Home Blog Page 298

Here’s your first look at Harry Styles as a gay cop in My Policeman – Gay Times Magazine

News Editor
-
0
Here’s your first look at Harry Styles as a gay cop in My Policeman – Gay Times Magazine

The first photos of Harry Styles in My Policeman have emerged, and fans are going wild.

Taken on set, the photos show the British singer-songwriter in full navy police uniform as the film’s lead character, Tom, alongside David Dawson as his love interest Patrick.

Based on the critically-acclaimed gay novel of the same name from Bethan Roberts, My Policeman follows a schoolteacher called Marion who falls in love with Tom in 1950s Brighton.

Marion will be played by Emma Corrin, who recently earned a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Princess Diana in The Crown.

After meeting museum curator Patrick, however, Tom finds himself torn between both lovers. Due to social constraints of the era, Tom decides that it is safer to marry Marion. This is going to be a tear-jerker, isn’t it?

The film will be told in flashbacks, with older versions of Tom, Patrick and Marion being played by Linus Roache, Rupert Everett and Gina McKee, respectively.

As well as photos of Styles in his full police attire, the British singer-songwriter was caught locking lips with Corrin while surrounded by vintage cars.

Of course, fans of Styles went berserk on social media.

One fan spoke for all of us as they tweeted: “I apologize in advance for the person I’ll become when I see Harry Styles acting in My Policeman.” 

Another wrote: “I’m so excited for movie and crying at the same time… Please help!”

Peloton’s treadmill recall could improve company’s image: analyst – Yahoo Money

Kim Martel
-
0
Peloton’s treadmill recall could improve company’s image: analyst – Yahoo Money

The Daily Beast

Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos via GettyMelinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside her husband Bill in New York City and soon after said she was furious at the relationship between the two men, according to people familiar with the situation.The previously unreported meeting occurred at Epstein’s Upper East Side Mansion in September 2013, on the same day the couple accepted the Lasker Bloomberg Public Service Award at the Pierre Hotel and were photographed alongside then-mayor Mike Bloomberg.The meeting would prove a turning point for Gates’ relationship with Epstein, the people familiar with the matter say, as Melinda told friends after the encounter how uncomfortable she was in the company of the wealthy sex offender and how she wanted nothing to do with him.Gates’ friendship with Epstein—who for years was accused of molesting scores of underage girls—still haunts Melinda, according to friends of the couple who spoke to The Daily Beast this week in light of the pair’s divorce announcement, which had been weeks in the making.Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex RingThe Daily Beast has learned that financial and public relations specialists had been feverishly working on details of the pair’s split for weeks before the couple announced their divorce on Monday.“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a brief statement posted on Twitter. “We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”A representative for Bill and Melinda Gates did not respond to requests for comment for this story.The ties between Gates and Epstein ran much deeper than the tech mogul first admitted. As The New York Times reported, starting in 2011, Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions. This was three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in Florida; by then, accusations that Epstein exploited girls and young women were widely reported in the press.As The Times reported, two people close to Gates acted as intermediaries between the two: Boris Nikolic, a biotech investor and former adviser to Gates who was mysteriously named a backup executor in Epstein’s last will and testament; and Melanie Walker, who worked at the Gates foundation and served as a science advisor to Epstein. A person close to Walker told The Daily Beast she did not attend nor help set up any meetings between Gates and Epstein. Nikolic did not return multiple requests for comment.Soon after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Gates became one of many prominent people to face scrutiny over ties to the sex-trafficker.The New York Times revealed Gates had met with Epstein at a 2011 get-together at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse that included the financier’s ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin and her daughter. (Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein’s sex ring, has accused Dubin’s hedge-funder husband, Glenn, of abuse—a charge he strenuously denies).Indeed, the Times reported Gates visited Epstein multiple times from 2011 to 2013, and that Epstein had tried pitching a new charitable fund to JPMorgan honchos and to the Gates foundation. In 2013, Gates also took a ride on Epstein’s private jet (christened by tabloids as the Lolita Express), from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to flight records reviewed by the Times. CNBC also reported that Gates rendezvoused with Epstein in New York in 2013.When Gates first met Epstein, he was still Microsoft’s chairman and the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $56 billion.“I met him. I didn’t have any business relationship or friendship with him,” Gates said in September 2019, as media coverage into his connections with Epstein were heating up. “I didn’t go to New Mexico or Florida or Palm Beach or any of that. There were people around him who were saying, ‘Hey, if you want to raise money for global health and get more philanthropy, he knows a lot of rich people.’“Every meeting where I was with him were meetings with men. I was never at any parties or anything like that. He never donated any money to anything that I know about.”One associate in the technology world who’s attended the same events as Epstein, including a TED conference in Monterey, California, was surprised Gates had considered cultivating philanthropic ties with the late peadophile.“I can’t make the claim that so many are claiming,” the person told The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity, referring to people in Epstein’s orbit who’ve said they had no suspicions of Epstein’s abuse. “If you ask Bill Gates, he’ll say, ‘Oh I had absolutely no idea he wasn’t up to anything of the highest moral character.’ But I seriously doubted Epstein’s moral character.”“The people around him,” the person added, referring to Epstein, “had a varying spectrum of what they knew and what they didn’t know and how they rationalized it.”This person wasn’t surprised that Melinda Gates was put off by Epstein, saying “a lot of people were uncomfortable with Epstein, completely independent of his” sexual misconduct. “He just was an obnoxious guy. He almost made a point of having bad manners, not paying attention at dinner… I could see how anybody, even without suspicions, would not want to be around him.”Still, Epstein had a “superhuman” ability as a social climber, the one-time colleague of the financier said, adding that the photos displayed in Epstein’s mansion of former President Bill Clinton and the Pope were “really obnoxious, especially if you’re somebody like Melinda and hanging around with heads of state anyway. Then to have someone do this endless name-dropping…“When he got up from the table at dinner, he wouldn’t just get up, he’d tell you he had a call with a president of some country.”Epstein also reportedly had a habit of bragging that he was an unofficial adviser to Bill Gates—a claim the Microsoft founder’s representatives denied. One Times report indicates Epstein claimed to be a tax consultant for the tech magnate.After his initial meeting with the financier, the billionaire philanthropist told Gates Foundation staff in an email: “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me.” Asked about this message, Gates’ spokeswoman said he “was referring only to the unique decor” at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and “Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”The rapport between Gates and Epstein seems to have fizzled in the fall of 2014, sometime after Gates donated $2 million to MIT’s Media Lab. The lab’s former director Joi Ito, in an internal email unearthed by the New Yorker, claimed Epstein facilitated that donation. As the Times investigation noted: “Mr. Epstein complained to an acquaintance at the end of 2014 that Mr. Gates had stopped talking to him, according to a person familiar with the discussion.”Some special guests at @thrive’s leadership meeting: board member @DavidAgus & Dr Melanie Walker who’s working w/@BillGates on global health pic.twitter.com/SaqQ4HQSrt— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) March 7, 2017 Gates wasn’t Epstein’s only link to Microsoft. Walker, a neurosurgeon who worked for the Gates’ foundation from late 2005 to 2013, had known Epstein since 1992. She told the Times that she’d just graduated from college and Epstein had offered to land her a modeling job at Victoria’s Secret because he was an adviser to Les Wexner, the founder of the lingerie chain’s parent company, L Brands.Walker once stayed in an Epstein-owned apartment in Manhattan while traveling to New York, and in 1998, she became the financier’s science adviser. Within a few years, she moved to Seattle to be with her now husband, then-Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, and was hired by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There she met Nikolic, the Times report adds, and introduced him to Epstein.For his part, Nikolic told Bloomberg News he was “shocked” to be named as a “successor executor” in Epstein’s will, a position he quickly turned down. “I was not consulted in these matters and I have no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever,” he said in a statement released by his spokeswoman in August 2019.Nikolic is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, where at least one faculty member received funding that was facilitated by Epstein. According to Bloomberg, Nikolic “waxed enthusiastic about Epstein’s financial advice in discussions with private bankers” in 2014, ahead of a public offering for a genome editing firm Nikolic had funded.When Jeffrey Epstein needed a backup person to handle his estate, he chose Boris Nikolic, an ex-science adviser to Bill Gates https://t.co/ke2X08uwrL— Bloomberg (@business) August 20, 2019 Little is known about Nikolic and Epstein’s relationship, though Bloomberg reported the biotech venture capitalist insisted they had no financial ties.Meanwhile, Linda Stone, an ex-Microsoft VP, appears to have longer-standing ties to Epstein and vouched for him at MIT. “Ito was introduced to Epstein in February 2013 by Linda Stone, a former member of the Media Lab’s Advisory Council, at a TED Conference in Long Beach, California,” said one 2020 MIT report into Epstein’s largesse reviewed by The Daily Beast.“He has a tainted past, but Linda assures me that he’s awesome,” Ito said in an email to three MIT staffers, according to the document. But, in June 2013, when a lab assistant raised questions about Epstein’s checkered past, Ito asked Stone for help in avoiding a potential backlash over Epstein’s donations to the MIT Media Lab. In an email cited in the MIT report, Stone advised Ito that Epstein had “given a tremendous amount of money to Harvard” and “other scientists” and it would be “good to show that list.”“Focus on his funding of Harvard, scientists, over many years,” added Stone, whose tenure at Microsoft lasted from 1993 to 2002. She then mentioned Epstein “aggressively funds science & tech & interesting people.”The report notes that Stone apparently believed Epstein when he “insisted to her that he was ‘wrongfully convicted,’ pointing both to his light sentence and his assertion that he had been cleared by a lie detector test as evidence that he was truly innocent of the charges.”Epstein’s address book contained multiple phone numbers for Stone and listed Kelly Bovino—a former model who sources tell The Daily Beast was once part of Epstein’s inner circle—as Stone’s “emergency contact.” As The Daily Beast reported, Giuffre has publicly accused Bovino of aiding Epstein’s trafficking scheme.The tech insider who spoke to The Daily Beast noted Stone thrived on connecting people but that she “has a lot of friends who are infinitely richer than Epstein.” They added: “I can’t see anything Linda got out of it.”Here’s a curious photograph. Jeffrey Epstein talks to Nathan Myhrvold, formerly Microsoft’s chief technology officer, at the 2000 https://t.co/oEYOr4QjJI John Brockman billionaires’ dinner. pic.twitter.com/2DMKGe8s6Z— Xeni Jardin is fully vaccinated (@xeni) October 12, 2019 Epstein’s rolodex also had a variety of phone numbers for Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s former chief technology officer. In July 2019, Vanity Fair reported the men were longtime friends, and that Epstein allegedly visited Myhrvold’s investment firm, Intellectual Ventures, with “young girls” who were possibly “Russian models” in tow.In 2003, Vanity Fair named Myhrvold as one of the many businessmen to dine with Epstein at his Manhattan townhouse, and the 2019 article cites a source who claimed Myhrvold openly discussed visiting Epstein’s homes in Florida and New York.A flight records database shows Myhrvold traveled on Epstein’s plane, in December 1996 and January 1997. Other passengers included Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and “GM,” believed to be Epstein’s alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.When Giuffre sued Dershowitz for defamation in April 2019, her complaint alleged the famed lawyer attempted to throw Myhrvold under the bus. The document refers to Giuffre by her maiden name, Roberts. “In May 2015 Dershowitz requested confidential settlement negotiations with Ms. Roberts’ lawyers in which Dershowitz sought to convince Ms. Roberts lawyer that Ms. Roberts was mistaken, and that the person to whom Epstein had lent Ms. Roberts was Nathan Myhrvold, not Dershowitz.”The lawsuit added that Giuffre “was, and is, clear that it was Dershowitz, not Myhrvold, with whom she had sex.”Myhrvold’s spokesperson told Vanity Fair: “Nathan has no knowledge of or any involvement in the various crimes that Mr. Epstein is accused of committing.”“He was never a client of his money management business, and he’s never done business with him of any sort,” the spokesperson added. “Back in the day Epstein was a regular at TED conferences and he was a large donor to basic scientific research, so while Nathan knew him and has socialized with him, that’s exactly where their association ends.”Myhrvold did, however, take a trip to Russia with tech journalist and conference host Esther Dyson sometime in the 1990s, and spent time with Epstein there.When reached by The Daily Beast, Dyson said that Epstein joined her and Myhrvold for a couple of days when their itineraries intersected in Sarov. The Microsoft executive had planned the meetup with the financier, she said.One photo Dyson posted on social media of herself and Epstein is timestamped 1998. Another image of Myhrvold includes the caption: “at Microsoft Russia in Moscow, April 98. This was the beginning of a three-week trip during which Nathan and a variety of hangers-on (including a bodyguard) explored the state of post-Soviet science.”Years later Dyson saw Epstein at Edge dinners and other events but says she didn’t have much interaction with him.“I wasn’t his category so to speak,” Dyson told The Daily Beast. “He liked rich people and scientists and there were a lot of them at [Edge] dinners.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Readers React: Courage is not a ‘pray not to be gay’ ministry – The Morning Call

News Editor
-
0
Readers React: Courage is not a ‘pray not to be gay’ ministry – The Morning Call

Courage is not a “pray not to be gay” ministry, nor is it at all similar to any kind of “conversion therapy.” It does not seek to “cure same-sex attraction” nor to change anyone’s orientation. Never have I heard anyone “ask people who they’re sleeping with.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene hints that Kevin McCarthy is gay on Tucker Carlson’s show – LGBTQ Nation

News Editor
-
0
Marjorie Taylor Greene hints that Kevin McCarthy is gay on Tucker Carlson’s show – LGBTQ Nation

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox Nation program last night and insinuated that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is gay.

The two joked that he is in a relationship with Republican pollster Frank Luntz. Luntz has been critical of former President Donald Trump.

Related: Marjorie Taylor Greene wants a drag queen “arrested & charged” for being near children

Greene told Carlson the things she learned after coming to Washington, D.C. and seeing the inner workings of Congress with a long list of complaints and exaggerations. Carlson, however, couldn’t resist trying to one-up her when the conversation turned to McCarthy.

“Were you shocked to learn they share a toothbrush or are roommates or whatever?” he asked.

“I was more curious, like, who gets the top bunk and who gets the bottom bunk,” she responded.

In a statement earlier this week, McCarthy’s office said that his living arrangements with Luntz are only temporary.

“Because of the pandemic, McCarthy has rented a room in Washington at a fair market price from Frank,” the statement said.

The living arrangement has drawn criticism because Luntz is a lobbyist.

Greene has been at the forefront of opposition to LGBTQ equality in Congress.

She introduced a bill to ban the rainbow flag from flying at U.S. embassies and co-sponsored an anti-trans bathroom bill.

She introduced multiple motions to shut down Congress just before it debated the Equality Act, which would ban anti-LGBTQ discrimination. The motions didn’t pass, but they forced her colleagues to vote on the pointless motions and ate up over an hour of debate time to make the point that LGBTQ discrimination should remain legal. She called the Equality Act “DISGUSTING, IMMORAL, AND EVIL” in a statement.

Greene, whose career in politics started by protesting Drag Queen Story Hours, put up a sign that said “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. ‘Trust The Science!’” in response to Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL) putting up a transgender flag outside of her office. Newman’s child is transgender.

McCarthy, when he’s not in D.C., lives with his wife Judy in Bakersfield, California.

From Iceland — Four Million ISK Grant To Educate And Counsel LGBT Community – Reykjavík Grapevine

Kim Martel
-
0
From Iceland — Four Million ISK Grant To Educate And Counsel LGBT Community – Reykjavík Grapevine

Photo by

Art Bicnick

Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Minister of Health, has given a grant of four million ISK to the National Queer Organisation (Samtökin ’78), for an education centre for those who are in the LGBT community.

The grant will be used for counselling and education on the issues of gay and trans people.

Daníel E. Arnarsson, executive director of the organisation, told Frettablaðið that the grant will be very useful. The organization has a 15 million ISK service agreement with the Prime Minister’s office, which is not enough for the services provided by the organization.

Educate and advise

At the National Queer Organisation, amongst the duties covered are queer people and those who are unsure of their sexual orientation are given advice.

Daníel says the grant is intended for special counseling for transgender people, professional assistance to doctors and nurses at Landspítali, increased information in the field of sexual health and “not least to combat social isolation and poorer mental health among our clients.”

Numbers on the rise

Daníel goes on to say that attendance at the association has increased enormously in recent years. “In the last five years, our counselling has grown by 538%. A lot of that is where marginalized groups come to us for advice,” he says.

In the association’s annual report for last year, it can be seen that between 2019 and 2020, there was a 47% increase in the number of those who accepted counselling from the organisation. Last year, 506 people took advice from the association.

Asked about the reason for this increase, Daniel says: “The reason is increased discussion and increased awareness.”

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.

Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.

Sexplain It: My GF Thinks I’m Gay. How Do I Prove I’m Not? – menshealth.com

News Editor
-
0
Sexplain It: My GF Thinks I’m Gay. How Do I Prove I’m Not? – menshealth.com

I’m Zachary Zane, a sex writer and ethical manwhore (a fancy way of saying I sleep with a lot of people, and I’m very, very open about it). Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of sexual experiences, dating and sleeping with hundreds of people of all genders and orientations. In doing so, I’ve learned a thing or two about navigating issues in the bedroom (and a bunch of other places, TBH). I’m here to answer your most pressing sex questions with thorough, actionable advice that isn’t just “communicate with your partner,” because you know that already. Ask me anything—literally, anything—and I will gladly Sexplain It.

To submit a question for a future column, fill out this form.

Dear Sexplain It,

I’m more effeminate than most men, and have been teased about being gay for so long that I actually thought I might be. A few years back, out of curiosity, I hooked up with a couple of guys, thinking I may be gay or bi. I didn’t enjoy it the way I enjoy being with women, and now I know I’m straight.

Cut to today. I have a girlfriend. I was out with her and a friend of mine, and he drunkenly made a joke about my “gay phase.” I had never told my girlfriend about that part of my life because I didn’t see any reason to, but after that, I had to tell her what happened. My girlfriend wasn’t mad, which is good, but she’s definitely confused. I can tell that she believe that I’m straight. (She keeps saying it’s totally fine if I’m bi, and if I’m gay, we’d still be friends.) She thinks I was “hiding” something, which really, I wasn’t.

Obviously, I know there’s nothing wrong with being gay or bi, but I don’t want my girlfriend to think I am when I’m not. I’m not sure what to tell her, or how to convince her I really am straight.

—Actually Straight

sexplain it graphic

.

Dear Actually Straight,

There is a very frustrating double standard when it comes to sexual experimentation. Women can explore sexually with other women, and there’s no question as to whether they’re straight if they say they are, but if a man so much as thinks about another man sexually, he must be gay. It’s why some (toxically masculine) straight men claim they can’t admit when a guy looks attractive. I’m like, seriously, dude? You can’t see that Henry Cavill and Michael B. Jordan are fine as hell? I find that hard to believe.

Honestly, I believe society’s inability to allow men to explore sexually with other men contributes to homophobia. It’s why you have guys saying dumb shit like “No homo.” It’s why men are afraid to share their emotions and embrace femininity and creativity. They don’t want to be perceived as gay and ridiculed for it, the way you were. Toxic masculinity causes men not to explore their sexuality, and not being able to explore their sexuality further perpetuates toxic masculinity. It’s a vicious cycle.

I bring all this up to say I’m proud of you. I know that’s not why you wrote in, but the fact that you explored your sexuality with another man takes courage, and you did it. You realized you’re not gay or bi, and you’re still embracing your femininity. I wish there were more straight men like you.

That said, there might be more out there than we realize. We only hear the stories of men who experimented, and then realized they were actually gay or bi. We don’t hear stories from straight men who experimented and then concluded that they were indeed straight. Why? Well, you know why: because people won’t believe them, which brings me to your girlfriend.

I understand why you didn’t tell her, and I agree that you didn’t have to disclose this to her. You don’t need to share every little thing about your past, especially if it doesn’t pertain to your relationship with the person you’re with now. The good news is that she wasn’t mad when you told her. Homophobia and biphobia are real (among women too!), and a less enlightened person might have dumped you right then and there.

I think you need to make it clear that she isn’t “holding you back” from dating men, which it seems like she’s insinuating. I’d tell her, “I’m only interested in dating a woman, and I’d be really bummed if that woman weren’t you!” !

I showed your question to gender and sex therapist Casey Tanner, MA, LCPC to get some additional advice on what to say to your girlfriend.

“I think a boundary needs to be set here, and a request for trust needs to be made,” she said. “Something along the lines of, ‘While I appreciate that you’ve made it clear you’ll accept me no matter what, the thing I really need you to trust and accept is that I’m telling you the truth.’”

i have all the love in the world for you

PeopleImagesGetty Images

You need to make it clear that you don’t want to have this conversation again. Don’t be an asshole about it. I think of guys who say, “I’m done with this conversation,” right in the middle of a big argument where feelings do need to be expressed and things need to be addressed. But this isn’t that scenario. This is your partner not believing what you say and repeatedly questioning your identity when she has no reason to do so.

I’d also consider discussing the double standard between men and women when it comes to sexual exploration. I think this could help your girlfriend understand how you can explore and still very much be straight.

And I know you didn’t ask for my advice on what to say to your friend, but this is my column and I make the rules. So here it goes: Your friend sucks. It is his not place to share your secrets with your girlfriend. It’s not like you were cheating on her and she asked him about it. He brought this up unprompted for no damn reason. I don’t want to say he “outed” you, because you are not gay or bi, but I can’t think of another word for it. (Also, the fact he called it a ‘gay phase’ is ridiculous and TBH slightly offensive. Being gay isn’t a phase, my dude.)

You need to tell your friend he made a dick move and make it clear that it is not his place to say anything about your sexual past. If he pulls some shit like this again, you won’t be friends with him.

I know you’re feeling a little deflated right now. But I honestly think this will pass with time. Just keep showing your girlfriend you love her and keep being a great partner. Eventually, she’ll move on from your past and you two can live happily in the present.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Undocumented LGBTQ immigrants turn to Fla. group for support – Washington Blade

News Editor
-
0
Undocumented LGBTQ immigrants turn to Fla. group for support – Washington Blade

The leaders of several local and national AIDS organizations have expressed concern over a decision by D.C. Department of Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt to abruptly dismiss Michael Kharfen from his position since 2013 as Senior Deputy Director of the department’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease and Tuberculosis Administration.

Under the leadership of Kharfen, who is gay, the Department of Health entity commonly referred to as HAHSTA has played a lead role in what AIDS advocacy organizations consider to be D.C.’s highly successful efforts in recent years to lower the rate of new HIV infections among city residents.

Alison Reeves, a spokesperson for Nesbitt, declined to give a reason for Kharfen’s termination, saying the DOH does not comment on “personnel matters.” Reeves said DOH official Dr. Anjali Talwalker has been named as interim Senior DOH Deputy Director for HAHSTA while a national search is being conducted for a permanent HAHSTA leader.

People who know Kharfen have said he has declined at this time to publicly comment on his departure from HAHSTA. He could not immediately be reached by the Blade for comment.

“Michael Kharfen’s departure is a real loss to HAHSTA, the D.C. community, and nationally,” said Paul Kawata, executive director of the D.C.-based National Minority AIDS Council. “It is important to remember that when Michael took over HAHSTA there were real challenges and concerns,” Kawata said.

“He transformed the agency and built strong relationships with local organizations and D.C.-based national organizations,” said Kawata. “His reasoned voice and ability to collaborate will be sorely missed.”

At least three sources familiar with HAHSTA, who spoke on condition of not being identified, have said reports have surfaced internally from DOH that director Nesbitt is planning to reorganize several DOH divisions, including HAHSTA.

The sources say people familiar with the reported reorganization expressed alarm that HAHSTA would be dismantled as a separate DOH entity, with AIDS-related programs operated by other DOH divisions.

“Some think she wants to use the funds earmarked for HAHSTA for other things,” said one of the sources. “She could be jeopardizing federal grant money for HIV and hepatitis,” the source said.

The Washington Blade raised questions surrounding Kharfen’s departure with John Falcicchio, the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, who also serves as Mayor Muriel Bowser’s chief of staff, at a press conference on Monday on an unrelated topic. Falcicchio said he would try to arrange for mayoral spokesperson LaToya Foster to respond to the Blade’s questions about a possible DOH reorganization of HAHSTA and the issues surrounding Kharfen’s departure from DOH.

Neither Foster nor another mayoral spokesperson had responded as of late Tuesday.

“Michael Kharfen’s leaving D.C. government is a huge loss to the D.C. community and potentially puts at risk federal grants for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and hepatitis,” according to David Harvey, executive director for the D.C.-based National Coalition of STD Directors.

“If his departure is about a consolidation of agencies within DOH, then the community will be the loser,” Harvey said.

“We need HAHSTA to continue,” he said, adding, “The mayor should reverse this decision and reinstate Michael Kharfen.”

Sources familiar with the D.C. government’s personnel polices have said that Kharfen and other high-level officials holding positions such as that of a senior deputy director are considered “at will” employees who serve at the pleasure of the mayor and the agency head for whom they work. They can be removed for any reason or no reason, those familiar with the personnel policy say.

Before becoming the DOH Senior Deputy Director in charge of HAHSTA in 2013, Kharfen served from 2006 to 2013 as HAHSTA’s Bureau Chief for Partnerships, Capacity Building, and Community Outreach. Those who know Kharfen said in that role he is credited with working closely with a wide range of local and national organizations that provide services for people with HIV/AIDS as well as other public health organizations.

Among them is the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, which has worked closely with HAHSTA and the DOH to develop, among other things, a plan to significantly curtail new HIV infections in the city by 2020.

Other groups working closely with Kharfen have been the Washington AIDS Partnership, the National Coalition of STD Directors, the Prevention Access Campaign, and the HIV-Hepatitis Policy Institute.

“Under Michael’s leadership, D.C. was instrumental in pioneering many new innovations in preventing and treating HIV that were later adopted by other jurisdictions,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the D.C.-based HIV-Hepatitis Institute. “And if you look at the results, I think it demonstrates success,” Schmid said.

“I do not know any details of his departure, but I know he will be missed not only in D.C. but across the country,” Schmid told the Blade.

LA Pride announces June events and ABC7 Pride special – KABC-TV

Kim Martel
-
0
LA Pride announces June events and ABC7 Pride special – KABC-TV
Christopher Street West (CSW), the nonprofit organization that produces the annual LA Pride celebration, has announced its planned June programming.

“LA Pride 2021: Thrive with Pride” will feature a month-long combination of events including a special celebration on ABC7.

LA Pride weekend will kick-off on Thursday, June 10, with a concert exclusively presented by and live streamed on TikTok and featuring Charli XCX and a showcase of up and coming LGBTQ+ artists across genres.

In addition, ABC7 will air a one-hour primetime special, “Thrive with Pride Celebration,” on Saturday, June 12 at 9 p.m.

Hosts Ellen Leyva and Brandi Hitt will be joined by Karl Schmid and Eric Resendiz as they present the best of LA’s LGBTQ+ community.

The presentation will feature individual profiles, celebrity shout-outs, spotlights on LA Pride’s 2021 Honorees, special Pride performances and more.

In recognition of the incredibly difficult work Los Angeles social justice and non-profit organizations have put into achieving equity, actionable change and stability, LA Pride will launch a 30-day give back campaign to support these efforts.

“Pride Makes a Difference” will highlight opportunities for Angelenos to sign up to either volunteer, or donate goods and/or money to local organizations in Los Angeles County.

The new program is in conjunction with volunteer organization Big Sunday. A list of selected local organizations and drop off sites will be announced at a later date.

CSW has also expanded and diversified its board of directors, with a focus on true community representation.

Part of the internal mandate includes looking at ways the non-profit can go beyond a June Pride celebration and actively work for and within the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community all year long.

Check out abc7.com/pride for stories about the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, and share your Pride with #abc7eyewitness.

Copyright © 2021 KABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.

Conservative millionaire Vasadze, who suggested anti-LGBT vigilante groups, to launch political movement – Democracy & Freedom Watch

Kim Martel
-
0
Conservative millionaire Vasadze, who suggested anti-LGBT vigilante groups, to launch political movement – Democracy & Freedom Watch
Levan Vasadze with his followers threatening to set up vigilante patrols against LGBT activists in Vere Park in Tbilisi, 2019. (1tv.ge)

TBILISI, DFWatch–After years of denying his intention to go into politics, the conservative millionaire Levan Vasadze finally announced on Thursday that he is launching a public movement.

“I’ve made a very difficult decision in my personal life to say goodbye to my favorite status as a private person, and wade into and participate in the socio-political life of the country. The main reason for my decision was the fact that the country is in a state of permanent crisis, both politically, economically, culturally, socially and ideologically,” Levan Vasadze said.

Vasadze has gained notoriety with his radical stance toward the LGBT community. In June 2019, he vowed to set up vigilante patrols on the streets of Tbilisi to prevent LGBT rights activists from holding a planned pride march. However, the vigilante groups never materialized.

Earlier, in December, 2015, he proposed to create a commission to prevent media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from insulting the country’s traditional values. He then proposed setting up a civic commission to control media outlets and NGOs ‘financed from abroad.’

Ongoing Engagement in HIV Care Associated With Drop in HIV Transmission – POZ

News Editor
-
0
Ongoing Engagement in HIV Care Associated With Drop in HIV Transmission – POZ

A modeling study described in the Journal of the International AIDS Society suggests that continuing engagement in care can reduce the number of HIV transmissions over time, as viral loads continue to drop.

 

Researchers have already shown that once people with HIV have an undetectable viral load, they do not transmit HIV, a concept known as Undetectable Equals Untrasmittable, or U=U. Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously found that people with viral suppression account for none of the estimated 37,000 new cases of HIV in a year. But Satyanand Satyanarayana, JD, of the University of Miami Department of Psychology, and colleagues wanted to know how HIV transmission changed over time for people in the real world—people with mental health issues and other challenges.

 

So the researchers drew data from 14,261 people living with HIV who received care through the Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems between 2007 and 2017. The centers were in San Francisco; Birmingham, Alabama; Seattle; San Diego; Boston; Baltimore; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Then they pulled health data for the participants, including viral load, doctor visits and data on syndemic conditions—which in this case meant anxiety, depression and alcohol or drug misuse disorder as quantified by standard questionnaires. They also gathered data on number of sex partners in the last six months and frequency of condom use.

 

In this way, the team cobbled together snapshots of viral load and coexisting health conditions four to six months apart and generated a model to calculate the risk of HIV transmission at each point and over time.

 

The 14,261 people on HIV treatment made 61,198 primary visits for HIV care during the study period. Fifty-eight percent of participants were white, and 33% were Black. Most (84%) were cisgender men, and 17% were women, including 163 transgender women. Just over half (54%) were gay and bisexual men. The median age was 44.

 

At the first visit, 76% of all participants had an undetectable viral load, defined in this study as below 400 copies. But that varied across groups: 80% of cisgender straight men had an undetectable viral load compared with 76% of gay and bisexual cisgender men, 77% of transgender women and 75% of cisgender women. Men without a disclosed sexual orientation had the lowest rate of viral suppression, at 73%.

 

At baseline, depression was the most common comorbidity, with 46% meeting criteria for this diagnosis. More than one in four reported symptoms of anxiety, 24% reported high alcohol consumption and 15% reported using substances such as amphetamines, cocaine, heroin and other opioids. Interestingly, the researchers found that the longer people remained engaged in care, the lower their viral load and the lower their risk of transmitting HIV. Their likelihood of experiencing these other conditions also decreased.

 

By the end of the study, the viral suppression rate was 85% overall, including 88% of cisgender heterosexual men, 86% of both transgender women and cisgender gay and bisexual men, and 82% of cisgender women. Once again, cisgender men with an undisclosed sexual orientation had the lowest viral suppression, at 80%.

 

At the beginning of the study, the researchers modeled 0.83 HIV transmissions per 100 people annually. But as they remained in care and on treatment, the model predicted that this would fall to 0.38 HIV transmissions per 100 people. Overall, attendance at each clinical visit was associated with a 0.05 drop in HIV transmissions.

