‘The Little Mermaid’, Cinco de Mayo, ‘Feuds’, Paul Ryan, Channing Tatum, Russia: NEWS

‘The Little Mermaid’, Cinco de Mayo, ‘Feuds’, Paul Ryan, Channing Tatum, Russia: NEWS

LATE NIGHT. Tituss Burgess and John Stamos sing “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid. 

TELEVISION. Ryan Murphy launches new anthology series Feuds, the first installment of which will chronicle the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Jessica Lange will play Crawford and Susan Sarandon will play Davis.

PRINCE. The singer reportedly had Percocet in his system at the time of his death. 

CINCO DE MAYO. Donald Trump ‘celebrates’ the holiday as only he can.

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2016

YOU DIDN’T BUILD THAT. Woman who built Trump Tower is voting for Hillary. 

GOP. Paul Ryan says he can’t support Donald Trump–yet.

Paul Ryan on Donald Trump: Conservatives want to know if he “shares our values” t.co/xzLaxvkTPe t.co/pf2eovFFvz

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 5, 2016

And Trump responds:

Trump responds to Ryan: “I’m not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda. Perhaps in the future we can work together” pic.twitter.com/hMScQMauSr

— Matt Viser (@mviser) May 5, 2016

LOVE IS LOVE. Sarah Paulson opens up: “I believe that everyone should be allowed to speak their truth and just say what they want to say and show the world who they are…You should be able to love whomever you f—– well please.”

PONY. Channing Tatum is turning Magic Mike into a live Las Vegas show.

TBT. Power Rangers reboot debuts the Mighty Morphin gang’s new suits.

.@PowerRangers exclusive: Here’s your first look at the gang’s new suits: t.co/E4Oj9MALUg pic.twitter.com/piqdyzAW22

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 5, 2016

RUSSIA. LGBT rights activists detained in May Day protests: “A video shows the advocates carrying a rainbow flag and chanting as they marched through a square. Several police officers and journalists then surrounded them…A video shows police officers ripping rainbow flags from the activists as they marched. A series of scuffles broke out before the authorities forcibly removed them from a park.”

THURSDAY THIRST. Presented by chanthansan.

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This Beautiful Video of Moms and Their Transgender Kids Needs to Be Seen Everywhere: WATCH

This Beautiful Video of Moms and Their Transgender Kids Needs to Be Seen Everywhere: WATCH

Moms transgender kids

The Trans United Fund has put out a video of moms and their transgender kids that will be devastating to anti-LGBT fearmongers everywhere.

The group notes that “Politicians in 20 states have attempted to advance over 50 pieces of legislation attacking transgender people. These policies are a real danger to transgender people and hurt the most vulnerable, including America’s transgender children.”

The video, called “Meet My Child” features three moms talking about the process they went through when their children indicated to them that they’re transgender, and shames fearmongers like Ted Cruz who put these kids at risk with their harmful rhetoric.

Happy Mother’s Day to these moms. You’re incredible.

Watch:

Trans United Fund adds: “This spot was directed by Sundance award-winning filmmaker Melissa Regan, whose 2002 documentary ‘No Dumb Questions’ broke new ground in creating a safe space for all of us to embrace our differences, laugh at what makes us uncomfortable, and ask our own ‘dumb questions’ about transgender experiences.”

Great job.

The post This Beautiful Video of Moms and Their Transgender Kids Needs to Be Seen Everywhere: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.



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SIGN THE PETITION: Call on TN legislators to repeal HB 1840

SIGN THE PETITION: Call on TN legislators to repeal HB 1840

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam recently signed a dangerous bill that gives people a license to discriminate. House Bill 1840, as it’s known, allows counselors and therapists to refuse critical mental health services to LGBT people simply because of who they are.

In response, GLAAD has launched a petition that’s garnered thousands of signatures, urging Tennessee legislators repeal this law immediately.

“Denying anyone vital mental health services simply because they’re LGBT isn’t just outrageous, it’s outright dangerous,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “What’s clear, however, is that legislative attacks that target LGBT people are bad for business. Sadly, the bedrock of Tennessee’s economy — the record companies of Nashville — remained silent throughout the fight to pass this discriminatory law. It’s time that they join the growing chorus of Americans demanding an end to discrimination.”

As we’ve seen in North Carolina and Mississippi, there is no doubt that this law will jeopardize the state’s economy and the wellbeing of LGBT people. GLAAD is calling on Governor Haslam and the Tennessee legislature to repeal this bill immediately.

GLAAD was in Nashville earlier this month with the Tennessee Equality Project, actor and musician Chris Carmack, singer-songwriter and producer Desmond Child, and Tennessee-based LGBT advocates to urge the governor to veto both the counseling bill, as well as this anti-transgender bill that was ultimately defeated in the legislature.

To make your voice heard and stand in support of Tennessee’s LGBT community, sign and share GLAAD’s petition.

May 5, 2016

www.glaad.org/blog/sign-petition-call-tn-legislators-repeal-hb-1840

Meet 14K, The Godfather Of Black Gay L.A. Who Turned His Own Home Into A Lavish Nightclub

Meet 14K, The Godfather Of Black Gay L.A. Who Turned His Own Home Into A Lavish Nightclub

14K-gay-black-clubowner-los-angeles

After the last black-owned gay club in Los Angeles, Catch One, closed its doors for good, a man who goes by the name of 14K took it upon himself to create a place for the club’s displaced patrons to come together.

“With the club closing and having a place of my own, I like to come together socially with my friends and have a happy place with no drama, where we can eat, drink, [and] have fun,” 14K tells the blog Broadly.

Related: Guys Share The Biggest Hurdles They Face Being Gay And Black

14K turned his own home into a social club and community center catered towards gay black men, though people from all walks of life are welcome. The only stipulation: BYOB. And his goal: To give younger generations an outlet to have fun and be themselves, but also to be a positive role model.

“I try to teach them to get up, make something of themselves, go to school, get a job, get what you want out of life, and be honest with people. Don’t be taken with people.”

14K painted the walls bright yellow then brought in over-the-top decor, including fur rugs, a miniature Eiffel tower, extensive collection of clown statues, and even a fountain.

Related: Forgotten 1967 Documentary About A Black Gay Hustler Is Hilarious And Heartbreaking

“Over time, I designed the [interior of the house],” he explains. “The couches—those were not bought like that. I designed them and had my upholstery man come, told him exactly what I want, and he did it. [There are diamonds in the couch] and in the pillows. I don’t like going to someone’s house and having the same stuff they have. I like to be different.”

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Colton Haynes Opens Up Honestly About His Sexuality And His Health

Colton Haynes Opens Up Honestly About His Sexuality And His Health

Colton-Haynes

It’s felt as if Colton Hayne has long been gently, but intentionally teasing us with all the coy photos posted to his very entertaining Instagram account and with that controversial message last January in response to a note posted on Tumblr, referencing provocative photos taken at the start of his career, that read: “When I found out Colton Haynes had a secret gay past, I got so excited even though i know it makes absolutely no difference in my life.” The 27-year-old actor, who has appeared in Arrow, The Grinder and Teen Wolf, cryptically replied, “Was it a secret? Let’s all enjoy life & have no regrets.” Many people, OK, just about everyone, took that to mean that Haynes was going the Jim Parsons-route and acknowledging that he’s gay without making a big public to-do about it. Now, however, he’s setting the record straight, so to speak, with a very revealing interview with EW, in which he confirms that he is not a heterosexual and that he’s concerned about his mental health, as he suffers from anxiety and an ulcer.

Addressing the hubbub over Haynes’ sexual orientation earlier this year, EW writes:

“It was a complete shock. I wasn’t ready to be back in the headlines,” Haynes, who is in fact gay but has never publicly addressed his sexuality (and, like many others on his path, took advice early in his career to subdue it). “I should have made a comment or a statement, but I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything. I think in due time, everyone has to make those decisions when they’re ready, and I wasn’t yet. But I felt like I was letting people down by not coming forward with the rest of what I should have said.”

Related: Twelve Other Times Colton Haynes Has Been Absolutely Fabulous

“People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting,” he added to EW. “People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.”

The magazine also notes that Haynes took a brief break from his career due to concerns over his health:

“I asked to step away because I cared more about my mental and physical health than my career at the time,” the actor tells EW, opening up about his personal and professional life for the first time in quite some time. “I’ve had terminal anxiety my entire life. Physically ill, fainting. I’m 27 years old, and I have an ulcer. I had to step back.” Clinical anxiety and public pressure are a potent mix, but their effects may be worse for someone like Haynes – a gentle spirit in a threatening (or so he’s been told by many a casting director) build, someone who lost control of his own personal narrative somewhere along the way between Kansas and California.

Hang in there, sir. Things can only get better.

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Colton Haynes Confirms He’s Gay — Officially.

