The haters lost their minds with Episode 3. Now with Episode 7 they have gone on meltdown mode
The Last of Us’ Episode 7 – “Left Behind” is the show’s latest in an already long line of heartbreakers. This seventh episode finally gives Ellie (Bella Ramsey) the flashback treatment it deployed in its first and third episodes, detailing the night Ellie discovered she was immune to the Cordyceps fungus, and also lost her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), to a zombie bite. “Left Behind” is a beautiful showcase, a miniature coming-of-age tale with a plot that is rigged to elicit emotional turmoil from the audience.
Over the course of the night, Ellie embraces her sexuality when she has what seems to be her first kiss with Riley. (Which is in the video game.)
A pair of international beauty pageant winners are showing love wins.
Via USA TODAY:Miss Argentina 2020, Mariana Varela, 26, and Miss Puerto Rico 2020, Fabiola Valentin, 22, wrote on Instagram that they got married on Oct. 28 after having kept their relationship out of the public eye. “After deciding to keep our relationship private, we opened the doors to them on a special day. 28/10/22,” the couple wrote in a joint message on both of their Instagram pages.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in Puerto Rico in 2015 when it was legalized across the U.S. following a Supreme Court ruling. Argentina legalized it in 2010.
The couple each represented their countries in 2020 in the Miss Grand International competition, whose organizers sent well wishes to them on their marriage.
An intolerant Uber driver in Camden, N.J. is about to get in a whole lot of trouble.
Kristin Michele and Jenn Mangan were in an Uber on their way to a Zac Brown Band concert in Camden, N.J. on Friday night when Michele leaned over and gave Mangan a kiss on the cheek.
The driver then stopped the car and immediately told the women to get out.
‘I can’t ride with that. I won’t have that.’ The Uber driver said. The driver said she was a “Christian” and “didn’t believe in that.”
Michele started recording a video right after that, in which she asks, “Are you kicking me out because I’m gay?” and the driver responds, “Yes, I am. Yes. Get out.”
Michele continued arguing with the driver. The woman threatened to call the police, which Michele encouraged, but the driver never did, she said.
“Eventually it was obvious this wasn’t getting resolved, so I just got out of the car,” Michele said, after about five minutes of back-and-forth.
The women reached out to Uber and heard back from the company, which said they would handle the incident, but didn’t specify what would happen, according to Mangan.
It is illegal in New Jersey to discriminate against LGBT’s in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
This is not the first time that an Uber driver has been accused of homophobic targeting of passengers.
In late November of 2018 Taray Carey put his arm around his husband, Alex Majkowski, in the backseat of an Uber ride in the East Village of Manhattan and were subjected to a “hate-filled assault” by a middle-eastern driver.
*UPDATE: In a statement, the company says, “Uber does not tolerate discrimination in any form and we have been in contact with this rider. We removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as we were made aware of this incident.”
1642 – The General Court of Connecticut adopted a list of 12 capital crimes, including “man lying with man.” The law was based on the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Body of Liberties of 1641 the first legal code established by European colonists in New England
1901 – El Universal, a Mexican newspaper, reported that police raided a party attended by single women. The article implied that the women were lesbians.
1975 – Feminist writer Jill Johnston wrote an essay “Are Lesbians Gay?” in which she explained why she believed it was absurd for lesbians to align themselves with the gay movement. And thus began the fracturing and compartmentalizing of our community.
1976 – In Florida, Willard Allen was released from a mental hospital 26 years after he was ordered by a judge to be held there for having sex with another man. His doctors had been recommending his release for almost 20 years.
1980 – The American Journal of Psychiatry published an article recommending religion as a cure for homosexuality.
1981 – The Worldwide Church of God (now Grace Communion International) published “The Plain Truth,” which speculated that the illnesses being diagnosed in gay men were God’s penalty for promiscuity.
1982 – The US House of Representatives voted to provide $2.6 million in funding to the Centers for Disease Control to fight AIDS. The amount of money that was mere peanuts considering the severity of the disease.
1986 – After being convicted of sodomy, a Georgia man was fined $1,000, sentenced to 10 years probation, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
1988 – The first World AIDS Day was sponsored by the World Health Organization. World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Between 1981 and 2007 alone AIDS had killed more than 25 million people and an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were living with HIV making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.
World AIDS Day was first conceived in August 1987 by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Bunn and Netter took their idea to Dr. Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as UNAIDS). Dr. Mann liked the concept, approved it, and agreed with the recommendation that the first observance of World AIDS Day should be December 1st.
Get tested and play safe or take PReP. AIDS is not over yet. The responsibility is your own.
1989 – African-American dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey died of complications from AIDS. Ailey, an African-American choreographer and activist founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. and is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance. His company gained the nickname “Cultural Ambassador to the World” because of its extensive international touring. Alvin Ailey’s choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance.
1997 The National Black Lesbian Gay Leadership Forum participated in a meeting with President Clinton to encourage greater inclusion of African American gays and lesbians in the President’s Initiative on Race.
1998 – Officials in Miami Florida voted 7-6 to pass a law prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment and housing. Anita Bryant was not happy. 1999 – On the 700 Club, televangelist Pat Robertson denounced Canada’s leaders because a commercial printer who refused to print stationary for the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives lost a suit charging that he violated Canadian law. He urged Canadian viewers to “throw out those crazies who are now running the country.” He implied that a pastor who said that incest and child molestation are wrong could be imprisoned for holding such beliefs. .
2004 – Project Runway debuts on Bravo and introduces viewers to avuncular judge Tim Gunn and his catchphrase, “Make it work!” The popular reality series includes many openly lesbian and gay contestestants and judges and most recently on this seasons Project Runway All Stars its first transsexual contestant
2012 – West Point’s military chapel hosts its first same-sex wedding.
After asking three women to leave who were carrying Jewish Pride flags last weekend during the Chicago Dyke March, organizers of the event have started a crowfunding campaign for a “self-care retreat.” They are trying to raise $5,000 they say to go towards taking “a much needed retreat to rest, re-energize & be in a space of pure love” after “organizers and supporters, mostly queer and trans folks of color, have received countless threats of violence and aggression.”
The story goes that last week three participants in the march were forced to leave because they were carrying rainbow flags emblazoned with the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism. Organizers “were telling me to leave because my flag was a trigger to people that they found offensive,” Laurel Grauer told Windy City Times. “Prior to this [march] I had never been harassed or asked to leave and I had always carried the flag with me.”
According to the organizers, however, they issued a statement saying Grauer and other women bearing the flags were expelled not because of the flags, but because they were “expressing Zionist views that go directly against the march’s anti-racist core values.” Zionism involves the support of a Jewish state in Israel, but some, including the march organizers, believe the Israeli government is oppressive of the nation’s Palestinian residents. “The group in question was heard disrupting chants, replacing the word ‘Palestine’ with ‘everywhere,’ saying: ‘From everywhere to Mexico, border walls have got to go,'” the statement continued.
The ” threats|, the Collective claim have not documented or presented and were most likely backlash on social media.
Many are not happy that the CDM is raising funds for a vacation off the back of last weeks events.
As a Chicagoan it’s really painful, especially,” said Celia Sax, an organizer for Planned Parenthood as well as various Pride and Jewish events. “It’s demoralizing.” Sax feels said campaign puts salt in the wound. “It’s an additional layer of dehumanization,” she said.
Sax also was critical that the campaign funded a retreat rather than activism. “They could raise money for human rights, for reproductive rights, etc., but they are wasting it on self-care rather than any cause,” she said. “That is beyond awful.”
Activist Ilana Cohen also deemed the call for funds distasteful. “I can’t even fundraise $1,400 for surgery on my service dog’s eyes, and they want a retreat for being anti-Semitic,” Cohen said.
Bloomberg Politics is reporting that after Mondays news about the Supreme Court clearing the way for gay marriages to begin immediately in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Same-sex couples rushed to the courthouse to exchange vows. On Tuesday, t they looked at the dozens of front pages newspapers in those states archived by the Newseum to see what photos the papers chose. And the the majority overwhelming chose pictures of lesbian same sex marriages over those of male.
*Newspapers that used lesbian same sex marriages in photos – 29
*Newspapers that used male same sex marriages in photos – 3
*Newspapers that split the difference and used both gay and lesbian same sex marriage photos – 3
Its gay male erasure I tell you!
You can check out all the newspaper front pages HERE
Finally after four seasons and countless bitchy posts from this website not one but two lesbian characters have surfaced on The Walking Dead officially ending their abysmal zero rating of having any LGBT representation on the AMC hit show.
In last nights episode “Dead Weight” (another snoozefest of a Governor story-line only episode) the only thing that made it worth watching was blocking out David Morrisey’s abysmal performance as the Governor and focusing on the supporting characters of Martinez and the brothers Ken (Dollhouse‘s very hot Enver Gjokaj) and Mitch (Fringe‘s Kirk Acevedo) and the lesbian coupling of the characters Tara and Alisha.
When we first met Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson) in Season 4, Episode 6: “Live Bait,” we didn’t know a whole lot about her. She hinted a little bit at a previous girlfriend, Sam, in “Live Bait,” after the Chambler family car broke down — apparently, they’d taken mushrooms together on a camping trip, and Sam decided it’d be a great time to tell Tara that she’s actually straight. Womp womp. But on last nights episode a potion of the LGBT community finally got included in the Walking Dead universe when Tara hooked up with a fellow survivor at the Gov.’s new camp, Alisha (Juliana Harkavy).
Very subtly done. Some flirting, a walk in the walker infested woods, and an onscreen cuddle. Not over the top, your face and not the defining stories of the characters. Which is much appreciated. Television and movie charcters should nopt be defined by their sexuality. It should just be there and dealt with no differently than heterosexuality. I do have to say this though. As hard as they tried the writes did miss the boat a bit on stereotyping, Tara is, well was a cop and Alisha a Marine. Lesbians do have careers other than ones that require shooting guns and being butch (Or so I am told) But hey, I give them an A for trying and finally after 4 seasons showing that a portion of the LGBT community does at least exist in The Walking Dead universe.
Now, TWD. How about Daryl coming out as a closeted gay redneck? Its really not a far stretch considering his hair color keeps changing and his hair is always stylishly cut. And it would sure lift the boredom of the Governor’s endlessly insipid story-line.
When I came out eight years ago, I felt that as time went on, I wanted to contribute more to the cause of equality by speaking out because as the old saying goes “if you’re not a part of the solution then you’re a part of the problem”. So I try to make an effort whenever possible, even if it’s a small donation to an LGBT organization or writing a blog about the problems and issues within our community. And I always try to encourage but not demand the same in others. I believe every voice has power, and as a result, an impact in everything we do.
Even if it’s something as simple as a retweet on twitter or liking and sharing a Facebook status, I feel like if it further advances someone else’s voice. The message becomes a little bit louder and I am more than happy to do so. Visibility is and has always been a key component to the success of our community. Any civil rights movement that has been successful in history is because they stood out and made their presence known. Social media allows us to be visible and more powerful in delivering our message of equality than ever before.
But, we need to recognize that there is a limit to how effective that can be as there is to everything else. Sometimes the message can be counter-intuitive, counterproductive, contradictory, and just plain wrong. An example of this kind of wrong is what I found when I came across this ad today by an organization called FCKH8. Today they tweeted out this image with the caption“Jesus’s reason for wanting you to support gay marriage”. When I saw this, I became livid. There are so many things wrong with this picture. But let’s break it down so you see why this is so disturbing.
The message by what I presume is an LGBT equality group for marriage equality and their message is to “Legalize Love”. Of course I support that, it’s what I talk and write about daily. The group calls on both straight and gay allies to join together to eliminate discrimination and hate. They have an array of t-shirts, hoodies, wristbands and pens to promote the cause. Hell, I even support the eye candy they use to promote their merchandise on their website. I support all of this because allies are a bridge that enables us to spread our message.
Even with the fact that many don’t support businesses or organizations like this because we don’t know where all the profit is going to, I don’t mind it. Because it gets the word out and makes us more visible in some form and what we as a community want. They even donated 25000 dollars to help promote awareness and equality in Tennessee, my home state that is still trying to pass a bill that would ban students in grade K through 8 from saying the word gay in school. So, naturally I support that as well. That is not where the issue lies here.
Now some of you may be looking at this ad right now saying “What’s wrong with it, this is in support of marriage equality” and if that’s all you see then you need to look again. Because this ad supports hate. It is saying that abortion is wrong. I don’t support hate, in any form. And this openly invites hate on a woman’s right to choose for herself and I will never, ever support such hypocritical, vulgar, and flat out asinine degradation of ANYONE and their right. You don’t “Fuck Hate” by hating on another group. Ever.
Maybe the reason that I’m so upset is because I’ve seen such a vapid attempt like this before. Because of this belief by some leaders and activists within our community that fail to see the diversity that is in this community. It’s evident when you hear comments like “I can’t be racist, I’m gay” when you most certainly can be, despite how immeasurably ignorant a conclusion this is to invoke. These two issues don’t even mirror because they are two completely different issues. However, both should be treated with the same respect. Your status as a gay man does not eliminate your ability to be prejudice.
Some would argue that this ad shows a glaring privilege that is often overlooked and not approached for discussion by this community. Because some say that the truth is gay Caucasian men still have some privilege. It’s not so much about the right to marry but in the ability for a Caucasian male, regardless of sexuality, is still granted the ability to make a cause more visible. Don’t believe that’s true? Well this is what ads like this suggest, and why it is so important to speak out about how irresponsible an impact they have. Because this is not the kind of message we want to send.
I don’t know if it’s the inexperience of youth, an extremely tasteless joke or just willful ignorance but it needs to stop. How insensitive is it not only degrade but also condemn the rights of women by using the same tactics enacted by extreme republicans declaring kit is God’s Will to get married? Why would you ever want to place the condemnation on another group this way? By involving a prophet depicting children that are in danger to abortion and being gay saves the world that awful notion. I don’t even understand why whoever created this ad felt that this would ever be okay to publicly damn women’s rights. It is incredulously hypocritical (and quite ironic) to use religious propaganda to promote any cause.
Not to mention that there are lesbians, transgendered, and bisexual women that exists within this community as well. This ad completely disregards them and their right to choose. You are openly condemning these women when ads like this are a representation of this movement. They are facing the same struggles for equality that we are fighting for every day. This goes to show what goes wrong in a civil rights movement when someone becomes so intent on what they want for their community and for themselves that they don’t think about how it will affect others. You know who this ad speaks to? Gay, Caucasian Males. It does not reflect any other bit of diversity than that.
This all goes back to what I’ve talked about numerous times here and here about one of the biggest issues that exist in the LGBT community. That those of us that are a dichotomy, or members of other disparaged communities, face other issues that are completely disregarded pushed aside, or ridiculed by the group that knows what that feels like. Or at the very least knows what it feels like to be treated this way. Race issues and women’s issues in this community too often are treated this way. The only way that this erroneous use of judgment ever changes is when we call it out and explain why it’s wrong.
I’m angry at how insensitive this is to the other members of this community. How this ad openly disparages the women in our community that are always a side note in our struggle for equality. Normally the figureheads in the public eye are all male, all Caucasian and do not even begin to show the diverse dynamics of this community. And it has got to stop. Now. You all should be raging about this. We cannot afford to alienate one right over another. Civil rights movements are not about throwing other groups under the bus to get what we want. It is not always just about us. And we need to remember that.
Doctor Who is bringing back two popular lesbian characters in an upcoming episode. Silurian Reptilian Madame Vastra and her human companion, Jenny who an earlier storyline in Victorian London, were shown as lovers.
Head writer Steven Moffat told SFX he loved Vastra and Jenny and felt they “really cut through as characters, given how little screen time they had.” Joining the couple in the episode, which airs in 2013, is British actress DameDiana Rigg (Emma Peel!) and her daughter Rachael Stirling.
Earlier this year Moffat has had a little whoopsiewhen has accidentally “outed“ the character of River Song on Twitter stating that Captain Jack isn’t the only bisexual in the good Doctor’s cadre of travelling companions.
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Also this past June Jennifer Saunders (Edina Monsoon) herself and creator of AbFab and also he upcoming Spice Girls musical, (shudder) returned to Brit television, playing the warden of a women’s prison in the BBC 3 comedy Dead Boss
