Hola Amigos, esperamos que su celebración de Halloween haya sido estupenda! Octubre fué un mes increíble y lleno de eventos, en especial los del “Día para salir del closet.” El Viernes 10 de Octubre celebramos en FreeZone con Diva Toxxx, quién tiró la casa por la ventana con su excelente presentación y el Sábado 11 de Octubre celebramos en el evento de Las Vegas Pride en donde se hizo historia cuando gays y lesbianas se unieron en matrimonio en el escenario a solo días de la aprobación del matrimonio gay en Nevada. Finalmente! También, si se perdieron la estupenda presentación de Paloma Makarycomo Selena interpretando “Como La Flor” y “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom”, espero puedan encontrar un video en YouTube! - en otras palabras - Estuvo de película!

En otras noticias, Toño Estrada, nuestro representante de la comunidad latina de la división de extensión de Los Angeles a Las Vegas, fué ganador del premio “Más Popular en la Comunidad LGBT” en los LGBT Hero Awards. Felicitaciones Toño! Estamos super orgullosos.

También, estaremos en los Latin Grammy el Jueves 20 de Noviembre en el MGM Grand aquí en Las Vegas. El evento empezará a las 5pm y será transmitido a las 8pm! Acompañanos! Puedes encontrar tus tickets en mgmgrand.com/entertainment or ticketmaster.com - compra tus tickets a tiempo, de seguro se venderán rapido!

When you think of Nick Jonas – and let’s face it, you’ve been thinking a lot about him lately – a few things come to mind: the straight-edged Jonas Brothers. Former flames Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. His abs.

Per his handlers, two of those topics were off-limits during my chat with Nick, but so what. Ever since he posted a salacious Instagram pic of his fit, V-cut torso in 2013, it’s been ab this, ab that. The 22-year-old BFF to the gay community is also releasing a self-titled, post-Jonas Brothers album, which he chatted about during our interview. You know, in addition to his abs.

You said recently that part of the reason you’re so adamant about reaching out to the gay community is because you don’t feel like the Jonas Brothers did enough of it before. So, is this gay media blitz your way of making up for lost time?

(Laughs) Maybe! I think my brothers and I did what we could, but at that time, in our career and during that moment in our lives, it was pretty crazy. We had so much going on that we were, I think, just trying to stay on top of everything. I’ve had a little time prior to the promotion (of this album) to establish exactly what I want to say, who I wanna talk to and the steps I wanna take.

Did the lack of gay media have anything to do with your handlers? Were people telling you not to do gay press to maintain your conservative Disney image?

To be honest, I don’t think it was that. I think if we had wanted to make an effort there it wouldn’t have been an issue. It was important and it is important to me, and it’s also important to me as I transition into acting.

I’m on a show called Kingdom where my character goes on a pretty interesting journey. I can’t give anything away – no spoilers – but it’s been fun as an actor to be willing to go to that place. I love playing this role that I play, and I’m excited for the audience to go on this journey with me.

Considering you’ve revealed there’s a nude scene, we are also excited to go on this journey with you. What’s it like shooting a nude scene?

It’s pretty bizarre. The way you have to go into it… it’s not real. As actors, it’s our job to tell these stories, and with a show like Kingdom, you go the extra mile and push the boundaries and keep it very real. So, in that moment, it’s just about telling the story the best way you can while trying to be honest. As far as any of the physicality goes – or nudity or sex scenes – it’s just about knowing that it isn’t real.

Wait, your sex scene is not real?

(Laughs) It’s not.

Why is it so important for you to reach out to the gays for your solo debut?

When I was setting up this record and meeting with the team about it, I told them that I really wanted to make an effort to embrace that part of my audience. I’ve known for a long time that it is a great part of the audience, and I just never felt like we made all the effort we could to embrace them. It’s been really fun and really incredible.

When did you know the gay community was embracing you?

I think it was a combination of things. I did theater prior to recording music, and so at a very young age I made a lot of really close gay friends. When I started recording music, and my brothers and I started recording and touring, we saw pretty quickly – this was back in 2005/2006 – that this was a big part of our audience. As the years went on, and as I went back into theater, I made the (gay community) a priority. It’s about embracing all sides.

You’re currently on tour, and considering how much attention you’ve given the gays lately, how gay are the audiences that come out to see you?

It’s been pretty awesome to look out and see a difference in the crowd. It’s not drastic by any means; it was kind of there prior, but there’s definitely more of them embracing this next chapter in my life and my music. All that, I can feel. Looking out, there is probably a handful more gay fans out there, which is incredible.

So, like, if you had to rate the gayness of a Nick Jonas show, where would it fall on the Kinsey Scale, 1 being straight and 6 being totally gay?

(Laughs) I don’t know if I can answer that just yet. I think I need to let it continue to evolve. It’s in the early stages here. Let’s see where we get in the next couple of months and then we’ll make that call.

You have a point. Considering you just performed in San Francisco, the number would be skewed.

(Laughs) Exactly!

Because your abs are now famous as well, do you feel obligated to show them at every show?

(Laughs) Umm, no. I haven’t showed them at any of my shows. That was more so when I was in New York celebrating the release of the new music and I went to a couple of gay clubs and… (Laughs) They kind of made me do it, so I had to! But as far as my shows go, I keep it fully clothed.

I saw the video online, Nick. I didn’t see anyone taking your shirt off for you.

It was a few drinks in at that point. All bets were off.

When you show up at a gay club like the ones in New York, do guys hit on you? Do they flirt? And how do you approach a situation like that?

Yeah, it’s interesting. Whether it comes from people who are aware of me and my personal life, or the person who was on the microphone saying it, there’s a general awareness that I am straight but totally embracing of the gay community. I love my gay fans, so it was just a lot of love, and there wasn’t a whole lot of hitting on me and flirting. A little bit, which was actually kind of fun. (Laughs) It was a pretty new environment for me, so I was just trying to take it all in and have a good time.

What do you make of naysayers who say you’re just using your body to bait the gay community?

Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I think it’s unfortunate that some people have to find a negative in every situation. Clearly my heart is in the right place, and more than anything, if they just looked at my life and my gay friends and the authentic nature of where my heart is, they’d just see that they’re kind of ignorant.

The nature of where we are today is, we’re in a time where we need to make strides and step forward as a society and embrace all people from all different walks of life. When you’re trying to make a bold statement like that, some people aren’t gonna fall in line with that. And that’s OK. You gotta stay on your own path.

You’ve recently opened up about your religious journey and how you’ve taken off your “purity ring.” Did the gay people in your life have anything to do with reexamining your religion? Have you always been this accepting of homosexuality?

That’s a good question. I always have been. I think that’s a testament to growing up in the theater and from an early age being surrounded by (gay people), and my parents – although my dad was a pastor – were very open-minded and said the same thing that I say, “We have to love people from all walks of life, and that’s the key.” It was nice to come from that.

Definitely my opinion and my feelings on faith and religion, specifically, have evolved over time just having seen some of the judgments that other people show toward the lesbian and gay community. It really burdens my heart, and it saddens me in a huge way because I feel like it’s not our place to judge at all. Some of the most loving, caring relationships that I’ve ever seen are between my gay friends, and some of my straight friends’ relationships are the worst examples of what love is.

With your parents being as open-minded as they are, were there gay people in your life even before you pursued theater?

There were. My parents were always good about having an open mind toward everyone. Like I said, although church and religion were a cornerstone for us in a lot of ways, they (my parents) were open, and especially after we left the church and had to develop our own faith is when my views and opinions started to take shape.

Would you still consider yourself Christian?

I say now that I have a relationship with God and that it’s my own relationship with God. It’s one of those things that I try to keep most personal because I think that’s the healthiest way I’ve learned to deal with it. I keep it as that, and I know that I love God and he loves me.

Nick Jonas "Jealous" Music Video

Nick Jonas Gay Club Tour

Nick Jonas plays Guess The Bulge featuring Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Zac Efron and more

They don't make hearts bigger than the one beating inside of Annie Lennox.

Despite the icon’s legendary recording career, dating back to the late ’70s, music has taken a backseat to another passion: people. While still dedicated to philanthropic work focused on causes like HIV/AIDS and global peace, the singer-songwriter returns with her first disc in four years, a covers album called Nostalgia. 

On the heels of its release, Lennox called from London for a frank conversation about loathing her “gender bender” label, the reframing of feminism (Beyoncé is “feminist lite,” she says) and being uneasy with the superficiality of the music business. 

During a recent Q&A in London, you mentioned that you stopped writing because, and I quote you, “I’m too happy.” 

I said a lot of things that night! To be honest, looking back on being creative and what that was about and where the impulse lies to express yourself – there was a lot of darkness in my life. For everyone, we have our own darkness and our light, and I even wrote about that. 

You know, I’ve been through a lot. It’s coming up on my sixth decade now, and I have less of the impulse to express myself in that way. I feel as if I express myself very well in other ways. I branched out, you know? Since I started campaigning a decade ago, I’ve got this need to voice myself and place myself into a certain kind of activism. I find that so inspiring and such a great thing to do, but for the last year I’ve also decided, “OK, I wanna make some music and that is Nostalgia.” So, I haven’t been able to be as proactive (philanthropically) this year as I normally am. I’m one of those people who, when I do something, I have to do it all the way. 

You mention “the darkness,” something you seem to have been attracted to for a good part of your musical career, and also one of the reasons people are drawn to you. 

I don’t know if I’m attracted to darkness. I couldn’t say “attracted.” I pick up on that because it is interesting, isn’t it? Maybe we are drawn to it. Maybe it’s already a prerequisite within ourselves. I mean, humans have this capacity to be so joyful and so full of love, and sweet and light and all of those innocent things – like when you see children, you see how we are before we become adolescents, and we’re different. 

I see children every day because they pass my house as they go to play in the park – 6 year olds who are skipping, and they're dancing and they’re singing and they’re playing together. If you saw adults doing that, you’d think they were mad – you’d think they were completely bonkers! That joy should be our inheritance, but a lot of that gets hammered out of us, I think, because the world is a fucking dark place – excuse my French – but it truly, truly is. But there’s also beauty in it. 

It sounds like you’ve found a lot of beauty in your own life lately. Why not a write a joyous album?

(Laughs) Ehh. It’s funny; it’s really strange. You’re talking about this thing called the “muse” in a way. There’s something called the muse that people refer to – writers and poets – and I don’t know what that is. It’s kind of an urge, an itch you have to scratch, and right now I’m very inspired – truly inspired – and this album for me has been an absolute pleasure and a real joy. I love the songs. I love the music. I love translating them into my own kind of arrangements and sounds. 

Recently, when we went to LA, I made nine really amazing performance videos with this wonderful filmmaker, Natalie Johns, and I’m so proud of what Natalie has done with me collaboratively. I think it’s beautiful, and I’m a bit like, “Wow, getting the chance to still do this, it’s great.” Like I said, I struggle a lot. And life – it just never stops being interesting in a way. 

While we’re talking about life and Nostalgia, what about your own life makes you feel nostalgic? 

If I look back at my own life, it goes right back to the ’50s. I was 6 years old when it turned into 1960, you see, so I still have very strong memories of my childhood in Scotland – my upbringing, how that was. There was a lot of hardship, and my background – I don’t come from a silver spoon. It was never handed to me. It was working class, and you had to work damn hard; I’m talking about my parents and their grandparents before them.

I remember a time when there were hardly any motor cars on the road. I remember the man coming to light the gas lights on the street. Stuff like this – it’s really nostalgic. I don’t want to go back, obviously. Anyway, one can’t. There is no turning back, but sometimes I just kind of yearn for a gentler time. I say it was “gentler,” but looking back through Nostalgia, through this American Songbook, I also understand that going back to the ’30s in the United States and in so many parts of the world – this is pre-civil rights, before the movement had really got up and running. It’s like the voice of the civil rights movement was not being really acknowledged and the platform wasn’t as big as it became through Martin Luther King and all the work of these incredible activists. 

If you think about it, it’s really not that long since people were in the closet about gay rights. It’s been extraordinary. I think that it’s accelerating in the West. I think that things are changing radically, and some things – many things – for the good. Other things I think will be challenging for people because now we have a whole new paradigm and it’s complex, as human beings are. There will be upsides and there will be downsides, and it won’t just be heaven on a stick. 

Because you’ve always embraced your LGBT audience, your music has been a safe place for many people who identify as such. What do you attribute to the loyalty of your gay fan base? 

You see, that’s a question you have to ask the people that you’re describing. I can’t answer for the gay community. I truly can’t. I just make music, and I have no idea who is going to listen to it. I’m just the person that I am. 

When I was given this label of “gender bender,” I really felt it was diminishing in a way. It was very simplistic. I wasn’t bending gender; I was making a statement in a kind of subtle way. I thought it was subtle, but to some people it might have seemed overt. I was saying, “Look, as a woman I can be equal to a man,” and in this partnership with the Eurythmics, where I was in a partnership with a man (Dave Stewart), the two of us felt so connected that my gender didn’t matter. In a funny sort of way, ultimately I was coming out to say, “Look, I’m not going to be what you think I am. I’m intelligent. I’m not a dancing doll just because I’m female and I’m singing. I’m not singing for your pleasurable entertainment. It’s not about that. It’s cerebral and it’s heartfelt and it’s intelligent.”

This is something I’ve been saying to a lot of my gay compadres: One day we’ll get rid of this word “gay,” because it’s irrelevant. Of course it’s terribly relevant when you are trying to create a campaign. During a human rights movement, it’s terribly important to have labels and to have platforms that are very identifiable, but ultimately we should just be fine with everybody no matter what our sexual orientation is. It’s nobody’s effing business. 

Our use of labels is evolving. So many people are resisting them or calling themselves “queer” because it’s a broader term. 

Even that – no. It’s diminishing. Broaden out. And it will come.  

As a longtime feminist, how do you feel about the way the term “feminist” has been reframed in contemporary culture? 

It’s a process. It continues to be reframed, and necessarily so, because people’s relationship to the word has been a bit ambivalent over the last few decades. According to who you speak to, they don’t sometimes quite know what to do with the word. I did one event in particular called (Barclays) Women of the Year and they select certain people for certain kinds of recognition, and I was given an award not so long ago. I was so touched to have this award. I felt like I’m with a certain kind of camaraderie here and we’re all together in this room – 400 women from all walks of life – and I said at the podium, “I’m proud to be a feminist; let’s everybody stand up.” Half of the room stayed seated. It was such a hard moment for me because I realized that some women, many women, still have issues with the word and almost distance themselves from it because they’re afraid it’s synonymous with hating men. 

Which is something you don’t believe to be true, right? 

Not at all. I think that what happened over the years, and quite rightly so, is that women had to be incredibly radical, stringent and strident about the voice of feminism. They had to do that, but I think that nowadays it’s a more subtle thing. But we need men to be onboard with us. That’s my view. Some women might disagree with me. I’m not saying I hold the key to the absolute truth – I’m not saying that at all – but I also feel very much that the LGBTQ movement and the women’s movement need to get together far more frequently because we’re coming from the same place of human rights and civil rights. 

So what do you make of someone like Beyoncé? She recently performed on the MTV Video Music Awards and proclaimed herself a “feminist” during her set. 

I would call that “feminist lite.” L-I-T-E. I’m sorry. It’s tokenistic to me. I mean, I think she’s a phenomenal artist – I just love her performances – but I’d like to sit down (with her). I think I’d like to sit down with quite a few artists and talk to them. I’d like to listen to them; I’d like to hear what they truly think. 

I see a lot of it as them taking the word hostage and using it to promote themselves, but I don’t think they necessarily represent wholeheartedly the depths of feminism – no, I don’t. I think for many it’s very convenient and it looks great and it looks radical, but I have some issues with it. I have issues with it. Of course I do. I think it’s a cheap shot. I think what they do with it is cheap and ... yeah. What can I tell you? Sex always sell. And there’s nothing wrong with sex selling, but it depends on your audience. If they’re 7-year-old kids, I have issues with it. 

For years, you’ve resisted the “celebrity” moniker. You don’t like to think of yourself as that. 

No, I don’t. Again, I feel quite diminished by it. Obviously, I’m sometimes given that moniker, but every time it happens I feel reduced by it. I cringe inside. 

When somebody sees you on the street and reacts to you in the way some people react to a “celebrity,” how does that make you feel then?

It depends on how it’s done. Sometimes people are so, so sweet and it’s so touching, and it’s very human because they approach me in a way where I don’t feel uncomfortable. It’s just a human exchange. Of course I try to just go in the street and be like everybody else. I’ve always done that. I don’t want to be singled out, but of course being a person in the public eye, from time to time, you will be. People will see the projection that they know you to be. In that sense, I’m who I am as a person and I’m also this projection for people, so I cannot be tough on people that recognize me because I’ve been doing this for years now. The only time when it becomes incredibly uncomfortable is when people are just a bit thoughtless and invade in such a way where they really don’t think. They kind of treat you like a species in a safari park, and really, it’s awful. It’s so terrible. 

Camera phones haven’t made things any better in that regard, have they?

I think it’s far worse when people are paid to steal your image. They pay money for that stolen image of you and you have no control over it – but they’re making money out of it! I mean, I haven’t played into that paparazzi thing – I’ve just tried to completely and utterly downplay it – but you can play it up if you want. You can have them following you 24/7 if you want that kind of life. Some people do. I mean, bizarrely, people seem to want it. I’ve never understood why. 

Is it true that you may never write again and that this may be your last album?

Who knows. I don’t know. I say this because I’m aware that I’m not a young person, but I’m so spirited in myself – it’s really strange. Just because I’m almost 60 now, it doesn’t mean that I’m less passionate or less intensely curious about the world around me. In fact, I’m even more curious about it in another kind of way.

There’s this youth culture that is really, really powerful and really, really strong, but what it does is it really discards people once they reach a certain age. I actually think that people are so powerful and interesting – women, especially – when they reach my age. We’ve got so much to say, but popular culture is so reductive that we just talk about whether we’ve got wrinkles, or whether we’ve put on weight or lost weight, or whether we’ve changed our hair style. I just find that so shallow. Because it’s a shallow place, it’s one of the reasons the music industry and the music scene is really not truly for me and never really has been.

Have you thought about the legacy you want to leave?

I can’t think about legacy. I guess if you go onto the Internet you can find many things that were created over all of these years, and I guess that is the legacy. It is the music that’s been made, the interviews, the video, the photo shoots, and there were so many creative things that happened and they’re there. I have no control over what people think about it. They may love it; they may hate it.

But your legacy is more than just music. You’re a humanitarian. It’s beyond just creating albums and making videos, right? You’re part of the bigger picture. 

Well, thank you; that makes me feel complete, because to feel like an intelligent, rounded person with integrity, I don’t think that you can just be an entertainer. I think there’s another side – to me, anyway – that needs to be satisfied, and that is through contribution. I do it because I feel so despondent about the world at times. I feel I must do something, otherwise I feel useless. I’m not going to ever save the world, but because I have resources, I can at least make a contribution.

Marriage equality in Nevada begins today!

That’s right. After several days of back and forth, the stay has been lifted on the landmark ruling, striking down our state's marriage ban.

Today, effective immediately, marriage equality is law in Nevada.

All across our state, same-sex couples will at long last share in the freedom to marry.

If you’re ready to legally marry the person you love, click here to find your local clerk’s office—and go get married, Nevada!

It’s hard to believe that 14 years ago, anti-gay forces pushed through a draconian constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples.

Those were dark times—but Nevadans didn’t give up. Supporters like you immediately went to work, talking with family and friends to make the case that in our state, freedom means freedom for everyone—and everyone should have the freedom to marry the person they love. And today shows us, it was all worth it.

Marriage equality will forever be the law in Nevada and we have you to thank for it. Ready to marry in Nevada today?

Just click here for more information—and be sure to call your clerk’s office in advance, as each office may begin issuing licenses at different times.

This is a day that none of us will soon forget.

Together, we’ve made history—and Nevada will never be the same. 

Ward Curtin Director, Freedom Nevada