Ted Cruz speaks during a news conference in the Hart Senate Office Building on May 12, 2021 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has come under fire for using an anti-gay slur as he continued his attacks on a US Army ad, claiming that the Democrats were turning the military into “pansies”.
Angry veterans fired back at Mr Cruz after he retweeted a video juxtaposing a macho recruiting video for the Russian Army with a video of a daughter of two mothers becoming a US Army corporal.
He wrote: “Holy crap. Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea….”
Despite the backlash, Mr Cruz continued with his criticism of the US Army ad, tweeting: “I’m enjoying lefty blue checkmarks losing their minds over this tweet, dishonestly claiming that I’m ‘attacking the military.’ Uh, no. We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies. The new Dem videos are terrible.”
“Pansy” is defined as a disparaging and offensive word describing someone who’s homosexual. The term was first used in its current form in 1929, according to Merriam-Webster.
The TikTok video retweeted by Mr Cruz shows a stony-faced, muscular man doing push-ups, lying in the snow with a rifle, and jumping out of a plane.
The Russian ad then gives way to the US’s colourful animation telling the true story of Cpl Emma Malonelord, who joined the Army after being raised by her two mothers.
The US Army said the ad shows “the deeply emotional and diverse” backgrounds of its members.
Edward Nelson, center, as Paul, with dancers Joe Davis, left, and Maleek Washington, in a drive-in dress rehearsal performance of “Les Enfants Terribles” by Philip Glass. Relaxed COVID-19 restrictions gave guests the choice of watching this production “tailgate-style” or from inside their automobiles. The action occurred throughout the entire parking structure with multiple screens projecting the actionthroughout where the action was projected live.
ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghanaian police on Friday said they had detained 21 people they suspected of promoting an LGBT+ agenda at an unlawful assembly in the southeastern city of Ho.
LGBT+ people face widespread persecution in the West African nation where gay sex is punishable with up to three years imprisonment.
The 16 women and five men were arrested on Thursday at a hotel for nurses and midwives, the police statement said, alleging they had gathered to advocate LGBT+ activities with books and flyers with titles including, “Coming out” and “All about Trans.”
The detainees will appear before a court on June 4.
Rights organisation Rightify Ghana said the group had met to share insight on how to document and report human rights violations being experienced by LGBT+ Ghanaians.
“The press teamed up with the police to storm the meeting location, started taking images, took their belongings and arrested them,” it said in a post on Twitter.
“We are calling on the Ghana Police Service to #ReleaseThe21,” it said.
Ghana has not prosecuted anyone for same-sex relations in years, but LGBT+ people face frequent abuse and discrimination, including blackmail and attacks, human rights researchers say.
(Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
If there’s one thing to know about the architecture of airports, it is this: They’re like convention centers. They’re always in an expansion mode.
When one portion is unveiled with a flourish, you can guess that plans are being made to tear down something else. A relentless progression of building projects is the surest sign of success.
So even as San Francisco International Airport prepares to open the final boarding gates of its $2.4 billion Harvey Milk Terminal 1, officials were quick to say that the dust clouds and detours aren’t likely to vanish any time soon.
“Construction is never done at SFO,” said Doug Yakel, the airport’s public information officer.
His comment came after a tour to preview the new portions of the terminal that open to the public on Tuesday. There are seven boarding gates, along with a generous play area for young children with energy to burn. A first-ever corridor to SFO’s International Terminal will allow travelers to go back and forth without needing to go back through security. Speaking of security, the clearing within the metal detectors has been enlarged with a “recompose area” where, at the very least, you can put your shoes back on without fear of being run into from behind.
There are displays on Milk, who was San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official before being slain in 1979, and a corridor lined with with aviation artifacts from SFO’s museum. Public art includes four large tile mosaics by artist Emily Fromm that celebrate slices of San Francisco: Chinatown, the southern stretch of the Embarcadero, Castro Street and Mission Street.
“I wanted to steer away from highlighting obvious tourist attractions,” said Fromm, who lives in the Outer Sunset. “Go for deeper cuts.”
Four Corners mosaic by artist Emily Fromm on display inside Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport.
Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
The improvements come 13 months after the opening of nine gates, a check-in lobby and the all-important baggage claim carousels. Three years from now, a lobby to the north is planned along with a spacious connection to the old Central Terminal, now known as T2.
They also follow a pandemic that descended last March and — no spoiler alert needed — brought normal life and the regional economy to a terrifying halt.
