Michigan Father Takes His Three Sons Out of School Over Trans Student (Video)
A father in Michigan pulled his three sons out of school because one of them allegedly shared a restroom with a transgender student.
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Gay Former Canoeing Champ Matt Lister Strips Down and Shows Off His Fur – WATCH
Gay Former Canoeing Champ Matt Lister Strips Down and Shows Off His Fur – WATCH
Matt Lister, former canoeing champ and Team GB (as in Great Britain) member, is stripping down and showing off his fur in a revealing new photoshoot.
In the spread for Attitude, Lister talks about coming out, being a bit furrier than other guys growing up, and homophobia in sports.
Lister, who came out in 2012 at age 20, tells the magazine,
“I didn’t want to come out while I was in school because I was already bullied for being a fat, spotty kid and I was bigger than everyone and I was hairy. I may as well have just worn a target. I didn’t want to add another thing to that pile, so I just waited till the last year of school, when I was in the sixth form.”
Lister has become an LGBT Athlete Ambassador and model since leaving the sport he loves. Of his advocacy work, Lister says,
“I would never shame someone for not coming out because it’s a personal choice and it’s a difficult thing to go through, but I feel as if it’s a necessity for the LGBT community because you’re in the public eye. People are watching you, even people who aren’t involved in sport that maybe want to get into it, but they don’t try because they think it doesn’t fit them.”
Watch Lister strike a pose, and check out some snaps from the shoot, below.
The post Gay Former Canoeing Champ Matt Lister Strips Down and Shows Off His Fur – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
GOP Congressman Reads Anti-LGBT Bible Verse to Denounce Colleagues as Sinful
GOP Congressman Reads Anti-LGBT Bible Verse to Denounce Colleagues as Sinful
Rep. Rick Allen’s action caused several fellow Republicans to walk out of a policy meeting.
When Going Out To Gay Bars Means Putting Up With This Girl
When Going Out To Gay Bars Means Putting Up With This Girl
Each Friday we’ll try and bring you the perfect meme to distract you — if for just a moment — to get you through that end-of-week homestretch.
This week’s entry from Johnny Sibilly (which, OK, is also technically not a meme but if you can’t tell, we’re going to be very loose with that definition) falls in the “funny because it’s true” camp.
Look, we love that queer spaces are inclusive spaces, and we would never, ever tell someone they can’t or shouldn’t enjoy a night out at a fabulous gay venue. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to raise our eyebrows any less when we bump into this kind of behavior head-on in the wild.
(And sorry for using you for the main photo, Lena — we’d love to see you at any gay bar.)
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/oOc8tzRtJ4E/going-gay-bars-means-putting-girl-20160527
Straight Dudes Sound Off On Letting Gay Men Explore Their Armpits
Straight Dudes Sound Off On Letting Gay Men Explore Their Armpits
Maschalagnia is the term used to define a sexual attraction to armpits. Believe it or not, there are many, many people in the world who like the sniff and even have sex with other people’s armpits.
In a recent Reddit thread titled [Straight guys]: would you let a gay guy lick your [armpits]?, a gay man asks straight guys if they’d ever be into letting him sniff their stinky pits. Their responses may surprise you.
Related: PHOTOS: Handsome Hunks Flash Their Very Hairy Pits
“I want to bury my face in a straight guy’s armpit,” the man confesses. “I want to worship a part of his body that he’s been trained to think of as dirty or undesirable. I want to inhale his scent and make him feel pleasure in a way he’s never thought about before.”
He continues: “The question is: how? So I want to poll the straight guys of Reddit (esp. 18-50ish, fit/muscled guys): would you ever let a gay guy lick (or at least sniff/touch) your pits? If so, under what circumstances?”
Now let’s take a look at people’s responses…
Some guys were totally into the idea:
“If I knew the guy…sure why not,” one gentleman wrote.
“Get a few drinks in me first after three beers I’ll do just about anything,” another added.
“I’d be fine with it,” a third one said.
Related: Madonna’s Armpit Hair Confirmed To Be Brown
Others were offended by it:
“I only do sexual things when all parties involved get something out of it,” one man said. “And I would not get anything out of that. Also, that’s clearly letting someone enjoy a kink and using me as a sexual object. I don’t want to be a sexual object!”
Several said they’d do it, but only for money.
“Only if I get some money or an item I desire out of this activity,” one guy wrote.
“I think I could deal with that for the right monetary compensation,” another said. “If I could make a quick buck doing basically nothing, I’d do it.”
When asked how much they would want, the fees varied significantly.
“$5 a minute,” one guy quoted.
“$50 to smell, $100 to lick,” another said.
“I’m thinking I’d need at least like $500-$1000,” a third declared. “I’m a high class armpit call dude.”
Related: STUDY: Most Gay Men Prefer Their Guys Naturally Hairy
But perhaps the most useful response came this person:
“I think you’ll have better luck with a gay/bi man, or a bi-friendly couple. Mostly because even the nicest straight guys aren’t going to get anything out the arrangement.”
Australian Rugby Player David Pocock Opens Up About His Stand Against Homophobia: WATCH
Australian Rugby Player David Pocock Opens Up About His Stand Against Homophobia: WATCH
Australian rugby star David Pocock is opening up about his decision to stand up to homophobia during a match last year, a move which divided the rugby community.
Pocock discusses the subject in a new video from Dove Men+Care that attempts to break outdated perceptions of masculinity.
The video is the first in what appears to be a series created by Pocock and Dove titled, “David Pocock’s Journey to Strength.” Episode 1 is all about standing up for what you think is right. And for Pocock, that means fighting homophobia both on and off the field.
The 2015 controversy stems from a moment when, during a game, Pocock blasted his rivals for using gay slurs against his teammates.
Via Fox Sports Australia: In the final stages of a heated match between the two rivals, Pocock approached referee Craig Joubert in the 67th and 72nd minutes and expressed his concerns about homophobic slurs being made by Waratahs players. […]
Pocock later said to Joubert: “You heard that sir … you can’t say that, there could be gay players out there.”
Pocock added at the time,
“It is not a matter of going after one particular guy, it is just saying “this isn’t something we want to see in our game”. We want to be inclusive for people watching and people playing. That’s what it comes down to.
“I didn’t hear anything. I just had a few players coming to me saying there were homophobic slurs being thrown out, and I guess it is something at the Brumbies we have said it is not acceptable and we are not going to tolerate this.
“We were just making the referee aware. I put it with racism and all sorts of other things that aren’t good enough.”
Pocock came under fire for his remarks, though there were also opinion pieces (such as this one) which applauded Pocock. Pocock doesn’t regret his decision, saying that if you don’t stand up for what is right, “you’re actually denying a part of yourself.”
PREVIOUSLY – Australian Rugby Union To Adopt Pro-Gay Inclusion Policy: VIDEO
SBS reports that Pocock’s advocacy, which extends to other issues of social justice beyond homophobia in sports, stems from his childhood:
Pocock came to Australia as a teenager with his family from Zimbabwe and found Australian life underpinned by a patriarchal society just as much as in his homeland, if not more.
“[I moved] to a culture where my privilege was further enshrined… being a white heterosexual male who’s good at sport,” he explained.
Pocock has previously come out in favor of marriage equality, which is not yet legal in Australia. Pocock says he and his girlfriend will not marry until same-sex couples are afforded the right to do so. Pocock told SBS, “Yeah we’ll wait. I think for us its something we don’t really want to be part of, if all of our friends don’t have that same opportunity if they want to get married.”
Watch the video, below.
The post Australian Rugby Player David Pocock Opens Up About His Stand Against Homophobia: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Mississippi Out: Atty General Won’t Allow State to Join Anti-Transgender Lawsuit
Mississippi Out: Atty General Won’t Allow State to Join Anti-Transgender Lawsuit
A few hours after Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant’s announcement that he’d join the lawsuit being brought by 11 states against the Obama administration over the administration’s recent guidance on transgender students, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said he would not represent the state.
Hood, a Democrat committed to “protecting the families of Mississippi,” said he could not “lend the name of the state of Mississippi to this lawsuit.”
“The governor has opted to join Texas in its broad lawsuit against the federal government in his capacity as governor alone,” said Hood in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Only the attorney general can represent our state in such lawsuits, which includes all branches of government and, more important, all of the people of our state. I cannot lend the name of the state of Mississippi to this lawsuit.”
