Daily Archives: March 14, 2015
WATCH: Trans Teen Jazz Jennings Is the New Face of Clean & Clear
WATCH: Trans Teen Jazz Jennings Is the New Face of Clean & Clear
The 14-year-old author, advocate, and TV star just added one more credit to her CV: She’s the face of Clean & Clear’s new ‘See The Real Me’ campaign.
Sunnivie Brydum
www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/03/14/watch-trans-teen-jazz-jennings-new-face-clean-clear
Are The US Territories Still Too Conservative For Same-Sex Marriage?
Are The US Territories Still Too Conservative For Same-Sex Marriage?
While more than 70 percent of U.S. states now allow same-sex marriage, the waves of change have yet to reach America’s far-flung and socially conservative territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Of the five territories, only Puerto Rico has faced a lawsuit seeking the right for gay and lesbian couples to wed, and a federal judge there – bucking the trend in federal courts on the mainland – rejected the suit. That case is under appeal before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
In the other four territories – the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas – no gay or lesbian couples have stepped forward to make a legal case for marriage rights, according to advocacy groups monitoring the situation.
The five territories would be covered by a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing a constitutional right for same-sex couples to wed, notes Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with the national gay-rights group Lambda Legal. Several same-sex marriage cases from the mainland are before the high court this spring, and a ruling is expected by the end of June.
Gonzalez-Pagan said he hoped same-sex couples in the territories would step forward to seek marriage rights.
“No matter how big or small the population might be in any one of these territories, or the fact there’s vehement opposition in them, it doesn’t mean any citizens should be left behind,” he said. “All of them have a fundamental right to marry. They’re all entitled to equal protection.”
The only pending territorial lawsuit involving gay marriage was filed in Puerto Rico last year by five couples – two who are seeking to marry in Puerto Rico and three who live on the island and want recognition of marriages that occurred elsewhere.
In October, U.S. District Court Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez upheld Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage, saying voters and legislators, not judges, should decide the issue.
On the mainland, four U.S. circuit courts of appeal have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, while one – the 6th Circuit – upheld the laws in four states that prohibit it.
Lambda Legal is now appealing Perez-Gimenez’ ruling before the 1st Circuit; no date for oral arguments has been set.
Among the plaintiffs are Johanne Velez Garcia and Faviola Melendez Rodríguez, who have been a couple for six years and married in New York in 2012. They have been trying to adopt a child for several years, and believe their efforts have been thwarted because Puerto Rico does not recognize their marriage.
Velez, a 50-year-old attorney and consultant, said she’s optimistic that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage and thus nullify Puerto Rico’s ban. Meanwhile, she has been heartened by the support of family and friends as the lawsuit proceeds.
“When the news came out that we were filing this case, Faviola and I were a little apprehensive,” Velez said.
“But what we received were positive comments, expressions of love and support even from acquaintances who, due to religious reasons, might not be too happy about what we were doing,” she added. “Even those people understand we are fighting for our rights.”
However, the leader of the conservative group Puerto Rico for Families, pastor and physician Cesar Vazquez, says he and his allies will be dismayed if the Supreme Court decides to legalize same-sex marriage.
“It doesn’t mean we have to approve of it, and it doesn’t mean we can’t keep educating people,” said Vazquez, who expressed concern that schools might be required to teach children that same-sex marriage is “a valid alternative.”
In the other Caribbean territory – the U.S. Virgin Islands – there is strong opposition to same-sex marriage from leaders of various Christian denominations. A member of the territory’s Senate riled some of those leaders last year by drafting a bill that would have legalized gay marriage, but the bill has not advanced.
In the western Pacific territory of Guam, where more than 80 percent of the residents are Roman Catholic, the church helped defeat a bill to recognize same-sex unions in 2009. It was introduced by the vice speaker of the territorial legislature, Sen. Benjamin Cruz, who is openly gay.
Cruz said he tried to find gay couples willing to campaign publicly for same-sex marriage, but only one couple stepped forward, and he’s now ceased his advocacy efforts.
“Why should I be the only one that gets the nasty stares in church?” he asked.
Several gay couples have gone off-island to marry, but their unions are not recognized when they return to Guam even though they enjoy federal benefits, such as filing joint tax returns.
Joseph Querimit, 32, and Simon-Joseph Querimit, 31, flew to Hawaii to marry in April 2014; they are now raising an 8-year-old child.
Joseph said he would have preferred to marry on Guam, “but I didn’t want to face all the ridicule.”
“Born and raised on Guam, being Catholics, the upbringing, it’s just not something you would go out there and flaunt,” he said.
A lesbian couple – Dausha Magalhaes, 30, and her wife, Richelle, 32 – have lived on Guam since April 2013, shortly after they were married in Massachusetts, and find the island more welcoming than parts of Texas where they once resided.
“We don’t have to be scared if we want to hold hands,” Dausha said. “We do not get stared at or gawked at, and I have not once felt like a social pariah like I do back home.”
The other two Pacific territories – American Samoa and the Northern Marianas – do not recognize same-sex marriages even though they have no formal ban. American Samoa’s Office of Vital Statistics said it has not received any request from same-sex couples seeking a marriage license, and local lawyers have not taken up the cause.
Galeai Tu’ufuli, one of American Samoa’s paramount traditional chiefs and a member of territorial Senate, said he is neither for nor against gay marriage, but cited prevailing religious views that a marriage should be between a man and a woman.
“Why test the waters now by introducing legislation to deal with this issue?” said Tu’ufuli. “Time will tell when and if this issue surfaces in the future.”
Christian churches with conservative social views predominate in American Samoa, and the government’s motto is, “Samoa, Let God Be First.” Yet the territory also has a tradition of embracing its community of fa’afafine – males who are raised as females and adapt feminine traits.
Many of the fa’afafine are college-educated and hold professional jobs. Some older members of the community have cautioned against joining in same-sex marriage advocacy for fear of roiling the status quo, while some younger members have chosen differently.
“I joined the minority in pushing for same-sex marriage and for equal rights for happiness,” said 29-year-old Princess Auva’a, a well-known fa’afafine.
Together, the five U.S. territories have almost 4 million residents – more than 3.5 million of them in Puerto Rico. As of the 2010 U.S. census, Guam had 159,358 residents, the U.S. Virgin Islands 106,405, Guam 159,358; American Samoa 55,519 and the Northern Marianas 53,883
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Associated Press writers Danica Coto in Puerto Rico, Grace Garces Bordallo in Guam and Fili Sagapolutele in American Samoa contributed to this report.
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Follow David Crary on Twitter at twitter.com/CraryAP
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Alabama's only gay legislator votes against a 'religious freedom' bill
Alabama's only gay legislator votes against a 'religious freedom' bill
‘The reality is this was just pandering to their constituents so they could say they stood up on same-sex marriage when it didn’t do anything’
Jamesw
www.gaystarnews.com/article/alabamas-only-gay-legislator-votes-against-religious-freedom-bill140315
Dolce & Gabbana Again Speak Out Against Same-Sex Parenting: 'The Only Family is the Traditional One'
Dolce & Gabbana Again Speak Out Against Same-Sex Parenting: 'The Only Family is the Traditional One'
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, the two men and former couple behind the Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, are once again letting the world know their thoughts on why same-sex couples shouldn’t raise children.
“The family is not a fad,” Gabbana declared to Panorama magazine according to a Google translation of Spanish outlet ABC. “No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.”
Procreation “must be an act of love,” added Dolce. Children born through artificial insemination or egg donors are “children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteruses for rent, semen chosen from a catalog.”
Back in a 2006 interview with an Italian newspaper, Dolce expressed similar views saying:
I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents. A child needs a mother and a father. I could not imagine my childhood without my mother. I also believe that it is cruel to take a baby away from its mother.”
LGBT news outlet LGBT news Italia has responded by calling for a boycott of the D&G brand in the vein of last year’s boycott of pasta maker Barilla, who made international headlines when its chairman told an Italian radio show that the company would never make an ad with gay people and if they didn’t like it they could find another brand of pasta.
[h/t NCRM]
Kyler Geoffroy
LGBT History Travel Series
LGBT History Travel Series
Travel the world of LGBTQ history with Sarah Prager – Manchester, San Francisco, Chicago, Cologne, Washington DC, and more. Interviews with directors of archives and museums, walking tour …
#SpringBreak is here and @IgniteDMV & @K5Entertainment are giving you the #2K15SpringFling Club Crawl 👉 Friday, March 20th · 11p-3a CAPITALE · 1301 K St. NW-DC #CodeSunshine @ Capitale with Sunshine Anderson performing LIVE! $8 Drink Specials
Cell Block Tango Stops the Show at Broadway Backwards
Cell Block Tango Stops the Show at Broadway Backwards
The 10th anniversary benefit raised $466,717 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and New York City’s LGBT Center. Check out this all-male version of a number from the musical, Chicago.
Advocate.com Editors
James Van Der Beek Was Caught with ‘Dawson's Creek' Gay Porn
James Van Der Beek Was Caught with ‘Dawson's Creek' Gay Porn
You know you’ve made it when your TV show is made into porn, right? That’s certainly how James Van Der Beek saw it during his “Dawson’s Creek” days.
While chatting with Vulture about his “Power Rangers” “deboot,” the “Dawson’s Creek” star brought up a fond memory from his days on the show.
“I remember when I was doing ‘Rules of Attraction,’ and the hair and makeup department got me a copy of the ‘Dawson’s Crack’ porn movie as a gag gift. It was on VHS, that’s how long ago that was, and I thought it was hilarious,” Van Der Beek explained.
“I couldn’t wait to bring it back and show everybody in North Carolina and say, ‘We’ve made it! Look at us. They’ve made a porno out of us,'” he continued. “This was right after 9/11, and I get flagged by security, and somebody opened up the suitcase, and there’s a gay porno right on top. Not just any gay porno, but one based on the show that I was on. Which is kind of excellent.”
Thirteen years later, 38-year-old Van Der Beek is starring in “CSI: Cyber” and has three kids, but he certainly isn’t ashamed of that porn incident — he tweeted about it after his interview.
Had a chat w/ @Vulture about the #PowerRangers “deboot”… and the gay porn version of Dawson’s Creek #ofcourse t.co/8EFIFbCGg7
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) February 27, 2015
H/T Gay Star News
Frankie J. Alvarez Is Half-Naked And Hilarious, Ricky Martin Makes A Splash And More On Instagram
Frankie J. Alvarez Is Half-Naked And Hilarious, Ricky Martin Makes A Splash And More On Instagram
This week, Empire star Jussie Smollett said he’d never been in the closet, Bette Midler set Kim Kardashian’s always-insightful tweets to music and Sam Smith remembered being bullied for being gay. Here’s what happened recently on Instagram:
We have no idea what Russell Tovey and Jonathan Groff find so funny about their Looking costar Frankie J. Alvarez.
This makes me happy 🙂 @sexytosomeppl @lookinghbo #LookingHBO #looking #behindthescenes
A photo posted by Russelltovey (@russelltovey) on Mar 11, 2015 at 12:50am PDT
Jake Shears recovered from too much something at Bondi Beach.
Recovery time at Bondi yesterday with my sisters @djnita @sammyjodj and @djwillautomagic #nyc #sydney #lara #regram A photo posted by @jakeshears on Mar 10, 2015 at 5:48am PDT
Adam Lambert continued his commendable pursuit of physical fitness.
“Yeah you’ll find the truth here in my arms” @iamtovelo #hike
A photo posted by ADAMLAMBERT (@adamlambert) on Mar 10, 2015 at 1:06pm PDT
Sam Smith is as cuddly as ever.
Laryngitis is kicking my ass pic.twitter.com/5b5c5yBzIW
— Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) March 10, 2015
Darryl Stephens loves a party — especially when it’s his.
Thanks everybody for the birthday wishes and thank you @ladasha79 for the balloons and gifts! Xoxo
A photo posted by Darryl Stephens (@darrylstephens) on Mar 9, 2015 at 12:18pm PDT
Ricky Martin still knows how to make a splash.
Mr. Put it Down te Dispara al Corazón ;0) #MrPutitDown #DisparoAlCorazón A photo posted by Ricky (@ricky_martin) on Mar 11, 2015 at 1:58am PDT
Steve Grand finally got his hands on an All-American Boy.
Holding it for the first time. I’ve waited a long time for this moment. So grateful to all of you for making my dream come true. I flew out to Arizona to sign a bunch of them (have also decided to sign all of the ones going out to my Kickstarter supporters :)) get your signed copy at shop.stevegrand.com #allamericanboy
A photo posted by Steve Grand (@stevegrandmusic) on Mar 9, 2015 at 2:43pm PDT
Michael Buble is very self-impressed.
I’m posting this photo to remind all of you how important I think I am. #imamazing #megastar #imthebest #kanyewest #humble A photo posted by Michael Bublé (@michaelbuble) on Mar 11, 2015 at 10:23am PDT
Pablo Hernandez sneaks a peek.
When the D so good he puts your name on it…literally. #photography by @briannieh87 #pablohernandez #pablohernandezofficial #briannieh #photo #venice #beach #andrewchristian #trophyboy #model #sunny #calilife #instafit
A photo posted by Pablo Hernandez Official Page (@pablohernandezofficial) on Mar 9, 2015 at 1:39pm PDT
Jeremy Kinser