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| Carlton Beach, Tel Aviv |
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
DJ At Center Of San Diego Padres Controversy Apologizes: “I Ruined A Great Moment For A Lot Of People”
"I have felt the consequences of my mistake as my dream job has dissolved before my eyes."From: NewNowNext
The DJ responsible for playing the wrong recording during a San Diego Padres Game has publicly apologized for the incident, but says it was an honest screw-up, not a homophobic prank.
The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus was slated to perform the National Anthem at the Padres-Dodgers game, but as 100 members of the chorus assembled on the field, a recording of a woman singing The Star-Spangled Banner was played over the PA system instead of their backing track.
The recording played in full, with no announcement, and fans reportedly shouted insults at chorus members as they left the field.
After the incident, Padres management terminated the team’s relationship with DJ Artform, who was responsible for the snafu in the production booth.
In a statement on Facebook, he accepted the gravity of the situation but underscored it was an “unfortunate mistake”:
My deepest apologies and sincere regret toward the entire San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus & the LGBT community for the incident that occurred during the National Anthem. It was a very unfortunate mistake but it was just that, an error.I in no way, shape or form directed any type of hate, bad intent or discrimination towards the Chorus or anyone involved. The incident was not a representation of myself, San Diego & its amazing Baseball fans.I have felt the consequences of my mistake as my dream job has dissolved before my eyes which does not take away that I am extremely sorry for the horrible mistake that occurred. I have family members & friends that are a part of the LGBT community & I have always been a supporter of Equal Human Rights, so it pains me greatly to see that I am being accused of acting intentionally.As a former high school and college baseball player, I understand the importance of ensuring equality for all in sports and am appalled by some of the negative, homophobic comments made by fans related to the National Anthem incident.I have reached out to LGBT leaders in San Diego and am currently in discussion regarding a meeting with the Chorus and LGBT leaders personally in order to be as constructive as possible about the error. I’ve let down my City, my family & everyone who had faith in me.Once again,I’m truly sorry for this entire ordeal.
Calling into a local radio show, Artform seemed contrite in his apology.
“I ruined a great moment for a lot of people,” he said on Mighty 1090’s Scott and BR Show. “I should have intervened, I should have turned it down. There are a lot of coulda woulda shouldas.”
“I understand completely about the issues that have been underlying the LGBT community and the gay men’s chorus,” he said on the radio show. “This isn’t something I take lightly. So I have personally spoken to the [chorus] director earlier this morning. … I’m doing things on my side to be as constructive and proactive with this whole ordeal.”
We’re inclined to believe him—not just because he sounds sincere, but because you’d have to be a moron to plan a malicious act like that and think it wouldn’t get you fired.
The real issue is the fans in the stands who reportedly jeered and shouted “you sing like a girl” and “you never sounded better.”
Let’s hope the Padres, and Major League Baseball, make it clear such behavior is an automatic out.
We’re inclined to believe him—not just because he sounds sincere, but because you’d have to be a moron to plan a malicious act like that and think it wouldn’t get you fired.
The real issue is the fans in the stands who reportedly jeered and shouted “you sing like a girl” and “you never sounded better.”
Let’s hope the Padres, and Major League Baseball, make it clear such behavior is an automatic out.
Teaching Nurses How To Treat Gay Men Is Saving Lives In Rural South Africa
“I would like to urge every MSM out there to go and get help—not to die in secrecy."From: NewNowNext
A program in east South Africa is working to educate nurses about addressing the unique health issues of gay and bisexual men. And it’s paying off.
Gay-friendly facilities opened earlier this month at M’Africa Community Clinic in Emjindini, a town of of about 220 miles from Johannesburg. In all, some 20 community clinics have been been trained across the province of Mpumalanga.
“They are now competent to accept and offer treatment to men who are having sex with other men,” Sibusiso Makhathini of ANOVA Health Institute, which sponsored the training, told News 24.
Sister Favourite Sikhosane said she was thrilled to receive the information. As a nurse, she never intentionally discriminated against gay people, but she admits she had no idea how to address their concerns.
“Our clinic is now competent to treat MSM and we are calling them to visit us,” said Sikhosane. “They will receive friendly treatment. Our nurses now understand better.”
South Africa is being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic: At the start of the 21st century nearly one-half of all deaths in South Africa were related to HIV/AIDS. Even now, 19% of the country’s population is HIV-positive, the highest rate in the world.
Stigma is a major factor: It’s not uncommon for gay men to be disowned, even harassed and attacked after coming out. (In 2014, a gay man was gang-raped and left in a burning house.)
Misinformation has played a part, as well: As recent as 2006, South African health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang advocated a diet of garlic, olive oil and lemon to “cure” HIV.
The hope is that by creating a more welcoming and enlightened environment, clinics can encourage gay and bi men about testing, prevention and treatment.
“I would like to urge every MSM out there to go and get help” said Mnendi Zulu, a gay man from the village of Manyeveni. “Not to die in secrecy.”
More than 18,000 doctors, researchers, activists, policymakers and heads of state are attending the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, including actress Charlize Theron, a UN Messenger of Peace and founder of an outreach program for young South Africans affected by HIV.
Gays Overheard: Carbs, Kylie and Going Knickerless
March 1, 2014
From: Cocktails and Cocktalk
From: Cocktails and Cocktalk
Our favorite part of reading Time Out magazine is the ‘London Overheard’ section, so here is what we’ve been eavesdropping on over the last week. You can always trust the fags and their hags to say it exactly how it is…
Overheard something funny? Email: contact@cocktailsandcocktalk.com or tweet us at @cocktalkblog
40 Musical Reasons Why Dolly Parton Is A Groundbreaking Genius, In Chronological Order
From: OMG
To celebrate the queen Dolly Parton, we asked the biggest Dolly fan we know, to create a chronological list of his favorite Dolly songs.
You might be surprised that most of Dolly’s songs (particularly the early ones) are not about romantic heartbreak, but uplifting things like unplanned pregnancy, child abuse, murder, and insanity — from a feminist perspective.
Heads up: We didn’t even try to include a song from Trio or Trio II, the glorious collaboration albums from Dolly, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. You should really listen to those in their entirety.
Now, on to the list!
01
Dumb Blonde
1967
The first single from Dolly’s first album Hello, I’m Dolly. She ain’t no dumb blonde though!
Georgia Bill Allows Open Discrimination Against Gay People
From: Huffington Post
Georgia is considering passing a law that would let any taxpayer-funded organization deny services to same-sex couples, or unmarried couples in general, by citing religious freedom.
The bill, HB 757, was originally intended to protect ministers from having to perform marriages that violate their religious beliefs. (Members of the clergy already have that right under the First Amendment, but sometimes lawmakers just like to pass bills to make a statement.) That version of the bill passed the House in February 2016.
Then, the Senate expanded the bill to prohibit the government from taking action against anyone at a state-funded organization who has “a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such marriage.”
In effect, the bill opens the door to discrimination against lesbian and gay couples, single parents and unmarried couples. It means state-contracted counselors, for example, could refuse to provide services to single mothers. Taxpayer funded adoption and foster care agencies could refuse to place children in homes with same-sex couples. State-funded homeless shelters could turn away unwed couples and their families. Government employees could refuse to file official forms for same-sex couples — remember Kim Davis? — or provide state tax benefits to single mothers.
The measure was tarnishing Georgia’s reputation. A massive coalition of businesses — including Twitter, Chase, UPS and Delta — signed a pledge stating they believe that treating all Georgians fairly “is essential to maintaining Georgia’s strong brand as the premier home for talented workers, growing businesses, entrepreneurial innovation, and a thriving travel and tourism industry.” Leaders at Dell, Virgin and Microsoft have also spoken out.
Salesforce took things a step further. In a preview of how other businesses may respond, the California-based cloud-computing company sent a letter to Georgia lawmakers vowing to pull its investments out of Georgia if the bill becomes law. The company, which is valued at more than $44 billion, currently maintains an Atlanta office that is one of its top five employee hubs in the country.
“Without an open business environment that welcomes all residents and visitors, Salesforce will be unable to continue building on its tradition of innovation in Georgia,” reads the letter from Warren Wick, senior vice president of Salesforce. “We encourage you to take decisive action to avoid this kind of damage and reaffirm that our state will not tolerate discrimination against people because of who they are or who they love.”
An academic group with 1,200 members and a $650,000 investment to make is also vowing to take its business elsewhere.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups were focusing on Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R). They delivered 75,000 email petitions to Deal’s office, urging him to veto the bill.
“HB 757 makes Georgia workers, families and others vulnerable to the whims of anyone claiming a religious reason,” Simone Bell of Lambda Legal, a group focused on LGBT legal protections, said on related conference call.
“This is wrong for Georgia. Freedom of religion is already protected under state law,” said Bell. “HB 757 goes too far.”
The Huffington Post reached out to Deal spokeswoman Jen Talaber to see if the governor plans to sign the bill if it hits his desk. We got an automated reply from Talaber saying that she’s out of the office and to reach out to someone named Alyssa. Her email also offered “a few pro tips for you intrepid reporters” looking for comment on something:
1. The governor will not comment on pending legislation.2. Alyssa will not comment on pending legislation.3. I know you have to ask a follow-up, but still no comment on pending legislation.Deal has been mostly quiet about the debacle, though on Monday he issued a warning of sorts that the bill needs to be changed.
“I do not want us to do anything that will be perceived as allowing discrimination in the state of Georgia. That is not who we are as a people,” Deal said. “And I don’t think we have to do that in order to give the security that the faith-based community thinks we need. I want to make sure we don’t go out of balance.”
Deal said last March, that he would reject any bill that “allows discrimination in our state in order to protect people of faith.” Remarkably, the GOP governor said that while he personally believes marriage should be between one man and one woman, it’s time for his party to “recognize that the world is changing around us.” In April 2016, when HB 757, came across the governor's
desk, Deal did veto the bill.
“Our people work side by side without regard to the color of our skin, or the religion we adhere to. We are working to make life better for our families and our communities. That is the character of Georgia. I intend to do my part to keep it that way,” he said. “For that reason, I will veto HB 757.”
Last week, Harbin reintroduces religious liberty legislation, HB 233, which would have many of the same standards of HB 757.
Will The Supreme Court Hear Its First Transgender Case This Year?
The high court may rule on a trans teen's right to use the bathroom.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
When the U.S. Supreme Court reconvened on October 3, 2016 it agreed to take up a case involving transgender rights for the first time.
Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old trans student at Gloucester High School in Virginia, has filed suit against administrators for the right to use the boy’s bathroom and locker rooms.
In June, 2016, an appeals court ruled in Grimm’s favor, agreeing that forcing him to use the women’s room was a violation of his Title IX protections against sex discrimination.
The school board then was asking the high court to hear its appeal.
Oral arguments were scheduled to start March 28th, however; last week, the Trump administration announced an effective rollback of an Obama administration policy that extended protections against sexual discrimination to people who identify as transgender -- throwing a potential wrench in Grimm’s case before it heads to the high court. Attorneys on both sides are required to update the court on Wednesday, and may change the SCOTUS decision on hearing this case.
Should SCOTUS decline to hear the case, the appeals ruling stands and Grimm remains victorious. But if the justices put it on their docket, their verdict will have implications for trans-rights cases nationwide.
And with the court down to just eight justices, four liberal and four conservative, the results are anything but a foregone conclusion.
Last fall, the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay on the appeals court order, blocking its enforcement and leaving Gavin Grimm in limbo until the SCOTUS makes a further ruling.
That’s beautiful. That dude is completely beautiful.
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| In his notes, Mr. Renslow described Gary Price (not his real name) as a top selling model. “We took a lot of pictures of him in leather because it just seemed to fit. He was a hustler, but I don’t remember too much about him.” Gary Price photographed by Chuck Renslow, date unknown, part of Kris Studio Collection. Used by kind permission of Leather Archives & Museum, Chicago Illinois USA. |
Seven Transgender Women Have Been Murdered In Just The First Two Months Of 2017
“Trans women don't want any special privileges. We should have the right to live our lives open and free."From: NewNowNext
It’s just the first of March as I write this, and already seven trans women have been brutally murdered this year. At least seven, that is—doubtless there are those women who just “disappeared” or remain unidentified.
On Monday night, 26-year-old Ciara McElveen was stabbed to death in New Orleans, where she had been celebrating Mardi Gras. Just two days prior, another transgender woman, Chyna Gibson, a.k.a. Chyna Doll Dupree, was shot 10 times in the same city.
“Trans women don’t want any special privileges,” said Syria Sinclaire, a friend of McElveen. “We should have the right to live our lives open and free and not be taunted and traumatized by the general public.”
Police in New Orleans do not believe the two deaths are connected, but there’s no denying the epidemic violence afflicting trans women of color: The homicide rate in America is 1 out of every 19,000. For black transgender women, that number is 1 in every 2,600.
In 2016, there were at least 26 transgender people who died from violence in the U.S, the highest on record. At this rate, we’ll break that in July.
Below are the seven transgender women whose murders have been confirmed.
Mesha Caldwell, 41, was found shot multiple times on a road in Mississippi on January 4. She was a popular and talented makeup artist, described as “a happy person that loved everyone and never met a stranger.”
Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, 28, was found dead in her Sioux Falls, South Dakota, home January 6. “Our hearts are broken as we will miss her very much,” said friends of Wounded Arrow, a two-spirit Lakota,
JoJo Striker, 23, was found dead in a garage in Toledo on February 8. She suffered a single gunshot wound to the torso. Police do not have a suspect or motive.
Jaquarrius Holland (Brown), 18, was shot in the head in Monroe, Louisiana, on February 19.
KeKe Collier, 24, was shot multiple times while sitting in a car with a man in Chicago on February 21. “She loved to dance all the time,” said a friend of Collier, who was also known as Tiara Richmond. “She was always the life of the party. Even when we got into fights, she didn’t want to fight.”
Her death marks the second killing of a transgender woman in Chicago in six months.
Chyna Gibson, 33, was shot 10 times in New Orleans on February 25. She was going to be a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding in Houston.
Ciara McElveen, 21, was stabbed to death in New Orleans on February 27. Police believe she was pulled out of a car, run over and left her for dead.
Rush Limbaugh: There Would Have Been Riots If “Moonlight” Lost The Oscar
"They went for a twofer. They had a movie about a gay black guy."From: NewNowNext
Moonlight became the first LGBT film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards but right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh warned that there would have been rioting if the film had lost.
“They had a movie about a gay black guy,” the shock jock said on a recent broadcast. “I wonder if they were afraid that Hollywood might be — I’m not, no, never mind. I’m not going to talk about potential violence if one of the two didn’t happen.”
Referencing the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite controversy, Limbaugh argued that Moonlight’s Best Picture win amounted to an affirmative action vote. “Hollywood took it on the chin last year,” he said. “Remember everybody was jumping in their chili, claiming that it was all white, all night, all the nominees, and that the only roles for African-Americans are drug-addled criminals and gang leaders and so forth or servants, and they’re fed up with it.”
“So Hollywood had to make it good last night so they went the twofer,” he said. “Two protected groups in one movie.”
The fact that the film earned a 99 on the review aggregator site Metacritic doesn’t seem to rate with him.
Limbaugh also joked that the Best Picture snafu, which has been referred to as #EnvelopeGate on Twitter, could have been the work of Russian hackers. He said that he wants to be “first to call for an investigation and an independent special prosecutor to look” into the controversy, which he called “embarrassing.”
In a review for the Sunday Times, critic Camilla Long slammed Moonlight as an “awful, one-note picture of the African-American community’s attitude to gay sex.” She added “it’s a film for a non-black, non-gay, non-working class, chin-stroking, self-regarding, turbo smug audience.”
Moonlight won three Oscars in all, including Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Rachel Maddow on the Shady Connection Between Wilbur Ross, Trump, and Lots of Russian Money
From: Towleroad
Another must-watch connect-the-dots from Rachel Maddow, this one involving newly-confirmed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Ross sits at the center of an extremely shady Florida real estate deal between Donald Trump and a billionaire Russian fertilizer magnate named Dmitry Rybolovlev with a need to hide large amounts of money.
Said Maddow:
“At the time this magical deal emerged out of nowhere that put tens of millions of dollars in Donald Trump’s pocket, at that time Donald Trump was financially having a very difficult time. It is a matter of public record that he was fighting very hard among other things to avoid paying off a very big loan that he had with Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank needs the money that means Trump needs the money, that means Trump needs to get the money, so… This mysterious infusion of cash from the Russian guy came at just the right time for now President Trump.”
Added Maddow:
“Every investigative reporter in the country right now is trying to figure out whether there is some reason our president appears to feel so beholden to Russia, and to Vladimir Putin. Well this part here, this is not like a loose thread, this is like a rope ladder hanging down from the ceiling begging people to crawl up this and look around.”
Watch:
If you’re interested in digging any further into the shadiness surrounding Ross, check out this article in The Guardian.
And here’s Maddow’s talk with David Remnick: