Young Kennedy Gets Arrested After Standing Up for Gay Friend
Conor Kennedy wouldn’t let men at a nightclub call his friend a homophobic slur.
www.advocate.com/crime/2016/12/30/young-kennedy-gets-arrested-after-standing-gay-friend
Daily Archives: December 30, 2016
Hit the slopes with these 7 top winter getaways
Hit the slopes with these 7 top winter getaways
San Diego Gay Man Who Sued Over Public Nudity Arrest Found Dead
San Diego Gay Man Who Sued Over Public Nudity Arrest Found Dead
Will Walters, who recently lost his case against the city, apparently took his own life.
www.advocate.com/2016/12/30/san-diego-gay-man-who-sued-over-public-nudity-arrest-found-dead
Mormon Tabernacle Choir member quits to avoid Trump inauguration
Mormon Tabernacle Choir member quits to avoid Trump inauguration
A Mormon singer is offering some harsh words for Donald Trump. Her name’s Jan Chamberlin, and she a heroine — and more qualified to be president than the guy taking over in just two and a half weeks.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the only groups that has agreed to participate in Donald’s inauguration, and Jan said that the feels “betrayed” by the decision. “I submit my resignation,” she wrote to the choir. “looking from the outside in, it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and [fascism] by singing for this man,” she added.
For their part, the choir says the performance is voluntary. But given how comfortable the Mormon church has shown itself to be with regressive, cruel politics, it’s no surprise that their members are all too eager to raise their voices in song for Donald.
But not Jan. “I could never look myself in the mirror again with self respect,” she wrote. “I only know I could never ‘throw roses to Hitler.’ And I certainly could never sing for him.”
It’s a similar reaction to that of the Rockettes, who were pressured by their management to perform against their will for Trump before the organization backpedaled a bit. And it’s also following high-profile refusals from other prominent entertainers to set foot anywhere near the inauguration. So far, Donald has a reality show loser, some Mormons and whatever Rockettes were willing to give up their principles, and maybe the Beach Boys. Sounds like a fun party.
Gay dad Neil Patrick Harris caught abusing children on camera! (Don’t worry, it’s for a film.)
Gay dad Neil Patrick Harris caught abusing children on camera! (Don’t worry, it’s for a film.)
One of the highlights of this week’s What To Watch – our biweekly guide to LGBT-interest movies, DVDs, VOD/TV/and streaming shows worth catching – sees gay dad Neil Patrick Harris play the abusive child-terrorizing Count Olaf in Netflix’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events (above).
For that and much more, scroll down!
In Movie Theaters
(Playing Jan 6-12 at Lammle Royal, Los Angeles)
Following a succession of popular LGBT short films (Barbie Boy, Last Call) writer/director Nick Corporon makes his feature debut with this award-winning road trip movie. When a businessman (Desperate Housewives‘ Tuc Watkins)
Will also be released on DVD and VOD January 10th.
On DVD/VOD
($32.99 Blu-ray, $27.99 DVD; Strand)
($39.99 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; 20th Century Fox)
($39.98 DVD; Fox)
On Streaming/Cable/TV
(NBC)
(Netflix)
Coming available January 6th,
Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(All episodes live on Friday January 13th; Netflix)
ALSO OUT:
His Girl Friday (Criterion)
Blair Witch
Denial
The Accountant
Deepwater Horizon
Girls: The Complete Fifth Season
Homeland: Season Five
Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur
Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur
Over the past few weeks, while most of us have been easing into the new culture war–contemplating how, where, and when we may get to face off with the new alt-right flavor of white supremacy, our friend down the block, here in Provincetown, Rebecca Orchant, launched a new t-shirt line.
She also poked the trolls, specifically, it seems, newly signed Simon & Schuster “author” and Gays-for-Trump party-thrower, homocon troll Milo Yiannopoulos who really got upset about her modest Etsy store, immodest proposal, and HuffPost blog. HIs post inadvertently helped get her message to the masses and sell truckloads of shirts.
Orchant made time to answer some of our questions…
Q: So what happened, Rebecca?
What happened was that we all spent 2016 reckoning with the fact that toxic masculinity, bullheaded (and barely even coded) misogyny, and the seemingly endless coddling of rape culture were everywhere. It felt like articulate, powerful women were standing up and calling it out more than ever before, which made me hopeful. And then, at the end of it, we voted the physical manifestation of all of those challenges into the White House.
