Here’s One Dragtastic Way To Pitch In And Support Orlando Victims

It’s difficult to know what, if anything, can be done in the wake of a tragedy of Orlando’s magnitude. Add a filter to your Facebook profile pic? Share commentary to your News Feed? These gestures all too often feel empty; ineffectively preaching to the choir.

Like most of the country, graphic designer David Ayllon found himself caving in to such feelings of helplessness in the aftermath of the Pulse attack. He wanted to find a way to make a difference.

Related: If Only There Was Something We Could Do About Mass Shootings. Oh Wait, Sam Bee Gets It.

“After seeing the strength and resilience from within the queer and Latinx communities,” he writes on Facebook, “I knew I had to do something to support the victims and their families.”

Thus, Posters For Pulse was born. All proceeds from these limited edition prints — which are $15 apiece — will be donated directly to the official Pulse Victims Fund. They feature some of your favorite she-hilarious drag queens — Peaches Christ, Bob The Drag Queen, Pissi Myles, Ari Kiki — bedecked in sultry, noir-tinged ensembles and, well, just being irretrievably badass, basically.

Related: New Yorkers Gather Outside Stonewall Inn To Pay Respects To Orlando Victims

While $15 may sound like a paltry donation, it will add up quickly — and it’s certainly more useful than any hashtag campaign.

Purchase Posters For Pulse here, and check out the images below:

Ari Kiki

 

Bob The Drag Queen – “Neon” 

Bob the Drag Queen – “Noir”

Crimson Kitty

Betty Washburn

Dusty Ray Bottoms – Version 1

Dusty Ray Bottoms – Version 2

Iris Spectre

Iris Spectre – “Noir”

Jiggly Caliente

 

Judy Darling

Judy Darling

Peaches Christ – “Hands”

 

Peaches Christ – “Scream Queen”

Pissi Myles – “Popcorn”

Pissy Mules – “Pink Prom”

Mary Kona

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RuPaul is ‘Really Numb’ About the Orlando Shooting: WATCH

RuPaul stopped by Access Hollywood Wednesday to discuss the premiere of Skin Wars: Fresh Paint and spoke with Kit Hoover and guest co-host Bryan Safi about the Orlando attack.

RuPaul said he hasn’t even processed everything yet: “I’ve been really numb by this on so many different levels. Not only as an American, but as a human being, to see that we are still in that place.”

Three RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants were directly affected by the tragedy, so it felt personal: Kenya Michaels was performing at the club before it all happened, but she was able to get out; Roxxxy Andrews is a regular performer at the club, but she was in Tampa that night; however Jade Sotomayor’s cousin, 34-year-old Edward Sotomayor Jr., was unfortunately one of the 49 victims of the massacre.

“Every American who believes in what this country stands for is shaken to the core. And it really does have to stop. And like I said, a collective shift in our consciousness has to happen,” said RuPaul. And he explained that “it’s not just about gun control, it’s not just about gay people, it’s about our identity as Americans and that’s the challenge for us moving forward.”

When asked about the FDA’s ban on blood donation from gay man, RuPaul hopes that a horrible tragedy can result in progress:  “We are still a very primitive culture. Unfortunately, maybe occasions like this will advance us and push us forward.”

And he knows where to start: “I do know that love is the first step.”

Can I get an Amen up in here?

Check out the full video below:

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Police Investigate Craigslist Threat of Orlando-Style Attack on San Diego’s LGBT Community: WATCH

Police are investigating a threat posted to Craigslist of an Orlando-style attack against San Diego’s LGBT community, ABC 10 reports:

A 10News viewer saw the post in the men-seeking-men section of the Craigslist San Diego personal ads. He took a screenshot and sent it to 10News before the post was flagged and removed.

The post is titled “We need more Orlando’s (sic),” and it is accompanied by a photo of a hand firing a revolver with a bullet coming out of the barrel.

The post read: “Orlando was long overdue. Cleanse your community of the filth that gives decent gay men and women a bad name. Those people were walking diseases, bug chasers, and thank god for AIDS and 9-11 and now Orlando. San Diego you are next …”

10News sent the screenshot to the San Diego Police Department and the FBI.

SDPD Lt. Scott Wahl said the department will investigate the post.

Watch:

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AFA’s Bryan Fischer: Anderson Cooper Should Recuse Himself from Gay Stories – WATCH

Following Anderson Cooper’s excoriating interview with Florida attorney general Pam Bondi (right) regarding the Orlando massacre, hoary old bigot Bryan Fischer has said Cooper shouldn’t be allowed to cover any stories related to “the homosexual agenda.”

Bondi, a fierce opponent of LGBT rights, said on Sunday that “anyone who attacks our LGBT community…will be gone after to the fullest extent of the law.” In the interview, Anderson attacked the “sick irony” of Bondi offering support to the LGBT community in Orlando, arguing that she had “basically gone after gay people, said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people of Florida.”

RELATED: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Says She Fought Against Gay Marriage Because She Wanted ‘Uniformity’ – VIDEO

Yesterday, Bondi attacked Anderson’s line of questioning, saying that “it just wasn’t the time nor the place…because all it did was encourage anger and hate – and families who we’re trying to help to probably not trust my office and the 14 advocates we’ve brought in.”

Speaking on behalf of Bondi on his radio program yesterday, American Family Association mouthpiece Fischer said that “open, admitted homosexual” Anderson “ought to recuse himself from any story like this.”

Fischer added:

“He has no business trying to do journalism on an issue as fraught with emotion as the homosexual agenda. He’s disqualified from providing any kind of objective journalistic treatment of that topic.”

Last year, Fischer demanded that gay radio host and Fox News contributor Guy Benson be fired from his position with Townhall.com. He also said that going to a same-sex wedding would be like attending the “grand opening celebration” of a crack house.

Watch Fischer’s comments via Right Wing Watch and Anderson’s interview with Bondi below.

(Image via Wikipedia)

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Melissa Etheridge's 'Pulse' Is an Anthem for Our Sorrow

The legendary out singer initially wrote a song about Orlando to make herself less scared and angry. But putting it out into the world, “feels like holding someone’s hand.”

www.advocate.com/music/2016/6/16/melissa-etheridges-pulse-anthem-our-sorrow

This Gay Senate Candidate Is Campaigning for 'No Fly, No Buy'

Kentucky’s Jim Gray challenged incumbent Rand Paul to stop letting suspected terrorists buy guns in the U.S.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/16/gay-senate-candidate-campaigning-no-fly-no-buy

PHOTOS: Pull An All-Nighter With The Boys At Manchester’s Biggest After Hours Party

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15-Hour Senate Filibuster Ends After GOP Says It Will Allow Gun Control Votes: WATCH

A 15-hour filibuster launched by Senator Chris Murphy ended early Thursday after Senate Republicans agreed to allow votes on two gun measures in the wake of the tragic Orlando shooting over the weekend which took the lives of 49 people.

Politico reports:

Though senators had yet to formally strike a deal, the Senate was likely to vote on two Democratic-backed gun measures: a proposal from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) meant to bar those on federal terror watch lists from obtaining firearms, and a plan from Murphy and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) mandating background checks for sales at gun shows and over the internet. Republicans are expected to put forward two of their own proposals for votes.

I am proud to announce that after 14+ hours on the floor, we will have a vote on closing the terror gap & universal background checks

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 16, 2016

Murphy planned to speak with CBS This Morning about the filibuster.

15 hrs on the floor. 2 hrs of sleep. And I’m back on my (tired) feet, ready to keep pressing Congress to end its silence on gun violence.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 16, 2016

NBC News adds:

As Murphy wrapped up the filibuster in the early hours of Thursday, he told the story of Sandy Hook student Dylan Hockley and his teacher Anne Marie Murphy, who died trying to protect him.

“It doesn’t take courage to stand here on the floor of the U.S. Senate… It takes courage to look into the eye of a shooter and instead of running wrapping your arms around a 6-year-old boy and accepting death,” Murphy said. “If Ann-Marie Murphy could do that then ask yourself — what can you do to make sure that Orlando or Sandy Hook never, ever happens again.”

Here’s how it ended:

The Senate is expected to resume at 10 am.

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