Tag: South Carolina

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Bomb Threat Cancels Drag Brunch: ‘We Will Kill You All’

Myrtle Beach Police are investigating a hoax bomb threat that led to the evacuation of a restaurant planning to host a drag brunch.
(screen capture)
Police in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, are investigating a bomb threat that resulted in cancelling a drag brunch that was scheduled to be held at a popular restaurant on Sunday: “You deserve to die and we will kill all of you.” The email threat was received at 11:50 a.m. on Sunday, approximately 40 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin. The show was called off. Continue reading “Bomb Threat Cancels Drag Brunch: ‘We Will Kill You All’”

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Democrats Move South Carolina To Front Of Primary Season

Democrats Move South Carolina To Front Of Primary Season
(image via Depositphotos)
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party voted Friday to shift Iowa from its coveted “first-in-the-nation” caucus position and move South Carolina to the beginning of the primary schedule. Continue reading “Democrats Move South Carolina To Front Of Primary Season”

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Luke Macfarlane Finds It ‘Tough’ To Watch ‘Bros’ + More News

Luke Macfarlane in 'Bros'
Luke Macfarlane in ‘Bros’ (screen capture)
Some news items you might have missed: • Attitude Magazine: Luke Macfarlane says he finds it “tough” to watch himself in his current movie, Bros. “It reminds me of a part of myself. He [Aaron] was uncomfortable in his own skin, even though he looks the part and is seemingly popular.” Continue reading “Luke Macfarlane Finds It ‘Tough’ To Watch ‘Bros’ + More News”

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News Round-Up: May 18, 2022

AskGayBros discussed things about being gay straight people will never get (image via Depositphotos)
Some news items you might have missed: • Queerty: A Reddit user in the r/askgaybros forum posed the question: “Gay men, what is one lesson about being gay that straight people will never learn?” The responses were pretty spot-on. Continue reading “News Round-Up: May 18, 2022”

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Video: South Carolina Man Goes On Wild Racist Rant

Miles

John Walter Miles
John Walter Miles (via screen capture)
Seriously – what is wrong with this man? WBTV reports John Walter Miles, 27, went on a racially-charged rant at a grocery store when a clerk refused to sell him and his girlfriend alcohol. It appears Mr. Miles might have had a few already. According to the Sumter Police Department, Miles refused to leave the store and called an employee a racial slur. In the video uploaded to TikTok, he reeled off a wild “Black lives don’t matter” screed as he cussed out other people in the store. He was eventually escorted off the premises and charged with aggravated breach of peace and trespassing.
(mug shot via Sumter Police Department)

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News Round-Up: March 18, 2021

Screen capture from the acclaimed film, Poppy Field

Screen capture from the acclaimed film, Poppy Field
(screen capture from the acclaimed film Poppy Field)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: South Carolina Democratic Rep. Cezar McKnight is facing ire from his fellow party members for introducing a new anti-trans bill that would make it a felony for doctors to prescribe life-saving hormone therapy for transgender youth. McKnight is joined in supporting the bill by 23 fellow lawmakers, all Republicans. • JoeMyGod: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he “would talk ’til I fell over to make sure that the Equality Act doesn’t become law.” Methinks the lady doth protest too much. • Stonewall Gazette: The film Poppy Field (top image) follows the struggle of a young Romanian police officer, Cristi (Conrad Mericoffer), who tries to find balance between being a working man in a macho hierarchical environment and that of being a closeted gay person trying to keep his personal life a secret.

• NBC News: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Asian American community leaders during a scheduled visit to Georgia on Friday in the wake of the spa shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of whom were women of Asian descent. • KATC: A federal grand jury in Lafayette returned a six-count indictment charging Chance J. Seneca, 19, of Lafayette, with hate crime, kidnapping, firearm, and obstruction charges based on his attempted murder of a gay man and his overarching scheme to kidnap and murder gay men whom he met online. • CNN: Xavier Becerra was confirmed by the Senate as the first Latino Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday. The vote was 50 to 49. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was the only Republican to vote yes – Democrat Mazie Hirono was absent.

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News Round-Up: March 12, 2021

Fitness trainer Marc Burgum

Fitness trainer Marc Burgum
Fitness guru Marc Burgum (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: It’s Friday night and fitness guru Marc Burgum (above, proving clothes are sexy) asks, “If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be?” Follow him on Instagram here. • Washington Blade: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), whose support for the Equality Act is seen as crucial to winning Republican votes for the LGBTQ non-discrimination bill, has laid out the proposed revisions she’s demanding in exchange for her support. • Stonewall Gazette: Check out the short film Sauna the Dead where two men must overcome prejudice during a night at the sauna by joining forces in taking down a horde of towel-wearing zombies. Who will live to see the dawn?

• Andrew Christian Blog: The underwear and swimwear designer offers five reasons why he believes bulges are sexier than seeing naked peen. • WLTX: South Carolina’s hate crime bill got its first round of approval Thursday, but with an amendment that may exclude the LGBTQ community??? • Instinct Magazine: DC Comics will celebrate this year’s Pride Month with the release of an anthology series titled DC Pride which will include “LGBTQIA+ characters from all corners of DC’s ever-expanding Universe, including cameos by fan favorites Batwoman, Renee Montoya, Alan Scott, Midnighter, Apollo, Extraño, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Constantine, and more.”

‘Superman’ #32 Pride variant cover (Credit: David Talaski via DC Comics)
• Pink News: Following the enormous success of his new series “It’s A Sin,” creator Russell T. Davies is looking at a reboot of his 1990s series “Queer As Folk.” • Twitter: The hashtag #CancelFox was trending at number one this afternoon as the Twitterverse noted the irony that Fox News is all upset about ‘cancel culture’ while professing to love the ‘free market.’

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News Round-Up: October 12, 2020

Rob Gronkowski of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joins fellow NFL players in letting closeted players "When you're ready, so are we."

Rob Gronkowski of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joins fellow NFL players in letting closeted players "When you're ready, so are we." Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: The pharmacy chain Superdrug has launched the UK’s first-ever PrEP service and it will be fully remote (utilizing online doctors) in an effort to make it accessible to as many people as possible. Superdrug will, however, require that people accessing PrEP through its new service adhere to blood monitoring tests to ensure that they can safely take the HIV-preventing drug. • Back2Stonewall: It has been confirmed that the new HBO Max reboot series of the Green Lantern will feature the first Green Lantern character, Alan Scott – and, like in the Earth-2 comics, the character will be openly gay. • Instinct Magazine: Current and former pro football players (Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Rob Gronkowski above) took part in this terrific PSA for National Coming Out Day. “Today, on National Coming Out Day, we come together with one clear message,” say the athletes direct to camera. “To all current players who are thinking of coming out, when you are ready, so are we. It takes all of us and you deserve to be all of you.”

• Politico: South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison raised a staggering $57 million in the third quarter of this year, shattering the previous record for a Senate candidate as he seeks to unseat GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Graham, who has not released his third-quarter fundraising totals, raised $8.4 million in the second quarter and had $15 million in the bank as of June 30. • AP News: Here’s a bit of a warning sign for Donald Trump who won the 65+ vote by 9 points in 2016. The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community located in battleground state Florida, recently held a 300+ golf cart parade in support of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. • The Hill: Donald Trump’s son Eric told ABC News’s Jon Karl on Sunday his father’s treatment for COVID-19 a “vaccine” that he further claimed the president helped create from “day one.” • Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Eager Georgia voters swarmed to polling places Monday morning for the start of three weeks of early voting before Election Day. Voters filled parking lots and waited in lines to lock in their choices in advance of November 3. As the tweet below notes, 410,000 absentee ballots have already been returned versus a total of just over 200K in 2016.

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Gay HS Senior Barred From Walking In Graduation For Wearing Pants

A queer high school senior in South Carolina wasn’t allowed to walk in her own graduation because – wait for it – she wore pants. While a lot of graduation ceremonies became virtual events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Lamar High School in Darlington County managed to hold its 2020 event in the open air on the football field Tuesday afternoon. But when Dynasia Clark, who’s openly lesbian, arrived at wearing pants – her attire of choice – she was informed she was in violation of the dress code (which requires women to wear a dress during the ceremony) and wouldn’t be allowed to take part. It’s worth noting that all of those taking part in the ceremony were wearing graduation gowns. So, no one could really see what Clark was wearing underneath. With just minutes before the ceremony was to begin, Clark walked off the field.

(screen capture via WPDE)
Speaking to the local ABC News affiliate WPDE, Clark said, “I was angry more than anything because we worked hard to even have a graduation, and then I can’t walk because I don’t got on a dress.” She also shared that, after four years of being out while attending the school, “They already know how I am, they already know I’m not going to wear a dress.” But she didn’t leave the event. Standing outside the venue gates, she waited to hear her name called as the students walked across the stage to accept their diplomas. However, the school decided to delete her name from the list of graduates’ names read. Clark was, understandably, stunned. “That was the part that made me more mad than anything because, even if I couldn’t walk, I was there,” explained the teen. “You could have still called my name.” “It seems crazy to me,” she added. “It seems stupid, like petty, because it was just an outfit to me.” The Darlington County School District sent this statement to WPDE:

“The Lamar High School dress code for graduation has been in place for more than 20 years. We welcome students or parents who have concerns with any policy or procedure to meet with administration and discuss those concerns. In the past, when a student raised concern with the administration about the dress code prior to graduation day, the issue was addressed.”

Still, Clark’s disappointment was palpable as she told reporter Carlos Flores, “It shouldn’t have stopped me from doing something that I have been waiting on for 12 years. I went to school. Everybody be happy for their graduation day and I couldn’t even experience that.” You can watch WPDE’s report here.

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News Round-Up: March 5, 2020

The West End cast of City of Angels
Some news items you might have missed: • West End Theater: The Donmar Warehouse’s Olivier Award-winning production of the Broadway musical City of Angels (starring my college bestie Vanessa Williams above) hits the boards on the West End for its first preview tonight. Word in theater circles is the show is stylish, smart, and stunning. • Greenville Journal: A county in South Carolina was about to repeal a 1996 anti-LGBTQ resolution when religious dissenters, citing “traditional family values,” overwhelmed the County Council meeting just before the vote causing two council members to change their votes. • The Hill: Vice President Pence, who is heading up the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus threat told reporters today the United States does not currently have enough tests to meet the expected demand. • Washington Blade: Chris Johnson is one of my favorite LGBTQ reporters and he’s penned an excellent assessment of the historic candidacy of Mayor Pete Buttigieg: “He made a mark on American politics — and not just because he broke barriers as a gay presidential candidate.” • Washington Post: Now that Mike Bloomberg has exited the race for the White House, he has announced he plans to form an independent expenditure campaign that will absorb hundreds of his presidential campaign staffers in six swing states (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina) to work to elect the Democratic nominee this fall. • Out Music: Maia, who records under the moniker mxmtoon, released her exuberant single and music video, “fever dream,” where she dances with her past and future self.  “We wanted to work with the themes of the single to make a video that exemplifies the nostalgia the lyrics evoke but also the courage to move forward,” shares the out bisexual artist. With a blissfully nostalgic lilt, mxmtoon’s vocals are soothing and sure. The sentimental, upbeat melody is a refreshing escape from the clutter of today’s current news cycle. Her 2018 debut EP plum blossom – recorded in her parent’s guest bedroom – has garnered more than 100 million streams on Spotify. You can follow her on Instagram here.