2015 Oscar Nominations: Imitation Game, Meryl Streep, Still Alice & More
Read the full list of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, to be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
Jerry Portwood
Category Archives: NEWS
The Golden Globes Isn't the Only Victory for the Trans Community This Year
The Golden Globes Isn't the Only Victory for the Trans Community This Year
This week, actor Jeffrey Tambor dedicated his big Golden Globe win for his role in the television show Transparent to the trans community. In his acceptance speech, he thanked the large, and largely underrepresented community, for their patience. Although he didn’t clarify what he meant by that, I assume he said this to help secure sensitive and accurate representation in the media — representation, which, in the wake of the death of transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, could potentially save lives.
In recent years, there have been several small and not so small victories for the trans community. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was one of them and it’s worth examining now as it deserves national acclaim, too. The ACA forbids discrimination of sexual orientation and gender identity in health care — the first time a federal law has ever done so.
Across the country, young trans and gender non-conforming individuals are faced with a lack a sensitivity or awareness every day; one only has to look down a school hallway or in a restaurant, where bathrooms are offered to two types of people — men and women. This example alone makes the ACA more inclusive than most public facilities or businesses in the United States.
But the ACA isn’t just inclusive. The meat of the law is meant to produce better health outcomes for all young adults, including trans Millennials. In the past, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals frequently faced refusal of care, harassment and violence from service providers, and a general lack of knowledge when it comes to trans health. Because of this, LGBTQ adults of all ages are nearly twice as likely to delay seeking medical attention than their heterosexual adults. Because of the ACA, more access is available to trans millennials who need medical care.
This includes mental health services. In a national survey on trans health and health care, over 41 percent of trans individuals, reported attempting suicide. Under the ACA, mental health services are one of the ten Essential Health Benefits covered on most plans. Leelah Alcorn was unfortunately unable to access the help she needed, but the ACA will hopefully save the lives of trans young adults still struggling to become who they are.
On top of being good for your health, the ACA’s friendly on the wallet. In the new health insurance marketplaces, most adults can get a plan for $100 or less a month. LGBTQ millennials may also be eligible for an “advanceable” tax credit that can lower the cost of buying insurance up front, meaning they won’t have to reach into their own wallets to reap the benefits of a healthier life.
Jeffrey Tambor made a great point this last Sunday — representation matters. That’s also why the ACA matters, and will continue to matter, for trans young adults looking for an affordable path to a healthier life.
For more information, visit our friends at Out2Enroll – they have great literature and resources for young LGBTQ adults. For more about Young Invincibles and the work we do for all millennials, including trans young adults, visit YoungInvincibles.org!
YouTube Stars Come Out to Dad in Emotional Video
Married Uber Driver Tried To Sexually Assault Male Passenger
Married Uber Driver Tried To Sexually Assault Male Passenger
“Sit in the front,” Uber driver Adnan Nafasat (pictured) told the male passenger in the early morning hours of July 31.
But Nafasat was hardly being a gentleman, prosecutors told a Cook County court on Wednesday.
The 46-year-old driver allegedly told the 21-year-old passenger the back seat was dirty in an effort to lure the young man closer so he could violently sexually assault him.
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Cooper, once the passenger was in the front seat, Nafasat, a married father of three, grabbed the young man’s crotch and put his tongue and fingers in his mouth.
The passenger begged Nafasat to stop then asked to be taken home, to which he replied he “was not going home” and that “nobody knew where he was.”
At a traffic light, Nafasat then grabbed the passenger by the throat and started choking him, nearly knocking him unconscious. After breaking free from his attacker’s grip, the passenger tried to jump from the vehicle, but Nafasat was driving too fast.
Nafasat then allegedly drove the young man to an unfamiliar neighborhood, where he parked the car, unzipped his trousers, and tried to force him to perform oral sex on him.
The young man pushed away and, again, begged to be taken home. This time, Nafasat complied.
Upon arriving home, the passenger contacted police. Nafasat was taken into custody, where he admitted to groping the male customer and exposing himself.
On Wednesday, Judge James Brown ordered Nafasat be held in lieu of $150,000 bail on charges of criminal sexual assault, unlawful restraint and kidnapping.
Uber spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin told press, “Our thoughts are with the victim of this horrible incident. We immediately removed the driver from our platform upon learning of the allegations and have been assisting authorities with the investigation.”
Related stories:
Adorable, Cuddly Gay Couple Kicked To The Curb By Uber Driver For Being Adorable And Cuddly
Uber Driver Fired For Refusing To Let Gay People In His Car
Halifax Taxi Driver Sacrifices Fare To Keep 2 Husbands Desecrating Back Of His Cab With a Kiss
Graham Gremore
Troy Aikman: Gay is Not My 'Lifestyle Choice'
Troy Aikman: Gay is Not My 'Lifestyle Choice'
In an interview published by Sports Illustrated this week, former Dallas Cowboy Troy Aikman says he is still “bothered” by a 1996 claim made by then columnist now sports commentator Skip Bayless that he is gay.
Aikman calls being gay a “lifestyle people choose,” calling it “ridiculous” that someone might think he’d choose it:
I’m upset about it because it was made up and there was nothing accurate about anything that was insinuated. And he did it, as he does everything, just for attention. I am probably more upset because I probably should have responded to it at the time it was going on. The advice to me was “Hey, just don’t address it. It’s not worth it. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s ridiculous. All it’s going to do is have people continue to talk about his book.” So I didn’t. But I probably could have responded differently and maybe that would have changed things. Maybe it wouldn’t have. But it is ridiculous, and, yeah, it bothers me. If that is a lifestyle people choose, so be it. It doesn’t affect me one way or another. But it is not my lifestyle.
