Brody the wonder pup enjoys the sunshine Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: A white man, whose father is a former cop, has been sentenced to one year in jail and four years of probation for tampering with evidence in connection to the death of his Black lover. Gardner Kent Fraser admitted to killing Dominic Jerome “DJ” Broadus Jr outside his home in Baker County, Florida. But because he claimed that he shot Broadus in self-defense, he did not face any charges related to the killing. • Saturday Slowdown with Brody: Spent a quiet day in the sun with the Brody (above). Annnnd, cue ‘Sunshine on my Shoulder’ by John Denver (who went to my high school, btw). Please note John’s gorgeous live vocal here…
• Global News: A Canadian clothing line is helping transgender kids feel confident at the beach or pool with bathing suits designed to maximize comfort without compromising style. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Click over to check out the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like Russian model and personal trainer Konstantin Kostin (below) covering DNA Magazine. • CNN: Donald Trump has struggled to find lawyers who will take on his impending impeachment case. Trump reportedly wants attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president. • The Daily Beast: Fox News host Maria Bartiromo agreed with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that social media platforms ‘appear’ to be bowing down to a ‘woke’ mob. “Yeah, I had—right around the election—one million followers on Twitter,” a somewhat frantic Bartiromo exclaimed. “Now I have under 900,000. Literally in a couple of weeks. I don’t know what’s going on there!” ‘What’s going on’ is that following the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building that Donald Trump incited, Twitter deleted tens of thousands of QAnon conspiracy nutjobs from its platform. Those crazy ass people are the ones many conservatives are whining about regarding ‘lost followers.’
Haaz Sleiman and Michael Cassidy in ‘Breaking Fast’ Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: First lady Dr Jill Biden is visiting an LGBTQ health center and HIV/AIDS clinic on her third day in the White House “to highlight and promote support services for cancer patients and caregivers, and hear about the impact of COVID on access to health care, including cancer screenings and prevention efforts.” • Queer Cinema: The gay-themed romantic comedy Breaking Fast, starring Haaz Sleiman and Michael Cassidy (lead image), gets released today on VOD and digital outlets. The acclaimed film offers rare visibility for gay Muslims. Set against the twinkling lights of West Hollywood, Breaking Fast is a romantic comedy that follows Mo, a practicing Muslim still reeling from heartbreak. When an All-American guy named Kal offers to join him in his nightly Iftars –the traditional meal eaten by Muslims during Ramadan– meal after meal, the two start to discover they have more in common than meets the eye.
• Boston Herald: Mark Sahady, 46, of Malden, and Suzanne Ianni, 59, – organizer’s of Boston’s so-called ‘Straight Pride’ event – were arrested for taking part in the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6. Because of course. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like Michigan’s BTL featuring Brian Michael Smith (below). • The Nation: Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has misled the public about training for the Paralympics, just as he misrepresented his education and business history. After saying he “had an opportunity” for the Paralympics with hopes of breaking the 100-meter dash, journalists took a deep dive and couldn’t find any evidence he’d ever competed anywhere. • Instinct Magazine: YouTube star Jojo Siwa (Dance Moms, Nickelodeon) came out via a photo on Twitter.
Dr. Rachel Levine (image via Twitter)CNN reports President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as assistant health secretary. Levine would make history as the first transgender federal official to be confirmed by the United States Senate.
Levine is currently the Pennsylvania health secretary and a pediatrics and psychiatry professor at Penn State College of Medicine. She served as the state’s physician general in 2015 and assistant health secretary in 2017. Levine was confirmed as the state’s health secretary in 2018 under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.
Throughout her career, Levine has written about the opioid crisis, LGBTQ medicine, medicinal marijuana, eating disorders and adolescent medicine.
She graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine and completed her training in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
Biden previously announced California attorney general , Xavier Becerra, as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra, like Levine, would make history as the first Latino in the role. Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, released the following statement about the nomination of Dr. Levine:
“Our nation is fortunate to have Dr. Rachel Levine nominated for a position so important to ending this pandemic and her experience on the frontlines in Pennsylvania will prove invaluable as Assistant Secretary. Her nomination is groundbreaking and shows the Biden administration will choose the most qualified individuals to lead our nation regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Dr. Levine is making history and will transform Americans’ perceptions of trans people when she takes office and begins to work on their behalf.”
DR. RACHEL LEVINE! Joe Biden has chosen PA Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as Assistant Health Secretary! Dr. Levine is a world class public health expert and a history making transgender woman who’s leadership has saved thousands of lives.https://t.co/6DiNE8OU3b
James Goldman as ‘Elliott’ in Two Sentence Horror Stories (screen capture via The CW) On the season premiere of The CW’s Two Sentence Horror Stories, a transmasculine student endures merciless bullying in his high school until a mysterious janitor offers the teen a way to take care of his bullies once and for all. Inspired by the viral fan fiction, Two Sentence Horror Stories is an award-winning, original scripted horror anthology series. Similar to early horror/anthology predecessor The Twilight Zone, each episode features a standalone story. Each story taps into the expansive world of the horror genre, pressing universal primal fears filtered through the anxieties of a connected and racially diverse generation. This particular episode was created by a wholly LGBTQ creative team including trans actor James Goldman as ‘Elliott,’ director Chase Joynt, and writer Stephanie Adams-Santos. James Goldman as trans student ‘Elliott’ in Two Sentence Horror Stories The episode tonight, a riff on the “troll under the bridge” fairy tale, handles having a trans male lead figure very well. Without being heavy-handed, several artful choices were made to communicate aspects of transgender people’s lives throughout the episode. For instance, Elliott doesn’t speak for a lengthy amount of time in the beginning of the episode. During a Q&A with the creative team I attended on Sunday, the director shared that was intentional to underscore how Elliott (and trans people) feel silenced and otherwise diminished. Point of view camera angles were also chosen specifically to emphasize how Elliott feels he’s always being watched in public – a common thread for trans folks. And the writer shared that while trans people often look at themselves in the mirror, the only person in this episode seen in a mirror is the evil principal. “Elliot” airs tonight on The CW’s Two Sentence Horror Stories tonight at 8:30 pm ET. And encore presentation will air on February 9.
There was a lot in 2020 that was just heinous and I’m happy to leave it behind. But I did want to take a pause to look at some of the good news and big moments of the past year in this ‘Best of 2020 – LGBTQ edition.’ Continue reading “Podcast: The Best of 2020 – LGBTQ Edition”
Bremen Menelli (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • Men’s Variety: With gyms closing in parts of the country due to COVID-19, here are 10 tips on how to exercise outside this winter during the pandemic – although InstaHunk Bremen Menelli (above) seems to have it figured out 😉 • Gay Star News: After a seven-year campaign, Switzerland’s parliament has passed the final vote on same-sex marriage, making the central European country the 29th country in the world to approve marriage equality. • KIT212: Kenneth round’s up the what’s what in LGBTQ publications each week like this issue of Dallas Voice. • LGBTQ Nation: A 17-year-old transgender girl died by suicide earlier this week, just days after she was humiliated by a school administrator for wearing a skirt. • OMG Blog: The brainless bombshell known as the bimbo is one of our most familiar tropes, but recently, a new brand of halfwit hottie has been gaining recognition. Enter the himbo. Like their bimbo counterparts, the requirements for a himbo are simple: They’re hot, kind… and not too bright.
• The Advocate: A gay couple in Eureka, California, woke up to find their Christmas decorations had been ripped down, torn, and smeared with feces. The local police chief has announced that, if found, the perpetrator will be charged with a hate crime. • Metro Weekly: A federal judge has ordered the state of Wisconsin to provide a transgender inmate with gender confirmation surgery to treat her gender dysphoria. Although she was permitted to receive hormone treatments, counseling, and even allowed to wear some women’s clothing, she was denied gender confirmation surgery after requesting it in 2013. • NBC News: A Republican committee in Virginia unanimously passed a resolution censuring Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., saying he betrayed the party’s values when he officiated a same-sex wedding in 2019.
Glad the @VA_GOP finally admits they rig a convention because of the wedding. We already knew this, but here’s your sign
Austin Wolf scored at the 3rd annual PornHub Awards (image via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: Adult entertainment giant Pornhub held its third annual awards last night. The winners are decided by real data (based on what users searched, viewed, and sought after the most this year) from PornHub.com, which according to its website brings in over 140 million daily visitors and over 55 billion searches. Among the winners was Austin Wolf (above) who scored as ‘Top Daddy Performer’ of the year. • Boy Culture: Patti LaBelle’s gay Trumper nephew made headlines when he became involved in a deeply weird online mystery, in which he was apparently tweeting on behalf of a white Republican. Miss Patti had some words with her nephew. • LGBTQ Nation: Federal judge slaps down an Ohio law that bans transgender people from correcting birth certificates. Score one for the good guys! • Instinct Magazine: Josh Brolin is breaking the internet with his birthday suit photo. • TMZ: Atlantic City is auctioning off the opportunity of demolishing the long-closed, decaying Trump Casino. • The Advocate: Legendary gay actor Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men movies) is among the latest to get the new vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. The 81-year-old star said he’s feeling “euphoric” after getting his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. “I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.”
I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. https://t.co/gBLRR0OeJc
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a court ruling regarding public school policies allowing transgender students to use bathroom facilities that align with their gender identity. The case was brought by Oregon parents who objected to a trans student being allowed to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms in 2017. From The Hill:
By declining to hear the case, the justices preserved a federal appeals court’s decision to permit transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity instead of their sex assigned at birth.
Parents brought the case against the Dallas School District in Oregon in 2017 after a transgender student was permitted to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker room at the high school.
The parents alleged that the district’s permission for transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity violated the privacy and constitutional rights of other students.
A lower court initially refused to strike down the school district’s policy, prompting the parents to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court ruling.
🏛️NEW: Scotus denies review in Parents for Privacy v. Barr. The case involved an effort by Oregon parents to challenge public school policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. Here’s how the parents framed the issue and stakes👇 pic.twitter.com/m15XdFLLJm
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has refused to take up a challenge to school policies that support transgender students. School districts should continue to allow trans students to use the same restroom as their peers.
Sapphire Hart (courtesy photo) Five new songs to discover this week from 5 distinctly different artists. Inspired by the intoxicating highs and plummeting lows of love, out artist Hailee Kaleem Wright aka Sapphire Hart releases her emotional music video for her single “Toxic Love Story.” “Toxic Love Story” discusses the unfortunate difficulties that many face when dealing with matters of the heart. Love is a double-edged sword and through a soulful melody and lyrics, Hart proves to her listeners that the emotion we hold dear can hurt just as much as it heals. Directed By Paul Gratland and Sidney Dupont, the black and white video depicts Hart, reflecting on a relationship fraught with infidelity issues and holding accountability for the decisions made. Follow Hart on Instagram here.
The late Harry Hains aka ANTIBOY The family of the late Harry Hains celebrates the release of the full-length debut album, A Glitch In Paradise, under Hains’s artistic alter-ego, ANTIBOY, with the new music video for “Dream.” “Dream” explores the idea of how a partner not being able to accept pure love can foster pain and rejection within the relationship – the next glitch in “paradise.” The “Dream” video opens up a fantastical utopia of fragmented moments that blend the everyday with the surreal, just like dreams, as a cast of characters explore unattainable love, touch, closeness, relationships, and euphoria, led by transgender model and activist Andreja Pejić, who progresses from unsettlingly perfect and robotic to completely unhinged.
Lani Renaldo (courtesy photo) Los Angeles based queer artist Lani Renaldo drops her latest – “Woman” – exploring the poignant idea of being judged for how you present yourself. “When I wrote the track, I was reflecting on this idea that if I dressed differently or wore makeup, tried to pass in a more feminine way that maybe it would shape my relationships differently,” says Renaldo. “Maybe I would be liked and though I think there have been several times I’ve been made to feel ashamed for how I look or who I love, I forgive those people that made me feel that way.” Lani Renaldo has seen success performing with the likes of Alessia Cara at the AMA’s and opening for Halsey at The Shrine. Her collaboration on “Malibuu” with Matt Dimona topped Spotify’s Global 50 chart and currently has over six million streams.
LGBTQ indie rock musician Kristen Ford drops this acoustic gem: “I Want You In My Corner.” “The song was recorded very minimally, just acoustic guitar and vocals,” shares Ford. “We were trying to be as venerable as possible.” “The video plays on the strings that connect all of us: strangers, lovers, musical collaborators. It was a very queer video to make. We had a lesbian director, bisexual co-star, and me! Kayce actually played on the track as well so it was fun to do multiple dimensions of creation together in this way.” Ford has performed at Pride festivals nationwide alongside Betty Who, Billy Gilman, Troye Sivan, and Melissa Ferrick.
And how about we dance our way into the weekend with new remixes of Lady Gaga’s “911”, the latest single taken from the new album Chromatica. You can check out the bouncy take from WEISS below. Sofi Tukker and Bruno Martini also took a turn with the tune.
Elliot Page (image via Facebook) Academy Award nominee Elliot Page (Juno, X-Men: Days of Future Past), formerly Ellen Page, shared with his social media followers today that he is transgender. “Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot. I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life.” “I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey,” he continued. “I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self. I’ve been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community. Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place. I will offer whatever support I can and continue to strive for a more loving and equal society.” “I also ask for patience,” he added. “My joy is real, but it is also fragile. The truth is, despite feeling profoundly happy right now and knowing how much privilege I carry, I am also scared. I’m scared of the invasiveness, the hate, the ‘jokes’ and of violence.” “I love that I am trans,” Page wrote in closing. “And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive. To all the trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse, and the threat of violence every day: I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.” Nick Adams, GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Media, tweeted this message of support:
“Elliot Page has given us fantastic characters on-screen, and has been an outspoken advocate for all LGBTQ people. He will now be an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people. All transgender people deserve the chance to be ourselves and to be accepted for who we are. We celebrate the remarkable Elliot Page today.”
Page, originally from Canada, first found the international spotlight in 2005 with the revenge thriller Hard Candy. Two years later, he was honored with an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the acclaimed indie film, Juno. Page came out in 2014 and has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community. Page currently stars in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy.
• CNN: Donald Trump has struggled to find lawyers who will take on his impending impeachment case. Trump reportedly wants attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president. • The Daily Beast: Fox News host Maria Bartiromo agreed with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that social media platforms ‘appear’ to be bowing down to a ‘woke’ mob. “Yeah, I had—right around the election—one million followers on Twitter,” a somewhat frantic Bartiromo exclaimed. “Now I have under 900,000. Literally in a couple of weeks. I don’t know what’s going on there!” ‘What’s going on’ is that following the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building that Donald Trump incited, Twitter deleted tens of thousands of QAnon conspiracy nutjobs from its platform. Those crazy ass people are the ones many conservatives are whining about regarding ‘lost followers.’ 
• 
LGBTQ indie rock musician 
And how about we dance our way into the weekend with new remixes of Lady Gaga’s “911”, the latest single taken from the new album 