I Didn't Say It ...

David Archuleta, former American Idol contestant and out Mormon singer, on how trans people helped him come out:

“When I was still a shy 16 yr-old teenager living in Utah, entering the public view on American idol it was daunting because I didn’t know if people were going to see parts of me I was working so hard to bury deep down. I was just a scared queer kid that didn’t understand himself but still trying to do my best in a singing competition viewed by millions, to make my family, home state, faith community, and the idol audience proud. There were a lot of reasons I was nervous but one of the biggest was feeling so exposed when I still didn’t understand myself and feared being outed for something I didn’t know whether I was or not as gay or queer … Adore Delano [RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant] was on my same season of idol and just a year older than me. Even though I wasn’t out yet I felt safe with her. Whatever in me that I so despised and was ashamed [of] went away for a bit when I [was] hanging and laughing with her or having talks. She was the first person from the LGBTQIA+ community I ever had an open conversation with about someone in their queer experience and coming out. I was surprised to see someone openly figuring themselves out and not feeling ashamed or embarrassed or a need to hide. Even though I didn’t realize where I was on my journey, by knowing her and befriending her I became a little less afraid of myself. I’m so proud of her to see her continuing to blossom and continue in her journey being more fully herself in her transition … inspiring others the way she did with me and so many countless others … Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility] to you … and to all the rest of my Trans family who I love and am inspired by. The world is better with y’all in it.”

This just further proves how one of us coming out, as gay or bi or trans, paves the way for others to follow. Had Archuleta never met Adore, he may have just gone back to Utah and lived a closeted life, desperate to stay in the church as so many other gay Mormons have done.

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Mrs. Betty Bowers, AKA Deven Green, comedian and America’s Best Christian, on hypocrisy in the new regime:

“I learned this week that you can put your troops’ lives in danger, compromise our national security, and violate the Espionage Act, and the government will do nothing. But if you write an editorial for your school newspaper that [The Felon] doesn’t like, you we be abducted on the street and disappeared.”

Bowers is speaking of Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk who co-authored an op-ed about the university’s response to student demands for divestment from Israel. A week later, leaving her home, Öztürk was grabbed by a half-dozen masked agents of the Department of Homeland Security, cuffed, put in a car and driven away.

This is not America; this regime talks about how their side has all the rights to Free Speech, but attacks and disappears those who disagree with them.

Resist.

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Jasmine Crockett, Democrat Representative from Texas, Christian Nationalist Mike Johnson's hissy fit:

“So Speaker Johnson threw a tantrum today and cancelled votes for the rest of the week because he couldn’t wrangle enough support  to block new parents from voting [by proxy] in Congress. I guess when you don’t get your way, you just shut it down and go home? The American people didn’t elect us to pout.”

Nine of his own GOP members rebelled against Johnson’s Faux Christian move to tank a procedural vote on a measure that many considered anti-family … allowing new parents to vote by proxy rather than coming to Congress, which is something that was done during the pandemic.

The GOP is so out-of-touch with what people want.

Resist.

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Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister, on the lasting damage The Felon has inflicted on Canada:

"The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over. What exactly the United States does next is unclear but what is clear—what is clear—is that we as Canadians have agency. We have power. We are masters in our own home. We can control our destiny. We can give ourselves much more than any foreign government including the United States can ever take away. We can deal with this crisis best by building our strength right here at home. It will take hard work. It will take steady and focused determination from governments, from businesses, from labor, from Canadians. We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere and we will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven't seen in generations."

The bit about pivoting trade relationships "elsewhere" should concern every American. Thanks to The Felon’s idiotic tariffs, the US is no longer a stable partner to foreign nations and even countries like China and Russia are going to look like better options for many of our former allies.

The Felon promised his supporters a new "Golden Age" but he’s dragging us into an economic Dark Age.

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Ruben Gallego, Arizona Democrat Senator, announcing that he's putting a hold on [The Felon’s] nominees to run the Department of Veterans Affairs amidst cuts to that agency:

"Talking to veterans, people that I served with as well as seeing some of what’s happening in Arizona, I decided that whatever tool I have to fix the situation, I’m going to use it. And this is one of the few tools I have at this point."

The hold will complicate Richard Topping's nomination process and prevent the Senate from moving quickly to a vote, possibly tying up hours and even days of floor time. In the process, Gallego will be able to generate attention for the VA and highlight to the public exactly how terrible these nominees are.

Democrats need to fight and Ruben Gallego is showing us how you play hardball against MAGAts.

