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Stonewall Fitness: By, For, and About Denver’s Gay Community!

David Smith, the owner of Stonewall Fitness, holds a degree in exercise science from Metropolitan State University of Denver, several fitness certifications including ACSM Personal Trainer and Group Fitness.

Smith specializes in exercise, nutrition and wellness programs for the GLBT community and leads a variety of different programs, including group fitness classes, personal training, athletic conditioning programs, educational seminars and workshops.

His passion lies in promoting the physical, mental and social benefits of exercise and healthy diet to the community by breaking down the barriers often associated with a healthy lifestyle to make it accessible for everybody.

David Cruz of Millionaire Matchmaker Engaged to be Married

David Cruz of Millionaire Matchmaker has announced his engagement.

Cruz believes everyone deserves to find love and experience all the sentiments of love - especially in the LGBT community - and his successes in matchmaking have proven to create many happy couples with Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker and the syndicated radio show 'Finding Cupid'.

House Members Join Call to End LGBTQ Immigrant Detention

Two days ago, a group of 35 Democratic Members of Congress called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to end the inhumane practice of detaining lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people.

This congressional response comes in the midst of a hard-fought campaign led by immigrant youth and allies.

Carlos Padilla,program coordinator of United We Dream’s Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project said, “United We Dream, along with other organizations, have led the campaign of ending the detention of LGBTQ immigrants, as ICE has continually proven incapable of ensuring their safety and well-being.”

“As we further the rights of LGBTQ people in this country, we must not forget of our LGBTQ immigrant community who continues to be disproportionately affected by abuse, including sexual assault, while in immigration detention.”

“Today’s Congressional letter urging DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to act swiftly and decisively on behalf of transgender women and other LGBTQ people currently detained is a step in the right direction, and we encourage more Members of Congress to push for the end of LGBTQ detention.”

“We will not stop until freedom is won and until LGTBQ people are freed from the immigration enforcement system that terrorizes and profits from the incarceration and deportation of our community members.”

FLESH WORLD - The Wild Animals In My Life

Flesh World hit us with their new video 'The Wild Animals In My Life' which debuted over at FADER.  Their album titled music video was filmed by Roxanne Clifford (Veronica Falls) on 8mm black and white film in San Francisco, LA and Half Moon Bay, California. Clifford's net casts around references to Derek Jarman and early Dada experiments, wrapping tightly around the record's imagery of leather and fire.

New Study Defies Anti-LGBT Parenting Critics

Today, with an imminent ruling expected from the highest court in the land on marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, highlighted a new study that found “the literature on outcomes for children of same-sex parents is marked by scientific consensus that they experience ‘no differences’ compared to children from other parental configurations.” Co-authored by professors from the University of Oregon and the University of Colorado at Denver, the study reviewed 19,000 studies and articles from between 1977 to 2013.

“This new research is yet another nail in the coffin of the outrageous arguments used to deny our LGBT families the legal equality, fairness, and respect we deserve,” said Ellen Kahn, HRC Director of the Children, Youth & Families Program. “The perception or attitude that same-sex parents and families are not good enough, or ‘less than,’ is what truly hurts children, not the fact that they have two moms or two dads. When same-sex parents are faced with the scorn of homophobic opponents who repeatedly claim that children need a ‘married mother and father,’ let us remind them that it is precisely their behavior - their false claims about our families and their anti-LGBT rhetoric that are hurting children.”

“Consensus is overwhelming in terms of there being no difference in children who are raised by same-sex or different-sex parents,” said University of Oregon professor Ryan Light, as reported by Reuters. “The studies, Light said, showed some disagreement among scientists on the outcome of same-sex parenting in the 1980s but it largely subsided in the 1990s, and a clear consensus had formed by 2000 that there is no difference between same-sex and different-sex parenting in the psychological, behavioral or educational outcomes of children.”

The number of LGBT-headed families continues to grow, as does our need to secure legal equality, fairness and respect for LGBT parents and to provide environments where all children are welcome, supported and loved. For more information, visit http://www.hrc.org/topics/parenting.

Jury Finds That Anti-LGBT Conversion Therapy Is Fraud

Today, in Michael Ferguson v. JONAH – a case brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center in New Jersey Superior Court against practitioners of so-called “conversion therapy” – the jury found that the defendants providing this dangerous and discredited anti-LGBT practice are guilty of fraud under New Jersey’s consumer protection laws. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, praised the decision as an important legal victory.

“This jury has affirmed what victims of conversion therapy heartbreakingly already know – charlatans’ attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity amount to nothing more than fraud,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Today’s decision is an extremely important legal victory in our march towards fairness, equality, and justice for LGBT people.”

Conversion therapy – a harmful and discredited practice that falsely claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – has been denounced by every mainstream medical and mental health association, including the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association. The judge in this case previously ruled that misrepresenting homosexuality as an illness or disorder when marketing conversion therapy violates the state’s consumer protection laws. Today the jury agreed by finding these conversion therapy practitioners guilty of fraud.

Laws have been passed in New Jersey and other states to protect youth from conversion therapy performed by a licensed practitioner, however this verdict also makes clear that conversion therapy may be fraud under state law 1) regardless if the provider is licensed and 2) this applies to both youth and adults. The fraud verdict in this case is similar to the approach taken by the federal Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act (H.R. 2450), introduced by Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA). This legislation, if passed, would make conducting and advertising conversion therapy an unfair trade practice enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.

HRC and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) have partnered with state equality groups across the nation to pass state legislation to end this dangerous practice, including the laws passed in California, New Jersey, Oregon, the District of Columbia, and most recently in Illinois. In August of 2013, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s law, which was signed into law by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown in 2012. On May 4, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold New Jersey’s law, which was signed by Republican Governor Chris Christie in August of 2013. NCLR attorneys have assisted in the defense of every state bill to date.

MLK III to Honor Gay Civil Rights Pioneer Bayard Rustin

Get More: 2015 Logo Trailblazer Honors

Logo today announced that civil rights icon Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King, Jr., will pay tribute to the late gay civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin at the 2015 Logo “Trailblazer Honors” on Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Raven Symoné, co-host of “The View,” will join the special tribute to Rustin and introduce Martin Luther King III. The second annual “Trailblazer Honors” celebrate LGBT pioneers at the forefront of the march to equality. Additional honorees include Iranian LGBT activist Arsham Parsi along with a group of ‘Trailblazing Parents:’ Judy & Dennis Shepard, founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, as well as Marsha Aizumi and Sheila Lopez, two PFLAG moms who stood up for their own families and in the process have inspired countless LGBT youth.

The largest televised LGBT Pride event will feature performances by Grammy award nominee Adam Lambert as well as Grammy award winning musician Jack Antonoff and his critically acclaimed band Bleachers. In addition to Raven Symoné, presenters include Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf”), TV personality Kelly Osbourne, “Orange is the New Black’s” Samira Wiley and Lea DeLaria, Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), transgender musician Laura Jane Grace, PFLAG mom Betty DeGeneres, Violet Chachki (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Michael J Willett (“Faking It”) and Frankie Grande (“America’s Best Dance Crew”). “Trailblazer Honors” also features special appearances from Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sir Ian McKellen, Nate Ruess, Judith Light, Billy Porter and Geena Rocero, among others. The one-hour special will be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of the first religious institutions in New York City to champion LGBT issues.
 
Martin Luther King III will present a posthumous Trailblazer Honor to Bayard Rustin. Rustin was an openly gay participant in the first Freedom Rides, as well as a political strategist, advisor and confidante of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was instrumental in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was the chief organizer for The 1963 March on Washington. Despite his accomplishments and contributions, Rustin was largely written out of American history as a result of homophobia. His surviving partner Walter Naegle will accept the Trailblazer Honor on his behalf. Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, and Dustin Lance Black will be part of a special video tribute to Rustin.

"Bayard Rustin was a champion,” said Martin Luther King III. “Not just a champion of the LGBT community, but a champion of the civil rights movement and humanity itself. Prejudice may have scratched his name from the history books, but during the Trailblazer Honors we will come together to remember the legacy he left behind. As many fail to realize, Bayard Rustin was a vital strategist, advisor, and more than anything, a brother to my father. I am proud to stand with Logo to present this award, and beyond honored to celebrate a man as exceptionally heroic as Bayard Rustin."

Gay Help Wanted: Sales Reps for MileHighGayGuy

Award-winning MileHighGayGuy.com is seeking advertising sales reps. The position requires someone who is self-motivated, detail-oriented and who, preferably, is familiar with the GLBT community. This is a contract position and pay will be commission-based.

To apply, email resume to Drew Wilson at Drew@milehighgayguy.com.

Pet Portraits By Maurice Becnel

Immortalize your furry friends with a pet portrait by Maurice Becnel. Clients admire Becnel's ability to capture the essence of a pet's personality in his work.

Says Becnel, "Painting animal portraits, for me, is more fun than it is work. I began painting them several years ago. The first one I did was for a friend on her birthday. Because it was a gift it never dawned on me that other people would commission me to do more. Word got out and before I knew it more and more of the emails I was receiving from my website were going to the dogs! And cats!"

Are You Gay With Something To Say? Bloggers Wanted For Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Are you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum for you than MileHighGayGuy?

MileHighGayGuy is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces from a gay perspective.

These are unpaid positions but offer the opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011, 2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff.

If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson at drew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.

How Can the Obama Administration Advance Fairness & Equality for Transgender Americans?

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, highlighted specific steps the Obama Administration should take to improve the lives of transgender people. Following an initial release highlighting important actions needed for LGBT service members and veterans, this second release in a series of highlights from HRC’s 2015 Blueprint for Positive Change – actions the administration can take to change the lives of LGBT Americans for the better – identifies some of the numerous areas significantly impacting transgender people that the Obama Administration can address within various departments of the federal government.

“From the classroom to the workplace, transgender Americans face unique and significant challenges that the federal government can and should help address,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “During his remaining time in office, President Obama has the opportunity to continue his unprecedented legacy of profound progress for the LGBT community by implementing these important and vitally necessary changes for the transgender community – changes within the federal government that will make a truly substantial difference.

While the HRC 2015 Blueprint for Positive Change recommends important actions the administration should take for the entire LGBT community, some of the specific steps that should be taken to help with the challenges faced significantly by transgender people are after the jump.

Kyrgyzstan Passes Draft Anti-LGBT “Propaganda” Bill That’s Worse Than Russia’s Law

Today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, condemned the vote by the Kyrgyzstan National Assembly to pass new and discriminatory anti-LGBT legislation during its second reading. The legislation passed through an initial reading in October, but had been stalled until today’s vote. Another parliamentary vote is required before the legislation is submitted to Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, whose signature is necessary for the legislation to become law. Proposed over a year ago, this legislation emulates Russia’s anti-LGBT “propaganda” law. However, Kyrgyzstan’s version mandates even harsher punishments, including jail time, for expressing sentiments that could “create a positive attitude to unconventional sexual orientation.” This law solidifies the ongoing harassment and violence waged against LGBT Kyrgyz.

“A law that forces LGBT Kyrgyz to live in fear while denying them the rights of free speech and assembly is dangerous,” said HRC Global Director Ty Cobb. “These types of laws and the rhetoric surrounding them only empower bigots who seek to harm LGBT people.”

HRC stands in solidarity with the Kyrgyz activists and allies fighting against this new offensive legislation, and calls on the Kyrgyz Parliament and President not to pass this blight on the human rights of Kyrgyz citizens.

“It’s terrifying to see Kyrgyzstan following in the footsteps of Russia,” said Cobb. “The United States and international observers must not look the other way while LGBT people in Eurasia are being dangerously marginalized with new laws that replicate the ill-advised policies of President Putin.”

“This is a critical moment for Kyrgyzstan. We, LGBTI activists in Kyrgyzstan, call on the international community to react swiftly. We are running out of time.” said Kyrgyz LGBT activist Dastan Kasmamytov.

On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT), LGBT Kyrgyz were attacked by anti-LGBT activists. In response to the attack, police detained countless LGBT activists and allegedly harassed them while in custody. Human Rights Watch has documented the increasing brutality against the LGBT community in Kyrgyzstan, and this law would only further isolate the community. This law is part of a growing trend towards anti-LGBT legislation in Eastern Europe and central Asia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the internationally condemned and draconian anti-LGBT propaganda law on June 29, 2013, to be enforced the following day. This law––and the homophobic and transphobic cultural debate that swirled around it––has fueled an appalling spree of violence against members of Russia’s LGBT community. HRC Foundation’s full Russia: Year in Review report, which documents the intense backlash, is available here.

Within the past year, Kazakhstan also sought to implement a similar law. It was struck down as unconstitutional in May.

“As more countries seek to copy Russia’s abominable crackdown on LGBT rights, we must stand in solidarity with LGBT people throughout the world. Each vote in favor of this legislation is a slap in the face to the values of democracy and equality,” said Cobb. “While the United States responded strongly to anti-LGBT legislation passed in Uganda earlier this year, we need to see similar actions when other countries enact laws that violate the human rights of LGBT people.”

Pivot Launches 'Take Pride' Programming Block

On Saturday, June 27th, Pivot launches “Take Pride,” a programming block celebrating the gay and lesbian community. Starting at 2pm ET, Pivot will air the the first six episodes from the second season of its original series “Please Like Me.” Written and executive produced by 26-year old comedian Josh Thomas, the critically acclaimed series called ‘“one of the best comedies of the year” by Time is inspired in part by the painfully awkward events of his own life. Season two follows Josh, half-heartedly fighting a quarter life crisis and trying to get through the day without upsetting anyone. His mum continues to struggle with mental illness; his best friend Tom chooses all the wrong girls; his dad has a new baby to look after; and Josh, in his own awkward, self-centered and entertainingly frank way, has to juggle them all while trying to find himself a boyfriend.

Also airing:
• “It’s Not Over,” (8:00 pm ET) examines the lives of three brave Millennials living with HIV/AIDS in different parts of the world.

• “The Celluloid Closet” (9:30 pm ET) takes a look at Hollywood’s depiction of gays and lesbians in film from the 1920s to today.

• “Circumstance” (12:00 am ET) delves into the underground of Iranian youth, focusing on one rebellious teenager exploring her sexuality.

OUT on DVD/VOD: Tiger Orange

Two estranged gay brothers attempt to make amends in Wade Gasque's charming small-town drama. Set against the sun-kissed fields of Central California, and anchored by strong performances from adult film star-turned-leading man Frankie Valenti (aka Johnny Hazzard) and Mark Strano, Tiger Orange pits two diametric opposites against each other – the closeted introvert versus the out-and-proud hunk. The result is a blunt, playful meditation on queer sibling rivalry and the childhood bonds that force us together.

Tiger Orange is the feature film debut of award winning director Wade Gasque, who co-wrote the film (and produced it) with the film's co-star Mark Strano. Wade and Mark are long-term partners creatively and personally.