“Last year, the Office of Attorney General joined a lawsuit in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the Department of Justice from interfering with the way in which local schools operate their restrooms. For that reason, I chose not to join the Texas lawsuit,” Hood continued. “I also have concerns on issues of standing in the Texas suit because no federal funding has been withheld from any school. Moreover, I have a different legal opinion as to how the United States Supreme Court will finally decide the issue.
Republican Governor Bryant, who had already told the Mississippi Education Department to ignore the Obama administration’s directive on transgender students a few weeks ago, said in a Facebook post yesterday that the President’s instruction was the ‘latest example of federal overreach’.
The Mississippi Department of Education should disregard the Obama administration’s outrageous bathroom directive. pic.twitter.com/kS5kL0GRow
— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) May 13, 2016
In a statement released Wednesday, The Human Rights Campaign said the “reckless and shameful lawsuit” attempts to “gut federal non-discrimination protections for trans people.”
Photo credit: Mississippi AG Jim Hood’s Facebook page
Illustration by Don Clark via Wikimedia Commons
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‘Just Salad’ Restaurant Chain Tosses Its Pride into ‘The Big Gay Garden Salad’
‘Just Salad’ Restaurant Chain Tosses Its Pride into ‘The Big Gay Garden Salad’
Just Salad, an organic salad chain with 28 locations, mainly in New York City, is offering a Big Gay Garden Salad starting June 1 that benefits NYC Pride.
The 275-calorie vegetarian salad features a rainbow of ingredients including romaine, red cabbage tomatoes, avocado, carrots, banana peppers, and croutons. $1 from each salad will go to NYC Pride.
Said CEO and cofounder Nick Kenner: “From our cashiers to our choppers to our management team, the LGBT community is a big part of our company, so of course we’re happy to be supporting NYC Pride.”We are proud to be able to show our customers how much we support the LGBT community.”
Kenner added that a team from Just Salad with about 50 Just Salad employees will be marching in the LGBT Pride parade on June 26.
Said Chris Frederick, NYC Pride Managing Director: “NYC Pride is thrilled to be a part of this exciting promotion that will allow us to raise crucial funds to help create the largest series of LGBT Pride events in the United States. With over 2.1 million expected in attendance this year, we wouldn’t be able to produce events of this scale without the support of Just Salad.”
Last month, NYC Pride announced that the grand marshals for this year’s parade are Subhi Nahas, a Syrian refugee, Cecilia Chung, an internationally recognized leader who has been advocating for HIV/AIDS awareness and care, LGBT equality, and social justice, for more than 30 years, and Jazz Jennings, the 15-year-old honorary co-founder of the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation and the youngest Grand Marshal in NYC Pride history.
Headlining this year’s Dance on the Pier will be Fergie, and the DJ lineup for the annual dance party includes Alain Jackinsky (Montreal), Hoxton Whores (London), Honey Soundsystem (San Francisco), and Ben Baker (New York).
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Wentworth | JODIE
Nick Denton Destroys Retrograde Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel In Public Invitation To Debate
Nick Denton Destroys Retrograde Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel In Public Invitation To Debate
When we heard this week that billionaire PayPal cofounder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, a Trump delegate, was the one who’s been bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, here’s how we framed it:
“Let’s get ready to rumble! In this corner, weighing in at 11.7 million unique monthly global readers and an annual revenue of roughly $45 million, Nick Denton and Gawker Media. And in this corner, weighing in at 322lbs, the Hulkamaniac himself, Hulk Hogan…and billionaire gay libertarian Peter Thiel!”
Well it turns out we were onto something — in an open letter published on Gawker Thursday, Denton addresses Thiel directly for the first time in public, and among other things, challenges him to an “open and public debate.”
“For Silicon Valley, the media spotlight is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Denton writes. “Most executives and venture capitalists are accustomed to dealing with acquiescent trade journalists and a dazzled mainstream media, who will typically play along with embargoes, join in enthusiasm for new products, and hew to the authorized version of a story. They do not have the sophistication, and the thicker skins, of public figures in other older power centers such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.”
Later, he argues, “But this vindictive decade-long campaign is quite out of proportion to the hurt you claim. Your plaintiff’s lawyer, Charles Harder, has sued not just the company, but individual journalists…Peter, this is twisted. Even were you to succeed in bankrupting Gawker Media, the writers you dislike, and me, just think what it will mean.”
“Now you show yourself as a thin-skinned billionaire who, despite all the success and public recognition that a person could dream of, seethes over criticism and plots behind the scenes to tie up his opponents in litigation he can afford better than they.”
Related: The Seven All Time Strangest Remarks From PayPal Billionaire Peter Thiel
Denton goes on to suggest there is an alternative to the messy court saga — one you might expect Thiel, a libertarian torch-bearer, to be more on board with:
I’m going to suggest an alternative approach. The best regulation for speech, in a free society, is more speech. We each claim to respect independent journalism, and liberty. We each have criticisms of the other’s methods and objectives. Now you have revealed yourself, let us have an open and public debate. The court cases will proceed as long as you fund them. And I am sure the war of headlines will continue. But, even if we put down weapons just for a brief truce, let us have a more constructive exchange.
Thiel was outed nine years ago by Denton’s media network; donating $10 million to Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit has been his retribution. He’s called his potential takedown of Gawker, “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done.” (Boy, now we are really scared of his other causes.)
As Vanity Fair points out, that’s “more philanthropic, it seems, than the money he has donated to the free press nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists.”
Denton has the right approach–more debate, not less. We’d pay to see Thiel publicly defend his views on outing, which he seems to totally misunderstand, probably because he came out late in life and spend so many years in a closet of his own making. First, let’s be clear, the Gawker journalist who wrote about Thiel’s homosexuality does not consider the story “outing” because when he wrote it almost a decade ago, Thiel was already open about being gay to a large circle of friends and colleagues, who discussed his sexuality with a broad range of other people outside that circle. (Queerty editors knew about it before Gawker had the guts to write about it.)
Here’s what the Gawker writer, Owen Thomas, says:
I did discuss his sexuality, but it was known to a wide circle who felt that it was not fit for discussion beyond that circle. I thought that attitude was retrograde and homophobic, and that informed my reporting. I believe that he was out and not in the closet.
That is exactly right. Even if the story were to be considered an “outing,” the motive was hardly malicious. In Thiel’s case, who would not want a brilliant entrepreneur and billionaire to be part of our team, one who could make a difference to young people struggling in their own closets? Because of his retrograde views on gay identify, Thiel mistakes a compliment, or at least a challenge to be better, for a personal attack. In fact, Thiel seems to have missed the last half century of LGBTQ history, in which the debate over outing, over private acts and public declarations, was essential to the stunning progress we have made toward full legal and social equality. Thiel, as a privileged, white billionaire, seems to see himself as above that debate, instead of clearly benefitting from it. It’s time he came down from his castle and joined the rest of us in a movement that libertarians in particular should support: Freedom.
But there’s something else about Thiel’s past that makes his position on speech and privacy particularly galling. As a student at Stanford in the late 1980s, Thiel was far less concerned about the privacy of his fellow students, particularly gay ones, and Thiel was suddenly a staunch advocate of speech. In one horrible incident, Keith Rabois, a friend of Thiel, was widely condemned for screaming, outside the residence of a dorm supervisor, “Faggot! Hope You die of AIDS.” In his 1995 book, The Diversity Myth, Thiel wrote, “Keith did not deserve the months of public condemnation and ostracism.” Rabois was forced to leave Stanford as a result of the incident, but Thiel was loyal to his friend, no matter how vile his behavior, later hiring Rabois as a vice president at PayPal.
The journalist who practically invented outing, Mike Signorile, puts it best in HuffPo:
Thiel has a lot confused here. Simply saying that a public figure who’s out and open to many people is gay is not wrong — nor is it even considered legally libelous, defamatory or an invasion of privacy in 2016 — or comparable to these cases. Claiming otherwise is, as Thomas says, just plain homophobic. Reporting on a public figure who has been open to many people as gay, and is out in public as such, is not the equivalent of reporting on private sexual activity, but rather is equivalent to reporting on a characteristic akin to religion or ethnicity, and certainly if someone has not gone to great lengths to hide such facts. And that’s why Thiel had to go and find other cases, such as Hogan’s, in order to take action against Gawker. If he tried to sue Gawker himself for his supposed “outing” it would surely be thrown out of court.
Denton is right. Peter, halt your funding of this dangerous lawsuit, and start talking publicly–and openly.
