Mayor Bowser Announces Senior LGBT Leadership, 1/22/15
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the appointments of Sheila Alexander-Reid, as Director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs, and Terrance Laney, as Deputy Director…
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Sam Smith Reportedly Splits From Boyfriend Jonathan Zeizel
Sam Smith Reportedly Splits From Boyfriend Jonathan Zeizel
Just weeks after their romantic Australian vacation, singer Sam Smith and boyfriend Jonathan Zeizel have reportedly called it quits.
The 22-year-old Grammy nominee, who is currently in the midst of a U.S. tour, seemed to hint at an apparent split with an emotional Instagram post:
Une photo publiée par Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) le Janv. 20, 2015 at 9:30 PST
Many have interpreted Smith’s words at a Jan. 20 performance in Toronto as an implying that he and Zeizel had gone their separate ways, too. In the middle of the concert, he introduced his song “Good Thing” by telling the crowd, “This is about a very similar thing I had to do today with someone I’ve been seeing.”
“Good Thing,” a cut off Smith’s smash debut album, “In The Lonely Hour,” features lyrics which reference a breakup: “Too much of a good thing won’t be good for long/Although you made my heart sing, to stay with you would be wrong.”
The Mirror cites a new interview with The Sun, which quotes Smith as saying, “Hopefully I will find someone soon and when I do I think it will be a bit more difficult to sing songs because I will want to sing happy songs.”
In the interview, said to have been conducted following his Toronto performance, Smith added, “Right now when I’m on stage I feel like it is good for me, it is like therapy every night. The music comforts me.”
Smith, who nabbed six Grammy nominations in December, confirmed last month that he was in the “very, very, very early days” of a relationship with an extra he’d met on the set of his “Like I Can” video.
He went public with Zeizel, a dancer and model, in a series of cozy Instagram snaps over the holidays. The couple even re-enacted the iconic scene from “Titanic” in one image.
#Trailblazer: James Dreyfuss: 'I was called a "weird looking fruit" in Texas'
#Trailblazer: James Dreyfuss: 'I was called a "weird looking fruit" in Texas'
Former Gimme Gimme Gimme star and out gay actor on his travel heaven and hell, from Bombay to the USA
jamiet
www.gaystarnews.com/article/trailblazer-james-dreyfuss-i-was-called-weird-looking-fruit-texas220115
HRC Nebraska Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
HRC Nebraska Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
HRC Nebraska sends a huge thank you out to the many volunteers who helped to make our Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service a success.
HRC.org
James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and Charlie Carver's Sex Scene Revealed in New 'I Am Michael' Photos
James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and Charlie Carver's Sex Scene Revealed in New 'I Am Michael' Photos
A set of new stills from the upcoming film I Am Michael, about former gay rights activist turned “ex-gay” poster boy Michael Glatze and starring James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and Charlie Carver, gives us the first look at a three-way sex scene between the actors as well as other key moments.
Franco plays Glatze while Quinto plays his then boyfriend Bennett. The duo bed Carver’s character in a club, according to a November report from E!:
“They first meet in a club. The music is pumping. It’s the eighties!” a source said. “When Charlie’s character questions Franco about having a boyfriend, Franco says, ‘He’d like you, too.'”
Cut to the bedroom, where the three are naked, intertwined and “kissing,” the source said. “You see their asses.” […]
The three enjoy a romance, but when Michael leaves, the breakup is “disastrous and heartbreaking,” the source said.
The film, produced by Gus van Sant, is premiering at Sundance. It’s based on the Benoit Denizet-Lewis NYT article “My Ex-Gay Friend”. Denizet-Lewis is a co-producer on the film. The film is directed by Justin Kelly.
Additional stills show the main characters at a rave party, Carver and Quinto together, Franco alone and despondent in what appears to be a tiled bathroom, Franco and Quinto kissing, and Franco embracing Emma Roberts.
Check them out, AFTER THE JUMP…
Andy Towle
#TBT: The Mid-Century Paradise of George Quaintance
#TBT: The Mid-Century Paradise of George Quaintance
The everyday life of one of the greatest erotic artists of the last century is revealed in an excerpt from a new biography.
Christopher Harrity
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/2015/01/22/tbt-mid-century-paradise-george-quaintance
'The Rhodes Bros' Discuss Their Viral Coming Out Video With Ellen DeGeneres
'The Rhodes Bros' Discuss Their Viral Coming Out Video With Ellen DeGeneres
The gay teen brothers who became a viral sensation after an emotional video of themselves coming out to their father hit YouTube got even more personal in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres this week.
Aaron and Austin Rhodes, who are known on the Internet as “The Rhodes Bros,” said they felt more anxiety coming out to their father than they had with their mother.
“My parents got divorced when we were really young, so we didn’t really have that close relationship with our dad,” Aaron revealed. The brothers, who are originally from Ohio but now live in Los Angeles, said they came out to each other when they were both 16 years old.
Noting that he was inspired by other coming out videos that have made the blogosphere rounds, Austin said that the now-famous telephone call was “the scariest moment” of his young life.
“Leading up to it, we thought it was just going to be so easy,” he said. “But then, right when we called him … in my mind, I was like, this could potentially be the last time we have a normal phone call like this if he takes it bad.”
Later on, the twins’ father joined the interview, and while he appeared apprehensive at first, told Ellen that “there’s a weight off both our sides” ever since his sons came out as gay.
“Now we can talk about anything,” he said. “I was very proud of my boys.”
View the original coming out video below:
Ellen Meets Dad and Gay Twins Who Came Out in Emotional Viral YouTube Clip: VIDEO
Ellen Meets Dad and Gay Twins Who Came Out in Emotional Viral YouTube Clip: VIDEO
Last week popular YouTube vloggers Austin and Aaron Rhodes posted a video they shot of themselves coming out to their father shortly after coming out to their 56,000 subscribers.
The emotional video quickly went viral and has been viewed more than 14.5 million times as of this posting.
Ellen DeGeneres this week welcomed Aaron, Austin and their dad to her show. After hearing the twins’ story, Ellen spoke with dad, who told his side of the story:
“When they called I knew they were crying and something was wrong. As a father you just feel it. What’s wrong? I could hear it coming from them, their voices. When they told me, I just felt as though, the only thing came through me was ‘I love you both. I love you both unconditionally. You’re my children. I can’t undo being your father and I don’t want to…’ I really feel like now there’s a weight off both our sides. Now I feel like we can talk about anything. I was very proud of my boys.”
Ellen praised his reaction:
“That is the right thing to say … ‘I love you both’. Even if you don’t fully understand it right now there are ways to understand it and time will help with that…I can’t tell you how amazing it is for you to just love them and accept them.”
Ellen also gave the twins a special gift to help them get settled in L.A..
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
Andy Towle
PHOTOS: John Cameron Mitchell Returns in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'
PHOTOS: John Cameron Mitchell Returns in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'
The creator and star of the original 1998 off-Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch steps back into Hedwig’s heels on Broadway.
Brandon Voss
On the "A" w/Souleo: OUTMusic Awards Postponement Doesn't Stop The Celebration of LGBT Music
On the "A" w/Souleo: OUTMusic Awards Postponement Doesn't Stop The Celebration of LGBT Music
This past Monday on Martin Luther King Day the themes of social justice, equality, and perseverance resonated strongly for those in attendance at the 9th annual OUTMusic Awards (OMAs). Marketed as “the biggest night in LGBT music,” the OMAs almost didn’t happen. About three days before the awards show was to be held at New York City’s Town Hall Theater the OMAs executive director, Diedra Meredith was forced to notify the public that the ceremony was postponed for reasons that remain undisclosed.
In its place Meredith presented an intimate reception for honorees at the W New York – Times Square, where she underscored the challenges facing the LGBT music movement. “This is what struggle looks like,” she told the gathering of tastemakers and nominees. “Financially this community has not received equivalent funding like mainstream industries get from corporate sponsors.”
But funding hasn’t been the only issue plaguing the awards show. In 2010, pop culture columnist Michael Musto wrote a scathing review of the OMAs that questioned the organization’s professional reputation. In the column he highlighted several instances of miscommunication, lack of organization, and even an alleged onstage fight. For many the postponement of this year’s OMAs will further call into question the organization’s professionalism and ability to produce a viable awards show. Yet, for others it remains worthy of supporting as one of the few avenues of exposure for LGBT music artists.
Openly gay rapper Tavon who has been a member of the OMAs for the past year falls into the latter category. “It makes me want to invest much more,” he said. “The entertainment business is not easy especially when it is an organization focused on the LGBT voice.”
Monifa Carter & Deidra Meredith/Credit: Rowena Husbands
R&B singer Monifah Carter was given the Vanguard Award for breaking ground with the first televised African-American lesbian wedding in the U.S. to her wife, Terez Thorpe, which aired on TV One’s R&B Divas: Atlanta. For Carter, the OMA honor reflected the MLK day message of pursuing social justice. “Equality is a fight we have to fight unfortunately,” she said. “But here we are and we are doing a really good job. I am proud to be acknowledged for my part.”
Even though she lives in Miami, Deborah Cox still made the trip to NYC to accept the Pillar Award. As an ally to the LGBT community, Cox revealed that she catered to the LGBT audience against her record label’s wishes after the success of her club dance remix to the 1996 hit “Who Do You Love.”
Deborah Cox/Credit: Rowena Husbands
“A lot of people think it was calculated but it wasn’t. The song resonated with the community and I supported that because they showed love. So I would do clubs and things even though the label didn’t understand and they didn’t support it back then,” she shared.
With the support shown to her by artists such as Tavon, Carter and Cox, Meredith is committed to forging ahead in her quest to celebrate LGBT music and raise its profile. The OMAs plan to return with a full-scale awards show this spring and the organization is currently filming a documentary about the rise of LGBT music titled For Which WE Stand (One Queer Music Nation In the Visible). For Meredith now is the perfect time for the OMAs to grow in an age of openly LGBT artists from various musical genres such as Sam Smith, Frank Ocean, and Azealia Banks.
“I think this generation is so about who we are. We hold the key to our own freedom by stepping out and being authentically ourselves. This generation is so fierce and I am glad to be in the position to usher this moment,” she said. “When you’re born in the South like I was you’re born into the civil rights movement so this struggle to me is easy.”
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The weekly column, On the “A” w/Souleo, covers the intersection of the arts, culture entertainment and philanthropy in Harlem and beyond and is written by Souleo, founder and president of event/media content production company Souleo Enterprises, LLC.
