Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
(screen capture via NBC News)A white Texas teacher has unemployed himself after telling a class of students his race is “superior.” Continue reading “Teacher Fired After Telling Students His Race Is “Superior””
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis (image via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: Monkeypox cases are declining, and the new White House czar is totally qualified for the job, but conservatives are losing their mind over the out and proud Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. Continue reading “White House Monkeypox Czar Dr. Demetre Daskalakis + More News”
President Joe Biden (screen capture)President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday where he met with the families of victims from Saturday’s shooting rampage spurred by hateful white supremacy theories.
In a speech, Biden addressed racism and hate calling on Americans to “take on the haters” and “reject the lie” of racial replacement that reportedly led the white gunman to shoot and kill Black shoppers. Continue reading “President Biden: White Supremacy Is A Poison, Has No Place In America”
Zac Efron (screen capture via Netflix)Some news items you might have missed:
• OK Magazine: After filming his latest film where he plays a dad, Zac Efron says he doesn’t think he’s quite ready to be a daddy. “I have a little bit more growing to do, probably,” he said. p.s. dude, we’ve got some news for you… Continue reading “Zac Efron Doesn’t Think He’s Daddy Material (Yet) + More News”
Caden Wyatt with his dad, John, and his mom, Janell (image via John Wyatt)Some news items you might have missed:
• Buzzfeed: Just over a year since he first came out, Caden Wyatt, 15, (above) told the most people he ever has that he’s gay — and he did it with his dad by his side. For the first time in their lives, and likely one of the first times in their Oklahoma neighborhood, the Wyatts hung a flag outside their house to ring in Pride Month.
• PEOPLE: Queer Eye star Karamo Brown says filming the current season of the “make better” show in Texas was the ‘first time’ he experienced ‘blatant’ hatred.
• Instagram: Cheyenne Jackson is thankful he learned how to get ripped AF with his hotel room workouts. He looked pretty fit before, but I’m not complaining…
• Buzzfeed II: Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) explained to Kelly Clarkson why it took him five years to start dating Noah Galvin (The Real O’Neals) and it’s really sweet. “I didn’t see the light for a long time, and then I realized, you know, that he was the guy.”
• Instinct Magazine: Caitlyn Jenner compared herself with Donald Trump in an uneasy appearance on The View on Thursday. When pressed by Joy Behar if she was one of those Republicans who believe Trump won the election, she hedged her answer.
“I’m not going to get into that, that election is over with,” but she proceeded to draw a parallel between herself and Trump. “He was a disrupter when he was president. I want to do the same thing.”
.@JoyVBehar to @Caitlyn_Jenner: “A lot of Republicans in this country believe that Donald Trump won the election and not Joe Biden. Are you one of those people?”
Jenner: “I’m not going to get into that. That election is over with. I think Donald Trump did do some good things.” pic.twitter.com/mPri9Pq736
— The View (@TheView) June 10, 2021
• Christian Post: Pastor Lewis Clemons of Columbus, Georgia, could have settled a civil case against him for zero dollars if he agreed to acknowledge and record a public apology for allegedly sexually abusing and raping his former congregant, Lequita Jackson. He refused and went to trial. On Wednesday, a jury in the Superior Court of Muscogee County ruled in favor of Jackson and imposed a $500,000 verdict against him.
• USA Today: Austin Swink was preparing to go on his first mission trip with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he decided to reveal the news that he was gay to his dad, Vaughn Swink. “I got this feeling that I just needed to get it off my chest before I left, because it was weighing on me for so long, not saying anything,” Swink said. He decided to video record his coming out to his dad, and posted the reaction online.
This is the amazing moment Austin came out to his Mormon father. 🏳️🌈 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Ku0XvpWGvG
— Humankind (@humankind) June 9, 2021
CBS Sunday Morning remembers the Tulsa Massacre:
One hundred years ago, a White mob in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killed 300 Black people and reduced the thriving Black community of Greenwood — also known as “Black Wall Street” — to ashes.
New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow talks about one of the most notorious massacres in American history and those who witnessed it.
When white people wonder why there is anger in the Black community via the Black Lives Matter movement, perhaps it’s because they never learned important chapters in Black history like the Tulsa Massacre…?
Today, there are Republican lawmakers who oppose the teaching of Black American history calling a focus on slavery and the contributions of Black Americans in history “divisive.”
Meanwhile, I’m reminded of Emmy/Tony winner Billy Porter’s ‘Message to America’ last June calling for change regarding how Black Americans are treated today.
I was recently reminded of this 1995 recording by Mandy Patinkin of “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” paired with “Children Will Listen” from Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods.
At the time of the album release, some folks decried what they felt were Mandy’s vocal “histrionics” in his take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein song.
But I always liked it; I found his yelling the line, “You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives HATE!” compelling and evocative.
Pairing the song with a very tender, sensitive rendition of “Children Will Listen” (from the brilliant Into the Woods) brought home the same lesson Hammerstein was going for but in Sondheimian manner.
Careful the things you say, children will listen…
Careful the things you do, children will see – and learn…
Looking at the divisive political landscape today, I think it’s pretty spot on.
Listen below.
Deandre and Sergeant First Class Jonathan Pentland (screen capture)UPDATE: According to the Command Sergeant Major at Fort Jackson, SFC Jonathan Pentland has been charged by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department just hours after video of his encounter with a young Black man named Deandre went viral on social media.
The sheriff confirmed Jonathan Pentland has been arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery. That charge carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.
The leaders at Fort Jackson in no way condone the behavior depicted in the video and will work closely with each law enforcement agency as investigations move forward.
— Fort Jackson Post CSM (@fortjacksoncsmT) April 14, 2021
What in the hell???
The aggressive man in the video below is reportedly Sergeant First Class Jonathan Pentland, who is being investigated over a viral video incident that took place in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 42-year-old Pentland, currently based at Fort Jackson in Columbia, was identified by social media users on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, a day after the video was posted online.
SFC Jonathan Pentland (image via US Army/Heavy.com)In the video, Pentland can be seen pushing, threatening and yelling at a young Black male, who has been identified as Deandre, in the Columbia neighborhood where Pentland lives. There’s no indication in the video as to what precipitated the altercation.
The incident apparently took place on a public sidewalk in the Lakes at Barony Place development in the Summit neighborhood of Columbia. Pentland continually questions Deandre as to where he lives as he orders the young man over and over to leave the neighborhood, “You’re in the wrong neighborhood, mother-f*cker. Get out!”
There was also a part that I didn’t record of the taller man slapping the phone out of Deandre’s hands and stepping on it. The taller man also pushed Deandre several times off camera
— Shadae (@ShadaeMccallum) April 14, 2021
Johnson says the video was recorded by a “young lady,” Shadae, and given to her to post online. Johnson said she, Shadae and her friend did not know Deandre before Monday night.
She adds that when the police arrived on the scene Deandre was informed Pentland could only be charged with “malicious injury to property” for slapping Deandre’s phone out of his hand and cracking the screen. But no assault charge even with the video recording.
Twitter got the video to Fort Jackson Commanding General Milford Beagle Jr. who tweeted, “This is by no means condoned by any service member. We will get to the bottom of this ASAP.”
This is by no means condoned by any service member. We will get to the bottom of this ASAP.
— Fort Jackson Commanding General (@fortjacksoncg) April 14, 2021
Beagle followed up with a post on Facebook:
Fort Jackson spokesperson L.A. Sully told the Charleston Post and Courier in a statement, “This type of behavior is not consistent with our Army Values and will not be condoned. We have begun our own investigation and are working with the local authorities.”
Alleged assailant in anti-Asian assault in NYC (via Crimestoppers)
An Asian American woman was violently assaulted on the sidewalks of Manhattan on Monday afternoon as nearby witnesses did nothing to intervene.
Surveillance cameras captured the attack on video as a man approached the 65-year-old woman just a few blocks from Times Square as she was making her way to church.
In the clip, the man can be seen kicking her in the stomach knocking her to the ground while shouting anti-Asian slurs. According to police reports, he continued punching and stomping her face while saying “(Expletive) you, you don’t belong here.”
Witnesses say one man did chase the perpetrator down the street, but the assailant reportedly pulled a knife and he got away.
DISTURBING VIDEO: 65-year-old Asian woman randomly attacked by a man on her way to church. Cops say the victim was punched and kicked until she fell to the ground as the suspect made anti-Asian statements toward her. https://t.co/Vu7JyHho4S pic.twitter.com/XIJ9Nk1ibT
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) March 30, 2021
Warning, graphic video: another angle of a 65-year-old Asian woman being brutally attacked on W 43rd st yesterday… police still looking for the attacker. The people who work in the building and did nothing to help her have been suspended. @NY1 pic.twitter.com/zrT4FICM7I
— Lindsay Tuchman (@LindsayTuchman) March 30, 2021
Local ABC News affiliate ABC7 reports “the NYPD Asian Hate Crime Task Force said the security guard captured on video closing the door failed to render aid, and the staff in question has been suspended pending further investigation.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also called the security guard’s inaction “absolutely unacceptable.”
“I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you got to help your fellow New Yorker,” de Blasio said.
A spokesman for the security guard’s service union said in a statement the building’s door staff “called for help immediately” and asked the public “to avoid a rush to judgment while the facts are determined.”
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for a fractured pelvis and several head injuries, according to ABC7.
During an interview with NY1, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea called the attack “very disturbing.”
“It’s really disgusting when you see the video,” he continued. “We are calling on all New Yorkers, anyone with information. We put out a pretty good picture of the individual we want to talk to, that was seen walking away. You try to make sense of it, and you can’t. I don’t know who attacks a 65-year-old woman and leaves her on the street like that.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Screen capture of alleged assailant in anti-Asian hate crimeThe Police Commissioner also announced that he is upping the number of uniformed officers in predominately Asian neighborhoods.
“An attack on one group is an attack on all, and that’s the thing we have to keep enforcing here,” added Shea. “Whether it’s anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ, when New Yorkers come together and just say enough is enough, I think we are getting in the right direction.”
This new assault occurs amid an increase in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
A recent report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that in America’s largest 16 cities anti-Asian hate crimes increased 150 percent in 2020.
NYPD says 65-year-old Asian American woman was walking to church this morning when suspect assaulted her and said “f*** you, you don’t belong here.” Happened in front of 360 W. 43rd St. 11:40am. Sources say building security guard not only failed to render her aid… 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZLtQEHHJci
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) March 30, 2021
Sharon Osbourne (screen capture)Sharon Osbourne tells ET she doesn’t know if she’ll be returning to The Talk after the recent dust-up on her gabfest when things got ugly between her and fellow co-host Sheryl Underwood.
The brouhaha erupted out of Osbourne’s defense of her friend Piers Morgan, who had attacked Meghan Markle as a liar after Markle and Prince Harry sat down for an extensive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
From the LA Times:
Last Wednesday, Osbourne said, a producer asked her if she would “clear up the Piers thing again” even if “maybe one of them doesn’t agree with you.” But she didn’t expect [Elaine] Welteroth to bring up antiracism and she didn’t expect Underwood to imply she was giving cover to racism.
“I’ve been set up,” Osbourne told “ET,” describing her thoughts in the moment. “And I went, like, how dare you all do this to me? I’m your sacrificial lamb.”
Osbourne did admit to “having a go” at Underwood, her friend of 11 years, including when she told Underwood “don’t try and cry,” reserving that right for herself.
“I should never have said [anything] about her tears,” she told ET. “I should never have dismissed her feelings on national TV. Ever. But I said it, I have to own it.”
While Osbourne maintains she is not racist in any way, a video clip from 2018 shows a discussion of Meghan Markle’s skin color that doesn’t help Osbourne today.
In the clip, Underwood is speaking about Markle (who is half-Black) saying “…she brought Blackness to the royal family — which is not the first time…”
“She ain’t Black!” Osbourne counters. And when her co-hosts try to correct her, Osbourne declares, “No, I know. But she doesn’t look Black!”
Sharon Osbourne on Meghan Markle in 2018:
“She ain’t black. She doesn’t look black.” pic.twitter.com/e4pRoHD2gW
— chris evans (@chris_notcapn) March 14, 2021