Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Andreja Pejic Has July Covered!

Andreja Pejic has hit another significant milestone. The supermodel lands two separate covers for the month of July; Harpers Bazaar Serbia and Glamour Spain.

This marks the first time a transgender model has landed the iconic cover of any Harpers Bazaar cover in the world, and this one hits home for Andreja as she was born and spent her early years in Serbia. Whilst this is a landmark, over at Glamour Spain they are also making a significant breakthrough, this time by choosing NOT to label Andreja as a 'transgender' model on the cover to sell more copies or gain more attention, and more importantly identifying her simply by her name and the title "La Balleza Valiente" meaning "The brave beauty."

Pejic has helped drive the fashion industry forward when it comes to issues of nonbinary and transgender acceptance. In 2014, Pejic publicly announced her sexual reassignment surgery. She became the first transgender model to feature in American Vogue, land a cosmetic contract with Make Up For Ever, and has gone on to be the first to land the covers of Marie Claire Spain, and GQ Portugal.

Jazz Jennings Dishes On Making Barack Obama 'Proud' — and One Super Awkward Hug with Oprah Winfrey!



Jazz Jennings‘ meeting with former President Barack Obama was one for the books!
The 16-year-old I Am Jazz star opened up about her “incredible moment” with the 55-year-old, in which the beloved politician graced her with four words she’ll never forget. 


“We were at the White House for the pride reception,” Jennings recalled on Tuesday’s PEOPLE Now, noting that Obama began chatting with her during a quick stop for photos. “He started saying things like, ‘Oh, so you’re in high school now, how is that? How old are you? Oh, you’re the same age as my daughter.’ ” 


She added, “Everyone was kind of rushing him and as we were leaving he said, ‘I’m proud of ya.’ And it was just an incredible moment to hear the president say that he’s proud of you!” 


Not all of Jennings’ moments with the stars have unfolded quite as smoothly, though. The teen also recalled one super awkward moment she witness her mother share with Oprah Winfrey after an interview. 


“My mom, she wanted to meet Oprah as well — ’cause she’s Oprah,” the trans youth activist said. “And when she went in for the hug I don’t think Oprah was ready so my mom kind of just went in and it was like a single hug basically.” 


“She nestled her head on her breasts like a pillow!” Jennings added. 


The star wasn’t too embarrassed by the display, though: “It was fun. It was fun.” 


I Am Jazz returns with a two-night premiere on TLC on June 27 at 10 p.m. ET and June 28 at 9 p.m. ET. Jennings’ book, Being Jazz: My Life as a Transgender Teen. comes out June 27.

Kane Strang - My Smile Is Extinct

 

Kane Strang has unveiled the official video for his new single, “My Smile Is Extinct,” ahead of the release of his new album, Two Hearts and No Brain, out June 30th on Dead Oceans.

The charmingly offbeat clip directed by Julian Vares features Strang strumming guitar and singing along:

I said kill me now, I want to die
I heard there’s a chance at an afterlife
I might not get let in but at least I won’t be living

Taking to well-worn subject matter (heartbreak, loneliness, family) with a disarmingly frank scalpel, Strang’s wryly deadpan lines never miss a beat - the results often sardonic, and always captivating.

Monday, June 19, 2017

The Gay Vegans: NYC Vegan - Cookbook Review

By Dan Hanley

Before I begin I’d like to give those of you new to The Gay Vegans blog a friendly reminder that I am not a professional book reviewer. I hardly ever will review a cookbook, in fact this is only the second one in six years of having my blog. I write this not to lower your expectations for what you are about to read but to put a spotlight on this specific cookbook, one I am ecstatic to still be exploring.
“NYC Vegan” is full of recipes that make me salivate while turning the pages. Before agreeing to support the book’s blog tour, Mike and I had already pre-ordered copies and were super excited when our copy came. We wanted the cookbook because we have been following Michael and Ethan on social media for years, paying special attention to all of the amazing food they would share. Another reason we wanted the cookbook was because Michael and Ethan are two of the most compassionate people we know, and we have been fortunate to have spent a little time with them. We knew their new cookbook would be a great addition to anyone who includes compassion while cooking.
“NYC Vegan” brings me to New York City. It also brings me into the lives of Michael and Ethan, which is awesome. I love the personal notes from them that are scattered throughout the book. With these and the little bit I know about them, I all of a sudden had a list of the recipes I wanted to try.
It won’t be a surprise to anyone who knows me that of all of the recipes in the book I chose the Diner-Style pancakes to try first. I am a pancake guy. Recipes on my list to try next are the Lasagna, the Shepherdless Pie and the Colcannon. I loved reading the Colcannon recipe! I’m Irish and have never heard about it. Reading through the cookbook I learned so many other things, always a treat.


Important factors about a cookbook that I would promote to friends and family include the ingredients (would I already have them in the house and/or are they easy to find) as well the ease of the recipe. Most times I just want to make a meal so it has to be easy, and easy for me means really easy.

The Diner-Style Pancakes in “NYC Vegan” meet both of these factors. We had all of the ingredients and I think most of you will have them. The recipe was easy to follow and I never felt that I was lost or couldn’t understand something. The last thing you want to feel when trying a new recipe is stupid.


Before I knew it, I was handing Mike a plate of pancakes. I added blueberries, which is usual for me and pancakes. They were delicious and I will try their suggested additions of chocolate chips, strawberries or bananas in the weekends to come.

Aside from the recipes, the layout of the book, the photography and the information on culinary New York City all added to why I love this book. “NYC Vegan” provides an escape to the flavors and cuisines of New York City.

I will keep you posted as I try more of the recipes in “NYC Vegan”. If you’re up to try something new and you will take the time to try these amazing recipes, order a copy of “NYC Vegan” and let me know which recipes you try. If you would like to buy a copy of “NYC Vegan” click here. If you really want a copy yet it’s just not in your budget right now, let me know and I will buy you a copy on Amazon and have it shipped to you.

National LGBTTIQA2S Human Rights Conference Delves Into Issues of Community, Diversity, Difference, and Culture

Over the course of three days, from August 15th-17th, Fierté Montréal Pride will be hosting a National LGBTTIQA2S Human Rights Conference as part of the inaugural Canada Pride Montréal 2017. The conference will examine complex issues from Queer Representation in the Media, to Rape Culture + Sexual Violence in the Gay Community, to Parental Advocacy under Trump/Trudeau.
Canada Pride Montréal 2017, hosted by Fierté Montréal Pride, will be one of the most thought-provoking and ideologically complex events this year in Canada. Ranging from the national human rights conference and a dedicated Francophonie conference, to community activities, dances, concerts, and the parade, communities will gather together to both contemplate and celebrate.
At the National LGBTTIQA2S Human Rights Conference, the topics below will be explored by a variety of experts and seasoned community-builders with a focus on inclusion, building diversity into our communities, and better addressing difference from several perspectives, i.e. gender, race, sexuality, class, and more.
1.     Resisting in Solidarity: Fighting the Gentrification of LGBTQ Neighbourhoods for all Queer Populations
2.     Globalizing Prides: How can the Canadian Pride Movement Build Solidarity with Global Human Rights Struggles
3.     An Overview of LGBTQ Rape Culture and Sexual Violence Among Gay-Identified Males
4.     L Stands for Leader: Women and Leadership in Canada’s LGBTIQ2S Pride Movement
5.     Parent Advocacy Under Trump/Trudeau: Affirmation, Access, Autonomy
6.     On-Line and On Stage: Four Young Trans Artists Discuss Their Work
7.     Creating Authentic Spaces: A Toolkit for Trans and Gender Diverse Inclusive Spaces
Some of the highlighted presenters involved in these provocative conference topics are: Olivia Nuamah (Executive Director of Pride Toronto, 25 years of experience in non-profits and government work building communities, pictured left), Doug Kerr (Vice President of Fierté Canada Pride Board of Directors), Mark Tewksbury, MSM (Canadian Olympic swimmer, and LGBT-sports activist, pictured below), Chase Ross (trans activist, speaker, educator, academic, and Youtuber, FTMTranstastic collaborator), Akiko Asano (CARE, Coaching, Animating, Recreating, Educating, advocate for trans youth), Kim Vance (ARC International, former president of Egale Canada, founded the Egale International Affairs Committee), Julie Hamara (Assistant Coordinator for the 519’s Trans Youth Mentorship Program), Michelle Emson (Toronto filmmaker, human rights activist, LGBTI advocate + educator), Kate Hazell (Specialist, Educations and Training at the 519), and more.

RiNo Donates to Artspace

The RiNo Art District just took a big step toward keeping artists in the neighborhood. The River North (RiNo) Business Improvement District (BID) voted this week to contribute $20,000 toward Artspace and their efforts to develop affordable artist housing in the RiNo Art District, bringing the BID’s total contribution to this effort to $40,000.

As a nonprofit real estate developer, Artspace is in predevelopment on an affordable mixed-use project in RiNo that will include live/work space for low income creatives and their families, commercial space for creative business and nonprofit tenants, a community gallery, and flexible program space at the development on Brighton Blvd and 43rd St.

“One of the biggest concerns we hear from artists is the cost of living and working in the neighborhood,” said RiNo Art District President, Jamie Licko. “We believe Artspace is a critical project that emphasizes attainable housing for creatives and addresses two of our key areas of focus for RiNo: Affordability and Retaining Neighborhood Character.”

