Category Archives: MISC

Kavanaugh Lied Under Oath & Must Be Held Accountable

Kavanaugh Lied Under Oath & Must Be Held Accountable

Today, HRC called on the U.S. Senate to hold Brett Kavanaugh responsible for lying under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee and to reject his nomination.

“No one is entitled to an appointment to the United States Supreme Court. Honesty and integrity are essential qualifications. It is now clear that Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the American people,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “From the start, this confirmation process has been rushed, documents withheld, and the nominee has demonstrated lack of candor and temperament. Enough is enough. The American people deserve better than this. This nomination must be withdrawn or voted down”

There is compelling evidence that Brett Kavanaugh has lied regarding a range of issues including about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford being in his social circle, the Blasey Ford allegation being the subject of an investigation prior to the White House instructions to the FBI, the content and conclusion of witnesses  statements, and his alcohol usage while at Yale

He has claimed he did not “drink to the point of blacking out” in high school and college, contrary to claims made by numerous classmates. He claimed the derogatory and insinuating remark written in yearbooks (“Renate Alumnius”) about a female classmate (which she called “horrible, hurtful, and simply untrue”) was a “sign of affection” and not related to sexual conquests, a claim disputed by four other classmates, including Sean Hagan, who wrote of Kavanaugh’s lie regarding this: “So angry. So disgusted. So sad. Integrity? Character? Honesty?” Kavanaugh even lied about the relatively trivial definitions of sexual slang terms used by he and his classmates.

Notably, Kavanaugh also claimed he was unaware that a Republican staffer in the Bush White House had stolen documents about judicial nominations from the computer servers of Democratic lawmakers, when in fact, he was sent the stolen documents through email and expressed an interest in meeting in-person to review them.

In August, the Human Rights Campaign joined partner coalition organizations in calling on Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley to order the release of millions of documents in the National Archives and George W. Bush Presidential Library related to the career of Brett Kavanaugh, a standard practice for Supreme Court nominees. This was ignored by Chairman Grassley, Senate Republicans, and the White House.

To that end, HRC released a video and report explaining why understanding Kavanaugh’s record at the White House is important; during these years, former President George W. Bush pressed for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from marrying and opposed hate crimes legislation.

To date, an estimated 97 percent of the documents related to Brett Kavanaugh’s career have yet to be released, an unprecedented lack of transparency for a Supreme Court nominee.

www.hrc.org/blog/brett-kavanaugh-lied-under-oath-must-be-held-accountable?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Jussie Smollett, Beto O’Rourke, Drag Con, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joe Masteroff, Lindsay Lohan, Will & Grace: HOT LINKS

Jussie Smollett, Beto O’Rourke, Drag Con, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joe Masteroff, Lindsay Lohan, Will & Grace: HOT LINKS

SAVE A LIFE. Jussie Smollett appears in PSA for The Trevor Project: “It’s heartbreaking to think of the amount of LGBTQ youth out there who feel hopeless and alone, or think they don’t have support,” said Smollett, who appears in the PSA below. “Just one supportive person can decrease an LGBTQ youth’s risk of suicide by 30%, and The Trevor Project is giving everyone the amazing opportunity to be that person. I can’t encourage you enough to apply — volunteering your time can literally save lives.”

BETO O’ROURKE. Ted Cruz challenger holds largest political rally since 2016 election: ‘O’Rourke’s political rally was held Saturday night at an outdoor amphitheater in Austin, Texas,  with country music singer Willie Nelson and other country music performers onstage. The campaign said that more than 50,000 people had RSVP’d to attend the concert, while actual attendance was estimated at about  55,000.

LINDSAY LOHAN. Attacked after trying to take a couple’s child.

CRISTIANO RONALDO. Las Vegas woman says she was raped by the Real Madrid footballer: “They met on June 12, 2009 in a Las Vegas nightclub. Ronaldo was there on vacation with his brother-in-law and cousin. It was the summer when the star, then 24, would transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid for a then-record sum of 94 million euros. Kathryn Mayorga, 25 at the time, was a budding model and one of her jobs was to hang out with other young, beautiful women in front of bars to lure in guests.”

RIP. Joe Masteroff, who adapted Cabaret. ‘Inspired by Christopher Isherwood’s “Berlin Stories” and John van Druten’s stage adaptation, “I Am a Camera,” “Cabaret,” with a book by Mr. Masteroff, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, was a smash hit, running 1,165 performances. It won eight Tonys, including for best musical, and was followed by a national tour, a London production, an Oscar-winning 1972 film starring Liza Minnelli, many major revivals and countless community theater productions.’

AWKWAFINA. The first Asian woman to host SNL in 18 years.

TEXAS. Governor Greg Abbott says anti-LGBTQ bathroom bill no longer on agenda.

FLORIDA. Gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis appears at Miami event with anti-gay pundit Raynard Jackson who insulted Pulse nightclub victims. ‘He’s been fervently and angrily tweeting and blogging about the evils of the “homosexual lobby” for years. He seems to hate gay people, trans people, gender-nonbinary people, and anyone who doesn’t believe that men and women should get married at age 19 and pump out 33 kids.’

CALIFORNIA. Feds sue over state’s Net Neutrality law: ‘Among 34 bills signed Sunday, Brown approved the nation’s toughest net neutrality protections, setting up a legal fight by bringing back Obama-era internet regulations the federal government repealed about nine months ago. The Justice Department almost immediately filed its lawsuit, arguing Senate Bill 822 interferes with the federal government’s deregulatory approach to the internet, according to a statement.’

NANCY PELOSI. Impeaching Kavanaugh is a possibility.

Would a Democratic majority impeach Brett Kavanaugh?

.@nancypelosi says if he’s not telling the truth, he’s not fit to be on the Supreme Court or the court he’s on right now. #TribFest18

Watch live: t.co/7g5SMWLfnV pic.twitter.com/uI8OkfDQQK

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) September 29, 2018

READY4REPEAL. Group behind calls to repeal Singapore’s ban on gay sex urges public to contact lawmakers: ‘Ready4Repeal held its first town hall on Sunday (Sept 30), which drew 818 participants to Singapore Management University. There, the group shared updates on the petition they submitted to the Government, and laid out the next steps.Speaking after several LGBT people shared how 377A emboldened others to harm them, petition co-author Johannes Hadi said: “We need you to take these stories to your MPs.”‘

ORCAS. Half of world’s population threatened by PCBs.

HOLIDAY MASH-UP OF THE DAY. Mac and Cheese Candy Canes: ‘Seattle company Archie McPhee, which previously brought candy lovers bacon-flavored candy canes, is selling the new confectionary curiosity on its website. It describes the 5 1/4-inch-tall, yellow-and-white-striped candy canes as having “cheesy flavoring” that tastes “like your childhood favorite – mac and cheese. It’s like comfort food-flavored comfort food!”‘

SEEN AT DRAG CON. RuPaul, Tina Fey, Charles M. Blow, Nico Tortorella…and more …

DRAG CON ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DAY. Trixie Mattel and Katya are bringing back their talk show:

UNHhhh is BACK, kitty girls! Catch this clip of our Trixie & Katya panel at #DragCon NYC where @trixiemattel and @katya_zamo announce the return of UNHhhh on #WOWPresents Plus Watch the full trailer NOW on the @worldofwonder Twitter! pic.twitter.com/DdciQqST8l

— RuPaul’s DragCon (@RuPaulsDragCon) September 29, 2018

IRONIC INTERRUPTION OF THE DAY. A race horse charged into a bar where people were betting on horse races.

AMNESIA OF THE DAY. The Will & Grace cast can’t remember their first appearance on Ellen 14 years ago.

MONDAY MUSCLE. Zach Graves.

The post Jussie Smollett, Beto O’Rourke, Drag Con, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joe Masteroff, Lindsay Lohan, Will & Grace: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


Jussie Smollett, Beto O’Rourke, Drag Con, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joe Masteroff, Lindsay Lohan, Will & Grace: HOT LINKS

Broadway Performer Goes Viral with Dramatic Retelling of Lindsey Graham’s Kavanaugh ‘Hissy Fit’ — WATCH

Broadway Performer Goes Viral with Dramatic Retelling of Lindsey Graham’s Kavanaugh ‘Hissy Fit’ — WATCH

Broadway actor and costumer Billy Hipkins had a few words about Senator Lindsey Graham’s “full on hissy fit” during last week’s Brett Kavanaugh hearing and his rant has gone viral, with nearly 300,000 views as of this posting.

Said Hipkins of Graham’s tantrum, in a dramatic southern drawl: “Then she snatched up her petticoats, called for her carriage and made for the plantation whipping them horses hell for leather! Upon arrival it is said that she stormed up to her bedroom suite, where the upstairs servants reported hearing her ripping the heads off of several of her dollies before falling into a deep and troubled slumber where she dreamed of actual vaginas coming to take away her rights!”



And more:

And Hipkins later talked about his viral moment:

The post Broadway Performer Goes Viral with Dramatic Retelling of Lindsey Graham’s Kavanaugh ‘Hissy Fit’ — WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


Broadway Performer Goes Viral with Dramatic Retelling of Lindsey Graham’s Kavanaugh ‘Hissy Fit’ — WATCH

HRC Celebrates LGBTQ History Month Highlighting Out Candidates Making History

HRC Celebrates LGBTQ History Month Highlighting Out Candidates Making History

As we mark the beginning of LGBTQ History Month, HRC is proud to honor openly LGBTQ candidates running to make history this November and the LGBTQ trailblazers who helped pave the way for them.

While millions of LGBTQ people across the nation are under attack from Donald Trump and Mike Pence, more than 400 openly LGBTQ candidates are taking a stand against the administration’s hateful and discriminatory policies and are running for public office at every level of government — many for the first time.

Of course, LGBTQ candidates aren’t a new phenomenon. Harvey Milk made history in 1977 when he was elected to serve as a San Francisco City Supervisor, becoming one of the first openly LGBTQ elected officials in the country. Other pioneers include José Julio Sarria, who was the first openly gay candidate to run for public office in the U.S.

Today’s openly LGBTQ trailblazers include U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who broke barriers in 2012 by becoming the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the U.S. Senate — and the first woman Wisconsin voters sent to the Senate. HRC is proud to endorse Baldwin’s re-election bid. Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema was the first openly bisexual member elected to the U.S. House in 2012 and could become the nation’s first openly bi U.S. senator if she wins her bid in November.

Pro-equality candidates including Angie Craig, Chris Pappas, Gina Ortiz Jones, Lauren Baer, Rick Neal and Sharice Davids would each be their states’ first openly LGBTQ representatives to serve in Congress.

Additionally, Christine Hallquist, Jared Polis and Lupe Valdez are making historic bids to become the nation’s first openly LGBTQ governors to serve in their respective states, and Kate Brown, the first openly bisexual person to be elected governor is seeking re-election.

LGBTQ candidates are also looking to make waves down ballot and in state legislatures nationwide.

Nelson Araujo could make history as Nevada’s first openly gay Latinx person elected to statewide office. Jeremy Moss would be the first openly gay member of the Michigan state senate. Nickie Antonio  — the first out person elected to the Ohio state house — would be the state’s first LGBTQ official elected to the senate. Malcolm Kenyatta, if elected, would become Pennsylvania’s first LGBTQ person of color to serve in the Keystone State’s legislature.  

In an historic wave of LGBTQ progress and trans visibility, eight openly transgender Americans were elected to office last November — demonstrating the power of the millions of equality voters uniting to resist the Trump-Pence administration’s dangerous anti-LGBTQ agenda.

With so much at stake, join HRC in making sure these LGBTQ candidates are elected up and down the ballot this November. Take action today and help us turn out the vote and finally pull the emergency brake on the Trump-Pence administration once and for all.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-celebrates-lgbtq-history-month-highlighting-out-candidates-making-histo?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Is the Best Political Play of the Trump Era: REVIEW

‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Is the Best Political Play of the Trump Era: REVIEW

When writer-performer Heidi Schreck was 15, she traveled the U.S. giving speeches about the Constitution for prize money that paid her college tuition. As an origin story, it sounds almost impossibly quaint. Who can imagine mustering any such civic zeal today? As last week’s senate hearings proved, women’s full humanity is still on trial more than 200 years after being omitted from our founding document. Schreck interrogates the legacy of America’s legislation of women by revisiting those teenage debates in What the Constitution Means to Me, which opened off-Broadway tonight.

The result is by turns deeply funny, heart wrenching, inspirational, and one of the most searing and enlightening pieces of political theatre in recent memory. If you have been paying attention and are mad as hell, if your faith in America has been tested past the breaking point, if you feel like putting your head between your knees and wailing until your voice goes hoarse, get yourself to New York Theatre Workshop. You’re in excellent company.

The rules of competition, as laid out by Mike Iveson (playing an American Legion moderator, and later himself), encouraged young speakers to make their arguments personal by demonstrating how the Constitution’s legalese actually affected their lives. Schreck takes this approach to the entire piece, illustrating specific clauses with family lore that reaches back through generations of women.

Her great-great grandmother was considered a “good immigrant” when she arrived from Germany — after her husband ordered her from a catalogue. Her official cause of death was ‘melancholia’ at the age of 36. Grandmother Schreck’s second husband was horribly abusive; Schreck’s mother is the one who turned him in.

“What does it mean,” Schreck asks, “that the document will not protect us from the violence of men?” It was the most urgent question coursing through everyone’s veins when I attended the show on Thursday, September 27, after millions had spent the day rapt by starkly contrasting testimony regarding Christine Blasey Ford’s alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanagh.

The statistics are startling, but nothing new. As Schreck puts it, “more American women have been killed by violent male partners in the last century than Americans have been killed in wars, including 9/11.” Not just any men, but their own romantic partners. “I think you can feel it kind of humming underneath… everything,” Schreck says of this fact. That night it felt more like a roar, one that will likely continue to resound for some time.

Schreck, who began developing this piece 10 years go, is a remarkably sincere storyteller with a gift for remaining uncannily present in the room and in the moment. When a cell phone went off in the front few rows, she actually thanked the offending patron for providing a release valve to a particularly emotional moment. In Schreck’s hands and under Oliver Butler’s direction, What the Constitution Means to Me feels unmistakably alive — like a vital conversation, a sit-in, a seance of sorts for the soul of the country. It even turns into a live debate, when an real teen debate champ comes out to spar with her (a preternaturally sharp Rosdely Ciprian the night I attended).

“My mom says when you get worried that everything is moving backwards, that things are getting worse instead of better,” Schreck says, “you should imagine a woman walking along a beach with a dog.” Picture the dog scurrying back and forth, but recognize that the woman continues to move forward. The world has little choice but to follow.

Recent theatre features…
Trans Representation Comes at a Price in ‘The Nap’ on Broadway: REVIEW
Dangerous Nostalgia Gets a Glow Up in ‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’ on Broadway: REVIEW
New Musical ‘Be More Chill’ Is Like an Incel’s Answer to ‘Mean Girls’: REVIEW
New Go-Go’s Musical ‘Head Over Heels’ Is a Goddamn Queer Delight: REVIEW
Get in, Losers: The ‘Mean Girls’ Musical Is Fun as Hell: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
(photos: joan marcus)

The post ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Is the Best Political Play of the Trump Era: REVIEW appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Is the Best Political Play of the Trump Era: REVIEW

Must-See LGBTQ TV: ‘Marvel: Rising Secret Warriors,’ the return of ‘Will & Grace’ and Superstore,’ and Alyssa Edward series ‘Dancing Queen’

Must-See LGBTQ TV: ‘Marvel: Rising Secret Warriors,’ the return of ‘Will & Grace’ and Superstore,’ and Alyssa Edward series ‘Dancing Queen’

Photo Credit: NBC

Grab the remote, set your DVR or queue up your streaming service of choice! GLAAD is bringing you the highlights LGBTQ on TV this week. Check back every Sunday for up-to-date coverage in LGBTQ-inclusive programming on TV.

Tonight, Disney Channel and Disney XD will air Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, a movie about a group of teen superheroes from the Marvel canon who join up to form the Secret Warriors. The team consists of Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Quake, Patriot, and America Chavez, the Marvel comics’ first Latina lesbian superhero. It’s exciting to see America hit the small screen, and we hope she is represented in all her identities, and this can serve as an introduction of America and further queer characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors: Sunday, 10pm on Disney Channel and Disney XD.

On Thursday, the NBC workplace comedy Superstore returns for a fourth season. Nominated for a GLAAD Media Award last year, the show follows a group of individuals working at the fictional superstore, Cloud Nine. This includes Mateo, a gay undocumented Filipino man played by out actor Nico Santos. In the season four opener, Amy and Jonah return from suspension, and steel themselves for a barrage of jokes and snide comments about their sex video. Jeff, meanwhile, goes to extreme lengths to win back Mateo. Superstore: Thursday, 8pm on NBC.

The tenth season of Will & Grace returns on Thursday night. In the second season since its revival, the show features the same beloved gay characters, the titular Will and scene-stealer Jack, played by out actor Sean Hayes. In the season premiere, Jack wants to look younger before meeting Estefan’s family on Skype but makes a terrible first impression after overdoing the numbing cream before his facial procedure. Meanwhile, Will helps Karen protect the intellectual property rights of her most prized possession. Will & Grace: Thursday, 9pm on NBC.

This Friday on Netflix the docuseries Dancing Queen will be released in full. Following Drag Race season five and All Stars 2 fan favorite Alyssa Edwards (Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson), the show looks into her fame with drag as well as the dance studio she runs in Texas. Showing Alyssa and Justin depending on the scenario, the show takes a look at not just a celebrity, but someone who fosters a specific community. Dancing Queen: Friday on Netflix.

Sunday, September 30: Fear the Walking Dead (8pm, AMC); The Deuce (9pm, HBO); Shameless (9pm, Showtime); The Last Ship (9pm, TNT) Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors (10pm, Disney)

Monday: 9-1-1 (9pm, Fox); Bull (10pm, CBS)

Tuesday: This Is Us (9pm, NBC); NCIS: New Orleans (10pm, CBS)

Wednesday: Burden of Truth (8pm, The CW); Empire (8pm, Fox); American Housewife (8:30pm, ABC); Modern Family (9pm, ABC); Star (9pm, Fox); American Horror Story: Apocalypse (10pm, FX)

Thursday: Grey’s Anatomy (8pm, ABC); Superstore (8pm, ABC); Station 19 (9pm, ABC); Will & Grace (9pm, NBC); How to Get Away with Murder (10pm, ABC); S.W.A.T. (10pm, CBS)

Friday: Dancing Queen (Netflix); The Cool Kids (8:30pm, Fox); Van Helsing (10pm, Syfy)

September 30, 2018

www.glaad.org/blog/must-see-lgbtq-tv-marvel-rising-secret-warriors-return-will-grace-and-superstore-and-alyssa

Kellyanne Conway: ‘I’m a Victim of Sexual Assault’ — WATCH

Kellyanne Conway: ‘I’m a Victim of Sexual Assault’ — WATCH

Kellyanne Conway told CNN’s Jake Tapper that she is a victim of sexual assault in a conversation about the Kavanaugh allegations on State of the Union Sunday: “I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment and rape. I’m a victim of sexual assault. I don’t expect Judge Kavanaugh or Jake Tapper or Jeff Flake or anybody to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct.”

Replied Tapper: “I’m sorry you went through that…but you work for a president that says all the women who have accused him are lying. There have been a number of people…”

“And don’t conflate that,” Conway responded. “With this…and certainly don’t conflate that with what happened to me. It’d be a huge mistake, Jake. Let’s not do it. Let’s not always bring Trump into everything that happens in this universe.”

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Kellyanne Conway: ‘I’m a Victim of Sexual Assault’ — WATCH