Screen Queen Summer 2015 Edition: The Comeback, It Follows, Bessie, The Nanny, The Rose, Hot Pursuit and More
- September 10, 2015 - 8:29pm
The Comeback
When HBO gave their beloved mockumentary The Comeback the dreaded cut after its 13-episode run in 2005, it was a sad, sad time for us gays. How would we go on living without our favorite cupcake, Valerie Cherish, a narcissist we loved almost as much as she loved herself? After the show disappeared from our lives, we were now those same Team Val fans hootin’ and hollerin’ at the end of the first season finale. “Give her another take! Give her another take!” Then, bless them, HBO did. Yes, that’s right. Nearly 10 years later, Valerie Cherish got her much-deserved comeback. It would make sense if this was the plan along – resurrect the show nearly a decade later to further meta-ify its very title. Or maybe it was just that The Comeback finally made sense to those who couldn’t wrap their heads around the pre-Kardashian world the show inhabited. Never one to miss an opportunity to admire herself, Valerie subtly acknowledges the latter in the first episode, noting that she was hip to reality TV before everyone else. So what now? Shoot a show about a show, cast Valerie Cherish as herself, and have her nemesis, Paulie G, direct it. Get Seth Rogen to play Paulie G. Make even sharper observations about sexism in Hollywood. Then end with some of the most perfect, tear-inducing 10 minutes to ever exist on TV, with Lisa Kudrow turning in a complex, layered performance to demonstrate that, yes, we do need to see that. And thanks to this comprehensive set, you can. Forever. With past and present commentaries from Kudrow and show co-creator Michael Patrick King, the short “Valerie at ‘Dancing with the Stars’” and the loopable queer-loved classic in its entirety (yes – both seasons!), The Comeback on DVD is probably the answer to all of life's problems.
It Follows
Modern-day horror has not been good to us. Every now and then a studio switches off the conveyer belt and churns out something other than a trashy sequel (see: The Conjuring, The Babadook), but, otherwise, the genre rarely has anything new to say (yes, you, Saw 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…). When it does, it’s a big deal. It Follows, then, is a big deal. Bigger than big, actually. Huge. On the surface, the premise seems like yet another teens-in-peril whodunit, but writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s masterful ambiguity gives way to deeper, more provocative musing. After all, what is the “it” that’s following these kids? It could be AIDS; it could also be just the mere paranoia surrounding the epidemic’s onset in the ‘80s. Beyond its lingering storytelling, It Follows is a horror buff’s horror movie, creepy and skin crawly. And the acting? It’s refreshingly on point. So is the camera work, which is gorgeous and moody. On the whole, It Follows – as much a tribute to the classics as it is one in its own right – does just that. It stays with you. Scant supplements include a critics-only commentary that breaks down varied facets of the film, including some of its classic-horror influences. And, also, the menacing musical compositions are explored during a standalone talk with their creator because, well, without them, It Follows wouldn't be this bloody good.
The Nanny
Fran Drescher’s nasally-voiced nanny set the bar high for caretakers everywhere – who could compete with her queerness? I mean, first of all, that garish wardrobe, which was obviously drag-inspired. And that mouth, unfiltered and TMI-ready. Fran Fine spoke her mind, which, of course, made it horribly awkward when a job listing brought her to the Sheffields’ swanky palace (in zebra print, naturally), where she shamelessly flirted with the widowed patriarch, Maxwell, razzed his kids, and then, during dinner, dished on a “natural digestive.” She passed the test, got the job, got fired, then got the job again. That was 1993, when the show premiered, but eventually Drescher’s delightfully zany role as “The Nanny” was notable for more than the whiney way she talked. She lived for Barbra Streisand (remember the impersonator during the final season?). One episode was titled “Oy Vey, You’re Gay” and involved a lesbian pass to Fran from none other than Catherine Oxenberg of Dynasty. Also, how about that time Fran actually did drag? And, you know, her star-powered Rolodex, which might as well have been the GLAAD Media Awards guest list: Bette Midler, Estelle Getty, Elton John, Cloris Leachman, Patti LaBelle, Margaret Cho; you get the gist. Because yes. A lot of important gay (ish) icons appeared throughout the span of the show’s six-season, 146-episode run, all of which are permanently etched on discs – with ample commentaries and flashback featurettes – so you never have to forget why you want the ’90s back.
Bessie
As the leading lady in HBO’s Bessie, Queen Latifah’s portrayal of the Roaring ’20s singer Bessie Smith is a crowning achievement. No, really, bow down; you haven’t seen Latifah this good since… maybe ever. Latifah’s Bessie is a dynamo who knew what she wanted career-wise, got it, and then became an influential force of nature in the black struggle for equality. The Queen encapsulates her empowering gumption in a rangey role that goes for miles (she goes topless, too, so you know she’s committed). Over 20 years in the making, the pursuit of a Bessie biopic is long overdue, and out writer / director Dee Rees (Pariah) knows just where to take this story, portraying Smith as more than a divine singing voice because, well, she was. Bessie was the voice of a community. And of survival. She shut down the KKK when they attempted to set fire to her performance tent, and when a man got too handsy with her, she jabbed him with a piece of stray glass like the baddest badass you’ve ever seen. She slept with men, and she also slept with women. She was unstoppable, and Latifah’s scenes with Ma Rainey (a fabulous Mo’Nique) illustrate Bessie’s unwavering determination to be the best she could be. Rees’ film is a galvanizing slice-of-life biopic rooted in the universality of self-expression. During the extras, which cover the film’s long journey to the screen (featuring Latifah’s less-confident 1996 screen test), Latifah briefly talks about Bessie being the most challenging film of her career. A challenge the Queen meets with consummate flair.
Also Out
The Rose
Winifred Sanderson may have put a spell on you – and you don’t have to pretend you didn’t sob buckets during Beaches (CC Bloom, we love you) – but the Divine Miss M first brought her most faithful bathhouse-going fans to their, ahem, knees in her star-making role as Mary Rose Foster in The Rose. Loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin, Midler turned her now-pristine image inside out to take on the tragic life of a self-destructive rocker. Bette wears her battered heart on her sleeve as she suffuses the part with grit, pathos and musical verve, eventually tearing into your heart with the film’s eponymous send-off song. In addition to archival interviews circa late ’70s, Criterion’s re-release of The Rose – the film’s Blu-ray debut – includes a new sit-down with Milder, who dishes with fascinating candor on the difficulties of The Rose and how “I sang until I bled.”
Clouds of Sils Maria
Contrary to popular Twilight belief, Kristen Stewart can act. Her eyes aren’t just empty, lifeless Bella vessels after all, and if given the right role – see also Still Alice, where she stars alongside Julianne Moore – Stewart can slip out of herself and into the psyche of someone else with remarkable ease. As Juliette Binoche’s assistant, a confident Stewart is effectively orderly as she oversees the day-to-day endeavors of Maria Enders’ (Binoche), a veteran French actress. Starring in a theater production with a younger actress (Chloë Grace Moretz) who’s playing the same role she once played, Maria is forced to face some serious truths. Revelations abound in this chatty showpiece that requires patience to slog through its heady storytelling. Extras… wait, what extras?
Hot Pursuit
In Hot Pursuit, Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara are on the run. But from what? To flee every frame of this hot mess of an odd-couple cop comedy? Though you wouldn’t blame them if they tried, not quite. In this laugh-now-feel-bad-about-it-later buddy comedy, Officer Cooper (Witherspoon) and her mob witness (Vergara) bumble their way out of awkward situations, like feigning lesbianism to mitigate a dangerous run-in with a crazed Southerner. Reese does boy drag as she... demonstrates that her cuteness can defy gender? Yes, Hot Pursuit is dumb fun. Yes, The Heat was much better. And no, we don’t need a sequel. As for the special features: Reese and Sofia bond onset like the real-life BFFs they may or may not be.
VeGoss: Vegas Gossip
- September 2, 2015 - 2:13am
New Gay Nightclub
An Instagram post from rendezvouzs.lv confirms rumors of a new gay nightclub in Vegas. The Rendevous LV Nightclub Facebook page lists an address of 1111 Las Vegas Blvd, which is the Desert Memorial Cremation and Burial Mortuary. The Rendezvous Instagram states, “There is power in having a secret. Has anyone ever asked you to keep one ? They Will. Welcome To Rendezvous.” Perhaps the address being used is to keep the location a secret, they say dead people are pretty good at keeping those.
Celine Dion
After a year long hiatus Céline Dion returned August 27th to her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace. She has been caring for her husband, René Angélil, 73, who is battling throat cancer. He insisted that she return to singing despite his critical state. His only request was to “die in her arms,” according to USA TODAY who quoted Céline, 47, saying,“I didn’t want to be here at first, I don’t need it. Don’t get me wrong, I love singing for people, but I have priorities.” “But Réne really gave me a gift.” “All my grieving, it was during this last year. I think I’ve got this. For now. When it hits me, it’s going to hit me. But my biggest job is to tell my husband, we’re fine. I’ll take care of our kids. You’ll watch us from another spot.”
Photo Via Caesars Entertainment
“Ex-Lesbian” Makeover Madness
Chelsie René from Las Vegas started a GoFundMe campaign titled - “She loved her, chose Him,” asking individuals for money stating “The straight journey is nowhere near cheap.” René reached nearly half of her $1,000 goal and the page was full of comments including:
‘Everyone knows it takes $$ to be beautiful!!’
‘And God wants you to feel confident as a woman just as u would like to feel comfortable in some beautiful clothes that make u feel pretty.’
Other comments were less supportive:
‘You were never gay in the first place. I’m a lesbian and I’m very girly. I’ve never worn cargos or plaid in my life or any other ‘gay clothes’ if you want to label it that way,’ wrote one individual.
‘Money and clothes will not make you straight. Nothing can make a gay person straight just like nothing can make a straight person gay.’
‘Being a woman is not about embracing vanity. Please consider studying Proverbs for the next three months, then after prayer and fasting, consider the ramifications of this particular action.’
The GoFundMe page has since been deleted.
Photo Via GoFundMe
Hillary Clinton Talks Gay Vegas
- September 2, 2015 - 2:03am
During a recent stop in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton made some important promises to the LGBT community. On Aug. 18, the Democratic presidential front-runner said she would enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage across the country, as well as support the LGBT community in other crucial ways.
“As president, I will do everything I can to make sure that marriage equality is enforced. It’s the law of the land and it needs to be enforced across our country,” said Clinton.
Clinton’s comments on same-sex marriage come after continued media reports of clerks refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Her statements were in answer to a question from someone who identified as a “local LGBT business owner and founding president of the Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in Nevada”, this according to the Washington Blade. The posed question was: “How are you going to support the LGBT community in our country?”
After making the aforementioned comments on equal marriage, – but not addressing how she would enforce it – she moved on to tackle the topic of discrimination. She recalled that as a member of the U.S. Senate she co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). “We have a lot of work to do there. There’s just so much continuing discrimination and bias.”
ENDA focused solely on prohibiting discrimination against LGBT in the workplace. It was not introduced in this Congress, and in any case it is now deemed by many LGBT advocates as doing too little. Clinton made no mention of the new Equality Act, legislation currently pending before Congress that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT in all areas of civil rights law. She has, however, endorsed the act on Twitter.
Clinton also specifically mentioned Las Vegas, noting that in the city and across the country there is a high rate of LGBT youth homelessness. “I particularly worry about young people because there is a lot of misunderstanding and even mistreatment still today by families of young people who are LGBT, and they’re hoping to be accepted and they are not, and they find themselves on the street,” she said. “I know you’ve got people in Las Vegas who are homeless on the streets, who are young LGBT people who have had to leave home.”
On this issue she had answers. “We need more services, we need more support, and we all need to be speaking out in favor of treating these young people with respect and dignity and giving them a chance. And I hope that as president, I will not only be able to speak to that, but demonstrate how we do it, and then support laws that will make it easier for a lot of our people, particularly young people.”
Hillary clinton and Derek Washington
Local Las Vegas Community Member Derek Washington on Hillary Clinton:
“I was very impressed by secretary Clinton. I’ve been ready for Hillary for years and she didn’t disappoint!”
Infamous Anti-Gay Bakery Ships Cake To The Center
- September 2, 2015 - 1:53am
The Oregon bakers infamous for refusing to make a cake for a lesbian wedding seem to be trying to build bridges with the LGBT community. Melissa and Aaron Klein sent out cakes and a movie about Christianity and gay issues to 10 LGBT organizations in late August, including The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center) in Las Vegas.
The couple appears to want to make it clear that they don’t hate gay people, inscribing the message “We do really love you” onto the cakes. The film that accompanied the cakes is Audacity, from New Zealand evangelist Ray Comfort. Released in June, critics have called the movie homophobic.
Each recipient also received a note that read, “Hello, we are Aaron and Melissa Klein. We’re the bakers who declined to create a cake for a same-sex wedding and were ordered to pay $135,000. We want you to know that our actions were not motivated by hatred, and we personally baked this cake as a small token of our love.”
The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center) had no idea of the stunt when the cake arrived on Aug. 20, and they simply sliced into it. “I looked at it as a good gesture when they said it was loving, but I also looked at it with skepticism, as propaganda,” the group’s CEO Michael Dimengo told New York Daily News.
The Klein’s refused the wedding cake request citing religious-based objections. They closed up their bakery at the end of 2013, but the couple continued taking private orders, such as one from known anti-gay ministry Restored Hope Network, New York Daily News reports.
It remains unclear how all the LGBT organizations involved have taken the news, or what the next steps for the Klein’s might be.
The Hidden World of Gay Poker Players
- September 2, 2015 - 1:49am
On Valentine’s Day 2012 in an elaborate and heartfelt blog post, the high stake player published his long-kept secret in a brave act of emotional exposure.
It wasn’t a decision the poker player took lightly. The mere thought of publicly coming out didn’t enter Somerville’s head until his boyfriend asked if he could join him on a tournament in the Caribbean. Somerville didn’t want to simply introduce his partner as a ‘friend’. “I didn’t want to disrespect the relationship we had”, he explains in a recent interview.
I was alone and upset. I simply accepted that I was unhappy…I told myself that I had had enough.”
To many, Somerville’s coming-out story is just that - a heartwarming story. But what makes it significant is the context in which it happened, as anyone familiar with the world of professional poker will understand.
“...no man who is a well-known pro in poker is open about it...for there to be zero high-profile openlynot straight men in poker seems bad. Archaic. Reflective of a community that isn’t open to all...it’s just a relic of the old-school mentality when the world’s default mindset was at best ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.”
In light of this hetero-centric environment, it is interesting to hear Vanessa Selbst’s opinion on gay discrimination in professional poker. The openly gay poker legend is famous for her intelligence and androgynous looks, but claims her sexual orientation never presented problems in her career. “I’ve never encountered prejudice for being gay but I have for being a woman.” Selbst says. Perhaps the poker pro’s boyish looks and butch demeanor allows her to feel more at home amongst the men against whom she plays, but that doesn’t make her immune to sexism.
“...sometimes I still don’t get invited to games because they want them to be men only – and it’s explicit, rather than implied.”
Selbst refers to perpetuation of the idea that poker is a game played in the gentlemen’s cigar lounge, where there are ‘no women allowed’. Poker is, in other words, seen as a traditional man’s game, with all that this entails - drinking whiskey, talking about women and having the occasional bit of banter. In the case of players Dan Bilzerian and Jeff Gross, that ‘bit of banter’ once included a ‘prop bet’ whereby Bilzerian paid Gross $550,000 to get a LGBT rainbow tattoo on his back.
In other words, Bilzerian considers the ‘punishment’ of a gay rainbow tattoo so humiliating that it is worthy of a $550,000 wager. Though no doubt meant as some harmless fun, the message this forfeit sends is indisputably offensive; Bilzerian and Gross couldn’t care less about gay rights. The LGBT movement is nothing but a subject of ridicule between them. Individuals such as Bilzerian and Gross will make gay players think twice about revealing their sexual identity.
Ridiculed or not, Somerville doesn’t regret his decision of publicly coming out as gay. Somerville speaks of the freedom he felt in doing so, and reveals he “received a lot of positive feedback from the poker world as well as the gay world.” He describes people’s reaction as ‘kind and helpful’ and goes as far as to say it was the best day of his life. “I took the decision because I thought it was the best thing to do for myself, but if my ‘come-out-of-the-closet process’ can help others, I feel honored.” Somerville says.
Somerville has become a spokesfigure for gay players in professional poker, and the overwhelmingly positive response he received upon coming out can only be interpreted as a promising sign that the poker community is headed in the right direction.
Queercon Talks Tech and Hacks Grindr in Vegas
- September 2, 2015 - 1:39am
Early August saw some very interesting characters visit Las Vegas. Thousands attended Queercon, the self-described “largest social network of LGBT hackers from around the world.” For the 12th year in a row, Queercon was a standout highlight of Defcon, one of the world’s largest annual hacker conventions.
Although Queercon owes its beginnings to Seattle where its founders are from, today it’s a San Francisco-based nonprofit that has expanded to become much more than just an LGBT meet-up group. Queercon is on a mission to increase LGBT visibility in the tech industry.
That mission has really gained momentum as of recently. Pride-themed convention T-shirts sold out at Defcon this year, and you could see hundreds sporting rainbows and Queercon badges at Bally’s Hotel and Casino, which hosted the conference. But the pièce de résistance was something else entirely: hacking gay hookup app Grindr.
The point was to expose Grindr’s security flaws, and all of Defcon’s 16,000 or so attendees could take part. There were boundaries in place to protect those who use the app, and, according to Queercon co-founder Robert Walker, the group will send the reports to Grindr once completed.
Queercon has certainly grown leaps and bounds. This year attendance nearly tripled at all their events (including close to 2,000 at their pool party and hundreds squished into their lounge), exposing a need for more space and the opportunity to expand into other tech niches. It’s a far cry from the environment the group established itself in more than 10 years ago, which was known to be homophobic at times. Homophobic slurs in the computer community were common and the possibility of losing your job if you were out or someone outed you was very real. Many, including LGBT individuals, simply preferred to not address LGBT issues in general, which only served to increase the perception of intolerance.
The group’s well-promoted events hope to draw out those who still feel hesitant to come out and join the wider LGBT computer community. Queercon recently expanded into other cyber security conferences, such as RSA and BSides, and the sense is that the sky really is the limit. Or, to use computer lingo, the cloud.
Reporter in Vegas Compares Celine Dion to a Kardashian, Her Reaction, Priceless
- August 31, 2015 - 3:11am
At a press conference for Celine Dion's show at Caesars Palace a reporter compares the singer to a Kardashian, her reaction in the video below is priceless. Celine is returning to the stage after a year long break.
RentBoy.com - Global Criminal Enterprise - Names Released
- August 25, 2015 - 7:07pm
- Comments
Disbelief was the reaction by many LGBT media outlets that reported the news of popular escort website RentBoy.com being seized by Homeland Security Investigations.
In an official release from the United States Department of Justice, HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Sorge stated, “The facilitation and promotion of prostitution offenses across state lines and international borders is a federal crime made even more egregious when it’s blatantly advertised by a global criminal enterprise,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Sorge of HSI New York. “HSI will use its unique authorities to disrupt and dismantle such organizations and seize the millions of dollars in illegal proceeds they generate.”
Paperwork, computer servers, emails and bank accounts were seized by Homeland Security and members of NYPD for the ongoing investigation which after time, has now been made public.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.
Assistant United States Attorneys Tyler Smith and Melanie Hendry are in charge of the prosecution. There is more than meets the eye in a case like this. This isn't primarily about the individual sex workers and prostitution, this is about a global criminal enterprise. There is much more going on behind the scenes than being revealed. This is a network of criminals in an organization responsible for multiple and varied crimes.
Between 2010 and 2015, Rentboy.com had over $10 million in gross proceeds.
Earlier today the government served warrants authorizing the seizure of over $1.4 million of alleged criminal proceeds from six bank accounts. The government also took steps to restrain the domain name www.rentboy.com.
If convicted each defendant faces up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
So far only 7 arrests have been made including CEO Jeffrey Hurant (50), Michael Sean Belman (47), Clint Calero (48), Edward Lorenz Estanol (23), Shane Lukas (41), Diana Milagros Mattos (43), and Marcos Soto Decker (28).
All those initially arrested are from the state of New York.
Homeland Security will continue with their investigation with their newly acquired data, hopefully leading investigators to more key players in the global criminal enterprise.
Trans Women are 49 Times More Likely to Have HIV and Here’s Why You Should Care
- August 25, 2015 - 5:28pm
Let me tell you about a woman I met. Let’s call her Trina. On the surface, we have some similarities. A woman of color and a bottle blonde, Trina grew up feeling like she never fit in. Shuffled between family members, she left home early in an effort to be herself, and ended up homeless at one point.
Like my husband, Trina is transgender. Unlike my husband, who grew up in a white middle-class family and has a master’s degree, doesn’t have insurance (yes, even in this age of Obamacare), worries about affording her hormones, and has had to do a lot of things to be the person she is. That includes turning the odd trick or two.
She has HIV. When she tested positive last year, it wasn’t a surprise to her or to the other women in her trans support group, which meets at her local LGBT center each Wednesday night. It’s one of the few places Trina feels at home, accepted, able to be honest. And many of the women are also HIV-positive.
Transgender women are 49 times more likely to have HIV than the general population. We first heard this number when The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) released a report in 2014, "Trans Populations and HIV: Time to End the Neglect," and this summer, the World Health Organization did a new meta-analysis of data from 15 different countries, which again showed that transgender women were nearly 49 times more likely to have HIV than the general population.
Both studies argue that trans women are the most at-risk population around the globe. The numbers are even worse for those who are women of color; 56 percent of black trans women have HIV. That’s over half.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transgender women involved in sex work have HIV rates that are almost twice that of trans women not engaged in commercial sex work. They’re also six times more likely to be living with HIV than other female sex workers.
Perhaps you’re ready to turn the proverbial page because you think women who do sex work deserve it. They don’t.
My friend Trina gave blow jobs to help afford the hormones she needs every two weeks to continue living as a woman. Going off hormones would give her serious medical issues. The waiting list to get into her local clinic was two months. She’s had bad experiences with doctors who refused to treat her because she’s transgender. She’s not alone: The Task Force’s 2011 study, "Injustice at Every Turn," reports that approximately one in five trans people in the United States has been denied medical care as a result of their gender identity.
She’s also shared injection needles not for drugs, but at a pumping party, where trans women get low-cost fillers to create a more feminine look in their faces, breasts and hips.
As a once-homeless trans teen – over 40 percent of homeless teens are LGBT, according to a 2011 Williams Institute study – Trina has had to do plenty of things that put her at risk for HIV.
But that’s not how she got HIV. Like the majority of HIV-positive people today, Trina became HIV-positive during a relationship that she believed was monogamous. The man she loved was not monogamous – and he was not aware that he had HIV.
Today Trina is on antiretrovirals and sees a doctor at a clinic who knows how to treat trans people living with HIV. Those are few and far between.
It’s time for all of us to wake up to this issue. As we revive the conversation around gay and bi men and HIV, it’s time to end this epidemic for trans people too. (Note: Many of my suggestions originally appeared in "Injustice at Every Turn.")
This is what it takes:
- LGBT activists needs to care about the alarmingly high rate of HIV among trans women – and to push our organizations, political leaders and the pharmaceutical industry to do so as well. Silence can still equal death for trans people who can’t access medical care. It’s time to remind everyone of this.
- The research/medical community and pharmaceutical industry needs to stop misgendering trans women in research studies. Lumping trans women in studies about “men who have sex with men” does not give you true statistics on trans women’s needs and risks, making it difficult for concerned clinicians to properly treat trans women with HIV. We need them to ensure that trans people are properly categorized in future research.
- We need to push researchers to understand that gay and bi transgender men may be at equally high risk; since there have been no studies, nobody knows.
- Medical schools and medical organizations need to start training their people to treat transgender patients properly and mandating that people do so. Refusing care to people because of their gender identity is a travesty.
- We need to elevate trans people into leadership areas in HIV organizations, including their voices when we talk about HIV.
- We need LGBT organizations to take up the mantle in talking about trans people and HIV, and we need trans organizations to tackle HIV. One such organization is doing just that: The Transgender Law Center has created Positively Trans, a project led by a group of poz trans people who have launched the first-of-its-kind study seeking to determine the obstacles to care faced by trans people living with HIV.
In order for all of us – poz or not, trans or not, queer or not – to do right by trans women, we have to do more than tune into I Am Cait once a week. We have to tear down and rebuild the systems that are here to care for trans and gender non-conforming people in a way that really works. We have to remove the stigma of being trans, of being positive, of seeking to take an HIV prevention treatment. That’s only one step, and there are many needed, but just that, understanding and truly caring about trans people, can take us quite a way.
After-School Special: 20 Dreamy Teachers We’d Totally Take Detention For
- August 25, 2015 - 5:16pm
It’s back-to-school season, and you know what that means, kids: nine glorious months of academic angst pining for that dreamboat professor.
But if you don’t have the pleasure of sizing up the hunks destined to steal your heart on campus this semester (because you’re way too old, like me), at least you have the next best thing: memories of those academic aces whose smarty pants you were dying to get into.
In tribute to your school-boy fantasies of yore (and to satisfy my own; this one’s for you, Mr. Harris!), I’ve compiled this list of entertainment’s hottest know-it-alls, plus one real-life model-turned-math teacher who’s causing gay boys around the world to break out the rulers. How do you measure up?
Will Schuester, Glee
Between sparring with ne’er-do-well cheerleading coach and glee-club-hater Sue Sylvester and lending a comforting ear to members of William McKinley High’s New Directions, it’s a wonder Mr. Schu had any time for a personal life. But by the end of the show’s run, he was married to his “high school sweetheart” Emma Pillsbury, raising son Daniel, and occasionally showing us why he’s still the only J. Crew-clad principal in Ohio who we’d let tickle our ivories.
Prof. Henry Jones Jr., Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
That suit. Those glasses. That whip! You’d only have to tell us to shut up and sit down once, Mr. Jones.
Eric Taylor, Friday Night Lights
Firm but fair Coach Taylor is known ‘round East Dillon High as a “molder of men” – and it’s easy to see why: With his quarterback frame and sexy southern drawl, we too would fall in line at the drop of a ball. Time to hit the showers!
Dan Dunne, Half Nelson
Sure, he has a nasty drug habit, but a stint in rehab would be worth it if those get-lost-in-me eyes were staring back at us in class every day.
Sam Coulson, Never Been Kissed
In my world, it was called Kiss Me Everywhere Right Now, which spawned the NSFW sequel Get in My Bed, You Sexy Beast.
Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother
More like, How I Met Your Naked Body in the Teacher’s Lounge One Day and We Never Told Anybody About It – Not Even That Skank Who Stole You Away From Me.
Travis Manawa, Fear the Walking Dead
Mr. Manawa’s speech about man vs. nature in the context of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” will become much more relevant to his students in later eps of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, the much-anticipating spinoff series to The Walking Dead. But for now we’ll just savor the setup that he’s a good dude about to have his bickering blended family thrust into the zombie apocalypse – and keep our fingers crossed that he survives long enough to take his shirt off.
Ross Geller, Friends
There was something sexy-saurus about NYU professor of paleontology Ross Geller. Even the dudes couldn’t hide their affection for him – when grades were due, anyway.
Hank Moody, Californication
What happens when a can’t-say-no-to-temptation teacher is let loose on a college campus? Shenanigans, and David Duchovny’s bare butt in season three of this successful Showtime series.
Scott Delacorte, Bad Teacher
Justin Timberlake plays a “yes man” with a penchant for dry humping. Take what ya can get, bros.
John Pressman, Admission
I’d totally let Paul Rudd be the big spoon. Does anybody else find the older, wiser, love-handled Rudd totally turn-up-the-AC-in-here more attractive than during his skinny-mini Clueless days? Can’t just be me.
Ezra Fitz, Pretty Little Liars
Never trust a man who dates his 16-year-old students. Unless they look like Mr. Fitz. Hey, isn’t that what age-of-consent laws are for?
Colin Forrester, Gossip Girl
This walking Ralph Lauren ad never stood a chance with Serena with Lonely Boy in the picture. He should’ve offed him – if only to save us from seasons five and six.
Phil Wenneck, The Hangover
Mention of Phil being a teacher in The Hangover is so quick you might’ve missed it. But it’s safe to assume you’d be drunk in love if he were the head of your class.
Julian Parrish, Hellcats
Whether he’s playing pre-law prof Parrish in the short-lived, Bring It On-esque CW series Hellcats or devilishly handsome playboy Brian Kinney on Queer As Folk, we’d happily pull an all-nighter for Gale Harold.
The Professor, Gilligan’s Island
I mean, who else you gonna bang on that island?
Craig Robinson, Mr. Robinson
Funny guy Craig Robinson gets his comeuppance starring in this school/night club-set comedy that lets him show off his sharp wit, though that’s ultimately a little too dumbed-down to last very long.
Ronny McCarthy, The McCarthys
Against his better judgment, Ronny accepts the assistant high school basketball coach job in Boston instead of a more exciting opportunity to spread his wings as a guidance counselor in Rhode Island. Sounds like the perfect slapstick situation for a gay character, don’t ya think? Neither did the rest of America; the McCarthys was cancelled earlier this year, despite a full season.
Jeremiah Lasky, Saved by the Bell: The College Years
Move over, Zack Morris. There’s a new looker on campus, and he’s after Kelly Kapowski’s pom-poms.
Pietro Boselli, World’s Hottest Math Teacher
Boselli, 27, blew up on social media earlier this year when one of his University College London students posted a pic of him (and his Superman-like physique) to social media. As a result, he was outed as a sometimes model who specializes in computational fluid dynamics specifically as applied to the design of turbo machinery. Say what?! Either way, we’d be the a to his b+fyesplease any day. Up, up and away.