GSN catches up with movie icon Tab Hunter
Closeted during his days starring in Damn Yankees and other films, Hunter came out publicly as gay in 2005
gregh
www.gaystarnews.com/article/gsn-catches-movie-icon-tab-hunter111114
Daily Archives: November 11, 2014
The Curious Case Of The Miami Drag Queen, The Flamboyant Sports Star And The Communist Dictator
The Curious Case Of The Miami Drag Queen, The Flamboyant Sports Star And The Communist Dictator
Page Six has taken the already Kafkaesque story of Dennis Rodman and his perceived geopolitical influence and added a Miami drag queen cherry on top. There’s intrigue, redemption, high stakes and even higher eyebrows. Seriously, what’s not to love?
If this doesn’t get made into a movie at some point, it should at the very least be a sketch on SNL. Wood Harrelson is hosting this weekend. Galaxia, just sayin’.
Our story begins in February 2013, when Rodman made his first of what would become regular visits to North Korea. The whole thing was captured by Vice, and it is seriously worth a watch. In 30 minutes you’ll walk away with an improved understanding of North Korea, and you’ll witness the birth of one of the truly bizarre relationships of all-time: Dennis Rodman and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un. Words can’t describe.
Flash forward to April 2013. Dennis’ new bestie Kim sentences Korean-American Evangelical Missionary Kenneth Bae to a 15 year prison sentence for “planning to overthrow the North Korean government, including setting up bases in China for the purpose of toppling the North Korean government.” Or in other words, things Bae wasn’t doing.
Rodman promised he’d go to North Korea to rescue Bae. It was a promise he could not deliver on.
Or could he?
Cut to present day. Bae has finally been released from prison, and not only is Rodman trying to soak up the credit, but his friend and Miami drag queen Elaine Lancaster is nudging her way into the spotlight, apparently as his foreign policy advisor.
She explained to Page Six that she met with Rodman over lunch before his second trip to North Korea:
“I told Dennis, ‘Don’t let these trips be in vain,’ and asked him if he knew about the gulags and the detention camps. He said no, so I explained it to him. I said, ‘try to do what you can, but don’t get yourself killed.’ It looks as if it may have paid off for a few imprisoned Americans.”
Kudos to Lancaster for apparently schooling Rodman on gulags and detention camps (he’s been going over there for almost two years and he’s just now getting this info?), except Bae’s release lines up with President Obama sending U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to North Korea to broker Bae’s and another American’s release.
But hey, details. Right?
In Rodman’s words:
“No doubt, our trips helped influence Kenneth Bae’s release and I’m happy he is coming home safely.”
Sigh.
Dan Tracer
GOP Texas Lawmaker Wants To Enshrine 'License To Discriminate' Against Gays In State Constitution
GOP Texas Lawmaker Wants To Enshrine 'License To Discriminate' Against Gays In State Constitution
A Tea Party Republican in Texas wants to enshrine a “license to discriminate” against LGBT people into the state Constitution.
State Sen. Donna Campbell filed a proposed constitutional amendment Monday that could allow business owners and government contractors to turn away gay people, or fire LGBT employees, under the guise of religious liberty. The amendment could also undermine LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances that have passed in all of Texas’ major cities.
Campbell’s proposed constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 10, states that government “may not burden an individual’s or religious organization’s freedom of religion or right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief unless the government proves that the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.”
SJR 10 goes on to say that a “burden” includes “indirect burdens such as withholding benefits, assessing penalties, and denying access to facilities or programs.”
Jenny Pizer (right), senior counsel at Lambda Legal, told Towleroad that in addition to undermining local nondiscrimination laws, she believes Campbell’s proposal would open up government to all sorts of litigation from people who have religious objections to a wide variety of regulations.
“What it probably means is that the government’s ability to challenge discrimination would be limited,” Pizer said. “While she wants to permit religiously motivated discrimination against gay people, what about religiously motivated discrimination by one religion against another? What if the Jewish doctors decided to stop providing medical services to Christian fundamentalists?
“It blows a hole in your nondiscrimination protections if people can ignore them for religious reasons,” Pizer added. “It may be designed to trump local nondiscrimination protections, and that’s a serious problem, but the bigger problem for government is the fact that it then becomes prohibitively expensive to enforce things like food safety law. What if somebody has a religious belief that requires them to make large bonfires in the backyard as part of a religious tradition, and you have dry, dangerous fire conditions? There are basic safety regulations. … This is far-right grandstanding, but it’s grandstanding with very serious potential implications for government.”
Campbell, who’s from the San Antonio area, strongly opposed that city’s passage of an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance last year. In a letter to then-Mayor Julian Castro, Campbell wrote:
“San Antonio is an exceptional city in which every individual should feel welcome, and I believe that’s the intent of the authors of the ordinance. However, by alienating a majority of Texans who believe in traditional marriage and values, it is having the opposite effect. San Antonio churches, families and businesses feel less welcome in their hometown as a result of this proposed ordinance, fearful that they may now be penalized or face costly lawsuits just for practicing their faith or expressing their opinion.”
Campbell later told the Houston Chronicle:
“Our Judeo-Christian values are under assault and I’m not going to let that stand. We have the right and religious freedom to express ourselves. When the government moves outside the proper bounds of the primary role, especially in order to legislate societal norms, they’re on shaky ground. Really it’s a few, just a few advocates, of tolerance. They are trying to criminalize faith and traditional values of the majority of Texans. Tolerance is going too far in this instance.”
Campbell introduced a similar measure two years ago, but it died in committee amid concerns that it would expand the right of Westboro Baptist Church to protest military funerals or even create a religious right to an abortion, according to Texas Monthly. Campbell’s 2013 measure was backed by the anti-LGBT group Texas Values and opposed by Equality Texas. Daniel Williams, legislative specialist at Equality Texas, said Monday that Campbell’s proposal would go far beyond an existing state statute.
“In 1999 Texas set the gold standard for protecting religious liberty with the passage of the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Williams said. “SJR 10 would gut the existing legislation.”
Earlier this year, amid national outcry, Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gays based on religious beliefs, but a similar law later passed in Mississippi.
Texas cities with nondiscrimination ordinances that could be affected by Campbell’s amendment include Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Last year, the Houston City Council passed an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance, but the ordinance is on hold pending a lawsuit from opponents.
At a recent anti-LGBT rally in Houston, opponents of the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance donned T-shirts saying, “We reserve the right to refuse service to homosexuals.”
John Wright
LGBT ISSUES
LGBT ISSUES
This video is about LGBT ISSUES.
20. GSC Filmfest Bad Wörishofen
Rihanna Walks At Miyake-Mugler NYC Vogue Ball
Rihanna Walks At Miyake-Mugler NYC Vogue Ball
As if we didn’t already love Rihanna enough…
The pop star stopped by “Porcelain: a Sanctuary of Ostentatious Extravagance,” a vogue ball throw by the legendary house of Miyake-Mugler, on Saturday night in NYC and served up her best walk on the runway.
A video posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:32am PST
src=”//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”>
The star starts out strong but seems to get a bit adorably self-conscious once she hits the end of the runway. According to Jezebel, Badgalriri made her way to her first-ever vogue ball to join Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing. She commented on her Instagram: “When they shout you out at a #MuglerBall it pretty much means ‘Get yo black ass on this stage NOW’!! Lol @yusefhairnyc thank you for inviting us to our first ball! Fun times last night! @olivier_rousteing”
Check out the video below to see the walk from a different angle.
(h/t Jezebel)
DVD: “Tammy,” “Snails In The Rain,” “Lady Valor: The Kristen Beck Story,” & More!
DVD: “Tammy,” “Snails In The Rain,” “Lady Valor: The Kristen Beck Story,” & More!
This week’s home entertainment slate is a mixed bag indeed — from Melissa McCarthy’s broad comedy Tammy to gay Israeli drama Snails In The Rain (above) to a real-life tale of a transgender ex-Navy SEAL in the original CNN movie, Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story.
Now for the deets!
($35.99 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; Warner)
Melissa McCarthy plays the abrasive titular character, a fast food restaurant employee who sets out on a roadtrip with her sassy, sauced grandmother, Pearl (Susan Sarandon). Lots of ridiculous antics transpire as McCarthy competes with Zach Galifianakis to play the most OTT cretin onscreen this decade, and perhaps they should just go ahead and play siblings sometime. Extras include an extended 101-minute cut, deleted scenes, gag reel and more.
($24.95 DVD; TLA)
Set during 1989, this queer drama sees a 25-year-old student, Boaz, receive a series of deeply personal love letters from a mystery — and closeted — man. These missives begin to rattle Boaz’s life with his girlfriend, and set off a chain of memories about past attractions to men and revelations. Who is writing these letters?
Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story
($24.95 DVD; Wolfe)
As a U.S. Navy SEAL, Christopher Beck garnered a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon leaving the military in 2011, however, Beck transitioned to Kristin and made national headlines upon the publication of her book Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming out Transgender. This CNN documentary brings her process and experiences to light — a moving and inspirational tale indeed. Extras include a featurette about Beck’s activism since, and Anderson Cooper’s 2013 360 interview with Beck.
ALSO OUT:
How To Train Your Dragon 2
True Blood: The Complete Series
Jersey Boys
Lawrence Ferber
One Direction's Louis Tomlinson Blasts Reporter for Implying He's Gay: 'I Am In Fact Straight'
One Direction's Louis Tomlinson Blasts Reporter for Implying He's Gay: 'I Am In Fact Straight'
One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson (seen above in the ‘Story of My Life’ video) lashed out at a reporter at the UK Independent this week after she suggested that his t-shirt bearing a classic Apple rainbow logo was because he supported CEO Tim Cook’s recent statement coming out of the closet.
Wrote reporter Jenn Selby in the article:
Days after Harry Styles’ comment about gender and sexuality became a viral talking point, his bandmate Louis Tomlinson seemingly showed his support for the recently out Apple CEO Tim Cook.
What a difference a week makes. First Harry Styles’ pro-LGBT comments on sexuality, now this: t.co/jaI6OqMgL9 pic.twitter.com/aq3X72jhqq
— IndyPeople (@TheIndyPeople) November 10, 2014
While Selby never says that Tomlinson is gay, her attempt to draw connections between Styles, Cook, and Tomlinson caused the One Direction singer to draw a few conclusions of his own:
@JennSelby The fact that you work for such a ‘credible’ paper and you would talk such rubbish is laughable. I am in fact straight.
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) November 10, 2014
@JennSelby Google ‘original apple logo’ and you will see the one printed on my shirt that you reported on. Trying to look for a promotion ?
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) November 10, 2014
F–king ridiculous I even have to tweet that sh-t !
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) November 10, 2014
Tomlinson’s response is similar to one he offered to a fan two years ago when the fan brought up a nickname (“Larry Stylinson”) that fans had created suggesting he was in a relationship with bandmate Styles.
Andy Towle
LGBT News: 25 y.o. Transgender murdered in Tbilisi, Georgia 11.11.2014
LGBT News: 25 y.o. Transgender murdered in Tbilisi, Georgia 11.11.2014
11.11.2014 Tbilisi, Georgia A 25 y.o. transgender Beka Beriani with Nickname "Sabi" was killed yesterday evening (10.11.2014) in Pekini Street 14, Tbilisi in his Flat. The murder(s) set up…
Out 100 2014: Sam Smith, Ellen Page, Zachary Quinto And More Honored By Out Magazine
Out 100 2014: Sam Smith, Ellen Page, Zachary Quinto And More Honored By Out Magazine
Singer-songwriter Sam Smith and out actors Ellen Page, Zachary Quinto and Samira Wiley take top honors on Out Magazine’s OUT 100 list for 2014.
Smith, whose smash debut album “In the Lonely Hour” dominated radio airwaves this year, was named Breakout of the Year, while Page (“X-Men: Days of Future Past,””Juno”) nabbed Entertainer of the Year honors. Quinto, who will star opposite James Franco in the hotly anticipated “Michael,” is the magazine’s Artist of the Year, and “Orange is the New Black” veteran Wiley is Ingenue of the Year.
Each year Out magazine chooses 100 of the most compelling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the world to create its Out 100 list. Honorees are chosen from all walks of life and include celebrities, writers, politicians, activists, sports figures and artists, among others.
Take a look at all four Out 100 covers, then scroll down to keep reading: 
Page, who garnered praise from the LGBT community for her profound coming out speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive conference, tells the magazine:
“You just feel different in the world. Once you’ve done something that you used to think was impossible, what could ever really scare you again? Even now, press is more enjoyable because I don’t have to have certain conversations. For instance, I’m never going to have to have a conversation about a dress, or heels, ever again.”
Check out the full list of OUT 100 honorees here.
Meanwhile, check out a selection of the list in the slideshow below.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/11/out-100-2014_n_6139654.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices