Best Bets • 12-10-21

An extreme Christian sect is being probed for spreading gay hate and anti-vaxx propaganda among its followers.

Heather Dubrow, 53, is sharing more intimate details about her family’s story, and this time, it involves her other daughter: 15-year-old Kat. One year after her eldest daughter, Max, 18, came out as bisexual, her younger daughter Kat is also sharing some news: she’s a lesbian.

In the midst of Black History Month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday delayed a vote on whether to reappoint a Black lesbian to her seat on the city's juvenile probation commission. The decision was shadowed by her role in the campaign to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Joe Biden is defending LGBTQ students by slamming the "Don't Say Gay" bill proposed by Florida Republicans.The legislation, coined as the "Don't Say Gay" bill by naysayers, seeks to ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. The Republican-led Senate Education Committee gave initial approval of the controversial proposal in a 6-3 vote Tuesday despite condemnation from activist groups.Biden took to Twitter promising LGBTQ students he would stand up for them."I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are.

“Yeah. Almost every night for the last two weeks.”One of her eyebrows went up. The movement looked rehearsed, like a trick she’d learned in medical school meant to convey the proper level of concern.

press release described her as “a leading authority in international development policy with over 30 years of experience in the multi-disciplinary field that includes finance, technology, and the environment.”Wong has said she was inspired by the late Congressman John Lewis, a longtime civil rights leader. Lewis, she wrote in a Facebook post last year, “taught me about making good trouble but necessary trouble.” She accompanied Lewis on his annual visits to Selma, Ala., where he was beaten by police during a 1965 voting rights demonstration, and videotaped his appearances.Wong is founder of the Conference on APA Leadership, which encourages young Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to pursue careers in public service. The LGBTQ Victory Institute, which advocated for Wong’s nomination and confirmation, issued a laudatory statement Tuesday.

The Advocate. “I’ve always been a big kid growing up, and I was always happy.”It wasn’t until others started pointing out his “imperfections” that the actor, beloved for his role as Guillermo de la Cruz in the hit FX series What We Do In The Shadows, even began to question if he was beautiful.

star Heather Dubrow is opening up about her family's journey when it comes to her children freely expressing their sexual identities with their parents' support. In a new interview with, the 53-year-old reality star shares that her 15-year-old daughter, Kat, has come out as a lesbian.

Heather Dubrow’s daughter Kat is coming out to the world.

Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill into law late last month that repeals the statute that criminalizes sexual penetration while infected with a venereal disease or HIV under certain circumstances.

Kleefeld Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach, which has undergone an ambitious renovation and expansion, will open next month with exhibits by two important and influential abstract artists: Linda Besemer, who identifies as queer, and Mark Bradford, who identifies as gay.

After months of working behind the scenes with UltraViolet & GLAAD, TikTok unveils updated user policy to impede harassment, disinformation, misogyny, Anti-LGBTQ+ Hatred, Misgendering, disordered eating content, etc.In an announcement today, the video-focused social media platform TikTok released an updated user policy now expressly featuring limitations on ‘misogyny’ and anti-discrimination protections for transgender people, including a prohibition on misgendering and deadnaming. TikTok also announced they will start to remove the promotion of disordered eating content, conversion therapy programs, etc.TikTok implemented the changes after campaigns by UltraViolet, GLAAD, and other groups urged the platform to start taking more responsibility for algorithmic issues and protecting users.“TikTok has become a little safer for women, girls, LGBQ, and trans people today,” said Bridget Todd, Communications Director at UltraViolet, a national gender justice advocacy group.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway in Beijing. Between now and February 20, we’ll spotlight some of the inspiring LGBTQ athletes vying for gold.French ice dancing duo Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but a wardrobe malfunction kept them from reaching the top of the podium when the clasp holding Papadakis’s dress together came undone.Still, the partners managed an impressive silver medal, and now they’re back to compete in Beijing in what we assume will be fully-sealed costumes.Cizeron is a seven-time French National Champion and four-time World Champion who made history by winning the European Championships five times in a row.Born in France, Cizeron relocated to Canada in 2014 at age 20 to continue his skating training, though still competed under the French flag in skating events.In 2020, he came out on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia by sharing a photo with his boyfriend on Instagram.“I wanted to share this publicly because it was world day against homophobia and transphobia,” he told Têtu.

updating its community guidelines to make the video-sharing app a safer place for its queer people and women by banning misgendering, deadnaming, and misogyny, as well as conversion therapy from its platform, which has more than 1 billion monthly users.This move follows months of work and advocacy by UltraViolet, a U.S.-based gender justice advocacy group, along with LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD.According to Cormac Keenan, TikTok’s head of trust and safety, these changes to the community guidelines were put in place to “further support the well-being of [the] community and the integrity of [the] platform.”While TikTok says that such content was prohibited on the app, Keenan notes that the company has “heard from creators and civil society organizations that it’s important to be explicit in our Community Guidelines.”Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, told the New York Daily News that she hopes this move by TikTok will inspire other social media apps to make similar changes. “[It] sends a message that other platforms which claim to prioritize LGBTQ safety should follow suit with substantive actions like these,” she said.Making social media apps like TikTok safer spaces for LGBTQ+ people should be a priority as it’s “a public health and safety issue,” explained Ellis, because, as GLAAD’s 2021 Social Media Safety report shows, queer people are “in the crossfire, and [are] experiencing real-world harm.”Changing the guidelines is a step in the right direction.

published earlier this week in the journal, Science.Though the newly identified “VB variant” is easier to transmit and does indeed attack the immune system at a faster rate than other strains, researchers believe that the variant has actually been around since the 1990 but primariliy localized to the Netherlands region. In addition, despite the strain’s aggressive nature, it is still easily controlled by current HIV medications.The strain was discovered while researchers were looking at data and blood samples from people living with HIV in Europe and Uganda who are participating in a study called the BEEHIVE project.

Penrith Christian School has listed transgender identity and same-sex attraction alongside “abusive relationships” as behaviours “not acceptable to God” in a statement attached to its enrolment application. Trigger Warning: This story has details of homophobic and transphobic statements, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.The Sydney private school’s principal, Tracey Deal, has defended the homophobic and transphobic Statement of Faith, which states that “Adultery, same-sex attraction, transgender identity, premarital sex, sexual acts between members of the same sex and abusive relationships, are all examples of relationships and behaviours which are not acceptable to God.According to the Guardian, in a letter to parents, Deal called the controversy a misunderstanding and said the media has “misinterpreted a small part of the Statement of Faith and inferred mistreatment of students.”Other parts of the Statement of Faith discuss “divine healing for the body” and “everlasting punishment of the wicked (in the sense of eternal torment).”Back in 2013, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Penrith Christian School was forced to review its Statement of Faith after it came to light that it called homosexuality an “abomination unto God, a perversion of the natural order and not to be entered into.” The school had responded then that the “policy was now under review, according to Christian Schools Australia, which says the wording has been ‘misunderstood’ and that gay and lesbian students are treated with care”.Good to see Penrith Christian School now re-thinking their

LONDON: Bitcoin donations have soared to Ukrainian volunteer and hacking groups, some of which have supplied equipment to government forces, according to a report showing such groups received more than US$550,000 worth of cryptocurrency in 2021.

Gay dating app Grindr had made it safer for Olympic athletes to cruise for hookups during the 2022 Games in Beijing.

Revry, the first global LGBTQ+ network, celebrates 10 Days of Valentine’s Brought To You By McDonald’s, a carefully curated selection of love stories from around the world and across the spectrum.These love stories center a diversity of themes and identities from the Asian American, Muslim, African American, Trans, and other LGBTQ+ communities, and feature stars like Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Najimy, Morgan Fairchild, Nicole Sullivan, Leslie Jordan, Caroline Rhea, and more.Revry is led by a diverse group of founders, and their entire library with over 5,000 curated LGBTQ+ titles including LGBTQ-focused series, news, and exclusive programming is available on free live TV.You can access Revry’s extensive library on connected TV, Smart TV, OTT, and mobile platforms like Samsung, Vizio, Roku, Apple, and more.Keep scrolling to see the complete lineup for 10 Days of Valentine’s Brought To You By McDonald’s exclusively on Revry. Eat with Me (Tuesday, February 8, at 6:00 p.m. PST)Emma and her estranged gay son face adversity together and use their love of food to connect where words fail. Naz & Malik (Tuesday, February 8, at 6:00 p.m.

Modonna’s singular success spans five decades and includes 50 number-one hit singles, eleven concert tours and more awards than any one mantle could ever hope to accommodate. There’s a reason she’s the queen.But even queens are human, and Madonna‘s startling fall while performing at the BRIT Awards in 2015 has been named the most embarrassing moment in the show’s history.In a survey commissioned by Betfair Casino, fans determined her tumble was the most awkward moment to ever happen at the show.In Madonna’s defense (not that she needs it), the terrifying plunge was the result of a wardrobe malfunction.

Newsweek, "Every parent hopes that our leaders will ensure their children's safety, protection, and freedom. Today, conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most—LGBTQI+ students, who are already vulnerable to bullying and violence just for being themselves."The administration added that it was not an isolated action, but a move seen across the country by Republican leaders who are trying "to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be."Two bills moving through the state legislature, HB 1557 and SB 1834, are seeking to prohibit schools from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not "age-appropriate.""This is politics at its worse, cynically treating our students as pawns in a game and not people who deserve love and respect," the White House said.

embattled podcaster Joe Rogan.Amid increasing backlash to his spread of COVID-19 disinformation and use of racist language, Spotify has begun making overtures that Rogan’s days with the streaming giant may be numbered.Publicly, Spotify has stood by Rogan up until this point, with CEO Daniel Ek sending a letter supporting him to employees of the company.Behind-the-scenes, however, things appear to be in chaos.Related: Just when we didn’t think the Joe Rogan thing could get any stupider, Caitlyn Jenner entered the chatThe platform recently announced that it would start adding content advisory labels to podcasts dealing with COVID-19 misinformation. Now, The Independent reports that Spotify has quietly removed over 100 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience.

spoken out against the bills as well, as have several other LGBTQ+ leaders.DeSantis, considered a possible Republican presidential candidate for 2024, was asked about the legislation at a Monday press conference. He didn’t say for certain that he’d sign it into law, but he signaled support.It’s “entirely inappropriate” for teachers to talk to students about gender identity, he said, according to NBC News.

Having served 11 years on the San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Angela Bradstreet has decided to retire. One of three lesbians serving on the lower court, Bradstreet has been a vocal advocate for increasing the number of women and LGBTQ professionals in the legal system.

Sex and the City and its spinoff And Just Like That, has just revealed a mortifying experience he suffered as an up-and-coming stand-up comic.It happened over 30 years ago, when he was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and he found his appearance nixed at the last minute… because he was gay.Related: All the backstage drama that made us wonder, is ‘And Just Like That’ actually cursed?While speaking to the podcast Allison Interviews, the 62-year-old said he booked an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1986. After initially being welcomed by talent coordinators, he found his fortunes reversed in an instant.“When [the talent scout] saw me, he said, ‘Oh my God, you’re amazing! We are going to shape six minutes for you.’ Then he looked at the video again, because he filmed it that night, and he said, ‘You know what? Your comedy has a gay edge to it and I think it’s going to make Johnny nervous, so I’m going to cancel you,’” Cantone recalled.Honestly, we’re not surprised.

Dallas Police Department presents Inspire Autonomy, a transgender self-defense class. All are welcome.

“You can’t stay in the closet when the floor gives way.”

Sorry, this video isn't available any more.A gay couple today told Good Morning Britain of their upset after being refused a three-bed property in Surrey due to their sexuality.Lachlan Mantell and Luke Whitehouse were sent a message from the owners of a house they were interested in which said they were ‘unwilling’ to let them view or buy it.Joining Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on the ITV programme, the couple shared the shocking response they received from the homeowners after they had disclosed their relationship.‘Dear Lachlan and Luke, thank you for sharing your circumstances with us,’ the message read.‘We’re sorry if we seem intrusive, but we just want to make clear that we would be unwilling for two men in a partnership to view or buy our house. As it is contrary to the gracious teaching in God’s Word, the Holy Bible, e.g.

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation runs one of the largest community-based HIV service programs in the country, but last month, it began canceling some services and rationing testing for sexually-transmitted infections due to supply shortages at its Strut health center in the Castro.

Grindr has changed the privacy settings for people using the app in the Olympic Village in Beijing. Users in the Village can still find one another, but their profiles are not visible to people outside the Village.Bloomberg reports that the change “is designed to protect the world’s top athletes from persecution or harassment.”“We want Grindr to be a space where all queer athletes, regardless of where they’re from, feel confident connecting with one another while they’re in the Olympic Village,” said Grindr for Equality head Jack Harrison-Quintan.The shift keeps nosy outsiders from using the app’s “Explore” feature to see who’s online in the Village.

Valentine’s Day is soon to be upon us and for those of you crying out for cool gift ideas, fear not! GCN has got you covered. 1. Quirky cards from WeirdWaterColours   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Cards + Gifts + Puns (@weird_watercolours) Let’s start with the basics – support […]

Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law in order to have the charges against them dismissed last week. A judge rejected their claims.“There’s nothing in that video — and I watched it over and over again — that showed me that any of these defendants was in fear for their safety or their lives,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan said at the conclusion of a three-day hearing last week, according to local TV station WSVN.“I cannot find that any one of these defenses can be used for prosecution, so the motion to dismiss is denied,” Orshan said.The four men are accused of attacking Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov during Miami Pride in 2018.The two were holding hands as they left a restroom when they were attacked.

The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has interviewed nearly 500 witnesses so far and the AP just reported on some of the latest findings, including what Ivanka Trump allegedly said about Mike Pence hours before the insurrection.According to congressional testimony, after Pence refused to follow Donald Trump‘s orders to reject Electoral College votes on the morning of January 6, 2021, the former first daughter turned to retired Lt.

Allison Kugel on her podcast “Allison Interviews.”“I was booked on [‘The Tonight Show’ with] Johnny Carson in October of 1986 by the show’s talent coordinator,” the “Sex and the City” star began. “When he saw me, he said, ‘Oh my God, you’re amazing! We are going to shape six minutes for you.’ Then he looked at the video again, because he filmed it that night, and he said, ‘You know what? Your comedy has a gay edge to it and I think it’s going to make Johnny nervous, so I’m going to cancel you,’ ” Cantone continued. Elsewhere in the interview, the Massachusetts native also discussed the loss of his onscreen husband and pal, Willie Garson.

Leslie Jordan announced the nominations with the help of “movie fans” in several cities around the US. Some major snubs and surprises kept the announcement interesting, and will no doubt make for some interesting campaigns ahead of the March 27 ceremony.Related: Oscar predictions: Queerty’s top picks for the 2022 Academy Awards nominationsMost notably, the Academy snubbed director Denis Villeneuve for a Best Director nomination, despite Dune landing 10 nominations.Lady Gaga also missed a spot in the Best Actress category for her no-holds-barred performance in House of Gucci, as did previous winner Jennifer Hudson, for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in Respect.

Princess Diana in Spencer. Her snub by the SAG awards and the BAFTAS put that in question this year.Fellow out actor Ariana DeBose scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in West Side Story.

Euphoria’s second season’s fifth episode saw chaos ensue as Rue (Zendaya) went through her most turbulent time yet.

As concerns rise and hearings are held in the US about the cryptocurrency industry’s effect on the environment, it’s time to address blockchain’s poor sustainability record. The first port of call should be changing how transactions on the blockchain operate – a move which could cut its energy usage by 99.99%.

Last week, Moderna made a groundbreaking announcement: Human trials for the experimental HIV vaccine are officially underway. Together with the nonprofit scientific research organization International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Moderna has developed a vaccine that is designed to send HIV antigens to a recipient’s body in the hopes that it induces an immune response.

The course of history is rarely a ‘straight’ forward timeline and this is especially true of the fight for Irish LGBTQ+ rights. Inherently the struggle of lesbians, Trans people and other sexual minorities have become intrinsically enmeshed within the push for gay rights. Whilst fighting for the rights of individual minorities, in so many ways, […]

A post shared by follows you (@someone_who_likes_rpdrs6)RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK Versus the World premiered on Tuesday night, Feb. 1, and we’re still gagging over the insanity that was episode one. In fact, few episodes in Drag Race herstory have inspired as many memes, reactions, and hot takes as this one.

This combination of photos shows promotional art for the films nominated for an Oscar for best picture, top row from left, Belfast,CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, bottom row from left, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, and West Side Story. (Focus Features/Apple TV+, Netflix, Janus Films & Sideshow, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Searchlight Pictures, Netflix, 20th Century Films via AP)

Forbidden Colours and its Polish partner organisation GrowSPACE released a detailed report on February 3rd exploring the impact of the Polish LGBTQ+ School Ranking Study. During a webinar to launch the findings in the report, a panel of European policy-makers discussed how the tool can be used to generate an expanded research study to identify […]

After its two-year forced hiatus due to the pandemic, the Saint Patrick’s Day Festival 2022 returns with an ambitious, bigger and better-than-ever live parade and this year they’ll be featuring Dublin Pride for the first time ever. Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride told GCN, “After two years without a parade, we couldn’t wait till June to come […]

A new survey has revealed the stark reality LGBTQ+ sexual assault victims face when it comes to seeking help after their ordeal.

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz took to the House floor Monday to speak about the importance of holding sex offenders accountable for their crimes. Let that sink in for a second.Gaetz, of course, is currently at the center of an investigation into child sex trafficking, bribery and obstruction of justice.But that didn’t stop him from being one of the few Republicans to support a bill that would end mandatory arbitration for workplace sexual harassment cases.“Here is the question presented: Should sexual harassers who work for big businesses get to pick their juries in advance?” Gaetz said.

last year’s record heights, the highlights include four Black actors being recognized along with LGBTQ and deaf actors, as well as female and Asian filmmakers in the Best Director race. In the Best Actor race, Will Smith is considered a major contender to become only the fifth Black actor to win the award for his performance as Serena and Venus Williams’ father Richard in the inspirational sports film “King Richard.” If he wins, he would join a list that includes the late Sidney Poitier, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Denzel Washington, the latter of whom also earned his ninth acting Oscar nomination this year for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” The Best Supporting Actress race also sees Smith’s “King Richard” co-star Aunjanue Ellis among the list of contenders, along with Afrolatina star Ariana DeBose for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” DeBose is also an LGBTQ actress, making it the first time ever that more than one openly queer actor has been nominated in a single year as Kristen Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in “Spencer.” To date, only nine Black women have won acting Oscars, with the first being Hattie McDaniel in 1939 for “Gone With The Wind” and Regina King the most recent in 2018 for “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Eight of those winners were for supporting roles, with Halle Berry being the only Black woman to win for a leading role with “Monster’s Ball” in 2001.

press release on Monday.Thiel, who co-founded PayPal, served on the board of directors for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, since 2005.“Peter has been a valuable member of our board and I’m deeply grateful for everything he’s done for our company,” Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, said in the release. “Peter is truly an original thinker who you can bring your hardest problems and get unique suggestions.”“It has been a privilege to work with one of the great entrepreneurs of our time.