Colton Haynes Confirms He’s Gay — Officially.

colton haynes

Colton Haynes has once and for all quashed rumors about his sexuality, coming out as gay in a new interview in which he addresses that Tumblr post, and his struggle with anxiety. 

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Haynes says he never intended for his response to a question about his “secret gay past” to be a coming out.

EW writes:

But while social media has helped his career, it’s also gotten him into some trouble. Case in point: A Tumblr post in January sparked an Internet firestorm after a fan commented on Haynes’ “secret gay past,”regarding racy modeling photos Haynes took while underage. Without giving it much thought, Haynes offered a coy reply: “Was it a secret?” The comment was picked up by bloggers as his coming out – but it wasn’t. Not yet.

“It was a complete shock. I wasn’t ready to be back in the headlines,” says Haynes, who is in fact gay but has never publicly addressed his sexuality (and, like many others on his path, took advice early in his career to subdue it). “I should have made a comment or a statement, but I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything. I think in due time, everyone has to make those decisions when they’re ready, and I wasn’t yet. But I felt like I was letting people down by not coming forward with the rest of what I should have said.” The headlines about Haynes turned vitriolic in the absence of an announcement, but he was in no place to make one: He had checked into rehab for anxiety and would be frequently back in the hospital over the next three months.

“People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting,” he says gently. “People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.” The truth is, Haynes has been out for most of his life – in high school, to his family and friends, to his cast members, to his Hollywood bosses (like Arrow creator Greg Berlanti, now one of his closest mentors). But as a green transplant in Hollywood in 2006, he wasn’t any more immune to the town’s well-chronicled discomfort with LGBT identity.

We here at Towleroad have covered Colton Haynes extensively over the years. I personally wrote about Hayne’s Tumblr post and I did take it as a confirmation from him that he was “out.”

However, events following his post showed that he was not ready to own than moniker, which is his right. Each individuals is on their own path towards embracing and understanding their sexual identity and must do so at their own pace. However, in my eyes, Haynes’ response on Tumblr had one strong message: “Colton Haynes Confirms He’s Gay In Coy Tumblr Post.” Which is the headline that was used in that post; a headline I stand by.

Congratulations to Haynes for opening up and sharing his struggles. He will no doubt help others fighting to love themselves and own who they are.

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North Carolina Lawmakers Will Defy DOJ’s Monday Deadline to Repeal HB 2 – VIDEO

North Carolina Lawmakers Will Defy DOJ’s Monday Deadline to Repeal HB 2 – VIDEO

moore

Republican leaders in North Carolina’s legislature say that will defy an order from the federal government requiring that HB 2 be overturned by Monday.

As we reported yesterday, the Department of Justice wrote to North Carolina yesterday declaring that HB 2 violated the Civil Rights Act and Title IX. The DOJ warned that if North Carolina did not comply with its order by Monday, the state risks losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

Earlier on Thursday, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory expressed anger over the order and suggested he was ready and willing to defy the federal government (shocker). But now, the Republican Speaker of the State House has said flat out the order will be ignored.

The Charlotte Observer reports: 

“We will take no action by Monday,” [House Speaker Tim] Moore told reporters Thursday. “That deadline will come and go. We don’t ever want to lose any money, but we’re not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday’s date. That’s not how this works.”

Moore said state leaders are still trying to determine their next steps. “Right now we’re talking with our attorneys to see what our options are,” he said. “We’re going to move at the speed that we’re going to move at to look at what our options are.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest distanced Obama from the order in his press briefing Thursday afternoon. “These kinds of enforcement actions are made independent of any sort of political interference or direction from the White House,” Earnest said. “Those are decisions that are made entirely by attorneys at the Department of Justice.”

Democrats in the legislature said the Department of Justice order gives lawmakers plenty of time and should be addressed now.

“HB2 became law in less than 12 hours,” Rep. Cecil Brockman, a High Point Democrat, said in a tweet. “Five days should be more than enough time to decide how to clean up after it.”

In his angry objection to the DOJ getting involved, Moore, like many Republican lawmakers, demonstrated a lack of knowledge about how government actually works, all while protesting that he does in fact know how government works. The jokes write themselves. Said Moore:

“They [the federal government] can’t just – through an administrative action by the attorney general’s office – issue a decree that has the force and effect of law over this state,” he said. “That’s not how this works. What they would have to do is initiate litigation at that point.”

Senate leader Phil Berger said he doesn’t believe the DOJ has “the legal right” to block HB 2. According to The Charlotte Observer, “He says North Carolina residents should be frustrated’ by the order.”

Watch a press conference with Moore, below.

 

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