World swimming’s governing body (FINA) has adopted a new “gender inclusion policy” on Sunday that only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. The organization also proposed an “open competition category.”
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health just lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition hormone treatment to 14 and some surgeries to 15 or 17. But 12 is unheard of and basically shuts out all trans competitors.
FINA’s new 24-page policy also includes proposals for a new “open competition” category.
FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new policy.
Elsewhere British Rowing is reportedly set to dramatically abandon its contentious policy on transgender athletes on Thursday – in a move that will restrict the women’s category solely to those who were born female.
Everything that’s functionally broken in our government today is due to what Reagan did.
Florida’s Governor is looking to a former California Governor as an antecedent for his current presidential run. During an interview on Wisconsin’s Mark Belling Show, Ron DeSantis suggested his candidacy could be the modern version of the 1980 election that saw Ronald Reagan defeat Democrat Jimmy Carter.
“What I would just tell folks out there listening is Biden is kind of like Jimmy Carter. When Reagan came on the scene, the country lost confidence in Carter. They were willing to go in a different direction. I think we’re in the same place with Biden,” DeSantis contended.
Casey DeSantis, wife of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is relaunching a group focused on portraying her husband as a friend to “mamas” everywhere.
Florida’s First Lady is kicking off the presidential campaign’s iteration of “Mamas for DeSantis” with a new video highlighting the Governor’s stances against drag queens, masks and Anthony Fauci. The video, which runs slightly more than two minutes, juxtaposes stern narration against a visual backdrop of a parade of horribles for DeSantis and his supporters.
“When you come after our kids, we fight back. There’s nothing we won’t do to protect our children. They’re not yours,” the voiceover contends, juxtaposing Biden against “fighter” Ron DeSantis. The video’s roll out is aptly timed. Mrs. DeSantis is in Iowa Thursday, where she will appear with Gov. Kim Reynolds to launch a “Mamas for DeSantis” group.
As for “protecting the rights of parents,” that apparently excludes immigrant parents, parents fighting to prevent gun violence in schools, parents who want their children to have a truthful understanding of U.S. history, parents of transgender kids seeking gender-affirming care, parents who want their kids to become more empathetic and understanding of their own emotions — and the list goes on and on.
Chris Hemsworth has been taking some time away from his acting career to prioritize his health and his family. In the meantime Hemsworth has been sharing his thirsty workout post for several months—and it’s quite something to behold.
But many people viewing the video, particularly the last core exercise, were distracted by the contents of Hemsworth’s workout shorts, under which it was pretty evident—from the hammer of the gods that kept swinging and bulging against the material—that he was going commando. In fact, the bulge was so large that many fans were left with the question: Is that Mjölnir in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
While I never miss a chance to see a half naked Chis Hemsworth and this is quite the bonus there I can’t help but wonder e the anguished squeals of “Misogynists'” or “sexual objectification ” or “male gaze” if this video had been a scantily-clad woman.
Once upon a time long ago before there was the internet gay porn or what was considered obscene was extremely illegal and expensive. 8mm and 16mm celluloid loops called “blue movies” were available but the majority of them were marketed to to a straight male audience. But then “physique” magazines began to spring up after World War II to every gay man’s (and closeted ones) delight.
Bob Mizer (1922-1992) was the mild-mannered publisher and photographer for Physique Pictorial, one of many such magazines that published “beefcake” photographs under the guise of bodybuilding and health. His photography studio, the Athletic Model Guild (AMG), specialized in men (gay and straight) doing bodybuilding poses or wrestling in pairs. With assistance from his mother, Delia (who created the posing straps), and his brother, Joe, he photographed thousands of men, building a collection that includes nearly one million different images and thousands of films and videotapes.
Thanks to the Guild, Mizer was not only a subversive force in the art world, but also one of the first to push for an openly gay community
But that thin guise — almost as thin as the posing pouch that his models wore — wasn’t enough to keep him from being convicted in 1947 of unlawful distribution of obscene materials and serving a nine month sentence at a work camp in Saugus, California.
Physique Pictorial, Summer 1958.
That setback barely put a dent into Mizer’s career. In addition the Physique Pictorial, Mizer added Young Adonis in 1963 and Grecian Guild Studio Quarterly in 1966. When obscenity laws were relaxed in 1968 allowing full male frontal nudity, Mizer quickly adapted with the times. Through it all, AMG was very much a family affair, with Mizer’s mother (her skills as a seamstress was put to use in creating a line of skimpy briefs and posing pouches) and brother (an accountant) playing important roles in the business. Mizer would photograph thousands of men and take nearly a million different images, influencing artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and David Hockney along the way. He also produced over 3000 film titles from the 1950s to the 1980’s, which mostly consisted of film (and later, videotape) of his photo sessions.
Bob Mizer died in 1992, and AMG went dormant for a while. But under new ownership, Mizer’s archives are being cataloged and digitally remastered. Mizer never thought of himself as an artists, but his work has garnered a significant re-appraisal. The Los Angeles Timeswrote in 2004 that “Mizer’s pictures are historically important because they capture a time, place and attitude so vividly that it still seems to be with us. His photographs are inspiring because they were not made to fill a market niche that already existed. Instead, they created the niche and then filled it with aplomb.”
Stanford Medicine’s Scope Blog: In a study published Feb. 14 in The World Journal of Men’s Health, (Michael) Eisenberg and his colleagues compiled data from 75 studies, conducted between 1942 and 2021, that reported on the penile length of 55,761 men. The team found that the average erect penis length increased by 24% over 29 years, a trend they saw around the world. Eisenberg said that the increase may be another indicator that environmental exposures — such as environmental pollutants or increasing sedentary lifestyles — are causing reproductive-related changes.
It’s good thing they studied long and hard on this issue and at length!
On September 14, 1989, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) led a noon protest of 350 people in front of the New York Stock Exchange, targeting Burroughs Wellcome and other companies that it felt were profiteering from the epidemic by their high pricing of the AIDS drug AZT, which was unaffordable to most people living with HIV.
The demonstration was planned to coincide with those held in San Francisco and London that day.
Separate from the noon rally, ACT UP members Peter Staley, Lee Arsensault, Greg Bordowitz, Scott Robbe, James McGrath, and two other members who served as photographers infiltrated the Stock Exchange that morning. Chaining themselves to the VIP balcony, they dropped fake $100 bills onto the trading floor and disrupted the opening bell for the first time in history. Their miniature foghorns drown out the opening bell, as they unfurled a banner above the trading floor demanding “SELL WELLCOME” . Their photographs were given to the Associated Press and the story went national.
As a result of these demonstrations, Burroughs Wellcome lowered the price of AZT by 20 percent four days later.
“You can see Michelangelo Signorile, Bill Bahlman (holding video camera), and Vincent Gagliostro in the crowd. Seen first in the perp line is Scott Robbe, followed by , Robert Hilferty (RIP). Then you’ll see the late and great Lee Arsenault (with mustache), and Gregg Bordowitz is shown in front of Lee. Unfortunately, the clip ends before we see the last two of our seven-man team: James McGrath and Richard Elovitch. September 14, 1989 — probably the most thrilling day of my life.” – Peter Staley
Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks tells an allegorical story loosely based on Edmund Rostand’s 1894 play The Romancers (Les Romanesques), concerning two neighboring parents who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud. The LGBTQIA+ focused rewrite features two young gay men, Matt and Lewis, at the center of the story, instead of a young man and woman (the original characters were Matt and Luisa). Transforming the boy and the girl into two boys (Matt and Lewis) is an idea I’ve had for a long time,” says Lluberes. “Rethinking the show through the lens of two young gay men reveals so much about first love, identity, and self-discovery.”
The new version of his classic musical—in collaboration with Flint Repertory Producing Artistic Director Michael Lluberes—that will premiere June 3–19 at the not-for-profit professional theatre company in Michigan.
During its original run at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, The Fantasticks logged a record-breaking 17,162 performances.
For more information and to buy tickets click here.
Sacramento PRIDE has dis-invited local LGBT police officers from attending the city’s yearly events because their presence might make “marginalized” (ie. trans, QPOC) members of the community feel unsafe.
For years, uniformed gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and straight Sacramento officers have staffed outreach booths and marched in PRIDE.
“The foundation of PRIDE 50 years ago was the original Stonewall riots which was an uprising against police brutality,” explained David Heitstuman, executive director of the Sacramento LGBT Center.
“Not everyone feels safe in the presence of uniforms,” he said.
Officers have also been warned by event organizers that even in their polos, protests of their presence are likely.
Openly gay Sacramento police officer Officer Jeff Kuhlmann is speaking out against Sac Prides Police ban.
With a photo in Time magazine, Kuhlmann became a national symbol of the Supreme Court’s support for marriage equality in 2015.
Now in his 15th year on the force, he’s been told that as a gay man he can’t march in his own city’s PRIDE parade dressed as he appears on patrol.
“It was … it was shocking,” said Officer Jeff Kuhlmann.
The Sacramento police department has released the following statement about what’s happened:
“Our police department is disappointed that the LGBT Center does not want our officers attending upcoming public community events while in uniform. We support our LGBT(Q) officers who proudly serve our community on a daily basis. They have worked hard to earn these uniforms and are proud to wear them.”
Officer Kuhlman went into further detail in an interview with CBS 13 and FOX 40 Sarcramento which you can watch below.
*Back2Stonewall does not agree with certain PRIDE organizations for banning LGBT and straight ally police officers from marching in uniform and participating in PRIDE celebrations. LGBT police officers have worked tirelessly from within to change law enforcement attitudes to the community and serve and protect us everyday. They should be allowed to be proud of who they are.
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