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WATCH: Bobby Jindal Wants a Federal Marriage Amendment Too
The Louisiana governor and possible 2016 GOP presidential hopeful says if the Supreme Court strikes down his state’s marriage ban, he’s all for amending the U.S. Constitution.
Sunnivie Brydum
Matt Palmer, LGBT Musician, Releases 'Break-Up'
This one is going to get stuck in your head for sure.
Matt Palmer is a pop/R&B musician whose EP “Stranger Than Fiction” served as his debut as an openly gay artist. The first track off of the EP, “Break-Up,” has just been released with it’s own video — and we love it!
The Huffington Post chatted with Palmer this week about “Break-Up” and his vision for the video.
The Huffington Post: What is your concept for “Break-Up”?
Matt Palmer: The concept was created by me and the director Ryan Bartley. The verses show my character’s actual reaction to getting broken up with in a public place while the choruses are essentially how he sees these memories. He’d like to think he stayed calm, cool and collected while his world crumbled around him but clearly — that’s not what happened!
Who is Matt Palmer as an artist?
I think of myself as a singer-songwriter at my core. While I love a polished, well-produced pop track more than anybody, all of my favorite songs can be played with just a piano and vocals and still hold up! I grew up listening to artists like Babyface, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson, so I always try to write songs that really have emotional resonance like all of their work.
Many argue that R&B as a genre has historically been rooted in homophobia. How do you aim to combat it through your work?
I don’t know that I’d say R&B is rooted in that history, but I’m sure many R&B fans have listened to artists with homophobic or misogynistic points of view on their records. I think I combat that by writing autobiographical songs that people outside of my specific demographic can relate to. If someone with no experience with gay people likes my music and can relate to the lyrics, maybe they’ll see that we’re not all that different.
What does the future hold for Matt Palmer?
This year I want to do everything I can to get people to hear “Stranger Than Fiction”! I’m so proud of this collection of songs, and I am going to do my best to get people listening. I hope to play more live shows and start writing songs to pitch to other artists later this year.
Want to see more from Matt Palmer? Head here.
Houstonians Closely Watch Upcoming Trial, Ready for HERO to Take Effect
Today, jury selection begins in the trial over petitions to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO).
HRC.org
Police Rush To Richard Simmons’ Mansion After Concerned Friend Fears The Worst
Two LAPD officers showed up to Richard Simmons’ Hollywood Hills home Friday evening after a concerned friend contacted them fearing the Sweatin’ to the Oldies star was in trouble, TMZ reports.
The friend was worried because Simmons hasn’t been seen in almost a year. Afraid the fitness guru was being abused, he emailed the L.A. County D.A.’s Elder Abuse Unit. When officers showed up for a welfare check, Simmons answered the door. He was sporting a long tangly beard.
Police say the 66-year-old was very gracious and appeared to be in good health as he welcomed them into his mansion.
According to TMZ, Simmons went MIA about a year ago, shortly after appearing in this amazing online ad for Bumble Bee tuna. He cut himself off from his friends, stopped going into his Beverly Hills fitness studio, and hasn’t made any public appearances. Friends say this sort of behavior is not like him, and that there is no way Simmons would voluntarily shut himself off like this. They believe something sinister must be going on.
His manager, however, says Simmons is depressed over a knee injury and that’s why he hasn’t left the house.
Simmons told officers Friday that he was “exhausted” after living the past 30 years in the public eye. “I just want to spend time with myself,” he said. Then he added that he keeps in regular touch with the people who matter most to him.
And as for his fitness studio, “I’ve got people who run things. I don’t need to be there,” he said.
Police say Simmons was walking with a slight limp, which is “consistent with a knee injury.”
Here’s hoping he’s able to pull himself out of this funk.
Get well soon, Richard!
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WATCH: Richard Simmons Has Never Been This Excited About Tuna Before
16 Reasons Richard Simmons Is (Still) Winning The Internet
Richard Simmons’ Daytime Drag: Which Look Is Best?
Graham Gremore
News: Emma Watson, Alabama, Sam Smith, Gay Guide to the Superbowl
A lone dissenter disrupted the ordination of the Church of England’s first female bishop today, shouting that the concept of the ordination of women was “not in the bible.”
Here’s the list of winners from last night’s Screen Actors Guild Award.
King Felipe VI of Spain has become the first European monarch to pose for the cover of a gay magazine.
British news magazine The Week sounds off on why the SCOTUS same-sex marriage case this year won’t be the Roe v. Wade anti-gay activists hope it will be. “But the conviction that the fetus has dignity and rights that must be protected by the state against lethal violence did not vanish or even weaken prior to 1973, and it remains there today for millions of (other) Americans, bolstered by the most cogent anti-abortion arguments and abetted by the latest advances in ultrasound technology. That’s why abortion is still so polarizing and likely to remain so: because there are very strong publicly legitimate arguments on both sides of the issue. On gay marriage, there are no cogent arguments on the “anti” side. Which is why it is bound to be accepted by an overwhelming majority of Americans, and very soon. Even, I’d predict, by many of the traditionalist Christians who will persist (for a time) in rejecting the validity of such marriages in theological terms.”
Emma Watson has been cast as Belle in the upcoming live-action adaption of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Citing regulatory problems, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper called the legalization of weed in his state a “bad idea”.
Sam Smith has agreed to fork over songwriting royalties to Tom Petty after Petty’s lawyers took notice of similarities between Smith’s “Stay With Me” and the 1989 classic “I Won’t Back Down”.
After whispers of health scares, Richard Simmons is reportedly doing alright.
AL.com editorial board gives a ringing endorsement of marriage equality: “Some argue that when the Declaration and Constitution were written, the framers did not conceive that their notion of rights extended to gay men and women, and marriage. No doubt true. For many at that time, such thinking did not even extend to equality for America’s black citizens. But when America moved to right that wrong, Alabama stayed on the wrong side of history for too long (and our own 1901 state constitution purported to forbid interracial marriage until 2000, long after that had been rendered unenforceable by the Supreme Court.) Alabama should consider whether it wishes to be in that place again…”
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad was rushed to the hospital today after collapsing at an event in Johnston.
The Daily Beast looks into the ongoing spat between LGBT advocates and religious folks over wedding cakes.
A small drone crashed on the White House property this morning, with an investigation underway to determine its origin.
Mandy Moore has announced her split from husband Ryan Adams.
Male model Monday: Nic Palladino.
The gay guide to Super Bowl XLIX.
Corrupt, anti-gay ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will remain free while his corruption case is on appeal.
Openly gay Australian film director Dean Francis isn’t happy with his country’s slow progress on LGBT rights. “The thing that inspired us to make this film is that we still live in a very homophobic world and in terms of western countries we live in a particularly homophobic country…America will join the many other nations that have sanctioned gay marriage and we will once again be left behind and we are humiliated.”
Zachary Quinto will not be making a return to the rebooted Heroes Reborn TV series.
Kyler Geoffroy
Lgbt and the bible & thoughts..
Housing Secretary Julián Castro to Make Major Announcement at LGBTQ Conference
HUD secretary Castro is expected to introduce additional policies to protect LGBTQ people from housing discrimination.
Michelle Garcia
The Gay Guy's Guide To Coming Out
Check out this episode of The Gay Guy’s Guide To Life for a few tips for coming out like a pro!
Rob Smith is an author, journalist, and openly gay Iraq war veteran. Closets, Combat and Coming Out is available now on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com and wherever LGBT and progressive books are sold. For more on Rob, visit him on his YouTube channel and on Twitter @robsmithonline.
Major Alabama News Site Comes Out in Support of Marriage Equality
A major news site in Alabama published an op-ed in support of marriage equality yesterday.
HRC.org
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