Azealia Banks Says She’s Too Rich To Care If You Think She’s A Homophobe

In case you’re wondering, money still doesn’t buy class.

Rapper Azealia Banks, who famously called Perez Hilton a “messy faggot” (and called for his suicide), then labeled GLAAD “fucking complete bullshit” in retaliation for being called out on her comments, enjoyed yet another Twitter feud over the weekend, this one with Vice blogger Mitchell Sunderland.

In a series of bizarre tweets that would make Amanda Bynes proud, Banks lashed out at Sunderland on Saturday night after he questioned her knowledge of twinks (in response to a previous tweet of hers that he found offensive). The rapper responded that she was a woman who “invented everything feminine” and even gave birth to gay men. She then went on to inform Sunderland that his mother pushed him “out of a pussy” and that his father “did not push you out of his dick.”

Classy, right?

When Sunderland called Banks a homophobe, she fired back with: “I INVENTED femininity, OK? don’t be mad because I have an extra hole,” adding “You gay bloggers try waving that homophobia flag at me like women are not the original source. … I own AWWWWWLLLLL of this. It’s mine.”

When Sunderland tried to end the conversation, tweeting “GOODNIGHT,” Banks replied with “and even if i am a homophobe… so wat? [sic] i still make more $ than you.. still have an extra hole.. and still own everything.”

While we’re not sure which gives Banks more license for bad behavior — her large bank account or her extra hole — there’s one thing we’re sure of: It’s a damn shame controversy doesn’t sell records, because then there might actually be a point to all of this.

Oh wait …

Winston Gieseke

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/SUbQgM7nALw/azealia-banks-says-shes-too-rich-to-care-if-you-think-shes-a-homophobe-20150204

Jon Stewart Mocks the 'Mindful Stupidity' of the Anti-Vaxxers: VIDEO

Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/vaxxers.html

Alabama Lawyers Face Off Against Chief Justice In Gay Marriage Fight
In Alabama, which is set to begin allowing same-sex marriages on Monday, two old foes are facing off over the future of gay rights in the state.

A legal group is leading the fight against Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore over his opposition to gay marriage. Last week, Moore wrote in a letter to Gov. Robert Bentley that he planned to oppose a federal judge’s recent ruling that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. He referred to the decision as “judicial tyranny” and said that any Alabama judges who obey the federal court ruling and allow marriage licenses to be issued would be in “defiance of the laws and Constitution of Alabama.”

This week, Moore doubled down on his position, with a letter and memorandum to Alabama’s probate judges, telling them that they are not required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples once the ruling goes into effect next week. Lower federal courts, he wrote, “have absolutely no legitimate authority to compel state courts to redefine marriage to include persons of the same sex.”

In response to Moore’s statements, last week the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy group based in Montgomery, Alabama, filed a judicial ethics complaint against him, charging the chief justice with numerous ethical violations and accusing him of undermining “public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.” On Tuesday, the SPLC filed a supplement to its ethics complaint, pointing to a radio interview in which Moore stated that, if the U.S. Supreme Court were to determine that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, he would face a “very hard decision” whether to follow the law of the land.

This is not an entirely new dilemma for Moore, nor is it the first time he has faced challenges over an inclination not to comply with a higher court. In 2001, the year Moore was first sworn in as chief justice, he arranged for workers to install a two-and-a-half-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the central rotunda of the Alabama state courthouse. The SPLC, whose offices are next door to the Supreme Court, was among several groups to file a suit calling for the monument’s removal, citing the separation of church and state. A federal court order demanded the monument be removed, but Moore refused to comply, and in 2003, he was dismissed from the bench. (He was re-elected to the post in 2012.)

“He hasn’t learned his lesson,” Richard Cohen, president of the SPLC, said of Moore. “He wasn’t elected to be the chief pastor of Alabama, he was elected to be the chief justice, and he doesn’t understand the difference.”

Moore did not respond to a request for comment.

Cohen did notice one key difference this time around, however. During the fight over the Ten Commandments monument, the SPLC was flooded with threats and angry letters. But in the past week, Cohen says, his group has received thank-you notes from around two dozen lawyers. “The sentiment on the bar is overwhelmingly against Moore,” he said.

Indeed, it does not appear that Alabama’s legal community is rallying behind Moore’s position, although support for same-sex marriage in the state still trails the rest of the country. The Alabama State Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers released a statement calling Moore’s letter to the governor “improper and unfair.” The Alabama Probate Judges Association has also turned its back on Moore. Initially, the group advised its members not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, arguing for a narrow interpretation of the court ruling that struck down the ban. But last week, after clarification from the judge who issued the ruling, the association changed its position, stating that it will encourage its members to comply with the decision and that, once the stay on the ruling is lifted Monday, same-sex couples may apply for marriage licenses.

“I think it’s quite telling that the Alabama Probate Judges Association has reversed its position,” Ron Krotoszynski Jr., a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, told The Huffington Post. “Like Chief Justice Moore, these judges are subject to popular election; yet, unlike the incumbent Chief Justice, they clearly recognize that they have a legal duty to honor a binding order of a federal court that invalidates a state constitutional provision because it violates the federal Constitution.”

Krotoszynski said the matter has come up several times in the constitutional law course he teaches to first-year students, both in and out of class. “They seem embarrassed,” he said of his students, noting that “they understand the supremacy clause of the Constitution,” which states that federal laws take precedence over state laws.

“Whether or not the students personally agree or disagree with same-sex marriage, they clearly appreciate that a state court judge cannot resist or refuse to honor a higher ruling,” he added.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/alabama-gay-marriage_n_6612982.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Cristiano Ronaldo Shows Off His Greased Physique To Promote New Underwear Line: VIDEO

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/cristiano-ronaldo-shows-off-his-greased-physique-to-promote-new-underwear-line-video.html

From 'Intellectual Homosexual' to 'Cootie Catcher'

A new solo show chronicles a young gay man’s struggle to say sex-positive and HIV-negative.

read more

Brandon Voss

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/theater/2015/02/04/intellectual-homosexual-cootie-catcher

The First 'Magic Mike XXL' Trailer Is Here (You're Welcome)
You’re welcome. Warner Bros. released the first trailer for “Magic Mike XXL” on Wednesday. Let’s get back to the grind.

Channing Tatum returns for the highly anticipated sequel, which shows Magic Mike building furniture and dancing, his two passions. Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Glover, Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith, Andie MacDowell and Michael Strahan all co-star. Gregory Jacobs directs.

Per Warner Bros.:

“Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining Kings of Tampa ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.

Tatum teased the trailer on Tuesday, when he posted the film’s first poster. “Magic Mike XXL” is due out July 1.

Look, but you can’t touch…until tomorrow. Tune in to @theellenshow! #MagicMikeXXL

A photo posted by Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) on Feb 3, 2015 at 12:03pm PST

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/magic-mike-xxl-trailer_n_6607630.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Is Gay Sex Considered 'Intercourse'? Florida Supreme Court Will Decide

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/is-gay-sex-considered-intercourse-florida-supreme-court-will-decide.html

Op-ed: Hey, Mary Cheney, Here's Why Drag and Blackface are Different

The next time someone asks what the difference is between blackface and drag, here’s what you can tell them.

read more

Matt Baume

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/people/2015/02/04/op-ed-hey-mary-cheney-heres-why-drag-and-blackface-are-differen

PHOTOS: A Wedding Fantasy in Tel Aviv

Nir Slakman’s photos show what could be a reality if Israel had marriage equality.

read more

Advocate.com Editors

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/02/04/photos-wedding-fantasy-tel-aviv

Five Things You Don’t Know About The First Man Cured Of HIV

Timothy Ray Brown is the first and only person in the world to be cured of HIV. There are some fascinating parts to his story you may not know, but first, here’s a little background.

In 2007, Timothy was a gravely ill leukemia patient living in Berlin (after his cure he was famously known as “the Berlin patient” before he came forward in 2011 and identified himself). Timothy was also HIV-positive, but at the time his HIV was the least of his worries.

When Timothy needed a stem cell transplant to treat his leukemia, doctors located a donor who had a rare gene mutation known as CCR5, which makes human cells immune to HIV. And that is the most scientific sentence you will read on Queerty all week.

By sheer good luck, doctors found a stem cell donor for Timothy who had the CCR5 mutation. The result of the stem cell transplant? Timothy’s immune system was replaced with a brand new immune system minus the HIV, and to this day he remains the only person to be cured.

“The HIV is gone and it is gone for good,” Timothy, who today lives in Palm Springs, told Queerty. “And I am also cancer free. Two cures. I am really fortunate and blessed.”

His cure is now part of the scientific record, but there are more interesting tidbits to learn about this courageous gay man who risked it all and found himself making history in the process.

Here are five things about Timothy Ray Brown that you may not know:

1. Timothy still identifies as part of the HIV community.

He may be the only person on earth who can say, “I used to have HIV,” but his heart is still very much connected to those living with the virus. He doesn’t care to engage in the sometimes nasty sexual politics between guys who are HIV-positive and those who are negative.

“Remember, I was HIV-positive twice as long as I have been cured,” Timothy said. “I still consider myself part of the HIV community. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In fact, this November Timothy is embarking on the HIV Cruise Retreat (“the Poz Cruise”) to sail the Mexican Riviera with hundreds of people living with HIV and their allies. Between days at the beach and excursions in tropical cities, Timothy will share his story during a special presentation and discuss the latest in HIV cure research.

2. Timothy initially didn’t want the leukemia treatment that eventually cured his HIV.

“I said no to the transplant,” Timothy said, “thinking that it would not be necessary were the leukemia to remain in remission (which it was at the time). I did not need to be a guinea pig and risk my life receiving a transplant that might kill me.” When his leukemia returned, Timothy had no choice but to go through with it.

Neither Timothy nor his doctors had any idea that the stem cell transplant using a donor with the CCR5 mutation might lead to an historic breakthrough. It was a shot in the dark that miraculously hit the target.

3. The treatment Timothy received nearly killed him. Twice.

Folks, don’t try this at home. Timothy’s HIV cure happened in extreme and dangerous circumstances. Timothy endured chemotherapy, the stem cell transplant, and got pneumonia and sepsis infections in the process. His recovery from the stem cell transplant was exhausting and life-threatening.

The physician responsible for Timothy’s cure, Dr. Gero Huetter, eventually admitted he had given his patient only a 5 percent chance of survival. “Whatever,” says the good-humored Timothy now. “Math wasn’t my favorite subject anyway.”

4. There is a little bit of Timothy in vials all over the world.

In laboratories around the globe, millions of drops of Timothy’s blood, DNA and tissue samples are being studied.

“I love to give researchers and scientists a hard time about how they know me intimately,” Timothy said. “If only they knew how many pokes, prodding, surgeries and pain I have endured, perhaps they would at least buy me dinner. But it’s all worth it in the spirit of finding a cure for AIDS.”

5. Helping to find a cure that works for everyone has become Timothy’s mission in life.

Imagine winning the lottery and then using your fortune to help other people. That is the mindset that has driven Timothy since he was cured.

In 2013, Timothy co-founded the Cure for AIDS Coalition with Dave Purdy, and has used his notoriety to keep the search for a cure at the forefront of HIV research. “I know in my heart and soul that I will not be the only one cured of AIDS,” Timothy said. “We are committed to helping end this dreaded disease once and for all.”

While being the first person to be cured of HIV assures this gracious gay man a place in history, it is really what Timothy has done since then that makes him a genuine hero.

Mark

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/Ngkg0wlcB84/five-things-you-dont-know-about-the-first-man-cured-of-hiv-20150204