effort in learning to communicate with them. Plus, it’s fun.
In this first video, Nyle teams up with gender queer artist Chella Man to teach basic queer signs like gay, bisexual, lesbian, trans, drag and more.
Y’all have been asking for queer signs!@chellamanart and I are teaching!!
Sexy actor/model Nyle DiMarco recently played a woofy cowboy in the music video for “Tequila” by country artists Dan + Shay, and the video has now been nominated for “Best Video of the Year” and “Best Duo Video of the Year” by the CMT Music Awards.
The music video has racked up over 16 million views on YouTube alone since it’s release.
The former DWTS and ANTM champ took to Twitter today to celebrate the news of the nominations, writing, “THIS IS HUGE!!!!! SO HONORED TO BE A PART OF THIS!”