 

This changed with the number of co-occurring conditions, however. People with none of the identified comorbidities had an overall risk by the end of the study of 0.19 transmissions per 100 people per year—half of the 0.38 transmissions overall. But if a person had all four coexisting conditions, the model predicted that there would be 1.32 HIV transmissions per 100 people. And that’s for everyone together. For cisgender women, the model calculated that 0.25 transmissions per 100 people would occur, while for transgender women, the presence of multiple other conditions would result in 2.21 HIV transmissions per 100 people. For cisgender gay and bisexual men, the presence of four coexisting conditions translated to 1.83 HIV transmissions per 100—a rate that was statistically the same for transgender women.

 

“On the individual level, our finding raises questions for future study as to whether the effects of time in care are a function of retention in care and resultant viral suppression, of decreased sexual activity over time (or once in care), and/or of increased prevention behaviors resulting from clinic prevention messaging,” wrote Satyanarayana and colleagues. “A future direction of study is the measurement of structural syndemic conditions (e.g., housing instability, criminal justice involvement, poverty) to understand how structural barriers influence individual transmission risk.”

 

Click here to read the study.

Click here to learn more about HIV treatment and U=U.

German Catholic Priests Defy Pope Francis With Public Blessings of Gay Couples – The Wall Street Journal

News Editor
-
0
German Catholic Priests Defy Pope Francis With Public Blessings of Gay Couples – The Wall Street Journal

Catholic clergy are preparing to bless gay couples across Germany in defiance of a recent Vatican ban on the practice, in the latest sign of how far liberal German Catholics are pushing the boundaries of the Vatican’s authority and teachings to forge a more progressive version of their church.

Priests and some lay ministers are planning coordinated ceremonies blessing gay relationships in about 100 Catholic churches and other venues in Germany, including Essen Cathedral, over the next few days, most of them on Monday. Almost 20 events will be live-streamed.

Such blessings have become common over the past decade in Germany and some other parts of Northern Europe, but they have usually taken place quietly, in places other than churches. Monday’s highly visible ceremonies will mark a protest against a Vatican declaration in March, approved by Pope Francis, prohibiting the blessing of same-sex relationships on the grounds that God “cannot bless sin.”

“It always has been a little bit kind of a secret,” said the Rev. Christian Olding, a Catholic priest in the northwestern town of Geldern, who says he has blessed about 10 same-sex couples in the past eight years. “This is the first time that we are going this way in society, to do it visibly for everyone.”

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has contended with deepening divisions in the global Catholic Church between conservatives, including in the U.S. and Africa—who are uncomfortable with his more liberal approach to matters including divorce and homosexuality—and progressives, with Germany in the vanguard, who are impatient with what they see as a reluctance to back substantive change.

For Lauderdale official questions transexual athletes – South Florida Sun Sentinel

Kim Martel
-
0
For Lauderdale official questions transexual athletes – South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Caitlyn said it’s not fair,” Moraitis said. “She’s an Olympic athlete, and she understands the biological differences. Caitlyn looks strong. And Carvelle looks strong. Any way you look at it, you’re stronger than me. I’m not trying to be inflammatory. I’m just saying you’re stronger than me.”

Who is Dr Chomo? TikTok users call out guy who allegedly deleted LGBT Discord server! – HITC

Kim Martel
-
0
Who is Dr Chomo? TikTok users call out guy who allegedly deleted LGBT Discord server! – HITC

Everyone on TikTok is calling out a guy called Dr Chomo right now. Who is he? And what did he do?

With over a quarter of a billion users, Discord is one of the most popular ways to communicate online.

The instant messaging platform consists of online communities where people with the same interests can communicate with text messaging, voice calls, video calls, media and files.

This week, TikTok users are exposing a guy who allegedly deleted one of the biggest LGBT communities on Discord.

He’s called Dr Chomo, and here’s exactly what’s going on.

  • TRENDING: This Omegaverse Quiz is taking over TikTok
Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images

Who is Dr Chomo?

Dr Chomo is a TikTok user who has the account name @drchomo.

His account has now been deleted and no longer exists on the app.

Nobody knows who he actually is, or where he comes from, he’s just a mystery internet user, and here’s why he’s going viral on TikTok right now.

What did Dr Chomo do?

The mystery guy called Dr Chomo is a hot topic of conservation on TikTok this week.

TikTok users are claiming that he allegedly infiltrated and deleted a popular LGBT discord server, which is an online community made up of LGBT people.

According to people on TikTok, he allegedly pretended to be a member of the LGBT community for over two years and became so well known on the server that he actually became its admin.

Then, he proceeded to allegedly block every single member from the discord and delete it permanently.

Now, the discord server cannot be recovered.

  • OMG: Baekhyun’s military enlistment starts today

He allegedly admitted it in this video

So, how do people on TikTok know all of this?

Well, Dr Chomo posted a video admitting to doing so. When his account was deleted, so was the video, but copies of it still remain on the app.

In the clip, Dr Chomo wrote on the screen: “Pretending to be LGBT for 2.5 years to delete the biggest discord.”

In the background, an audio plays that says “I won. I tricked everyone.”

Will we ever find out who Dr Chomo actually is? Probably not. Do we know whether he’s actually telling the truth about infiltrating the LGBT discord server? No.

But it’s certainly caused a lot of drama on TikTok!

In other news, Top 20 most-liked Instagram posts – Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner and Cristiano Ronaldo

Gay country star TJ Osborne ‘hurt’ after Republicans block move to honour his brave coming out – Yahoo News UK

News Editor
-
0
Gay country star TJ Osborne ‘hurt’ after Republicans block move to honour his brave coming out – Yahoo News UK

TJ Osborne has said he is “hurt” after Republicans blocked a resolution commending him for coming out as gay.

The Brothers Osborne singer came out as gay in an interview with TIME magazine in February, leading the Tennessee legislature to honour him as a “role model”.

The state senate unanimously passed a motion that heaped praise on TJ Osborne for making the brave decision to be “publicly forthcoming about such an integral, heretofore muted part of his identity”.

The resolution also described Osborne as a “trailblazer”, noting that he is the first openly gay country music artist signed to a major country music label.

While the resolution sailed through Tennessee’s senate, Republican politician Jeremy Faison intervened, using his power as House Republican Caucus to block its passage.

In a video shared by The Tennessee Holler, Faison said he had “some concerns” about the resolution and said it “needs to be” heard in committee stages.

Following his intervention, 63 representatives voted to send the resolution back to a committee that is “closed for the year”, the Holler reported.

On his Instagram Stories, Osborne admitted that he was hurt by the furore.

“I wish I could say that this didn’t hurt, but it does,” he wrote.

TJ Osborne plans to have lunch with Republican Jeremy Faison

The official Brothers Osborne Twitter account also hit out at the decision, writing: “We’ve lived in this state for over half of our lives. Jeremy Faison honoured Ben Shapiro who doesn’t even live here,” they wrote, tagging Faison in the post.

“Jeremy, let’s have lunch one day. On us. Would really like to know more about you as a person.”

Faison replied to the Brothers Osborne, saying: “I would be honoured to break bread with you,” while the brothers promised to message him directly to set something up.

The decision to send the resolution back to committee stage has been roundly condemned by others in the music industry.

Kacey Musgraves tweeted that she was “massively disappointed” in Tennessee House Republicans for “blocking my friend TJ Osborne for being honoured because HE’S GAY!?”

Opening up about his decision to come out on CBS’ This Morning in March, Osborne said he felt “stuck in second gear” before telling the world about his sexuality.

He also used the opportunity to encourage other queer people in the closet to take a leap of faith and open up to their loved ones.

“I would say just to encourage anyone else out there who’s dealing with the same thing… it’s a hard thing to describe, it’s a very difficult thing to go through.

“And I even had a lot of support around me. But once I finally came out… I didn’t really understand the magnitude of how much people cared about me, loved me and supported me,” he said.

Supreme Court will not review sexual assault case at West Point – Out In Jersey

Kim Martel
-
0
Supreme Court will not review sexual assault case at West Point – Out In Jersey
Rainbow flag waves in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Supreme Court
Rainbow flag waves in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Scott Drake

The U.S. Supreme Court will not review an appeal brought by a female West Point cadet who says the federal government should be liable. On May 3 the court refused to hear the case on appeal. The West Point cadet says she sustained injuries from a sexual assault at the U.S. military academy.

The cadet, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, said she was raped on campus and subjected to constant sexual harassment. She sued the government after the academy failed to adhere to mandatory Defense Department regulations governing the military’s response to sexual assaults.

Studies of sexual assault in the military are limited, but one survey of veterans found that 31 percent of lesbian and bisexual former servicemembers indicated they had been sexually assaulted in the military compared to 13 percent of heterosexual women veterans.

In a brief supporting Jane Doe’s appeal, the Modern Military Association of America (formerly known as OutServe) joined several other women’s groups to urge the Supreme Court accept the appeal and overturn a 1950 decision that has barred lawsuits similar to Doe’s.

The Federal Tort Claims Act allows individuals to sue the federal government over certain injuries sustained on federal property or caused by federal employees. But efforts to combat sexual assaults in the military have been running up against a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court ruling—in Feres v. U.S.—that held that members of the military cannot sue for injuries “incident to service.”

In Doe’s case, the military argued that the injuries Doe sustained from being raped on campus were “incident to service.”

The MMAA brief argued that the Feres decision should not be used to excuse government culpability for sexual assault injuries received while attending a military academy. The brief argued that the Feres ruling is giving a “free pass” to sexual assailants at military academies. It noted that sexual minority servicemembers account for even higher numbers of the victims, including male servicemembers who identify as gay or bisexual.

“Specifically, LGBT service members (6.3% of women and 3.5% of men) were more likely to indicate experiencing sexual assault than non-LGBT service members (3.5% of women and 0.3% of men),” said the article in the journal of Sexual Research Social Policy. “The prevalence rates of sexual assault were estimated at 4.5% for LGBT service members compared to 0.8% for non-LGBT service members.”

Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissent on the court’s refusal to take the appeal. He noted that, had Doe been a civilian contractor visiting the academy campus when she was raped, she could have brought her claims for injuries.

“Feres was wrongly decided; and this case was wrongly decided as a result,” said Thomas in a two-page dissent. Thomas said he was concerned that the student’s “rape is considered an injury incident to military service.”

Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar’s brief to the Supreme Court had argued that, as a cadet at West Point, Jane Doe was an “active duty member of the Army” and faulted Doe for not pressing claims against the cadet who raped her. But Prelogar did not mention that, to press claims against her assailant, Doe would have had to disclose her own identity as a victim of sexual assault. Prelogar urged the court not to revisit Feres “after having been woven into the statutory fabric for more than 70 years.” She also argued that dismissal of Doe’s claims “reflects the appropriate degree of ‘judicial deference to Congress and the Executive Branch in matters of military oversight.’”

To accept an appeal for review, at least four justices must agree to hear the case.

© 2021 Keen News Service All rights reserved.

1...297298299...466Page 298 of 466
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv