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Editor's Letter: Why #DayInLGBT Matters If You Are 'LGBT'
If we do this right, today can help us learn more about what it means to be LGBT.
Lucas Grindley
www.advocate.com/day-lgbt-america/2014/12/09/editors-letter-why-dayinlgbt-matters-if-you-are-lgbt
Robbie Rogers And Greg Berlanti Have Split, According To Report
There’s some good news for single men, but sad news for one of the most photogenic gay couples on the pop culture front. Soccer star Robbie Rogers and TV producer Greg Berlanti are back on the market. The two have reportedly split after approximately 18 months as a couple, reports Perez Hilton. No reason has yet been announced for the breakup, but Hilton’s source confirms the decision to go separate ways was mutual and the men remain on friendly terms.
Hilton’s source noted that “2014 was just such a big year for each of them, that they decided a friendship suited them both better.” Besides producing numerous TV series such as Arrow and The Flash, Berlanti was recently announced as head writer for the upcoming Academy Awards broadcast, while Rogers, who with his team L.A. Galaxy won the MLS Cup on Sunday, has been busy promoting his memoir Coming Out to Play. Rogers is scheduled to appear on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live Monday night so maybe Andy Cohen will shed further light on the uncoupling.
Note to Berlanti and/or Rogers: If either of you need some help mending that broken heart or staying warm this winter, you know where to find us.
Jeremy Kinser
Joaquin Phoenix Announces Engagement to David Letterman
Joaquin Phoenix made another surprising appearance on Late Show With David Letterman Monday.
It went much better, though, than the time in 2009 when he acted all dazed and aloof during his interview with Dave while filming his strange documentary I’m Still Here. This time, Phoenix revealed that he’s engaged to be married, and that the lucky lady is his yoga instructor. He didn’t identify her further.
Phoenix — who’s never walked down the aisle before —recounted working on a particularly tricky move with the yogi in an amusing story, which required him to do a physical demonstration for Letterman.
“This is the crazy part of the story,” the 40-year-old actor said. “We started dating, and I think she’s the one. I proposed to her and she said yes.” Phoenix added that the two will be married “if everything works out.
Hmm, we’ll believe him when we see a marriage certificate…
celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/joaquin-phoenix-announces-engagement-030851834.html
Males Are More Likely To Suffer Sexual Assault Than To Be Falsely Accused Of It
In the aftermath of Rolling Stone’s flawed story about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, there has been a rush of concern in certain quarters over the supposed male victims. People have been claiming that Jackie, the UVa student at the center of the story, is part of a trend in false rape reports.
The idea that women are deceptively “crying rape” is not something new. But besides misrepresenting what we know about Jackie’s case — no one with knowledge of the alleged incident has stated that an assault did not happen and the Charlottesville, Virginia, police told HuffPost that they’re still investigating — it misses two key truths.
False rape reports are rare. And the men and boys who are victims in sexual assault cases are far more likely to have been the targets of abuse themselves than to have been falsely accused of sexual violence.
According to a 2010 paper from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40 percent of gay men, 47 percent of bisexual men and 21 percent of heterosexual men in the U.S. “have experienced sexual violence other than rape at some point in their lives.”
A compilation of research at 1in6.org, an advocacy group for male survivors, suggests that at least 1 in 6 boys experience sexual abuse before age 18. The key caveat: The numbers are likely higher in reality because male victims are less likely to disclose their abuse than female victims.
False accusations that men committed rape look to be far less common.
David Lisak, a leading sexual assault researcher and consultant to colleges and the military, has found false rape reports to be about 8 percent of the total. An analysis of research on false rape claims by Lisak, San Diego police Sgt. Joanne Archambault and Kimberly Lonesway at the National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women put the figure somewhere between 2 and 8 percent. Yet another study from the Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom concluded that false reports constituted about 6 percent of rape allegations. Twenty-year-old data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics put the number of unfounded rape reports at 8 percent, thought not all unfounded reports are necessarily false.
How that percentage might change if women felt more comfortable reporting sexual assault is unclear. But many never report what happened to them. A Department of Justice study from 2000 found that fewer than 5 percent of completed and attempted rapes of collegiate women are reported to police, and that figure drops for other forms of sexual violence.
“This is where we need to be careful that we don’t just let the squeaky wheel get the grease,” said Lisa Maatz, vice president of government relations at the American Association of University Women.
The fact that sexual assault against males is more common than false accusations of males committing sexual assault is “ironic,” Maatz said, but she noted this is why Title IX, the federal law that requires colleges to deal with sexual violence and harassment, is gender-neutral.
“Title IX is supposed to improve the climate and ensure anyone who goes to college has the same opportunity at an education,” Maatz said. “That to me is what colleges are all about. I wish colleges could understand this is a tool that they should be embracing.”
Kansas Marriage Lawsuit Just Got Even Messier
A judge in Kansas already told the state that they need to start letting gay and lesbian couples get married. So why are only a few county officials complying?
The marriage case in Kansas has been one of the messiest in the country, and it just got even worse. For starters, that initial ruling wasn’t a decision on the merits of the case — it was just a preliminary ruling before the judge actually decides whose side he’ll take. But apparently he was already leaning so heavily in favor of the gay and lesbian couples that he basically said they should go ahead and get married now.
Kansas, of course, is being a bunch of dicks about the whole thing, even they have no chance of winning. They’re appealing that preliminary ruling to the 10the Circuit, but things haven’t gone their way. Last week, the 10th Circuit shot down the state’s request for a mega-panel, which was Kansas’ last best chance of getting the ruling they wanted.
Now the 10th Circuit will get to decide whether gay couples should get married while the lawsuit makes its long way through the court. Our prediction is that the 10th Circuit will give gay couples the thumbs-up, since that court already overturned marriage bans in neighboring states. From there, the state would be able to petition the Supreme Court for a hearing, which they have absolutely zero chance of winning.
All this, and we haven’t even seen an actual ruling on the merits of the case yet. Great job wasting taxpayers’ money and time, Kansas.
matt baume
Trans New Yorkers Can Now Update Birth Certificates More Easily
The New York City Council approved legislation that removes an old requirement that transgender people undergo gender-confirming surgery before they can amend their birth certificates.
Sunnivie Brydum
LGBT Protections Included in New Federal Profiling Guidance
Today, the federal government introduced a revised profiling policy that now prohibits sexual orientation and gender identity as a form of profiling.
HRC.org
YouTuber Connor Franta Comes Out To His 3.8 Million Subscribers
“[This] is truly the year that I have accepted who I am and become happy with that person,” YouTube star Connor Franta says in his aptly titled “Coming Out” video. “So today I want to talk to you guys about that and be open and honest, and tell you that I’m gay.”
Even if you (like us) have never heard of Connor, his story is one we can most certainly relate to. And you can’t argue with those 3.8 million subscribers.
Dan Tracer
What To Watch This Week on TV: Eichner On 'New Girl,' Charli XCX On 'SNL'
Check out our weekly guide to make sure you’re catching the big premieres, crucial episodes and the stuff you won’t admit you watch when no one’s looking.
— Sons of Anarchy, a gritty cable drama about Charlie Hunnam’s butt or something, comes to a dramatic close Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on FX. The series finale concludes the seven-season story focusing on the SAMCRO motorcycle club, including Jax (Hunnam) and his mother (Katey Segal).
Netflix’s latest original, plus Barbara’s Most Fascinating and more on TV this week, AFTER THE JUMP …
— We can’t get enough of comedian Billy Eichner’s deranged delivery. On Tuesday, he brings his shouty schtick to New Girl at 9 p.m. on FOX. (If you haven’t already, check out his hilarious send up of Taylor Swift’s songwriting, above.)
— Netflix hopes to continue its hot streak of groundbreaking original programming with Marco Polo, hitting the streaming service Friday. The historical drama follows the titular Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) as he works alongside Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan (Benedict Wong).
— You might know rising pop star Charli XCX as one of the writers of Icona Pop’s inescapable hit “I Love It” or as the snarling brit who duetted with Iggy Azalea on her summer jam “Fancy.” The singer-songwriter, whose “Boom Clap” appeared on the soundtrack of The Fault In Our Stars, takes the stage as the musical guest on this week’s Saturday Night Live, 11:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC with host Martin Freeman. Check out one of our favorite Charli tracks, “Superlove,” above.
— Who will be Barbara Walters’ most fascinating person of 2014? Among the faces you can expect to see Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern on ABC during her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014 special, you’ll catch Neil Patrick Harris, Taylor Swift (above) and Chelsea Handler.
What are you watching this week?
Bobby Hankinson
www.towleroad.com/2014/12/what-to-watch-this-week-on-tv-eichner-on-new-girl-charli-xcx-on-snl.html
Out Country Singer Ty Herndon Makes First Public Appearance With Boyfriend
‘This is monumental for both of us,’ Herndon said at the Trevor Live L.A. benefit on Sunday.
Jase Peeples
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