COVID-19 didn’t influence what debuts this week: “We’d already hired all the contractors and ordered all the materials we needed,” Yakel said, so it made sense to keep the gears in motion. But modernizing the section that links with T2 was put on hold for nearly a year: airport projects are funded by bonds that base their revenue models on the number of travelers who are expected from month to month.
“We haven’t even started demolition of that area,” Yakel said, referring to elements like the ticket counters that remain from long-ago days when the site held what opened in 1963 as the South Terminal. “We didn’t want the debt curve to accelerate as passengers were decelerating.”
Now, cross fingers, the worst of the pandemic is behind us. Passenger traffic at SFO has returned to 40% of pre-virus levels; this works out to roughly 30,000 daily, compared with just 2,000 intrepid fliers on a typical day in May of 2020.
Also delayed? Plans to remake the western wing of Terminal 3, which was built in 1971 and overhauled in 1979.
Part of the terminal was rebuilt in 2014, and SFO’s long-range plan was to update the rest as soon as Harvey Milk Terminal 1 was all wrapped up. Instead, design work won’t likely to begin in earnest until travel returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Trivia note: The lead architect for Terminal 3’s east wing upgrade, Gensler, also led the design team in the newest piece of Harvey Milk Terminal. As well as T2, which opened in 2011 on the site of 1954’s Central Terminal. The prior remake of the structure came in the early 1980s, a conversion that was designed by … Gensler.
The opening of the new terminal at San Francisco International Airport was a major public event in 1954. That structure is on the site of today’s Terminal 2, which opened in 2011.
Gordon Peters/The Chronicle
Many of the forces behind the perpetual makeover are measurable. Planes get larger, for instance; several of the new gates can accommodate the two-level A380 mega-jets that hold as many as 500 people. The number of passengers using SFO climbed nearly 50% between 2000 and 2019, to 57.5 million.
Another factor is that SFO was one of the first U.S. airports to pursue the idea of terminal as amenity — a space that is part of the journey. Not just in the dramatic first impression, or cattle-chute efficiency, but the overall sense of a composed environment where you don’t mind killing an hour or two.
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The “recompose area,” for instance, isn’t just a wide clearing beyond the security checkpoint. Construction workers last week were busy buffing the terrazzo floors — the featured hue is sky blue, a color selected for its soothing tone.
“It’s a balance of pragmatics and aesthetics,” said Ryan Fetters, an architect at Gensler who specializes in airport design. “SFO realized earlier than other airports that there are all kinds of journeys, and design should reflect that.”
The last piece of SFO built from scratch is the International Terminal that debuted in 2000, in the middle of the horseshoe formed by the three oft-altered terminals. Spacious, almost cathedral-like, it was conceived before online ticketing made grand ticketing halls functionally obsolete.
According to Yakel, there are no renovation plans — yet. But once Terminal 3 is completed, whenever that might be, the International Terminal is next on the list.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Rutherford and Bozeman concluded their spring seasons with a jamboree on Thursday night at Gavlak Stadium that mixed varsity starters, backups, junior varsity, and even a short middle school scrimmage.
The Rams led 20-14 at the end of the four quarters that included high school players, though as always in the spring, the score isn’t as important as the signs of progress and development that the teams can take toward the next chapter of the offseason in summer workouts.
With that said, here are five noteworthy observations from Thursday’s action.
1. Rutherford may have its quarterback
The Rams went into the spring needing to replace last year’s graduated starter Dillyn Richardson, and two prime candidates were identified early in rising juniors Daylyn Davis and Keandre Williams, neither of whom had ever attempted a varsity pass.
With an ankle injury preventing Williams from taking any snaps on Thursday, it was Davis who got the start and most of the first team reps, leading the Rams to touchdowns on two of his three drives.
Davis flashed his speed on the opening series with a 25-yard touchdown run on a third-and-17 scramble, and later showcased the arm with a 25-yard touchdown strike to Tasavion Spencer just before halftime.
On the flip side, Davis also displayed a tendency to hold the ball a bit too long, which resulted in a drive-killing sack in Bozeman territory on the second series, though Rams coach Loren Tillman said that’s something Davis will learn from and correct with more experience.
“He is what we thought we would get with him,” he said. “He kind of gives us that dual threat. He still has a lot of work to do at quarterback, but I thought he settled in and managed the game well. He didn’t panic when things went wrong. If we had a bad snap or something he still made something positive out of it and that was good to see.”
2. Offensive line might be Bozeman’s best position group
The Bucks returned three starters from last year’s unit in DJ Moore, Trevor Comer, and Danny Lentz, and Bozeman coach Jason Griffin praised the group’s play throughout the spring. They showed why on Thursday by paving the way for 176 rushing yards on 27 carries despite the Bucks being without top running back Ben McDonald.
Of the five running backs who carried the ball 20 times for 112 yards, only one, Trey Luna, has ever had a varsity carry before.
“I thought we got some really good offensive line play from DJ Moore, who did some great things inside,” Griffin said. “Overall we were able to play a physical brand of football, which is our brand of football here at Bozeman. We did shoot ourselves in the foot a couple times with some bad snaps, but overall it was a good night.”
3. The Rams have some young speed at the skill positions
Rutherford lost a good deal of skill talent from last season, including its top two rushers and top three pass catchers. Their replacements are pretty young, though they flashed some big potential on Thursday.
Eighth grade running back Roman Holmes showed his speed on a 60-yard screen pass on the first drive that was called back due to penalty, while Spencer showed the ability to get behind the defense on the TD catch from Davis, and freshman Jevon Hamilton provided the go-ahead score with a 75-yard end-around for a touchdown.
Freshman quarterback Deuce Black also showed a burst with the ball in his hands that could make it difficult to keep him off the field in some capacity this fall.
“Yeah we’re young, but we’ve got some talent,” Tillman said. “We’re just trying to get them that experience at the varsity level as opposed to the JV level. You’ve got a kid like Roman who played on the JV team and had flashes of greatness down there, so we just thought there’s no sense in leaving him down. He’s got a lot of speed and plays very mature and is very coachable. Really all of those kids have been very coachable the whole spring.”
4. Bozeman still has some work to do in the passing game.
The Bucks struggled to throw the ball in 2020 in part because of a lack of consistency on the outside. They struggled again on Thursday, with top quarterbacks Banks Byers and Peyton Gay combining to go 3 of 11 for just 12 yards.
Byers just missed on what could’ve been a touchdown on a deep throw on the game’s first play. There were also at least three drops, with one potential touchdown on a throw by Gay going through his intended receiver’s hands in the corner of the end zone.
However, Griffin expressed confidence in his young receivers after the game and said he believes the Bucks will be a better passing team in 2021.
“Every one of our receivers except for Logan Bolster are freshmen and sophomores, so we are really young and inexperienced but that is what the spring is for,” he said. “We had a chance to make a big play and tie the game and the kid that dropped the ball is a freshman, but it’s better to do that in the spring so in the fall he’ll have been in that situation before and he’ll make that play.
“The thing about that group is I’m completely confident that those guys are gonna make those plays next fall when it matters. I’m unconcerned about our wide receiver play compared to a year ago when I was terrified.”
5. The Rams may have found a difference-maker on the D-line in Lamar Potter
Lamar Potter didn’t make much of an impact in his first season on varsity, totaling just 10 tackles in four games. He looked every bit the part of a difference-making starter on Thursday, picking up two sacks and two tackles for loss by bullying his way through the interior of the Bozeman line.
If the Rams can get back a pair of athletic defenders who were out this spring in Cedric Bland and Zac Edwards, they could form along with Potter a pretty dynamic defensive front in the fall.
“He has come a long way,” Tillman said of Potter. “Last year was his first year of football and it was a lot of passive stuff, but now he gets that motor going and he’s understanding what he can do with that big ol’ frame. We’re excited about him. We can move him up and down the defensive front.”
Dozens of people cheer and dance as they take part in the Windhoek LGBT+ Pride. (HILDEGARD TITUS/AFP via Getty Images)
Namibia is on pace to decriminalise homosexuality by the end of the year as ministers pave a long-sought path to scrapping its decades-old anal sex ban.
The government’s Law Reform and Development Commission, a law reform agency, recommended in reports published Monday (17 May) that the country’s sodomy laws be overturned.
Justice minister Yvonne Dausa confirmed to the Windhoek Observer, a local newspaper, that she will be submitting draft proposals to the cabinet to do just that in two weeks time – with a potential for the ban to be binned by the end of the year.
As the committee reports were handed to her department, Dausa said that state-sanctioned homophobia must come to an end, the Windhoek Express reported.
“No Namibian should be comfortable with any part of our society feeling either they are second class citizens, that they are being excluded, or stigmatised and discriminated against either on the basis of their sexual orientation, or the basis of their disability, or status in a particular society,” she said.
In one report, committee members wrote that the ban’s “very existence violates the fundamental rights of the individuals who could be affected, as well as creating and reinforcing a culture of homophobia and intolerance against LGBT+ people”.
“The continued existence of this law cannot be justified” as it “interferes with the constitutional and international law rights of individuals in Namibia”.
Participants of the Swakopmund Gay Pride. (Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Committee members stressed in their report that between 2012 and 2019, 23 men were arrested on sodomy charges.
The provisions might only infrequently enforced, but they still reduce queer people to “criminals” and “enough to create a realistic fear of possible arrest”.
Dausa stressed in a statement to the Observer that the reports are not law, “but rather informed conclusions based on legal research” by the commission.
“After which it will go through the normal law-making process,” Dausa explained of the next steps.
“Principal approval from Cabinet, scrutiny from the Cabinet Committee on Legislation, possible further discussions with the Law Reform and Development Commission, certification from the Attorney General, drafters and then National Assembly.
“I think give or take we may see this go to the NA before the year ends.”
Namibia’s laws around being queer have long been one of mixed messages. Indeed, being gay per se is perfectly legal in the republic – anal sex, however, is illegal and has been since the late 1800s.
When Namibia gained independence 1990, it inherited the colonial-era Roman-Dutch sodomy provisions, locking the ban into place for decades to come.
Ever since the laws have rarely been enforced and attitudes towards LGBT+ people have overall eased. Namibia’s lawmakers and officials have, often in fits-and-bursts, sought to scrap the ban, but progress remains spotty and sluggish.
“Freedom will ring,” wrote advocacy group Equal Namibia on Facebook.
“The future is equal because every one of you stood up and demanded justice for all vulnerable Namibians.
MACON – Mercer University’s School of Music appointed Dr. Nathan Gay associate professor of music and director of athletic bands, effective July 1.
Dr. Gay will be responsible for directing Mercer’s marching band, basketball pep bands and will serve as a guest conductor of the wind ensemble. In addition, he will become the primary instructor for low brass and brass methods classes for music education majors.
Dr. Gay earned his both Master of Music in euphonium performance, with a bass trombone concentration, and his Doctor of Music Arts in euphonium performance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2005 and 2012, respectively.
An experienced director at the collegiate level, Dr. Gay served as director of athletic bands at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, from 2010-2014, and at Missouri Western University from 2014-2021. In addition to his work at the collegiate level, he has had extensive experience with middle and high school athletic and concert bands.
“We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Nathan Gay as a new faculty member of the Townsend School of Music and as director of Mercer’s athletic bands,” said Dr. C. David Keith, dean of the School of Music. “He is an excellent educator, and his experience at the collegiate level will be an asset in creating the outstanding game day experience for those attending Mercer athletic events.”
As a performer, Dr. Gay has been a member of the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band in Kansas City, Missouri, since 2004. The band has won North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) championships multiple times, and Dr. Gay has won the NABBA Low Brass Soloist Competition three times. Additionally, he performs as the principal euphonium in the Mid-America Tuba Quartet.
“I am thrilled to have been afforded the opportunity to work side by side with the outstanding faculty and students at Mercer University,” said Dr. Gay. “It is a very exciting time as my family starts the next chapter of our lives.”
Dr. Gay will be moving to Macon this summer with his wife, Arah, who is also a music educator, as well as their two children, 3-year-old Erika and 3-week-old Emily.
About Townsend School of Music
Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings and the Townsend-McAfee Institute for Graduate Studies offer undergraduate and graduate professional music studies in a comprehensive university environment. Townsend is nationally recognized for its outstanding faculty, award-winning students, performance ensembles and state-of-the-art facilities. The McDuffie Center, a special institute within Townsend School of Music, is a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world. Students study with some of America’s most renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, while earning an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university. For more information and a complete listing of this season’s concerts, visit www.mercer.edu/music, or call (478) 301-2748.
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Defund the Food Police
I am a senior leader in a large health care system. In my department’s break room, I noticed a small, empty wicker basket. I started to fill it (anonymously) with individually wrapped chocolates I buy personally, as a small morale booster. Every week or so I refill the basket. Last week I walked into the office of one of my direct reports for a brief meeting and noticed on their desk a small pile of Hershey Kisses, likely taken from the basket in the break room.
This employee is a high-performing, outstanding individual. They are also quite overweight. I said nothing of course, but now am wondering: am I contributing to this person’s weight problem, with all its attendant health risks, or am I just doing something nice for the office staff, or both? Do I continue to fill the basket with chocolates?
— Anonymous, New Hampshire
Your employee’s weight is not a problem. Your employee’s weight is none of your business. What they eat is none of your business. Your employee is a high-performing, outstanding individual, in your words. That is all that matters. Their health is not your business and you should not make assumptions about what their health is or is not. Keep filling the basket with chocolates or don’t but stop obsessing about someone else’s public body and private life. It is fatphobic and unkind and unnecessary.
Funny Money
I work as a contractor, freelancing on a large project I really enjoy for a project manager I love — with a co-worker who has me pulling out my hair. We are both working on the same project, for which we bill hourly. We do the same set of tasks, but my colleague works much less and bills more hours. On the list of nearly identical tasks for this project, I’ve completed 75 percent of the tasks to her 25 percent, and our project manager — who doesn’t seem to be aware of the division of labor — recently let slip that my colleague has been billing more hours than I have. I don’t think my colleague is patently dishonest or even a bad person. I think she’s very, very slow and fudges her hours.
I don’t know whether to bring this to my project manager’s attention. Normally, what another person earns is not my affair. And I don’t want to create bad feelings, especially between me and my project manager, for whom I’d like to work a lot more. But the other freelancer and I are paid out of the same pot of money. We’re actually competing for it — for time and for dollars.
My project manager is blinding herself to what’s going on because it’s easier than having to confront an often challenging person. Of course the injustice stings. But I’m not sure I should say anything, though I am the only person in a position to do so.
— Anonymous, California
Your colleague’s business is none of your business. This isn’t injustice. Injustice is … voter suppression or police brutality or any number of truly horrible things. This is frustrating and, perhaps, unfair. I hear your frustration. I do. Our co-workers often do maddening things. They seem to get away with behaviors we would never get away with or even attempt. I want you to think about why this bothers you so much. Why do you care? You don’t think your colleague is “patently dishonest or even a bad person,” right? Your colleague isn’t really taking money you would otherwise receive. She is earning money for work she performs, just like you. If you genuinely think your colleague is doing something nefarious, let your manager know and then it is up to her to handle the matter. If your colleague, however problematic in other ways, just works more slowly and differently, let it go. Or work more slowly, yourself. The only thing you can really control in this situation is you and I don’t think it serves you or your well-being to obsess over this.
Divorce Court
In a small argument, not related to work, my husband basically told me I am worthless, that my salary (with benefits) does not make enough compared to the pension he started receiving at age 60 (he’s been unemployed for four years and he is still looking for work). How do I counter this language being thrown in my face?
SUN PRAIRIE (WKOW) — Sun Prairie city councilors banned so-called gay conversion therapy Tuesday, becoming the 13th municipality in Wisconsin to do so.
According to a news release from Sun Prairie spokesperson Jake King, this ban sprung from a 2017 nondiscrimination ordinance. Mayor Paul Esser said the ban is designed to help all Sun Prairie citizens feel welcome.
“The conversion ban ordinance is another step in making this community a place where all are welcome and protected,” Esser said in the release.
Conversion therapy comes in several forms, whether it be “counseling” from a therapist or electroshock treatment, it all aims to change a person’s sexuality to be in line with traditional views of cisgender heterosexuality.
According to The Trevor Project, a charity that aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth, conversion therapy does not have any kind of scientific basis. The American Psychiatric Association has not classified homosexuality as a mental illness since 1973.
“10% of LGBTQ youth reported undergoing conversion therapy, with 78% reporting it occurred when they were under age 18. Youth who reported undergoing conversion therapy reported more than twice the rate of attempting suicide in the past year compared to those who did not,” The Trevor Project said on its website.
The new ordinance also bans conversion therapy for transgender children, especially relevant in light of a growing legislative movement against transgender kids. As of March 13, according to the Human Rights Campaign, there are at least 82 anti-trans bills in state legislatures across the company.
“These bills are not addressing any real problem, and they’re not being requested by constituents. Rather, this effort is being driven by national far-right organizations attempting to score political points by sowing fear and hate,” HRC spokesperson Wyatt Ronan said.
The organizers of NYC Pride, the biggest annual celebration of the LGBT+ community in America, have decreed that NYPD and law enforcement groups will be banned from participating in Pride events in the city until 2025, because kicking the cops to the curb will help create “safer spaces” for those participating in the various activities, including the big one, the march in New York City on the last Sunday of Pride weekend – this year on June 27.
The mind boggles, especially given the territory. Are NYC Pride officials even aware of the decades-long battle that Irish gay marchers fought to finally be told, only in 2016, that they were good enough to participate, with their own banner, in the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world on Fifth Avenue?
We could be wrong, but we don’t ever remember an organized NYC Pride presence on the Fifth Avenue sidelines each March 17, holding up signs that protested the exclusion of the Lavender and Green Alliance from the parade. Maybe there are new Pride organizers who aren’t aware of the real struggle for LGBT inclusion that took place in their own backyard up until a few years ago, but that is highly unlikely.
More probable is that they just don’t care. That was then and this is now, and hating on cops is in vogue these days.
“The steps being taken by the organization challenge law enforcement to acknowledge their harm and to correct course moving forward, in hopes of making an impactful change,” the NYC Pride statement issued on May 15 said in part.
Come 2025, Pride officials will conduct a “review” to see if cops and law enforcement officials took their time as pariahs to learn about all the harm they’ve caused – you know, like the NYPD officer who was shot three times in Brooklyn last week by a gang member and miraculously survived, or the NYPD officer mowed down and killed last month on the Long Island Expressway by a drunk, high driver who also happened to post a Facebook video hours before in which she ranted “f*** the police” among other pleasantries.
For many years, before new and enlightened leadership helmed by Dr. John Lahey came to the fore of the New York City St. Patrick’s Parade in 2015, the old organizers said it was their right to exclude any group they wanted because it was a privately organized march and they had the backing of the First Amendment to do so.
So if it was wrong to ban then, as gay groups argued, how could it possibly be right now?
Policing in America, and in New York, isn’t perfect, that’s for sure. The “bad apples” line sounds clichéd but it’s true.
Conversation and collaboration are taking place in departments all over our country to develop better law enforcement practices and trust between the police and the communities they serve. That’s the only way forward.
Telling gay law enforcement officers who very likely had personal difficulties coming out that they’re no longer welcome to march behind a banner, in a parade that celebrates LGBT identity, does zero to advance the goal of police reform. It’s a PR stunt that’s unfortunately in lockstep with the times in which we live and creates bad will all around.
NYC Pride says it plans on handling security concerns for its events. “NYPD is not required to lead first response and security at NYC Pride events. All aspects of first response and security that can be reallocated to trained private security, community leaders, and volunteers will be reviewed,” their statement said.
Well good. The NYPD could use the savings because of the negative impact of the nonsensical “defund the police” movement, though of course officers say they will still be on hand to play a part in the security of the NYC Pride march which due to the pandemic will be greatly scaled back for 2021.
Let’s hope that NYC Pride members who support the move to ban the police never need to call the cops for an emergency, or to report a crime. After all, there are private security members and volunteers who can handle that going forward, right?
*This editorial first appeared in the May 19 edition of the Irish Voice newspaper, sister publication to IrishCentral.
Injectable versions of HIV treatments and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) will be a game changer in terms of convenience over daily pills, explained Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health and director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies.
This video excerpt is part of our third entry in a series on individuals and international organizations working to bring local and global awareness to the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is marking its 40th anniversary this year. For previous videos with Dr Halkitis, please visit our main HIV page.
Transcript
Have younger generations become complacent to the real consequences of HIV?
People were having sex without condoms forever; this is not new. Do I think they’ve become complacent? No. I think that undetectable equals untransmittable [U=U], with PrEP, provide us 2 more tools in the arsenal. Condoms and PrEP and U=U, those are all really effective tools. So do I think they have become complacent? No. I think we still have 40,000 new infections each year. I think that gay men, straight people continue to engage in sexual behaviors.
I think that the complacency doesn’t arise when people are on treatment or on PrEP. I think that complacency arises when people trust and earn love. I have long said that lots of risk—and there is documented evidence for this—occurs within the context of a relationship. So I think what we need to do is teach young people to be able to learn how to navigate and manage the dynamics of their relationships to continue to stay safe, to have open conversations with their partners so they don’t place themselves at risk.
A colleague said, “Well, somebody’s single, they should be on PrEP.” I think when somebody starts a relationship, they should be on PrEP, because I think the minute you enter “I love you” into the equation, all rational decision-making goes out the door.
I think the other advantage we have is that it looks like in the next 5 years, I hope maybe sooner, we will have an injectable version of PrEP that’s available, we’ll have an injectable version of treatment which is available, and that will just make people’s lives much easier than having to take pills every single day. And I think that’s a game changer for us.
Meet the Gay Cruella Star Portraying Disney’s First Major LGBTQ+ Role
A critic spotted a groundbreaking gay character in Cruella.
Grace Randolph, a writer with Rotten Tomatoes, noted the history-making role in a tweet last Friday following an advanced screening.
“We have the 1st officially out and proud #Disney character in her gang!” Randolph tweeted along with a rainbow flag emoji.
“It’s the character played by John McCrea,” Randolph added in the Twitter thread. “He has several scenes and plays a very important role, including saving another character!”
In Cruella, John McCrea plays Artie, a member of Cruella’s entourage. Emma Stone portrays the titular role in the upcoming film directed by Craig Gillespie, which also features Emma Thompson as her overbearing boss in the fashion industry, The Baroness. Similar to Maleficent, the live-action production shows the younger years and the making of an iconic Disney villain — this time, the puppy-snatching antagonist from 101 Dalmatians.
In the past, McCrea has acted in several LGBTQ+ productions, including God’s Own Country and Dracula. He also starred in the filmed 2018 stage version of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the musical about a teen who becomes a drag queen.
In what will please some LGBTQ+ critics, McCrea is an out gay man who is not press-shy about his identity. “I fully realize as a young gay man myself that I have a responsibility to speak for those people in the audience who may feel much closer to the outcast,” he told Broadway.com in 2017 about his Jamie role.
Cruella‘s May 28 premiere is good timing for Disney, which previously was slammed for casting a straight actor, Jack Whitehall, in a gay role in Jungle Cruise. Now McCrea will make history as the first actor to play a major LGBTQ+ role in a Disney production, following Lena Waithe’s breakthrough lesbian character in Pixar’s Onward.
While many Disney villains have been coded as gay in past animated films, this would be a first for the children’s entertainment empire.
This is the story of Judy Gay (Sproul) White. Judy was a wonderful woman who was loved, is missed beyond imagination, and will always be cherished. Judy was an amazing wife, mom, grandma, daughter, sister, farming partner, nurse, church pianist, weather tracker, and creator of the world’s most coveted fruit salad recipe.
Judy’s story started on July 21, 1948, born in Tacoma, Washington, and adopted by Gilbert and Nellie Sproul of Ontario, Oregon. She and her siblings lived a happy farming life on the Oregon Slope and she became involved in 4-H, showing dairy animals at the Malheur County Fair and Oregon State Fair. It was her award-winning dairy showmanship at the fair that drew her future husband, Larry, to her, as they competed against each other (and she won).
Judy attended Pioneer Elementary and Ontario Junior/Senior High School, and after a short period at TVCC, she married the love of her life, Larry White, on September 16, 1967, and the two of them spent time living in LaGrande at Eastern Oregon State College before moving on to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. While in Corvallis, their first daughter Corey came along and Judy’s life calling as a mother began.
When Judy and Larry moved back to Ontario to form a dairy partnership with Larry’s parents, two more children joined the family – son Jamey and daughter Andrea. Judy was truly a hands-on mother in every way. She taught her children to read, took them to church, sewed clothes for them, raised food for them to eat, took them camping and fishing, protected them from aggressive roosters and billy goats, taught them the value of hard work and responsibility, and enjoyed snuggling them close.
As her kids grew older, she went to nursing school at TVCC with the goal to earn enough money as a nurse so that all three of her children could get a college education. She succeeded. Corey graduated from College of Idaho and Boise State University, Jamey from University of Idaho, and Andrea from College of Idaho. None of this would have been possible without her working all of those night and weekend shifts at Holy Rosary Medical Center.
Aside from her nursing job, Judy always preferred to be outside working alongside Larry growing and harvesting crops. Her farm girl roots ran deep. She could cook, sew and clean, but never was she quite as happy as driving a swather or driving truck hauling crops. When Larry bought her a John Deere swather as an anniversary gift one year, it made her happier than any jewelry or flowers ever could.
Judy was well-known for many gifts and talents. She was a seamstress, sewing quilts and making clothes for the kids, including many choir dresses for Corey and Andrea (one that had to be tailored to fit around an arm cast when Corey broke her arm). She was a baker, producing dozens of pies each summer to sell at the Malheur County Fair. She was a musician, playing piano and organ, often serving as church pianist or organist alongside her daughters and sharing her gift of playing by ear – being able to transpose songs into any key if the song was written in too high a key for the choir to sing. She was a taxi mom transporting her kids to sporting and choir events and loading the car up with kids to take to church. She was a walking talking dairy database – knowing the lineage, age and breeding schedule of each of the dairy cows. She loved the outdoors, hiking and camping at Seven Devils or along the Salmon River, teaching her kids to fish, and giving them an appreciation for wildlife and the weather. Among her lesser-known talents, Judy was at one point the 3rd-ranked horseshoe player in the State of Oregon. She loved to laugh and have fun with family and friends.
Judy’s grandchildren were her heart and joy. She loved when they visited or stayed with her, and never was she happier than when the entire extended family was gathered at the Oregon Coast for family reunions. As her kids and grandkids became spread across the country, in Idaho, Kansas and Georgia, those opportunities to gather all of her kids and grandkids together were a true gift to her.
If ever there was someone who loved life and was willing to fight for it, it was Judy. From her initial cancer diagnosis 17 years ago to her recurrence last year, she faced every challenge with a wink of unwavering determination, endurance and grace. She squeezed all she could out of every day, and loved every moment spent with her husband, family and friends.
Loved ones that cleared the path for Judy were her parents Nellie & Gilbert, sisters Rose, Barbara, Susan, and brothers Gilbert Jr. and Robert. Loved ones who will miss Judy until they meet again are her husband Larry White; daughter Corey and granddaughters Kaitlin and Natalie; son Jamey and wife Tonya; daughter Andrea and husband Jeff; granddaughter Desire with husband Jordan and great-granddaughters Lilli and Maya; granddaughter Nina; as well as numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.
Judy was always very active in her church, from supervising the babies in the nursery to teaching Sunday School and AWANAS. She accompanied many a church program, played for funerals and a few weddings, and shared her ministry of music at Dorian Place in Ontario, Oregon. The Lord Jesus Christ was the focal point of Judy’s life. She didn’t just talk to others about the Lord, she lived a godly life to the fullest extent and was a dedicated servant to Him.
And so the story goes on until we see our beloved Grandma Judy again. We love you and miss you every day.
Please join us in celebrating Judy’s life on Monday, May 24, with graveside service at Rosedale Memorial Gardens in Payette at 11:00 a.m., followed by a potluck picnic at Park Community Church, Hwy 201 and Holly Road, Oregon Slope, at 12:30 p.m. Bring along a side dish or dessert and we will share uplifting stories and photos of the special woman who influenced so many of our lives in the precious time she was with us. Arrangements and Services by Lienkaemper Chapel in Ontario, Oregon. Condolences to the family at www.lienkaemper-Thomason.com
To plant a tree in memory of Judy White as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
Courtesy of Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce Facebook
As pride month is approaching this June, the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and North Texas LGBT Chamber are teaming up on Thursday, May 27, to speak on how corporate America interacts with LGBT consumers and if some companies’ allyship is genuine or questionable.
Pride across Texas is an open event that gives participants opportunities for networking amongst LGBT allies and speakers.
“We do these quarterly as a way to connect all our Texas LGBT Chamber members and share information, connections and opportunities,” CEO of Austin LGBT Chamber Tina Cannon said.
Speakers Valerie Salinas and Katie Martell will be addressing corporate America and how it can be improved upon regarding authenticity toward the LGBT community.
“This one is extra special as we are leading into Pride month, this [event] speaks [on] corps and brands and how they engage with the LGBT consumer in an authentic and intentional way and provides examples – both positive and those that need to improve,” Cannon said.
Pride across Texas will be held on Thursday, May 27 at 4 p.m. Participants can register on the Austin LGBT Chamber website:
Courtesy of Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce Facebook
As pride month is approaching this June, the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and North Texas LGBT Chamber are teaming up on Thursday, May 27, to speak on how corporate America interacts with LGBT consumers and if some companies’ allyship is genuine or questionable.
Pride across Texas is an open event that gives participants opportunities for networking amongst LGBT allies and speakers.
“We do these quarterly as a way to connect all our Texas LGBT Chamber members and share information, connections and opportunities,” CEO of Austin LGBT Chamber Tina Cannon said.
Speakers Valerie Salinas and Katie Martell will be addressing corporate America and how it can be improved upon regarding authenticity toward the LGBT community.
“This one is extra special as we are leading into Pride month, this [event] speaks [on] corps and brands and how they engage with the LGBT consumer in an authentic and intentional way and provides examples – both positive and those that need to improve,” Cannon said.
Pride across Texas will be held on Thursday, May 27 at 4 p.m. Participants can register on the Austin LGBT Chamber website:
