Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
International superstar Dolly Parton (image via Instagram)A Wisconsin school has prohibited first graders from singing the Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus song “Rainbowland,” at this year’s spring concert, calling the tune too “controversial.” Continue reading “1st Graders Prohibited From Singing ‘Controversial’ Dolly Parton Song About Acceptance”
(image via Depositphotos)The Kettle Moraine School Board has updated its code of conduct for employees which now bans pronouns in email signatures.
The new guidance “prohibits pronouns, political language, religious views, etcetera” from emails because they make people “uncomfortable.” Continue reading “School Board Bans Pronouns In Email Signatures: They Make People ‘Uncomfortable’”
Some news items you might have missed:
• Total Slovenia: The Constitutional Court of Slovenia legalized same-sex marriage and adoptions effective immediately after finding a law under which only heterosexual partners can marry and same-sex couples cannot adopt children to be unconstitutional. Continue reading “News Round-Up: July 8, 2022”
A waiter in Madison, Wisconsin, was surprised to find restaurant customers had refused to tip him this past Sunday night. Instead, they left a homophobic note on the receipt that read, “Service was good but we don’t tip sinful homosexuals.” Continue reading “When Homophobes Stiffed A Gay Waiter, The Universe Stepped In”
Nicholas Yatromanolakis (via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• The Independent: Greece has appointed its first openly gay minister as Nicholas Yatromanolakis, 44, (above) made history after he was named the new deputy minister of culture on Monday.
• Instinct Magazine: Out radio host Larry Flick announced on Monday he will be taking a sabbatical from his Sirius XM duties in order to cope with some serious health issues as well as embrace some well-deserved ‘me time.’
• Variety: The Grammy Awards are being postponed until March 14 due to coronavirus-related concerns, a rep for the show confirms to Variety. The show, which is scheduled to be hosted by “The Daily Show”‘s Trevor Noah, was originally scheduled for January 31st.
The #Grammys have been rescheduled to March 14, 2021: “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.” https://t.co/5GJ49VuvTh
— Variety (@Variety) January 5, 2021
• NPR: Kyle Rittenhouse, a young gunman facing criminal charges in the killing of two men and the serious injury of a third this summer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, entered not guilty pleas to all charges during an arraignment Tuesday. The 18-year-old faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional reckless homicide, and violation of curfew the night of the shootings.
• Washington Post: There is compelling evidence that covid-19 will have long-term effects on the brains and nervous systems of survivors as they age, and researchers on Tuesday announced a large international study to investigate the correlation between the coronavirus and cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia in later life.
• TikTok: The video influencers are coming for the muscle gays who ignore commonsense guidelines to try and curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.
@dylanhorner1#fyp #covid19 #gay #lgbt #Bye2020 @sam.cushing @tylerspelane @koatysum @jakegrez♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod
Donald Trump speaking to Axios (screen capture)First, the Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out Donald Trump’s election lawsuit today. The response comes just two days after the Donald asked the high court to toss the certification of a contest he lost by nearly 21,000 votes.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “In the 4-3 decision, the justices said they would not accept the case he filed directly with them. The president can try to pursue the matter in a lower court, but Thursday’s ruling is a setback that shows he is near the end of the road with his legal challenges in Wisconsin.”
🚨🚨BREAKING: Wisconsin Supreme Court DENIES Trump petition to bring original action to challenge the results of the recount in state Supreme Court.
Trump and his allies are 1-41 in court.https://t.co/7xFoB99MvN
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 3, 2020
And then, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Congressman Mike Kelly’s request to declare universal mail-in voting unconstitutional in the state.
Kelly and other GOP plaintiffs were asking the high court to either invalidate 2.5 million mail-in votes or to completely erase the 2020 results in the Keystone State and order the GOP-controlled legislature to pick the presidential electors who will vote in the Electoral College.
Kelly and company got a one sentence response.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania DENIES Rep. Mike Kelly’s request to stay their order refusing to invalidate the election that he won.
This is all every single justice of the state’s high court had to say about his request.
Background: https://t.co/QDPhKcuKNF pic.twitter.com/Hyze9S8p5h
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 3, 2020
#SoMuchWinning
The recount of the presidential vote in Wisconsin – requested and paid for by the Trump campaign to the tune of $3 million – is complete and it appears Joe Biden’s lead increased by 87 votes.
From the Washington Post:
The recount of presidential ballots in Wisconsin’s two largest counties finished Sunday, reconfirming that President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump in the key swing state by more than 20,000 votes.
After Milwaukee County completed its tally Friday and Dane County concluded its count Sunday, there was little change in the final breakdown of the more than 800,000 ballots that had been cast in the two jurisdictions. As a result of the recount, Biden’s lead over Trump in Wisconsin grew by 87 votes.
“The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday,” tweeted Trump on Saturday as he saw the writing on the wall. “We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!”
The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday. We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2020
JUST IN: The vote recount in Wisconsin has been completed.
Joe Biden gained 87 votes in the recount.
Donald Trump has become the first president to lose recounts in two different states.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) November 29, 2020
L-R President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe BidenReuters reports the Trump requested recount in Wisconsin’s largest county concluded on Friday with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden gaining votes.
Oops.
The recount of nearly 460,000 ballots in Milwaukee County showed Biden gained 257 votes to Trump’s 125, resulting in a net gain of 132 votes for Biden.
The unofficial statewide tally shows Biden defeated Trump there by about 20,600 votes.
Since a full state-wide recount would cost the Trump campaign $7.9 million, the Donald chose to only recount Dane and Milwaukee counties — home to the cities of Madison and Milwaukee for the discount price of $3 million.
Such recounts in the past have rarely changed the eventual results by more than a few hundred votes.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein requested a more extensive statewide recount in 2016 and the recount only altered the results by 131 votes (in Trump’s favor).
Milwaukee County concludes its recount of the presidential election — one of two counties where Trump sought a recount in Wisconsin. The results: Biden's lead, currently at about 20,000 statewide, grew by 132 votes.
— Rosalind Helderman (@PostRoz) November 27, 2020
With a 5 pm deadline looming today in Wisconsin for the Trump campaign to request (as previously indicated) a recount of the votes cast in the presidential election, which has been estimated to cost $7.9 million, the state has received reportedly received a $3 million payment from Team Trump for a partial recount.
From AlterNet:
The recount the campaign is requesting is focused on heavily Democratic Dane County and Milwaukee County since Team Trump regards Democratic votes as inherently suspicious.
President-elect Joe Biden got 577,455 votes in those counties and won Wisconsin as a whole by 20,608 votes.
A recount would start this week and needs to be completed by Dec. 1. It’s extremely unlikely — virtually impossible, even — that even a statewide recount would net Trump more than 20,000 votes. A 2016 recount of the state got him an additional 131 votes.
He's not contesting Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, or Georgia. He's contesting Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Atlanta. What is his issue with these voters? I can't Qwhite put my finger on it.
— Vincent T (@vincentrt11) November 18, 2020
Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• Mindful Monday: Fitness expert and InstaHunk Joel Green (above) notes quite wisely, “Some of the best things in life aren’t things.”
• Reuters: The number of coronavirus cases in the United States crossed the 11-million mark on Sunday reaching yet another grim milestone as the third wave of COVID-19 infections surged across the country. Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic in the United States has quickened, with one million more new cases from just 8 days ago when it hit 10 million, making it the fastest since the pandemic began.
• Mediaite: Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui downplayed President Donald Trump’s involvement in the coronavirus vaccine breakthroughs on MSNBC telling viewers that the Trumpster “has never been very actively involved.”
• AP News: Donald Trump will have to pay $7.9 million if he wants a statewide recount of unofficial results in Wisconsin showing him losing to Democrat Joe Biden by about 20,500 votes. In 2016, Wisconsin’s recount took about 12 days and only showed a change of 131 votes.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A recount in Georgia’s presidential race found more than 2,600 ballots in Floyd County that hadn’t originally been tallied. County election officials apparently didn’t upload votes from a memory card in a ballot-scanning machine. GOP leaders in the county believe Donald Trump could have a net gain of 800 votes from the discovery, which wouldn’t be enough to overcome Joe Biden’s 14,000+ vote lead.
• Global News: A Halifax man says police aren’t doing enough to keep him safe after he says he was violently attacked by his neighbor for reporting him for domestic abuse. The victim recorded audio of the attack and posted it on Twitter. Warning: graphic audio.
Last night I was viscously attacked by my neighbour after reporting him to @HfxRegPolice for abusing his wife.
I took more than a dozen punches to the head while being called a faggot + kicked in the face until his boot fell off.
I’m alright but not okay.
**graphic audio** pic.twitter.com/MO2bUvUosq
— Stephen Wentzell (@StephenWentzell) September 19, 2020