Aikman told a radio host in 2011 that he was still so angry at Bayless over the claim that he might resort to physical violence if he ran into him.
In February 2009, Bayless said he stood by his statements.
Andy Towle
www.towleroad.com/2015/01/troy-aikman-gay-is-not-my-lifestyle-choice.html
'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' Has Raised $400K for LGBT Youth
'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' Has Raised $400K for LGBT Youth
The Broadway musical has made another major donation as part of its charitable partnership with the Hetrick-Martin Institute.
Brandon Voss
Watch: Ellen DeGeneres Owns her Sexual Orientation in Viral Video
Watch: Ellen DeGeneres Owns her Sexual Orientation in Viral Video
On her show this week, Ellen DeGeneres made headlines after standing up to an anti-LGBT critic.
HRC.org
North Carolina GOP Lawmakers Ask Supreme Court to Review Gay Marriage Ruling
North Carolina GOP Lawmakers Ask Supreme Court to Review Gay Marriage Ruling
GOP lawmakers in North Carolina, joined by newly sworn in U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (above middle) and the National Organization for Marriage, are asking the Supreme Court to grant review of the ruling that brought marriage equality to the state back in October, The Advocate reports:
In a 35-page filing, the top lawmakers in the state legislature — President Pro Tempore of the Senate Phil Berger and Tillis in his capacity as House speaker — make the case for review in a petition for certiorari before judgment.
“The current push to redefine marriage to encompass same-sex relationships would remove several of the other key components of the institution of marriage,” the brief states. “It would remove biological complementarity, therefore depriving a significant number of children of being raised by both of their biological parents and removing them from a structured household with both masculine and feminine influences.”
The petition is an unusual move because the federal appeals court considering the lawsuit, in this case the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, has yet to issue a decision on lawmakers’ appeal of the marriage ruling.
But lawmakers argue that Supreme Court review of the North Carolina case at this stage is warranted because the Fourth Circuit already erred in its decision against Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage by ignoring the 1972 decision of Baker v. Nelson, a marriage equality case the Supreme Court refused to hear for lack of federal question.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court declined to hear a similar petition for certiorari before judgement from Louisiana. The high court is expected to announce whether it will take up a Sixth Circuit case tomorrow.
Read North Carolina’s petition below via Equality Case Files:
Kyler Geoffroy
Lypsinka to Star in 'Once Upon a Mattress'
Lypsinka to Star in 'Once Upon a Mattress'
The drag legend will play Queen Aggravain in Transport Group’s off-Broadway revival of the classic musical comedy.
Brandon Voss
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/theater/2015/01/15/lypsinka-star-once-upon-mattress
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Makes Another Connection To 'Asylum'
'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Makes Another Connection To 'Asylum'
A lot of bizarre shocking stuff happened in the penultimate episode of “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” but most important was another huge connection made to a previous season.
Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “AHS: Freak Show” Episode 12, “Show Stoppers.”
First of all, let’s not ignore the fact that your Oscars host, aka Neil Patrick Harris, cut Emma Roberts in half last night, had sex with a two-headed woman and then murdered his wooden puppet and cried over it. No big deal. Now moving on to the important stuff …
Murphy revealed last October that all the seasons of “American Horror Story” are connected. The first major connection happened in the “Freak Show” mid-season finale when Sister Mary Eunice from Season 2 appeared, revealing how Pepper had arrived at Briarcliff in “Asylum.” But now “AHS” has made an even further connection between the second and fourth seasons with another character: Dr. Arden.
Fans of the series will remember Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) from “Asylum,” the physician at Briarcliff Manor who conducts sadistic experiments on patients. It’s revealed that Dr. Arden is a Nazi war criminal who’s birth name was Hans Gruper. In Season 2, we get a brief flashback of Gruper at a concentration camp (who is played by Cromwell’s real-life son, John Cromwell). Arden also amputated Shelley’s (Chloe Sevigny) legs in Season 2.
Image via Tumblr
It seemed likely that Arden could be connected to “Freak Show” in relation to Elsa Mars’ origin story: while shooting a snuff film in 1932 Berlin, Elsa was drugged and her legs were cut off with a chainsaw by German men. Fans speculated that a young Dr. Arden could’ve been behind this, and they were right. Wednesday’s episode revealed, it was him.
Image via Tumblr
“Freak Show” flashed back to the 1930s when Massimo Dolcefino (Danny Huston), Elsa’s lover at the time, attempted to kill the man responsible for taking her legs. His name was Hans Gruper (played again by John Cromwell). Massimo failed to kill him, so Gruper tortured the man for years until a German soldier set him free. It’s unknown what happened between then and when Gruper, aka Arden, arrived at Briarcliff when it operated as a tuberculosis ward, but we finally know that he was the same man.
And just for fun (or maybe it has purpose), Murphy threw in another Season 2 connection. While Elsa and her “monsters” are toasting and about to watch a movie, they all plead to Elsa, “Not ‘The Sign of the Cross’ again!” If you remember from “Asylum,” the 1932 film “The Sign of the Cross” was Sister Jude’s movie of choice. Could it just be a coincidence or meaningless wink from Murphy that both of Jessica Lange’s characters enjoy that film? Hmm.
The season finale of “American Horror Story: Freak Show” airs on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 10:00 p.m. ET on FX.
