Tuesday, May 31, 2016

“Lazy Eye”: Memories Come Into Focus In A Desert Love Story

Make room for this on your summer movie calendar.
From: NewNowNext
 Ever dream of reuniting for a romantic weekend with a love that got away? That’s the premise behind Lazy Eye, the latest film from director Tim Kirkman.

The movie tells the story of Dean (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe), a graphic designer in L.A. who reconnects with an ex-boyfriend, Alex (Aaron Costa Ganis) that he hasn’t seen or heard from in over 15 years. The two decide to meet up at a house in the desert to rekindle old feelings and to see if there is a future for them together.


Lazy Eye is the latest offering from Kirkman who also directed Loggerheads and The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me.

You can catch the movie at the Provincetown International Film Fest on June 19.

Watch the trailer below:

#GiveSpockABoyfriend: 5 Same-Sex Relationships We’d Like To See In Summer Blockbusters

Does the Federation have a "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy?
From: NewNowNext
 Even before summer-movie season officially kicked off this month, fans began clamoring to give their favorite blockbuster hero a same-sex love interest.

There were campaigns to give Captain America a boyfriend (We thought Civil War established Cap and Iron Man were exes?) and Jean Grey a girlfriend (Right, because what lesbian doesn’t want a girlfriend who can read her mind?)


 Sadly, neither of those things came to pass. But we still have time to get a gay relationship into a major summer movie. Lets take a look at a few suggestions.


1
Harley Quinn
 in
 “Suicide Squad”


In the DC comics universe, Harley is openly pansexual—she’s got her longtime hangup on the Joker, but she’s also hooked up Poison Ivy and seems willing to flirt with anything with a heartbeat. Of course, a psychotic assassin with a clown kink might not be the best representation of the LGBT community, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Anti-Trans Target Protestor Kept Girl Chained In His Basement

Esten Cibao railed against Target's support of "queerism and confusion," while making a 13-year-old use a bucket as a toilet.
From: NewNowNext
 A Toledo man who blasted Target for allowing patrons and employees to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity has been arrested for allegedly keeping a teenage girl shackled in his basement.

Police booked Esten Ciboro, 27, after discovering he and his father, Timothy, kept his 13-year-old stepsister in chains, feeding her spoiled scraps and forcing her to use a bucket instead of a toilet. (Her crime, apparently, was wetting the bed.)


On May 4, Esten posted on Facebook, “For those unaware: Target will be allowing men in the girls’ restrooms of its stores and will also allow women in the boys’ restrooms of its stores- all to support queerism and confusion.”

Two weeks later, the girl escaped the Ciboros by using a spare key to unlock her leg irons.

“I miss my babies with all my heart,” Timothy, a former firefighter, told WTVG. “I want them to do right. That’s the way they were raised. If they have any questions, all they have to do is open the Bible and they will have all the answers.”

Three other children were found at the house at the time of the arrest. The girl’s mother reportedly left the family some time ago and moved to Las Vegas.

Anti-Gay Preacher Who Declared “You Deserve Rape” Gets Hit With Baseball Bat

"If you think the gay community accepts and tolerates others, just wait 'til they hit you over the head with a metal bat."
From: NewNowNext
An anti-gay preacher known for his “You Deserve Rape” message was hit over the head with a baseball bat during one of his hate sermons this month.

Brother Dean Saxton was using a megaphone to preach his beliefs outside of Apollo High School in Glendale, Arizona, when he was reportedly attacked from behind by 19-year-old Tabitha Renee Brubaker.

Saxton was recording his sermon on his phone, shouting that gay students were going to hell and that Muslims were “dirty,” while several students and teachers approached him to peacefully denounce his words and try to get him to leave.

It was during one of these moments that Brubaker came up and hit Saxton with the bat, causing him to need eight staples in his head.

Saxton’s recording on his phone doesn’t show him getting hit, but you can clearly hear the moment of impact on the video of the incident that he posted to YouTube.

He also posted a bloody photo of himself on Twitter after the attack with the caption, “If you think the gay community accepts and tolerates others, just wait till they hit you over the head with a metal bat.”

Burbaker was arrested and charged with felony assault after the attack.

You can watch Saxton’s video below, with the assault taking place around the 17-minute mark.

Male Gymnasts Strip Down To Dazzle “Britain’s Got Talent”

These guys sure know how to please.
From: NewNowNext
 A group of ripped gymnasts known as “4G” wowed Britain’s Got Talent with an intense gymnastics routine over the weekend, and it’s not that hard to guess which part of their routine specifically had the crowd howling for more.

The guys describe themselves as a “men’s artistic gymnastic act” performing “gymnastics with a twist.” They do a few moves on the parallel bars and pommel horses before ripping off their shirts for a few freestyle flips on the mat.

The judge’s reactions were nearly unanimous.


“Oh my goodness, that is some serious six packs!” Alesha Dixon yelled.

“The choreography was fantastic, you work well together, and it was good when you took your top off,” Amanda Holden said next.

Added David Walliams: “Why stop at the top? I think it would be easier to move wearing a thong. If you were to go forward to the next round, I would need a written contract saying you would be willing to take off your tracksuit trousers.”

Agreed. We are all this woman right now:


Check it out below:

Judge Rules Gay Sex Stings Carried Out by Long Beach Police Are Discriminatory

From: Towleroad
  Los Angeles county judge has ruled that gay sex stings carried out by Long Beach police are discriminatory and “indicative of animus toward homosexuals.”

Superior Court Judge Halim Dhanidina invalidated the arrest of Rory Moroney, 50, on charges of lewd conduct and indecent exposure. Had Moroney been found guilty he would have had to register as a sex offender.

Moroney was arrested after allegedly exposing himself to an undercover police officer at a well-known gay cruising area.

Moroney was emotional in court after the ruling came down. Speaking outside the courthouse, he said, “It was really hard to … come out and be the voice, but I had to do it because I believe that Long Beach is discriminating against gay men.”


The LA Times reports: 

Dhanidina said a review of evidence showed that Long Beach’s vice unit engaged in discriminatory practices because the squad uses only male officers as undercover decoys in lewd conduct stings. Several officers who testified at an evidentiary hearing earlier this month all said they had a [sic] arrested only male suspects for lewd conduct in their time working as vice officers, according to the judge.
Dhanidina rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Long Beach based its policing tactics on citizen complaints about lewd conduct, saying that the agency provided little to no evidence of citizen complaints about such conduct at men’s public restrooms where the bulk of the stings took place.

Dhanidina concluded that the Long Beach PD “intentionally targeted men who engaged in homosexual sex.” Dhanidina added, “It appears that the presence and tactics of the decoy officers actually caused the crimes to occur.”

Long Beach police have not said whether they plan to appeal Dhanidina’s ruling.

Legendary Professional Wrestler 'Chyna' Joanie Laurer Dies at 46

From: NBC News
Professional wrestling legend Chyna was found dead in her Southern California home April 20th, her manager confirmed. She was 46.

The WWE icon billed as the "Ninth Wonder of the World," whose real name is Joanie Laurer, was "found lying peacefully" on her bed that afternoon, her manager, Anthony Anzaldo, said.


Redondo Beach Police said in a statement there were no indications of foul play. Sgt. Shawn Freeman said police received a 911 call from a friend who had checked on Laurer after not hearing from her for several days.

"The exact nature and cause of the death, as well as the general time of death is under investigation by the Los Angeles County Coroner's department," Freeman said in the statement.

Laurer was a female pioneer in the male-dominated sport of professional wrestling during the mid- to late-1990s, becoming the first woman to compete in the WWF Royal Rumble. She was also the first woman to become an Intercontinental Champion in the sports in 1999 and again in 2000.



The wrestler-turned-reality TV star and, later, adult film actress found fitness as an escape from a difficult childhood, according to the bio on her official website.

Former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert Admits To Molesting Teen, Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison

At least four men came forward to say Hastert sexually assaulted them when they were teens.
From: NewNowNext
 Former Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his part in a hush-money deal used to pay off a man he sexually abused decades ago.

District Court Judge Thomas M. Durkin also issued Hassert a $250,000 fine.

In court, the ex-Speaker admitted he “mistreated some of the athletes I coached.”

“The thing I want to do is say I’m sorry to those I’ve hurt and misled. They looked at me, and I took advantage of them.”


 Hastert’s high-powered friends, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, asked the court for leniency.

“We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few,” Delay wrote in a letter to Durkin. “[He] doesn’t deserve what he is going through.”

But their plea fell on deaf ears. “Nothing is more stunning than having ‘serial child molester’ and ‘Speaker of the House’ in the same sentence,” said Judge Durkin at sentencing.

Scott Cross, 53-year-old Chicago businessman, held back tears as he recounted how Hastert, then a wrestling coach, abused his trust.

“As a high-school wrestler I looked up to Coach Hastert—he was a key figure in my life,” Cross told the judge. “I wanted you to know the pain and suffering he caused me then, and still causes me today.”


Hastert said he “didn’t recall” molesting Cross, but admitted to abusing another victim, Stephen Reinboldt. His attorney requested probation, claiming the 74-year-old was “deeply ashamed” of his actions and in poor health. But Hastert’s efforts to mislead the FBI’s investigation, and then blame his victims, blunted any sympathy he may have garnered from the court.

Judge Durkin said he would recommend Hastert be sent to a prison hospital.

Adorable Teen Works Up Courage To Ask Boy To Prom

"I've never felt so included, so safe and so accepted for who I am."
From: NewNowNext
In a video posted to YouTube, an adorable high school senior finally got the chance to ask a boy to go with him to prom.

The video shows the senior, named Ari, giving a farewell speech in front of some of his closest friends who he will be leaving after graduation.

“These past four years—I cannot believe I’m actually standing here doing this—these past four years have been the best of my life, there’s no other way to put it,” he begins.

“This has been an incredible place for me to really…be my home away from home. I’ve never felt so included, so safe and so accepted for who I am.”

He goes on to talk about the years in high school he spent in the closet and how he can now say “with absolute certainty that I am not straight, heterosexual, whatever.”

The group erupts into cheers, with many screaming “ARI WE LOVE YOU!” as the senior turns to stand in the center of the circle.

Once the clapping dies down, Ari picks back up: “On that note, Hey Mark! Would you do me the honor, as a leader and as a friend, to go to my Senior Prom with me?”

According to the video description, “Mark [had] always hoped that one day he’d be able to go to prom with a guy,” so it’s no surprise that when the camera pans to him, he bursts into tears.

He stands and enthusiastically says yes to Ari’s question and as the two hug, their best friends scream and cheer around them.

Check it out below!

Adam Lambert Knew He Liked Boys In The Sixth Grade

"I wanted to be me."
From: NewNowNext
In a new video for the “It Got Better” campaign from the It Gets Better Project, out singer Adam Lambert opens up about the moment he realized he was gay and how he eventually came out to his family.

Though he describes his childhood as fairly happy and typical, once Lambert entered the sixth grade, he began to notice that he wasn’t “wired the same way as most of the other boys,” which made him feel lonely and isolated.

“Slowly but surely, I felt guilty about it and I felt ashamed of it,” he says. “I didn’t understand how to be that.”

“You know when you’re a kid and you don’t have any examples,” he continues, “where there’s nothing really on TV, none of the other kids in class that you know of are identifying that way…it makes you feel like an outsider.”

Though he says he “hid” from being his “true self” throughout junior high, once he made it to high school, he started to open up more, thanks to joining choir and drama as well as watching Will & Grace with his family.

Will & Grace lightened the whole topic up,” Lambert said. “I think being around the TV with my parents on the couch and us all laughing at the same jokes allowed me to kind of feel comfortable with them and made me realize, ’This is probably going to be okay with them.'”

When he finally did come out to his parents, he says it felt like “a ton of bricks had been lifted off [his] shoulders.”

“I wanted to be me,” he concludes. “I didn’t want to fit into anybody’s idea of what I was supposed to be.”

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

1964

Lila Kedrova 
as

Madame Hortense
Zorba the Greek

Lila Kedrova (9 October c. 1918 – 16 February 2000), was a Russian-born French actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Zorba the Greek (1964), and the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for the same role in the musical version of the film.

Adam Lambert Is The Face Of Macy’s New American Icon Campaign

Get ready for a hot summer!
From: NewNowNext
 Adam Lambert is many things—chart-topping singer, Queen front man, Earth’s ambassador to planet Glitterock. And now we can add fashion model to that list of accolades.

The “Ghost Town” singer is the new face of Macy’s “American Icon” campaign for summer 2016.


“This year, American Icons is all about the celebration of music, and we’re offering a medley of different experiences for customers to get involved,” explains Macy’s chief marketing officer Martine Reardon.

“In our advertising campaign, we pay tribute to locations rich with music history, such as New Orleans and Memphis, as well as some of the hottest musical talent today.








Lambert brings his rocker edge to the campaign in tailored fashions from Macy’s INC International Concepts brand, while fellow signer Austin Mahone embraces festival style for the campaign with a more casual look.


The American Icon campaign will also introduce Macy’s first digital music festival on YouTube, benefiting Got Your 6, which supports veterans and their famlies.

Robert

The Hottest Chaser Out There

Christian rock star comes out as gay. Here’s the letter he wrote to the world

Since 2001, Trey Pearson's "Everyday Sunday" has sold around a quarter of a million albums,
and his 2009 album made its way onto the coveted Billboard 200 chart.
He has toured in all 50 states and 20 countries, playing with top Christian musicians
such as Toby Mac, Switchfoot, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp and others. Photo courtesy of Trey Pearson
 “I don’t mean to cry. It’s just been such a long time coming.”

Trey Pearson, 35, was overcome with emotion halfway into our first interview, and it is easy to understand why. For the past 15 years, he’s been the lead singer of the popular Christian rock band Everyday Sunday. But he decided to put his career on the line this week and acknowledge to his fans that he is gay.

“I finally decided to come out because I couldn’t keep trying to be something that I wasn’t,” he tells me.

Pearson’s announcement is no small story. Since 2001, Everyday Sunday has sold around a quarter of a million albums. His song “Wake Up! Wake Up!” was the most-played Christian rock song of 2007, and his 2009 album, “Best Night of Our Lives,” broke onto the coveted Billboard 200 chart. Pearson has toured in all 50 states and 20 countries, playing with top Christian musicians such as Toby Mac, Switchfoot, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp and others.


Trey Pearson on the June 2016 cover of (614) Magazine.
 (614) Magazine, an entertainment and culture magazine in Columbus, Ohio, will tell Pearson’s story in a 12-page cover story for its June issue. His narrative will ring familiar to many who grew up in a religious community. Pearson was raised in a conservative Christian home where he was taught that sexual orientation was a matter of choice. Though he knew from an early age that he was attracted to other males, he attempted to suppress his feelings and “be straight.”

“I never wanted to be gay,” he tells (614). “I was scared of what God would think and what all of these people I loved would think about me; so it was never an option for me.”

Nearly eight years ago, Pearson married a woman in hopes of achieving the kind of straight dream-life his community would support. Though he and his wife had two children, his hopes never materialized and Pearson realized he “was never going to be who my wife needed me to be.”

“I was not making it an option to be gay so I could be loyal to her and my children,” he told me. “But then I realized the only way I was ever going to be my best for them was to be healthy myself.”

As Pearson started accepting his sexual orientation, he sought guidance from other Christian leaders. The first person he told was pastor Jonathan Martin, author of “How to Survive a Shipwreck,” who helped him connect with a counselor. His mentor and friend Rob Bell, former pastor and author of “How to Be Here,” also helped him process.

Trey Pearson, 35,
has been the lead singer of the popular Christian rock band Everyday Sunday.
But he decided to put his career on the line this week and acknowledge to his fans that he is gay.
 Photo courtesy of Trey Pearson
While Pearson says he will no longer live a lie, he is not abandoning his faith. The rocker says he still prays regularly and reads the Bible. He even once memorized the entire epistle of James. His study of the Scriptures, he says, has led him to believe that the handful of Bible verses that directly address homosexuality do not prohibit the kind of loving, committed gay relationships known to the modern world.

“There is absolutely no conflict with accepting who I am and following Jesus,” he said. “God wants me to be healthy, authentic, whole, integrated and my truest self.”

Pearson’s shift places him in the center of a growing movement of popular Christian musicians who are coming out as gay and are advocating for a more open and accepting posture in the church. Ray Boltz, whose songs were staples in evangelical churches throughout the 1990s, came out as gay in 2004. Grammy-nominated Anthony Williams  became the first openly-gay gospel artist in 2009. Jennifer Knapp, another Grammy-nominated Christian artist acknowledged that she was a lesbian one year later. And in 2014, popular worship music artist Vicky Beeching told The Independent that she too was a lesbian.

These musicians paid a hefty price. Since Christian music fans tend to be conservative and believe that homosexual acts are sinful, you won’t hear their music played in most churches or on Christian radio these days.

Pearson accepts that his announcement could mark the end of his music career too, but he hopes it will signal a fresh start instead. He plans to continue making music and will release a new single later this year. He will perform at Wild Goose, the Christian festival in July, and hopes to become a voice within the burgeoning “gay Christian” movement.

“I definitely know how hard it was on my journey to be able to accept myself, and how other people’s voices and stories helped me. So I absolutely want to be a voice for other people,” Pearson says. “I know there are more and more Christians that realize how important this is, and I hope I can join with them in seeing this change.”

Pearson’s journey begins today with a single step and the following letter written to those who’ve supported his music over the years.

To my fans and friends:

Most of us reach at least one pivotal moment in our lives that better defines who we are.
These last several months have been the hardest–but have also ended up being the most freeing months—of my life.
To make an extremely long story short, I have come to be able to admit to myself, and to my family, that I am gay.
I grew up in a very conservative Christian home where I was taught that my sexual orientation was a matter of choice, and had put all my faith into that. I had never before admitted to myself that I was gay, let alone to anyone else. I never wanted to be gay. I was scared of what God would think and what all of these people I loved would think about me; so it never was an option for me. I have been suppressing these attractions and feelings since adolescence.  I’ve tried my whole life to be straight. I married a girl, and I even have two beautiful little kids. My daughter, Liv, is six and my son, Beckham, is two.
I had always romanticized the idea of falling in love with a woman; and having a family had always been my dream. In many ways, that dream has come true. But I have also come to realize a lot of time has passed in my life pushing away, blocking out and not dealing with real feelings going on inside of me. I have tried not to be gay for more than 20 years of my life. I found so much comfort as a teen in 1 Samuel 18-20 and the intimacy of Jonathan and David. I thought and hoped that such male intimacy could fulfill that void I felt in my desire for male companionship. I always thought if I could find these intimate friendships, then that would be enough.
Then I thought everything would come naturally on my wedding night. I honestly had never even made out with a girl before I got married. Of course, it felt anything but natural for me. Trying not to be gay, has only led to a desire for intimacy in friendships which pushed friends away, and it has resulted in a marriage where I couldn’t love or satisfy my wife in a way that she needed. Still, I tried to convince myself that this was what God wanted and that this would work. I thought all of those other feelings would stay away if I could just do this right.
When Lauren and I got married, I committed to loving her to the best of my ability, and I had the full intention of spending the rest of my life with her. Despite our best efforts, however, I have come to accept that there is nothing that is going to change who I am.
I have intensely mixed feelings about the changes that have resulted in my life. While I regret the way I was taught to handle this growing up, how much it has hurt me and the unintentional pain I have brought Lauren, I wouldn’t have the friendship I now have with her, and we wouldn’t have our two amazing, beautiful children. But if I keep trying to push this down it will end up hurting her even more.
I am never going to be able to change how I am, and no matter how healthy our relationship becomes, it’s never going to change what I know deep down: that I am gay. Lauren has been the most supportive, understanding, loving and gracious person I could ever ask for, as I have come to face this. And now I am trying to figure out how to co-parent while being her friend, and how to raise our children.
I have progressed so much in my faith over these last several years. I think I needed to be able to affirm other gay people before I could ever accept it for myself. Likewise, I couldn’t expect others to accept me how I am until I could come to terms with it first.
I know I have a long way to go. But if this honesty with myself about who I am, and who I was made by God to be, doesn’t constitute as the peace that passes all understanding, then I don’t know what does. It is like this weight I have been carrying my whole life has been lifted from me, and I have never felt such freedom.
In sharing this publicly I’m taking another step into health and wholeness by accepting myself, and every part of me. It’s not only an idea for me that I’m gay; It’s my life. This is me being authentic and real with myself and other people. This is a part of who I am.
I hope people will hear my heart, and that I will still be loved. I’m still the same guy, with the same heart, who wants to love God and love people with everything I have. This is a part of me I have come to be able to accept, and now it is a part of me that you know as well. I trust God to help love do the rest.

– Trey

NICK HORN

 No matter how much weight he puts on or takes off, Nick is and will always be a sexy ass hell.  I was so lucky to get to spend one night with him a few years ago.   One of the best sexual encounters of my life!