My husband Sean and I were gutted and enraged, and we just wanted to start pitching in to causes we believe in immediately. We hoped that by printing t-shirts with a catchy and aggressive statement, we’d be able to make a bigger donation to Planned Parenthood than we’d be able to afford on our own. We wanted to stand up for women, queer folk, people of color and anyone who felt marginalized by the seething discomfort this election season produced, and we wanted to freak patriarchal dickheads the fuck out. We wanted to use the f-word a lot. Thus, Don’t Fuck the Patriarchy was born.
Q: Who is actually buying — what kind of people?
We expected to sell this mostly to women, since it largely started to support them and a cause that provides essential healthcare to millions of people every year. Those women are buying, and representing hard (#dontfuckthepatriarchy on Instagram is a pretty beautiful cross-section of gorgeous creatures), but we’ve been delighted to find that men are buying the shit out of these t-shirts!
He [milo] turned … a small-town bake sale into a thing that people are actively sharing and discussing …across the country.
Gay, straight, lesbian, trans, poly, curious, bisexual, pansexual — this message is delightfully applicable to all of us. Because really, when we say “Don’t Fuck the Patriarchy,” we are saying no to fucking people who profit off of your disenfranchisement. We’re saying we should fuck in line with our values and not reward wrongheaded assholes with our beautiful bodies.
Q: Why did Milo pick you and your project?
There are four things that enrage Yiannopoulos about this project:
- It speaks directly to a fear that all members of the old world patriarchy have: that the people they have been trying to disenfranchise and marginalize for years will notice, and do something about it. (Read: people might stop fucking them.)
- That it has nothing to do with him. (Except that people might stop fucking him.)
- That I am a woman with a voice and a platform to use it and that I’m using it to talk about sex. (And that it doesn’t matter to me whether he or his minions think I am fuckable.)
- (And probably most importantly to him,) Huffpost Queer Voices let me write about it.
Q: What’s happened since then?
He turned what was essentially a small-town bake sale into a thing that people are actively sharing and discussing with their friends across the country. We’re still a pretty small operation, but after his unprovoked trolling our sales tripled! I feel like we should send him a shirt to thank him.
Orchant with some of the orders courtesy of her would-be alt-right detractors.
Q: What’s next?
We’d love to sell out of the first run of these, and then tackle a project to raise money for the ACLU and the SPLC — they have their work cut out for them.
Q: You live in a community that voted less than 10% for Trump, that has perhaps the densest population for openly lgbt persons and has been known as a bohemian artist enclave longer than anywhere else. How is it up there in Utopia, serving customers who respect work and food, working and playing and existing in what must be a dynamic, accepting, non-triggering, peaceful, respectful, loving, creative free community in the world?
There’s been a lot of talk about “the bubble” since the election. And you’re goddamned right I live in the bubble! I moved to the bubble on purpose! Living in Provincetown and owning a business here allows us to employ, befriend and engage with mostly queer, mostly open-minded, mostly wonderful people at a rate I’ve never experienced anywhere else.
But that’s not to say we’re immune to the darkness, even up here in LGBTQ wonderland! Thanksgiving weekend some guy called two of my friends faggots in a bar! In Provincetown! I just think that if the assholes are going to feel emboldened to say what they think, we have to respond in kind. And I for one, am going to say “fuck” A LOT.
Q: Seriously, is misogyny stronger than racism?
I’ve never found it to be useful to compare a struggle to a struggle — both of those prejudices are insidious and deeply ingrained. I do think we’ve gotten a lot better at catching and calling out coded racism than we have at misogyny. It feels like a great time for marginalized people to rally around and help other marginalized people — which isn’t their job. It’s up to those of us with any privilege to use every ounce of it to help. I’m a white, Jewish girl who lives in New England. I don’t have to personally experience racism — but I sure as shit have experienced misogyny and I know how much that hurts.
Maybe we have to play by their rules to actually start winning again.
I have (not-surprisingly) gotten some pushback from some more traditional feminists — their argument being that this form of activism, “sex-as-currency” as some of them called it, further objectifies womens’ bodies. I understand that reaction to a point, but I do think that pre-supposes that sex is something women tolerate rather than pursue, which feels an awful lot like internalized misogyny to me.
And look, the people we are up against don’t give a shit about our agency, our articulation or our intersectionality — so I purposefully made this loud, resolute, catchy and indelicate. Maybe we have to play by their rules to actually start winning again.
Q: Where do you recommend wearing (and not wearing) your t-shirt?
I basically emerged from the womb as a foul-mouthed provocateur (I think my mother will back me up on this), so I suggest holiday dinners, for starters. It might make your brother/uncle/grandpa uncomfortable, but it might also make your sister/niece/granddaughter feel more comfortable standing up for herself.
Q: What’s a good litmus test for a man to wear it?
Does he have a torso and believe in human rights? Wear it!
————-
Rebecca Orchant is a writer and co-owner of Pop+Dutch in Provincetown, MA. Orchant is a former Editor at The Huffington Post. She still occasionally gets to do things that make people on the internet angry. Again, buy your shirt now. And if reading about Milo Yiannopoulos has moved you, feel free to donate here.
Daily Resist is a nascent Towleroad-initiated project, in collaboration with coalition journalists and activists, to build an essential stand-alone service that inspires, explains, and involves you in the resistance.
The post Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur appeared first on Towleroad.
Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur
Sawyer DeVuyst Reclaims How Transgender Men Are Seen (Photos)
Sawyer DeVuyst Reclaims How Transgender Men Are Seen (Photos)
www.advocate.com/photography/2016/12/30/sawyer-devuyst-reclaims-how-transgender-men-are-seen-photos
One of the Kennedys was arrested for defending gay friend in bar brawl
One of the Kennedys was arrested for defending gay friend in bar brawl
After reportedly defending a gay friend who was being harassed in a bar, one of the Kennedys has found himself in legal hot water.
Conor Kennedy, 22, grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, was arrested shortly after the scuffle, which took place at the Bootsy Bellows nightclub in Aspen, Colorado.
The Aspen Times reports that the brawl began when a group of men began harassing Kennedy’s gay friend with antigay slurs.
According to reports, Kennedy asked the men to apologize, and that’s when things got physical.
Related: Which Of Taylor Swift’s Previous Boyfriends Are Actually Gay?
The Harvard rugby player was subsequently arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, and his father Robert F. Kennedy told the Aspen Times that he was proud of his son for sticking up for his friend:
Conor has always reacted against bullying. I’m happy he stood up for his friend.
I’m very sorry it turned into a police incident, [Conor’s] not liking the attention.”
Kennedy’s representatives later issued another statement:
Multiple witnesses to the incident have reported that two men assaulted Conor Kennedy after he rebuked them for directing a homophobic slur and threats to his close friend.
They also report that Mr. Kennedy was cooperative, compliant and respectful toward the police from the moment they arrived on the scene.
Mr. Kennedy looks forward to a full airing of the incident.”
Police are reportedly “following up” on the allegations that homophobia started the brawl.
Celine Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli
Celine Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli
Celine Dion became a part owner of Schwartz’s of Montreal in 2012. Credit: Courtesy of Schwartz’s photo gallery
On a chilly Sunday morning in Montreal, Boulevard Saint-Laurent is all but deserted — an unusual status for the strip of sidewalk outside Schwartz’s.
“I come by here and there’s always a line,” says a native Montrealer to Gene Magee, a first-timer from Florida.
“I love to eat and I love to eat local and I was told by a friend from Montreal that Schwartz is the way to go,” Magee says.
A plateful of Schwartz’s smoked meat. Credit: Alina Simone
While he waits, Magee learns something else about Schwartz’s. That Celine Dion is one of the owners here.
So how did the French-Canadian pop diva become the custodian of Montreal’s premier Jewish culinary institution? That’s the question I’ve come to ask Frank Silva, Schwartz’s general manager, who was brought into the business by his father back in 1982.
Schwartz’s was founded in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish Romanian immigrant who started off as a delivery guy for other local delis. Silva says one day Schwartz realized “what he was delivering was inferior to what he knew from back home. So he figured he could do something better.”
Unfortunately, the Depression was just getting under way. Schwartz had to do whatever he could to stay in business, which meant making his Jewish deli a lot less Jewish.
“He started saying, forget about being kosher, we’ve got to start to make some money,” Silva says. He adds that they’re no longer certified kosher, but they keep it “kosher style.”
On the wall at Schwartz’s of Montreal. Credit: Alina Simone
Schwartz was the first and last owner to work behind the counter at the deli. After his death, ownership passed to a partner, and then on to another one and another one, until four years ago when late restaurateur Paul Nakis heard Schwartz’s was for sale. That’s when Celine Dion came into the picture.
“Mr. Nackis thought that was ideal, bringing Celine Dion to an institution in Montreal. She’s part of Montreal, part of Quebec and Canada, so [it] only made sense,” Silva says.
Another reason it made sense? Back in the early ’90s, Celine Dion was one of the original founders of Quebec’s largest smoked meat outfit, the Nichols diner chain. Maybe this whole singing thing was just a way to fund her true passion for brisket? Still, despite her smokehouse bonafides, you have to wonder: Did any of the old-school Jewish customers feel a tinge having a Catholic pop star part owner of this important part of their heritage?
Silva says they did at first, but they realized it’s the staff, not the owners, that make the place. “We run the show and as long as the line is around the block, they let us do our jobs. So nothing’s changed,” he says.
Maybe, but an era is ending for many Jewish delis in North America. Two classic examples: Billy’s and Solley’s closed in Los Angeles last year, and the Carnegie Deli in New York closes its door on December 31.
“Even in Montreal, many have closed,” says Silva. “To have a great deli, it takes time. It takes 10 days to marinate our meat. It’s a big production,” he adds. Not that many other places are willing to do it.
Still, not every famous Montrealer is a fan of the old ways. A couple of years ago, Huffington Post Canada revealed that Justin Trudeau, now Canada’s prime minister, advised visitors to forgo Schwartz’s in favor of the meat across the street at Main Deli.
“If some people prefer that, that’s fine,” says Silva. “Different tastes for different folks. But what he has across the street he can have at any other deli across the city because it’s just generic. … But if he likes that, that’s OK.”
It’s pretty much the same view Frank holds of vegetarians like me: Fine, if you prefer leading a sad, stilted life. However: “We have cole slaw. It’s phenomenal,” Silva says.
Or a pickle.
And the bread’s made fresh daily.
When I joke that I might just order a bread sandwich without the meat, he says, “You wouldn’t be the first.”
This article first appeared on PRI The World.
The post Celine Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli appeared first on Towleroad.
Celine Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli
What I learned from Adam Saleh’s fraudulent plane antics
What I learned from Adam Saleh’s fraudulent plane antics
The video is dramatic and infuriating. A young Arab man is seen speaking frantically to the camera as he is being asked to leave a plane. In the video, he explains he was simply talking to his mother on his phone, and his use of Arabic upset other passengers so much he was taken off the flight.
The incident dovetails perfectly with what is enraging every responsible social activist in this country right now: the degradation of Arabs and every other racial, ethnic, and sexual minority one could name.
Except YouTube star Adam Saleh is a tainted messenger, known for creating viral pranks that include a list of videos on airplanes that have been presented as the real thing. He posted a video purportedly showing himself being smuggled on a flight inside a suitcase, until it was exposed as a fraud. Of greater concern was his video post showing him being racially profiled by a cop, that is, until it too was exposed as fraudulent and he amended his video description to say it was a “dramatic reenactment.”
There’s a word for eliciting bad behavior from others by manufacturing a false scenario: entrapment. And some of those who would oppose this strategy on the part of law enforcement, for instance, have no problem with Saleh’s contrived incident. It’s a curious disconnect.
But wait, the reaction of the passengers during Saleh’s interrupted flight plans was authentic, and that makes this all okay, or at least that’s the argument from well-meaning people who are clinging to Saleh’s documentation of onboard racism. But with racism being exposed organically – vicious outbursts have been filmed by bystanders everywhere from fast food joints to checkout lines — do we really need Saleh’s cynical set pieces? This isn’t social activism. It’s self-promotion to increase his fan base of YouTube followers. And I believe we now refer to this sport of thing as #FakeNews.
Whatever Saleh’s intention may have been, he has poisoned the well. Interestingly, Saleh doesn’t include in his video whatever precipitated his removal from the plane, and Delta’s own initial interviews of those onboard suggests Saleh was being disruptive prior to the events in the video. At least one passenger now disputes he was ever speaking Arabic on the phone at all. Several more passengers have since come forward to dispute Saleh’s story.
Something here just isn’t right. It could have an effect on the integrity of our social conscience, and it needs to be called out.
Saleh is the court jester of our Trump anxiety, gleefully racking up YouTube views under the cloak of our righteous offense. We can’t look past the troubling, apathetic faces of the Delta passengers long enough to see we have been played.
Meanwhile, the clicks to Saleh’s infuriating video aboard the Delta airlines flight keep right on climbing. Whatever your reaction to this latest viral outrage may be, one thing is clear. Adam Saleh’s exploitation of our deserved indignation has been really good for business. His, anyway.
If we accept this Theater of Indignation, then maybe I have been going about decades of exposing HIV stigma all wrong. Perhaps I should march down to WalMart and begin shouting “I AM HIV POSITIVE!” as loudly as possible. Once I get the attention of my fellow shoppers or, if I’m lucky, the wrath of some ignorant dupe, all I have to do is turn on the camera and document their disdain for me. If their reactions are “real,” then I am absolved of my tactics, right?
Besides, it could make me a YouTube star and make me famous as a humble, courageous victim exposing HIV stigma for all to see.
Nice work if you can get it.
Mark S. King, founder of My Fabulous Disease, is Queerty’s HIV/AIDS writer.