Looking Good! Cyndi Lauper Shows her True Colors

This girl still wants to have fun and at 57 she still looks good doing it!

Wearing a trouser suit, tousled hair and black platform boots, Cyndi Lauper switched on a bank of green lights at the Empire State Building Thursday in New York City.

The coloured lights are in recognition of homeless youth around the world, in particular lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender young people who have been kicked out of their homes or have runaway out of fear and despair.

Flipping the switch: Cyndi Lauper lights up the Empire State Building Thursday in New York City in recognition of homeless, LGBT youth

This girl just wants to have fun: Lauper strikes several fun and flirty poses to bring attention to a serious issue

To make her fans aware, Lauper tweeted: 'If you are in NYC tonight, look up at the Empire State Building.' 

Then she posted a video on Youtube urging LGBT youth who are in distress to reach out for help.

In New York and across the United States, it is estimated that 20% to 40% of the homeless youth population is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

A 1989 U.S. government study found that LGBT youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people, a finding that was supported by a 2001 study that found LGBT adolescents 2.3-2.5 times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers.

Nicely done: Lauper celebrates after lighting up the Empire State Building

For years, Lauper has been a champion of the LGBT community. 

She created the True Colors Tour, an annual music tour that has raised more than $200,000 over the past 2 years for gay rights groups.

Lauper became a star in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album.

Lauper has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 had sold more than 30 million records worldwide.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Netherlands: Utrecht council adopts motion against homophobia

The Utrecht city council has unanimously adopted a motion condemning harassment, bullying and homophobia. The motion urges the mayor and the executive to put measures into place against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Councillors pointed to a recent incident in which a gay man felt threatened in his home. Mayor Aleid Wolfsen told the council that in this case there was no link between the harassment and the victim’s sexual orientation. However, councillors said it was no longer a matter of isolated incidents.

They called on the mayor to find a solution and to draw up a protocol for dealing with complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Mayor Wolfsen told councillors that the threats and vandalism directed against a gay man in Utrecht, which prompted the victim to leave his home, were not related to the victim’s sexual orientation.

The Utrecht police have since apprehended the perpetrator, who has confessed to committing the acts. The mayor said the accused has a history of launching into tirades against all kinds of people in his neighbourhood. Mr Wolfsen said the insults and threats he made against his gay victim formed part of his standard repertoire.

Researchers in Brazil prepare to announce pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV

 

Be concerned about how the media approach to disclosure iPrEx, researchers involved in this project in Brazil held on Thursday in Sao Paulo, a meeting with journalists and other media professionals. IPrEx is an international program of research that examine the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, or the use of anti-AIDS drugs by healthy people to reduce the risk of infection.

Alexandre Menezes, representatives of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in Brazil - an entity that also helped in promoting the meeting in Sao Paulo, argues that pre-exposure prophylaxis must be presented as a means of reducing the chance of spreading HIV and not as the only method of prevention and condom replacement.

The infectious disease physician Esper Kallas, Faculty of Medicine, USP and one of the main drivers iPrEx in Brazil, explained the methodology of this study. For him, no matter what the results iPrEx, explain to journalists and the effectiveness and limitations of this new method of prevention. "This is a landmark on the world which is the pre-exposure prophylaxis to HIV," he said.

Artur Kalichman, researcher and assistant coordinator of the State Program of STD / AIDS in Sao Paulo, talked about the Brazilian participation in the Research Network for Vaccines for HIV (HVTN in English).

He has perspective on the possible creation and use of a vaccine in controlling the AIDS pandemic. Product with a vaccine efficacy of low (around 40%), for example, if used for 80% of the population would decrease by 68% the chances of new infections. If efficacy was average (70%), reduce by 86%.

The journalists present at the meeting summarized the study suggested presentations to large media and publishing articles explaining.

About iPrEx

The human trials of pre-exposure prophylaxis was completed in August and research is now at the stage of entering data. In monkeys, the efficacy was 100%.

Besides the three centers in Brazil (USP School of Medicine, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), eight other research centers participating in the study in the United States, Thailand, South Africa, Peru and Ecuador.

Of the 350 Brazilian volunteers - all men who have sex with men - half and half a placebo tablet daily combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine, antiretroviral drugs without many side effects and reactions in the body longer. All also received guidance on the necessity of condoms for safe sex, among other recommendations.

Now in the stage of tabulation, the results of the two groups are compared to verify the effectiveness of remedies. The study predicted that volunteers make frequent tests for HIV and that in case of infection were removed from the study and were receiving treatment.

The choice of target was because circumcision and microbicides are being evaluated in populations of women and heterosexual men, while the options available to the population of gays, bisexuals and transsexuals are limited.

IPrEx lasted a year and a half, and was promoted by the U.S. government in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by the University of California at San Francisco.

Drag Queen Shangay Lily Heckles Spain's Mariano Rajoy Over Gay Marriage Stance

PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 05, 2010

Celebrity drag queen Miss Shangay Lily on Thursday confronted Mariano

 Rajoy, the president of Spain's Partido Popular, over recent comments 

he made on gay marriage, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

At a book event, the famous drag queen rose from her seat and burst 

out in protest.

“Mr. Rajoy, on behalf of the gay community, I ask you to reconsider your statements. Enough of homophobia in the PP! Stop the lying and the manipulation,” she shouted holding a sign that read “PP = homophobia.”

Shangay Lily was referring to statements Rajoy, who is vying to become 

the nation's next prime minister in a contest to be held in early 2012, made

 in an interview Sunday with daily El Pais.

The conservative leader told the paper that he does not like the gay 

marriage law approved by Spain's socialist government in 2005. His party 

filed a constitutional challenge to the law at its approval.

“I will listen very carefully to the arguments of the Constitutional Court 

and the people, but I do not like the homosexual marriage act, and I do 

not think it is constitutional,” he said. “My disagreement is about the use

 of the word marriage.”

Shangay Lily was escorted from her seat by security and the event 

continued.

Tony Poveda, president of Spain's largest gay rights advocate, the 

Federacion Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales

 (FELGTB), called Rajoy's words “outrageous.”

“His words are a clear example of the power in Spain of the Catholic

 Church, Opus Dei, and PP's homophobia. Homophobia disguised 

as liberal conservatism,” he said.

A 2008 study found that a majority (66%) of Spaniards approve of the

 law. In its first three years, over 12,000 gay and lesbian marriages were celebrated.

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 

Howard Bragman Coming Out Gay Reality Series To Premiere In December

 
PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 05, 2010

Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman's coming out gay reality series will 

premiere in December on A&E.

Bragman is the man behind the celebrity self-outings of Chaz Bono, 

Chely Wright and Meredith Baxter.

The series, appropriately titled Coming Out, has been under development

 since July.

Bragman told the Globe that finding stars to come out gay on a reality

 series has been difficult.

“It is a difficult series to cast and produce, but celebrities have been

 approaching me,” he said.

“The idea is people tune in each week to find out who is coming out – 

and the response will be either 'Duh!' or 'Wow!' We will have 'Wows!'”

“But it is not about how big the celebrity is,” he added. “It's really about

 the storytelling. I'll never force somebody out.”

Bragman is considered the go-to PR man on coming out gay for

 celebrities. His first client was actor Dick Sergeant in 1991. Bragman 

is also behind the recent self-outing of Chaz Bono as transgender. And 

he helped country singer Chely Wright and actress Meredith Baxter come 

out gay.

During a panel on the subject at Outfest, Los Angeles' gay & lesbian film

 festival, Bragman called a multi-million-dollar closeted celebrity “sad.”

“If there are superstar male actors who are in the closet and they are 

worth $100 million and they have this whole fake life, there's just nothing sadder,” he told the crowd.

Bragman, who's openly gay and married to Chuck O'Donnell in California,

 runs the Los Angeles-based PR firm Fifteen Minutes.

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF

Anti-Gay Bill Brady Concedes Race To Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 05, 2010

Illinois Senator Bill Brady on Friday congratulated Governor Pat Quinn 

on his reelection, the AP reported.

Brady, whose anti-gay campaign rhetoric and predicted win had 

alarmed gay leaders in the state, agreed with an Associated Press 

analysis delivered on Thursday that said it would not be statistically

 possible for him to overcome Quinn's 19,500 lead from the remaining 

absentee ballots.

“There has been no greater honor for us to be part of the campaign,”

 he said in Bloomington, then added, “Governor Quinn won this race.”

Brady enjoyed the support of the Tea Party and was widely expected to

 win the race. He carried all but the state's three most populous counties. 

Metro Chicago provided Quinn with more than half of his votes.

Jason Plummer, Brady's running mate, became emotional in delivering his remarks.

“I got into this race not for political reasons but because I thought

 there were problems in Illinois. I think we articulated ideas well,” 

he said.

Lawmakers are expected to consider a bill that recognizes gay and 

lesbian couples with civil unions. Quinn has said he would like to sign 

the bill into law. But Brady supports banning gay marriage in the Illinois Constitution.

In March, Brady authored a bill that would exempt religious groups from 

a gay protections law.

Brady's bill, which the Legislature rejected, sought to carve out exceptions

 to the Illinois Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the 

basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively allowing any

 church-affiliated group to discriminate against gay men, lesbians, bisexual

 and transgender people. The bill's exceptions would only apply to workplace protections.

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 

Supreme Court asked to review gay military ban

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Republican gay rights group 'Log Cabin' is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a California trial judge's order barring enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy to go back into effect.

Lawyers for Log Cabin Republicans asked the high court Friday to vacate a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals keeping "don't ask, don't tell" in place until it considers the government's appeal of the judge's decision declaring the policy unconstitutional.

Log Cabin is arguing the 9th Circuit panel that ruled 2-1 Monday abused its discretion when it blocked U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' order requiring the military to allow openly gay Americans to enlist and serve.

The divided panel said Monday that it agreed the Pentagon needed more time to develop procedures for ending the policy.

 http://www.fresnobee.com

Adam Carolla Should Straighten Out His Gay Parent Remarks

Actor Adam Carolla has built his career on tickling people's ribs. His latest remarks about gay people, particularly gay parents, are anything but amusing. Quite the opposite.

Carolla recently sat down with the website PopEater to discuss his childhood, Republican preference and why he would rather a straight couple raise his kids. "If something happens to me, I'd rather my kids were raised by a heterosexual couple rather than a gay couple, all things being equal," explained Carolla. "I just believe a mom and dad is better than two dads or two moms. I don't believe this, I just know this. I'm an atheist, it's not a religious thing, it's a nature thing."

While he would prefer gays over junkies, says the father of twins, if a gay couple and straight couple are on equal economic footing, he wants the straights on top.

Carolla has a mixed record when it comes to LGBT-inclusion. While he appears to support gay marriage, and equality in general, he's also caught flack for "butching up" a gay assistant for laughs and recommending the Gay Games have an oral sex contest to weed out straight impostors.

Those last two examples, however, are perfectly in line with Carolla's comedic mission: highlight social divisions to help bridge a divide. He did that quite well on his eponymous CBS radio show, which included "gay walking:" a segment in which gay people are asked "straight" people questions, like who won the Super Bowl, and an audience has to guess whether the contestant knows their heterosexual trivia, thus confronting their own, often flawed stereotypes.

Carolla's latest remark, however, proves neither humorous nor socially responsible.

Like Carl Paladino, the failed New York gubernatorial candidate who said gay people "brainwash" youth and choose their "lifestyle," Carolla's comment suggests that gay parents, and people, are unnatural. Since we're unnatural, we're to be loathed and scorned.

Though Carolla may not take his ideas to such an extreme level, we've seen how seemingly innocuous statements or positions can fuel fundamentalist anti-gay politics. Carolla's comments no doubt ring true to conservative Americans who revere him as an entertainer.

Simply because someone's gay friendly doesn't mean their comments are always as progressive as they believe; little "truths" can perpetuate dastardly myths, moving equality back, rather than forward.

Adam Carolla should reconsider his comments and make clear that his views are not meant to imply LGBT Americans are less capable than straights when it comes to raising rug rats. The heart, after all, knows no gender or sexuality.

Photo credit: NerdCoreGirl's Flickr

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Andrew Belonsky is a journalist living in New York City.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's Suspended Indefinitely without Pay

By Brent Lang

Published: November 05, 2010 

   

"Countdown" host Keith Olbermann may have landed in hot water following a report that he made three campaign contributions before Tuesday's election, but it looks like Joe Scarborough didn't get that memo.

The MSNBC "Morning Joe'" anchor and Sean Hannity have also written checks to political candidates in the past, according to federal campaign disclosures.

MSNBC suspended Olbermann indefinitely on Friday after the news broke, stating that it violated the networks standards.

Read also: Keith Olbermann Suspended Indefinitely Over Campaign Contributions

However, Scarborough is guilty of the same sin. The "Morning Joe" host donated $4,200 to Oregon Republican Derrick Kitts' failed 2006 campaign for a U.S. House seat.

MSNBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Across the political pundit aisle at News Corp., Hannity -- conservative yin to Olbermann's liberal yang -- has been an active contributor for several election cycles.

• Hollywood GOP Closes Its Wallets to Whitman & Fiorina

• Breaking: Keith Olbermann Suspended Indefinitely Over Campaign Contributions

This year, Hannity gave $5,000 to Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) political PAC and $4,800 to New York Republican John Gomez's unsuccessful congressional race.

In the past, Hannity also gave $4,200 to Jeanine Pirro's 2006 New York senate campaign. Under pressure from New York Republican elders, Pirro ultimately dropped out of the race to challenge incumbent Hillary Clinton.

All of those donations, took place while he was a News Corp. employee.

News Corp did not respond to requests for comment on their policy, but the company has made political donations before.

News Corp. contributed $2 million during the 2010 election cycle to organizations -- including $1 million to the Republican Governors Association -- opposed to Democratic candidates.

None of the major CNN anchors contributed to any federal political campaigns during this current cycle, but Anderson Cooper opened his wallet while in the employ of ABC.

Cooper contributed $250 to Republican H. Richter Elser' 2002 congressional campaign. Of course, he was away from the newsroom at the time, hosting the reality competition series "The Mole."

Dominic Patten contributed to this report.