The Suspense Is Killing Us! Just Who Will Be Crowned <em>Queen of the Desert</em>?

In this episode of Nicholas Snow Live, I am thrilled to preview the SOLD-OUT 2nd annual Queen of the Desert So-Cal Lip Sync Competition benefiting Desert AIDS Project. The fierce competition takes place Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at the Palm Springs Renaissance Hotel, emceed by the fabulous Bella da Ball and Ethylina Canne, and featuring a special performance from the 2014 Queen of the Desert, Champagne Showers.

Celebrity Judges include Raymundo Baltazar, Maude Chapeau and Dottie Du Bois (Les Dames Du Soleil), Steven Henke and Steven Michael. Contestants include Jazmyn Simone-Echelon, Miss Lola, Fabeyonce, Melissa Stratman, Crystal Champagne and Jayla D Foxx!

Listen to this episode on the BlogTalkRadio Network.

Take a glimpse at some of the queens and hear what one of the celebrity judges has to say:

The new focus of Nicholas Snow Live is the callers themselves! Monday through Friday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, call (347) 215-8866 a few minutes before showtime (or during the broadcast) to comment on the hot topics of the day.

Over 1.7 million downloads in less than three years. The show’s motto: “Connecting the Circuitry of Humanity.”

Download Nicholas Snow Live podcasts for free from iTunes.

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www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-snow/the-suspense-is-killing-u_b_7439518.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Support for Marriage Equality Growing in Catholic Communities

Over the past few years, the marriage equality landscape has rapidly shifted around the globe.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/support-for-marriage-equality-growing-in-catholic-communities?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Oscar-Winning Former Child Star Tatum O’Neal Announces She’s Dating Women Now

Proving that it’s never too late to be true to yourself, even for a precocious former child star, Tatum O’Neal has announced that she’s now dating women.

“I like women,” O’Neal tells People magazine. “I definitely have been dating mostly women recently.” The now 51-year-old actress avoids labeling her orientation and only says, “I’m not one or the other.”

She does, however note that she currently prefers the company of females. “I think women are the most amazing creatures on earth,” she says. “They’re gentle, and also more intelligent than the men that I’ve met recently. I don’t have a steady right now, but I look forward to it.”

O’Neal won immense fame and an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her film debut in the 1973 comedy Paper Moon, in which she costarred with her father Ryan as a pair of Depression-era con artists. She soon garnered a reputation as Hollywood’s premiere wild child, hitting nightclubs with Cher and Michael Jackson before she was old enough to legally drink. In her 2004 memoir A Paper Life, O’Neal chronicled her rocky relationship with her famous father, her turbulent marriage to tennis champ John McEnroe and her long battle with drug addiction and revealed that she was molested by her father’s drug dealer when she was 12.

Among O’Neal’s other notable professional credits are a memorable episode of Sex and the City, the 1976 little league baseball comedy The Bad News Bears and the raunchy summer camp comedy Little Darlings. Kristy McNichol, who costarred with O’Neal in the latter 1980 hit, came out as lesbian in 2012.

Watch O’Neal’s character Addie pull a con on a cashier in Paper Moon below.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/Nnw6xd1lXNc/oscar-winning-former-child-star-tatum-oneal-announces-shes-dating-women-now-20150527

North Carolina House Debates Anti-Gay Marriage Recusal Bill

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/05/north-carolina-house-debates-anti-gay-marriage-recusal-bill.html

How About a President Rick Santorum?

The former Pennsylvania senator is primed to launch his second bid for president today.

read more

Sunnivie Brydum

www.advocate.com/politics/election/2015/05/27/how-about-president-rick-santorum

Magnum Launches 'Be True To Your Pleasure' Campaign Featuring Gender-Nonconforming Individuals
Ice cream is for everybody — no matter what your gender.

Ice cream manufacturer Magnum launched a new ad campaign this month that encourages viewers to “Be True To Your Pleasure.” Featuring “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Willam and the stories of three gender-conforming individuals, the “Be True To Your Pleasure” campaign — while about ice cream — is also heavily about human diversity and self-actualization.

The campaign features four videos — the main ad campaign (above) and three separate videos where James, Blake and Gregory — three people who identify themselves as gender-nonconforming — talk about their gender identity.

“I’ve always wanted to be somewhere in the middle,” James explains in the below video. “I’ve always wanted to have both energies — masculine and feminine. So I thought, I shouldn’t just have one. I didn’t like the world as it was so I created my own.”

Check out more from James’ ad campaign below or head here to see the videos featuring Gregory or Blake.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/magnum-gender-nonconforming_n_7452430.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

“Anti-Conversion” Therapy Bill Moves Forward in Nevada – Lacks Protections for Transgender Youth

Last week, the Nevada Senate passed SB 353, a bill that would protect young people from dangerous so-called “conversion therapy” in Nevada.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/anti-conversion-therapy-bill-moves-forward-in-nevada-lacks-protections-for?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Westboro Buffoons Play Harry Potter Dress Up To Tell JK Rowling “Fags Shall Not Marry!”

We don’t care what point they’re trying to make. The only thing these Westboro Baptist Church members prove by dressing up in cosplay as Gandalf and Dumbledore is that they’re struggling with their own feelings of same sex attraction. And boy they must be really confused.

There is no other reason anyone would feel so compelled to think about gay marriage this much.

It started when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling endorsed a very hypothetical Irish union between her character Albus Dumbledore and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, played in the film by legendary out actor Sir Ian McKellen. You know, fiction.

Westboro Baptist threatened to picket the wedding, because they have nothing better to do than troll the internet.

Rowling fired back, saying “the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls.”

And that’s how this entered the world — a Vine from Westboro of two definitely-not-gay church members playing dress up and saying “Fags shall not marry.” Clever, guys.

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/bXFEOW0urgc/westboro-buffoons-play-harry-potter-dress-up-to-tell-jk-rowling-fags-shall-not-marry-20150527

'The Bachelorette' Baits Audiences With A 'Brokeback Bachelor' – WATCH

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/05/the-bachelorette-baits-audiences-with-a-brokeback-bachelor-watch-.html

My Sexual Awakening Happened At 17 — And I Was Unprepared For It
Throughout the next few months, HuffPost Teen is highlighting the way teens think and feel about sex through anecdotes written for our series, “Teen Sex: It’s Complicated.” All of the authors are teenagers who have agreed to be published anonymously. If you want to share your thoughts, join the conversation here.

By William, 18

“Natural” took a whole new meaning when high school started. Along with this new feeling came stories of kids, whom I had known since our days of light up Sketchers and Lunchables, doing, well, it. I always avoided thinking about it, I never talked about it, and up until this time, I had never had to deal with it but all of the sudden, I had this rush of emotions flood inside me. I came to the realization that I had a different idea of this whole “what feels natural” idea then most of the kids around me.

During my junior year of high school, I came to terms with the fact that I was gay. I was surrounded with support and love from my family and friends and I consider myself so blessed and fortunate for that. Despite the lack of external conflict, there was a sexual awakening inside of me just waiting to surface, and at the tender age of 17, I was far from prepared for it.

The first time I kissed a boy, I had a nervous breakdown and even cried a little. He tried to make moves I wasn’t ready for and it scared me. I had never been so excited and terrified and anxious at the same time. After it had happened, I was on the phone with some of my friends for upwards of 40 minutes. The second time I kissed a boy, it led to more things. I felt ashamed after this. I felt dirty and regretful but after talking it through with various people, I came to the conclusion that I shouldn’t feel ashamed. This was all natural. I had felt so distraught and confused by everything I was feeling that I never thought to realize that all of this was natural and normal.

After ironing out all of my mental wrinkles, it all started to slowly make sense. I shouldn’t fear sex. Sex is natural. Sex is something that I find to be very intimate and I hope to share my first time with someone who I care for and who cares for me; it’s not like something that people run for the hills to avoid. I calmed down a lot after this. I became comfortable with myself. I became comfortable with my sexuality. But most importantly, I became comfortable with sex. I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me nervous, but in my opinion, it’s better and more understandable than fear. I should clarify that I haven’t lost my virginity, but when I do, despite if it happens before marriage or graduation, or during college, I won’t fear it. I’ll embrace it. There are many things I fear in life, but sex is the last of them.

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Read more from “Teen Sex: It’s Complicated”:

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www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/27/my-sexual-awakening-happened-at-17—-and-i-was-unprepared-for-it_n_7452094.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices