PHOTOS: Pride Persists in St. Charles, Mo.
www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/21/photos-pride-persists-st-charles-mo
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Donald Trump Backtracks on Orlando Gun Comments
Donald Trump Backtracks on Orlando Gun Comments
“When I said that if, within the Orlando club, you had some people with guns, I was obviously talking about additional guards or employees,” said Trump.
www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/21/donald-trump-backtracks-orlando-gun-comments
10 Practical Things You Can Do to Support Orlando
10 Practical Things You Can Do to Support Orlando
Your help is desperately needed.
www.advocate.com/crime/2016/6/21/10-practical-things-you-can-do-support-orlando
At the Charity Dunk Tank
At the Charity Dunk Tank
alliedeariephotography posted a photo:
Shadow of the City Festival
Stone Pony Summer Stage
Asbury Park, NJ
June 18, 2016
© 2016 Allie Dearie Photography
The Band
The Band
swong95765 posted a photo:
Posing for photos after their performance…
Finish area of the LGBT Parade , Portland 2016
Two Teenagers Accused Of Shooting At British Gay Bar
Two Teenagers Accused Of Shooting At British Gay Bar
In the wake of the Orlando massacre that killed 49 patrons of the gay nightclub Pulse, there have already been a handful of incidents in which copycats have evoked the crime or threatened to follow in shooter Omar Mateen’s footsteps. San Diego police are investigating a Craigslist ad promising an Orlando-inspired attack; a drunken patron promised to come back to Brooklyn bar Happy Fun Hideaway to “take his fifty, Orlando-style“; and an Atlanta man’s Twitter account vowed to turn two local bars into “the next Orlando.”
Now, police are investigating an incident at a British gay bar that was apparently “shot at” on Sunday night.
Related: “Angels” Protect Orlando Funeral Attendees From Westboro Baptist Church
According to Gay Star News, a road was closed earlier this week as police investigated the Limes bar in Canterbury, Kent. Social media lit up with witnesses and bar patrons claiming the windows of the Limes Lounge were “shot out” around 10pm on Sunday, although police have yet to confirm these reports.
According to KentOnline, Sally Smith of Kent Police said, “No injuries were reported and the investigation into the incident continues. A window was broken and the cause of the damage remains under investigation. No weapons were reported to have been seen.”
Related: Christian Pastor Hopes God “Finishes The Job” And Kills Orlando Survivors
An 18-year-old man and 17-year-old girl from Hythe were arrested in relation to the incident, and they’re currently released on bail.
Seminary Rocked By Gay Scandal Involving Seven Student Priests, Two Staffers, TONS Of Sex
Seminary Rocked By Gay Scandal Involving Seven Student Priests, Two Staffers, TONS Of Sex
Ruh-roh!
An enormous gay scandal is currently taking place at Ireland’s national seminary, St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, leaving the community in a tizzy and forcing the college’s president into an unplanned sabbatical.
According to a statement published on the college’s website, Monsignor Hugh Connolly “has advised the staff of his plans to take sabbatical leave for the academic year 2016-2017.” 2017 was already scheduled to be Connolly’s last term in office, raising suspicions over the timing of his alleged year-long vacation.
Related: Orgy-Loving Priest Outed For Keeping Secret Grindr Account
The announcement of Connolly’s sudden departure comes amidst rumors of an underground gay subculture happening in the seminary. According to The Irish Catholic, an anonymous source told the paper that “seven seminarians and two staff members” have been “involved in inappropriate behavior of a homosexual nature.”
Gasp!
Bishop Pat Buckley, an openly gay “rebel cleric” who was excommunicated from the church 18 years ago, told the press that the timing of Connolly’s firing, er, sabbatical is not a coincidence.
“This sabbatical comes as the Maynooth gay scandal rages,” he said. “Why not finish the last year of his term and then take the sabbatical at the natural juncture of leaving the presidency and going back to teach?”
Related: Catholic Priest Caught Using The Book Of Grindr To Spread His Gospel To Underage Boys
Buckley also claims the current gay scandal is nothing new. In a recent blog post, he wrote that the national seminary “has been in deep trouble for decades–mainly due to the homosexual subculture that exists in both places.”
Buckley has also been an outspoke voice against the hypocrisy of the church’s public teachings on homosexuality, considering what many of its clerics do behind closed chapel doors.
h/t: Irish Central
Writer Jack Qu’emi Explains the Meaning of ‘Latinx’
Writer Jack Qu’emi Explains the Meaning of ‘Latinx’
Jack Qu’emi is a writer and self-described “queer, non-binary femme,” who among other terms identifies as Afro-Latinx.
That’s Latinx. Not Latino. Not Latina.
The term (pronounced: la-teen-ex) is gaining traction in Spanish-speaking communities. But many are still asking, “What’s the meaning of the ‘x’?”
Qu’emi explains: “The x [in Latinx], is a way of rejecting the gendering of words to begin with, especially since Spanish is such a gendered language.”
Like the use of they/them/their pronouns in English (in place of the gendered pronouns he/him/his and she/her/hers), “Latinx” is an attempt in Spanish to include non-binary people, those who are neither male nor female.
Latinx is practically the only explicitly ungendered term that has gained traction outside of academic circles. The conversation in much of South America is about including both genders (only male and female), rather than all genders.
On their social media profile, Qu’emi reminds the casual follower to use gender-neutral pronouns and titles.
English-speaking grammar purists might cry out, “But they is plural! It cannot refer to just one person!” However, Merriam-Webster and the American Dialect Society have effectively ended any legitimate linguistic debate (although there are still doubters).
In Spanish, the debate is far from over.
“In Spanish, the masculinized version of words is considered as gender-neutral. I don’t think its appropriate to assign masculinity as neutral when it isn’t,” Qu’emi says.
Gender-neutral adaptations of language like Latinx, and before it Latin@, are often criticized as being academic and removed from everyday speech.
They can also take time for others to fully grasp. Qu’emi’s mother has had difficulty understanding their non-binary identity. Qu’emi remembers an early conversation the two had about it:
“So, are you a boy?”
“No.”
“Are you a girl?”
“No.”
“Then what!?”
Their mother’s confusion is understandable, tied up in a life’s worth of reinforced gender norms. However, she is making a real effort to embrace a new understanding of Qu’emi’s gender, using gender-neutral English terms such as “my little one” and “my child.”
Qu’emi has spoken and written extensively on the topic of gender outside the masculine/feminine binary. Their collegues jokingly call them “The Teacher” (“Maestra? No no no, Maestrx!”). While Qu’emi readily accepts this role, queer people are often forced into the role of educator for the straight world. But there are plenty of resources out there for people to educate themselves — the internet is full of well-written articles and interviews with queer people that explore the complexity of gender outside the binary.
Latinx is one attempt among many to break down the masculine/feminine binary in the Spanish language.
Qu’emi says it’s just the beginning of the linguistic revolution. “After all,” they say, “that’s just one word!”
Artemis Octavio contributed to this report.
This article first appeared on PRI’s The World.
The post Writer Jack Qu’emi Explains the Meaning of ‘Latinx’ appeared first on Towleroad.
NEW MUSIC: Mitski, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Let’s Eat Grandma
NEW MUSIC: Mitski, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Let’s Eat Grandma
This week in New Music: Compelling indie heartache from Mitski, a mostly successful change in direction for Red Hot Chili Peppers and a beguiling debut from English horror story teens Let’s Eat Grandma.
Mitski – Puberty 2
Who, you ask?
While not quite in the stellar circles of PJ Harvey and St Vincent, New York-based Mitski (above and right) could soon cross the line from fringe indie rock to as close to mainstream success as an artist this original can.
Puberty 2 is Mitski’s fourth album following on from 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek. Her first two albums Lush and the sublime Retired from Sad, New Career in Business were recorded while Mitski Miyawaki was studying at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music.
On opening track “Happy,” Mitski is in buoyant mood welcoming someone home for tea and sex but alas her heart is broken when the cad leaves her high and dry.
“Happy came to visit me, he brought cookies on the way.
I poured him tea and he told me ‘It’ll all be okay.’
I told him I’d do anything to have him stay with me,
So he laid me down and I felt happy, come inside of me, he laid me down.
I was in the bathroom, I didn’t hear him leave,
I locked the door behind him and I turned around to see
All the cookie wrappers and the empty cups of tea.
Well I sighed and mumbled to myself again, I have to clean
I sighed and mumbled to myself.”
The album continues in that same slightly uncomfortable mode, akin to the pain present on Harvey’s Rid of Me.
On the gorgeous “Once More To See You” she sings “If you would let me give you pinky promises kisses, then I wouldn’t have to scream your name atop of every roof in the city of my heart.” On “Fireworks” her mood hasn’t improved: “One morning this sadness will fossilize and I will forget how to cry.”
In the middle of the album comes single “Your Best American Girl” in which Mitski reaches a vague level of self acceptance.
“Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me
But I do, I finally do
And you’re an All-American boy
I guess I couldn’t help trying to be the best American girl
Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me
But I do, I think do”
Towards the end of the album, musically at least Mitski quiets down. The devastating closer “A Burning Hill” encapsulates her heartbreak.
“So today I will wear my white button-down
I can at least be neat
Walk out and be seen as clean
And I’ll go to work and I’ll go to sleep
And all of the littler things
I’ll love some littler things”
Often uncomfortable but never less than exhilarating listening.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway
Thirty years and eleven albums into their career, Red Hot Chili Peppers have gone for a change in direction, dumping the services of producer Rick Rubin in favor of Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and Radiohead collaborator Nigel Goodrich.
Defying critics, the Chili Peppers have been a huge, huge success with their brand of fuck you rock-funk-rap-punk shenanigans.
A band you generally love or hate, the Chili Peppers are often derided for their irony-free posturing. Burton and Goodrich add to a new freestyle writing process that results in an album as eclectic as ever and by far their best in years.
The lyrics are as daft as ever (“Take me to the river where we do a little storming / Hallelujah, I feel it warming”) and the album would have benefited by culling 3 of the 13 tracks. However, songs like “Feasting on the Flowers” and “Dreams of a Samurai” are a reminder of how good the band can be when they hit the Californication sweet spot.
Let’s Eat Grandma – I, Gemini
Firstly, please ignore the ridiculous band name.
Made up of two 17-year-olds from England, Let’s Eat Grandma describe their sound as “psychedelic sludge pop.” If you could pin it down so easily that would be wonderful. However – and I don’t say this lightly – I, Gemini is entirely unique. Possible because of their ridiculously young age, Let’s Eat Grandma are entirely without ties to any one formula or sound.
Opener “Deep Six Textbook” introduces the listener to a creepy sound that would work on the soundtrack to the Twin Peaks revival, especially given the scary-child-horror-film vocals. Following is “Eat Shiitake Mushrooms” which it is pointless to attempt to describe – bad rap, creepy vocals, tinkly-vague keyboards and bubblegum pop all in one.
On “Sax in the City” and “Chocolate Sludge Cake” there’s an element of Tricky trip-hop while “Chimpanzees In Canopies” is best described as horror folk (or something).
It’s frankly a mess but a compellingly bewitching one.
The post NEW MUSIC: Mitski, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Let’s Eat Grandma appeared first on Towleroad.
100 NEA Members Visit HRC to Honor Orlando Victims
100 NEA Members Visit HRC to Honor Orlando Victims
Post submitted by Mary Beth Maxwell, SVP of HRC’s Foundation
Last week we shared a note with coalition allies about the devastating act of violence in Orlando and transformation of our building here in Washington, memorializing the 49 LGBTQ people and allies — almost all Latinx. Yesterday, more than 100 members of the National Education Association (NEA)– which has worked closely with us and other LGBTQ advocates on behalf of their members and the students they serve — came to pay tribute.
Starting at dawn Friday morning HRC began hanging large-scale images of every victim in 49 windows of our building, looking out toward 17th St. Passersby have been invited to share on a remembrance board messages honoring the victims, and HRC is also handing out memorial programs with the photos, names and ages of the victims. All day and all weekend visitors stopped – in person, via phone and virtually.
Yesterday’s visit by 100 brothers and sisters from the NEA, including Executive Director John Stocks, who came in person to pay their respects to the 49 lost in Orlando was a special visit. What a powerful moment to see Vice President Becky Pringle and Secretary Treasurer Princess Moss lay a wreath at the Memorial.
We shared hugs and tears and a deepened resolve to fight together to say yes to love and no to hate. It was a message NEA President Lily Eskelsen García led with in a powerful blog post responding to the Orlando tragedy.
Thank you NEA. And thank you to all teachers — teachers all over this country who are on the front lines making safe spaces for all our young people regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Based on many many requests we have decided to keep the Memorial up at the HRC headquarters through next Sunday, the two-week anniversary of the tragic shooting at Pulse. All are welcome.
Photos Courtesy of Sewell Johnson/NEA