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Jonathan Groff, on how his late ex-BF Gavin Creel helped him come out:

“He changed my life. I had come out of the closet personally, but there had been no occasion for me to announce it publicly. We were dating and he was so out and doing ‘Hair‘ [on Broadway] at the time and he organized these buses [to the National Equality March]. I really remember the moment of looking over at him with literally a bullhorn and feeling like, ok am I going to like [come out]. It was such an essential moment because of who he was and how out and vocal and how brave and fearless and externalized he was and wanting to kind of try to be as brave as he was. But it was also the love that I was feeling for him. The need that I feel when I perform, the joy I feel when doing that. Feeling love like that for the first time mind-blowingly meant more to me [than performing]. Because at that time it was 2009, [and with] coming out of the closet it was sort of an unspoken thing that you were sacrificing something in your career if you were going to come out publicly. And I remember looking at him and feeling that I would rather feel this feeling than ever be on a TV show or do a movie. This is so much more meaningful to me. I owe him that and I am so grateful we got to talk about it many times even after we broke up. It’s such an unbelievable loss.”

This is just proof, again, that everyone who comes out paves the way for someone to follow.

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I Didn't Say It ...

Jonathan Groff, on what it’s like to shoot a gay sex scene:

“So, when you first get there and you take off the robes and you’re in your weird little dick sock and your anal cover, there’s usually some, like, laughter, and then we sort of talk about what is happening in the scene. And we sort of do a rehearsal with our shorts on or whatever. And then we do it. I find [sex scenes] really fun and enjoyable and funny and weird and hilarious and a great opportunity to share a lot about characters. And there’s no words, so it’s an interesting thing to act. But I’ve never done a sex scene with someone who smells bad or I didn’t like something about them. That would be terrible. That’s the benefit I’ve had. I’ve never done a sex scene with someone that has not been so respectful and great about smelling fine and making it as palatable as possible.”

I could barely get beyond “anal cover” and so I’ll leave it at that.

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Burt Reynolds, promoting his new memoir, on Charlie Sheen and his HIV status:

“He’s handled it badly, I think. His father is a very, very decent man and a dear friend of mine. I feel bad for him but Charlie, I don’t feel bad for him. He’s getting what he deserves. If you’re going to misbehave like that, they’re going to get you. He misbehaved badly. Very badly. But you know, when you’re that age, it’s tough. All those things are coming at you and it’s difficult.”

Funny. I remember back in the day when the rumor mills swirled that playboy Burt had AIDS and he said he was afraid the rumor would ruin his career.

You’d think he’d know better, but maybe his toupee is too tight or maybe he’s just an assh*le.

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Caitlyn Jenner, on looking like a “man in a dress”:

“One thing that has always been important for me, and it may seem very self-absorbed or whatever, is first of all your presentation of who you are. I think it’s much easier for a trans woman or a trans man who authentically kind of looks and plays the role. So what I call my presentation. I try to take that seriously. I think it puts people at ease. If you’re out there and, to be honest with you, if you look like a man in a dress, it makes people uncomfortable. So the first thing I can do is try to present myself well. I want to dress well. I want to look good. When I go out, as Kim says, you’ve got to rock it because the paparazzi will be there.”

I understand she’s new to this, and she’s still transitioning, but does she have to transition from one kind of an asshat to another kind of asshat.

Caitlyn looks like Caitlyn, and she should accept that, but she also needs to know that other people, trans or otherwise, look like themselves. Maybe she should transition into accepting all people as they are?

To be fair, she has, once again, apologized for putting her foot in her mouth, but I still wish she'd think before she speaks.

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Janine Turner, former Northern Exposure actress and current has-been wingnut, on how Darth Vader’s costume was black because Star Wars movies were based on the Bible:

“Regarding Darth Vader, please! The Bible talks darkness and light. This is about evil and good. Darkness and light. This doesn’t have anything to do with anything else, this goes back to biblical times. It’s been discussed in the Bible, Jesus talks about it. It’s about darkness and light, evil and good.”

I guess this is what happens to actresses who cannot get a job after being on a hit show?

Siddown Janine, sometimes a movie is just a movie, and not about the Bible at all.

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Barbara Walters, while interviewing Bradley Cooper for her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2015 special:

“I could just sit and stare at you but that would take too much time, but I, I find you very screwable.”

Grandma needs a nap.

I remember when Walters was considered a serious journalist, interviewing all kinds of heads of state, and now the eighty-six-year-old is reduced to tired come-ons to forty-year-old men, young enough to be her grandson.

Don't get me wrong, Cooper is screwable, but for Walters to say that ... ew.

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I Didn't Say It ...

Hillary Clinton, on the Treasury Department’s plan to add a woman to the ten-dollar bill:

“I don’t like the idea that as a compromise you would basically have two people on the same bill. One would be a woman. That sounds pretty second class to me, so I think a woman should have her own bill.”

You know, she’s right. Sure, it’d be said to see that guy who’s on the ten-spot go, but let him go, he had his turn.

Rosa Parks!

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Jonathan Groff, on his coming out:

“When I came out, I understood that maybe I wouldn’t be the male romantic lead in a Nicholas Sparks movie. And I’m okay with that. I love theater. I came to New York to be a theater actor. There are a lot of out gay theater actors ... I'd rather be a working actor and not hiding anything in my personal life. Weirdly, after I came out, I began to get a lot more film and television work. That’s all a way of saying that the reason I don’t mind talking about it over and over is because that is the way acceptance happens, and that’s the way you break down those walls. It’s what Harvey Milk said about coming out to all your friends. It’s important. And the more we talk about it, then the less we’ll finally have to talk about it. And for me personally, it feels liberating. I enjoy talking about it because I felt I couldn’t talk about it for so long.”

Word. Everyone needs to come out, as L,G,B, or T, and then there is no shame, no secrecy, no big deal.

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President Barack Obama, on the filled-to-the-rim GOP Clown Car:

"They’re going to be making a whole bunch of stuff up, and when I say a lot of stuff, I mean a lot of stuff. You know, we’ve got some healthy competition in the Democratic Party, but I’ve lost count on how many Republicans are running for this job. They’ll have enough for an actual Hunger Games. That is an interesting bunch."

May the odds be ever in our favor.

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Jimmy Carter, former President, on marriage equality and his own personal faith:

“That’s no problem with me. I think everybody should have a right to get married regardless of their sex. The only thing I would draw line on, I wouldn’t be in favor of the government being able to force a local church, congregation to perform gay marriages if they didn’t want to. But those two partners should be able to go to a local courthouse or to a different church and get married. That’s no problem.”

It really is that simple, and why the wingnuts don’t see it explains why they’re wingnuts.

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Brody Jenner, on his father Bruce’s transition to Caitlyn Jenner and how it has affected their relationship:

“Well, growing up, I didn’t really have the greatest relationship with Bruce. I didn’t see him that often. And Caitlyn is just a much freer person. It’s incredible to see the difference between Caitlyn and Bruce. Bruce and I kind of didn’t really get along. And Caitlyn? It’s literally like trying to get to know somebody — like your dad — over again. But in a better way.”

The times they are a’changing.

Good on Brody, and good on Caitlyn for becoming herself, and making herself a better parent.

PS: Brody's hot.

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Jimmy Carter, again, on if he thinks Jesus would have approved of same-sex marriage:

“I believe he would, I don’t have any verse in scripture…I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that’s just my own personal belief. I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.”

Again, very clear very plain; who does my marriage hurt?

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Jonathan Groff, again, on whether or not he was disappointed that Madonna was not allowed backstage after she was seen texting in the theater while he was onstage in Hamilton:

“No. Because that bitch was on her phone. You couldn’t miss it from the stage. It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly lit by the light of her iPad through three-quarters of the show.”

I love that he called her out, especially since Madge and her people say it never happened.

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Hillary Clinton, again, on which SNL actress — Amy Poehler or Kate McKinnon — does the best Hillary Clinton:

“Amy’s a friend of mine and Kate’s doing a great job. You’re not going to get me to pick one or the other. I think I’m the best Hillary Clinton.”

True dat.

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Which One Would You Hit: The Looking Edition

We don't get HBO, so I never saw the first season of the series, Looking, until AT&T gave us a Free Preview, and I recorded all of the episodes. it was a bit grimy, for my tastes, which is different than gritty, which I would have liked, but we aren't here to discuss that.

It's a simple question:

Which.One.Would.You.Hit?

Clockwise from the top left: Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett, Frankie J. Alvarez, Raul Castillo or Daniel Franzese.

Which ... one.

I Didn't Say It

Jonathan Groff, actor, on whether coming out affects an actor's career:

"When I came out, people said it may have a negative effect on my career, and that’s definitely something I thought about before I did it. But I don’t hold that belief. I just go on my auditions and plug away as I normally would. At the end of my career, I can look back and ask, ‘Well, did it, or didn’t it?’ But at the moment, I just have to move forward and hope that people will follow my actions."

Sure, coming out could affect anyone's career choice,m but living in the closet, living in silence, isn't a better option.

Coming out is the only way to live.

E.W. Jackson, "bishop," on Democrats not being Christian:

"At the Democratic Convention they will be spitting in the face of every Bible believing Christian in America. They will be saying, 'we don't care what you think, what you believe, or what the Bible or the God of the Bible says. We know better than God'. The Democrat Party has turned its back on Christians. It is time to turn our backs on the Democrat Party." 

Wow. He's calling the Democratic Party narrow-minded?

Pot. Kettle. Bishop.

Ji Wallace, Australian Olympic trampolinist, and Silver medalist at the 2000 Sydney games, 'coming out' as HIV-positive after seeing a Greg Louganis interview:

“I felt inspired to write. I too am an Olympic medal winner living with HIV. I have never publicly disclosed this before but felt inspired by [the] interview… and by Anderson Cooper’s ‘coming out’ letter last month describing ‘value in being seen and heard’ in the face of disturbing violence, bullying, persecution and condemnation by peers, colleagues, government officials and worst of all family and friends. I too have been that victim of these atrocious behaviours. Luckily I managed to come through....Being seen does have value. A voice does have value. I have the support of my boyfriend, my great friends and my loving parents. Many do not and this is, in part, for them."

Bravo.

More people who are positive need to come out. Silence does equal death. Silence also equals fear and intolerance.

HIV is not a death sentence, it's a medical condition.

It does not deserve shame.

Pat Robertson, on the LGBT protests of Chick-fil-Antigay:

"It’s a chicken sandwich, it’s a piece of white meat chicken between two pieces of white bread, it’s also a milkshake, now we’re going to go have demonstrations over that? But you know something, I was reading today in Leviticus, which is the law of the Old Testament, but it lays out the reasons why land will vomit out its inhabitants and it goes through a category of stuff we are calling Constitutional rights: killing babies, offering them to Moloch, and it says it is an abomination for a man to lie with a man as with a woman. It’s what it says. That is the moral law that God set forth and now we’ve got people at a university petitioning because somebody said I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I defy these homosexuals to bring forth a baby from that part of the anatomy which they concentrate on, when that happens I will change everything I’m saying; until that happens, I wish those demonstrators would shut their mouth."

Oh, Pat, you delusional fuck.

No one is saying you don't have the right to your religious beliefs. The protests over Chick-fil-Antigay had to do with them taking our money and using it to fund anti-gay groups.

And lay off Leviticus, unless you've given up all shellfish and wearing mixed fabrics.

You want me to shut up? After you....

Adam Levine, musician,m on marriage equality:

"It's just so silly and it doesn't make any sense to me that you wouldn't be able to marry whomever you want to marry. It's not our business. I don't know why we're obsessed with making everything in this country our business, all the time. It seems we're a little behind on that, and we just need to make it legal and stop caring so much. It doesn't matter. And it shouldn't matter..."

Well, it does mater, and Dave matter, because equality matters.

But I do see Levine's point.

Jeremy Renner, on the KashKowdsahians, er, the Kardashians:

"Oh, all those ridiculous people with zero talent who spend their lives making sure everyone knows their name. Those stupid, stupid people." 

Word.

But you also need to blame the stupid, stupid people who follow that family.

You can't have an audience if no one is watching.

Dave Mustaine, Megadeth lead singer and born again "Christian," blaming Obama for the recent rash of shootings:

"Back in my country, my president is trying to pass a gun ban so he's staging all of these murders. The 'Fast and Furious' thing down at the border. And Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there. And now, the beautiful people at the Sikh temple. I don't know where I'm going to live if America keeps going the way it's going because it looks like it's turning into Nazi America."

Dave. You're a moron.

Seriously. Obama is to blame, and not the NRA and not the fact that any wingnut can get an assault weapon just by asking for one and maybe showing an ID?

Stick to, um, singing, because you're an idiot about anything else.

I Didn't Say It......

Ken Mehlman, on how bad he feels that eleven states passed anti-gay amendments in 2004:

"Look, I have a lot of friends who ask questions and who are angry about it. I understand that folks are angry, I don’t know that you can change the past. As I’ve said, one thing I regret a lot is the fact that I wasn’t in the position I am today where I was comfortable with this part of my life, where I was able to be an advocate against that [strategy] and able to be someone who argued against it. I can’t change that – it is something I wish I could and I can only try to be helpful in the future. But I understand the anger and I talk to friends about it – it’s something that I hear from a number of friends."

Hypocrite.

Self-loathing hypocritical asshat.

I understand being in the closet, but I don't understand working as hard as Ken Mehlman did against the LGBT community, and coming up with so many anti-gay measures and plans and campaigns as he did.

He wants forgiveness?

Well, Ken, maybe when you spend as much time, effort and money working for equality, I'll think about it.

Michael Bloomberg, NYC Mayor, on the Islamic Community Center, 51 Park:

"But if we say that a mosque or a community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom. We would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting. We would feed the false impressions that some Americans have about Muslims. We would send a signal around the world that Muslim Americans may be equal in the eyes of the law, but separate in the eyes of their countrymen. And we would hand a valuable propaganda tool to terrorist recruiters, who spread the fallacy that America is at war with Islam."

Religious Freedom applies to all religions, not just the ones pandered to by mindless Republican fucktards like Beck, Gingrich and Palin.

Jonathan Groff, on being gay and coming out to his parents:

"When I wanted to be an actor, my dad understood it, as he has his passion for horses. And the interesting thing about coming out is that everyone in their life – gay or straight – in a way comes out. Like debutantes, they have a coming out, saying, 'Look, this is who I am'."

Perhaps Ken Mehlman should have taken a page from Groff's Handbook.

It doesn't have to be self-loathing and hate, it can be a process that everyone goes through, in finding your true self.

Gay or straight, we all have closets we need to exit.

Drew Barrymore, telling one reporter about another reporter, while promoting her new movie, Going The Distance:

"You should have heard this bitch I had to do an interview with before you. God, I wanted to punch her, she would just not drop the youth thing. I have no problem talking about it. I am not someone who is ashamed of my past. I'm actually really proud. I know I made a lot of mistakes, but they in turn were my life lessons. It's actually good to get it done young and have a great life later. But yeah, man, I wanted to rip this woman's face off. She just would not shut up about it."

What happened to the Peace Drew?

The Love and Light Drew?

Kelly Bensimon, wackadoo from The Real Housewives of New York, on Danielle Staub, of The Real Mafia Wives Of New Jersey:

"If Danielle gets her own spinoff, I think that’d be amazing for her. She makes for great TV. She’s out of the box and has no inhibitions. It’s not my place to say whether someone has issues or not. I will say she has a lot of fun with what she’s doing. I don’t know what her real life is like, but I honestly don’t think that she’s well matched against the rest of that cast for that show. Still, she definitely is fun to watch. I love seeing her. She has no limitations and that’s great."

Plus, she's no Bethenny. 

Tiger Woods, on his ex-wife Elin's interview in People:

"This is a very painful, personal and private time for our family. Throughout this entire time, Elin has shown unwavering concern and support for our children. She is a wonderful mother. I know that the two of us will do everything we can to help our children adjust to this new family situation. We both cherish the time we can spend with Sam and Charlie. Whether it's taking Sam to school or hitting balls with Charlie on the range, nothing gives me more enjoyment than these simple pleasures. We have two special kids, and I'm going to enjoy every minute with them. Personally, I am learning to balance family and golf. My children come first and always will, but I also appreciate golf more than ever. I understand how important the fans and the game are to me. I know how lucky I am to do what I do for a living, and I am deeply grateful for everyone who has supported me."

Oh Tiger, it always comes back to golf.

I know you've given Elin a good chunk of your billions, but you still have enough left where you can retire and just be a good father to your kids. Be a good example to your kids.

Carl Paladino, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate on how the state's poor should be 

housed in prisons for their own betterment:

"Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene ... the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes. These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities. You have to teach them basic things — taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things."

I, for one, would like to see Carl Paladino housed in prison for a while, and then hear him tell us all how nice it is, with sports courts and toilets for him to use.

Typical Republican non-thinking asshat.

Mary Bale, on throwing a cat into a trash bin:

"I want to take this opportunity to apologize profusely for the upset and distress that my actions have caused. I cannot explain why I did this, it is completely out of character and I certainly did not intend to cause any distress to Lola or her owners. It was a split second of misjudgment that has got completely out of control. I don't know what the fuss is about. It's just a cat. I did it as a joke because I thought it would be funny. I never thought it would be trapped, I expected it to wriggle out. I don't know what my relatives will think but to be honest I think everyone is overreacting a bit."

Overreacting to taking a live creature and tossing it into the garbage?

I think Mary Bale needs to spend some time in a dumpster.

A long time.