• 0 Comments 0 Shares 62 Views 0 Reviews
  • NikeQuestionStill V3 1200 Preview MaxWidth 3000 MaxHeight 3000 Ppi 72 EmbedColorProfile True Quality 95
    WWW.PROPUBLICA.ORG
    How Trumps Tariffs Could Affect Nike and Its Workers
    by Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive This article was produced in partnership with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. In May 2015, President Barack Obama gave a big speech about dropping trade barriers with other nations. He delivered it on a sunny day at Nikes world headquarters in Oregon. Sometimes when we talk about trade, we think of Nike, Obama said, before making his pitch for a trade deal with Asian countries that he described as the highest-standard, most progressive trade deal in history.President Donald Trump canceled that deal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, less than two years later.Now, as Trump erects more trade barriers in his second administration, Nike once again is center stage in conversations about globalization, a familiar place for a company that has its roots importing Japanese track shoes and briefly made sneakers in the United States. Last month, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that would slam imports from the countries where most Nike sneakers and apparel get made. A close look at Nikes massive supply chain offers a case study in the possible ripple effects of the escalating global trade war and shows how vulnerable factory workers could get squeezed. Some degree of taxation on imports has long been a feature of international garment trade, and Nike has decades of experience navigating these tariffs. The company has not spoken about how it will handle the current round under Trump, but its among 76 companies that signed a letter to the president last week warning about dire consequences for footwear companies unless there is tariff relief. In response to questions about how tariffs might impact factory workers, Nike said in a statement it is committed to ethical and responsible manufacturing.We build long-term relationships with our contract manufacturing suppliers because we know having trust and mutual respect supports our ability to create product more responsibly, accelerate innovation and better serve consumers, the statement said. Where does Nike make sneakers and clothing? Nike doesnt own or operate the overseas factories that make its products. Instead, it works with 532 contract manufacturers that employ nearly 1.2 million workers, according to an online Nike map. No country is more important to Nikes manufacturing than Vietnam, where the brand works with 131 factories that employ nearly 460,000 workers. Half of Nikes sneakers were made in Vietnam last year, according to the companys annual report. Nikes second-largest production base is Indonesia, where its 45 contract factories employ more than 280,000 workers. The company has been moving production out of China over the last decade. It works with 120 Chinese contract factories that employ more than 100,000 workers down from more than 350,000 workers in 2012. Some of the footwear and apparel that Nike makes in China is sold to Chinese consumers and therefore not subject to tariffs. Are tariffs affecting Nike? Yes. On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs that included 46% on Vietnam, 32% on Indonesia and 34% on China. The next trading day, Nikes shares fell 14%, wiping out $14 billion in shareholder value. A week later, the president paused most of the tariffs for 90 days, but a 145% tariff on imports from China and a 10% surcharge on most imports from other countries remain in place. Tom Nikic, a veteran industry analyst at Needham & Co., calculated that the tariffs, if fully implemented, would nearly wipe out Nikes profits if the company made no changes to its current pricing or production. By my math, their earnings would decline by approximately 95%, he said in an email. Will Nike squeeze factories for better deals? Almost certainly, said Jason Judd, executive director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University. The default for a brand or retailer faced with a tariff or some other shock is to press suppliers for discounts. The COVID shock is a good example, Judd added. We know from talking to suppliers that the COVID shock meant canceled orders and renegotiations over price. The Worker Rights Consortium, a labor monitoring group, estimated brands canceled $40 billion in orders during the pandemic. When Trump announced tariffs during his first administration, Nikes top executives said theyd find savings in their supply chain. We have a lot of levers we can work with, from sourcing to other levers, Andy Campion, then Nikes chief financial officer, said in 2019. How will tariffs affect Nikes factory workers? Factory workers will likely feel the impact directly. Dara ORourke, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, whos studied wages in Nike factories, said the tariffs could become a huge hammer.It is likely that you will see this kind of pressure from managers to say to workers, For a period of time, were going to have to work harder and longer, he said. Hold the line or youre going to lose your job. That could mean workers are asked to make more sneakers and T-shirts every shift and work longer hours, according to Thulsi Narayanasamy, director of international advocacy for the Worker Rights Consortium. It is likely that you will see this kind of pressure from managers to say to workers, For a period of time, were going to have to work harder and longer. Dara ORourke, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley When suppliers are squeezed and workers have unreasonable production targets, they dont drink water, dont take food breaks, she said in an email. She added that in these circumstances, the organization consistently hears about women having urinary tract infections, struggling with repetitive strain injuries, kidney stones, and having back problems due to rapid, repetitive movements for more than 12 hours a day. Narayanasamy said brands like Nike have a choice: Push costs that they could reasonably absorb onto their suppliers, replete with the knowledge that doing so will immediately harm millions of factory workers, or not.In its statement, Nike said it sets clear labor expectations for supplier factories in its Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards. Foreign garment workers could also face furloughs or work without pay, said Cornells Judd. That happened across the industry during the pandemic. In 2021, the Worker Rights Consortium identified 31 garment factories three of which did work for Nike that the consortium said didnt pay $39.8 million in severance benefits owed to 37,637 workers who lost jobs during the pandemic. Nike previously has disputed that it owed wages to workers at the three factories named in the labor groups report. In its statement, Nike also said factories are responsible for severance benefits.Manufacturing suppliers hold the financial obligation to pay worker severance, social security and other separation benefits to impacted employees in accordance with local law and Nikes Code of Conduct, the company said. And in the event of any closure or divest, Nike works closely with the supplier to conduct a responsible exit. Will tariffs force Nike to move manufacturing back to the U.S.? To think this will bring jobs back to the U.S. is poorly thought out, would be the nicest thing I could say, said Berkeleys ORourke. Footwear and apparel manufacturing remains labor-intensive. Sneakers require gluing and stitching. T-shirts require sewing. Efforts to automate shoe production have mostly flopped. Thats part of the reason Nike makes most of its products in countries with low wages. ProPublica reported this month on a former Nike factory in Cambodia where most employees made the minimum wage about $1 per hour. Ngin Nearadei, center, worked for three years in a Cambodian garment factory that produced baby clothes for Nike and other brands. She told ProPublica she couldnt have afforded to buy the clothes she helped make. (Sarahbeth Maney/ProPublica) Nike also uses huge factories that are filled with equipment thats difficult to transfer to a new location. Theyre often located near materials companies that make the rubbers, nylons and polyesters needed to make sneakers. The full production system is not easily movable, ORourke said. Instead of moving the work back to the U.S., industry watchers expect apparel companies will continue to manufacture products in countries with low wages, but manufacturing will shift to those subject to less onerous tariffs.That could further harm workers in Vietnam, Indonesia, China and other countries with relatively high proposed tariff rates and a lot of Nike manufacturing jobs. In Indonesia, for example, one labor union expects as many as 50,000 workers could lose their jobs if the full Trump tariffs go into effect. As the number of people looking for work increases, wages in those countries will decrease. The line at the gate to find work gets longer, Judd said. And that means employers of any kind can start paying new workers less because unemployment has jumped. What could tariffs mean for Nikes prices? Estimates vary and depend on how much of the cost Nike passes to consumers.If the 46% tariff on Vietnam goes into effect, the price of a $155 sneaker made in Vietnam would increase to $220, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a trade group that counts Nike as a member.The example, which isnt specific to Nike, assumes the importing company passes nearly all of the tariff cost to customers. No athletic footwear brand has given specifics, although Adidas CEO Bjrn Gulden last week said higher tariffs will eventually cause price increases.But Nikes been in a slump and has been discounting many of its sneakers to boost sales.Its possible that Nike will absorb more of the tariff cost to avoid raising prices too steeply. It will likely be hard for Nike to raise prices, the investment bank UBS recently wrote in a research note.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 80 Views 0 Reviews
  • 20250505doge Cfpb Folo
    WWW.PROPUBLICA.ORG
    DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest
    by Jake Pearson ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Last month, a Department of Government Efficiency aide at the nations consumer watchdog agency was told by ethics attorneys that he held stock in companies that employees are forbidden from owning and was advised not to participate in any actions that could benefit him personally, according to a person familiar with the warning.But days later, court records show, Gavin Kliger, a 25-year-old software engineer who has been detailed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since early March, went ahead and participated in mass layoffs at the agency anyway, including the firings of the ethics lawyers who had warned him. Experts said that Kligers actions, which ProPublica first reported on last week, constitute a conflict of interest that could violate federal criminal ethics laws. Such measures are designed to ensure that federal employees serve the public interest and dont use their government power to enrich themselves. At the CFPB, which regulates companies that provide financial services, there are strict prohibitions on the investments that employees can maintain.As ProPublica previously reported, Kliger owns as much as $365,000 worth of shares in Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and two cryptocurrencies, according to his public financial report. Investments in those businesses are off limits to employees since the bureau can regulate them. A further review now shows that hes invested in even more companies that are on the agencys Prohibited Holdings list. Kliger also disclosed owning as much as $350,000 worth of stock in Google parent Alphabet Inc., Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.That means, at a maximum, Kliger could own as much as $715,000 of investments in seven barred companies, the records show.Experts said a defanged and downsized consumer watchdog is unlikely to aggressively regulate those and other companies, freeing them of compliance costs and the risk associated with examinations and enforcement actions. That in turn could boost their stock prices and benefit investors like Kliger. Don Fox, a former general counsel of the independent federal agency that advises executive branch workers on their ethical obligations, said that this looks like a pretty clear-cut violation of the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute. Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, said the fact that Kliger was warned not to take any actions that could benefit him personally showed that hes on notice that this is a problem, as opposed to doing this by accident, or unintentionally.But Briffault said there would likely be no recourse for Kligers actions given that the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has greatly deprioritized public integrity, ethics and public corruption as issues for them. The New York Times reported last week that the section handling such cases is down to just a handful of lawyers.From the outset, the Trump administration has been dogged by ethics controversies, from the presidents own foray into the cryptocurrency industry to Elon Musks dual roles as both the head of DOGE and a major federal contractor. Kligers case is a nice illustration of how even on this micro level, they are violating the law, acting in ways that positively should cause people to not trust what theyre doing because there is no question that these corporations will benefit, said Kathleen Clark, an expert on government ethics at Washington University in St. Louis.Kliger hasnt returned a phone call or email seeking comment. The CFPB didnt respond to a request for comment.The White House didnt answer questions about the warning, whether Kliger had sought ethics waivers or if he was in the process of divesting. Instead, a spokesperson provided ProPublica the same statement it previously had, writing that Kliger did not even manage the layoffs, making this entire narrative an outright lie. A spokesperson said that Kliger had until May 8 to divest.The April 10 ethics warning came amid a heated legal battle over the future of the CFPB. The following day, an appeals court in Washington, D.C., allowed the agencys acting director, Russell Vought, to implement mass firings after a lower court judge had stayed them. The court instructed Vought to conduct a particularized assessment of the bureau and to lay off only those employees who were deemed to be unnecessary to perform the agencys statutorily required duties. In court filings, the government has said that review was done by the bureaus chief legal officer, Mark Paoletta, and two other attorneys. In court papers, Paoletta has said the cuts are designed to achieve a streamlined and right-sized Bureau. On April 13, Kliger was among a small team of DOGE and agency officials who received an email from Vought about the coming layoffs with the subject line CFPB RIF Work government parlance for reduction in force, according to emails produced in court records. Voughts email is redacted in the filing, but hours after he sent it, records show the bureaus chief information officer wrote to Kliger and another DOGE aide regarding a follow-up on Russs note below and advised Kliger that hed been granted access to agency computer systems that should allow you to do what you need to do, according to the email.Layoff notices to more than 1,400 bureau employees went out on April 17.In the preceding 36 hours, Gavin was screaming at people he did not believe were working fast enough to get the notices out and calling them incompetent, a federal employee on the layoff team using the pseudonym Alex Doe wrote in sworn declaration filed by lawyers for unionized employees trying to stop the administration from dismantling the bureau. Among those laid off were the agencys ethics officer and their entire team of lawyers, according to court records. Those are the very employees whod twice notified Kliger that he was required to identify any investments in companies on the bureaus Prohibited Holdings list. The warning last month explicitly instructed him not to participate in any bureau activity that could benefit the businesses whose stocks he owned, said the person familiar with the notice, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity.Last week, the appeals court reversed course and temporarily stopped the firings at the CFPB amid a flurry of legal challenges. Agency officials then notified the more than 1,400 fired employees whod been told they were being let go that the pink slips were being rescinded. The court battle over the CFPBs future is ongoing, though, with oral arguments before appellate judges in Washington, D.C., scheduled for later this month.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 84 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 93 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 93 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 96 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 85 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 62 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 60 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 56 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 59 Views 0 Reviews
  • Week2 AAPI 05072025 01
    GLAAD.ORG
    Three LGBTQ Organizations to Know This AAPI American Heritage Month
    by Quintay Knight May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Montha time to recognize and celebrate the rich cultures, stories, and contributions of AAPI communities. This month, were excited to spotlight three inspiring organizations that are doing incredible work to uplift AAPI voices. Whether through art, advocacy, or community building, these groups are [...]The post Three LGBTQ Organizations to Know This AAPI American Heritage Month first appeared on GLAAD.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 63 Views 0 Reviews
  • Margaret Qualley In Honey Don T
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Lesbian thriller 'Honey Don't' trailer teases a kinky cult mystery
    One of our very favorite films from last year was Drive-Away Dolls, a delightfully raunchy lesbian comedy starring Margaret Qualley, directed by Ethan Cohen and written alongside his wife Tricia Cooke. This year they are looking to capture the magic again in Honey Dont which is the second chapter in the couples planned lesbian B-movie trilogy. Also, returning at the titular Honey ODonahue, is Qualley. This time she stars as a private investigator hot on the trail of a mystery involving a shady church leader played by Chris Evans and a string of strange deaths. Best of all, the film also stars Aubrey Plaza as a police officer and love interest to Honey (bestill our hearts) along with Billy Eichner, Charlie Day, and Gabby Bean.Honey Dont will have its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival followed by a theatrical release on August 22. But keep reading for our full breakdown of the trailer, and why youre just about to be as obsessed with it as we are. 1. Awkward sapphic flirtingAubrey Plazas character tells Honey she appreciates her click-clacking heels Cue the sapphic spiral. 2. Cult shenanigans are afootRight off the bat, Honey discovers some signs of cult activity and it appears this isn't the first time she's run across them and whatever they are up to. 3. Chris Evans camps it upHis church may not be of the mega variety, but he's still serving charismatic prosperity preacher to a level that even the Gemstones would find very righteous. 4. Pastor in the streets, freak in the sheets.I don't think this is what the bible meant by holy trinity, but were still here for it. 5. Freaky activities are also afootKinky cults? Sign us up.6. A crime-fighting sapphic duoHoney and her would-be paramour played by Plaza are set for a team-up. Where will this lead? 7. OhYep, exactly where we hoped.While there will no doubt plenty of twists and turns in Honey Dont this is after all a Cohen and Cooke joint. But what we can see just from this trailer is that it is also full of wit, gruesome yet hilarious violence, and the unique characters they are famous for creating, too. August 22 can't come fast enough. Watch the full trailer below.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 54 Views 0 Reviews
  • Tours Los Angeles Charlotte H Chenault 3
    WWW.APARTMENTTHERAPY.COM
    This Home's Gorgeous Cabinet Color Will Make You Rethink White Kitchens Forever
    "I took a sort of fearless approach to color some rooms are drenched, like my living room, and some rooms are totally color-clashing like my office," Charlotte writes of her home's style, which is best described as "coastal Connecticut meets Austin Powers meets Topanga Canyon." READ MORE...
    0 Comments 0 Shares 59 Views 0 Reviews
  • Lee Pace
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Lee Pace will have you drooling over his new hot shirtless pic that will rock your foundation
    Attention everyone: A new shirtless Lee Pace photo just dropped!Buried among the first-look images Apple TV+ just dropped of the third season of the Isaac Asimov adaptation Foundation is a pic of Pace wearing nothing but a swath of fabric slung low on his hips.The photo of the 46-year-old out actor leaves very little to the imagination, and were not mad about it.In the first two seasons of the highly underrated sci-fi series, Pace has short hair, but in this new photo, he has long flowing locks and a thick beard, but lets be so for real, were all really focused on whats happening below the neck.This isnt the first time Pace has gagged his fans with hot shirtless pics. After wrapping filming on season 2 of the show, in which he plays various roles as a cloned Emperor named Cleon, he posted a shirtless video of himself working with a stunt coordinator, and the internet went wild for it.In the new season, it looks like Paces character has run away from the throne, so if youre only watching Severance and Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, now is the time to binge the first two seasons so that youre ready to see Pace in all of his muscle-bound glory in season 3.What did the other images of the show and trailer tell us about what to expect for the upcoming season? Honestly, we have no idea because we havent been able to stop staring at Paces chest.Watch the full trailer below.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 58 Views 0 Reviews
  • Dubai Home 2
    WWW.APARTMENTTHERAPY.COM
    I Fell Hard for This Colorful Storage Staple with Middle Eastern Roots
    This start-ups colorful home accessories and board games celebrate the founders heritageREAD MORE...
    0 Comments 0 Shares 74 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 93 Views 0 Reviews
  • Qatar Amiri Flight Boeing 747 8kb Intercontinental Business Jet A7hbj Parked At Jfk Airport In New York
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    We save pennies to survive, Trump spends our tax dollars on a $400 million flying monstrosity
    Donald Trump has always wanted to be a king. In fact, he thinks he is one. As proof, hes already remade the Oval Office into a gold-trimmed royal fantasy. He has claimed total authority over the states, among other power-hungry proclamations.Hes also using his presidency to enrich himself through foreign real estate deals, shady crypto schemes, and now a new gilded jet so lavish it makes Air Force One look like coach on Spirit Airlines.At a time when economists are waving red flags about a looming recession, families are preparing for skyrocketing prices, and store shelves may be barren at Christmas thanks to a 145 percent tariff tsunami on China, Trump is having the federal government buy him the most expensive, opulent private aircraft in the world, a plane owned by the bastion of democracy (joke) and grotesque wealth Qatar.Why? Because hes tired of waiting for the official Air Force One upgrades. Because his royal patience ran out. Because ruling-class tantrums must be soothed with gold-plated extravagance.The new jet, a converted Qatar Airways Boeing 747-8i, was once billed as a flying palace for global royalty. It boasts a bedroom suite, lounges, boardrooms, marble-clad bathrooms, and a grand staircase. It's now being retrofitted by U.S. defense contractor L3Harris, under Trumps watchful eye, to become his personal command center. Never mind that taxpayers are footing the bill. Never mind that Americans are bracing for tariffs that could jack up the price of toys, clothes, electronics, and food looking ahead to the holidays. In let them eat cake moments, Trump said in the span of a week that this holiday season kids will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls and They dont need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.But for Trump, he doesnt need one jumbo jet, he needs two.The likelihood of a recession has spiked dramatically. Analysts say the effects will hit wallets hard: tariffs will inflate costs for everything from consumer goods to manufacturing inputs, slashing family budgets and thinning out already fragile supply chains. An executive at Americas largest port told Newsweek shoppers will start to notice the difference by fall. An Apollo economist warned of empty shelves and layoffs soon. And yet, while the rest of us will be choosing between scarce dolls or scant pencils to buy, Trump will be flying overhead in a palace with gold-plated seatbelt buckles.It would be one thing if this jet-switch was necessary. Its not. Trumps just mad. Earlier this year, he grew angry because the new generation of Air Force One, originally commissioned during his first term, has taken too long to complete. In a column I wrote at the time, I documented his fury with the delay of the iconic blue-and-white presidential jet. Now, hes steamrolling the procurement process and stuffing taxpayers with the bill for a plane that was literally designed for an oil-rich monarchy.Trump is using the presidency as a personal gold mine. Just a few months ago, he launched a Trump-branded cryptocurrency that has increased estimates of the Trump family fortune to $2.9 billion.Hes hawking digital coins while also pushing for favorable crypto regulations, essentially writing laws to boost his own portfolio. Fast Company has documented how Trump's presidency has already made him hundreds of millions through self-dealing contracts and foreign investments.And now he wants us to believe that the flying Taj Mahal is just some simple practical decision. Hardly!This is precisely how oligarchies function. While the people tighten their belts (and eat cake), the ruler buys a bigger throne. And make no mistake, Trump sees himself not as a president but as a ruler. A gilded jet is a symbol of who he thinks he is. The tariffs are his vengeance on a world he believes has wronged him. The crypto coin is his way to print personal money. Its not a policy. Its a plunder.The cost of this Qatar jet, never mind the conversion expenses, is estimated to exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the Defense Department just announced an astonishing $5.1 billion in cuts this week. Trump may be wielding Elon Musks chain saw, rhetorically, against government programs, but when it comes to his own luxuries, he prefers the golden scalpel.I've lived in New York City for over 30 years, and it was no secret that Trump did everything to excess, flaunting his wealth, with his branded helicopter and gold-plated airplane, his multistory, over-the-top golden condominium atop Trump Tower. And when he leaves office, my bet is that he replaces his "Trump" plane with the temporary Qatar plane.Here's how! When the new Air Force One is ready, conveniently when Trump's term ends (that is, if he steps aside), what will the government do with the palatial Qatar jet? Simple. It will arrange a sweetheart deal so that Trump can "buy it" and take it with him when he leaves. Just wait. it will happen.I used to think Americans were not fools, and I used to think that they really cared. That they knew when they were being fleeced. That somehow, some way, someday, theyd catch on that America First really meant Trump First. And now, as prices rise and store shelves shrink, Im wondering if they will look to the sky and see a gleaming, gilded jet slicing through the clouds,and recognize it for what it truly is, a jumbo middle finger given directly to them from their Dear Leader.Because, metaphorically, thats what it is all about. And that is Trump thinking hes exalted above the petty bourgeoisie below, who eat cake and hold on tight to their precious three dolls and five pencils.Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 83 Views 0 Reviews
  • WorldPride 2025 Washington DC 2
    GAYETY.CO
    WorldPride 2025 in D.C. Promises Dazzling Nights, Inclusive Beats, and Unforgettable Vibes
    From underground raves to glitter-drenched disco, heres your ultimate guide to Pride party season in the nations capital. The rainbow is rising over Washington, D.C., as WorldPride 2025 prepares to transform the city into the epicenter of LGBTQ+ celebration. With parades, protests, and panels on the horizon, the nightlife is bringing the pulseand these official events offer unforgettableSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 79 Views 0 Reviews
  • Margaret Qualley Honey Dont 050625 89213dc91a14429fb82b0117be39b4c8 E1746638930588
    GAYETY.CO
    Margaret Qualley Takes on Chris Evans in First Trailer for Ethan Coens Dark Comedy Honey Dont!
    Margaret Qualley and Chris Evans headline Ethan Coens latest film, Honey Dont!, a dark comedy set to premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film is the second installment in Coen and Tricia Cookes lesbian B-movie trilogy, following Drive-Away Dolls (2024). The movie is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on August 22, 2025. Plot and Setting Set in BakersfieldSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 82 Views 0 Reviews
  • Nyle DiMarco Deaf Now
    GAYETY.CO
    Nyle DiMarcos Directorial Debut Deaf President Now! Chronicles a Historic Fight for Deaf Leadership
    Nyle DiMarco, the model, reality TV champion, and outspoken advocate for Deaf visibility, is stepping behind the camera for the first timeand hes not pulling any punches. Apple TV+ has just dropped the official trailer for Deaf President Now!, DiMarcos debut documentary, which tells the powerful true story of the 1988 student uprising at Gallaudet Universityan event that forever changed DeafSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 79 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 94 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 86 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 84 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 85 Views 0 Reviews
  • CNN Primetime Weeknights Political Complaints About Military Service Scrutinized 2025 05 06.mp4
    GLAAD.ORG
    Trans Navy Veteran on CNN: Theres never been a military standard that transgender people have not met.
    CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip welcomed a transgender military veteran to deploy facts after a Supreme Court order allowed a ban on trans service to be enforced. The move overruled two lower courts that ruled the ban is likely unconstitutional. The Court gave no reason for its decision, and the Trump administration has not produced [...]The post Trans Navy Veteran on CNN: Theres never been a military standard that transgender people have not met. first appeared on GLAAD.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 74 Views 0 Reviews
  • Temptation Sundays In Las Vegas
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Quench your thirst with these sexy photos from Temptation Sundays in Las Vegas
    Grab your Speedo!Summer is nearly here and Las Vegas is ready to bring the heat.The iconic LGBTQ+ pool party Temptation Sundays is back for another sizzling year and everyone in the queer community is ready to show plenty of skin under the desert sun.Happening now at the Luxor Hotel & Casino every Sunday until Labor Day weekend, tourists and locals can enjoy performances from RuPaul's Drag Race queens, sexy go-go dancers, electric beats from well-known DJs, and plenty of signature cocktails.To celebrate 15 years in Las Vegas, scroll below to see some sexy photos that offer just a taste of what's in store at Temptation Sundays. Check out the official website here for more information. See you at the pool!Soak up the sun at Temptation Sundays.The Luxor's North Pool is ready to welcome LGBTQ+ visitors from all over the world.Your tan line will be sickening after spending a day at the pool.Don't be afraid to be social with so many queer peers to mingle with.Remember to hydrate under the sun and enjoy a signature cocktail.If this isn't squad goals, what is?RuPaul's Drag Race's Jaymes Mansfield will appear at many of the pool parties this summer.This lovable queen always knows how to serve a look.Everyone is welcome at Temptation Sundays.Check out the official website here to learn more about Temptation Sundays.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 89 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 1462850409 Scaled E1746640027368
    GAYETY.CO
    LGBTQ+ Night Market Returns to Los Angeles, Honoring KATSEYEs Lara Raj
    The Los Angeles LGBT Center is set to host the second annual Golden Hour: A Queer AANHPI Night Market on Saturday, May 17, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, located at 1125 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood. The event, presented by Gilead Sciences and organized in partnership with Mayumi Market, celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) HeritageSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 71 Views 0 Reviews
  • Maren Morris Is Ready To Talk About The Part Of Herself She Kept Hidden
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Maren Morris isn't backing down on her bisexuality, 'I've always known'
    With her fourth studio album Dreamsicle dropping this Friday, Maren Morris is entering a new era marked by freedom, vulnerability, and the kind of self-expression that doesnt ask permission.In a new interview with The Zoe Report, the Grammy-winning singer opened up about how embracing that part of herself has helped her feel more connected than ever.Ive always known that I am attracted to men and women, Morris said. But after 15 years of being in heterosexual relationships and navigating a career rooted in Nashville, she never felt brave enough to talk about it publiclyuntil now. That was just a facet of me that I didnt think I wanted private anymore, she added. I wanted to be able to connect with my fans and my queer community.That connection has been more than personalit's been life-saving. Following her 2023 divorce and departure from mainstream country music, Morris said she found comfort and strength through queer community and creative collaborators like MUNA, with whom she co-wrote the sultry, synth-forward track Push Me Over. The song, which features the cheeky lyric sittin on the fence feels good between my legs, is already ruffling feathersand she knows it.Still, Morris isnt backing down. Especially in a time where youre in this free-for-all post-divorce reckoning, she says, being honest and being vulnerable is the only way that you find community.Morris has long been known as a dedicated activist and ally, so much so that GLAAD honored her with the Excellence in Media Award back in 2023. She ultimately departed country music the same year, saying the genre was burning itself down without her help and that the biases shown during Trumps first presidency showed peoples true colors.It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic, she told the Los Angeles Times at the time.Then, in June 2024, Morris came out in a since-deleted Instagram post (everything on her page prior to March 21, 2025, has also been deleted, so this is not an anomaly or backtrack.) At the time, she posted a photo of her holding Pride flags during her RSVP Redux Tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, captioned, happy to be the B in the LGBTQ+ and wishing everyone a happy pride.As Dreamsicle promises to usher in a new, more liberated version of Morris, one thing is clear: shes no longer interested in fitting any mold.Catch the album when it drops on May 9.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 87 Views 0 Reviews
  • Manu Rios And Kit Connor
    GAYETY.CO
    Netflix Heartthrobs Unite for Medieval Horror Film Rapture
    Get ready for a frightfully fabulous blend of historical drama and zombie horror. Netflix stars Kit Connor and Manu Ros are stepping back in time and into the undead for the upcoming feature Rapture, joining On Swift Horses actor Will Poulter in what promises to be a haunting, high-stakes thriller set in 14th-century England. According to a synopsis first reported by DeadlineSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 83 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 1497719774 Pma8cl
    WWW.APARTMENTTHERAPY.COM
    How to Get Rid of Those Stains in Your Bath Tub
    Whether theyre caused by soap scum or hard water, weve got a cleaning solution for you.READ MORE...
    0 Comments 0 Shares 71 Views 0 Reviews
  • John Oliver Immigrants
    GLAAD.ORG
    They Will Only Be Able to Leave in a Coffin John Oliver Skewers Deportation of Innocents, Including Gay Stylist Andry Hernandez Romero
    Host and comedian John Oliver recently harnessed both his talents and his outrage to tell the story of migrant deportations. The biting story on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver included Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay Venezuelan stylist wrongly accused of being a gang member allegedly because of crown tattoos over which were written the [...]The post They Will Only Be Able to Leave in a Coffin John Oliver Skewers Deportation of Innocents, Including Gay Stylist Andry Hernandez Romero first appeared on GLAAD.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 71 Views 0 Reviews
  • Lana Del Rey At The 2025 Met Gala With A Handsome Man In The Background
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Who's the hot Met Gala mystery man that has the whole internet thirsting?
    The Met Gala red carpet is all about making a fashion statement that will have your image plastered all over the internet and fashion magazines, but one pop star was completely overshadowed by a handsome young man in the background of her photos.Lana Del Rey attended the Met Gala on May 5, and while some people were commenting on the alligator pin in her hair that seemed like a clear nod to her new alligator tour guide hubby Jeremy Dufrene gay men on social media were thirsting after the cutie with the cheekbones standing behind her. (@) Then, internet denizens found other photos of the man in the background that gave everyone a better view of the hottie. (@) And the comments that flooded in from people on social media are dirty enough to make you blush. (@) "he looks so breedlable," one person commented. (@) "I need him to top me till it's soggy," another person wrote.There were also plenty of jokes that he outmugged Del Ray, and the mans sexy smolder had everyone wondering who he was. Luckily, the internet sleuths were on the case and in no time at all identified him as New York City-based male model Nathan Overland, who is signed to Wilhelmina Models.If you ever wondered why there are so many hot men in suits running around the Met Gala, its because, the Anna Wintour hosted event hires male models as greeters to do everything from carrying purses to helping arrange trains so that the A-listers get their perfect shot. (@) Upstaging the star isnt usually part of the equation, but Overland did just that by serving face with his high cheekbones and bedroom eyes that have men across the internet drooling. Overland himself has yet to comment on the photos, but he did post a photo of himself along with the Del Rey song Cinnamon Girl to his Instagram Stories.Keep scrolling too see the funniest (and thirstiest!) reactions to the hunky make model who upstaged Lana Del Rey! (@) "man is so mfing fine" (@) "Hes not all that and he looks like this" (@) "The way he completely outmugged her" (@) "lana can u move" (@) "The guy on the back... He's so fine but would be even better making out with me non-stop" (@) (@) "Damn he ate her up" (@) "who is he i want him i need him" (@) "I can do whatever you want just ask"
    0 Comments 0 Shares 70 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 2171405712 Scaled E1746649600832
    GAYETY.CO
    Ts Madison Launches Outlaws Podcast on iHeartRadios Outspoken Network
    Ts Madison, renowned for her role as a judge on RuPauls Drag Race and her advocacy within the LGBTQ+ community, has unveiled her new podcast, Outlaws with Ts Madison, as the latest addition to iHeartRadios Outspoken Podcast Network. The inaugural episode, featuring Tina Knowles as the first guest, is set to premiere on May 13. In the podcasts trailer, Ts Madison introduces the series withSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 67 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 2208336966 Bw MaxWidth 3000 MaxHeight 3000 Ppi 72 Quality 95 EmbedColorProfile True
    WWW.PROPUBLICA.ORG
    Trumps NIH Axed Research Grants Even After a Judge Blocked the Cuts, Internal Records Show
    by Annie Waldman ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. For more than two months, the Trump administration has been subject to a federal court order stopping it from cutting funding related to gender identity and the provision of gender-affirming care in response to President Donald Trumps executive orders. Lawyers for the federal government have repeatedly claimed in court filings that the administration has been complying with the order.But new whistleblower records submitted in a lawsuit led by the Washington state attorney general appear to contradict the claim.Nearly two weeks after the courts preliminary injunction was issued, the National Institutes of Healths then-acting head, Dr. Matthew J. Memoli, drafted a memo that details how the agency, in response to Trumps executive orders, cut funding for research grants that promote or inculcate gender ideology. An internal spreadsheet of terminated NIH grants also references gender ideology and lists the number associated with Trumps executive order as the reason for the termination of more than a half dozen research grants.The Washington attorney generals allegation that the Trump administration violated a court order comes as the country lurches toward a constitutional crisis amid accusations that the executive branch has defied or ignored court orders in several other cases. In the most high-profile case so far, the administration has yet to comply with a federal judges order, upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court, requiring it to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.The records filed in the NIH-related lawsuit last week also reveal for the first time the enormous scope of the administrations changes to the agency, which has been subject to massive layoffs and research cuts to align it with the presidents political priorities. Other documents filed in the case raise questions concerning a key claim the administration has made about how it is restructuring federal agencies that the Department of Government Efficiency has limited authority, acting mostly as an advisory body that consults on what to cut. However, in depositions filed in the case last week, two NIH officials testified that DOGE itself gave directions in hundreds of grant terminations.The lawsuit offers an unprecedented view into the termination of more than 600 grants at the NIH over the past two months. Many of the canceled grants appear to have focused on subjects that the administration claims are unscientific or that the agency should no longer focus on under new priorities, such as gender identity, vaccine hesitancy and diversity, equity and inclusion. Grants related to research in China have also been cut, and climate change projects are under scrutiny.Andrew G. Nixon, the director of communications for the Department of Health and Human Services, the NIHs parent agency, told ProPublica in an email that the grant terminations directly followed the presidents executive orders and that the NIHs actions were based on policy and scientific priorities, not political interference. The cuts are essential to refocus NIH on key public health priorities, like the chronic disease epidemic, he said. Nixon also told ProPublica that its questions related to the lawsuit solely fit a partisan narrative; he did not respond to specific questions about the preliminary injunction, the administrations compliance with the order or the involvement of DOGE in the grant termination process. The White House did not respond to ProPublicas questions.Mike Faulk, the deputy communications director for the Washington state attorney generals office, told ProPublica in an email that the administration appears to have used DOGE in this instance to keep career NIH officials in the dark about what was happening and why. While claiming to be transparent, DOGE has actively hidden its activities and its true motivations, he said. Our office will use every tool we have to uncover the truth about why these grants were terminated.Since Trump took office in January, the administration has provided limited insight into why it chose to terminate scientific and medical grants. That decision-making process has been largely opaque, until now. Washington Fights to Overturn Grant TerminationIn February, Washington state joined by Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado and three physicians sued the administration after it threatened to enforce its executive orders by withholding federal research grants from institutions that provided gender-affirming services or promoted gender ideology. Within weeks, a federal judge issued an injunction limiting the administration from fully enforcing the orders in the four states that are party to the suit.The same day as the injunction, however, the NIH terminated a research grant to Seattle Childrens Hospital to develop and study an online education tool designed to reduce the risk of violence, mental health disorders and sexually transmitted infections among transgender youth, according to records filed in the court case. The NIH stated that it was the agencys policy not to prioritize such studies on gender identity.Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans, the notice stated, without citing any scientific evidence for its claims. The NIH sent another notice reiterating the termination four days later.The Washington attorney generals office requested the termination be withdrawn, citing the injunction. But the administration refused, claiming that it was in compliance as the termination was based on NIHs own authority and grant policy and was not enforcing any executive order. The Washington attorney general asked the judge to hold the administration in contempt for violating the injunction. While the request was denied, the court granted an expedited discovery process to better assess whether the administration had breached the injunction. That process would have required the administration to quickly turn over internal documents relating to the termination. In response, the administration reinstated the grant for Seattle Childrens Hospital and declared the discovery process moot, or no longer relevant. However, U.S. District Judge Lauren J. King, who was appointed by former President Joseph Biden, permitted it to continue.Whistleblower Documents Reveal Sweeping Changes at NIHIn recent months, whistleblowers have made the plaintiffs in the lawsuit aware of internal records that more closely connect the grant terminations to the administrations executive orders. In an internal spreadsheet of dozens of grants marked for cancellation at an NIH institute, the stated reason for termination for several was gender ideology (EA 14168), including the grant to Seattle Childrens Hospital. The rationale appears to reference Executive Order 14168, which banned using federal funds to promote gender ideology, again seeming to conflict with the administrations stance that the termination was not based on the executive orders. The termination dates of the grants, according to the spreadsheet, were after the injunction went into effect.Another internal document, which provides extraordinary insight into the administrations efforts to reshape the NIH, also states the executive order was the impetus for grant terminations. In the March 11 memo from Memoli, the NIH cataloged all actions that the agency had taken thus far to align with the presidents executive orders. In a section detailing the steps taken to implement the gender ideology executive order, one of the 44 actions listed was the termination of active grants.NIH is currently reviewing all active grants and supplements to determine if they promote gender ideology and will take action as appropriate, the memo stated, noting that the process was in progress.While the administration has said in court filings that it is following the judges injunction order, the Washington state attorney generals office told ProPublica that it disagreed.Their claim to have complied with the preliminary injunction is almost laughable, said Faulk, the offices deputy communications director. The Trump administration is playing games with no apparent respect for the rule of law.Depositions Reveal DOGE LinksIn depositions conducted last month as part of the lawsuit, the testimony of two NIH officials also raised questions about why the research grants were terminated and how DOGE was involved. Liza Bundesen, who was the deputy director of the agencys extramural research office, testified that she first learned of the grant terminations on Feb. 28 from a DOGE team member, Rachel Riley. Bundesen said she was invited into a Microsoft Teams video call, where Riley introduced herself as being part of DOGE and working with the Department of Health and Human Services.Riley, a former consultant for McKinsey & Co., joined HHS on Jan. 27, according to court filings in a separate lawsuit, and has reportedly served as the DOGE point person at the NIH. The executive order detailing DOGEs responsibilities describes the cost-cutting team as advisers that consult agency heads on the termination of contracts and grants. No language in the orders gives the DOGE team members the authority to direct the cancellation of grants or contracts. However, the depositions portray Riley as giving directions on how to conduct the terminations.She informed me that a number of grants will need to be terminated, Bundesen testified, adding that she was told that they needed to be terminated by the end of the day. I did not ask what, you know, what grants because I just literally was a little bit confused and caught off guard.Bundesen said she then received an email from Memoli, the NIH acting director, with a spreadsheet listing the grants that needed to be canceled and a template letter for notifying researchers of the terminations. The template had boilerplate language that could then be modified for the different circumstances, the different buckets of grants that were to be terminated, she said. The categories were DEI, research in China and transgender or gender ideology.Bundesen forwarded the email with the spreadsheet to Michelle Bulls, who directs the agencys Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration. Bundesen resigned from the NIH a week later, on March 7, citing untenable working conditions.I was given directives to implement with very short turnaround times, often close of business or maybe within the next hour, she testified. I was not offered the opportunity to provide feedback or really ask for clarification.Bulls confirmed in her own deposition that the termination list and letter template originally came from Riley. When Bulls started receiving the lists, she said she did what she was told. I just followed the directive, she said. The language in the letters were provided so I didnt question.Bulls said she didnt write any of the letters herself and just signed her name to them. She also said she was not aware whether anyone had assessed the grants scientific merit or whether they met agency criteria. The grant terminations related to gender identity did not stem from an independent agency policy, she testified, appearing to contradict the administrations assertion that they were based on the agencys own authority and grant policy. As of April 3, Bulls said she had received more than five lists of grants that needed to be terminated, amounting to somewhere between five hundred and a thousand grants. Most grant recipients endure a rigorous vetting process, which can involve multiple stages of peer review before approval, and before this year, Bulls testified that grant terminations at the NIH have historically been rare. There are generally two main types of terminations, she said, for noncompliance or based on mutual agreement. Bulls said that she has been generally involved in noncompliance discussions and since she became the director of the office in 2012, there had been fewer than five such terminations.In addition to the termination letters, Bulls said she relied on the template language provided by Riley to draft guidance to inform the 27 centers and institutes at the NIH what the agencys new priorities were to help them scrutinize their own research portfolios. Following the depositions, the Washington state attorney generals office said that the federal government has refused to respond to its discovery requests. It has filed a motion to compel the government to respond, which is pending.Riley, Bundesen, Bulls and Memoli did not reply to ProPublicas requests for comment.While the administration did not answer ProPublicas questions about DOGE and its involvement in the grant terminations, last week in its budget blueprint, it generally justified its proposed cuts at the NIH with claims that the agency had wasteful spending, conducted risky research and promoted dangerous ideologies that undermine public health.NIH has grown too big and unfocused, the White House claimed in its fiscal plan, adding that the agencys research should align with the Presidents priorities to address chronic disease and other epidemics, implementing all executive orders and eliminating research on climate change, radical gender ideology, and divisive racialism.Jeremy Berg, who led the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH from 2003 to 2011, told ProPublica that the administrations assessment of the institution was not fair and not based on any substantial analysis or evidence, and the proposed cuts would be absolutely devastating to NIH and to biomedical research in the United States.It is profoundly distressing to see this great institution being reduced to a lawless, politicized organization without much focus on its actual mission, he said.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 78 Views 0 Reviews
  • 04142025 Abortion Data Regional Difference Og Image Preview MaxWidth 3000 MaxHeight 3000 Ppi 72 EmbedColorProfile True Quality 95
    WWW.PROPUBLICA.ORG
    Under Texas Abortion Ban, Where a Pregnant Woman Lives Can Determine Her Risk of Developing Sepsis
    by Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser and Andrea Suozzo ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Nearly four years ago in Texas, the states new abortion law started getting in the way of basic miscarriage care: As women waited in hospitals cramping, fluid running down their legs, doctors told them they couldnt empty their uterus to guard against deadly complications. The state banned most abortions, even in pregnancies that were no longer viable; then, it added criminal penalties, threatening to imprison doctors for life and punish hospitals. The law had one exception, for a life-threatening emergency. Heeding the advice of hospital lawyers, many doctors withheld treatment until they could document patients were in peril. They sent tests to labs, praying for signs of infection, and watched as women lost so much blood that they needed transfusions.You would see the pain in peoples eyes, one doctor said of her patients.Not every hospital tolerated this new normal, ProPublica found. A seismic split emerged in how medical institutions in the states two largest metro areas treated miscarrying patients and in how these women fared. Leaders of influential hospitals in Dallas empowered doctors to intervene before patients conditions worsened, allowing them to induce deliveries or perform procedures to empty the uterus.In Houston, most did not. The result, according to a first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis of state hospital discharge data, is that while the rates of dangerous infections spiked across Texas after it banned abortion in 2021, women in Houston were far more likely to get gravely ill than those in Dallas.As ProPublica reported earlier this year, the statewide rate of sepsis a life-threatening reaction to infection shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost a second-trimester pregnancy. A new analysis zooms in: In the region surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth, it rose 29%. In the Houston area, it surged 63%. After Texas Banned Abortion, the Sepsis Rate Spiked in Houston, but not Dallas Note: For hospitalizations at facilities in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth perinatal care regions involving a pregnancy loss between 13 weeks gestation and the end of the 21st week. Rates are annual. (Lucas Waldron/ProPublica) ProPublica has documented widespread differences in how hospitals across the country have translated abortion bans into policy. Some have supported doctors in treating active miscarriages and high-risk cases with procedures technically considered abortions; others have forbidden physicians from doing so, or left them on their own to decide, with no legal backing in case of arrest.This marks the first analysis in the wake of abortion bans that connects disparities in hospital policies to patient outcomes. It shows that when a state law is unclear and punitive, how an institution interprets it can make all the difference for patients. Yet the public has no way to know which hospitals or doctors will offer options during miscarriages. Hospitals in states where abortion is banned have been largely unwilling to disclose their protocols for handling common complications. When ProPublica asked, most in Texas declined to say.ProPublicas Texas reporting is based on interviews with 22 doctors in both the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas who had insight into policies at 10 institutions covering more than 75% of the births and pregnancy-loss hospitalizations in those areas.The findings come as evidence of the fatal consequences of abortion bans continue to mount, with a new report just last month showing that the risk of maternal mortality is nearly twice as high for women living in states that ban abortion. Last year, ProPublica documented five preventable maternal deaths, including three in Texas. One second-trimester pregnancy complication that threatens patients lives is previable premature rupture of membranes, called PPROM, when a womans water breaks before the fetus can live on its own. Without amniotic fluid, the likelihood of the fetus surviving is low. But with every passing hour that a patient waits for treatment or for labor to start, the risk of sepsis increases. The Texas Supreme Court has said that doctors can legally provide abortions in PPROM cases, even when an emergency is not imminent. Yet legal departments at many major Houston hospitals still advise physicians not to perform abortions in these cases, doctors there told ProPublica, until they can document serious infection.Dr. John Thoppil, the immediate past president of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said he was blown away by this finding. He said its time for hospitals to stop worrying about hypothetical legal consequences of the ban and start worrying more about the real threats to patients lives.I think youre risking legal harm the opposite way for not intervening, he said, and putting somebody at risk. We Have Your BackIn the summer of 2021, Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer, a Dallas specialist in high-risk pregnancy, listened as hospital lawyers explained to a group of UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors that they would no longer be able to act on their clinical judgment. Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer, a retired maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Dallas (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) For decades, these UT Southwestern physicians had followed the guidance of major medical organizations: They offered patients with PPROM the option to end the pregnancy to protect against serious infection. But under the states new abortion ban, they would no longer be allowed to do so while practicing at the countys safety net hospital, Parkland Memorial, which delivers more babies than almost any other in the country. Nor would they be permitted at UT Southwesterns William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.Lawyers from the two hospitals explained in a meeting that the laws only exception was for a medical emergency but it wasnt clear how the courts would define that. With no precedent or guidance from the state, they advised the doctors that they should offer to intervene only if they could document severe infection or bleeding signs of a life-threatening condition, Horsager-Boehrer recalled. They would need to notify the state every time they terminated a pregnancy. ProPublica also spoke with six of Horsager-Boehrers colleagues who described similar meetings. As the new policy kicked in, the doctors worried the lawyers didnt understand how fast sepsis could develop and how difficult it could be to control. Many patients with PPROM can appear stable even while an infection is taking hold. During excruciating waits, Dr. Austin Dennard said she would tell patients at Clements, We need something to be abnormal so that we can offer you all of the options that someone in New York would have. Then she would return to the physicians lounge, lay down her head and cry. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) Their only hope, the doctors felt, was to collect data and build a case that the hospitals policy needed to change. Within eight months, 28 women with severe pregnancy complications before fetal viability had come through the doors of Parkland and Clements. Twenty-six of them were cases in which the patients water broke early. Analyzing the medical charts, a group of researchers led by Dr. Anjali Nambiar, a UT Southwestern OB-GYN, found that a dozen women experienced complications including hemorrhage and infection. Only one baby survived. The research team compared the results with another study in which patients were offered pregnancy terminations. They found that of patients who followed the watch and wait protocol, more than half experienced serious complications, compared with 33% who immediately terminated their pregnancies. Armed with the research, the doctors, including Horsager-Boehrer, returned to the lawyers for the two hospitals. Everyone agreed the data demanded action. Alongside physicians, the lawyers helped develop language that doctors could include in medical charts to explain why they terminated a pregnancy due to a PPROM diagnosis, Dennard said. At Parkland, the new protocol required doctors to get signoff from one additional physician, attach the study as proof of the risk of serious bodily harm part of the medical emergency definition in the law and notify hospital leaders. At Clements, doctors also needed to get CEO approval to end a pregnancy, which could create delays if patients came in on a weekend, doctors said. But it was vastly better than the alternative, Dennard said. The message from the lawyers, she said, was: We have your back. We are going to take care of you. A spokesperson for UT Southwestern said no internal protocols delay care or otherwise compromise patient safety. A spokesperson for Parkland said that physicians are empowered to document care as they deem appropriate and that hospital attorneys had helped review and translate the doctors proposed language to make sure it followed the law. Parkland and UT Southwestern are not the only ones providing this care in Dallas. ProPublica spoke with doctors who have privileges at hospitals that oversee 60% of births and pregnancy loss hospitalizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, including Baylor Scott & White and Texas Health Resources. They said that their institutions support offering terminations to patients with high-risk second-trimester pregnancy complications like PPROM. At Baylor Scott & White, doctors said, the leadership always stood by this interpretation of the law. (When asked, a spokesperson said miscarrying patients are counseled on surgical options, and that its hospitals follow state and federal laws. Our policies are developed to comply with those laws, and we educate our teams on those policies.) Texas Health and other hospitals in the region did not respond to requests for comment. While efforts to be proactive have meant more patients are able to receive the standard of care in Dallas, that is still not the case at every medical campus in the region. Doctors at Parkland said they have seen patients come to them after they were turned away from hospitals nearby. In other parts of the state, however, its been impossible to know where to turn.No Interventions Can Be PerformedIn Houston, one of Americas most prestigious medical hubs, Dr. Judy Levison mounted her own campaign. The veteran OB-GYN at Baylor College of Medicine wanted hospital leaders to support intervening in high-risk complications in line with widely accepted medical standards. In 2022, she emailed her department chair, Dr. Michael Belfort, who is also the OB-GYN-in-chief at Texas Childrens. She told him colleagues had shared feelings of helplessness, moral distress and increasing concerns about the safety of our patients. Dr. Judy Levison, a retired OB-GYN, at her home in Denver (Rachel Woolf for ProPublica) They needed training on how to protect patients within the bounds of the law, she said, and language they could include in charts to justify medically necessary abortions. But in a meeting, Belfort told her he couldnt make these changes, Levison recalled. He said that if he supported abortions in medically complicated cases like PPROM, the hospital could lose tens of millions of dollars from the state, she told ProPublica. I came to realize that he was in a really difficult place because he risked losing funding for our residency program if Baylor and Texas Childrens didn't interpret the law the way they thought the governor did. She wondered if he was deferring to hospital lawyers.Belfort did not respond to requests for comment about his stance. Nor did Baylor or Texas Childrens. Although Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened hospitals with civil action if they allow a doctor to perform what he views as an unlawful abortion, he hasnt filed any such actions. And in the years since the ban, there have been no reports of the state pulling funding from a hospital on account of its abortion policy.A spokesperson at only one major Houston hospital chain, Houston Methodist, said that it considered PPROM a medical emergency and supported terminations for the health and safety of the patient. Five other major hospital groups that, together, provide the vast majority of maternal care in the Houston region either continue to advise doctors not to offer pregnancy terminations for PPROM cases or leave it up to the physicians to decide, with no promise of legal support if theyre charged with a crime. This is according to interviews with a dozen doctors about the policies at HCA, Texas Childrens, Memorial Hermann, Harris Health and The University of Texas Medical Branch. Together, they account for about 8 in 10 hospitalizations in the region for births or pregnancy loss. Most of the doctors spoke with ProPublica on the condition of anonymity, as they feared retaliation for violating what some described as a hospital gag order against discussing abortion. In a sign of how secretive this decision-making has become, most said their hospitals had not written down these new policies, only communicated them orally. Several doctors told ProPublica that Dr. Sean Blackwell, chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Houstons University of Texas Health Science Center, which staffs Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and Memorial Hermann hospitals, had conveyed a message similar to Belforts: He wasnt sure he would be able to defend providers if they intervened in these cases. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and his institution, UTHealth Houston, declined to comment. ProPublica reached out to officials at all five hospital groups, asking if they offer terminations at the point of a PPROM diagnosis. Only one responded. Bryan McLeod at Harris Health pointed to the hospital systems written policy, which ProPublica reviewed, stating that an emergency doesnt need to be imminent for a doctor to intervene. But McLeod did not respond to follow-up questions asking if patients with PPROM are offered pregnancy terminations if they show no signs of infection and several doctors familiar with the chains practices said they are not. The state Senate unanimously passed a bill last week to clarify that doctors can terminate pregnancies if a woman faces a risk of death that is not imminent. ProPublica asked the hospitals if they would change their policies on PPROM if this is signed into law. They did not respond. Last fall, ProPublica reported that Josseli Barnica died in Houston after her doctors did not evacuate her uterus for 40 hours during an inevitable miscarriage, waiting until the fetal heartbeat stopped. Two days later, sepsis killed her. Barnica was treated at HCA, the nations largest for-profit hospital chain, which did not respond to a detailed list of questions about her care. With 70% of its campuses in states where abortion is restricted, the company leaves the decision of whether to take the legal risk up to the physicians, without the explicit legal support provided in Dallas, according to a written policy viewed by ProPublica and interviews with doctors. A spokesperson for the chain said doctors with privileges at its hospitals are expected to exercise their independent medical judgment within applicable laws and regulations. As a result, patients with potentially life-threatening conditions have no way of knowing which HCA doctors will treat them and which wont. Brooklyn Leonard, a 29-year-old esthetician eager for her first child, learned this in February. She was 14 weeks pregnant when her water broke. At HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, her doctor Arielle Lofton wrote in her chart, No interventions can be performed at this time legally because her fetus has a heartbeat. The doctor added that she could only intervene when there was concern for maternal mortality. Leonard and her husband had trouble getting answers about whether she was miscarrying, she said. I could feel that they were not going to do anything for me there. Lofton and HCA did not respond to a request for comment. Brooklyn Leonard was diagnosed with PPROM when she was 14 weeks pregnant in Houston. It took her five days to get care. (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) It was only after visits to three Houston hospitals over five days that Leonard was able to get a dilation and evacuation to empty her uterus. A doctor at Texas Childrens referred her to Dr. Damla Karsan, who works in private practice and is known for her part in an unsuccessful lawsuit against the state seeking permission to allow an abortion for a woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal anomaly. Karsan felt there was no question PPROM cases fell under the laws exception. She performed the procedure at The Womans Hospital of Texas, another HCA hospital. Shes lucky she didnt get sick, Karsan said of Leonard. Dr. Damla Karsan, an OB-GYN in Houston (Lexi Parra for ProPublica) Many Houston doctors said they have continued to call on their leadership to change their stance to proactively support patients with PPROM, pointing to data analyses from Dallas hospitals and ProPublica and referring to the Texas Supreme Court ruling. It hasnt worked. Houston hospitals havent taken action even in light of alarming research in their own city. Earlier this year, UTHealth Houston medical staff, including department chair Blackwell, revealed early findings from a study very similar to the one out of Dallas. It showed what happened after patients at three partner hospitals stopped being offered terminations for PPROM under the ban: The rate of sepsis tripled. Still, nothing changed. How We Measured Sepsis RatesTo examine second-trimester pregnancy loss outcomes in Houston and Dallas, we used a methodology we developed to determine sepsis rates in inpatient hospitalizations where a pregnancy ended between 13 weeks gestation and the end of the 21st week. To assess regional differences, we grouped hospitals by perinatal care region and focused on the two regions with the highest population: Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.We grouped hospitalizations in the nine quarters after the implementation of the states six-week abortion ban (October 2021 through December 2023) and compared them with hospitalizations in the nine quarters immediately before. Each region had about 2,700 second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations over the course of the time span we examined. Sophie Chou contributed data reporting, and Mariam Elba contributed research.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 71 Views 0 Reviews
  • ATFG 3061 HDR
    WWW.APARTMENTTHERAPY.COM
    The Century-Old Lamp Thats Making a Comeback in Homes Today
    Theyre the antidote to cold builder-grade vibes.READ MORE...
    0 Comments 0 Shares 76 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 696146073
    WWW.APARTMENTTHERAPY.COM
    The Cardboard Rule Is the Secret to Making Sure Youll Love Your Next Reno
    Itll prevent you from making mistakes with big dollar signs attached.READ MORE...
    0 Comments 0 Shares 74 Views 0 Reviews
  • 0 Comments 0 Shares 70 Views 0 Reviews
  • Sabar Bonda Hero Image
    GLAAD.ORG
    Grief and Identity: How Rohan Kanawades Film Sabar Bonda Captured My Heart and History
    By Ahmad Maksoud, Communities of Color & Media Consultant As a brown, queer, first-generation cis man in the US, I rarely find stories that resonate with my intersectional lived experience. Typically, I can rely only on witnessing one facet of my identity represented to any degree of accuracy, let alone with real style and substance. [...]The post Grief and Identity: How Rohan Kanawades Film Sabar Bonda Captured My Heart and History first appeared on GLAAD.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 72 Views 0 Reviews
  • Image
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Ross Mathews says queer people 'will never stop fighting'
    The hilarious Ross Mathews is proud to represent the queer community.After marrying his handsome husband Dr. Wellinthon Garca-Mathews in 2022, the two have grown so much personally and professionally as a couple.Now, the hubbies have released their adorable new children's book To & To: The Ring Bearers that's centered around the couple's two nephews who served as the ring bearers at their wedding."We are so grateful and excited that our book is coming out! It's been a labor of love. The book is not political by nature, but by purely existing, of course it is," Mathews tells PRIDE. See on Instagram Since his early days on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Mathews has helped LGBTQ+ representation on television become more mainstream with his regular appearances on The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul's Drag Race."I know there are people who have seen me on television who maybe don't know a lot of queer people in their life. The generation before us did a lot of work to make things easier for us. We've made a lot of progress. We've having some setbacks right now, but there's a lot of people that'll never stop fighting. There's more of us than there are of them."Dr. Garca-Mathews not only serves as Mathews' better half, but he's also his biggest cheerleader and number one fan."What you guys are getting in TV land... he's doing that at home. He's literally himself every day. He's a pioneer. He's an advocate for our community. He's doing tremendous work out there. I'm so proud to be his husband," Garca-Mathews says.To & To: The Ring Bearers is available wherever books are sold. To see the full interview with Ross Mathews & Dr. Wellinthon Garca-Mathews, check out the video at the top of the page.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 66 Views 0 Reviews
  • Shirtless Jason Duval From Grand Theft Auto Vi Trailer
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    New 'Grand Theft Auto 6' trailer has gays crashing out over smoking hot lead character
    A new trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI just dropped, but instead of focusing on the updated graphics, new criminals, or extreme car chases, the gays are melting down over the video games brand new and very hot protagonist.Fans have been waiting for the new GTA to drop for over a decade now, but they are finally getting a glimpse of the new characters in the second trailer for the game.The new trailer shows off two new protagonists: the hunky Jason Duval, and tor the first time since the franchises inception in 1997, the other main character is a woman named Lucia Caminos, The Pink News reports. Now, the pedants out there may say that there have been other playable female characters in GTA in the past, but none were a fully fleshed-out protagonist. But that debate isnt what has the gays obsessed, its Jason and his hot bod. The trailer starts off with Jason shirtless and glistening with sweat as he climbs down from his roof. He is also shown in a relationship with Lucia who seems to be his partner in crime and in the bedroom, but that hasnt stopped the gays on social media from lusting after Jason. Between his sweat-glistening six-pack and lifting weights at the beach, its not hard to see why."Jason From GTA 6 would fix me," one person commented. (@) Other people were already getting excited about the gay adult content that will surely be inspired by the new character. (@) And the trailer also has the bisexuals in a tail spin as they try to decide between Lucia and Jason. This feels like a por qu no los dos situation!In the upcoming game, were going back to Vice City where Jason and Lucia find themselves in a tricky situation after an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive, the official synopsis reads, per IGN. (@) Jason may be straight, and the gamer series has always had a severe lack of LGBTQ+ representation, but that isnt stopping people from lusting after the jacked star of the upcoming game.Keep scrolling to see more thirsty reactions to GTA VI, which is set to be released on May 26, 2026. (@) "excited for all the porn / porn art thatll come out of jason gta 6 actually likeee" (@) "New Rihanna album or a night with Jason from GTA 6?" (@) "broskiis... fuck Onlyfans... Jason GTA VI just gave us fap material for a whole week! Is he the baddest in the game rn? And if u say no.... name who is" (@) "eternal sunshine tour or one night with jason from gta 6?" (@) "Has there ever been a bigger glow up than Jason between GTA 6 Trailer 1 and 2???" (@) "Wait why jason from gta 6 is sorta kinda [hot]" (@) "you know lucia was the most attractive gta protagonist until jason came along wtf " (@) "need jason from gta 6 bad...." (@) "unfortunately i do need jason from gta 6 badly" (@) "wbk gta 6 jason was gonna be hot but i swear they made him even hotter since the leaks like woah" (@) "Rockstar giving the gays what we want #GTA6"
    0 Comments 0 Shares 67 Views 0 Reviews
  • GettyImages 2173257113 Scaled E1746650980911
    GAYETY.CO
    Chrishell Stause Opens Up About That New Viral Look For G Flip Thanks to Bestie Chris Appleton
    Australian musician G Flip and reality TV star Chrishell Stause continue to balance their demanding careers and personal lives, demonstrating that love can thrive even amidst hectic schedules. During an interview with Gayety at the opening of The Tryst Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Stause shared insights into how she and G Flip manage their time together. The Selling Sunset star let everyoneSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 62 Views 0 Reviews
  • 182b69c9 6c97 4633 Aab3 20f244c507f7 2012x1300
    WWW.UNCLOSETEDMEDIA.COM
    A Really Dark Day for Our Country': Trans Navy Vet Goes on CNN to React to Trans Military Ban
    Subscribe nowOn Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration may start enforcing a transgender military ban that had been blocked by lower courts, who said it was not supported by evidence, was soaked in animus and violated equal protection principles. The result: Roughly 4,200 transgender troops woke up yesterday without a job.Hours after the ruling, Alaina Kupec, a good friend of mine and a transgender Navy vet, went on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, a show that uses the slogan, Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.Kupec opened by calmly explaining how theres no evidence that banning trans folks from the military affects readiness and that this is a really dark day for our country where basically were allowed to discriminate against a class of people.The 11-minute segment quickly devolved into a false equivalency cross-fire-esque argument where Scott Jenningsa former advisor to Mitch McConnell who has been dubbed as the Conservative Pundit Explaining Red America to CNN Viewersand Shermichael Singletonwho had a brief stint working for President Trump during his first termdefended the decision to discriminate against trans folks.Another panelist rightly asked how this ruling is different from discriminating against gay people or Black people.Singleton, who is Black and cis, responded, Thats ridiculous. He looked visibly uncomfortable when pressed and said, I reject those parallels. I think its a ludicrous parallel.Jennings, who is white and cis, grossly chuckled across the table from Kupec as they debated the comparison, and quickly followed up by asking the host, Abby Phillip, Do you believe that the quality of race and the quality of transgender are the same?Phillip, who I wish would have answered the very easy question, pivoted.Speaking with folks of various perspectives on all issues is important. We do it here at Uncloseted. But to see these two men chuckle away the idea that trans lives are just as important as gay lives or Black lives is despicable. I personally love Abby Phillip, but I wish she could have pressed and checked these guys harder as they spewed obvious and abhorrent transphobia across the primetime news table.I dont have all the answers about how the media can do better covering trans issues.Maybe have folks like Jennings and Singletonwho are unquestionably not experts on transgender issuessit these panels out and swap them with Republicans who actually know what theyre talking about. Maybe Phillip needs producers and journalists on her team who can better prep her for these high-stakes conversations that help shape public perception of the most vulnerable population in our society. And maybe, just maybe, CNN can include more than one trans voice on a six-person panel talking about trans issues.At this moment, we cant afford to produce these segments without the care and attention they so desperately need.Despite this, one thing is for sure: Im so proud of Kupec, a stoic and brave voice for the trans community that Im lucky to call a friend.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused, accountability journalism. Pope Francis Championed Inclusion. LGBTQ Catholics Hope a New Pope Will Finish What He Started (CBS)Lady Gaga Bomb Plot Targeted LGBTQ Crowd, Third Person Planned Satanist Ritual Child Killing, Brazil Authorities Say (CNN)Trump Administration Slashes Research Into LGBTQ Health (New York Times)Beloved Florida Indie Bookstore Faces Backlash After Removal of LGBTQ Titles (NBC News) Supreme Court Lets Trump Enforce Transgender Troop Ban as Cases Proceed (The New York Times) We passed 9,000 followers! Thank you for your continued support.If you think youre seeing double or triple its because you are! Were adding more and more partners to our growing list of Friends of Uncloseted. Emma Paidras story about the trans woman who fled Texas and Trumps America by boat has been picked up by The Oregonian, LGBTQ Nation, The 19th, Seattle Gay News and GCN Magazine. As a nonprofit newsroom, we want our stories to get in front of as many readers as possible, whether that be via unclosetedmedia.com or through other publications. Were so thrilled that through our partnerships, our stories have wider reach and greater impact.Subscribe nowOver the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting: On Saturday, Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of the Old State Saloon in Eagle, Idaho, joins us to discuss his upcoming event, Hetero Awesome Fest, set to take place across from the Idaho Capitol during LGBTQ Pride Month. In the interview, Fitzpatrick explains the goals of the two-day festival, his motivations for launching it, and his response to the widespread criticism the event has received. On Tuesday, as state and federal data privacy laws evolve, LGBTQ advocates are raising concerns about how personal information is collected, stored, and shared. In this interview, legal experts and digital privacy advocates discuss the unique risks queer people faceespecially in states with anti-LGBTQ legislationand what protections are urgently needed to safeguard digital privacy and personal safety.Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas! Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief spencer@unclosetedmedia.comIf objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media
    0 Comments 0 Shares 96 Views 0 Reviews
  • Yumyum 1
    GLAAD.ORG
    The Spellman Twinz Serve Heat, Humor, and Yum Yum Realness in New Single and Video
    If joy had a soundtrack, it might sound a lot like Yum Yum the bold, high-energy new single from viral sensations and next-up recording artists, The Spellman Twinz. Known for their wildly entertaining social media presence (1.2M+ on TikTok and counting), Clinton and Calvin Spellman are stepping off the screen and onto the main [...]The post The Spellman Twinz Serve Heat, Humor, and Yum Yum Realness in New Single and Video first appeared on GLAAD.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 101 Views 0 Reviews
  • Secretary Of Defense Pete Hegseth Delivers Keynote Address At Special Operations Forces Week In Tampa Florida May 2025
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Yes, Pete Hegseth just said, 'No more dudes in dresses. We're done with that s**t'
    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denigrated transgender military service members in a speech to a gathering of special forces operators on Tuesday, vowing, No more dude in dresses, were done with that s**t.Hegseth was delivering the keynote address at the Special Operations Forces Week 2025 taking place in Tampa, Florida. He made the inflammatory remarks in the context of returning the warrior ethos to the military.Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield, Hegseth said, according to the official Department of Defense transcript. We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses, we're done with that shit.Related: Hegseth unfit for duty, say Pete ButtigiegHe had earlier said that the new military would be leaving wokeness behind.Hegseth later reposted a clip of the remarks to X. (@) Hegseth made the comments on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower court order preventing Hegseth and President Donald Trump from summarily discharging transgender service members from the military.The ruling allows the Pentagon to begin discharging service members with a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria and to deny enlistment to transgender Americans. The unsigned order was approved 6-3, with the courts three liberal justices dissenting.Related: SCOTUS says Trumps trans military ban can go into effectThe ban was authorized by Executive Order 14183, which mandates the discharge of all transgender service members regardless of performance or qualifications, and to block their future enlistment. The order allows the discharges to continue while the case, Commander Emily Shilling et al. v. United States, winds its way through the appeals process in the Ninth Circuit.According to its website, SOF Week is an annual conference for the international SOF community to learn, connect, and honor its members, and that the gathering will foster collaboration, innovation, and excellence, showcasing the cutting-edge capabilities and strategies that define modern special operations.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 106 Views 0 Reviews
  • Barry Diller Diane Von Furstenberg
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Barry Diller's casual coming out reveals a bygone type of love story
    Some years ago, I was taking a run without a shirt on a warm fall day when I happened upon Barry Diller and his wife, Diane von Furstenberg, out for a walk. Diller and I immediately locked eyes, and then his eyes went up and down at me.I had a good laugh after I passed him. And I wasnt the only one who had a Barry Diller googly-eye story. Ive heard several stories, and even one of my colleagues here at The Advocate had one.Ive lived in New York City over 30 years, and when Diller revealed this week that he was gay in a piece he wrote for New York Magazine, most everyone just shrugged. It was an open secret that he liked men. The bigger surprise, perhaps, was that he even felt the need to address the issue.But the issue he was really addressing was less about him being gay, and more about his long-time marriage to fashion designer von Furstenberg. Because theres still something powerful about the quiet confirmation as it relates to marriages like theirs that at one time were actually quite commonplace. Dillers been married to the iconic von Furstenberg since 2001, but they've been together in various forms since the '70s. His revelation isnt about being outed or scandalized. He was simply stating a truth about who he is, and perhaps more important, who he has always been.In our current world of TikTok soft launches, Reddit confessionals, and open dialogue about sexual identity disclosures, it can be easy to forget that the world Diller and von Furstenberg came of age in was different. It was an era that was pre-Grindr. Pre-Ellen. Pre-safety, pre-sincerity, pre-authenticity, pre-closet, and pre-beard.Some say they were simpler times, since were now hounded by technology, but in reality, those times werent so simple. They were more about repression, and thats difficult, but excruciatingly doable.Back in the day, gay men marrying women wasnt a contradiction. It was a strategy. Some to survive, others to be in a socially acceptable arrangement. Or, a lavender curtain drawn over a very complicated stage. These marriages happened in Hollywood, high society, and nearly every middle-class suburb in America think Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven. And for others, it was an open secret, like Dillers, that, yes I'm a gay man, but I happen to be married to a woman, and what I do on my own time is no one elses business.Additionally, if you saw Bradley Coopers portrayal of composer Leonard Bernstein, in the film Maestro, you know what Im talking about. In the film, although hes married to a woman, Bernstein cant control his urges around handsome men, and he is shameless about it.About 30 years ago, while I was on vacation with my first boyfriend, we happened upon a married M-F couple. It was clear that the guy was queer, and after a few drinks, they opened up. He can watch porn with men, but he cannot have sex with them, only me, she said, or words to that effect.Years later, I learned that while the wife and I got wasted in a bar, her husband and my then-partner snuck off and hooked up. So much for a rule thats virtually impossible to follow if your sexual desires lie with men, and lying with a man.It was common knowledge back in the day that many women married queer men for a variety of reasons. For example, Judy Garlands husband, Vincente Minnelli, was gay. Their daughter, Liza, married Peter Allen, who was also gay. Rock Hudson had a secretary wife in Phyllis Gates. Actor Anthony Perkins was famously married to actress, model, and photographer Berry Berenson for 19 years until he died of AIDS complications. And over in the other circles where Diller and von Furstenberg orbited, those of elite media, politics, fashion, and finance, these unions werent shocking. They were sometimes even celebrated or kept hush-hush. Think Jackie Os sister Lee Radziwill and Herbert Ross. Composer Cole Porter and socialite Linda Lee Thomas were married for 35 years. Another denizen of Upper East Side society, Kitty Carlisle Hart was married to composer Moss Hart, long rumored to be gay. Even Oscar Wilde had his Constance.These marriages were often rooted in genuine companionship, mutual admiration, artistic alignment, or shared ambition. Sometimes they were protective covers, and at other times, just deeply unconventional romances that didnt quite fit in a binary box.But were not in that era anymore.Today, we live in a society where queer men still marry women, but not usually under the same terms the socialites wed. These unions today may emerge out of religious pressure, internalized shame, geographic isolation, or, less nobly, career convenience. But many of the conditions that once demanded secrecy, criminalization, ostracization, and career annihilation have lessened. Not disappeared, but certainly shifted.Marriage equality changed a lot. So did dating apps and hookup culture. So did visibility. The iPhone made the closet a hard place to stay hidden, and then of course the buzz of social media makes it hard for anyone to be discreet. Additionally, relationships in our culture are changing. Gen Z is now making polyamory Pinterest boards with inspirational quotes about chosen entanglements.The marriage Diller and von Furstenberg had was a long, elegant, respectful, and deeply intimate partnership between a gay man and a fabulous woman. This is no longer required in the way it once was. It doesnt make it any less real. It just makes it rarer.Thats the nuance here. Diller isnt revealing he never loved von Furstenberg. Quite the opposite. Over the years, they described their marriage mostly glowingly. They chose each other, and they continued choosing each other across decades, careers, and changing cultural tides. And thats something we might need more language for. In our rush to celebrate out and proud identities, and we should, we sometimes forget the twist, turns, and contortions of human intimacy. Dillers marriage is not a lie. Its a testament to how layered and custom-built relationships can be, especially among people navigating hostile environments for most of their lives.Thats why, when I have been asked over the years about rumored gay men married to women (to my straight friends, I should have the inside scoop because Im gay), I take a page from Pope Francis, saying, Who am I to judge?Still, Dillers coming out matters for visibility because older generations of gay and queer men deserve to be fully seen, and not just posthumously after they die. Diller is 84, and you can bet that there are still men in their 70s and 80s who havent come out because of fear, and the lingering stigma they suppose about it. And it matters because younger people benefit from hearing that coming out isnt a one-size-fits-all, one-time-only event. It can happen anytime.Conversely, there are still a surprising number of men in Hollywood, politics, and business, many of them married to women, who continue to live on the down low. Some out of shame. Some out of habit. Some because their industry has told them its the only way to keep power. And some because, frankly, they like the arrangement. However, the days of needing a woman to make a mans queerness socially survivable are mostly over. Society doesnt demand that kind of cover anymore. And the next generation, if gay men marry women, the couples will do so with open eyes, open profiles of their social platforms, and open conversations on an online forum. At least to me, Dillers news isnt shocking. But its the final chapter of a generational saga. Maybe von Furstenberg said it best: Barry is the love of my life. That love, in all its contradictions, defies every category.Good for them! Live and let live, and who am I to judge?Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 114 Views 0 Reviews
  • Nwsl Alyssa Naeher Of Chicago Stars Fc On The Field With Fans Holding Transgender Rights Signs Behind
    WWW.PRIDE.COM
    Good news! NWSL fan support groups launch Trans People Belong campaign
    Queer joy is a radical act, so join us each week for more stories that uplift, resist, and shine. For more stories on Queer Joy, click here.Ready for some good news? Supporters groups for all 14 NWSL teams, as well as the forthcoming Boston Legacy FC, have launched a new campaign aimed at supporting the trans community in the sport and standing "firmly and vocally, together, for inclusion."On the morning of May 2, supporters groups for all 14 NWSL teams as well as Boston Legacy FC, which will start playing in the league in 2026, posted a shared statement on social media "taking a vocal and visible stand in support of the transgender community and against all gender-based harassment."See on Instagram"Women's soccer exists because society refused to accept exclusion. Our game was built through generations of struggle for gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial justice," the statement reads. "Efforts to exclude trans athletes are fueled by the same forces of misogyny and bigotry that have long tried to dictate who belongs. These efforts undermine the spirit of women's sports and harm all athletes by reinforcing narrow, discriminatory ideas about gender.""Now, as the trans community faces escalating attacks driven by harmful legislation and damaging public rhetoric, we must continue that fight by standing firmly and vocally, together, for inclusion in sports," it continues. "It is on all of us to ensure that every match, every event, and every space under the league's banner remains safe, inclusive, and free from hate for everyone."People looking to support the campaign can purchase a "Trans People Belong" shirt online, with proceeds benefitting the Transgender Law Center.The campaign will also feature "in-stadium displays featuring the campaign slogan" and use of the social media hashtag #TransPeopleBelong, per ProSoccerWire.See on Instagram"It's both saddening and enraging to see people use women's sports, something I love, as a vehicle for transphobia, and it is really important to me that trans athletes and fans know that they are welcome in the NWSL," Lindsay Pankok, board member of Gotham FC's Cloud 9 supporters group, told PRIDE. "This league is not only entertainment, it's a community, and the trans community has been an important part of it from the beginning. Trans people belong not only on the field but in the stands, on coaching staffs, in front offices in all aspects of the game. It is my hope that the NWSL will join with its supporters in uplifting the message that trans people belong in our league."A league spokesperson said, "The NWSL strives to be the most inclusive league in the world, and we continue to support our athletes and create an environment where they can thrive."The Trans People Belong campaign comes on the heels of England's Football Association (FA) announcing on May 1 that, starting June 1, transgender women are no longer to play women's soccer in England.There are fewer than 30 trans women registered to play among millions of amateur players in the country, and zero registered to play on the pro level, the BBC reports.The FA's decision, in turn, comes following a U.K. Supreme Court ruling in April that said legal womanhood is "limited to biological women and does not include trans women." The term "biological woman" is used here to mean cisgender women.This ruling defines sex as a binary, "a person is either a woman or a man," and says that a government-issued gender recognition certificate does not qualify one to be covered by the country's Equality Act.The NWSL campaign also follows an incident at a March NY/NJ Gotham FC - Orlando Pride match when a fan reported that "mulitiple Gotham season ticket holders expressed bigotry towards Barbra Banda that stemmed from the racist, transphobic conspiracies that were spread about her after she earned the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award last year."Gotham FC, Orlando Pride, and the NWSL issued statements condemning the behavior. Gotham FC conducted an investigation and ended up revoking a fan's season tickets and banning them from future events and matches.Currently, the NWSL's Policy on Transgender Athletes allows all people "designated female at birth, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression," even if they take a low dose of testosterone, as long as their total testosterone level is "within typical limits of women athletes."For trans women, athletes must meet several standards, including declaring "that her gender identity is female," having total testosterone levels "within typical limits of women athletes," for at least 12 months prior to competition, and that their total testosterone level remains in that range for their period of desired eligibility.
    0 Comments 0 Shares 104 Views 0 Reviews
  • Colman Domingo Griffin Matthews
    GAYETY.CO
    Griffin Matthews Reflects on Colman Domingos Impact and Career-Changing Advice
    Griffin Matthews knows the power of representationand hes got a mentor whos been paving the way for years: Colman Domingo. The two actors share more than just screen credits; they share a bond built on mutual respect, artistic ambition, and an unapologetic embrace of Black queer visibility in Hollywood. We sat down with Matthews to talk about his role in the final season of NetflixsSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 96 Views 0 Reviews
  • Screenshot 2025 05 07 At 2.58.20 PM E1746655189148
    GAYETY.CO
    Lee Pace Heats Up the Galaxy in Shirtless First Look at Foundation Season 3
    Apple TV+ just dropped a slew of first-look images from the upcoming third season of its ambitious sci-fi epic Foundationbut lets be honest, all eyes are on one photo in particular. Among the new visuals from the adaptation of Isaac Asimovs legendary series is a steamy image of actor Lee Pace, who returns as the genetically cloned Emperor Cleon. In the photo, Pace appears shirtlessSource
    0 Comments 0 Shares 109 Views 0 Reviews