From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Favorite Classic Playgirl Guy for June 23, 2008
Not so classic, but still a great shoot: Michael Anthony - Playgirl - March 2008.
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
“Stitches” Singer Shawn Mendes Clarifies: “I’m Not Gay”
"The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality."From: NewNowNext
Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes has responded to persistent rumors that he is gay in a Snapchat story, telling fans that he’s admittedly “frustrated” over the rumors not because they’re false but because people in 2016 are accusing him of being gay as if it were a bad thing.
“So I don’t usually do this or bring up problems but I was on YouTube just watching some of my interviews and I was going down the comments and noticed a lot of people were saying I gave them a ’gay vibe,'” the “Stitches” and “Treat You Better” singer said today.
He clarified: “First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, it shouldn’t made a difference if I was or if I wasn’t. The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality.”
Shawn’s bubbly demeanor and lack of love interests throughout his career, which began after he was discovered on YouTube in 2013, have contributed to rumors that he is gay in the years since his debut.
He continued:
“Now I know 99% of you guys aren’t making assumptions like this but this is for the 1% of you that are. I just want you guys before you judge someone on the way they speak or act to think, I want you guys to think ‘hey, maybe I shouldn’t be judging someone’ or ‘wait it actually doesn’t even matter.’ They can do or be or feel however they want to feel.Now I’m not frustrated because people were saying that I was gay at all, I have no problem with that cause it wouldn’t make a difference to me. I’m frustrated because in this day and age people have the audacity to write online that I’m gay as if it were a bad thing. That’s all I really have to say about that. I just wish those 1% of people would grow up. I love you guys.”
Check it out below:
Broadway Bares 18
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
Left to Right: Vincent DePaul, Matthew Morrison and of course Nick Adams
June 23rd is Public Service Day
Each year on Public Service Day, the United Nations hold an event to reward and highlight the work performed by public services in recognition to their contribution to upholding our society and way of life.
Wicked Moving #RestInPride Campaign Honors Pulse Victims
From: Wicked Gay
#RestInPRIDE is a video campaign honoring our brothers and sisters whose lives were taken far too soon at LGBT nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando, FL.
Please get involved by uploading your own video towww.facebook.com/RestInPRIDE , and donating NOW to OneOrlando.Org
Song Download "LIGHT" by Brian Justin Crum, available on iTunes, with all proceeds to benefit the OneOrlando Fund.
More info here- www.RestInPRIDE.org
Where’s the Rainbow Flag Emoji?
When a unicorn won't do.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
There are emoji flags for different countries from the around the world, but there is one flag that represents an entire community that is missing from the emoji library: the rainbow flag.
Apple introduced LGBT emojis back in 2012 allowing users to choose if couples are male and female, two men or two women. There is also a rainbow and a unicorn which are often used when texting and tweeting, but where is the flag for the LGBT community?
Since the Orlando shooting a Care2 petition asking Unicode-who control emoji standards-to create a rainbow flag has received almost 40,000 signatures.
“The tragic events in Orlando underscore why recognition of the LGBTQ community is much needed across a popular and influential platform: the emoji keyboard,” Colton Price-Fiore, the creator of the Care2 petition told The Vital Voice. “I started my Care2 petition for a rainbow flag emoji a year ago, and since then the Unicode Consortium has approved a slew of new emojis, but the LGBTQ flag continues to be lacking. It’s past time for this change to be implemented to honor a community that is so often and so tragically the target of threats and violence.”
Where's the rainbow flag emoji!? Someone needs to make that happen like...now.— Nicole and Natalie (@NinaSky) June 16, 2016
A new set of emojis are set to be released soon including everything from an avocado to a bat and Mrs. Claus. A rifle was originally to be one of the new emojis, but after the Orlando massacre Apple pressured Unicode to remove the weapon.
“According to sources in the room, Apple started the discussion to remove the rifle emoji, which had already passed into the encoding process for the Unicode 9.0 release this June,” reported CBC News. “Apple told the consortium it would not support a rifle on its platforms and asked for it not to be made into an emoji.”
Dear @twitter, wouldn’t it be great to have a rainbow flag emoji, in the flags section? 👍 (Pls RT)— Maurice Beljaars (@moriesbel) June 20, 2016
According to Bustle LGBT emojis are popular in the U.S., comprising “0.13 percent of all emojis sent,” so hopefully the rainbow flag will happen soon. Until then you can use a rainbow heart this LGBT Pride Month:
Keep your pride celebration moving with this GIF:#LoveIsLove#LoveWins #Pride2016 pic.twitter.com/LE6oNCpSua— TwitterOpen (@TwitterOpen) June 23, 2016
UK Supermarket Tesco Rearranges Fruit Display In Rainbow Colors For Pride
Tesco knows how to get into the spirit!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Though the UK-based mega-chain Tesco has been involved in London Pride for many years, this year, the supermarket brand stepped up its game by becoming an official sponsor of the event. The chain plans to commemorate this new commitment with rainbow-colored window displays, specialty Pride t-shirts and a 40-foot delivery truck, complete with a dance floor, bubble machine and DJ, that will ride in the parade.
In addition to their Pride swag, Tesco will also provide lunches to the 900 volunteers helping to make the weekend run smoothly as well as funds to LGBT Switchboard, the oldest LGBT hotline in the UK. 500 London stores have been busy through the month of June raising money for the organization by hosting specialty cocktail hours and performances by the London Gay Men’s Chorus.
John Dickinson, Out at Tesco Chair, adds: “We know Pride in London is such a fun and vibrant event and that’s why we’re proud to be an official sponsor this year. Over 200 of our colleagues will be taking part in the parade and twelve stores along the route will also be getting into the spirit with special Pride-themed signs, balloons and carrier bags.”
The Pride in London Parade will take place this Saturday, June 25, from 1 pm to 4:30 pm.
Tim Tebow Makes Hosptial Visit To Former Teammate Wounded In Orlando Shooting
The two first met when playing football together in high school.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Rodney Sumter was working bar at Pulse nightclub on the night of the June 12 mass shooting. Though he was shot three times, resulting in two broken arms and a badly injured back, he miraculously survived. Since then, he’s been recuperating at a local hospital, where he recently received a special surprise visit from an old high school classmate: Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.
Tebow and Sumter played football together at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida before Sumter moved on to play wide receiver at Jacksonville University and Tebow went on to wow the nation as a quarterback for the University of Florida.
Sumter commemorated the visit by posting a photo of the two old friends on his Instagram along with the caption “My high school quarter back left the Bahamas to come and see me. Tebow has always been an awesome person.”
A day earlier, Sumter posted a photograph of another special visit, this one from Orlando City Soccer Club Captain Kaká, former MLB star Johnny Damon and Gov. Rick Scott. In the photo, Sumter can be seen holding an #OrlandoUnited shirt being sold by local sports teams to raise money for the victims of the Pulse shooting.
Texas Man’s Pride Flag Repeatedly Defaced, Burned By Neighborhood Kids
The teenagers posted photos on social media of themselves committing the crime.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
A Texas man who raised a rainbow flag outside his home to honor the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting claims a group of neighborhood vandals stole the flag, burned it, and later returned it to his front lawn with a giant black swastika spray-painted across it.
“I put it out right there on the curb where the American flags usually go,” 20-year-old Scout Register told KHOU.
Register said the flag was the second he put out in two days, as the first one he put out was stolen. “You can take my flag, but you’re not going to take my pride,” he said defiantly.
Register said the vandals came back the next day to steal the second flag, and returned it to his lawn hours later as his sister watched from an upstairs bedroom window.
“They threw the flag out and were yelling gay slurs and other profanities, honking and screaming,” Register said.
He believes the group of vandals are teenagers who live in the neighborhood, as they posted incriminating images of themselves destroying the flag on social media.
“When I saw the swastika, that put some fear in my heart for my son,” said Beth Register, Scout’s mom.
The local police department confirmed it is investigating the incident, but in the meantime, Scout refuses to feel shaken.
“This kind of backfired for them. Now I feel stronger than I did before,” he said. “This just makes me want to put out as many flags as I can. You’re not going to stop me.”
Rhode Island Yacht Club Still Enforcing Century-Old “No Lesbians” Policy
"How do I explain this to my daughters?"From: NewNowNext
The Westerly Yacht Club in Westerly, Rhode Island has come under fire for enforcing a discriminatory policy against women — one that in practice completely bans lesbians from the premises altogether.
The AP reports the club operates under a “century-old” policy that only allows men to become members, recognizing women as “associate” members only when they are married to a man who allows her membership.
While the rule allows gay men to join, it effectively bars single women, married lesbian couples and male spouses of gay members from joining.
Within the last week, a majority of male members voted to change the rule — 207 were in favor, while 171 voted to keep the rule. The initiative unfortunately failed because a two-thirds majority must agree on all rule changes.
“How do I explain this to my daughters? That you can be the president, but you can’t be a member of the Westerly Yacht Club?” associate member Danielle Hetu said.
On the contrary, male member Bob Dionne said of the club’s female associates, “They’re all happy with what they got. They don’t have to pay dues.”
Jane Barstow, another associate member of the club, said she “heard somebody say that some women had told their husbands to vote against it because they were afraid of their husbands interacting with single women.”
Linda Lee, another woman who commented on the outdated rule, said she wished she were able to join the club but didn’t give them a second thought when she learned of the discriminatory policy.
Lee said when she went into the club alone last year to inquire about a membership for her and her husband, an employee told her she couldn’t join. “You have to be a man,” they said. “Your husband can join.”
Said Lee: “I just said, ‘Forget it.’ And I walked out. These days, we are so past that.”
Nicole Scherzinger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Drag Race” Stars Pop Up In Todrick Hall’s Latest, “Straight Outta Oz”
And you were there—and you and you!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Just in time for Pride, Todrick Hall is back with another eye-popping music video—this time for the Emerald City-inspired “Straight Outta Oz.”
The hourlong video is a mini-opera, with various sections spotlighting the YouTube star’s childhood, personal relationships, and dealings with the entertainment business.
It also includes a bounty of vocal contributions, including Amber Riley, Nicole Scherzinger, Jordin Sparks, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Wayne Brady, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Bob the Drag Queen and other Drag Race stars.
“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has always held a special place in my heart, and I have never been more proud of anything I’ve created,” says Hall. “Thank you all for standing by me on this crazy yellow brick road we call life.”
Find out where you can see Todrick Hall on tour here.