The RiNo BID’s total predevelopment contribution of $40,000 has helped leverage more than $300,000 in additional funding from local sources, and demonstrates to the broader community that this is truly a neighborhood objective that fits squarely with RiNo’s overall strategy to address affordability and sustainability for the creative community.

“Artspace is thrilled that our first Denver project will create permanently affordable spaces for creatives and their families to live and work in the River North Art District,” said Shannon Joern, Vice-President of National Advancement with Artspace. “The partnership and support between Artspace, RiNo, the City and other local funders, has been tremendous and we are especially grateful to the RiNo district for its vision and leadership to support making this project a reality.”

The BID’s contribution will go toward Artspace’s work in predevelopment, advancing site analysis, design development, financing, and fundraising on the mixed-use concept that will be built new on property owned by Westfield Companies on RiNo’s west side.

This project would join with Artspace’s other 40 artist-centered projects across the country to further their mission to create and preserve affordable space for the creative sector. The RiNo BID has identified an urgent need and demand for safe and affordable creative space that such a development would address very directly in a changing market.

“We will continue to support, advocate for, and champion Artspace,” said Licko. “The BID supports projects which are finding creative ways to keep our neighborhood intact and reserve a place and space for everyone.”

Friday, June 16, 2017

Get it While it's Haute at the 47th Annual Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale

Sizzling deals, four days only. Get it while it’s haute!

Come to Cherry Creek North July 13-16
for four fabulous days of hot deals, fashion and food! For its 47th year, a record-breaking 97 businesses will be participating in the Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale. Stores will take their sales to the streets of Cherry Creek North as shoppers search for the best bargains of the year.

Transgender Advocate Janet Mock: ‘We’re Not Deceiving People … We’re Just Trying to Be Ourselves’

Writer and TV host Janet Mock became a face and a voice for the transgender community after she told the world about her journey as a “trans girl.” In her new memoir, Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me (out Tuesday), Mock (a former editor at PEOPLE) traces her trek into adulthood in which she loved and gained strength while owning her identity as a black woman.

“I hope that readers — particularly young readers and anyone who feels marginalized — will feel empowered because there is a roadmap now to follow,” the 34-year-old said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “Hopefully they’ll feel inspired to go out and try to live their greatest, grandest dream.”

Surpassing Certainty
serves as a sequel to her first book Redefining Realness, in which she wrote of her childhood in Honolulu and the sex work she engaged in to pay for her gender reassignment surgery at age 18. Now, in Surpassing Certainty, she revisits the sometimes joyous, sometimes painful moments she had as a young trans woman, from her time as a stripper and the years-long romance with her now ex-husband to her decision to move to New York City and pursue a Master’s degree in journalism.

In the book you write that you were very selective when sharing your story with others. What’s your advice for other trans women as they navigate relationships and romance?

The number one thing is to ensure that they feel safe enough to tell someone their story … It shouldn’t be the responsibility of trans women to disclose to every person that they meet, [that they’re transgender] whether it’s a romantic partner, friend, roommate or coworker… There’s a misconception that trans women are out there deceiving people. We’re not out there deceiving people. We’re not even trying to pass. We’re just trying to be ourselves in a society that has put us into boxes, and has told us that if we don’t fit in those boxes then we don’t belong and we’re not deserving of happiness, of fulfillment, of contentment. [We need to have] agency over who we tell our stories to and whether we want to tell our stories to someone at all.

How does your husband, Aaron Tredwell, feel about the book, especially because it focuses so much on your relationship with your ex-husband Troy?

Aaron is deeply appreciative [of Troy] for taking care of me for all of those years and for being someone that stood up for me in a time in my life when I didn’t really have people showing up for me… He’s really proud that I was able to give tribute to my ex … Sometimes first love is such a pivotal, influential relationship and challenges us. I think that sharing the love story, the complicatedness between me and Troy, will resonate with a lot of readers who have moved on from their first loves.

What did engaging in sex work (which you write about in your first book) and your time as a stripper (which you write about in the second) teach you?

It taught me to have agency over my body … There’s all kinds of labor out there. Women are so policed and devalued and dehumanized when it comes to the work they do… I think it’s vitally important to center those experiences and to ensure that when we talk about feminism that we include those who are often marginalized and pushed out of our movements. My feminism has been deeply influenced by a lot of women who engage in the sex trade and sex work. For me, part of writing about it is to lift the stigma and the shame. [We can’t] forget that there are many people out there fighting for their own liberation in these sometimes dark corners. [Women in the sex trade] are often [ignored] and judged by those who consider themselves to be liberal and accepting.

What did you think of Caitlyn Jenner’s memoir? What is the danger of lumping all transgender stories together?
What’s so great about this time period that we’re in is that we can have Caitlyn’s story, we can have my story, we can have Laverne Cox’s story. We can have a mosaic that shows the complicatedness, the things that overlap. But also I think it challenges us to nullify the notion that there’s a single trans story out there — because there isn’t. [Particularly with Caitlyn Jenner’s experiences], they show that trans folk can be problematic, that trans folk can have conservative ideology and political views that don’t even align with the community that they’re advocating for. For me, as an activist and a storyteller, I’m very centered in ensuring that we show the complicatedness of the human experience that happens to be rooted in my community’s trans experiences.

What needs to be done to ensure we can all live equally?

Right now we need to ensure that we are operating and gathering in coalitions and ensuring that we care for one another. Even though you may not have the same experiences, try to ensure that you’re aware… Activate from that space and challenge [yourself] to link up in arms and help fight.

New York City Memorial Rally and Protest March Honors the Late Gilbert Baker, Rainbow Flag Creator

HUNDREDS TOOK TO THE STREETS of New York City on June 14, Flag Day (also President Trump’s birthday), to honor the memory of LGBTQ Rainbow Flag creator Gilbert Baker, who died in late March. The protest march, targeting the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies, included banners created by Baker, reading “Republican Hate Kills” and “Don’t Buy Trump’s Lies.” 

The march was preceded by a memorial rally in front of the famed Stonewall Inn, where speakers included When We Rise author and The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt creator Cleve Jones and NYC City Councilmember Corey Johnson. The ceremony ended with a raising of the Rainbow Flag in Hudson River Park.

DNC on Commerce Department’s Attempt to Erase Protections for LGBTQ Americans

In response to the Department of Commerce’s attempt to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity from its nondiscrimination policy and subsequent half-hearted attempt at cleanup, DNC spokesperson Joel Kasnetz released the following statement:

“You can’t un-ring a bell. By trying to erase LGBTQ people from the Commerce Department’s nondiscrimination policy, the Trump administration sent a crystal clear message to LGBTQ Americans: ‘You’re not welcome here.’ While the Trump administration is trying to turn back the clock on progress, Democrats will fight for LGBTQ Americans’ right to feel safe in their place of work. We demand the Trump administration make a commitment to strengthen instead of roll back protections for LGBT Americans.”

New From Calvin Harris



Calvin Harris releases his newest single, "Feels" Ft. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean. This is the fourth track released leading up to his highly anticipated new album out in two weeks via Columbia Records.

Earlier this week, Calvin teased his upcoming album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, a preview video which quickly went viral.

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Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Historic Primary Win Positions Danica Roem to Become the Only Out Transgender State Legislator in the Nation

Yesterday Danica Roem beat three Democratic primary challengers to become the first out transgender candidate to win a state legislative primary in Virginia, and taking her one-step closer to becoming the only out trans state legislator in the entire nation. As the Democratic party representative in the District 13 Virginia House of Delegates race, she will challenge incumbent Bob Marshall, a champion of anti-LGBTQ issues and the self-described “chief homophobe” of the state legislature. Victory Fund endorsed Danica as a Spotlight Candidate in April and provided extensive campaign and fundraising support throughout the primary.

“Danica Roem is a leader in a national movement of trans candidates who are determined to become a voice for their community in the halls of power,” said Aisha C. Moodie-Mills, President & CEO of Victory Fund. “This historic primary win sets up a general election battle where voters will choose between ‘Bigot Bob’ Marshall – the most anti-LGBTQ member of the Virginia state legislature – or Danica, a proud trans woman who is committed to representing all people in her district. I am confident voters will choose leadership over divisiveness and make Danica the first out trans candidate to win and serve in a state legislature.”

Victory Fund endorsed Danica as a Spotlight Candidate in April and worked closely with the campaign throughout the primary. Today, ten Victory Fund staff members and supporters were at polls in District 13 to discuss Danica’s positions and persuade voters to support her candidacy. Danica will remain a priority candidate for Victory Fund throughout the 2017 election cycle.

“Over the next five months, Victory Fund will work to make 2017 the year of the trans candidate – by supporting Danica and the unprecedented number of out trans candidates across the nation,” continued Moodie-Mills. “Our team will provide campaign and fundraising support, build visibility and knock on doors for our candidates. Trans elected leaders are the antidote to the anti-trans legislation and policies proposed at all levels of government – so we must elect more of them.”

Levonia Jenkins - "Phenomemom"

 

Levonia Jenkins returns to the dance floor with the music video for her latest cassingle, "Phenomemom", which parodies the internet jargon of a person being so amazing, you want them to be your mom.

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