LGBTQ Breaking News Service

Ma Rainey was born on this day in 1886

Ma Rainey is acknowledged as one of the most influential blues singers of all time, part of the first generation to be recorded, she is often referred to as the ‘Mother of the Blues’.

Born Gertrude Pridgett, she gained her name through marriage when she wed Will ‘Pa’ Rainey in 1904 and began touring with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, later the couple formed their own group. They toured around the USA until the separated in 1916.

She made her first recording in 1923 and over the next five years laid down over 100 different tracks.

During her career it was often suggested that Ma Rainey was involved in a romantic relationship with another singer, Bessie Smith. While most of her songs have lyrics about heterosexual romances, a few delve into lesbian and bisexual relationships.

On of her songs Prove It On Me is allegedly about an incident in 1925 when Rainey was arrested for taking part in an orgy at her house involving the women of her chorus. The song would become a lesbian anthem in the 1970s.

In 1982 the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was a bit on Broadway, in 2020 it was adapted into a film for Netflix with Viola Davis portraying Ma Rainey. The film was also the final appearance of actor Chadwich Boseman, who passed away after filming concluded.

Today the film was among the nominees at the Academy Awards with both Davis and Boseman nominated for their work. The film picked up the awards for Best Costume, and Best Hair and Makeup.

OIP Staff

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The widow of Bay City Rollers legend Les McKeown has revealed for the first time the ups and downs of their turbulent marriage following the death of the singer from a suspected heart attack.

Speaking from her London home days after the singer died on Tuesday, aged 65, Peko Keiko paid tribute to her late husband and admitted their love affair had survived for more than 30 years against the odds.

She also explained why she made him keep the first of two weddings, in London, a secret so that they could hold a second traditional Buddhist ritual on a Japanese mountaintop, for which the pop icon shaved his head.

Peko admitted she didn’t have a clue that her husband was a famous pop star and hadn’t seen him sing until after they were married.

She also told how he flirted and asked her for a date when he turned up for a meeting at a sushi bar where she was working as the manager.

Acknowledging the turbulent times together – including dealing with the singer’s drug and alcohol addictions and his affairs with other men – grief-stricken Peko said: “I met Leslie when I was working as a manager in a Japanese sushi restaurant that had a karaoke bar in the basement in London. He said, ‘Hello Suzie Woo’ and that was it.

“Leslie said to me, ‘Would you like to go for a movie after dinner?’ I said, ‘No I can’t go to the movie, I have a job’. Then he gave me his card and wrote his number on the back. I put it in my pocket. I didn’t call for a long time. I didn’t know he was in the Bay City Rollers. I was not interested in the Bay City Rollers because it wasn’t my taste. I like rock.”

The pair began dating in 1978 and eventually moved in together but only after she had told him their long-distance relationship couldn’t work.

But Les was determined they should stay together. In a last-ditch effort to save the relationship, he asked her to spend time with him in the US.

But when she flew to spend a week with him in Los Angeles, he served her with an ultimatum.

Peko said: “After three months of asking me, I gave up and said I would go to Los Angeles for a visit.

“I went to Los Angeles for a week and he was so happy to see me. We met with friends, we went to yoga and restaurants.

“I was only there for a week and Les asked me to stay longer. I said no I had to go back to my job.

“He asked me to choose between my job or him. After that we decided, he would come to London.

“He would stay in my flat and then he was going back and forth between Cornwall where his parents were living and my flat.

“Over time, all his stuff like his clothes and shoes were in my flat.”

To her surprise, he woke her one morning to tell her she was getting married – that afternoon.

She said: “One day when I was sleeping, Les woke me up and said, ‘Peko wake up, wake up, come on, we are going to get married today’.

“I just woke up and he kept saying, ‘Come on, get going’.

“I said, ‘But I have to tell my Mummy and Daddy first.’

“But Leslie kept insisting and told me that he had already taken my passport and registered for us to marry at Chelsea Town Hall on the King’s Road.”

They tied the knot but they both made a vow to keep the wedding a secret for the sake of her parents.

“We got married that day and we kept it a secret,” Peko said.

“Because my mother and father were not at our wedding, we went to Japan and had a traditional Buddhist blessing.

“My father was a Buddhist monk at Iwayadera Shrine so the blessing was there and he conducted the ceremony.

“To respect my father, Les shaved his hair for the ceremony.

“We both wore traditional wedding kimonos.

“We had close family and friends. I remember most about the day was telling my father not to cry because he was so proud.

“I feel guilty about that. Les spoke in Japanese in the ceremony and we were trying not to laugh.”

At the height of his fame, Edinburgh-born McKeown fronted the most famous pop group in the world. But Peko wasn’t a fan.

She had met the singer after his fame began to wane in 1978.

In fact, she hadn’t even seen him sing when they were dating.

She said: “I had never seen him sing before we married.

“A fan asked me which song do you like and I said, ‘I don’t know any of his songs’. I know they were the tartan check band but I didn’t know anything else.”

McKeown had joined the Bay City Rollers in 1973, after replacing Nobby Clark as lead singer.

Within months, “Rollermania” had gripped the nation – so-called because of the hysteria from fans who flocked to see the band wherever they went, just as the previous generation had done during Beatlemania.

His hits with the band included 1974’s Remember (Sha La La La) and the pop anthem Shang-a-Lang.

A year later, they topped the UK charts with Bye, Bye, Baby and Give A Little Love.

They made it No1 in the US – with Saturday Night – and had their own TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic.

But after a series of bust-ups with other band members, Les left to go solo. Soon after, the Bay City Rollers fell apart.

A series of dodgy deals by the band’s paedophile manager Tam Paton meant Les didn’t benefit from his share of royalties – estimated at £300million in today’s money.

Instead, he recently settled for £70,000.

Addicted to drugs and alcohol, he drank three bottles of whisky a day at one point.

In 2008, his GP told him he wouldn’t see Christmas and he decided to turn his life around.

By chance, the singer was asked to participate in a TV documentary about addiction.

In 2009, he entered the rehab facility Passages in Malibu, California. He spent four months there with Peko.

It was while in rehab he confessed to having had a string of sexual encounters with men.

At the time, he said: “I’ve been a bit of a George Michael, meeting people, often strangers, for sex.

“Peko’s an incredible woman. There have been times when she’s forgiven me for cheating with other women. I think this has been harder.

“This gay thing has been really hard for her to confront. She has been a big rock holding the family together and I’m really lucky to have her.”

Peko admits she put up with it all because she loved him.

She said: “Leslie was a good husband but of course everybody has ups and downs. I went everywhere to the concerts with our son. We had lots of good times and hard times.

“Leslie struggled with his own demons. His dying is a terrible shock but now he is in peace.”

Peko and son Jubei are asking fans to make donations to Music Support UK, which aids musicians who suffer from mental health issues and depression.

● https://lesliemckeown.muchloved.com/Home

The liberal candidate challenging moderate Queens Councilman Robert Holden in the June Democratic primary recently yanked down racist and homophobic slurs he posted online as a teen.

Political hopeful Juan Ardila, 27 — who has the backing of many progressive pols and unions — made derogatory comments about Asians, gays, women and Jews and used the N-word in mainly Facebook posts while in high school from 2009 to 2011.

Ardila referred to Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao as a “bumbass c—k” in a posting a decade ago while saying the pugilist would lose a fight, screengrabs obtained by The Post show.

Ardila and a pal also spewed anti-gay slurs when discussing the merits of singer John Mayer.

“ur the gay one nway u f-g crusader,” wrote Ardilla, who used “homo” in his posts, too.

Ardila was just endorsed by the city’s oldest gay Democratic club, the Stonewall Democrats.

After garnering the club’s support last week, Ardila tweeted, “I look forward to working together for a more just and inclusive city. It’s an honor to have your endorsement.”

In his younger years, the candidate also spewed misogynistic words such as “bitch” and “c–t.”

In addition, while discussing the movie “2012,” he said, “Every Juan s–ts on a Jew!!!”

He also referred to one of his friends as a “dumb polack” and hurled the N-word.

The candidate began scrubbing his accounts or making his posts private about 10 days ago, said a source familiar with the matter.

Ardila told The Post on Sunday that he had no comment “at this moment.”

He is seeking to topple Holden in the 30th District, which includes the neighborhoods of Glendale, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Woodhaven and Woodside.

Holden, though a Democrat, was elected running on the Republican line, defeating party incumbent Elizabeth Crowley in 2017. He ran as a Republican after losing to Crowley in the Democratic primary.

His spokesman, Kevin Ryan, told The Post, “There is no place anywhere in this city for the kind of racist, homophobic and misogynistic language that Mr. Ardila has publicly posted.

“Anyone who has endorsed him should immediately withdraw their support. His hateful words show him to be unfit to work in government or anywhere else.”

Ardila’s candidacy has the support of the Working Families Party, District Council 37, Local 32 BJ-SEIU, health workers Local 1199-SEIU, the Hotel Trades Council, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Councilmen Brad Lander and Jimmy Van Bramer and state Sen. Michael Gianaris.

Meanwhile, Holden is backed by the United Federation of Teachers and a slew of unions representing cops, firefighters, sanitation and construction workers and other laborers.

LGBTQ+ students first saw an official safe space on App State’s campus in 1972 with Human Sexuality Day. Oct. 25 of that year was filled with discussion groups, information booths, panels, films and special talks.

For the week of April 19 to the 23, App State hosts its own “Pride Week” in conjunction with the Henderson Springs LGBT Center and the Women’s Center. The week consists of events like “Coming Out!” on Sanford Mall and Lavender Graduation in the student union.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton named the month of June Gay and Lesbian Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots. 

Police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a gay bar, after midnight on June 28, 1969. Police could legally raid the club for selling liquor without a license, though the gay community and other gay clubs constantly were targets of police brutality. Police arrested many patrons and anger grew into protests. The crowd fought against the injustices sought on the LGBTQ+ community, creating The Stonewall Riots.

To commemorate its anniversary, the next year, organizers marched from Stonewall up 6th Avenue and sparked gay pride parades all over the nation.

Just as organizers have fought for equality around the world, students and local organizers have created change at App State. 

Here is a timeline of campus events related to awareness for the LGBTQ+ community. 

1976: The Counseling Center forms a support group for gay students on campus

1979: The Gay Awareness Organization is formed under the direction of Jeff Isenhour.  “The purpose of this organization is to provide information and awareness, to improve the stereotyped image of the gay, to inform the campus on the needs of the gay, and to form a network for gays to communicate with each other,” Isenhour said. The organization is granted a charter by the student government association and, after months of controversy, is endorsed as an official club by Chancellor Herbert Wey

1986: An AIDS Advisory Council is formed to educate students on the disease

1990: Sexuality and Gender Alliance forms

1991: IDS 3533 Gay Experience/Media Interpretations class is offered by Kim Duckett

1993: Sexual orientation is added to the anti-discrimination policy

1993: SAGA is renamed to B-GLAD: Bisexuals, Gays and Lesbians Associated for Diversity 

1999: Students participate in the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network’s Day of Silence on April 7, where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students wore tape over their mouths and handed out fliers for awareness

2002: Gay Lesbian Bisexual Trans Task Force is organized

2008: Gender identity and gender expression are added to the campus Equal Employment Opportunity policy

2008: LGBT Center in Plemmons Student Union opens 

(Timeline is taken from App State Library’s Diversity Collections)

The Henderson Springs LGBT Center acts as a support system for App State’s LGBTQ+ students and allies. It offers resources and education, and holds events such as LGBT 101 in which participants learn the basics of LGBTQ+ with information on common terminology, inclusive language and what to do when someone comes out to you.

Jean Thielen is a volunteer for the center who credits it as contributing to a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students. Thielen is a bisexual transgender man.

“I’m not sure I would use the word ‘thrive’ to describe what Appalachian does for their LGBTQ+ students, but it does offer a better environment than a lot of places,” Thielen said. “(The LGBT center) immediately made me feel more comfortable coming to App, because there wasn’t anything like it growing up, and it was the first time I had a group of people that I knew I could safely be out around instead of just scattered individuals.”

Thielen feels lucky to not have experienced much negativity toward his identity on campus. However, he said he acknowledges one shared problem among trans people: he’s heard teachers use the wrong pronoun for trans students after stating their identity to the class, a microaggression. 

When professors ask for introductions at the beginning of a semester, they often make a point to ask for pronouns. This is a cause the LGBT center and students alike have advocated for in recent years.

“I don’t believe it comes from a place of malicious intent, but it still hurts to be called something you aren’t,” Thielen said.

Mira Jones, who uses they and them pronouns, also works in the LGBT center and plans events like Pride, which didn’t happen this year because of COVID-19.

Unlike Thielen, Jones said most of their professors have respected and remembered their pronouns, though Jones has heard “horror stories” from the trans community at App State in which teachers refuse to respect pronouns. 

Jones says the LGBT 101 event could be more useful for inclusion if promoted better or if it was part of the curriculum for incoming students.

“Unfortunately, not many students take time out of their day to go and the center doesn’t have the resources or manpower to hold it more than once a semester,” Jones said.

Both Jones and Thielen say that the campus environment could be more inclusive.

Tim Reis, a bisexual student who left and came back to App State said the friends he’s met at school are the most supportive people he’s known. They make Reis feel assured and happy in his identity. 

Reis said he has experienced bisexual erasure on campus from both straight and gay peers. Bisexual erasure or invisibility is the act of attempting to falsify and delegitimize bisexuality as an identity, like telling bisexual people they’re confused and are really either gay or straight. 

“In many ways it made me question my own identity,” Reis said. “This time has been entirely different however, and I have experienced nothing but positivity.”

Reis also said the LGBT Center is a safe spot, but that it should be more prominent on campus.

“The LGBT Center is a valuable resource, but it feels so tucked away. The center, like the people it represents, deserves more visibility,” Reis said.

Chief Diversity Officer Willie Fleming spoke to the experiences LGBTQ+ students face.

“I believe there is intersectionality among members of various marginalized communities. All of these communities deal with levels of oppression and the denial of access,” Fleming said. “Although there are many intersectionalities, there are different experiences unique to every marginalized and minoritized group. We should always be respectful of the uniqueness although there may be interrelatedness among marginalized communities.”

Other resources Fleming said are available include the Dean of Students Office, the Office of Intercultural Student Affairs, the Title IX Office, and the Counseling Center.

The Simpsons team continue to diversify their characters with their latest casting announcement

The character of Julio – Marge Simpson’s gay Cuban hairdresser – has been given a voice makeover and will now be played by Tony Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who also identifies as gay and is Cuban, will be taking over the role that was originally played by Hank Azaria.

The character of Julio first made his appearance in the fourteenth season of the comedy series and has appeared in 30 episodes. Julio was also linked to Waylon Smithers the personal assistant to Homer Simpson’s boss, Mr Burns.

Taking to Instagram, Rodriguez shared his excitement about taking over the character with the caption: “Tonight I make my debut on the Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio. This is a dream come true for me and I was already a living cartoon.”

Rodriguez made his debut, on the series at the end of March in the episode Uncut Femmes.

Over the last few months, The Simpsons creators have made an effort to increase diversity amongst the cast.

Before officially joining the series, Rodriguez sent in his bid to voice the character this past February.

The actor showcased his comedic talent with a hilarious two-minute Instagram video.

“In the past two years, I have seen myself more in the show, and by that, I mean specifically the part of Julio, who is gay like me, he’s Cuban like me,” he exclaimed.

Rodriguez goes on to deliver more comedic content and ends his video asking the creators to contact him.

“Thank you for your time. For me to voice a character in The Simpsons would be very… aspirational,” he said.

Come through diversity!