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South Carolina’s DMV Settles Lawsuit
South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) has settled a lawsuit by Chase Culpepper.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/south-carolinas-dmv-settles-lawsuit?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
The Justice League and Avengers Battle in Epic Homemade Throwdown: VIDEO
Viral video aficionados will recall the Harry Potter vs Star Wars battle that took place in a suburban driveway last year.
Well, Danny and Michael Philipou have returned with an epic throwdown between the Marvel and DC universes that has to seen to be believed.
Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman take on Hulk, Ironman and Thor in a destructive battle of wills.
Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP…
Andy Towle
Activist Hijacks Domain Names of Antigay Indiana Politicians
The domain names will redirect to HRC until the politicians support LGBT equality in Indiana.
Daniel Reynolds
www.advocate.com/politics/2015/04/22/activist-hijacks-domain-names-antigay-indiana-politicians
Univision Highlights Latino Transgender Community
Last week, Univison aired a special on Latino members of the transgender community.
HRC.org
Let’s Celebrate John Waters’ Birthday With Some Of His Most Unforgettable Moments
John Waters is celebrating a milestone birthday today. The influential filmmaker and beloved raconteur, who was proclaimed “the Pope of Trash” by no less than William S. Burroughs, is turning…wait for it…69! Although Waters, who’s given us such inarguable classics as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray, hasn’t directed a feature film in eleven years, he’s kept busy writing books, being commemorated with prestigious retrospectives at New York’s Lincoln Center,as an in-demand guest on talk shows and lecturer and will be honored with Lambda’s Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature in June. So this is the ideal time to rewind and think about just a few of the many, many indelible reasons John Waters has become America’s most beloved pervy uncle.
After making a number of no-budget renogade flicks such as the evocatively-titled Hag in a Black Leather Jacket all starring his equally-legendary muse Divine, Waters first came to national renown with the 1972 release of his seminal Pink Flamingos. Seriously, this is required rite-of-passage viewing for gay folks. The clip below which portrays the delicate bond between an egg-loving mother (Edith Massey) and dog feces-eating daughter (Divine) is probably the only scene from the cult classic that we can post on this family-friendly site.
Waters has called 1975’s Female Trouble his favorite film and many critics agree that it’s his strongest work. It’s certainly his most deranged, as it features Divine raping himself and Mink Stole as the ultimate bad seed Taffy Davenport. It also offers the quintessential heartwarming Christmas scene that should be de rigueur viewing around the holidays.
After a few years working individually Waters and Divine reunited for 1981’s Polyester. For the send up of suburban melodramas, Waters employed his first big star Tab Hunter and provided audiences with scintillating Odorama™ scratch-and-sniff cards that allowed fans to smell what they witnessed on screen.
The director’s most acclaimed film and his biggest mainstream hit was Hairspray, a musical-comedy about racial injustice inspired by his own youth in Baltimore. Check out Waters’ cameo as psychiatrist who attempts to cure Penny Pingleton of being a checkerboard chick.
The success of Hairspray led to Waters’ biggest budget yet in 1990 with another teen musical-comedy Cry Baby starring Johnny Depp and a dazzling supporting cast that included Traci Lords, Joe Dallesandro and Iggy Pop. Note his still-timely use of mandatory vaccinations in the clip below.
Five years later, Waters lured another big star, Kathleen Turner, to play the lead in Serial Mom, inspired by his life-long love of true crime. In this scene (NSFW for language) Waters’ regular Mink Stole becomes unraveled by Turner’s continued prank calling.
It almost goes without saying that Waters gives good interview. Here he is chatting with Roseanne Barr (remember when she had a talk show?), discussing his 1998 comedy Pecker. If you haven’t already watched the film, which features a memorable supporting turn by Martha Plimpton and an educational bit on tea-bagging, check it out so you can tell your mom you saw John Waters’ Pecker.
The man knows about romance, too, and even released a compilation CD of his favorite date-night ballads. It features such previously-undiscovered gems as “Tonight You Belong To Me” and “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d Have Baked a Cake.”
Of course, there are so many other film and interview clips that celebrate the subversive artistry of this master auteur but we can’t include them all so join us in wishing him many happy returns and tell us what you love most about John Waters in the comments section.
Jeremy Kinser
India's Mr. Gay World Entrant Drops Out of Competition, Goes into Hiding After Family is Threatened
Thahir Mohammed Sayyed, the sole entrant from India in the 2015 Mr. Gay World competition, has dropped out and gone into hiding, citing threats to his religious family who lives in Kochi, DNA India reports:
“I am withdrawing from the contest.”
I hope the organisers appreciate the difficulties I faced. I cannot take this pressure,” he said in a message, refusing to come on the phone. “I have switched off my phone to prevent getting any ‘unwanted’ calls,” he added.
When asked whether he and his family are safe, he said, “It would be unfair for me to drag them into any trouble.” He also refused to comment on any ongoing pressure from his community, saying, “Talking about this will only worsen things”.
Sayyed and his family had remained incommunicado and couldn’t be found at both their Kochi and Kottayam homes. Human rights and LGBT activists in Kerala were alarmed after dna front-paged the plight of this part-time model and fashion designing post-grad from Brisbane, Australia. His family was prevented from praying at the local mosque and threatened with ostracism after his entry into the pageant became public.
The Hindu adds:
Eric Butter, who together with Dean Nelson started Mr Gay World in 2009, said the event was created precisely to combat homophobia, which appeared to have denied Mr. Sayyed his opportunity.
TIME reports on the withdrawal:
The weeklong event will begin in Knysna, South Africa, on Sunday and will feature contestants from 20 countries. Sayyed would have been the only Asian participant.
Andy Towle
#TakeTheHighRoad When It Comes to Anti-Gay Days
As I read about the “Anti-Gay Day” organizing at McGuffey High School in Claysville, Pennsylvania in Washington County, I was disappointed but not shocked. Claysville is about 30 minutes south of Pittsburgh, where I live. My partner grew up in a similar rural community north of Pittsburgh.
As I wrote on my blog, the organization of the tactics suggests adults were involved.
But on a very serious note, this is a troubling turn of events. These kids didn’t just spontaneously pull a homophobic move. They have a plan. They have coordinated outfits. They live and attend school in a county with no discrimination protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. I bet they have parents who share these hateful little views.
Claysville is in Washington County, about 30 minutes away from Downtown Pittsburgh. Washington County has a member of council who used a gay slur on municipal email. Washington County was targeted by the Pennsylvania Family Research Council for an anti-transgender attack during a recent election (and their guy won.)
When I read that a pastor had met with 20 youth involved in the homophobic plotting, I was convinced that all of these youth were being used for a larger agenda. Mind you, that doesn’t absolve them of culpability for their participation. It simply reminds us that this is not an isolated incident or a youthful indiscretion, especially for the LGBTQA youth who attend McGuffey.
The Washington County Gay Straight Alliance has been on the ground to build safer learning environments for 10 years. They’ve been regularly attending McGuffey School Board meetings prior to the Day of Silence. I spoke with adult organizers about the best way for the LGBTQA community to respond and the answer was very simple — show our support to the LGBTQA youth at McGuffey and throughout the county.
Let me make a note here that while I typically use LGBTQ when I blog, the GSA organizers specifically asked me to include “A” because they never require students to come out and always welcome allies. So I am honoring their request.
How can we support the LGBTQA youth at McGuffey High School and through Washington County and other rural Pennsylvania towns? Here’s what we came up with on the ground in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We invite you to join us.
1. Take a photo — in a flannel shirt if you like — with a sign that shows your support for the LGBTQA students at McGuffey. I suggest something like “I support LGBTQ students at McGuffey High School.”
2. Post the photo using the hashtag #TakeTheHighRoad
3. Make a donation of $10.00 (or whatever amount is good for you) to support the Gay Straight Alliance of Washington County which is working on the front lines at McGuffey High.
You can also join the Facebook group to share your photos and learn more about how to support these brave youth.
Why #TakeTheHighRoad? That came from a brainstorming session with Rayden Sorock of the Initiative for Transgender Leadership. The mascot of McGuffey School is the Highlander and the school is known as “McG” — so Ray suggested a play on the Highlander theme. It also happens to be wise counsel for those tempted to read the comments on any of the media sites covering this story. The high road is the road that supports our young people and their families. It looks a little different for each of us, but what’s important is that the students hear us coming. They are not alone.
Taking the high road is about being strategic, supportive of our youth and standing firm in our requirement that LGBTQ people are full participants in this nation.
If you are fired about the desecration of the flannel shirt meme, take a picture. If you want to reach through the interwebs and give those brave kids a big hug, take a picture. If you can help ensure they all have the resources to attend the Queer Prom in Pittsburgh or other LGBTQA events, take a picture (and make a donation please).
There are many ways to interpret the song ‘Loch Lomond’ — we suggest this version.
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One Month Until Ireland’s Marriage Equality Referendum
One month from today, Ireland will become the first country to hold a national referendum for marriage equality.
HRC.org
This Cute Doctor Wants To Rock Your World With His New Wonder Condom
“Imagine if we could make a condom that you couldn’t wait to put on,” Dr. Robert Gorkin (pictured) tells PSFK.com. “Or what if you could make a condom that actually improves sex — how fantastic would that be!?”
Gorkin and a team of researchers at the University of Wollongong are currently working to develop a new type of pleasure-enhancing condom that he claims could revolutionize sexual health the whole world over.
“Lack of sensation is a well documented attribute that condoms have been associated with them and one we are trying to overcome,” says Gorkin. “I have not met anyone that says, ‘oh yeah condoms feel perfect!’”
He hopes to change all that.
Related: Don’t Be A Fool, Wrap Your Tool: Queerty’s Top 10 Condom Picks
Gorkin received a $100,000 grant last summer from none other than Bill Gates to jumpstart his research. The new wonder condoms are made out of hydrogels, the same things used to make contact lenses, and will be self-lubricating, biodegradable, and “skin-like.”
He and his team are now testing to see how the new material compares with traditional latex condoms, mainly whether they offer the same protections and level of safety.
But it doesn’t stop there. Gorkin says he also wants to find ways the wonder condoms absolutely irresistible. His solution? Pleasuring-enhancing pharmaceuticals built into the material that would have magical effects on the penis.
“We can potentially load certain molecules into the condom itself,” says Gorkin, but did not elaborate further.
No word yet on when the wonder condoms may become available.
Related: Which Lube Is Best For You? Astroglide’s Seven Ways To Go Around The Bases And Back Again
Graham Gremore
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