Tyler the Creator, Apple and Malala, Sean Hayes, Hedi Slimane, Amazon, In Memoriam, Jamie Dornan: HOT LINKS

ATTACK AD. White House aide tries to distance administration from Trump campaign ad attacking Democrats: “On Saturday, the president’s reelection campaign released the ad, titled “Complicit,” which hammers Democrats for opposing Trump’s proposed border wall and other unspecified border security measures. “Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants,” an announcer says over images of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).”

GLAAD. 45 instances where President Trump has selectivity targeted the LGBTQ community during his first year in office: “Trump is waging a culture war with our communities, the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime. He aims to roll back rights and protections, but also general acceptance of LGBTQ people in society and culture,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “Our voices and our visibility will yield change even in an administration that tries at every step to delete us from the cultural landscape. We will not be removed.”

JAMIE DORNAN. I faked my pubic hair.

100,000 UNDERPRIVILEGED GIRLS. Apple and The Malala Fund will work together to get them into school: “CEO Tim Cook and Malala met in Beirut, Lebanon, last Saturday, and gave The Independent an interview in which they discuss the initiative. Lebanon is one of the initial target countries, alongside Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Nigeria, with the goal to expand over time and increase the number of underprivileged girls who will get into primary school.”

SAG AWARDS. Sean Hayes (with husband) and Megan Mullally represented for Will & Grace.

HEDI SLIMANE. The fashion designer will head up the label Céline.

OREGON. Concordia University, a Lutheran college in Oregon, reverses plan to block LGBTQ group: “Concordia had blocked the Queer Straight Alliance for some time, according to group members, by forcing the club to change its name and canceling on-campus events. In June, a federal review found that Concordia was in violation of anti-discrimination law Title IX in its efforts to quash the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. The university subsequently changed its club charter requirement policies, leading to the decision to reject the Queer Straight Alliance’s application in December. Without recognition as a university club, the alliance could no longer hold meetings or events on campus.”

GAYVN AWARDS. And the winners of gay adult film’s awardiest night are… (work-unfriendly).

TAIWAN. Gay blood donation rules to be relaxed: “According to the MOHW, the Blood Consultative Committee recommend lifting the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men, replacing it with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man within five years of the planned donation.”

SHOPPING INNOVATION OF THE DAY. Amazon introduces store with no checkout: “Amazon opens its store that lets you browse, grab and walk out — skipping the checkout line, but not the bill — to the public Monday. The convenience store and its proprietary technology, made up of hundreds of cameras and sensors and requiring a new Amazon app, dangled the promise of solving a bedrock complaint for shoppers — long checkout lines — when it was unveiled just over a year ago. The high-tech approach, crafted by the company that’s most visibly changed how Americans shop in recent years, suggested grocery shopping was on the cusp of its biggest breakthrough since bar codes.”

IN MEMORIAM OF THE DAY. From the SAG Awards.

ALBUM BREAKDOWN OF THE DAY. Tyler the Creator’s Flower Boy.

FEATURETTE OF THE DAY. Ready Player One.

MONDAY MUSCLE. Jones Tamar.

The post Tyler the Creator, Apple and Malala, Sean Hayes, Hedi Slimane, Amazon, In Memoriam, Jamie Dornan: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

Tyler the Creator, Apple and Malala, Sean Hayes, Hedi Slimane, Amazon, In Memoriam, Jamie Dornan: HOT LINKS

‘There Is No Deselection List For Labour MPs’ – Shadow Chief Whip Nick Brown Assures Parliamentary Labour Party

Labour MPs have been told there is no ‘deselection hit list’ of Jeremy Corbyn’s critics, despite fresh fears among rebels that they are being targeted for defying the party leadership.

Shadow Chief Whip Nick Brown told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday night that MPs should dismiss newspaper reports that party whips had up to 50 names facing the loss of their seats, HuffPost can reveal.

Former Shadow Chancellor Chris Leslie raised the report in the Sunday Times, making clear his anger at any suggestion he would be kicked out by fresh moves to change rules on reselection of MPs for the next general election.

Leslie, an anti-Brexit campaigner who has been one of Corbyn’s fiercest critics, was named along with veteran MPs Hilary Benn and Angela and Maria Eagle, as on a ‘hit list’ drafted by leftwingers.

The paper claimed that one party whip had been privately telling ‘moderate’ MPs not to rock the boat or face deselection in their own backyard.

Leslie sought assurances that the reports were untrue and demanded that Brown raise the issue at Shadow Cabinet and the party leadership should make a clear statement it opposed mandatory reselection for MPs.

Brown warned that the activities of those who tabled rebel amendments on issues such as Brexit were bound to be noted by the whips.

But he insisted to the PLP that he didn’t have a list of people to deselect.

“I do buy the paper [the Sunday Times],” Brown told MPs. “But I only read the Culture Section. I throw the rest away, as it is nonsense.”

When he asked the PLP whether they thought he really should have such a list, his joke was met with laughter by some MPs, sources told HuffPost.

A furious Leslie hit back: “I don’t think this is a laughing matter”.

Brown’s reassurance to MPs came as Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also moved to make clear that deselections were not an issue, adding that party members were unifying behind even those who had disagreed with Corbyn.

McDonnell told the Liverpool Echo: “No one is in a deselection in the Labour party. People have come together after a fantastic election result.”

Asked if he wanted local members to get behind the city MPs who had not previously backed Corbyn, the Shadow Chancellor said: “Of course we would, we are campaigning together, we are a united party at every level – some elements of the media will always try and sow division.

“But the atmosphere is united and determined because we need this government out and we need a Labour government to turn this country around.”

One source suggested MPs had been given discreet advice to keep their local party on board, but denied threats of removal had been made by whips.

Leslie refused to discuss the PLP meeting but said that the Sunday Times story had concerned him because it suggested it was not targeted at him but the whole of the PLP, and that no dissent of any kind would be tolerated.

“I’m not going to be cowed or intimidated by threats of deselection from Jeremy’s Momentum or from the Labour leadership,” he told HuffPost aftewards.

“It’s vital that the Labour Party is a broad church if we are ever going to win a general election.”

Several MPs fear that leftwingers are set on changing the party’s rules on reselection to make it easier to remove those who have in the past been critical of Corbyn.

The Labour democracy review could include submissions to allow a reselection contest when 33% of local members want one, as opposed to the current threshold of 50%.

Unite the union has already passed a motion demanding ‘mandatory reselection’ for all MPs, and Momentum founder Jon Lansman has long called for the step as it replicates what happens with local councillors.

Corbyn has long said that party rules are a matter for the NEC but has so far been wary of personally backing reselection changes.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/there-is-no-deselection-hitlist-of-50-labour-mps-shadow-chief-whip-nick-brown-tells-plp-amid-chris-leslie-fury_uk_5a663c6fe4b00228300587a9

‘Falling for Angels’ Closes With a Wedding and a Meditation on Urban Gay Life

Here TV’s drama on queer life shows Hillary was right — we’re stronger together.

www.advocate.com/falling-angels/2018/1/22/falling-angels-closes-wedding-and-meditation-urban-gay-life

Racist, antigay banners hung outside Indiana church promise terrorist attack on Jan 23
The other banner targets singer Jackson Browne who is scheduled to perform in Orlando on January 23.

www.queerty.com/racist-antigay-banners-hung-outside-indiana-church-promise-terrorist-attack-jan-23-20180122?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

A Frantic Mom Phoned a Mississippi Gay Bar for Help: ‘My Son Just Came Out to Me’

Kara Coley / Facebook

Kara Coley, a bartender at the Gulfport, Mississippi gay bar SIPPS, got a phone call on Friday night that she won’t soon forget.

Coley shared the phone call on Facebook and it’s being widely circulated — and celebrated.

Wrote Coley:

So I got the most random phone call at the bar tonight! 
Me:Good evening Thankyou for calling Sipps!
Lady on phone: Is this a gay bar?
Me: well we are a everybody bar but yes mostly gay.
Lady: can I ask you a?
Me: sure
Lady: Are you Gay?
Me: YES MA’AM
Lady: What was the one thing you wanted from your parents when you a came out?
Me: Umm
Lady: My son just came out to me and I don’t want to say anything that may mess him up in the head.
Me:well I think that you should just make sure he knows that you love and accept, wait do you accept it?
Lady: well Umm yes if that’s what he wants.
Me: You should definitely let him know that you love and accept him! I think everything will be ok from there!
Lady: okay well thank you.
Me:you are very welcome and good luck!

17 years of bartending in gay bars on the coast! That’s definitely a first for me!

Here’s her post if you’d like to check out the comments.



The post A Frantic Mom Phoned a Mississippi Gay Bar for Help: ‘My Son Just Came Out to Me’ appeared first on Towleroad.

A Frantic Mom Phoned a Mississippi Gay Bar for Help: ‘My Son Just Came Out to Me’

LGBT Africans and Haitians Don’t Need Trump’s Insults, They Need Asylum

The president’s ignorance of the world means he’s completely unaware of what queer black people are going through.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2018/1/22/lgbt-africans-and-haitians-dont-need-trumps-insults-they-need-asylum

It’s time to retire the term “BBC” and stop fetishizing black men
Adult film star Max Konnor recently had an “honestly moment” with his 48,000 Twitter followers.

www.queerty.com/time-retire-term-bbc-stop-fetishizing-black-men-20180122?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29