I broke down and bought a new phone. No, not the IphoneX. There’s something unsettling about the face recognition thing. But, that is a delusional blog post for another day. I really had to buy a new iPhone because of the huge mistake I made upon buying my old phone. A 6S+ with a tiny amount of storage. Dumb I know. This meant not being able to have any apps on my phone, like the Blogger app. After a daily pop-up stating I couldn’t take a picture because my storage was low, I went to the Apple store. Now I’m all about the 8+. With the largest storage they offer.
The hardest part was the giving up on Michael Phelps.
See... back during the London 2012 Olympics, I saw American swimmer, Micheal Phelps for the first time. Every time he casually entered the swimming facility, he was sporting Sol Republic head phones. I ran out and bought a pair. I’ve been wearing them ever since. But..... the new phone doesn’t have a headphone jack for the cord; It’s all Bluetooth. Yes, there’s the adapter. But, it’s not the same. Also yes, during the Rio Olymics, Phelps wore wireless headphones. But, the impression was already made.
It’s time so say goodbye to my Sol Republic headphones. The era has passed. Goodbye old friends. I’ll sport wireless Bluetooth and think of the glory days.
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 atdrew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.
In 2018 Lambda Literary turns 30, an incredible milestone for this once scrappy organization that keeps getting stronger and more effective in how we serve queer readers and writers.
I skipped a couple of years of doing this and am super excited to once
again share some of our favorite things. Some of these you may know, and
hopefully I will introduce you to some new things/places. All of these
are based on what we love. Just to be clear, we are not paid by any
group or company nor do I as a blogger ever accept free items. I feel
this is important to say so that you, the awesome reader, know we just
simply love these favorites. Please be patient with the randomness of
the list!
Best Non-profit – Toronto Pig Save
Best Non-profit you might not have heard of – Animal Help Now
Best breakfast at home – Isa’s Puffy Pillow Pancakes
Best lunch in LA during the work day – Happy Family on S. Atlantic (Monterey Park)
Best treat in LA – Sweet Kale Shake at Sun Cafe
Best Mexican food in Denver – Tarascos
Best social media chef/cook – Christina Cooks
Best beach in LA area – Zuma beach
Best beach in San Diego area – Torrey Pines State Beach
Best brunch in San Diego – Bar Kindred
Best vegan creamer – Ripple
Best vegan pop up – Cena Vegan
Best “I need a sweet tooth fix” place – Donut Friend
Best veggie burger – Gardein’s beefless burger
Best vegan cheese – We have two here. Seriously tied. Miyokos and Punk Rawk
Most made recipe this year at home – Fava Bean Risotto in “Vegan Pressure Cooking”
Best meal when anywhere near LAX – Stuff I Eat
Best hotel for a Denver visit – Hotel Born
Best audio book – “Black Detroit”
Best song – “Demons” by Imagine Dragons
Best hike in LA – Griffith Park
This list is not complete. I’m sure I could keep adding, and as the new year is approaching I think I really need to post this.
After a group of anti-LGBTQ religious leaders drafted a letter about the transgender community that claimed transgender people are a “false” idea, the National LGBTQ Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable offered up some advice: reach out and connect with transgender people – you obviously know little about their lives, struggles, victories and aspirations.
On December 15, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with 20 conservative religious leaders, representing stridently anti-LGBTQ segments of Christian and Muslim faith communities in the U.S., published an ill-conceived, trans-denying letter: “Created Man and Woman.” The letter referred to transgender individuals as persons that have a “discomfort” with their sex, and claimed to call for transgender people to be “treated with respect,” but then claimed being transgender is a “false” idea and called on the state to impose “social institutions and norms” onto the transgender community.
The National LGBTQ Task Force published a letter on December 22, in response to “Created Man And Woman” from the Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable (NRLR) signed on by over 20 religious groups that called out the harmful inaccuracies throughout the letter and implored those religious leaders that had signed on to better educate themselves by reaching out and connecting with the transgender community:
As leaders from a wide range of moderate and progressive faith and spiritual communities, we reject the intent of the letter to deny the existence of our beloved transgender companions. Finally, we implore those religious leaders who signed the ill-conceived, trans-denying letter, “Created Man and Woman,” to reach out and connect with transgender people – you obviously know little about their lives, struggles, victories and aspirations. You will learn a lot about the divine’s creative genius if you walk and talk with transgender people and really listen to their stories.
While the recent withdrawals of some of President Trump’s most troubling judicial nominees – Matthew Petersen, Brett Talley, and Jeffrey Mateer – are an encouraging sign that even the rubber-stamp Senate Republicans have reached a breaking point, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, wrote an op-ed in BuzzFeed calling on the Senate to reject President Trump’s unqualified and radical judicial nominees.
“The recent withdrawals of Petersen, Talley, and Mateer are encouraging, but the Senate must step up its efforts to scrutinize and reject these unqualified and radical nominees. The fate and fitness of the federal judiciary – and in turn our very democracy – depends on it,” said Gupta in the op-ed.
The full text of the op-ed is below and available here:
The withdrawals of three of President Trump’s most troubling judicial nominees — Matthew Petersen, Brett Talley, and Jeffrey Mateer — are an encouraging sign that even the rubber-stamping Senate Republicans have reached a breaking point.
But those three are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more disturbingly unqualified Trump nominees, and it should not take a humiliating hearing, a serial lack of disclosures to the Senate, or video footage calling transgender children part of “Satan’s plan” to derail a nomination. None of these men should have survived vetting by the administration, but with the administration asleep at the wheel, the Senate needs to set a higher bar.
The nonpartisan American Bar Association rarely gives a judicial nominee its lowest rating of “Not Qualified,” and when it does so, it is a clear sign that person is deeply flawed and should not be confirmed. The ABA has already given this rare, unqualified rating to four of Trump’s candidates, and two of them — Holly Teeter and Charles Goodwin — remain pending as nominees. They should withdraw, and if they don’t, the Senate should not confirm them.
Based on many interviews with local attorneys who have observed him, Charles Goodwin lacks the basic work ethic needed to serve as a district judge. “Magistrate Judge Goodwin’s work habits, including his frequent absence from the courthouse until mid-afternoon, raised doubt,” the ABA said in its evaluation of him. “Inaccessibility issues generated concerns about the timely and efficient administration of justice.”
Holly Teeter lacks the minimal requirement of professional experience to serve as a federal district court judge. The ABA interviewed dozens of lawyers and judges about Teeter and concluded that she “does not presently have the requisite trial experience or its equivalent.” In her Senate questionnaire, Teeter revealed that she has not even participated in a single trial.
As Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said in criticizing Matthew Petersen, “just because you’ve seen My Cousin Vinny doesn’t qualify you to be a federal judge.”
Two other Trump nominees — Stephen Schwartz and Ryan Holte — also lack the minimal experience necessary to serve. They would have received ABA ratings of Not Qualified, but the ABA does not evaluate nominees to the US Court of Federal Claims, a trial court with nationwide jurisdiction. If confirmed, they will serve 15-year terms and can continue on the court as senior judges after that.
Schwartz and Holte are both 34 years old and graduated from law school in 2008, just nine years ago — well below the ABA minimum practice requirement of 12 years. Both lack trial experience. In his Senate questionnaire, Holte conceded: “I have not tried a case.” In his answers to written questions from senators, Schwartz also revealed a dearth of trial experience, and he further acknowledged: “I am not admitted to practice in the Court of Federal Claims” and “I have not litigated in the Court of Federal Claims.”
It is an embarrassment and an affront to the federal judiciary that these two young and profoundly inexperienced people have been nominated for federal judgeships.
Trump’s nominees don’t just lack the legal experience and work ethic, though both of these should be deal breakers. Many also lack the essential qualities of fairness and impartiality. Here is a sampling of other Trump nominees who are completely unsuited on similar grounds:
Damien Schiff: This Court of Federal Claims nominee, also in his 30s, is a prolific right-wing blogger who has called Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy “a judicial prostitute,” criticized an anti-LGBT bullying program as “teaching gayness in public schools,” and said the Supreme Court’s decision reaffirming the constitutionality of equal opportunity and affirmative action in university admissions was akin to the Supreme Court’s infamous decisions that authorized slavery, Jim Crow laws, and Japanese internment camps.
Thomas Farr: This North Carolina district court nominee has devoted his legal career to suppressing voting rights and defending companies and individuals accused of employment discrimination and sexual harassment. After his public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, information came to light suggesting that Farr may have lied to the committee about his knowledge of a 1990 effort by the Jesse Helms for Senate campaign to intimidate Black voters. Senators must demand more information from the Justice Department to determine his truthfulness and his involvement in this nefarious conduct, which sought to deter African Americans from voting.
Stuart Kyle Duncan: This Louisiana nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is a right-wing ideologue who described the Supreme Court’s decision ensuring marriage equality as “an abject failure” that “imperils civic peace.” It is hard to imagine with his extensive record that all litigants would have confidence they would receive a fair hearing before him.
Matthew Kacsmaryk: This Texas district court nominee is another anti-LGBT activist and culture warrior who does not respect the equal dignity of all people. He has written that LGBT rights and reproductive freedom are premised on a “lie” that resulted from nothing more than “the erotic desires of liberated adults.” He has expressed support for the notion that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law,” and he defended the actions of Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who went to jail after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. His brazen disrespect for longstanding precedent and the rule of law should be disqualifying for a position that requires both.
Mark Norris: This Tennessee district court nominee has a fervent hostility to civil rights, demonstrated by legislation and policies he has endorsed during his 17 years in the state Senate. He has supported legislation to restrict voting rights, to stop local communities from removing Confederate monuments, to prohibit teachers from providing any information about LGBT issues in public schools, and to ban cities and counties from enacting laws to protect LGBT residents from discrimination. He also backed efforts to stop refugee resettlement in Tennessee and to disallow undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition, to require the state driver’s license exam to be taken only in English, and to urge Congress to overturn the Obama administration’s rule on contraceptive access.
Along with professional experience, a judicial nominee needs to answer the simple question of whether a member of the LGBT community with a discrimination claim would feel they could get a fair hearing before one of these men — and yes, they are only men, as are most of Trump’s judicial nominees. Would a female employee seeking access to contraception believe she had a judge with an open mind? Would a person of color with a voting rights claim think they had any chance of success before this nominee?
The Trump White House clearly lacks respect for the quality and independence of the federal judiciary, openly boasting about its efforts to lard the federal courts with judicial extremists in their thirties and forties. There’s also a shameful lack of diversity among them: 90% are white and more than 80% are men. This is the least diverse slate of nominees in decades, which would further undermine confidence in our courts.
The recent withdrawals of Petersen, Talley, and Mateer are encouraging, but the Senate must step up its efforts to scrutinize and reject these unqualified and radical nominees. The fate and fitness of the federal judiciary — and, in turn, our very democracy — depends on it.
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Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-producer Sam Sparro has released an in-studio video of the holiday track "Christmas Time Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The track is off of Sam's holiday EP Christmas In Blue. The 4-song EP also includes the original song "Christmas In Your Heart" as well as a reworking of the Wham! classic "Last Christmas."
As 2017 comes to end, Hornet identified the top 10 people, places and things that were the most influential on the LGBTQ community in 2017 – but in the worst ways.
Highlights include: • Caitlyn Jenner The trans community was nothing more than a prop intended to help her relive her glory days on Wheaties boxes. • Gay Trump Supporters Conservatives are embracing gay Trump supporters as pariahs. Doing so leads them to cite queer people’s support as proof their policies are not actually homophobic or transphobic (when, really, they are). • Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey finally did what Hollywood insiders and much of the LGBTQ community had wanted him to do for decades — he came out as a gay man. But, instead of being lauded for his strength of character, Spacey was reviled, and rightly so. • Chechnya Beginning in February 2017, it has been reported that more than 100 male residents had been abducted, held prisoner and tortured by authorities targeting them based on their perceived sexual orientation.
Breaking Glass Pictures today announced the acquisition of Outfest hit The Revival from first-time director Jennifer Gerber, writer Samuel Brett Williams, and producer Sophie Finkelstein.
Based on Williams’ 2010 hit play, The Revival is a treacherous love story between a closeted preacher and a handsome drifter who shows up at his church.
When Eli (Rysdahl) begins preaching at his father’s old church, he is desperate to open the minds of the fire-and-brimstone congregation. His plans are quickly derailed when he strikes up a relationship with fascinating drifter Daniel (Booth). Tensions soon come to a head, with simmering resentments and repressed emotions all leading to a revival that will shake this sleepy Arkansas town to its core.
After The Revival’s stage run in 2010, The Advocate declared “if there is a God, [The Revival] will be made into a movie!” Zachary Booth and David Rysdahl give electric performances as their undeniable attraction endangers them both in the face of religion. The two were awarded a Special Mention by the jury at NewFest for their “outstanding performances” and The Hollywood Reporter called them “riveting”. Ira Sachs said “It came to me half way through that it was an Ingmar Bergman movie set in the Ozarks.” He also described the film as “true Southern Gothic”. Following the film’s sold out Outfest Premiere, The Hollywood Reporter wrote “Gerber deftly wrings suspense from source material that mixes, and sometimes swerves between, romance, satire and vigilante thriller.”
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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 atdrew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.
Tickets are now on sale for Blossoms of Light,
the annual holiday lights extravaganza that transforms Denver Botanic
Gardens' York Street location into a twinkling winter wonderland.
By StevieB
