Monthly Archives: February 2015
Presidential Hopeful Ben Carson Is an 'Extremist,' Says Civil Rights Group
Presidential Hopeful Ben Carson Is an 'Extremist,' Says Civil Rights Group
Eyeing the White House won’t keep anti-LGBT politicians from being called out by progressive groups, former neurosurgeon and 2016 hopeful Ben Carson learned this week.
Sunnivie Brydum
Russian Ballet Dancer Sergei Polunin Simply Slays Hozier's 'Take Me To Church'
Russian Ballet Dancer Sergei Polunin Simply Slays Hozier's 'Take Me To Church'
What happens when you combine the talents of Russian ballet bad boy Sergei Polunin, Irish gospel luminary Hozier and photography pop wizard David LaChapelle? Apparently, a whole lot of angsty, sexy, beautiful dancing ensues.
LaChapelle directed the new visual interpretation of the Grammy-nominated hit, starring British Royal Ballet vet Polunin. The emotive dancer, donning only nude tights and a cluster of tattoos, sautés, tombés and pirouettes through an illuminated empty space. The white room clashes with the dark energy of the bluesy song, making Polunin’s stunning dance moves resemble some kind of spiritual possession.
Enjoy.
Kansas Governor Brownback Shamefully Removes Non-Discrimination Protections for LGBT State Employees
Kansas Governor Brownback Shamefully Removes Non-Discrimination Protections for LGBT State Employees
Today, HRC responded to the news that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback rescinded an executive order that extended non-discrimination protections to state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
HRC.org
PHOTOS: Jamie Dornan Is Fifty Shades Of Gorgeous
PHOTOS: Jamie Dornan Is Fifty Shades Of Gorgeous
Irish model-cum-actor Jamie Dornan will soon hit the big screens as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey. Starting Friday the 13th, fans of the erotic S&M story will get to see their favorite scenes come to life.
We’re hoping that involves seeing the male lead in as little clothing as possible. Dornan, who’s appeared in the film Marie Antoinette and the BBC series The Fall, was also a Calvin Klein underwear model at one point. So there’s that.
With that in mind, we couldn’t help but throw together a little preview for ourselves.
Enjoy:
Dan Tracer
Gay Couple Makes History With Navy's First Man-on-Man Homecoming Kiss: VIDEO
Gay Couple Makes History With Navy's First Man-on-Man Homecoming Kiss: VIDEO
After a seven-month WestPac deployment, the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) submarine warship returned home to Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego yesterday. With every return comes the ceremonial “first kiss” of sailors disembarking from the vessel, and Monday’s kiss was particularly notable as it was the first time ever a male same-sex couple was chosen. Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas Sawicki received nothing but support from his shipmates when the announcement was made that he had won the lottery, and while his boyfriend Shawn Brier was worried about screwing it up by falling into the water, the kiss went off without a hitch.
Watch an interview with the couple and peep one more picture of the kiss, AFTER THE JUMP…
Christian Walters
WATCH: Sam Smith Talks Boyfriend Revenge on Ellen
WATCH: Sam Smith Talks Boyfriend Revenge on Ellen
The out singer basked in the glow of his Grammy landslide.
Neal Broverman
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2015/02/10/watch-sam-smith-talks-boyfriend-revenge-ellen
Super-Cheap Gadget Tests For HIV Using Your Smartphone
Super-Cheap Gadget Tests For HIV Using Your Smartphone
Testing for HIV just got a whole lot easier.
A team led by Samuel K. Sia, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University, has devised a smartphone accessory that can test for HIV and syphilis in 15 minutes. The dongle plugs into the phone’s headphone jack and uses an app to produce the test results.
Scanning blood from a finger prick, Sia’s device looks for three infectious disease markers: HIV antibodies, which typical tests look for; and treponemal-specific and non-treponemal antibodies for syphilis, which basically distinguish between active and inactive syphilis infections.
A look at the STD-testing smartphone device in action. (Source)
The dongle works with any smartphone and provides a laboratory-quality test. It also costs a remarkably low $34 to manufacture. According to a Columbia press release, that’s far below the thousands of dollars needed for the lab equipment that would normally be needed to run such tests. It’s even pretty close to the $39.99 price tag on certain over-the-counter HIV tests.
Health care workers in Rwanda recently tested Soa’s device on 96 patients. Afterword, nearly every single patient said they’d recommend the device.
“Our work shows that a full laboratory-quality immunoassay can be run on a smartphone accessory,” Sia said in a written statement. “Coupling microfluidics with recent advances in consumer electronics can make certain lab-based diagnostics accessible to almost any population with access to smartphones. This kind of capability can transform how health care services are delivered around the world.”
The only snag: It’s not ready for mass production — yet.
“We are really excited about the next steps in bringing this product to the market in developing countries,” said Sia. “And we are equally excited about exploring how this technology can benefit patients and consumers back home.”
Planned Parenthood told The Huffington Post that 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States, and nearly a sixth don’t even know they’re infected.
As More Alabama Probate Judges Start Issuing Marriage Licenses, HRC Urges Others to Follow the Law
As More Alabama Probate Judges Start Issuing Marriage Licenses, HRC Urges Others to Follow the Law
As probate judges in ten counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Tuesday after failing to do so on Monday, HRC calls on all remaining judges to follow the rule of law and ignore Justice Roy Moore’s attempts at judicial fiat.
HRC.org
Want To Have Safe Sex in Venezuela? It’s Gonna Cost You
Want To Have Safe Sex in Venezuela? It’s Gonna Cost You
If you have any Venezuelans on your gift list this year, you might want to consider shipping them some Trojans.
The Associated Press reports that condoms are the latest casualty of Venezuela’s mounting economic crisis. Though they were once easily accessible, the article states, the beginning of 2015 saw condoms added to the list of harder-to-find items — a list that, sadly, also includes cleaning products and many food items.
Which is a concern to public health workers since the country is already battling large numbers of HIV infection and teen pregnancy.
While condoms are evidently not impossible to find, they’re not cheap. For example, on Monday, a Craigslist-type site was offering a box of 24 Durex for the equivalent of US $317. Other black market sources are said to be selling them for US $10 a pop.
It seems the pro-condom slogan of the 1990s — “I’ll do a lot for love, but I’m not willing to die for it” — has been replaced with “I want to get my rocks off, but I’m not willing to go bankrupt for it.”
Maybe the New York City bomb squad can help by sending some of the condoms they mistook for an explosive device last month.
Winston Gieseke
