Dear Abby steps in after nosy sons investigate parent’s same-sex love affair
It’s 2017 and Dear Abby is still somehow relevant.

www.queerty.com/dear-abby-nails-nosy-sons-investigate-parents-sex-love-affair-20170506?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Putin Supports Request to Investigate Torture Of Gay Men In Chechnya

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday appeared to support a request by Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova to form an investigative team to look into “the well-known information, or rumors” of torture against men “with a non-traditional sexual orientation” in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, the AP reports.

Putin’s support comes in the wake of reports that parents are being told to kill their gay sons before kidnappers and jailers do first and that Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov plans to rid the republic of gay men by the end of May.

The international community has rallied around gay men in Chechnya, with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Senator Marco Rubio, former Vice President Joe Biden and U.N. human rights experts all expressing outrage at the allegations that gay men are being rounded up, tortured and even killed.

Criticism of the allegations comes from Russia’s own people as well. On Monday, Russian police broke up a demonstration, held during a May Day march in St Petersburg, by LGBT activists against the abuses. Roughly 10 to 20 protesters were arrested, according to reports.

Visibly annoyed Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova last week also shut down questions by Katie Couric at Yahoo News regarding the allegations.

Katie Couric asked a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman about the torture and killing of gay men in Chechnya.

Her response is telling. pic.twitter.com/WOpZNCeDjJ

— Raymond Braun (@raymondbraun) April 28, 2017

Word of the abuses started swirling in April after independent weekly Novaya Gazeta reported claims that Chechen police had rounded up at least 100 gay men and killed at least three of them. Elena Milashina, the Russian journalist who broke the story, has now gone into hiding after receiving death threats.

The post Putin Supports Request to Investigate Torture Of Gay Men In Chechnya appeared first on Towleroad.

Putin Supports Request to Investigate Torture Of Gay Men In Chechnya

Matthew Camp’s wrestling match, Tom Daley’s playdate, & Brad Pitt’s GQ comeback

www.queerty.com/matthew-camps-wrestling-match-tom-daleys-playdate-brad-pitts-gq-comeback-20170506?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

The Drag of the ’90s Is Alive On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ – RECAP

As cliché as ‘90s nostalgia may be these days, I still can never get enough. Last night’s RuPaul’s Drag Race filtered the decade through its signature pop-culture savvy lens for an episode jam-packed with more ‘90s teen TV references than Luke Perry could flush down a toilet before the cops bust in at Brian Austin Green’s house.

Wait, what were we talking about again?

Oh, right, Drag Race. Yes.

These big group acting challenges are always my least favorite. Either the writing is too cheesy or the queens aren’t up to the delivery. Although last night’s Beverly Hills 90210 send-up, 9021-Ho, seemed to suffer from both, it still ended up with a better end-product than many previous ones. The queens that succeeded did so in spite of weaker or more obvious parts (Shea), while those that struggled squandered roles richer in opportunity (Nina, Sasha).

It’s a pretty straightforward parody with nods to 90210, Charmed, Saved By the Bell and more thrown in for good measure. Peppermint gets to hand out the role assignments since she won the lip sync last week. It’s a new rule this season that feels like a weird reward for the second worst, but in the case of Peppermint, her lethal lip sync makes it feel earned. She tries to take everyone’s preferences into account, but that can only go so far.

Aja is upset with her role and complains until Shea offers to trade. The joke’s on her, because when they’re filming with guest judges and directors Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth, Shea gets tons of laughs. Nina can’t quite hit her lines, and the more she flails, the more frustrated and nasty she gets. Even Jennie Garth thinks Nina hates her! Jennie Garth! America’s sweetheart! Sasha fails trying to intellectualize Ru’s writers’ typically silly humor, so she comes off a little stiff.

This week’s very special workroom moment focuses on everyone’s high school years. Alexis went to prom in drag, Shea only connected with her dad after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and Sasha is a bald queen in honor of losing her mother to cancer.

The most striking story, however, (not that this is some kind of sympathy competition, but whatever) belongs to Trinity. A queen that’s been a little hard to love this season, Trinity discussed losing her mother to complications from HIV, living with her grandmother and dropping out of high school to care for her when she was dying. That meant Trinity missed a lot of those big high school milestones like prom and graduation. Of all the deep, serious conversations we’ve seen the gals have this season, this one felt the most natural between them.

On the runway, the gals show off their Big Hair Everywhere best, which means a lot of wigs on wigs on wigs. Sasha stood out with a tall, spiky mohawk that showcased her punk energy and Nina strutted her stuff in full feline face paint, while all the other girls went a little more pageant. (Also, is it just me, or are the lights on the runway seriously weird this season? At times it’s hard to get a good gauge on outfits and makeup, and it’s something I’ve noticed every episode this season.)

Ru rightfully crowns Trinity this week’s winner, while Aja and Nina are forced to lip sync to all-time classic track “Finally” by Cece Peniston. They both give a valiant effort, but, honestly, after Peppermint, this felt a bit deflated. Nina lives to complain another day, while Aja is sent packing back to Bed-Stuy.

Where does that leave our standings? I’ve got my rankings below.

1. On skill alone, I’m already so enamored with Shea’s artistry, but, just as important in this context, I’m super impressed with what a savvy player she is. Not only did she step up to take the role Aja rejected, but then she slayed it. All her lewks are on point, all her approaches to the challenges are unique and perfectly suited to the task. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s one of those queens that goes the whole season without ever landing in the bottom two.

2. Her part wasn’t the showiest, but Valentina gave it her all. She made some really smart, subtle choices with her facial expressions and she heightened her Valley Girl accent with just the right amount of alien lunacy. I wasn’t crazy about her green runway ensemble, but her makeup is always flawless.

3. This was not Sasha’s best week in the challenge, but she’s built up enough goodwill to keep it from totally sinking her. The judges could’ve gone either way on her spiky mohawk on the runway. They loved her unique interpretation, but I could’ve just as easily imagined Michelle admonishing her that when they ask for big hair, they mean BIG HAIR. Surely this won’t be our last acting challenge this season, so Sasha will need to step it up.

4. I’ve fully come around to Trinity. Last night’s episode was a great showcase. She stole every scene in the challenge with her manic mom. Her ‘90s mom drag was a dead ringer for former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, which only endeared her to me more. Hearing Trinity talk about her experience growing up with her grandma gave us a rare glimpse of vulnerability from the cutthroat queen, and really made me appreciate her more. She’s a dark horse, and could sneak into the top three if Valentina or Sasha take a tumble.

5. Honestly, Alexis should’ve been better. Acting is supposed to be her whole thing, but she was just fine here. She is so clearly talented and polished, but I have a hard time getting EXCITED by her.

6. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Peppermint, someone who, on this show at least, has served some fashion that wasn’t quite ready for primetime and struggled through a few challenges. However, the screen lights up whenever she appears. Now that we’ve seen what she’s capable of when she’s forced to lip sync, I expect Pep to outlast a few more girls, but just barely miss the finals.

7. Man, does Nina need a Tyra Banks WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU! moment. She’s such a self-saboteur. Her performance wasn’t awful, but her backtalk and commentary under her breath were what really hurt her. She barely survived the lip sync, and I think that had more to do with her work up until this point than the lip sync itself. I don’t need to see Nina duckwalk across the runway ever again.

8. Yikes. That was a real rookie move for Aja to bitch so much about her part. That kind of attitude never goes well. Although her acting chops are more Kiernan Shipka than Susan Sarandon, gurl can lip sync. Even though it lacked the oomph of Peppermint’s number, her performance was damn near menacing as she stalked and blocked Nina at every turn. I think the right gal went home between the two tonight, but I still think Aja could’ve outlasted one more queen.

9. She may have squeaked by safe, but Farrah has been underwhelming every week. At this point in the competition, her exit feels like an eventual certainty. (But, hey, at least she has a promising career ahead of her as an Xtina body double.) This is so small, but the thing about Farrah that bothered me most this episode happened in the prom scene of 9021-Ho. Valentina’s character is cheering and celebrating after Grandrea says she will be able to draguate. Farrah does the weakest little half kick, and then very tentatively pours a tiny amount of “vodka” on her, but she does it so tentatively and wishy-washy. Make a choice! Commit! It’s that lack of presence that’s making me eager to see her go.

How would you rank the queens?

The post The Drag of the ’90s Is Alive On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ – RECAP appeared first on Towleroad.

The Drag of the ’90s Is Alive On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ – RECAP

Queers Lessons from Marine Le Pen’s Rise

As France’s citizens cast their final votes tomorrow for their new president, one queer author explains what the rise in populism —in the U.S. and abroad — means for LGBT people.

www.advocate.com/politicians/2017/5/06/queers-lessons-marine-le-pens-rise

10 San Francisco hotels where you check in but never wanna check out

www.queerty.com/10-san-francisco-hotels-check-refuse-check-20170506?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

FCC Launches Ludicrous Investigation into Stephen Colbert’s Ribald Trump Joke

The FCC has launched a ludicrous investigation into a joke made by Stephen Colbert in his monologue on Monday night that caused the hashtag #FireColbert to trend on Twitter for a short period.

In the monologue, Colbert unpacked Donald Trump’s recent interview with CBS reporter John Dickerson which was shut down finally when Dickerson asked Trump about calling Obama a “sick” and “bad” man and Trump’s claims he was surveilled.

Colbert ended his monologue with a barrage of insults aimed at Trump, one of which pissed a lot of people off.

Said Colbert:

“When you insult one member of the CBS family, you insult us all!…You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head.  The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c**k holster.”

The obscenity was bleeped.

The Hill reports:

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai promised to “take the appropriate action” following a comprehensive investigation of Colbert’s remarks.

The FCC’s response will depend on whether Colbert’s remarks are considered “obscene.”

“We are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it’s been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we’ll take the appropriate action,” he told Talk Radio 1210 WPHT Thursday.

“Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be,” he said. “A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do.”

According to The Hill, “The FCC flags speech it considers “indecent” before 10 p.m., he told Fox Business Network, and looks for “obscene” content after that point. Colbert’s “The Late Show” airs at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.”

The post FCC Launches Ludicrous Investigation into Stephen Colbert’s Ribald Trump Joke appeared first on Towleroad.

FCC Launches Ludicrous Investigation into Stephen Colbert’s Ribald Trump Joke

Religious Right Divided Over Trump’s Executive Order

Some say it’s just dandy, while others consider it next to nothing.

www.advocate.com/politics/2017/5/06/religious-right-divided-over-trumps-executive-order