Gay Brother of 'Conscious Choices' Minister Speaks Out

The minister who this week told NPR his story of rejecting his attraction to men has a gay brother, Dexter, who’s faced tremendous anguish in the face of his family’s anti-LGBT beliefs.

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Stevie St. John

www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2015/01/08/gay-brother-conscious-choices-minister-speaks-out

'Imitation Game' Writer Slams 'Fact-Checking' Films As Misunderstanding Of Art
Despite strong reviews, both “Selma” and “The Imitation Game” have been scrutinized by history buffs because of the factual accuracy, or lack thereof, within their narratives.

In a conversation with HuffPost Live on Wednesday, “Imitation Game” screenwriter Graham Moore stressed that these films, being pieces of art, should not be expected to fulfill the role of historical text.

“When you use the language of ‘fact checking’ to talk about a film, I think you’re sort of fundamentally misunderstanding how art works,” he explained. “You don’t fact check Monet’s ‘Water Lilies. That’s not what water lilies look like, that’s what the sensation of experiencing water lilies feel like. That’s the goal of the piece.”

Rooted in “the true events that really happened,” according to the film’s director, Morten Tyldum (also on HuffPost Live), the Golden Globe-nominee for Best Picture was crafted to offer a unique perspective into the mind of British computer pioneer Alan Turing rather than a glance at his life’s timeline.

“A lot of historical films sometimes feel like people reading a Wikipedia page to you onscreen, like just reciting ‘and then he did that, and then he did that, and then he did this other thing’ — it’s like a ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation,” Tyldum said. “We wanted the movie to be emotional and passionate.”

“Our goal was to give you ‘What does Alan Turing feel like?'” he continued. “‘What does his story feel like? What’d it feel like to be Alan Turing? Can we create the experience of sort of ‘Alan Turing-ness’ for an audience based on his life?'”

Watch more from HuffPost Live’s conversation with Graham Moore and Mort Tyldum here.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/imitation-game-fact-checking_n_6436712.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Scenes from Florida’s Same-Sex Weddings

This week, loving, committed same-sex couples flocked to courthouses across the Sunshine State to wed.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/scenes-from-floridas-same-sex-weddings?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

‘The Jerry Springer Show Is Not Transphobic,’ Defends Jerry Springer. Is He Right?

Jerry Springer is a smart guy, and certainly not someone we take for a bigot. But his show scrapes at the bottom of the barrel of cultural commentary, more often than not serving as a platform for audiences to gawk at the problems of the less fortunate.

And not just gawk at, but judge, mock, degrade and ridicule as well.

You could say, “all the guests are there on their own free will,” but who’s the one cutting the checks at the end of the day, propping up the three-ring shit show?

A common theme for the show is “trannies,” a word that is as loaded as any these days, and certainly one that can easily be offensive when used by someone who is very much an outsider (like oh, say, Jerry Springer) of the trans community.

The Huffington Post recently asked Jerry about the perceived transphobia of his show, and he had this to say:

“We have transgender people on [‘The Jerry Springer Show’] all the time, a lot. In fact, there’s probably a lot more exposure on our show than anyplace else.

You don’t get on our show unless you’re are doing something that is inappropriate. Our show is about people behaving inappropriate.”

And questioned directly whether the show casts transgender people in a negative light, he reasoned that, “We hear that from any community.”

For his part, Springer has always been a supporter of LGBT rights — something he’s keen to mention — but does that let him off the hook?

If you’ve ever seen transgender people on his show, you’ll remember the predictable oohs, ahhs, and groans the audience emits when a trans person is “revealed.” “He-She Confessions!” prompts the image above. The laughter, the pointing, the hooting and hollering — how can this be perceived as supporting the transgender community?

Then there’s the word “tranny” itself. Believe us, we aren’t about to go open that can of worms again, but back in March of 2014 Springer told TMZ:

“I’ve just been educated. I won’t use [the term ‘tranny’]. I honestly had no idea that you’re not supposed to use that term, so now we’ll find another term to use.”

And yet as of today, here’s the weekly lineup on Springer’s website:

Right there in the middle, some Wednesday night entertainment for the family — “Trannies Twerk It Out.”

And let’s just take this lineup as a sample set. Porn star — chosen profession. Two episodes about marriages on the rocks — marriages that two people choose to be in. Stripper fights — crass, yes, but chosen profession nonetheless.

Then there’s “Trannies Twerk It Out.” Are we the only ones who see a difference?

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/wmU47Thf9bM/the-jerry-springer-show-is-not-transphobic-defends-jerry-springer-is-he-right-20150108

PHOTOS: Jonathan Groff, Russell Tovey And The Cast Of Looking Before They Discovered Folsom Street
Before they jimmied their way into a modern love triangle on HBO’s Looking, Jonathan Groff, Russell Tovey and Raul Castillo were busy winning over hearts by being obnoxiously adorable children.
Here’s a look at the three stars from way back when:

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/looking-old-photos_n_6436686.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Get Ready for 2015 Time to THRIVE

Last year’s inaugural Time to THRIVE conference was truly groundbreaking, and not only because of actor Ellen Page’s much-celebrated coming out.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/get-ready-for-2015-time-to-thrive?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed