Cleveland Firefighter Investigated for Homophobia Toward Gay Kid in Viral Photo
Firefighter Guy Estergall says flaming the crying gay boy on Facebook does not reflect on his work as a public servant.
Mitch Kellaway
Monthly Archives: July 2015
8 Iconic Movie Moments Reimagined With Queer Couples
8 Iconic Movie Moments Reimagined With Queer Couples
For decades finding representation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Hollywood that didn’t rely on cliches, stereotyping or violence seemed like an impossible task.
Now, as queer people are gradually being folded into mainstream society and we are seeing more queer storylines and characters than ever before, we began to wonder — what would some of Hollywood’s most beloved films look like with a queer twist?
As a result, Kriti Kaur, who drew the illustrations, reimagined eight films by turning iconic cinema opposite-sex couples into queer couples. These striking images raise the question: What would all of our favorite Hollywood references mean to our culture as a whole if queer people had been as present as non-queer couples in film and television?
1. “Casablanca”
2. “Clueless”
Kriti Kaur, who drew the illustrations, came up with the idea for these images after thinking about a way to portray the universal nature of love, no matter what one’s sexual orientation or gender identity may be. She told HuffPost Gay Voices, “I came up with this when I was trying to brainstorm ideas about portraying the concept of love and how it stays the same regardless of people’s gender identities. And I do think that when people think of love, they look back to these famous films that showcase how powerful and amazing it can be. Recreating those moments with LGBT couples just made sense!”
Check out the rest of the images below.
3. “Dirty Dancing”
4. “Grease”
5. “Love Actually”
6. “Pretty Woman”
7. “Titanic”
8. “It’s A Wonderful Life”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Firefighter could get fired for saying gay kid in viral photo should be ‘cured’
Firefighter could get fired for saying gay kid in viral photo should be ‘cured’
A firefighter could get fired for homophobic comments he made about the 13-year-old crying gay kid whose photo went viral.
Guy Estergall, who has worked as a fireman for 26 years, saw the Humans of New York photo on his Facebook like much of the rest of the world last week.
The young boy in the photo said: ‘I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about why my future will be and that people won’t like me’.
And while many of the 60,000 comments were supportive, including Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres, one was not.
“I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about what my future will be and that people won’t like me.”
Posted by Humans of New York on Friday, 3 July 2015
‘The kid needs psychiatric help, he’s delusional,’ wrote Estergall. ‘We need to find a cure for his kid!’
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports how he got into a heated discussion on the Facebook page, claiming the ‘overwhelming majority’ of pedophiles are gay.
‘You’re mentally ill just like the kid and the rest of the homosexuals and their supporters,’ he said.
The Cleveland Fire Department is now investigating Estergall’s comments to see if they violated their social media policy. A spokesperson said those types of statements are ‘unacceptable’. The investigation will see whether Estergall’s role as a public servant is affected by his views.
Estergall has defended his comments, saying his ‘opinion’ that all LGBTI people have mental disabilities does not affect his work.
‘Do you think I go into a fire and say, “excuse me, what’s your sexual orientation? Seriously?” he said. ‘I couldn’t care less about someone’s sexual orientation. It means about as much to me as someone’s eye color or whether they have five fingers on their left hand. It means the same to me when I’m at work.’
He added: ‘Right or wrong is irrelevant. It’s an opinion that differs from what’s popular at the moment and people are trying to take my livelihood from me.’
Estergall has not been formally reprimanded and continues to carry out his regular duties.
The post Firefighter could get fired for saying gay kid in viral photo should be ‘cured’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
Congress Members Call for Release of LGBTQ Immigrants
Congress Members Call for Release of LGBTQ Immigrants
In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued guidance on the detention of transgender non-citizens.
HRC.org
Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS
Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS
In a new interview with Jonathan Groff posted today on FourTwoNine, author Kevin Sessums talked with the actor about his love life, that time Madonna texted during his hot new show Hamilton, the cancellation of HBO’s Looking, and how coming out has impacted his career.
Of the perils of dating while in the closet, Groff remarks that he and his former boyfriend (who was also closeted) “were living in a double closet.” After coming out he dated actor Gavin Creel. Creel took him to the march on Washington and his love life “became more public.”
Groff then dated actor Zachary Quinto and told Sessums that dating actors isn’t necessarily easier than dating civilians:
“I feel like in dating actors the nice thing about it is they understand the schedules involved or having to leave for three months to shoot something and all of that. But when I was dating Gavin and dating Zach, it was more about the people they were instead of the actors they were, which is the same about the people who aren’t actors that I’ve dated. It’s about them as people and not about any careers or jobs they have.”
On how coming out has impacted his career, Groff says:
“When I came out, I understood that maybe I wouldn’t be the male romantic lead in a Nicholas Sparks movie. And I’m okay with that. I love theater. I came to New York to be a theater actor. There are a lot of out gay theater actors. When I came out, I made peace with the fact that maybe I wouldn’t be a huge movie star or a huge TV star. But I’d rather be a working actor and not hiding anything in my personal life. Weirdly, after I came out, I began to get a lot more film and television work. That’s all a way of saying that the reason I don’t mind talking about it over and over is because that is the way acceptance happens, and that’s the way you break down those walls. It’s what Harvey Milk said about coming out to all your friends. It’s important. And the more we talk about it, then the less we’ll finally have to talk about it. And for me personally, it feels liberating. I enjoy talking about it because I felt I couldn’t talk about it for so long.”
On his family’s reaction to him coming out:
“They were shocked when I told them. It took them a while. They just couldn’t understand it. They didn’t shun me or anything like that. They’ve met my boyfriends. I took one of my boyfriends home for Christmas a couple of years ago, and they bought him a present. My dad did tell me that he started to feel really bad because he used to make fun of guys in high school for being sissies, and now he has a son who’s gay.”
As for the cancellation of HBO’s Looking, which will wrap with a TV movie meant to tie up loose ends, Groff told Sessums,
For me, the sadness was more based on our having found our stride in the second season and expanded our world. There were so many more stories to tell. San Francisco, where the series was set, is full of so many stories because it is so diverse and fascinating, and there were so many places yet to go.
And what about that time Madonna came to see his new play Hamilton and was texting through the performance? Sessums asks, “Were you disappointed the night Madonna was there but was barred from coming back afterward by [Hamilton scribe] Lin-Manuel [Miranda]?
No. Because that bitch was on her phone. You couldn’t miss it from the stage. It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly lit by the light of her iPad through three-quarters of the show. What was funny about it was that she was there that Saturday night, but at that Saturday matinee Michelle Obama was there. We were collecting for Broadway Cares after the show, and Mrs. Obama stayed in the audience while the Broadway Cares speech happened, and Lin called her out and the audience applauded for her. Then she came backstage and hugged every crew member—the wig girl, all the costume people, every cast member. She said to us—and this is a direct quote—“This is the greatest piece of art I’ve ever seen.”
You can read the full interview with Groff, complete with more pictures of the actor looking hunky HERE.
(Photo credit: Damon Baker)
The post Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS
Awareness Ribbon Angel (design by Michelle Fung)
Kenyan gay couple evicted, told by landlord to ‘wait for your Obama’
Kenyan gay couple evicted, told by landlord to ‘wait for your Obama’
A gay couple in Kenya have been made homeless over the visit to the country by US President Barack Obama.
Peter, 26 and John, 29, who we will not give their last names to protect their identities, were evicted by their landlord as the surrounding debate and anger over LGBTI rights heightens.
They were living in an apartment estate in Kabete, a county on the outskirts of Nairobi for the last two years.
The landlord, and some of the neighbors, had suspected they were a gay couple. They had told them they were friends living together as a way of saving money.
But with the media and lawmakers claiming that Obama is coming to Kenya in order to ‘promote same-sex marriage’, the epitome of the ‘evil Western values’ being imposed on Africa, Peter and John were the ones to suffer.
On Friday (3 July), the landlord evicted the couple and told them to ‘go wait for your Obama’.
This meant that one of them was forced to go home to live with their homophobic parents while the other was forced to go to poverty-stricken accommodation until he gets back on his feet.
Speaking to Gay Star News, Kenyan LGBTI rights activist Denis Nzioka said: ‘This is the real world of living in a homophobic society. The anti-LGBT crusade is still very much here.
‘There have been more beatings, evictions and attacks when public discourse focuses on the community. It gets heightened, and it will only increase momentum as Obama’s visit gets closer.’
Lawmakers have threatened to tell Obama to ‘shut up and go home’ if he mentions the ‘gay agenda’, and the Kikuyu Council of Elders has said they will throw ‘rotten eggs’ at the president.
When questioned about what Obama will speak about during his visit, White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said he was confident the president will ‘make clear that the protection of basic fundamental human rights in Kenya is also a priority and consistent that we hold dear here in the United States of America’.
‘Obama is not coming here to propose same-sex marriage,’ Nzioka added to GSN. ‘From his White House statement, I expect he’ll speak on broader issues of human rights and in that might come respect for sexual orientation. How he frames that is Obama’s job. He won’t promote same-sex marriage, I’m sure.
‘If he does get very specific about LGBTI human rights issues, people would be very angry that he’s coming here to promote gays. They’ll say they need US aid, not gays.
‘If he mentions it, it is good to speak about LGBTI human rights issues. But if he doesn’t mention it at all, then the haters will have egg on their face. We will have to see what happens next.
‘Whatever happens, I hope there is no risk to the lives of LGBTI Kenyans by adding fuel to the fire.’
The post Kenyan gay couple evicted, told by landlord to ‘wait for your Obama’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-kenyans-evicted-wait-for-your-obama/
PHOTOS: Anything Glows At This Seedy Glow-In-The-Dark Underwear Party
PHOTOS: Anything Glows At This Seedy Glow-In-The-Dark Underwear Party
Bullet Bar, the hottest leather bar in North Hollywood, recently hosted Glow Me, a glow-in-the-dark underwear party. Complete with black lights, florescent body paint, and UV reflective clothing, tatted-up leather daddies and their doting pups stripped down and competed for grab bags that included Spunk lube and Andrew Christian underwear. The next Glow Me party will happen on July 10.
Scroll down to see a few photos from Glow Me, and check out the complete gallery over at GayCities…
Photos by: Matthew Mullins, Motorboot Photography
Graham Gremore
Orgullo
Number Crunch: Transgender
Number Crunch: Transgender
The transgender experience is neither a modern nor Western invention. From mythology to legal acknowledgement to military and political service, trans is a global phenomenon.
Advocate.com Editors
www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2015/07/08/number-crunch-transgender
