LGBTQ news and entertainment
Jay Katari (above) has resigned from the board of equalpride — which owns The Advocate, OUT, and Them — one day after queer editorial staff demanded answers about Katari’s expanded role in the company and his support for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
The uproar came after independent journalist Kevin Ortega-Rojas reported on Katari’s social media history, including images of him wearing a red MAGA hat. Continue reading “Equalpride Board Member Resigns Following Report Of MAGA Support”
Happy Monday! Some news items for you as we head into the week:
• LGBTQ Nation: In an interview with Meet the Press, out former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he believes America is ready for a gay president.
• The Advocate: The editorial staff of some of the country’s most prominent LGBTQ+ publications (The Advocate, Out, Pride.com, Out Traveler, Them) demanded answers from their parent company, equalpride, after a report revealed that one of its board members had expressed support for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Continue reading “Pete Buttigieg Says US Is Ready + More News”
Some news items for you as start the week:
• The Hollywood Reporter: Equalpride — parent company of LGBTQ media outlets like OUT, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Advocate Originals — has laid off numerous staffers amid cancellations of major advertising campaigns.
• Channel5YouTube: Actor Shia LaBeouf talks about his Mardi Gras arrest and what it had to do with gay people: “Big gay people are scary to me.” What I’m curious about is — after working around queer people in the entertainment industry for years, Shia says gays touching his legs triggered him into a rampage…?
• The Advocate: Scouting America has pushed back on claims by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the organization would limit membership based solely on sex assigned at birth, insisting that transgender youth remain welcome in its programs.
• What To Watch: The excellent documentary Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, all about the life and career of legendary designer Bob Mackie, is now available on HBO Max. I highly recommend.
• Democracy Docket: Virginia voters will head to the polls starting Friday to weigh in on a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map in response to GOP gerrymanders in other states after a court ruled that election preparations can move forward.
• New York Times: The State Department is urging Americans to depart immediately from 14 Middle East countries — including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, LebanonQatar and the United Arab Emirates — because of “serious safety risks.”
• Queerty: Out recording artist Nieri dropped his new album Architecture and with it the video to the dance single “Sober,” which plays in reverse, tracing a wild night backward from the morning after to the beginning.
Some news items you might have missed: • CNN: A record number of ballots (252,000) have been cast in Georgia’s first day of early voting, according to Gabe Sterling of the Georgia secretary of state’s office. The previous first day record was 136,000 in 2020. Continue reading “Record 1st Day Voting In Georgia + Billy Porter Says ‘LEAP’ + More News”
Chasten Buttigieg (photo: Nelson Castillo)
John Casey (image via Twitter)
What the hell…?
OpenSecrets, a website that tracks political donations, shows that Levin, gave $2,800 each to two extremely anti-LGBT Republican Senate incumbents North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Montana Sen. Steve Daines.
In 2018, Levin who happens to be straight was busted about his previous donations to anti-LGBT Republicans Devin Nunes, Dean Heller, Josh Mandel, and Dana Rohrabacher and pledged never again to donate to anti-LGBT politicians.
OpenSecrets shows no record of Levin’s support for pro-LGBT candidates this time around.
Senators Tillis and Daines both have abysmal records when it comes to LGBTQ rights and protections.
Snoopy the wonder dog
• Instinct Magazine: Chicago’s LGBTQ neighborhood, currently known as ‘Boystown,’ may get a new genderless moniker if a Change.org petition has its way. • Baltimore Sun: Packed elevators, crowded committee rooms, and legislators sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the House and Senate floor. All without a mask in sight. Those were common scenes at the Mississippi Capitol in June and now at least 26 lawmakers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the biggest known outbreak in any state legislature in the nation. • Las Vegas: I’m so glad someone posted this video to YouTube so I can share it without linking to this idiot woman’s Facebook. ‘Las Vegas Karen’ and her friend came to my town, Las Vegas, and were gobsmacked to learn they have to wear masks around people. She refused and began Facebook Live streaming her exit where she declares face masks are worse than coronavirus and Dr. Anthony Fauci recently said they are ‘symbolic’ and don’t do anything useful (he didn’t say that). With security guards trying to escort them out, they protest how their constitutional rights are being violated (they aren’t) and how it’s illegal to require masks in casinos and restaurants (it’s not). Have you ever heard “No shirt, no shoes, no service?” Miss Karen, there’s no constitutional right to gamble in a casino…ok?
The editor-in-chief of The Advocate, Zach Stafford, and Out magazine, Phillip Picardi, have announced on the same day they are leaving their respective posts.
Today marks my last day at @outmagazine, just one year after I started. This journey has been shorter and more complex than I hoped, but it has been an honor to helm this title, and a deeper honor to lead such an incredibly talented team of LGBTQ+ people. pic.twitter.com/r0eq7n6ZUp
— Phillip Picardi (@pfpicardi) December 11, 2019
Multiple sources with close knowledge of the departures said they were all due to the same reason: finances. Pride Media, which is part of California-based Oreva Capital, has been plagued by reports of unpaid invoices by freelance journalists.
Earlier this year, the National Writers’ Union announced a suit against Pride Media on behalf of 25 freelancers who were then allegedly owed over $40,000 for work that Pride Media published, but did not pay for. This suit and other efforts used the social media hashtag #OutOwes to draw attention to the issue.
LGBTQ journalist John Paul Brammer, who pens a regular column for Out, recently tweeted he’s currently due several months of pay from the company.
I've turned my column in on time every week for the past two years and I was just told there's not a set date yet for my overdue invoices from September through November to be paid lol
— JuanPa (@jpbrammer) December 10, 2019
Karamo Brown of ‘Queer Eye’ (image via Instagram)