Tragedy and Grief: A Few Thoughts On The Pulse Nightclub Massacre

There's no rule book for offering advice on how best to handle a tragedy. We all experience horrific events that happen throughout life in our own way. Some of us get angry and become vocal public activists, while others quietly volunteer at the nearest LGBT community center. There's no right or wrong way to help. Each approach is needed. The key thing to remember is to DO SOMETHING when and if you can. It's apathy that kills a community. Not bullets or beatings or anti-LGBT laws. Apathy.

I was moved by the honesty evident in this article, "How to Talk to a Queer Person Who is Afraid of Dying". It was written by Carlos Maza and in it he shares how he experienced so much fear upon hearing the news of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre.

Carlos Maza writes:

I wish I could say I attended a rally or a vigil, or even just got drunk at a bar with my queer brothers and sisters. I wish I could say I became a living testament to LGBT courage in the face of violence and hatred.

But I didn’t. I lay on my couch and imagined being shot and killed in a bathroom.

I understand why so many people have chosen to respond to the massacre in Orlando with proud public displays of solidarity with and support for the LGBT community. The history of LGBT people in the United States is a story of resilience, even in the face of incredible pain and loss. We respond to a world that asks us to disappear by chanting, “We’re here! We’re queer! Get used to it!” We celebrate Pride partly as an act of defiance and perseverance. 

After the shooting in Orlando, it’s tempting to push ahead to the part where the LGBT community pulls itself up by its bootstraps and recommits to fighting bigotry and making the world a more welcoming place. I am tempted by that, too.

At the same time, LGBT people aren’t superheroes. What happened in Orlando opened wounds in people thousands of miles away from the gunman. LGBT people are grappling with the fact that there is no such thing as a “safe space,” that we created the idea of a “safe space” to stay sane, but it is an illusion.

It’s hard to overstate the mental and emotional damage that realization has on queer people. For me, it has been a profoundly isolating experience. Fear makes you want to retreat from the world, makes you want to stop talking and pull away from anything that might put you at risk. READ MORE

Video: Healing Through Art, Dance and Music (Pulse - Unify Over Violence)

While writing the post for Pulse Nightclub Massacre: Year End Special Video Report I was reminded of how powerful art, dance and music are to us in the LGBTQ community. I can think of no better example of this than the deeply moving tribute song, "Pulse", which was created within hours of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre, by openly gay singer-songwriters, Brandon Skeie and Eli Lieb. The song gave much comfort to those of us who grieved this senseless loss of lives at the hands of a terrorist.

Muse Dance Company & MusEffect produced a loving tribute of their own. The dance piece, "Pulse - Unify Over Violence", was dedicated to the victims of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting.

Muse Dance Company & MusEffect share about their project: "This Summer we teamed up with Muse Media and the incredible artists of The Muse Experience of 2016 to develop a piece that is close to our hearts. It is our mission to see this PSA initiate the conversation needed most in our society right now. There are far too many humans loosing their lives over nothing they've done but pure and simply because of who they are. Why not choose to celebrate diversity, practice tolerance and learn from those who've ended their stories far too soon. Let us put an end to these senseless deaths and unify over violence." Watch the video below.

View the video of the Brandon Skeie and Eli Lieb song, "Pulse" here.

WATCH VIDEO: Healing Through Art, Dance and Music (Pulse - Unify Over Violence)

The 8 Minute Ab Routine

Grenade's fitness trainer Jamie Alderton demonstrate's his 8 minute ab workout in this helpful video.

His ab routine includes the following 4 exercises:

• Half sits
• Leg raises
• Plank position
• Knee crunches

When doing this 8 minute ab workout Jamie says you'll achieve the best results by doing the 4 exercises with NO rest in between sets.

Follow Jamie Alderton on Twitter and visit Grenade

Watch: Jamie Alderton's 8 Minute Ab Routine

Gay Men Prefer Bearded Partners: Study

Written by Jess Jones

Researchers from The University of Queensland have found gay men prefer beards. “Homosexual men preferred hairier stimuli than heterosexual women, supporting past findings that homosexual men have strong preferences for masculine traits,” wrote the researchers. READ MORE

Chechnya Has Moved Their Gay Concentration Camp According To A New Report

Written by Beatrice Hazlehurst

In a story that becomes increasingly horrific by the minute, Chechnya are still very much carrying out their "gay purge", but due to global backlash and pressure from the Russian media they're having to do so more covertly. When an investigation team from Novaya Gazeta arrived at the camp as described by former inmates, they found the location completely abandoned and covered in debris. The group then headed to another rumored prison, a Special Police Force training base in Terek (60km North) but were turned away from the areas by authorities because "training was taking place."

Human Rights Watch has affirmed Novaya Gazeta's findings, saying they were "consistent" with reports they themselves had received. "The information published by Novaya Gazeta is consistent with the reports Human Rights Watch recently received from numerous trusted sources, including sources on the ground." They said in a statement. "The number of sources and the consistency of the stories leaves us with no doubt that these devastating developments have indeed occurred."
READ MORE

The 10 Most Influential Gay Male Journalists And Role Models

"Amid the sea of bad news and negativity there’s always a bright light somewhere. With the media under constant attack, I think it’s important to recognize the gay journalists who are good at their jobs, and report the news in a civil and straightforward way. They serve the public interest with integrity. They’re honest and factual and tell the truth, and they’re outstanding representatives of the LGBT community," writes Roy Steele. "This is my subjective list of the top ten most influential gay male journalists and role models, working in the media today (in alphabetical order)."

Frank Bruni, The New York Times
Jonathan Capehart, The Washington Post
Anderson Cooper, CNN Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
Steve Kornacki, MSNBC
Don Lemon, CNN
Richard Quest, CNN
Thomas Roberts, MSNBC
Shepard Smith, Fox
Pete Williams, NBC News

Continue reading... 10 Most Influential Gay Male Journalists And Role Models

World OutGames Sporting Events Canceled

Written by Joey Flechas, Steve Rothaus and Susan Miller

The long-planned sporting and cultural event known as the World OutGames, a 10-day LGBT-themed event advertised as a spectacular gathering of athletes from around the world, unraveled Friday about 24 hours before the opening ceremonies.

Organizers announced that the opening and closing ceremonies, along with nearly all of its sports events, were canceled due to financial issues. The bombshell revelation came via a short Facebook post from the event’s board of directors Friday. “It is with deep regret that due to financial burdens, World OutGames must cancel its sports programming and Opening and Closing Ceremony with the exception of soccer, aquatics and country western dance,” reads the text. “The Human Rights Conference and cultural programs will continue as planned. We thank everyone who has supported the effort and apologize to those who will be impacted by this difficult decision.” And with that, the high hopes for the 10-day event were dashed as athletes from around the world streamed into Miami, ready to compete only to learn the games were canceled. Some arrived before the announcement, and others found out mid-air.

“This just displays bad management that has a serious financial impact on many people,” said Peter Clancy, a businessman from Belgium who was two hours away from Miami when he learned the news online. He was going to compete in track and field, and his partner was due to run in the half-marathon. “Last minute notice also shows a complete lack of respect for the participants and especially those of us traveling from other continents,” he said. READ MORE

Hat Tip: Kenneth in the 212

Are Male Movie Stars Too Muscular Now?

Written by E. Alex Jung

The past few years have seen our male stars’ physiques inflate at a level unmatched by anything but college tuition. It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly this started, but my mind jumps to the early 2000s, when Tobey Maguire flashed a blink-and-you-miss-them set of abs in Spider-Man, and Will Smith’s chest looked appropriately puffy in Ali. Later, we watched in awe as Gerard Butler screamed “Sparta!” with abs that inspired Dionysian glee, and Taylor Lautner blew up his body in the manner of a figurative (but sadly, not literal) Stretch Armstrong. But what began as a charming summertime diversion has become a full-blown epidemic in the new decade, as superhero franchises engage in a literal arms race, with actors pushing their bodies beyond their natural proportions.

It’s hard to see this trend slowing down in the immediate future, not with more superhero movies on the assembly line and already talk of another Baywatch sequel [starring Zac Efron pictured above]. Besides, the contemporary rush toward onscreen swollness is only mirroring what’s happening in the real world, where a number of very American preoccupations — the idea that “more is better,” the fetishization of self-reliance, the ascendance of social media — have come together to create a generation of protein-chugging fitness buffs. Hot male bodies proliferate across Twitter in ways their female counterparts can’t, and they act as avatars for all sorts of feelings the internet loves, like pride, humor, political solidarity, and horniness. READ MORE

WATCH: Shirtless Broadway Hunk, Benjamin Walker, Perform "Selling Out"

Actor Benjamin Walker recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Watch him and the cast of the hit Broadway show, "American Psycho: The Musical" perform the show's opening number, "Selling Out". It's a catchy tune and he's a sexy, shirtless hunk. What's not to like?! :) Enjoy!

Watch: Benjamin Walker and the cast of "American Psycho: The Musical" perform, "Selling Out"

Via Youtube Channel: Greenleaf Productions

Small Cities In Conservative America Are Standing Up for LGBTQ Rights

Written by Letitia Stein

When Mike Lujano and George Lenz hoisted a rainbow flag outside their business in a Victorian brownstone on Market Street two decades ago, they found that few neighbors in socially conservative Wheeling, West Virginia, knew it was a symbol of gay pride. The married owners of Edna's hair salon in this faded industrial city of 28,000 at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains never dreamed that one day they would be at a packed city council meeting, cheering the passage of an ordinance barring discrimination over sexual orientation and gender identity. Defying stereotypes in the U.S. culture wars over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, Wheeling is among a recent wave of small cities, many in parts of the country that voted for Republican President Donald Trump, to embrace these protections. "We told people this wasn't a bad place," said Lujano, 53, who was in the audience when the ordinance passed in late December. "Finally, this confirmed it."

About 50 U.S. municipalities in 15 states have added LGBTQ nondiscrimination measures since 2015, when same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide. More than half of those cities and towns are located in counties that backed Trump in November's election, and all are in states he won. Local leaders say accepting diversity is not just the right thing to do, but needed to attract jobs and investment. They concede the measures alone may not land a Fortune 500 employer but argue the protections are necessary for smaller markets to appeal to many corporations with LGBTQ-friendly policies.

While the verdict remains out in Wheeling and other places with recently adopted protections, the cost of opposing LGBTQ advancement has run in the hundreds of millions of dollars in North Carolina. Last year the state lost major entertainment events and planned jobs expansions by PayPal and Deutsche Bank in the protests over a state law restricting bathroom access for transgender people.

In Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence's hometown of Columbus saw an all-Republican city council unanimously pass LGBTQ protections after he signed as governor a religion law in 2015 that was widely decried as discriminatory and prompted some conventions to go elsewhere. "Republicans don't speak with one voice on this issue," said Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop. "In a small town, you really do live with the laws that you create. It makes it all a little bit more real that we see some people - we actually know them - who might be affected."

Across the United States, 19 states have LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections that typically guard against being fired from jobs, kicked out of housing or denied services in places like restaurants or hotels. Reuters found that about four out of five cities with populations greater than 250,000 are covered with at least some protections. READ MORE

LGBT People Are More Likely To Be Incarcerated

Written by Carolyn Crist

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are disproportionately incarcerated, mistreated and sexually victimized in U.S. jails and prisons, researchers say. Lead study author Ilan Meyer, the Williams Distinguished Senior Scholar for Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and his colleagues drew data from the 2011-2012 National Inmate Survey, which interviewed a representative sample of people in U.S. prisons and jails. Their analysis found that rates of incarceration for lesbian, gay and bisexual people were 1,882 per 100,000. That is more than three times the “already high” incarceration rate of 612 per 100,000 U.S. population, the authors write in the American Journal of Public Health. “Importantly, the data distinguishes between sexual orientation, sexual identity and sexual behavior,” Meyer said. “Not everyone who has had a same-sex experience identifies as gay, and we were able to look at several measures.” In total, sexual minorities - LGBT individuals or those who reported a same-sex sexual experience before arrival at the facility - represented 9.3 percent of all men in prison, 6.2 percent of men in jail, 42.1 percent of women in prison and 35.7 percent of women in jail. Sexual minorities were also more likely to experience solitary confinement and to report psychological distress. The data showed as well that sexual minorities were more likely than heterosexual prisoners to report sexual victimization as a child and to be incarcerated for violent sexual and nonsexual crimes rather than crimes related to property, drugs or parole violations. “This raises a lot of questions and a call-to-action for policy changes in both jails and prisons,” Meyer said. “In a similar way we’re discussing race and incarceration, the experience seems to be different across the whole criminal justice process for minorities.” In both prisons and jails, gay or bisexual men were also more likely than straight men to have sentences longer than 10 years in prison. “The burning question is: How did such a high proportion of LGB men and women end up incarcerated?” Meyer said. “Where is the root of this?” The study authors speculate that prejudice toward sexual minorities may lead to discriminatory treatment, from initial contact with law enforcement, such as overpolicing of sexual offenses. Also, family rejection, illegal drug use and community-level marginalization may increase the risk of incarceration. “We need to understand whether there are biases ingrained in our court system that lead to sexual minorities being handled in a different way,” Meyer said. “With race, this is nothing new, and now we’re seeing it’s also true for the sexual minority population.” READ MORE

Businessman Starts Scholarship Fund for Gay Students to Honor Pulse Nightclub Victims

An Orlando businessman is raising money for scholarships for gay students in order to honor the 49 patrons killed during the Pulse nightclub massacre. Barry Miller said the fund would award 10 scholarships each year, each worth $4,900. Students would have to self-identify as "out," attend an institution of higher learning fulltime and have a 3.0 GPA. Pulse survivors or family members of victims who died will be given special consideration. Miller is working with the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and the Central Florida Foundation on The 49 Fund. Gunman Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack at the gay nightclub in Orlando June 12, 2016. The deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history left 49 people dead and dozens more wounded.

Treasure Chests: Sexy Gallery

Anyone up for a treasure hunt? Here's a collection of muscular chests that many of us would dive head first into!

Serving Pride: The Handbook for Your Queer History Dinner Party

Harvey Milk, Sally Ride, George Takei | Illustration by Allie Kolarik

I really like this new Kickstarter project from Geeks OUT called Serving Pride: The Handbook for Your Queer History Dinner Party. Here's an overview of what this exciting endeavor is about...

Watch Ellen's Too-Hot-for-TV Moments!

Scandalous things can happen on TV, sometimes they can even happen on a daytime show. Watch these too-hot-to-handle moments from Ellen's show! Watch the fun & sexy video below!

TMZ's Harvey Levin In Bed With Donald Trump

   Donald Trump (L) and Harvey Levin (R) 

Harvey Levin, founder of the popular gossip site TMZ, recently visited Donald Trump at The White House and some of Levin's staff are NOT happy about it. "A number of TMZ staffers are reportedly frustrated with the openly gay Levin’s ties to the new Republican administration," reports Greg Hernandez. The revelation about the relationship between these two high profile men explains the recent favorable coverage by TMZ of Donald Trump and family. Hernandez adds that "Levin’s roughly one-hour Oval Office visit was not noted on Trump’s public schedule and came a day after the president’s first address to a joint session of the US Congress. Trump’s chuminess with Levin comes at a time that he has declared war against most mainstream news organizations including CNN, The New York Times and the Washington Post." Looks like Harvey Levin, an openly gay Jewish man, is a full-fledged quisling now. Shame on him.

Flashback Friday: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (VIDEO)

Today's Flashback Friday video features the handsome and sexy Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. In this behind the scenes video for the cover shoot of Details from March 2014, the actor talks about Season 4 of Game of Thrones, his childhood crush on Agnetha Fältskog from ABBA, his obsession with chocolate, and how co-star Gwendoline Christie would win in an arm wrestling match against him!
Watch the video below!

Legendary Bodies: John Pruitt

Physique model John Pruitt was one of the most iconic adult film stars, ever. Leather Archives and Musuem explains that they "...are working hard to digitize all [VHS] 1,000 tapes in the collections". This 22 minute video clip, Legendary Bodies 2: John Pruitt, is an example of their collection. Watch the video below (NSFW) 

Disturbing New Trend: 3 LGBT Community Centers Have Been Recently Vandalized!

At least three LGBT community centers have been vandalized in recent attacks that could be part of a national trend of rising hate seen since the election of Donald Trump as US president.

 Washington Blade reports:

In the last few weeks, vandals smashed a window at the office of Equality Florida in Orlando, the city where last year a shooter took the lives of 49 people and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub, and windows were smashed at the headquarters in Asbury Park of the New Jersey LGBT Garden State Equality. In Tulsa, Okla., 13 shots were fired from a pellet gun at the Equality Center on Monday just hours before a man came into the lobby yelling profanities and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric at front-desk staff. The trend of attacks on LGBT centers echoes anti-Semitic attacks since the inauguration of President Trump, who ran a campaign rooted in animosity toward minority groups, such as Muslims and immigrants. READ MORE

Trump also won with the support of white nationalists like David Duke, who as former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan has advocated anti-Semitic and racist ideology.

Will You Be Going to the 'Gaaays in Spaaace' Event in New York City on March 21, 2017?

Please share this post on your social media (Facebook, Twitter etc). Thank-you!

Anyone going to the Gaaays in Spaaace event in New York City on March 21, 2017?

The Gay Comic Geek will be there! In the video below he shares all the details: "It is an event celebrating sexual diversity in Sci-Fi genre at Hardware Bar. More specifically, this is about diversity in the Star Trek Universe. The event in NYC will be hosted by Paige Turner and will have guests Nana Visitor aka Commander Kyra from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Since I will be there, I’d want to meet anyone in the area if you attend. There will be a costume contest and lots of other fun."

You can purchase tickets HERE.

WATCH VIDEO: Will You Be Going to the 'Gaaays in Spaaace' Event in New York City on March 21, 2017?