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Liz Truss admits ‘fundamental disagreements’ between her and LGBT panel members before it was disbanded – The Independent

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Liz Truss admits ‘fundamental disagreements’ between her and LGBT panel members before it was disbanded – The Independent

Cabinet minister Liz Truss has admitted there were “fundamental disagreements” with the government’s LGBT+ panel before the decision was taken to disband the group last month.

The minister for women and equalities told MPs there was a “difference of opinion” on the issue of the Gender Recognition Act, with members of the panel supporting self-identification for gender recognition.

Last year, the government axed plans signalled by Theresa May’s government to reform the legislation, allowing people to change gender without a medical diagnosis, favouring  “proper checks and balances”.

Former members of the LGBT+ panel, which was disbanded in April, have since criticised the ministers in the equality office of creating a “hostile environment” for the minority in Britain.

Questioned at a Commons committee on the comments, Ms Truss said the panel was appointed by the “previous government”, reiterating the department’s explanation given last month that their terms were “time limited”.

But she added: “Of course we’re grateful for the contribution they made, but I think there were fundamental disagreements, namely members of the panel supported self-ID for gender recognition certificates.

“I very strongly feel as I made clear there need to be checks and balances. I think the issue here is fundamentally a difference of opinion on that issue.”

The LGBT+ panel had also hit out at government delays to banning the discredited practice of “conversion therapy”, which seeks to suppress an individual’s sexuality or gender indignity.

Ministers committed again at the Queen’s Speech earlier this month to introduce a ban — three years after it was first promised — but are first consulting on the issue, with the terms of reference expected to be published in September. Legislation is not expected until the following year.

Quizzed on whether the government intended to honour the commitments laid out in the 2018 LGBT Action Plan — produced by Theresa May’s government — Ms Truss also swerved the question, saying: “We set our plan for LGBT advancement of rights.

“We also in the Queen’s Speech announced that we will be legislating to ban conversion therapy in this country and we’re also working with business to make sure there is good support for LGBT people in business, particularly small businesses. Those are the priorities as I’ve set them out.”

She added the government would be appointing a new LGBT panel in “due course” to support the priorities.

Part of the LGBT action plan also committed to “provide annual updates” to the Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee “explaining our progress against this plan”, adding: “Parliament can hold us to our word that we will defend, extend and promote the rights and freedoms of LGBT people”.

Pressed on why the government had not provided an update to the committee, the minister replied: “It’s probably because there’s a new government in place under the leadership of Boris Johnson.”

“What I’m saying is that was set out by the previous administration. I have laid out what our priorities are. The prime minister made clear in the Queen’s Speech that we are moving forward on banning conversion therapy, on the LGBT conference, these are our priorities.”

Balenciaga makes the classic Gap logo hoodie ‘Gay’ for Pride – Input

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Balenciaga makes the classic Gap logo hoodie ‘Gay’ for Pride – Input

While most brands play it safe and play with the rainbow for their Pride collections, Demna Gvasalia will do no such thing. The Balenciaga designer has unveiled his celebratory capsule for Balenciaga — and all you need to do is look at the hoodies to see just how “Gay” it is.

Ever the fan of corporate logo parodies, Gvasalia has transformed the iconic Gap hoodie to read simply, “Gay.” It isn’t just the block letters that have been altered, though, as the Balenciaga hoodie comes in the perfect oversized proportions. For a full “Gay” fit, the Gap remix will also appear on hats and T-shirts that’ll go on sale next month.

First shown as part of Balenciaga’s Pre-Fall 2021 collection, the Pride capsule has been confirmed for an “early June” release, and 15 percent of the proceeds will be donated to The Trevor Project — which should be a nontrivial amount of coin given Balenciaga’s prices.

Pride that’s personal — Balenciaga’s Pride collection also includes rainbow strapped underwear, with the real showstopper coming in the form of the brand’s very first jockstrap. “I’m gay. I grew up in a society where I couldn’t have worn that, and there are places in the world that you cannot today,” Gvasalia told Vogue upon unveiling the collection. “It’s important to push through against homophobia. I’m not someone who goes out in the street and shouts. But this is the political fashion activism that I can do.”

While his designs for the Pride collection aren’t overtly complex, they don’t lack for power with the context of Gvasalia’s background. Under his stead, Balenciaga has become the master of meme-worthy clothing — and the “Gay” Gap gear uses that effect to claim space for the LGBTQA+ community. And less importantly, a rainbow-strapped Balenciaga jockstrap is simply going to look awesome at Pride parades.

Campaign images for the capsule, which wasn’t shown in a typical runway setting, were shot across the world to symbolize global solidarity. The fact that there are still places where you can’t wear Balenciaga’s Pride capsule is only more reason to rock it where you can.

Balenciaga

Brian Gay Betting Odds And Insights For The 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge – TheLines.com

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Brian Gay Betting Odds And Insights For The 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge – TheLines.com


Brian Gay Betting Odds And Insights For The 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge

















Brian Gay heads into the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club with +50000 odds to win. He missed the cut in his most recent tournament at this course, the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge.

The betting insights in this article reflect betting data from DraftKings as of May 24, 2021, 6:22 PM ET. See table below for current betting odds and CLICK HERE to bet at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Brian Gay odds for the Charles Schwab Challenge

Gay’s recent form

  • Gay hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in his last five appearances, with an average finish of 81st.
  • He’s qualified for the weekend in one of his last five events.
  • Gay has not been in the hunt in any recent tournaments, as he’s not posted a score better than the field average or finished within five shots of the leader in any of his last five appearances.
  • He finished with a score of +18 in his only made cut over his last five events.

Charles Schwab Challenge details

  • Date: May 27-30, 2021
  • Location: Fort Worth, TX
  • Course: Colonial Country Club
  • Par: 70 / 7,209 yards
  • Purse: 7.5M
  • Defending Champ: Daniel Berger

Course history: Gay at the Charles Schwab Challenge

  • In Gay’s last two trips to this tournament, he’s finished among the top 20 once. His average finish at the event is 13th.
  • Gay has made the cut one time in his last two entries to the event.
  • Gay missed the cut when he last played this event in 2020.
  • He’ll be making his fourth appearance at Colonial Country Club since 2015.
  • In Gay’s last three trips to this course, he’s finished among the top 20 once. His average finish at the course is 24th.
  • In his last three attempts at this course, he’s made the cut twice.

Course comparison – Colonial Country Club

  • The par 70 measures 7,209 yards for this week, which is 111 yards shorter than the average Tour stop over the past 12 months.
  • The average course on the PGA Tour over the past year has played to 70.03 strokes per round and a score of -5 compared to par. At Colonial Country Club, the scoring average is higher at -2.5 per tournament.
  • The courses Gay has played over the past year have an average distance of 7,257 yards, while Colonial Country Club will play at 7,209 yards this week.
  • The tournaments he’s played over the past year have seen an average score of -6.5. That’s lower than this course’s recent scoring average of -2.5.

Historical player and course insights reflect data from the 2014-15 PGA season to present.

Brian Gay 2021 results

Date Event Finish Score Earnings
May 20-23 PGA Championship 81 77-71-80-78 (+18) $18,500
April 29 – May 2 Valspar Championship MC 73-71 $0
April 15-18 RBC Heritage MC 68-74 $0
April 8-11 Masters Tournament MC 78-74 $10,000
April 1- 4 Valero Texas Open MC 76-76 $0
March 18-21 The Honda Classic 46 71-67-73-71 (+2) $19,070
March 11-14 THE PLAYERS Championship MC 80-74 $0
March 4- 7 Arnold Palmer Invitational Pres. By Mastercard MC 78-74 $0
February 18-21 The Genesis Invitational 60 72-69-77-70 (+4) $20,832
February 11-14 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 34 70-72-69-72 (-5) $40,638
February 4- 7 Waste Management Phoenix Open MC 72-74 $0
January 21-24 The American Express MC 74-68 $0
January 14-17 Sony Open in Hawaii 72 67-69-68-73 (-3) $13,266
January 7-10 Sentry Tournament of Champions 29 70-67-71-71 (-13) $55,000

Last Tournament

Below you’ll find a breakdown of Gay’s 81st-place finish in his most recent outing at the PGA Championship (The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, May 20-23).

Round Score Under Par Bogey Free Under AVG Strokes Off Round Leader Round Rank
1 77 N N N 10 110
2 71 Y N Y 3 10
3 80 N N N 12 81
4 78 N N N 13 79

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The History of Pitchfork’s Reviews Section in 38 Important Reviews – Pitchfork

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The History of Pitchfork’s Reviews Section in 38 Important Reviews – Pitchfork

When Texas-based, Mexican-born artist Alan Palomo, formerly of the projects Ghosthustler and VEGA, unleashed Neon Indian’s debut album, Psychic Chasms, in September, the summer of chillwave got its full-fledged album-length statement. Surreal singalongs like “Deadbeat Summer” and “Should’ve Taken Acid With You” encapsulated the slacker spiritual longing (this guy even underachieved at doing drugs!) that seemed to be in the air that year. Toro y Moi’s Causers of This in early 2010 rounded out this very-online genre with nods toward the expressive hip-hop beats of late producer J Dilla. In hindsight, chillwave may have been the sound of early, idealistic internet culture staving off a panic attack just long enough to enjoy one last season in the sun.

THE SWEDISH INVASION

Pitchfork had long made some effort to cover music from beyond North America and the UK, but by the mid-’00s, acts such as Love Is All, Jens Lekman, and “Young Folks”-whistling Peter Bjorn & John had brought Sweden as close to the American indie zeitgeist as Britpop might have seemed a decade earlier. Pitchfork’s disdain for Eurodance was long gone, too: Norway’s Annie topped our Top 50 Singles of 2004 list with her club-thumping “Heartbeat.”

Robyn’s return in 2010, over three EPs culminating in her fifth album, Body Talk, was a long-awaited victory celebration from an underappreciated pop innovator. Marc Hogan’s review of Body Talk acknowledged Robyn’s mastery of a type of pop that borrowed from the indie world and sounded big and mainstream but was, for a time at least, more of a cult phenomenon.

KANYE GOES SUPERNOVA

In 2010, no one else was as ambitious, as ridiculous, as mind-blowingly extra (in a good way!) as Kanye West. After being shunned by much of polite society following his infamous Taylor Swift stage crash at the 2009 VMAs, the backpack rapper turned arena star turned Auto-Tune futurist had a lot of love to win back with his fifth album. So he bundled the best aspects of his previous work, wrapped it all up in a sumptuous, star-studded package, and called it My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Leading up to the record, Kanye borrowed from his friend and collaborator Lil Wayne’s playbook by releasing a string of songs for free online, building up plenty of goodwill in the process. (Three of those—future album pillars “POWER,” “Monster,” and “Runaway”—were quickly named Best New Track.) He also harnessed the excitement of social media in a time when social media was something that people were actually excited about, unleashing unforgettable tweets that were as excessive as they were neurotic, such as the all-time classic, “I hate when I’m on a flight and I wake up next to a water bottle next to me like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this water bottle.”

It all culminated in a record and a moment that somehow blew past the overwhelming hype. In a review by Ryan Dombal, Pitchfork awarded the album an extremely rare 10.0 the day of its November release, as it became the first new album to hit that pinnacle since Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002. Ecstatic fans and perplexed haters had plenty of thoughts, conspiracy theories, and picayune gripes about the score (“really pitchfork? a 10 for kanye? sure the album may rock, but he is a stain. and stains should not be put on such a pedestal,” went one), and thanks to Twitter, they had a new place to put every last word.

FRANK’S FIRST CLASSIC

Not only was Frank Ocean’s major-label debut the first capstone on Odd Future’s rise to the mainstream, but it remains one of the best debuts of this century. When Frank released the record one week earlier than planned, there was a shock of communal excitement. It was as if everyone on Twitter, message boards, and text messages was realizing in unison that this was without question an album destined for the pantheon of music. It was important to recognize Frank’s outsized contribution to pop, R&B, and rap, and Ryan Dombal did so in a review he turned around in about 48 hours. It included connecting songs like “Thinkin Bout You” to Frank Ocean’s now famous Tumblr note, where he opened up about his sexuality, capturing, in essence, his fluidity. Everything about Frank felt as if it was rushing forward in time at an incredible pace. This review wanted to capture that blur of a feeling, of an artist claiming something brand new for himself.

CYBERPUNK 2012

When her third album was released in 2012, Claire Boucher stood with one platform boot in the underground and another in the mainstream. At the time, Visions’ post-everything digital maximalism served as a link between the indie-approved electro-pop of the likes of Robyn and Lykke Li and the Tumblr-era avant experimentations of, say, Oneohtrix Point Never or Crystal Castles. (The album would go on to help lay the groundwork for the next generation of hyperpop bedroom producers.) And Grimes’ cyberpunk fashion and controversy-courting social media presence acted as a bridge between Gorilla Vs. Bear and the MTV VMAs red carpet. But the biggest impact that she would have on the decade that followed would be in her manifestation of a future in which being Extremely Online would be elevated to a way of life.

Gay man worries he will lose relocating lover: Qtalk’s advice – Erasing 76 Crimes

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Gay man worries he will lose relocating lover: Qtalk’s advice – Erasing 76 Crimes

LGBTQ+ Nigerians benefit from the support provided by volunteer counselors via the Qtalk app. (Tenth in a series)

Names have been changed in all this site’s Qtalk writeups, which were contributed by the counselors who provide advice to LGBTQ+ Nigerians via the free Qtalk app:

Gay man worries he will lose lover who plans to leaves the country

Jake, a Nigerian gay man, says he is worried that he might lose his boyfriend who is already finalizing plans to leave the country. In a support request, he wrote:

“I am afraid that my boyfriend leaving the country will be the end of us even though he has promised me that we will reunite. A part of me feels that he is selfish after all the promises we made to each other and then now he just wants to leave me behind. How will I cope?”

In a response to his support request, his Qtalk counselor told him his feelings are valid and that it was OK for him to feel betrayed. However, the counselor also mentioned that people can be unpredictable. Love sometimes comes at a price, the counselor said, and one of the ways that we show that we actually love somebody is to set them free and to let them make their own choices and decisions.

Jake was also asked to be somewhat hopeful and maintain the friendship with his lover and see what the future holds for the two of them instead of dwelling only on the negative side of what might happen.

This article and several others like it make up Part 10 of the Qtalk series.

To support the Qtalk project financially, click HERE.

From Lady Gaga Collaborating with Fellow Pop Stars to a Rapper Opening a Restaurant for the Homeless, This Week in LGBT Entertainment – SouthFloridaGayNews.com

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From Lady Gaga Collaborating with Fellow Pop Stars to a Rapper Opening a Restaurant for the Homeless, This Week in LGBT Entertainment – SouthFloridaGayNews.com

This week read about Jaden Smith opening up a restaurant to give food to homeless people, a possible Lady Gaga collaboration with Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama, and “High School Musical” bringing more LGBT inclusivity.

Gaga, XCX and Sawayama Collab!

Fans of Lady Gaga rejoice! The pop star icon has teased a possible collaboration with Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama.

The speculation is brewing with tweets from XCX and Sawayama. Each talking about certain projects that they have been working on.

Pride wrote that she teased her track at the Brit Awards: “The wish is on the internet, and I’ve done my bit, let’s just say that. So, it’s in the works … It’s a song that was hard to sing with my new braces.”

Fans should keep their eyes peeled for any more tweets that lead to more clues about the potential collaboration with these three pop superstars.

While not much is known at this particular moment, one thing is known for sure. Whatever we get from these three artists, will be something from out of this world.

The smell of award nominations is in the air for this project.

Jaden Smith to Open ‘I Love You’ Restaurant

Smith

Jaden Smith. Photo via Facebook.

Jaden Smith is opening an “I Love You” restaurant to sell free vegan food for the homeless and it’s brilliant.

Smith opened up the “I Love You” food truck two years ago, in order to help the people of Skid Row and all other people who are hungry and could not afford a meal.

Smith told Variety, “It’s for homeless people to get free food … But if you’re not homeless, not only do you have to pay, but you have to pay for more than the food’s worth so that you can pay for the person behind you.”

Smith hasn’t stopped there with trying to make the world a better place. His leadership in 501cthree.org’s Water Box project is helping to provide clean water to communities.

The project is also featured in his New Balance video campaign.

This 22-year-old is breaking boundaries and setting examples, the sky’s the limit for Smith and his ideas.

‘High School Musical’ For All

Musical

“High School Musical: The Series.” Credit: Disney.

Fans of the “High School Musical” movies can rejoice and prepare for the second season of Disney’s Plus original “High School Musical” series.

While the first season was a huge hit, fans of the series had to wait a year for the second season, making the anticipation for the new season even that much more valuable.

“Much like the first round, this newest batch of episodes continues to deliver bops while bringing a new generation of HSM fans,” Pride reported.

The franchise brought an all-inclusive vibe with the first season, and is ready to bring more diverse representation with more inclusion of the LGBT community.

One of the show’s leads, Joshua Bassett told Pride, “I think that the beautiful thing about theater in general is it’s supposed to be, and is a lot of the time, a sort of ‘come as you are’ medium where people are accepted and seen for who they are and celebrated.”

The show tries to make sure everyone has someone they can relate to.

Like Matt Cornett, co-star of Bassett, said in his interview, “No matter what you’re going through, no matter who you are, no matter anything, I feel like there is somebody in our show for each person to relate to and to really look at and see themselves in. And that’s something that I hope happens for the course of the show, from season one ’til the end.”

“High School Musical” continued to break barriers with its all-inclusion mentality for the first generation; it’s only fitting that they do so with the next generation.

Boohoo releases its colourful, unapologetic collection for Pride 2021 – PinkNews

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Boohoo releases its colourful, unapologetic collection for Pride 2021 – PinkNews

The Boohoo Pride collection sees the brand donate proceeds to It Gets Better. (Boohoo)

Online fashion retailer Boohoo has launched its bold and colourful Pride collection for 2021.

The ‘Crafted With Pride’ collection from Boohoo features summer-ready apparel embossed with rainbows and slogans.

The range starts from £6, going up to £40 and it’s now available to buy from boohoo.com/pride-collection.

This article contains affiliate links, PinkNews may earn revenue if you click through and purchase products through the links.

The brand says: “This collection is made for everyone, no matter who you are or how you choose to identify. We want you to celebrate being exactly who you are unapologetically.”

The gender neutral range features matching hooded tracksuits in white with rainbow taping on the sleeves and pants, priced at £40 for the set.

Customers can also get hooded tracksuits with shorts in pastel colours, acid wash or tie dye featuring slogans such as “Love is Love” and “I Love Being Exactly Who I Am”, which are priced at £35 each.

Other highlights from the range include embroidered heart t-shirts, a “Be Kind To Everyone” t-shirt in the trans flag colours, jersey shorts, caps, tote bags and rainbow socks.

Also appearing throughout the collection are the inclusive Pride flag colours, which includes black, brown, white, pink and blue stripes.

Boohoo has also confirmed it will donate 10 per cent of the proceeds from the collection to global charity It Gets Better, who aim to uplift, empower, and connect LGBT youth around the globe.

To shop the Pride collection head to boohoo.com.

The Boohoo collection comes in the wake of a number of other brands releasing their Pride 2021 collections including Ugg who teamed up with Lil Nas X and It’s A Sin’s Omari Douglas, the always anticipated Converse collection, Reebok’s ballroom-inspired range and Levi’s collection which focused on respecting pronouns.

U.S. Prides ban LGBT+ police from parading in uniform – Reuters

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U.S. Prides ban LGBT+ police from parading in uniform – Reuters

By Rachel Savage

4 Min Read

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Pride organisers in several U.S. and Canadian cities will ban LGBT+ police officers from wearing their uniforms during events this summer as anger about police brutality against minorities simmers a year after the murder of George Floyd.

Marching in uniformed groups waving rainbow flags, LGBT+ policemen and women have been a familiar sight at Pride events around the world for decades, and some have responded with dismay at the moves to stop them taking part.

But as many LGBT+ people call for Prides to return to their roots as protest marches against police harassment, organisers said they felt impelled to recognise the anti-racism movement triggered by Floyd’s murder by a white police officer.

“It was in the context of the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer that we felt we really needed to make this decision,” said Rex Fuller, chief executive of The Center on Colfax, the LGBT+ group that runs Denver PrideFest.

Fuller said the ban was decided following protests by staff, including the resignation of one Black employee, and after considering Pride’s history as a protest movement against police harassment of LGBT+ people.

“That’s what tipped the scales for me and (I) felt that it wasn’t appropriate at this time to include law enforcement,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As pandemic restrictions are slowly eased, dozens of Pride events are being planned in the United States and Canada this year, albeit with “virtual” marches or small gatherings rather than mass rallies watched by hundreds of thousands of people.

Along with Denver’s parade, NYC Pride said this month uniformed officers would not be allowed to attend its events until 2025. San Francisco and San Diego, as well as Toronto in Canada, have also announced bans.

It was not immediately clear whether any others would ban uniformed police from upcoming events.

LGBT+ police officers have condemned the bans as unfair and an affront to the inclusive ethos on which Pride was founded.

“Rather than fighting for inclusivity, you are excluding a group of gay, lesbian and transgendered people from participating,” said Bill Hummel, a gay police officer who investigates crimes against children in Aurora, Colorado.

“How are we to be a part of the change if you won’t have us at all? Your decision… represents an unfair condemnation of our entire profession,” he said in an email to The Center that he shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

WORLDWIDE RECKONING

Even before Floyd’s murder, Prides were facing calls from many LGBT+ people to ban uniformed officers from marching, with their origins in protests against police harassment at The Stonewall Inn in New York City often cited.

Toronto Pride was one of a number of Canadian Prides that imposed a ban in 2017 in response to demands by Black Lives Matter Toronto. It voted to keep the ban in 2019.

San Francisco Pride followed suit in September 2020, citing an incident at its 2019 parade when protesters disrupted the event and police officers intervened, an event for which the city’s chief of police apologised.

“Black folks still don’t feel comfortable in LGBT neighbourhoods because they’re still profiled by police,” said Carolyn Wysinger, president of San Francisco Pride, which will hold film nights instead of a march this year due to COVID-19.

Wysinger, who said she had received hate mail after the decision, stressed that the ban was not directed at LGBT+ officers personally.

“This is about a reckoning we’re having worldwide about the community’s feeling about the institution of policing,” she said.

Joanna Styrczula, a co-chair of Serving With Pride, an LGBT+ police association in Ontario, Canada, acknowledged change was needed but said that gay and trans officers were working hard to do so from the inside.

“My first Pride I was uniformed but I wasn’t out,” she said. “It was great to be a part of that and it kind of gave me the courage to be able to feel safe enough to come out in the police.”

Reporting by Rachel Savage in London @rachelmsavage; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org

After a year off, Newport Pride 2021 bike parade and festival is set to return – newportri.com

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After a year off, Newport Pride 2021 bike parade and festival is set to return – newportri.com

Newport Pride is officially returning after a pandemic-induced hiatus with two big festivities planned to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month.

“In the beginning of the year, we just didn’t know what the pandemic was going to be like, or if we were going to be at this point where we’re starting to open back up, so it feels really good,” said Newport OUT co-owner Sean O’Connor said. “Whether it’s around pride events or not, people are really just so happy to be able to be together again, to the degree that’s possible.”

Sean O'Connor, co-founder of NewportOUT, is shown with Lily Jeovanna of Newport and her dog, Taquito, during Newport Pride event in 2019.

This year marks the fifth year since Newport OUT, Newport’s LGBTQ travel and advocacy organization, began hosting pride-themed activities. While the group could not hold any major gatherings last year, loosening restrictions has allowed the organization to hold it’s annual Bike Ride through town on June 26, and the following Pride Market and Festival in Equality Park on the same day.

Newport Pride is also expected to be one of the only LGBTQ Pride events happening this year, as Rhode Island Pride has yet to announce an official event on their website or social media. O’Connor and co-owner Daniel Cano-Restrepo said they received more vendor requests and attention from groups outside of Newport to participate in the Market and Festival because of this, but they have had to turn vendors away due to restricted space. 

More:With no gay bar or space to call its own, Newport’s LGBTQ community feels ‘isolated’

“We didn’t really didn’t plan for anything huge, even though there seems to be a lot of demand and interest,” O’Connor said. “We’re really trying to keep it focused on the local community and to make sure that the youth and everyone on the island can really have a good experience of pride here. ”

Due to the increase in interest for Newport Pride’s celebrations, Newport OUT has had to reconsider the spaces they’ve used for these events. The organization is hoping to reach out to the Broadway Neighborhood to see if the festival can stretch onto the street. The group has also had to reconsider the location for its after-party, which was originally set to be at Parlor Bar.

“It started as something small and is now becoming this huge, massive thing,” Cano-Restrepo said. “This is only growing more and more, and there are many, many opportunities that we can take advantage of, not only for Pride, but for a center, for a place for the community, for the connections that we can continue to grow, and for the events that we can do not only during June, but (throughout) summer.” 

More:Newport County lawmaker’s gender-inclusive bathroom bill moves forward

Beyond the main bike ride and festival, the group is planning smaller ways to showcase LGBTQ pride during the month. Newport OUT plans to hold a flag-raising event at City Hall on June 11, where a rainbow flag will be flown in honor of the month, and a photo gallery at Innovate Newport on June 12 that documents the Stonewall uprising and its impact on the LGBTQ community from the 1960s up to 2019. Newport OUT is also promoting a Newport Art Museum talk which chronicles the U.S. Navy’s covert raid on Newport’s gay scene in the early 1900s. 

Throughout the month, local businesses will sell $5 pins in honor of Newport Pride 2021, which can be used for discounts at other participating businesses in June. The proceeds will be used to fund public art displays celebrating LGBTQ pride in Newport, according to Newport OUT’s website. A list of participating businesses can also be found on the website.

Gallery:2019 Newport Pride Festival

“When we started this in 2018, we just put it out there,” O’Connor said. “We said ‘we’re doing this ride from here on this day,’ and we showed up very early, and were like, ‘is anyone going to come?’ and, of course, people came. It was awesome just to hear the perspectives from long time LGBTQ residents and young families, and how meaningful it felt to come together … With there not really being a community center or a gay bar or any sort of unifying space, it’s really cool to have that opportunity to bring folks together from all segments of the community.”

Martin Blog (5/25): Pride of Iowa Conference Softball Preview – KMAland

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Martin Blog (5/25): Pride of Iowa Conference Softball Preview – KMAland

(KMAland) — Day one of high school softball and baseball competition is in the books, and here are some things we learned…

-Atlantic’s Olivia Engler is in midseason form, allowing just five hits and striking out eight in a dominant performance against Lenox.

-There’s another Pryor in Woodbine, and she sounds devastating. She had 18 strikeouts in her first career pitching start against a solid CAM squad, and the Tigers won 3-0.

-Riverside softball won a high-scoring battle with Missouri Valley with Ari McGlade tripling and driving in three to lead the Bulldogs.

-Wayne beat Twin Cedars in a great battle of two teams that figure to be really successful this season. Sterling Berndt won the battle with Grace Bailey, although the Twin Cedars standout did hit a home run.

-Boyer Valley didn’t win, but Alexia Miller hit a home run hours after qualifying for the state golf tournament.

-The Kuemper baseball squad won a state-ranked battle with Harlan, and there were a combined 23 runs. Logan Sibenaller drove in three for the Knights.

-Lewis Central is off and running with a 9-0 win over Sioux City North. Britton Bond had three hits, and Aron Harrington, Bryce Wilcox and Trenton Johnette combined on a three-hit shutout.

-Underwood baseball had a combined no-hitter with Jack Vanfossan, Jake Reimer and Coby Fink doing the honors.

-Ar-We-Va’s Cooper Kock came off a state runner-up in the 110 hurdles this weekend to pick up a walk-off hit in an extra-inning win over Coon Rapids-Bayard.

As always, you can find much more in our nightly KMAland softball and baseball recaps linked here and here. Now…

PREVIOUS SUMMER SPORTS PREVIEWS

Hawkeye Ten Conference Softball Preview

Hawkeye Ten Conference Baseball Preview

Corner Conference Softball Preview

Corner Conference Baseball Preview

Western Iowa Conference Baseball Preview

Rolling Valley Conference Softball Preview

Missouri River Conference Softball Preview

Bluegrass Conference Softball Preview

2021 PRIDE OF IOWA CONFERENCE SOFTBALL PREVIEW

One night in, and Lenox (0-1), Southwest Valley (0-1), Southeast Warren (1-0) and Wayne (1-0) have played. Our focus, though, is mostly based around last year. Last year’s standings, per Varsity Bound:

Martensdale-St. Marys 9-1

Wayne 7-1

Southeast Warren 6-3

Central Decatur 5-5

Lenox 4-4

Mount Ayr 3-3

East Union 3-4

Nodaway Valley 3-7

Bedford 2-6

Southwest Valley 0-8

The POI didn’t play a full conference schedule last season, scheduling the games they could get in and wanted to. Both Wayne and Mount Ayr got hot at the right time late in the year to advance to the state tournament.

Interestingly enough, seven of the 10 teams in the league had positive run differentials while Nodaway Valley (-0.8 per game) and Bedford (-1.4) were not that far off. That’s code for: This was a pretty salty league in 2020. On to the players to know…

OFFENSE

Here’s a rundown of the top 25 returning offensive players from last summer, sorted by batting average and with a minimum of 42 at bats.

1. Emily Jones, Junior, Wayne: .553/.562/.908

2. TJ Stoaks, Senior, Lenox: .484/.566/.625

2. Mya Willey, Senior, Wayne: .484/.535/.688

4. Alexa Anderson, Senior, Mount Ayr: .476/.547/.762

5. Kaylin Lack, Junior, East Union: .452/.518/.630

6. Maddy Wood, Junior, Wayne: .451/.506/.704 EDIT: Not on team

7. Kylee Rockhold, Junior, Central Decatur: .446/.500/.815

8. Kyli Aldrich, Junior, Southwest Valley: .438/.518/.708

9. Brooklynn Page, Senior, Southeast Warren: .422/.532/.531

10. Kaitlyn Mitchell, Junior, East Union: .420/.468/.522

11. Maddax DeVault, Junior, Nodaway Valley: .419/.493/.581

12. Alivia Ruble, Sophomore, Southeast Warren: .414/.474/.614

13. Josie Hartman, Junior, Southeast Warren: .400/.438/.511

14. Sterling Berndt, Junior, Wayne: .394/.449/.592

15. Noelle McKnight, Sophomore, East Union: .388/.453/.478

16. Halsie Barnes, Junior, Mount Ayr: .386/.440/.409

17. Eily Hall, Senior, Central Decatur: .370/.446/.466

17. Madeline Myer, Senior, Martensdale-St. Marys: .370/.446/.466

19. Campbell German, Freshman, Martensdale-St. Marys: .364/.403/.409

20. Natalie Geisler, Freshman, Southeast Warren: .355/.385/.500

21. Emily Cornell, Senior, Central Decatur: .354/.425/.646

21. Kylie Keller, Senior, Martensdale-St. Marys: .354/.392/.375

23. Maggie Haer, Sophomore, Southwest Valley: .353/.393/.353

24. Mallory Raney, Junior, East Union: .348/.436/.424

24. Josie Kosman, Sophomore, Southeast Warren: .348/.412/.413

Among this top 25, Southeast Warren has five returning while East Union and Wayne are next with four apiece. Central Decatur and Martensdale-St. Marys tout three, Mount Ayr and Southwest Valley have two apiece and Lenox and Nodaway Valley both have one.

Other offensive notes:

-Stoaks led the conference last year with a .566 on-base percentage and was closely followed by Jones’ 562. Others in the top 10 of OBP among returnees: Willey (.535), Page (.532), Lack (.518), Aldrich (.518), Bedford’s Vivian Tracy (.515), Wood (.506), Rockhold (.500) and DeVault (.493).

-While Jones was a close second in the OBP, she did lead the league in slugging percentage with a .980 mark. That was behind eight doubles and five home runs in just 17 total games. That’s some serious power. Other returnees in the SLP top 10: Rockhold (.815), Anderson (.762), Aldrich (.708), Wood (.704), Willey (.688), Cornell (.630), Lack (.630), Stoaks (.625) and Alivia Ruble (.614).

-The Falcons scored a lot of runs last summer, and they bring back the top three players in run scored with Jones and Wood both scoring 31 times. Willey was next with 27 while Lack (26), Page (25), Berndt (23), Martensdale-St. Marys’ Jackie Kleve (21), McKnight (20), MSTM’s Jayda Gay (20) and Geisler (20) also rounded out the top 10.

-Jones’ impressive 42-hit summer came in just 22 games played, and it led the league by nine hits. Lack was next with 33, and Wood wasn’t too far behind with 32. Stoaks and Willey both had 31 hits for the summer. Rockhold (29), Mitchell (29), Ruble (29), Brendt (28), Hall (27) and Page (27) were also among the top 10 in total hits.

-#WhoHomered you might be asking? The leaders:

Rockhold & Jones (5)

Tracy, Aldrich & Willey (3)

Cornell, Ruble, Geisler & Channler Henle, Mount Ayr (2)

Hallee Hamilton, Central Decatur; Stoaks; Gay; Anna Parrott, Martensdale-St. Marys; Anderson; Addy Reynolds, Mount Ayr; DeVault; Lindsey Davis, Nodaway Valley; Berndt; Camryn Jacobsen, Wayne; Wood (1)

-And you know that I love the players that know the strike zone. The top-returning “walker” in the conference is Bedford senior Macie Sefrit, who took 14 walks. Others in the top 10: Tracy (12), Page (12), Bedford’s Darcy Davis (11), Hamilton (11), Stoaks (11), Hall (10), Central Decatur’s Carlee Hamilton (8), Lack (8) and Wood (8).

BASERUNNING

Here are your top 10 returning base stealers from last year:

1. Maddax DeVault, Nodaway Valley: 24/24

2. Noelle McKnight, Southwest Valley: 19/19

3. Norah Lund, East Union: 18/20

4. Kaylin Lack, East Union: 16/16

5. Kaitlyn Mitchell, East Union: 13/14

5. Brooklynn Page, Southeast Warren: 13/14

7. Carleigh O’Dell, Central Decatur: 12/14

7. Sterling Berndt, Wayne: 12/12

9. Katy Gibbs, Wayne: 11/14 EDIT: Not on team

10. Madison Fry, Nodaway Valley: 10/13

East Union (3), Wayne (2) and Nodaway Valley (2) all have multiple players on this list while Southwest Valley, Southeast Warren and Central Decatur have one each.

PITCHING

Here’s a team-by-team rundown of the returning pitching in the conference. The first number in parentheses is the returning number of innings pitched while the second number is the total innings pitched last season.

Bedford (108/108): Sophomore Emily Baker was the top pitcher for last year’s Bulldogs, and she finished the year with 93 innings and 67 strikeouts. As you sometimes will see with a younger pitcher, her walks were a little higher than you want, but I would expect you will see those come down for the fourth-place shot put medalist. Further, freshman Breanna Simmons threw 14 innings and senior Mallory Moyer pitched a bit, too.

Central Decatur (101.1/142.2): The Cardinals lost Riley Bell, who tossed 42 1/3 innings last year. However, they have one of the top-returning two-way players in the area back in Kylee Rockhold, who went 95 1/3 innings, struck out 141 and had a 3.16 ERA. Sophomore Annika Evertsen also pitched five innings in spot duty.

East Union (140.2/140.2): It’s all back. Junior Mallory Raney was among the best pitchers in the area last season, finishing with 120 strikeouts and a 1.12 ERA over 112.2 innings pitched. She walked just 27 and was very difficult to get a hit against (.181 batting average against). Sophomore Sara Collins also threw 28 innings.

Lenox (131/131): TJ Stoaks is as good as it gets. She threw 129 of the 131 innings last year, struck out 188, walked just 22 and had a 1.57 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP while holding opponents to just a .194 batting average. Who’s next after Stoaks graduates? Well, it might be 1A high jump champion Cadence Douglas – a sophomore – who threw two innings last year.

Martensdale-St. Marys (129.1/138.1): The Blue Devils return every last inning of pitching from last year, led by freshman Campbell German (66.1 IP) and sophomore Braelynn Long (62.2 IP). German struck out 55 and posted a 2.85 ERA while Long struck out 37 and had a 2.90.

Mount Ayr (91/91): How did they replace their star pitcher Caroline McAlexander? Well, they simply turned it over to current junior Addy Reynolds, who struck out 57, posted a 1.92 ERA and 0.93 WHIP and had a .180 batting average against over 84 innings. Sophomore Zoey Larsen and senior Alexa Anderson also pitched a bit.

Nodaway Valley (103/129): The Wolverines have their top two pitchers returning this summer. Junior Whitney Lamb went 58.2 innings while freshman Jorja Holliday put up 44.1. Holliday had a 3.32 ERA and 40 Ks while Lamb had 30 punch outs and a 3.82 ERA.

Southeast Warren (124.1/124.1): The Warhawks were young on the mound again last summer, but that wasn’t a bad thing with sophomore Alivia Ruble throwing 86.1 innings, striking out 100 and pitching to a 3.41 ERA. Freshman Kalyn Holmes added 17 Ks and a 2.33 ERA in 30 innings, and junior Zoey Sherman went eight innings with a 0.88 ERA.

Southwest Valley (87.9/105): The Timberwolves tried five different pitchers last year, including sophomore Ryanne Mullen and senior Isabelle Inman, who combined for 84.1 of those returning innings. Mullen had 13 strikeouts in 42.1 while Inman tossed 42 and had 26 Ks. Freshman Haidyn Top and sophomore Rebecca Wetzel also saw a bit of time in the circle.

Wayne (131/131): Sterling Berndt is back after throwing 111 2/3 innings, striking out 194 batters and walking just 26. Opponents hit just .136 against her, and she finished the season with a 1.76 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. Dominant stuff. Also, Emily Jones threw 10 1/3, and Maddy Wood finished with nine innings.

ONE FINAL TAKE ON EACH TEAM

Bedford: Without leadoff star Selena Valenzuela, there is a big hole to fill in the offense, but they do have three of their top four hitters back. And those are some girls that can really mash all around the yard. If Baker takes a step and the offense continues to play well, there’s no reason the ‘Dogs can’t move up the standings.

Central Decatur: Again, Rockhold is one of the top two-way players in the area with her ability to pitch and smash. They also have their other three top four hitters back in the fold and entering their senior years. They’ve got a strong junior class around Rockhold that should keep the Cardinals more than competitive this season.

East Union: The Eagles had a really strong season last year, and they are ready to take another jump this summer. Their pitching is in perfect shape, and they have their top four hitters returning to a team that hit .317. I’d expect big things from the Eagles again in 2021.

Lenox: They lost two of their top three hitters from last year’s team, but Stoaks is back in the circle and at the plate. And they have two really, really good 8th graders in Zoey Reed and Jaida Cox, who I got a glimpse of last night. Despite a tough last couple innings last evening, I think their defense is improved. This will be a team that improves steadily throughout the season.

Martensdale-St. Marys: There were some question marks coming into last season, but they had some youngsters step up across the board. They had just one senior on the roster and with a strong group returning they should be among the competitors for the POI crown. They also should have plenty of Fort Dodge goals after missing by one game last summer.

Mount Ayr: The most important part of the field – the circle – is back intact. They will have to replace a few of their solid hitters, but the thing I remember most about the last two state qualifier teams from the Raiderettes is the depth they had. They had girls that would have been playing and starting for most teams. Now, they’ll get their chance, and Mount Ayr should be more than difficult to deal with again this summer.

Nodaway Valley: Three of the top five hitters in the Nodaway Valley lineup have advanced on to college. They do have DeVault back in the fold, and that’s always a winning combination. With the pitching a year older, you might see the Wolverines make a move of their own.

Southeast Warren: Another team with only one senior on their roster last year. All of their pitching and most of their hitting – especially the big bats – are returning. They’re actually still pretty young, but don’t let that fool you. They are one of the most talented teams in the conference.

Southwest Valley: The pitching should be more experienced this year, and that will be a big help. The offense does lose their big basher in Kayley Myers, but they have their next seven hitters from last year with remaining eligibility. This is going to be a tough league to advance in, but they should also see plenty improvement.

Wayne: They lost just one senior from a team that advanced back to the state tournament, and they’ve already got a pretty solid win on their resume in beating Twin Cedars last night. They’re loaded on offense, in the circle and on the basepaths. Yes, they are a state championship threat.

Send any questions, comments and/or concerns to dmartin@kmamail.com.

Thank you for reading kmaland.com

At KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.

Gay Teens On ‘High School Musical’ Series Hope To Be The Representation They Never Had – HuffPost

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Gay Teens On ‘High School Musical’ Series Hope To Be The Representation They Never Had – HuffPost

Fans of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” eager for the show’s on-screen romances to spill over into real life will be thrilled to learn that Frankie A. Rodriguez and Joe Serafini are a couple. 

Rodriguez stars on the Disney+ series as student choreographer Carlos at Utah’s East High School who ― in what was billed as a franchise first at the time of the show’s 2019 debut ― is gay. Serafini, meanwhile, plays aspiring thespian Seb, who spent the first season as a recurring character before being upgraded to a series regular for Season 2. 

Rodriguez and Serafini confirmed their off-screen relationship while promoting the show’s second season, which premiered May 14. So it’s natural that the pair feel a unique responsibility to portray a same-sex coupling in a fun, entertaining way that’s suitable for the show’s audience of tweens and teens. 

Actors Joe Serafini (left) and Frankie A. Rodriguez in Season 2 of the Disney+ series "High School Musical: The Musical: The



Actors Joe Serafini (left) and Frankie A. Rodriguez in Season 2 of the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”

“To be the representation I didn’t get to see as a kid is life-changing,” Rodriguez told HuffPost. “It was never something that was on my actor bucket list of things to do, but it’s definitely something I think about. The writers make it easy for us to tell this story in the most real way possible, rather than conveying stereotypes.” 

Added Serafini, “For me, high school was such a tricky time, because I really wasn’t sure what I wanted or who I wanted to be. Seb is going through those same feelings and figuring out how to be his best, most authentic self. We’re trying to encourage others to live their truth and be their biggest, boldest selves.” 

“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” which premiered on Disney+ in November 2019, is a spinoff of 2006’s “High School Musical” starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. The success of that movie and its two sequels laid the groundwork for other musical hits like “Glee” and, more recently, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” So, in hindsight, it may surprise viewers that “HSM” never included an openly gay character until now.  

"To be the representation I didn’t get to see as a kid is life-changing," said Rodriguez (on left, in a Season 1 episod



“To be the representation I didn’t get to see as a kid is life-changing,” said Rodriguez (on left, in a Season 1 episode). 

Though the original “High School Musical” featured Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel), the twin brother of Ashley Tisdale’s Sharpay who was widely assumed to be gay, the character never formally addressed his sexuality. In an interview with Variety last year, director Kenny Ortega said he felt Disney would “not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory” at the time of the film’s release. Instead, he and the film’s creative team decided Ryan was “probably going to come out in college.”

The decision to make “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” more inclusive has certainly paid off. Last year, the show received a GLAAD award for outstanding kid and family programming.

Carlos and Seb shared a number of adorable backstage moments in Season 1 before they began dating, and by the start of Season 2, the playful tension between the characters has been amplified. In the three episodes screened for press, the pair navigate a cashmere allergy and a precarious Valentine’s Day gift exchange while landing plum roles in East High’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” 

Production on the current season got off to a shaky start last year just before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and then it was promptly delayed. To bridge the gap between seasons 1 and 2, a holiday special was rolled out, with the cast shooting renditions of Christmas carols and other favorites with strict COVID-19 protocol. Once they were able to finally reunite on set, the actors said their perspective on the experience had shifted somewhat.

Rodriguez (left) and Serafini attend the premiere of Disney's "Cruella" in Los Angeles. 



Rodriguez (left) and Serafini attend the premiere of Disney’s “Cruella” in Los Angeles. 

“When the pandemic first started, of course you’re thinking, ‘I should be using this time to do something creative, like write a novel or something,’ but I just didn’t put that pressure on myself, which kind of bums me out,” Rodriguez said. “I thought I’d have all these creative juices inside of me, but it turns out I need personal contact and people around me to kind of force that. So getting back to work set me back on that mindset.”  

And though Serafini can’t speak to the specifics of Season 2 just yet, he’s excited for viewers to see how Carlos and Seb focus on “being good boyfriends to each other” as the episodes progress. 

“It’s their first real relationship with another boy and that takes some navigating,” said the actor, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in musical theater last year. “There are highs and lows to that, but it’s all part of the journey and it really is worth it. Everyone is so valid and beautiful in their own way.”

New episodes of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” debut Fridays on Disney+. 

RELATED…

The Gay Retirement Guide For Fabulous LGBTQ Financial Planning – Forbes

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The Gay Retirement Guide For Fabulous LGBTQ Financial Planning – Forbes

More than 3 million LGBT Americans are currently over age 50, and that number is estimated to more than double over the next decade as baby boomers ride in on a rainbow-hued silver wave. 

For many gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, and queers, the stereotypical idea of retirement appears to not be that appealing. Gay couples are not taking up golf and spending time with the grandkids at the same pace as their heterosexual counterpart. My West Hollywood financial planning clients are much more likely to retire in Los Angeles or Palm Springs than a senior community in Florida or Arizona.  In fact, I am writing this post from Palm Springs, which appears to attract a bevy of gays and lesbians living their best lives!

Keep reading as we cover many of the issues facing LGBTQ+ retirees. There is a retirement planning crisis across the spectrum in America, but many in the LGBTQ+ community are especially at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. Homophobia can hurt the quality of your retirement, whether your net worth is tens of millions of dollars or close to zero.

LGBT Americans Earn Less and Are Behind When It Comes to Saving for A Gay Retirement

There are conflicting reports on what I call the “Gay Pay Gap.” According to the US Department of the Treasury, on average, gay married couples earn more than lesbian couples who earn more than opposite-sex couples. This report doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Upon further digging, it appears that lesbian or gay couples were just more likely to be in a dual-income household. A lesbian couple is still likely penalized by the gender pay gap, but if both spouses work full-time, they appear to make more than an opposite-sex couple where both spouses are not necessarily working full-time. 

When you break it down, heterosexual individuals make more, on average, than LGBT Americans equal work. This will also mean it is harder for LGBT individuals to participate in wealth-building activities, like properly funding retirement accounts, buying homes, and investing for the future. It may also take longer for LGBT people to pay off student loans. Not to mention, many LGBT students take on more debt after receiving less support from their families after coming out.  

MORE FOR YOU

How Can LGBT Americans Address the Gay Retirement Gap?

I count myself extremely fortunate that at 22 years old, a gay mentor sat down with me and helped me open my first Roth IRA. Before I even had a job lined up, I committed to contributing a whopping $25, per month. Starting small and early, I built an investing habit that I have grown substantially over time.

Not everyone is so lucky to have someone prod them to start saving, but if you are reading this, regardless of your age, start investing for the future. Your gay retirement date will be here before you know it. Even a small amount each month can add up if given enough time to let compound interest work its magic. Just $25, per month, could grow to more than $100,000 by the time you reach age 70 (assuming you start at age 22 and earn 10%, per year, on average).

Just so you can see the value of compound interest, if you contributed $6000 per year to a ROTH IRA and earned 10% per year on your investments, you could have over $5.7 million dollars at age 70! Start this process at age 40, and your contributions grow to just $986,000.

Make sure you get every cent of an employer’s match for your workplace 401(k). In many cases, this can be like getting a 3-4% raise – tax-deferred. It may also add 50% or even double your retirement savings over time. 

MORE FROM FORBESGay Financial Advisor Shares 6 Ways To Take Pride In Your FinancesBy David Rae

LGBT Americans Are Responsible for Caring for Other Family Members

Caring for aging parents can easily be a full-time job. This responsibility falls on the shoulders of LGBT Americans at a somewhat surprising rate. I guess in some cases, it is assumed a gay couple with no children will have more time and flexibility to care for aging family members compared to a parent trying to raise their children. In many cases, the LGBT family member is the only child who parents trust to actually do the right thing.

To be clear, I am aware many LGBT people have children, but at lower rates than our heterosexual brethren. According to a study by Transamerica (not related in any way to the T in LGBT, in case you were wondering), LGBT Americans are less likely to have dependent offspring than heterosexuals (37% vs. 43%). This gap is much smaller than I would have guessed. Breaking this down further, just 19% of gay men have financially dependent children, while 28% of lesbians report having financially dependent children.  

The Transamerica study also shows that more of the responsibility of caring for aging parents (and other family members) falls on members of the LGBT Community. Twenty-two percent of LGBT folks expect to provide support for parents compared to just 15% of heterosexual Americans. In reality, the number of people who have to provide some support for aging parents will likely be much higher than these percentages whether you are gay, straight, or otherwise.

Caring for aging parents can stall careers, limit retirement savings as gay workers near retirement, or in the worst-case scenarios, bankruptcy after the parent passes. (The caregiver is often living off the parent’s retirement income – while providing care for free).

Who Will Care for LGBTQ Retirees?

While many in the LGBTQ community may be faced with caring for their parents, a vast majority of us will not have children to provide the same type of care for us as we age. We are also more likely to be estranged from homophobic family members or just have no family members left.  

I know many of my friends (and gay financial planning clients) are expecting to receive care from, or give care to, their chosen families (friends). I love this idea in theory, but most of the time, our friends are near our ages, and we all may end up needing care around the same time. Two ninety-year-olds may be able to keep an eye on each other, but full-time care may be too much to undertake for either person. 

Research has shown that LGBTQ retirees are more likely than our straight counterparts to be providing care to our friends as we age. According to SAGE, a reported 21% of gay retirees provide care for an elderly friend, compared to just 6% of heterosexual elders. I’m kind of picturing a (gayer) golden girl’s retirement here; how much fun would that be?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but homophobia is rampant in retirement communities and nursing homes. I’ve witnessed it firsthand, even in elder care communities in the heart of Hollywood, California. If it is obvious in Los Angeles, I can only imagine how prevalent it is in other parts of the country. Many eldercare facilities have religious affiliations. 

The LGBTQ community is also less likely to be prepared to cover the astronomical cost of long-term care. Most people who purchase LTC coverage are (straight) married couples; it follows that so far, the LGBT community, much of which is single, is less covered than the population as a whole. Especially for older gay couples, who were married later in life, LTC coverage may not be available, or it is likely to be cost prohibitive.

But there is good news for married gay couples. The calculations used to qualify for Medicare coverage are often more advantageous for a married pair versus two “single” individuals. Plus, all married couples will have fewer hurdles to jump through to avoid tax problems when one spouse is paying for long-term care for the other same-sex spouse.

Changing LGBTQ Families and Retirement

Family planning and retirement planning for the LGBTQ community is changing. The experience of being gay in America will be different for a child born today compared with someone who is already a gay retiree. Hopefully, the opportunities for fabulous LGBT eldercare will grow in the coming years. More people in the LGBT community will desire to have children and face less homophobia along the way.

Growing LGBT families can also be a new financial challenge. The cost of raising children is already a budget buster for many families. Throw in the upfront cost of adoption or surrogacy, and LGBTQ families face an additional financial hurdle when starting a family.

LGBT parents tend to have children later in life. I know many people who have children who won’t be graduating high school before their parents reach their full retirement age. With many in the LGBT community already playing catch-up regarding retirement savings, this can put many gay parents even further behind the eight ball.   

I don’t bring this up to try and discourage anyone from having children. I do so because I want to encourage people to be more proactive when it comes to getting their financial houses in order. Make a point to save more aggressively for retirement, and begin investing earlier for your gay retirement to free up more money to start and raise your family when that time comes.  Children are amazing, but raising them is not cheap.

LGBT Americans Are Less Confident Financially

While things have improved since I became a financial planner 18 years ago, LGBT households are still underserved by the overall financial industry. Beyond that, I have met a high number of people who have been refused service by financial advisors who didn’t approve of their “lifestyles.” Why entrust your future happiness with someone who doesn’t even think you deserve the right to be married or judges you while picking your pockets? It seems like a conflict of their fiduciary duty to you (assuming they are a fiduciary financial advisor…..most aren’t).

Members of the LGBTQ community are less likely to work with a financial advisor. This can lead to missed opportunities for fabulous financial planning, tax planning, estate planning, and just good ole financial guidance. This (along with an LGBT pay gap) can lead many gay people to feel more pessimistic about their financial futures.

The good news is that more financial advisors are willing to come out than ever before. This alone should make it easier to find the best gay financial planner for your personal financial needs. Someone who won’t judge you for your lifestyle, but maybe some of your fashion choices or spending (JK). 

Challenges To the Financial Security of LGBT Seniors

When you pair decades of institutional homophobia with gays flocking to high-cost-of-living cities, the AIDS crisis, and estrangement from families, among other things, you have a recipe for higher levels of financial insecurity in the LGBT community. The LGBT pay gap and homophobia have also stunted the careers and wealth accumulation of many in the LGBT community. 

Less retirement savings translates into smaller retirement incomes. Also, smaller incomes throughout their careers means smaller Social Security benefits for members of the LGBT community.

Prior to marriage equality, many pension plans did not allow for the full array of retirement income options available to legally married couples. This may have caused many gay retirees to opt for the single-life option on their pension benefits. This means, if the spouse with a pension passes first, the second spouse could see their standard of living drop dramatically.

LGBT-Friendly Financial Professional

Want to make your gay financial planning more fun? Seek out a gay financial planner or at least an LGBT-friendly financial advisor. Why trust your future financial security with someone who doesn’t understand your unique situation and financial needs?   Like women and people of color, LGBT people are underrepresented in the financial advisor profession. All the same, there are more out and proud gay financial planners (to help you with your fabulous gay financial plans) than ever.

It has been nearly a year since Trudeau said the blood ban could be eliminated ‘very soon.’ What happened? – CTV News

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It has been nearly a year since Trudeau said the blood ban could be eliminated ‘very soon.’ What happened? – CTV News

OTTAWA — Years after first promising to do so, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during Pride month last June that he hoped to “very soon” announce the elimination of the blood donation ban for gay men as well as some other folks in the LGBTQ2S+ community. 

It’s nearly a year later and the policy remains unchanged, with the government now arguing in federal court, that while they want to see the blood ban eliminated, it’s not within their powers to unilaterally change the policy.

Opposition parties have begun increasing the political pressure to see the Liberals do more to make good on their two-time election commitment, as LGBTQ2S+ advocates and those who are prohibited from donating continue to voice their frustration, saying the policy is discriminatory and not based in science.

So, how close is the policy to actually changing? And what has to happen before the blood ban comes to an end?

WHERE THE POLICY STANDS

In Canada, both Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec have policies in place prohibiting gay and bisexual men who have sex with men, as well as certain trans folks who have sex with men from donating blood unless they have been abstinent for three months.

The policy started in 1992 as an outright lifetime ban following the tainted blood scandal that played out between the 1980s and 1990s and saw thousands of Canadians infected with HIV after receiving donor blood. During that scandal, the Canadian Red Cross — which was the predecessor to Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec — failed to properly test and screen donors, resulting in thousands of Canadians being exposed to HIV through contaminated blood products.

During the nearly three decades since, the policy has been reduced, first in 2013 seeing the lifetime ban knocked down to a five-year deferral period. That meant, rather than outright refusing donations from men who had sex with men, or the “MSM” community as some have coined it, donations would be accepted only if the donor had not been sexually active for five years.

In 2015, the Liberals campaigned on ending the then-five-year ban altogether. At the time, the party stated that the policy “ignores scientific evidence and must end.” A year later, the five-year deferral period was reduced to one year.

Then in June 2019, the second reduction in the deferral period under the federal Liberals came into effect, seeing the policy allow donations from gay and bisexual men or trans folks who have sex with men, if they’d been abstinent for three months.

For years advocates have called for the blood ban to be replaced by a gender-neutral screening process that would be based on sexual behaviour and not orientation.

As has been the case for some time, every blood donation in Canada is tested for HIV. Under current testing capabilities, HIV can be detected in a “window period” of approximately nine days after infection, and advocates have suggested updated lifestyle-focused screening questions and eligibility would be determined based on that, rather than outright eliminating certain LGBTQ2S+ donors who are sexually active.

It’s an approach that Canadian Blood Services says is ultimately their objective and that the three-month wait is an “incremental step” in the journey, though there’s currently no timeline on when that change will come.

The evolutions to the policy over the last several years were the result of Health Canada approving regulatory submissions from Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec, which included risk modelling showing it would be safe to do so. The federal health agency acts as the regulator for the two blood agencies, though they largely operate independently.

WHO DECIDES THE POLICY?

At the heart of the ongoing contention over the current blood donation policy is what appears to be a struggle over who has the power to change it.

While the federal government’s most recent messaging is that the responsibility largely lies with the blood agencies, critics have pointed to a section of Canada’s Blood Regulations that spells out how the health minister has the ability to change the terms and conditions of blood donations if it is deemed necessary.

Canadian Blood Services

As the system operates currently, blood donation practices are determined and implemented by the blood agencies Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec, following authorizations issued by Health Canada.

“For any changes to donor eligibility criteria to be approved, Canadian Blood Services must provide evidence to Health Canada, our regulator, that the changes are safe and supported by stakeholder groups, especially patients,” said Canadian Blood Services spokesperson Delphine Denis.

From Health Canada’s perspective, these arms-length organizations operate independently, other than relying on the agency to sign off on changes to their practices and therefore, the agency claims “there are no federal regulations prohibiting men who have sex with men (MSM) and other groups from donating blood.”

Though the polices that do just that came to be as a result of federal authorization.

BREWING COURT BATTLE

Questions over who is responsible for seeing the policy change are about to play out in federal court.

In 2016, Christopher Karas brought a human rights complaint against Health Canada, alleging the agency discriminated against him on the basis of sexual orientation by denying him the ability to donate blood, despite having recent negative HIV test results in-hand when he went to a clinic.

“I felt like I couldn’t be me… I felt like I had to do something,” he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca.

Christopher Karas

In 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Commission issued a preliminary decision that the case merited further investigation and referred the matter to a tribunal.

In response, the federal government has launched a judicial review of the commission’s decision, trying to halt the complaint from going any further.

When Karas learned that the federal government was looking to squash the case and potentially seek costs from him if their judicial review is successful, he said he was “shocked.”

“It was as if they were, you know, declaring war on queers,” he said. “I realized that the government wasn’t prepared to eliminate this policy, that they weren’t going to follow through.”

In court documents reviewed by CTVNews.ca, the Attorney General of Canada argues that Health Canada has not discriminated against Karas as the agency has “no authority to rescind the policy” and a “limited role” to intervene in Canadian Blood Services’ work unless it’s a matter of blood safety.

“Health Canada does not require, implement or administer the MSM policy or any other blood screening policy. Health Canada does not take blood donations,” reads records filed by the Attorney General on behalf of Health Canada. “The independence of CBS [Canadian Blood Services] from Health Canada and government intervention is a cornerstone of Canada’s blood system.”

Karas’ lawyer Gregory Ko, a partner with Toronto firm Kastner Lam, said decisions aren’t often challenged at this preliminary phase.

“There is a bit of a David and Goliath dynamic here. We have the full resources of the government against Mr. Karas, who is a private citizen who took on the initiative of challenging the government and this discriminatory policy,” Ko said.

“Our view was that the Human Rights Commission determined there were multiple reasons for why this matter needs to be looked into in a full inquiry,” he said.

Ko noted that Health Canada is involved with the blood ban policy at various stages: It funds the research that would allow an end to the ban, it participates in pre-submission meetings with Canadian Blood Services, and it reviews and approves the donor screening criteria that precludes gay, bisexual, and some trans folks from donating blood.

He said his client’s position in part is that the tribunal should be allowed to proceed, so that all Canadians might better understand the relationship is between Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services, and what’ll be needed before the blood ban becomes a thing of the past.

The judicial review hearing is scheduled for May 27.

RESEARCH IS ‘ONGOING’

While the blood agencies’ independence is “a cornerstone” in the eyes of the government, since taking office, the Liberals have funded more than a dozen research projects that are meant to help bolster the evidence-based decision-making process of Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec. The research includes studying donors’ eligibility criteria and alternative screening processes.

Already, the research has played a role in seeing the deferral period reduced from five years to the current three months, say federal officials. However, the message continues to be that more studies need to be completed before the agencies are in a position to propose a different approach to screening out donors.

This work had been expected to wrap up by last fall, with the new recommended guidelines to be presented to the government in early 2020. That still has not happened.

In a statement provided to CTVNews.ca, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said that research “is ongoing,” with some results expected sometime “in 2021.”

“Because research is incremental by nature, building a sufficient knowledge base cannot be rushed nor results predicted,” said Health Canada and PHAC spokesperson Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge.

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Bardish Chagger said the Liberals continue to share the view that the policy is “discriminatory,” but that the government has “not yet received” a request from the blood agencies to change the deferral period.

When Chagger and Health Minister Patty Hajdu were given their current cabinet positions after the 2019 federal election, Trudeau mandated them to work with the two blood agencies to “implement a behaviour-based model of donation that eliminates the blood ban.”

“We continue to encourage Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec to move toward a behaviour-based model and are eagerly awaiting a request from them to eliminate the ban. Our government is committed to seeing this discriminatory policy come to an end,” said Chagger.

The minister has previously said the pandemic has played a role in why donor eligibility hadn’t been opened up, as “there has been some delays within research because of COVID-19.”

WHAT THE SCIENCE SHOWS

While federal officials continue to point to the need for more research to be completed before suggesting an alternative approach that will maintain a safe blood supply, the data available indicates that easing up on the amount of time impacted donors have to be abstinent for in the past has not resulted in a single instance of HIV transmission from donated blood.

Asked whether there has been any change in the transmissible disease rates as a result of the past reductions to the deferral period, PHAC said that, according to its “Transfusion Transmitted Injuries Surveillance System (TTISS)” that between 2009 and 2018 there have been no reports of HIV transmission through blood transfusion in Canada.

Citing national HIV surveillance data of newly diagnosed cases where the exposure was known, PHAC said that 39.7 per cent of all reported cases in adults could be attributed to the MSM category, while the second-most reported exposure category was heterosexual contact, at 28.3 per cent of cases.

Blood donation

Further, Canadian Blood Services said that in the nearly two years since the waiting period went from one year to three months, the agency has “not seen an increase in the risk of transmissible disease. The rate of HIV in our donors remains extremely low, and Canada continues to have one of the safest blood supplies in the world.”

The case for moving to a behaviour-based model was given new attention when the COVID-19 pandemic saw fewer donations being made, prompting concerns that supply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the constant demand.

Canadian Blood Services put out calls for more blood donors, and then began seeking plasma donations from people who had recovered from COVID-19 to be used in critical research and possible treatments. Antibodies from people who have already had the virus, found in their plasma, could help in treating new patients who are severely ill and offer new serological insights.

Still, willing donors who had been infected with COVID-19 and wanted to help with studies into possible cures, have been turned away due to the existing prohibition.

PROGRESS ON PLASMA

People looking to donate plasma may soon be able to, however.

In the most recent step towards eradicating the blood ban, Canadian Blood Services made a submission to Health Canada earlier this month for a “pilot project” to begin allowing MSM donors to donate plasma by implementing a behaviour-based screening system.

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, Canadian Blood Services said this was “the first time that Canadian Blood Services has had the evidence and support needed to seek regulatory approval to implement behaviour-based criteria for men who have sex with men rather than a reduced waiting period.”

Health Canada has said it aims to review the submission within 90 days and if approved, plasma would begin to be accepted from donor centres in Calgary and London, Ont. this fall, with plans to expand it to other centres in the future.

Seeking to address the question of why the science is only there to support collecting blood plasma and not whole blood, Canadian Blood Services said that “the process of manufacturing medications from plasma inactivates pathogens. This makes expanding eligibility for source plasma a logical next step.”

To Karas, whether or not Health Canada approves the plasma donation policy change, he plans to continue his case so long as the blood donation policy remains, saying the potential small change feels similar to past changes to the length of the deferral period, in that it doesn’t go far enough.

“We’re finding ourselves in another situation where they won’t accept our whole blood, they won’t accept my whole blood… Why won’t they accept me wholly?” he said. “The people who are really impacted by this are the people who need these donations.”

POLITICAL PRESSURE MOUNTS

In addition to advocacy groups continuing to push for quick action, the Liberals are facing increasing political pressure from both sides of the political spectrum, with both NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole raising the issue in the House of Commons recently.

While the New Democrat and Green parties have opposed what they’ve described as a “homophobic” blood ban for some time, in the last few years the governing Liberals have begun facing new criticism from some members of the Conservative caucus.

Trudeau pride

Rookie Conservative MP Eric Duncan made a splash in November 2020 when he grilled Hajdu over campaigning on the promise to gay men, suggesting she was now “hiding behind a bunch of bureaucrats and organizations.”

He repeatedly said the ban is based on negative stigma and asked her pointedly whether she would accept a blood donation from him as a gay man, which she didn’t directly respond to, emphasizing the independence of the blood agencies and stating that past Conservative governments have been “no friend” to the LGBTQ2S+ community.

It’s a topic Duncan has raised numerous times since, opening up about his personal experience of going to donate blood for the first time and being unaware of the policy. He was not out to his friends or family yet, so he pretended to go through the motions, but he couldn’t actually donate. Duncan said he was “absolutely devastated” by the experience.

“That was one of the very few times in my life, and I consider myself quite privileged, that I felt there was something wrong with me for being gay.”

In an interview with CTVNews.ca, Duncan said it’s frustrating that the government continues to defer to Canadian Blood Services because in his view, the research already shows that the ban is “outdated.”

“Why did you promise it during an election campaign if it’s now independent and out of your control to do that?” he said. “These statements are nice but it’s actually following through and delivering.”

While Duncan said it’s still “a new angle” for some members of the Conservative party to be outspoken on the ban, he hinted that plans are underway to keep pushing the government on the issue.

“Stay tuned,” he said.

Also continuing to raise the issue in the House of Commons as he has for years, out gay NDP MP Randall Garrison is waiting for his turn on the private members’ business roster so that he can advance a motion calling for the government to lift the restrictions.

In an interview with CTVNews.ca, Garrison said that it’s “beyond belief” that the government is fighting Karas in court over the ban.

He said that more than a dozen other countries currently have no deferral period for donations from men who have sex with men, and in his view, the federal government does have the ability to ask for a policy change.

“Clearly they have the powers under the regulations to order changes. The regulations specifically say that restrictions that are no longer necessary can be lifted,” he said. “I definitely believe the government’s trying to evade any controversy here, but there shouldn’t be any controversy… There is no excuse for this.”

Garrison said that when he first asked Canadian Blood Services what needed to be done to eliminate the ban, the message was that they were waiting on research to back up the policy change. “That was nine years ago,” he said.

Liberal MPs too, have voiced their frustration over the ban still existing, with out Liberal MP Rob Oliphant sharing in the House of Commons in October 2020 his experience of being ineligible and stating that he agreed with questions raised by an opposition colleague that the policy stigmatized gay men while allowing sexually promiscuous heterosexual men to donate blood.

“It is wrong that I am not allowed to give blood, and it is a loss to Canadian society that I am not allowed to give blood,” Oliphant said at the time. “I will not stop working, even with my own government, until the issue around blood donations is based on behaviour, not on orientation. It is not scientific. It is not right. It is wrong, and it is part of the legacy of discrimination.”

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

While Karas’ case continues to play out, and with Pride month around the corner, the federal Liberals say they will continue to wait for a request from the independent blood agencies to make a change.

“You can’t make promises like this… stating this so clearly, and then not act,” said Karas, who said he has been waiting eagerly for a policy change since the prime minister’s June 2020 comments. “It makes it clear that there isn’t any political will. And this should be concerning to all of us… I don’t know what this looks like in another election… This might make the Liberals vulnerable on this file.”

Whether it remains a broken promise by the next time Canadians go to the polls remains to be seen, though with the target for a turnaround on approving this kind of policy change being 90 days, it’ll likely be at least a few months until anything changes, but as Trudeau’s past comments have shown, potentially much longer.

CTVNews.ca asked the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) why Trudeau said last June that he was “very hopeful that we’ll be able to announce the results and the change, very soon,” when the government nearly a year later has yet to even receive a request to do so, and whether Trudeau regrets signalling a change was imminent.

The PMO forwarded the request to Hajdu’s office, which said in a statement that the Liberals are still “working to bring an end to the discriminatory policy.”

NEW REPORT – Human Rights Campaign

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NEW REPORT – Human Rights Campaign

The report, A Call to Action: LGBTQ Youth Need inclusive Sex Education, was authored and endorsed by Advocates for Youth, Answer, Black & Pink, the Equality Federation, GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, and URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity and provides guidance for parents and families, youth, educators, and policymakers to:

  • Become advocates for LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education;
  • Ensure that school is a safe and accepting space for LGBTQ+ students;
  • Implement LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education in schools, community settings and online;
  • Talk to their own children and teens about sex and sexuality; and
  • Work to remove state-level legal and policy barriers to LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education in schools and to require inclusive programs.

Tonight at 5p.m. EST, HRC will be hosting an Instagram Live between Ellen Kahn, HRC Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships, and Nakiya Lynch, HRC 2021 Youth Ambassador, to discuss the importance of inclusive and diverse sexual education programs and curricula.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public’s understanding of LGBTQ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 600,000 clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.

True Story of the Real Housewives Bravo Series – Brian Moylan’s Real Housewives Book – TownandCountrymag.com

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True Story of the Real Housewives Bravo Series – Brian Moylan’s Real Housewives Book – TownandCountrymag.com

Rewatch the very first episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC) and you’ll notice a few things. Like Vicki Gunvalson taking pictures before her daughter’s prom on a camera with actual film. What will really stick with you, though, are the Sky Tops.

Manufactured in LA and designed by a husband-and-wife team, these were tank top or halter top blouses cut to accentuate the ample chests of the “85% of women who have fake boobs” in the area, as a quote running over the RHOC opening credits informs us. They were always embellished with sequins, rhinestones, or even giant medallions around the wearer’s silicone-enhanced décolletage. Vicki wears several in the first episode, including a canary-yellow number with ruching just below the boobs that flares out toward the waistband of her low-rise denim. She looks like she’s dressed as Britney Spears while chaperoning her kids to the pop star’s concert. Later, she rocks a baby-pink top where the straps are chains of sequins that travel along the neckline to meet in the middle as if kissing her breasts good night.

the real housewives of orange county

The Real Housewives of Orange County cast members Jo de la Rosa, Lauri Waring, Vicki Gunvalson, and Jeana Keough.

BravoGetty Images

In the artwork used to promote the show’s premiere—March 21, 2006, on Bravo—all five cast members are wearing Sky Tops. Vicki wears her most spectacular version of all, a champagne-colored satin halter with a keyhole cut out near the neckline and a print of a vase with flowers exploding across her chest.

Looking back on this episode as a snapshot of the George W. Bush administration with America on the precipice of a financial crash, it’s easy to look at this like a relic, like some sort of cave painting depicting the fall before a terrifying future. We should think of it more like the mosquito frozen in amber in Jurassic Park, because this strange little episode, barely watched in its premiere, contained all the DNA—women baring it all, a look inside an affluent lifestyle, a bit of interpersonal conflict—to create a menagerie of monsters who would take over the world.

For me, it didn’t start with Sky Tops but a topless man. I was sitting on the floor of my sparse apartment when the lithe, sculpted body of eighteen-year-old baseball player Shane Keough appeared on my combination TV/VCR. Shane was square jawed with at least as many visible abs as the leanest Hemsworth brother, and just the kind of guy who would have been an asshole to me in high school. Exactly my type. My, my, what is this? I thought, suddenly paying attention to the screen. Turns out it was The Real Housewives of Orange County, and it would change my life.

the real housewives of new york city

Alex McCord, Jill Zarin, and Bethenny Frankel in an early season of The Real Housewives of New York.

BravoGetty Images

My love for the Real Housewives wasn’t immediate. When I started watching the show in 2006, it was simply because Bravo was my go-to channel. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Project Runway had debuted three and two years earlier, respectively, starting Bravo’s golden age along with shows like Top Chef, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Flipping Out, Being Bobby Brown, and Blow Out.

Real Housewives of Orange County wasn’t “appointment television,” as we would call it at the time. I would catch it during weekend marathons, while putzing about the apartment, folding the laundry, or just lounging on my twin mattress on the floor, chain-smoking Marlboro Menthol Lights.

The show grew on me, little by little, until it was an all-consuming passion. It was a perfect trap for me at the time, toiling away as I was at two low-paying jobs in Washington, D.C. Instead of focusing on making ends meet, I could watch Vicki and her crew prowl their sprawling, antiseptic homes, shouting at their children, their spouses, each other.

the real housewives of beverly hills

Kyle and Kim Richards, cast members of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

BravoGetty Images

It wasn’t that I wanted to live like these middle-aged women across the country, so much as I felt a certain kinship with them. There couldn’t have been a more opposite lifestyle from mine—and yet. They traveled in a pack, fighting and gossiping among themselves, just like I did with my crew. As mothers of a certain age before MILF was the most popular Pornhub search term, they were also marginalized from society in a similar way that gay men were. If they were not aware of giving a camp performance of American affluence, they were still giving it to us with both manicured fists.

My career as a professional Real Housewives chronicler started shortly after I started at the gossip blog Gawker (RIP) in 2009. I filled in for my colleague Richard Lawson when he couldn’t do the recaps and then took over entirely once he left the site. In 2013, my recaps landed at Vulture, New York magazine’s pop culture website, and have been there ever since. As the president and founder of the (entirely fictional) Real Housewives Institute, I’ve written about the franchise for The New York Times, The Guardian, and other publications I was surprised were interested.

When I started recapping, I thought people just wanted to have their opinions confirmed. I imagined my readers wanted an “expert” to tell them that, yes, this season Jill Zarin was behaving like a crazy person, or maybe we shouldn’t make too much fun of Gia Giudice’s songwriting ability because she’s only a minor. (Though her birthday song for her sister is an all-time classic.)

“These women were like the popular girls in high school that everyone hated and were jealous of.”

But the more I interacted with fans in the comments sections, on social media, and for hours cornered by gays in bars, the more I learned that they didn’t want to agree; they didn’t want to be told. People just wanted to talk about the Housewives. These women were like the popular girls in high school that everyone hated and were jealous of at the same time. We all wanted their version of privilege, and we all wanted to grind it under the boots of our Doc Martens. (I obviously went to high school in the ’90s.)

I like to call the Housewives, even those I don’t particularly care for, my “TV friends.” I’ll never meet most of them in real life, but I talk about their latest tantrums, dating habits, business failures, and outfit choices at brunch as if each is a part of my extended circle. We all know when Luann filed for divorce from Tom or when she headed into rehab—both times. It’s not just passing the news along; it’s sharing concern, or joy, for the experiences the rest of us are living vicariously.

the real housewives of new york city pictured l r luann de lesseps, eboni k williams, ramona singer photo by heidi gutmanbravo

Luann de Lesseps, Eboni K. Williams, and Ramona Singer in the current, 13th, season of The Real Housewives of New York City.

Bravo

There is no one with whom I talk more Real Housewives than my partner, Christian. We met at a Gawker party back when I worked on the site. Christian, newly single, was a friend of a friend and liked my recaps enough that he decided to introduce himself. He started by telling me about some project he was working on that, honestly, sounded like a huge bore. I was about to exit the conversation politely when he said, “But I really love the Housewives.” He didn’t have me at hello, but he did have me at “Sonja Morgan is my favorite.”

In all our time together, the Real Housewives are a constant source of conversation. Christian loves to watch along with me, making jokes and keen observations that he hopes I’ll repurpose for the recap. Without credit, of course.

I decided to write this book mostly for selfish reasons, to answer all the questions that keep me awake at night. How does casting work? How does the show get made? Does Andy Cohen really have as much power as we think he does? Who on earth actually pays for these trips? I wanted to call up insiders for some other reason than being a nosy reality fan.

I also knew that if I had these questions, other fans did, too. Bravo will let a certain amount of behind-the-scenes info out into the world, but they always control the message. I wanted to know—and report—answers without filter. The result is in these very pages, where you’ll find answers to all the questions I had going in, and more.

As I dug deeper into the making of the franchise, I started to wonder about us fans, too. Who are we, and how have these shows become so important to so many of us? What does that say about us and our TV friends both? I spent over two years trying to figure all of this out so no one will have to lose sleep over the Housewives again. (I’m sure we will, but we don’t have to.)

The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives

amazon.com

I talked to Real Housewives, some on the record and some off. I tracked down former Bravo executives and current employees. And I spoke to dozens of the real soldiers on the ground—the producers, editors, sound technicians, and production assistants that really get things done. I found these people, often more than the Housewives themselves, truly insightful about how the show gets made and why we love it. Almost everyone who worked on the show, past or present, requested that their names not be used for fear of retribution from Bravo, which can ruin a career faster than Ramona Singer can order a pinot grigio.

My Housewives journey might have started with Shane Keough as a piece of meat somewhere in the background, but it has become entirely immersive. I literally owe everything to this franchise: my career, my partner, and having the phrase Make it nice to throw out willy-nilly even when people don’t entirely understand the implications. Maybe not every fan has been so richly rewarded, but I think there’s something in The Real Housewives for everyone. And for anyone who thinks that’s not worth writing a book about, well, I probably don’t want to know you anyway.

Excerpted from THE HOUSEWIVES Copyright © 2021 by Brian Moylan. Reprinted with permission from Flatiron Books. All rights reserved.

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