Ian Somerhalder and Chris Wood Recreate Steamy ‘Vampire Diaries’ Kiss in the Rain: WATCH

In a sizzle reel that debut at San Diego Comic Con over the weekend, romance and pure evil mix as Vampire Diaries co-stars Ian Somerhalder and Chris Wood recreate one of the show’s iconic kiss scenes in the rain.

“Promise me this is forever,” Wood whispers. “I promise” replies Somerhalder.

Now if only those insufferable Twilight movies would have had more steamy scenes like this…

Watch Somerhalder and Wood lock lips below [kiss occurs at end of video]

The post Ian Somerhalder and Chris Wood Recreate Steamy ‘Vampire Diaries’ Kiss in the Rain: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Ian Somerhalder and Chris Wood Recreate Steamy ‘Vampire Diaries’ Kiss in the Rain: WATCH

The first legal challenge to the US Supreme Court marriage ruling happens today

Same-sex marriage is in court in the US again today (Monday 13 July), as a Kentucky county clerk plans to argue she should be exempt from issuing same-sex marriage licenses due to her Christian faith.

It will be the first major test of the US Supreme Court’s ruling on equal marriage.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was recently caught on camera refusing to issue a marriage license to David Vincent Moore and his fiancé, who said they have lived in the county for more than 10 years.

The couple applied for a licence following the ruling by SCOTUS that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

They were among a number of same-sex couples to be refused licenses by the clerk, and told they must go to neighboring counties to obtain licenses.

As a result, on 2 July the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Davis.

In a statement, the organization’s Kentucky Cooperating Attorney, Laura Landenwich, said: ‘Ms. Davis has the absolute right to believe whatever she wants about God, faith, and religion, but as a government official who swore an oath to uphold the law, she cannot pick and choose who she is going to serve, or which duties her office will perform based on her religious beliefs.’

Davis is among dozens of county clerks around the country who have refused to issue marriage licenses since the SCOTUS ruling, often to opposite-sex couples as well as same-sex.

‘I have convictions that rule my conscience,’ she explained to WHAS-TV.

‘I can’t put my name on a marriage license as issued to a same sex couple. God is my first love, and I will stand for Him. And if it means I get thrown out of office, we’ll deal with that when it comes.’

Today’s federal lawsuit in Louisville will allege Davis’ refusal is unconstitutional, and seek an injunction ordering her to begin issuing licenses.

The post The first legal challenge to the US Supreme Court marriage ruling happens today appeared first on Gay Star News.

Hollie Pycroft

www.gaystarnews.com/article/the-first-legal-challenge-to-the-us-supreme-court-marriage-ruling-happens-today/

Former HRC Board Member Named Assistant Press Secretary for White House

Katie Hill, a former member of HRC’s Board of Governors, has been named assistant press secretary for the White House.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/former-hrc-board-member-named-assistant-press-secretary-for-white-house?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

12 Reasons Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing Is The Only Fashion Instagram To Follow

Olivier Rousteing is the 29-year-old creative director of Balmain, the storied French luxury brand known for its ornate opulence, founded by Pierre Balmain in 1914. With his sculpted cheekbones, racially ambiguous model looks and a rolodex of celebrity friends, Rousteing has turned Balmain into the kind of personality-driven brand in the vein of Tom Ford, Isaac Mizrahi and Gianni Versace.

This cult of couture personality translates into over 1 million Instagram followers for the French-born designer. Rousteing is also bringing his Gaelic glamour to the traditionally quieter men’s runway —men’s wear now accounts for 40 percent of Balmain’s business — staging his debut collection late last month.

With New York Men’s Fashion Week kicking off, let’s take a look at  a few reasons to follow Mon. Rousteing.

1. If you’re a lover of fashion and are all about that backstage life

I THINK WE ROCKED IT RIGHT ? ???? @balmainparis #balmainHOMME #menswear #fashionweek #paris #couture #thisisfashionBABY #thisisBALMAINSTORY

A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 27, 2015 at 12:15pm PDT

2. If you’re a lover of celebs figuratively — or literally — sucking each other off

  CASUAL SUNDAY DINER ???????? @mariahcarey #paris #theoneandonly #fun #love #glamour #thebest   A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 7, 2015 at 3:34pm PDT

3. If you’re a fan of male models — and really, aren’t we all?

MY BALMAIN BOYS ??

A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 28, 2015 at 3:47pm PDT

4. If you’re a lover of cheekbones that could cut glass

SUN IN THE HOUSE ?? #homesweethome #paris #sunnyselfie #sundayfunday #woking #sun #love #chill #foroncenofilter ????   A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jul 12, 2015 at 11:45am PDT

5. If you’re a lover of an ass that won’t quit, as Rousteing displayed earlier this year on the cover of gay mag Têtu

THANK U TETU FOR LAST NIGHT @tetumag #20years #aboutlastnight #paris #tetuteam #celebration #reunion

A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 7, 2015 at 4:56am PDT

>6. If you’re in need of a different kind of hump day

MISSING HOLIDAYS AND THIS FRIEND ???? #mydubai #takemeback #holidays #memories #aladin

A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 6, 2015 at 10:54am PDT

7. If you’re a fan of all black everything

THE BALMAIN ARMY #thisisFASHIONbaby #menswear #paris @balmainparis #frenchluxury #myboysrockedit   A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jul 1, 2015 at 11:42am PDT

8. If you’re a fan of artistic gym selfies

GETTING READY FOR THE FIGHT ???? #fashionweek #menswear #june27th @balmainparis #balmainarmy #weareback #balmainChampions #thanku @mtcoaching #personaltrainer   A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 20, 2015 at 1:15am PDT

9. If you’re keeping up with the Kardashian-Wests

HAPPY BDAY KANYE ???? #inspiration #love #friend #keeprockinthisworld #kanyewest

A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 8, 2015 at 4:26pm PDT

10. If you love social media schtick

???????? A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:15am PDT

11. If you love a good ole-fashioned Rihanna sing-a-long

OUT OF THE OFFICE ?????? 4/5 seconds effect !!! @badgalriri #kanyewest #letshavefun #paris #ihopeyoucanunderstand

A video posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 13, 2015 at 11:03am PDT

12. If you want to wake up next to Olivier Rousteing

MORNING SUN ??#paris #bed #morningselfie #itsfriday #yeahhhhh A photo posted by olivier rousteing (@olivier_rousteing) on Jun 5, 2015 at 2:02am PDT

Les Fabian Brathwaite — putting the ‘ball’ in Balmain.

Les Fabian Brathwaite

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/MX27wezsVHY/12-reasons-balmains-olivier-rousteing-is-the-only-fashion-instagram-to-follow-20150713

Houston Again Rejects Petition To Enshrine Transgender Bathroom Ban In City Charter

Last we checked on Houston anti-LGBT activist Dave Wilson (above), he was applying to appear in the city’s gay Pride parade, only to be unceremoniously rejected.

Wilson’s parade application came just a few months after he submitted a petition seeking to enshrine a transgender bathroom ban in the City Charter. But just like his parade application, Wilson’s petition was rejected, because he embarrassingly misread the rules and submitted too few signatures.

Which brings us to last week, when Wilson pulled up to City Hall in the same vintage Cadillac he planned to drive in the parade, before resubmitting the hateful, anti-trans petition with additional signatures. The result, however, was the same: Rejection.

Officials say because Wilson’s petition effectively seeks to repeal the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance, it needed to be submitted within 30 days of the law’s passage last year.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

“It doesn’t matter how many times he submits petitions, he will always be too late,” mayoral spokeswoman Janice Evans said in a written statement.

Wilson called that logic “very flawed” and said his petition is not driven by the equal rights ordinance, which bans discrimination based not just on sexual orientation and gender identity but also, as federal laws do, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status.

The specific language of Wilson’s charter amendment seeks to define gender identity “as an individual’s innate identification, as either male or female, which is assigned at birth.” It would require businesses to adopt the same definition.

More from KHOU-TV:

“It will prohibit men from going into women’s bathrooms and vice versa in all sex-oriented facilities — like swimming pools, locker rooms — that the city has,” Wilson said.

Critics of the ordinance, which passed last year, seized on the idea of transgender men using women’s restrooms as a hot-button rallying point. Protesters who rallied outside City Hall while the ordinance was under debate carried signs trumpeting opposition to letting people decide for themselves which restroom they’re legally allowed to use.

Wilson said his proposed charter change would effectively nullify much of the equal rights ordinance. And that’s precisely why Mayor Annise Parker said Wilson’s latest petition drive will come to nothing.

“It’s a non-starter, because it has been determined by a federal court that you cannot change an ordinance with a charter amendment,” Parker said.

Wilson has now filed a lawsuit seeking to force the city to count signatures on his petition. He is representing himself, and a hearing was set for Monday morning.

“I’m going to win because I don’t give up,” Wilson told the Chronicle. “The mayor simply does not want the people to have the right to vote.”

The city also rejected a separate petition to repeal the Equal Rights Ordinance, saying it had too few valid signatures. Anti-LGBT groups filed a lawsuit, but a judge upheld the city’s decision, ruling that the petition contained, among other things, widespread forgery. That case is now on appeal, and the Equal Rights Ordinance is in full effect.

For Wilson and other anti-gay activists, it seems the ultimate goal is to get some sort of anti-LGBT measure on the ballot in November, then use it to rally the right-wing base as voters replace the term-limited Parker and several council members.

However, due in no small part to their own ineptitude, they’re quickly running out of time.

Watch KHOU’s report below.

The post Houston Again Rejects Petition To Enshrine Transgender Bathroom Ban In City Charter appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Houston Again Rejects Petition To Enshrine Transgender Bathroom Ban In City Charter

Scott Walker Enters Republican Presidential Race

Walker is the latest anti-LGBT Republican to announce he is running for the White House.

read more

Bil Browning

www.advocate.com/politics/election/2015/07/13/scott-walker-enters-republican-presidential-race

How Are Drugs Changing The Way London's Gay Men Have Sex?
“I’ve been politely asked to quieten down and get on with it – which I can fully appreciate – since I was probably sharing my thoughts on animal cruelty while simultaneously attempting to give someone a blowjob” explains James, a 23 year old actor from London. He is describing his experience of chillouts, an emerging subculture featuring drugs and group sex amongst urban gay and bisexual men, principally in London but, increasingly, across other cities in the UK.

— 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.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/48130482/sc/26/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C0A70C130Clondon0Egay0Esex0Edrugs0In0I7770A7540Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

Martina Navratilova slams Ukranian tennis player over homophobic remarks

Czech-American tennis player Martina Navratilova has criticized Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky following an interview in which he made homophobic comments.

Stakhovsky, 29, is best known for knocking Roger Federer out of Wimbledon in a surprise defeat in 2013.

As we reported last week, in an interview with the Ukranian Xsport website on Wednesday 8 July last week, he said there are ‘definitely no gays’ in tennis, but ‘almost every other’ female tennis player is a lesbian.

‘Can you imagine – half of them,’ he said, according to a translation by letsecondserve.com. ‘So I for sure won’t send my daughter to play tennis.’

The World Number 49 was asked if there were any ‘sexual minorities’ in tennis, to which he replied: ‘I think not.

‘You see, on the ATP we have a normal atmosphere.’

He then took a shot at Martina Navratilova, the nine-times Wimbledon champion who earlier this year said she couldn’t believe that no male tennis players are gay.

‘She can think that in the women’s locker room,’ he said.

‘She has no clue at all what men’s tennis is. And she’s has nothing to do with it.’

On Twitter Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in the 1980s, hit back at Stakhovsky.

She wrote: ‘did you really say this Sergiy? that you don’t want your daughter to play tennis because she might turn into a lesbian ? That is how it was translated…’

He replied: ‘I don’t want my daughter to play professional tennis from many various reasons . and to be DEADLY HONEST I ever thought of it in that way.

‘Meaning it’s the least worrying case for me.’

Navratilova wrote back: ‘what you said was homophobic- perhaps we can speak sometime in the future- thank you.’

Stakhovsky wrote: ‘we of course can and with pleasure’, to which Navratilova replied: ‘it’s a date:)’

@LGBTportalUkr @Stako_tennis did you really say this Sergiy?

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 8, 2015

@Martina said what? — Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) July 9, 2015

@Stako_tennis that you don’t want your daughter to play tennis because she might turn into a lesbian ? That is how it was translated…

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 9, 2015

@Martina and to be DEADLY HONEST I ever thought of it in that way. Meaning it’s the least worrying case for me. — Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) July 9, 2015

@Stako_tennis what you said was homophobic- perhaps we can speak sometime in the future- thank you

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 10, 2015

@Martina we of course can and with pleasure. — Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) July 10, 2015

@Stako_tennis it’s a date:)

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 10, 2015

The two may be attempting to reconcile their differences, but Stakhovsky’s anti-gay remarks have also been condemned by tennis authorities and fellow players.

Women’s Tennis Authority chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster said: ‘It’s sad to think in this day and age there are people who are narrow minded and speak derisively about women based on sexual orientation. It’s a sad reflection of old thinking and I’m proud of all our WTA players who are forward thinking, treat everyone equal and reflect life in the 21st century.’

Former men’s tour star James Blake, an American who campaigns for the pro-inclusion group Athlete Ally, said: ‘As a former ATP player and father of two amazing daughters, I would be thrilled if they followed in the footsteps of inspirational greats like Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

‘Stakhovsky’s comments are out of line, out of touch, and stand in opposition to the values that tennis taught me. And Stakhovsky is kidding himself if he believes there are no gay tennis players in the (men’s) top 100. I hope that if any players inside or outside the top 100 decide to come out, they will be welcomed and supported.’

The post Martina Navratilova slams Ukranian tennis player over homophobic remarks appeared first on Gay Star News.

Hollie Pycroft

www.gaystarnews.com/article/martina-navratilova-slams-ukranian-tennis-player-over-homophobic-remarks/

James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender’s Love Story As Told Through a Supercut of Homoerotic X-Men Clips: WATCH

As part of Conan’s special San Diego Comic-Con coverage,  X-Men film stars James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender sat down with the red-headed comedian and shared the secret behind the relationship between Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Eric Lehnsherr (Magneto).

“It’s like that thing in a love story where you don’t always like the person you’re in love with but you still love them,” explained McAvoy. “Charles and Eric have always hated the way they approach things. It’s like ‘Ugh, he’s always wanting to kill the humans. He’s always going on about the same old s–t. And yet I love the guy. I can’t kill him. I don’t want to mind control the guy.”

Conan also brought up the fan interest of the slash fictional relationship between Fassbender and McAvoy (something the two actors are already intimately familiar with) before unveiling a video of all their homoerotic X-Men film scenes together to the tune of Coldplay’s “Fix You”

The post James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender’s Love Story As Told Through a Supercut of Homoerotic X-Men Clips: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender’s Love Story As Told Through a Supercut of Homoerotic X-Men Clips: WATCH

Idaho lesbian wins final legal battle to be buried with wife in state military cemetery

74-year-old Navy veteran Madelynn Lee Taylor has won her federal court battle to have her wife Jean Mixner’s ashes interred with her in Idaho State Veterans Cemetery when she dies

An elderly US Navy veteran now knows she will be able to rest in peace when she dies, safe in the knowledge that her already deceased wife’s ashes will be buried beside her.

74-year-old Madelynn Lee Taylor discovered that Idaho State Veterans Cemetery would not allow her to be buried with her wife Jean Mixner after she died in 2012 because of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Taylor filed a federal court lawsuit against the cemetery which relented in its opposition after courts overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage in October.

Taylor then asked the state government of Idaho to join the case in requesting a final judgement in her case but the government refused – instead filing a motion to dismiss the case.

Taylor’s lawyers argued that there was no guarantee that the state of Idaho might change its policies in future as it had made multiple attempts to appeal the verdict that had caused the cemetery to change its mind in the first place,

On Thursday US federal court judge Ron Bush ruled that Taylor deserved the certainty that a final judgement would give her in knowing her wishes would be respected when she died.

Magistrate Bush ruled that ‘Ms.Taylor is entitled to be eventually buried at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, and Ms. Mixner’s remains are currently interred there, presumably is of present comfort to Ms. Taylor and to the respective families and loved ones of Ms. Taylor and Ms. Mixner.’

‘But such present comfort is not enough when considering the scope of relief actually sought within Ms. Taylor’s Amended Complaint. To be clear, through this action, Ms. Taylor demands that, upon her death, she and Ms. Mixner be interred together in perpetuity at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

‘[The state of Idaho]’s actions since Ms. Taylor first initiated this proceeding should be credited; however they fall short of providing certain assurance to Ms. Taylor that she and Ms. Mixner will be guaranteed a reunification in death by virtue of their joint interment at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

‘Ms. Taylor is entitled to have the assurance that there is a court order in place requiring that what she has a right to have happen if she were to pass away today, will happen when she does pass away. That is the relief she seeks and, equally importantly, her right.’

The post Idaho lesbian wins final legal battle to be buried with wife in state military cemetery appeared first on Gay Star News.

Andrew Potts

www.gaystarnews.com/article/idaho-lesbian-wins-final-legal-battle-to-be-buried-with-wife-in-state-military-cemetery/