Let's kick off the week by spending #ManCrushMonday with sexy hunk Iasonas Laios. This Greek stud completed his military service in 2013 and since then he's been modeling. You can see more of the Hellenic hottie at his Instagram.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Goggle Doddle for March 6, 2017
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| 37th Anniversary of Komodo National Park |
How much do you know about Komodo dragons?
Today’s Doodle celebrates the 37th anniversary of Komodo National Park with an interactive quiz to test your knowledge about Its main, reptilian inhabitant: the Komodo dragon!
Komodo National Park in Indonesia sits at the center of an archipelago and consists mainly of 3 volcanic islands. The landscape is unlike any other, ranging from dry savanna conditions to lush forests, all surrounded by white-sand beaches and bright blue water.
Although Komodo National Park was created to protect the life of the 5700 Komodo dragons who call it home, the park's scope has now expanded to other native wildlife. In addition to the Timor deer, which is the main source of food for the Komodo dragon, the islands are also the habitat for 72 species of birds, such as the yellow-crested cockatoo. Thousands of fish species swim in the surrounding waters, as well as sea turtles, dolphins, and whales.
Despite the plethora of native wildlife, Komodo dragons are still what the park is best known for. Thanks to National Parks like Komodo, wildlife can continue to thrive largely uninterrupted by human interference.
Here's to the Komodo dragon and Komodo National Park's 37th year!
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Major Case on Transgender Rights
From: New York Times
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| The Supreme Court vacated an appeals court decision in favor of a transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, and sent the case back for further consideration in light of new guidance from the Trump administration. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times |
The Supreme Court announced on today that it would not hear a major case on transgender rights after all, acting after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on whether public schools must allow transgender youths to use bathrooms that match their gender identities.
In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court vacated an appeals court decision in favor of a Virginia transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, and sent the case back for further consideration in light of the new guidance from the administration.
The Supreme Court had agreed in October to hear the case, and the justices were scheduled to hear arguments this month. The case would have been the court’s first encounter with transgender rights, and it would probably have been one of the biggest decisions of a fairly sleepy term.
Proponents of transgender rights said they were disappointed that the court had not taken the chance to decide a pressing national issue.
“Thousands of transgender students across the country will have to wait even longer for a final decision from our nation’s highest court affirming their basic rights,” said Sarah Warbelow, the legal director of the Human Rights Campaign.
“The first duty of school districts is to protect the bodily privacy rights of all of the students who attend their schools and to respect the rights of parents who understandably don’t want their children exposed in intimate changing areas like locker rooms and showers,” she said.
There are other cases on transgender rights in lower courts, including a challenge to a North Carolina law that, in government buildings, requires transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates. The law has drawn protests, boycotts and lawsuits.
The question in the Virginia case was whether Mr. Grimm could use the boys’ bathroom in his high school. The Obama administration said yes, relying on its interpretation of a federal regulation under a 1972 law, Title IX, that bans discrimination “on the basis of sex” in schools that receive federal money.
The Department of Education said in 2015 that schools “generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.” Last year, the department went further, saying that schools could lose federal money if they discriminated against transgender students. The Trump administration withdrew that guidance last month.
Mr. Grimm attends Gloucester High School in southeastern Virginia. For a time, school administrators allowed him to use the boys’ bathroom, but the local school board later adopted a policy that required students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms for their “corresponding biological genders.” The board added that “students with gender identity issues” would be allowed to use private bathrooms.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Mr. Grimm, told the justices that requiring Mr. Grimm to use a private bathroom had been humiliating and had, quoting him, “turned him into ‘a public spectacle’ before the entire community, ‘like a walking freak show.’”
After Mr. Grimm challenged the school board’s bathroom policy in court in 2015, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., ruled the policy unlawful. A trial judge then ordered school officials to let Mr. Grimm use the boys’ bathroom.
A 1975 regulation adopted under Title IX allowed schools to provide “separate toilet, locker rooms and shower facilities on the basis of sex.” The Fourth Circuit said that the rule was ambiguous and that the Education Department’s interpretation of it was entitled to “controlling weight.”
Both sides had hoped the Supreme Court would decide the case, Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., No. 16-273, even after the Trump administration withdrew its guidance on the meaning of the regulation.
In a letter to the justices last week, Joshua A. Block, a lawyer with the A.C.L.U., said the administration’s change in position did not render the case moot, as the basic question of what Title IX meant remained. “The underlying principle that discrimination against transgender individuals is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex has been widely accepted in the lower courts for years,” he wrote.
“Delaying resolution would provide no benefit to the court and would needlessly prolong harm to transgender students across the country awaiting this court’s decision,” Mr. Block wrote.
In a second letter, S. Kyle Duncan, a lawyer for the school board, agreed that the case should proceed, though he suggested a brief delay to allow the Trump administration to weigh in.
A ruling on the meaning of Title IX, Mr. Duncan wrote, “will save the parties — as well as public and private parties involved in similar disputes throughout the nation — enormous litigation costs as well as needless and divisive political controversy.”
The Supreme Court rejected those requests, apparently preferring to wait for a cleaner presentation of the issues in a different case.
Cosmo Centrefold Hall of Fame
From: Cosmo UK
Gee Atherton
World champion mountain biker Gee sets our pulses racing
George David Atherton, known as Gee Atherton (born 26 February 1985, near Salisbury, England) is a professional racing cyclist specializing in downhill and four cross mountain bike racing, and is a multiple national champion, multiple World Cup winner, and 2010 downhill World Cup Champion.
“Beauty And The Beast” Director Says Gay Moment Has Been “Overblown”
"I have to say my heart sinks a little," says Bill Condon amid Christian boycotts
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
All conservative hell seems to have broken loose since director Bill Condon revealed last week that his live-action Beauty and the Beast movie would feature Disney’s first “exclusively gay moment.”
“It may have been a long time coming but this is a watershed moment for Disney,” Condon told Attitude of the twist for Josh Gad’s character LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick.
First came news that the Henagar Drive-In Theater in Alabama would not screen Beauty and the Beast if it featured a gay character. “If I can’t sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it,” wrote the theater owners on Facebook.
After a boycott on LifePetitions urged people to mail postcards “expressing your concern” to Disney, evangelical preacher Franklin Graham called for a Christian boycott of the film in a viral Facebook post: “They’re trying to push the LGBT agenda into the hearts and minds of your children—watch out!”
BBC is now reporting that the film may not screen in Russia if its found in violation of the country’s “gay propaganda” laws. Could this be much anti-gay ado about nothing?
“It’s all been overblown,” says Condon in a new chat with ScreenCrush. “Because it’s just this, it’s part of just what we had fun with,” he continues. “I feel like the kind of thing has been, I wish it were—I love the way it plays pure when people don’t know and it comes as a nice surprise… Why is it a big deal?”
Condon echoed these statements to USA Today, saying, “To me, I have to say my heart sinks a little [that we’re talking about this moment]. I like the idea of it coming as this surprise, and I hope people don’t know where it’s coming.”
Spoiler alert: EW, which has screened the film, reveals that the scenes in question involve LeFou “flirting with Gaston” and “dancing with another male character.”
Gad, however, remains “very proud” of the scene, telling press at the film’s recent premiere that it’s “an incredible moment and it’s subtle, but I think it’s effective.”
It should be noted that the animated blockbuster Frozen, in which Gad voiced snowman Olaf, was also accused by some right-wingers of pushing a gay agenda. “Oh, I love it,” the actor told The Advocate in 2015. “It fills me with such pride when someone says that Frozen is pushing a gay agenda. It just makes me laugh.” Gad went on to say that he was “so proud that ‘Let It Go’ has become an LGBT anthem.”
Gad, who revealed that his older brother is gay, also told The Advocate that he was eager to tackle a gay role. “If there are any great gay roles available for a young bear like myself, I’ll take them,” he said. “You guys can trust me.”
40 Musical Reasons Why Dolly Parton Is A Groundbreaking Genius, In Chronological Order
From: OMG
06
Down From Dover
1970
The story of a girl who waits in vain for a boy to come back and join her for the birth of their illegitimate baby. It was banned from country radio when it was released.
Straight Fraternity: Turk, Carter & Nikko Play Truth or Dare: Pt 1
From: Straights Go Gay
The Straight Fraternity camera guy has all the fun … today he gets 3 hot guys, Turk, Carter and Nikko, to whip their dicks out and play a gay version of Truth or Dare. The loser gets 2 loads of cum in the face from the other guys. The dares include toe sucking, ass licking, dildos, cock sucking, french kissing and more. Who will cum out on top?
