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Thursday, March 1, 2018
GayTravel.com's St. Patrick's Day Gay Travel Guide
Shopping: Suddenly Gone
Shopping's “Suddenly Gone” video, directed by LA-based director and animator Lessa Millet, “talks about labour and resources,” says band member Rachel Aggs. “It’s about feeling used and undervalued in a relationship or, more generally, as a queer and/or a person of colour making music or art in the UK and how that can feel very draining.” She adds, “you can feel overlooked for years and then suddenly tokenized when your identity becomes buzz-worthy or fashionable.
So much of the guitar music we love originates from roots and blues music made by and for people of colour and the same goes for dance and disco that has its roots so firmly in queer culture. We are asking people to reflect on what our cultural landscape would really look like if it weren’t for those pioneering but marginalized artists and in particular what our cities will eventually look like if queer spaces and independent gig venues continue to be forced to close.”
In creating the video, Millet says, “I went off of the energy of the song and the feeling behind it - this feeling of ‘I see what you're doing, and I'm done being used.’ It's optimistic and angry at the same time. In looking for images I just thought about all the instances a small group of people profit from everyone else, which way the money river flows, where does it pool. I think the magic tricks and hand shadows were a good metaphor for all the distractions that prevent us from seeing what is going on underneath.”
“It also suggests a parallel between this kind of emotional, creative draining and the terrifying environmental consequences of reckless money-grabbing corporations,” Aggs continues, “undervaluing and exploiting our natural resources and the impact of that on people living and working in more precarious parts of the world.”
Lambda LitFest LA Presents Spring Writes: Celebrating LGBTQ Literature
Spring Writes kicks off with acclaimed poet and memoirist Richard Blanco in conversation with fellow Cuban-American author Eduardo Santiago at Emerson College LA. A reading by Blanco will be followed by a discussion of his work, life, and the vital importance of LGBTQ voices in our current cultural climate.
"Queers Who Submit" demystifies the publication process while fostering community in a supportive and encouraging space. Participants are asked to bring work they are ready to submit. The workshop, presented in partnership with "Women Who Submit," will cover best practices for submitting work to literary journals and other publications.
Spring Writes closes at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre with a screening and panel discussion. Jen Richards (Her Story), Brittani Nichols (Transparent and Suicide Kale), and Michelle Badillo (One Day at a Time) will discuss the joys and challenges of bringing LGBTQ representation to television, cinema, and the web. Short clips of each writer's work will be interspersed with a lively panel discussion that explores craft, politics, and what it means to be queer in the writer's room (and on the screen). Moderated by Trish Bendix, managing editor at INTO.
Spring Writes, a production of Lambda LitFest LA, brings curated and community-driven literary programming to the Southland. "Spring Writes showcases the incredible literary talent of queer LA," said Dan Lopez, Event Producer. "Freedom of expression, queer rights and social justice persevere when we create spaces for the free flow of ideas."
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Jazz & Jumper
“I am now officially Jumper’s #1 fan,” states Jennings. “Jumper is so talented and his story really touched my heart. I believe that we all have a destined calling. I love his motto! I’m certainly on the same page. I know I’m only a teenager, but it’s my mission to spread my message of acceptance, tolerance and unconditional love.”
Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with Barbara Walters aired on 20/20, which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances. Jennings stars in the TLC reality TV series, I Am Jazz, which focuses on her life with her family as a teenager and as a transgender youth.
“Jazz Jennings is truly an inspiration and I am honored to call Jazz my new friend,” states Maybach. “Jazz has given transgender youth a voice and her courage continues to motivate me in the battle for LGBTQ equality.”
Throughout his flourishing artistic career, Jumper has taken the time to give back to multiple LGBT organizations including GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, Matthew Shepard Foundation, the Trevor Project and the Montrose Center, Houston’s LGBT community center.
OutServe-SLDN makes key expansions to uniquely support LGBT military and veteran communities
Today, OutServe-SLDN announces the hiring of Kai River Blevins as Director of Education, Chapter & Veteran’s services. Kai’s biography can be found below.
“I am thrilled to have Kai joining the OutServe-SLDN team as our Director of Education, Chapter & Veteran’s Services,” Matt Thorn, President & CEO of OutServe-SLDN stated. “Continued development in all three of the key areas Kai will have oversight to is a logical next step for us as an organization, as we continue to push-back against the Trump-Pence administration and ensure our LGBT military and veteran communities are receiving due care, services, and representation. The coupling of Kai’s background as a service member, their extensive education portfolio, and their passion and commitment to the cause will be an essential asset to our future growth and accomplishments. In the coming months, we are going to be aggressive in our expansion with our advocacy, our programming and support systems. Kai is an integral piece to the future of the organization and we couldn’t be happier to have them on board.”
“I am thrilled to be part of the OutServe-SLDN team” said Kai Blevins, Director of Education, Chapter & Veteran Services. “This position reflects OutServe-SLDN’s commitment to our service members, veterans, and their families. Through providing direct services and advocacy, revitalizing our chapters, and delivering educational programming to our members and those who serve the LGBT military community, we are ensuring that our community has the tools and resources they need to thrive, particularly at this political moment. It is an honor to be able to serve my community in this role.”
In addition to the hiring of Kai, OutServe-SLDN marks further expansion with Legal Director Peter Perkwoski becoming a certified Veterans Services Officer. This addition will allow OutServe-SLDN to engage more expansively with our LGBT veteran community; ensuring they get the necessary and vital services due to them.
“The addition of Peter’s status as a Veteran Service Officer is critical to the expansion of our work” said Matt Thorn, President & CEO of OutServe-SLDN. “This growth is a reaffirmation of the work still left to do and the commitment that OutServe-SLDN has to our LGBT military community.”
Monday, February 26, 2018
#DecriminalizeLGBT: Standing Up to LGBT Criminalization Around the Globe
"The expansion of anti-LGBT policies and government-sanctioned violence has intensified over the past year and we must put an end to this," said Hornet president and co-founder Sean Howell. "It is our duty to ensure LGBT lives are protected around the world. With the #DecriminalizeLGBT campaign, we are holding public officials accountable and lending a voice to those that have been silenced for too long."
Hornet is calling on the LGBT community and its allies to use social media to amplify the initiative’s message. Once signed up, participants will have the same automated message posted on their social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr) simultaneously on March 20, 2018, at 3:00pm ET. To join the social movement, take the three actions below:
• Leverage social media to share the #DecriminalizeLGBT message, with one click
• Learn about the issues LGBT people face around the globe with special reporting on Hornet here
• Take action against the ant-LGBT crackdown in Egypt here
Hornet is joined by NGOs (non-governmental organizations such as, Pan Africa International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Pan Africa ILGA) and The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to build a coalition of activists, civil societies and corporations to confront hostile governments and force change.
Homosexuality is criminalized in over 70 countries across the globe and in at least eight countries is punishable by death. As long as homosexuality is criminalized LGBT people will continue to face violence, harassment, and discrimination. LGBT people cannot fully participate in their communities or enjoy access to public services when they are seen as criminals. Action must be taken, and governments must be held accountable. Through grassroots organizing, social media engagement, and leadership from non-profits, governments, and corporations these laws can be done away with.
In Indonesia the police have publicly beaten and humiliated LGBT people. Egypt continues to harass and arrest gay men. In Chechnya gay men have been tortured, imprisoned, and murdered at the hands of the government, the same government that doesn’t acknowledge the existence of gay people. This is but a sample of actions by anti-LGBT governments. The violence and harassment continues, but it is no longer front-page news. This campaign intends to change that.
The criminalization of LGBT people also has a profound impact on the HIV epidemic. Such laws prevent people from accessing testing, treatment and prevention. We can never get an accurate picture of the epidemic and how gay men are impacted if it is illegal for men to admit to having sex with other men. MSMGF has been a critical organization fighting for the rights of LGBT people and supporting access to treatment and prevention. They recently supported a paper that demonstrates how global programs can have an impact on anti-gay laws. Programs and institutions with money and power can influence policy if they decide to prioritize LGBT people.
“Discriminatory laws continue to create barriers for gay and bisexual men in accessing the care and support that they need. We are proud of our partnership with Hornet and their campaign, which calls for an end to the criminalization of LGBT people. There is still much work to be done to ensure the human rights of LGBT people in countries around the world,” said Greg Tartaglione, Senior Communications Officer at MSMGF.
Pan Africa ILGA is on the frontlines building a unified African movement while advocating for the protection of LGBT rights. An anti-LGBT sentiment is sweeping across Africa, and American Christian fundamentalists are often leading the charge. Local African activists have the very difficult task of confronting hostile governments, as well as contending with the influence of powerful outside forces.
“Criminalization of same-sex conduct is not only discrimination of a group of people directly sponsored by the state, but also a license for the rest of society to stigmatize this section of the citizenry that according to most constitutions, ought to be protected by the law. These criminalizing laws do not protect the society at all because everybody deserves equal treatment before the law,” asserted Anthony Oluoch, Program Manager Pan Africa ILGA.
OUT on DVD/VOD: The Breeding
“We're thrilled to be working with Breaking Glass Pictures again on another scintillating and complex project after our wonderful experience collaborating on BWOY” said Dane Joseph, Founder and Executive Producer of Novo Novus Productions. “The Breeding pushes the envelope in how we think of sex and culture in the LGBTQ community, and it's amazing to have an awesome partner in BGP who supports our company's mission to explore controversial and risqué stories."
The story centers on discontented, sex-positive queer cartoonist Thomas, whose artistic inspiration comes from erotic escapades that are unbeknownst to his loving boyfriend, Amadi. A chance restroom encounter with a recently divorced financier named Lee leaves Thomas curious about exploring the taboo fetish of “race play.” But when the game gets too real, chilling actions are taken that will forever change the trajectory of these men’s lives.
Stonewall Fitness: Exrcise for Mental Health
By Dirk Smith
Growing up in suburban America in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I was witness to the emerging trends of kids taking a host of medications to treat their behavioral issues and disorders. It was a common trend for my classmates to have to take pills throughout the school day to treat everything from ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, Sensory Integration Disorder, Bipolar disorder and the lot. Remember, these kids are just that; kids.
Now I am not trying to discount that these are real issues that people face which can have devastating impacts on a person’s quality of life. Yet, it seems liked more often than not, my classmates all had a cocktail of pills they had to take for these issues. I felt like one of the few kids at the school who didn’t have a daily medication to take. Clearly I had missed the bus on what was cool, as if mental disease and disorders were considered trendy and you weren’t otherwise considered special if you didn’t have to take drugs for your unique “condition” or had I?
With more and more children being diagnosed with ADHD, Depression, Anxiety and other mental health and behavioral disorders, frankly, what is going on? It is no secret that western medicine takes quick and easy approach to “fixing” our problems simply by masking the symptoms. Have a problem? Take a pill. Feeling depressed? Here’s a pill. Do you have chronic inflammation that is likely to result in a heart attack or some other debilitating condition that’ll probably kill you? Take a pill. Oh by the way, that pill also has a host of side effects that despite helping your initial condition will create many new conditions that are just as bad if not worse.
Many anti-depressant medications include a “Warning, this pill my cause thoughts of suicide in children and young adults.” WTF?? Isn’t the idea supposed to be to improve the symptoms of depression, not make it worse? In addition to a host of other side effects, an important thing to consider about these treatments, and western medicine in general is that it only treats the symptoms. Thus you can take the medication all your life, but is it going to fix the cause and thus end the disease for you in the long run?
The current view of our society in general is that the body and the mind are separate. That we can treat them as separate halves of a whole. But that’s simply too easy. Let’s take depression for example. Whenever you see a commercial for an anti-depressant, you’ll see these cute little animations about how depression causes a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes you depressed. It’ll then show you how the drug being advertised can fix your depression by balancing out said chemical imbalance. Simple right?
If depression is purely the result of a physiological imbalance, then why is it considered a “mental” health issue? Because the physiological responses are just another symptom that exasperates the initial cause and making the overall conditioning growing increasingly worse. Depression has many causes, everything from chronic stress, traumatic life changes, physical and mental abuse, genetics, medications, the list goes on and on.
Exercise has been shown to “balance” out the chemical imbalance created by many mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, ADHD and such. (1, 2, 3) Treating the physiological imbalance that is either created by or causes such mental health issues but it also has an impact from the cognitive (mental) side of the disorder as well. By helping to release stress, anxiety and allowing the brain to rewire itself in addition to therapy practices. It can also improve self-esteem, confidence and self-efficacy; which are further improved through regular exercise.
The rise of diagnoses for mental disorders is not surprising as the number of overweight and obese people continue to climb. Our increasingly sedentary population with an over abundance of food, increased work load and increased stress, has helped to set the stage for mental disorders to start to have a truly substantial impact on our quality of life. Taking a dedicated 30-60 minutes every day and using it toward consistent exercise can help turn the tide for a person to not just cope with, but have a firm grasp on their own mental health.
In addition to releasing the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Which if you remember from your Zoloft commercial (not a paid endorsement) are the neurotransmitters that when, out of balance, can lead to symptoms of depression. While anti-depressants tend to treat each one of these imbalances individually, regular aerobic exercise has been shown to improve the production, balance and impact of all 3 neurotransmitters together. In addition to a host of other hormones and neurotransmitters that aren’t covered by your doctor’s prescription or a commercial.
Stress can cause anxiety, anxiety creates physical tension which manifests itself into everything from high blood pressure, increased heart rate, tense muscles, trouble breathing and the onset of panic attacks and hyper ventilation. This can lead up to negative thoughts of self-doubt, fear, lack of confidence and worry which only feed back into the stress and make the problem worse. In the worst of episodes, you might think you’re having a heart attack, even if there is nothing wrong with your heart. A common thing a good-intentioned friend might tell you is simply to relax. But it’s not that easy, if we could just let ourselves relax, there wouldn’t stress in the first place right?
Stress increases in part by a hormone called Cortisol which is a hormone that activates your sympathetic nervous system. In short, when you feel the physical symptoms of anxiety like I described above, you will find your good friend Cortisol is there helping to cause it. Cortisol is not entirely bad however, it plays a key role in your “Flight or Fight” ability to sense danger and your response to it. For example, if you see a bear in the woods and it stands up on it’s hind legs toward you, are you going to try and run or are you going to confront the bear? Your “Flight or Fight” instinct is what helps you make that decision.
So to sum up, when confronted by a bear, Cortisol is good. When you are dealing with the physical manifestations of anxiety due to chronic stress, Cortisol is bad.
When you exercise, you contract and relax muscles, your heart rate increases and so does your blood flow. In addition to increasing production of all those feel good neurotransmitters that are now flowing through your nervous system and increasing the activation of your sympathetic nervous system, that includes the release of Cortisol. Often times the body's acute response to exercise is mistaken for that of a panic attack, which if you suffer from chronic anxiety is definitely not fun. While it takes a lot of time and mental will to overcome those feelings, once you engage in a regular exercise program, you'll find that exercise can, in fact, help reduce chronic anxiety.
Within your tendons and muscles themselves, you have structures called "Muscle Spindles" which are basically sensory receptors that are sensitive to changes in muscle length. These are good because they keep your muscles from ripping your tendons out of your bone and causing you to tear yourself apart. Essentially when you contract a muscle, the muscle pulls on the tendon, which pulls on the bone and allows you to move. The muscle spindle, helps you to regulate the force in which you move so that you don't inadvertently hurt yourself by pulling to hard. In addition, the muscle spindles are what holds your tension in your muscle. Tight muscles can happen due to challenging workouts, stress, anxiety, sickness or anything else really and is often a physical manifestation of those issues. When you exercise, however, such as cardiovascular exercise or stretching. You are physically engaging your muscle spindles to release the tension. This is why, when you are particularly sore after a workout, it is good to go for a walk, run, swim, bike ride or other low intensity activity. Not only does it help increase blood flow to repair your muscle tissue, but it releases the tension.
In the end, while exercise certainly isn't a "cure all" for any mental health conditions, it is certainly beneficial toward preventing and treating mental illness, it should be apart of everybody's daily routine, especially for kids. Yet with our increasingly sedentary habits and modern conveniences, in addition to paranoia of our current socio-political climate. It is very challenging for kids and adults to find their recess where they can release and express themselves physically. It is very important that we make it a part of our life.Are you a goal-oriented individual looking for some extra guidance in your training? Check out Online Coaching with Stonewall!
Growing up in suburban America in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I was witness to the emerging trends of kids taking a host of medications to treat their behavioral issues and disorders. It was a common trend for my classmates to have to take pills throughout the school day to treat everything from ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, Sensory Integration Disorder, Bipolar disorder and the lot. Remember, these kids are just that; kids.
Now I am not trying to discount that these are real issues that people face which can have devastating impacts on a person’s quality of life. Yet, it seems liked more often than not, my classmates all had a cocktail of pills they had to take for these issues. I felt like one of the few kids at the school who didn’t have a daily medication to take. Clearly I had missed the bus on what was cool, as if mental disease and disorders were considered trendy and you weren’t otherwise considered special if you didn’t have to take drugs for your unique “condition” or had I?
With more and more children being diagnosed with ADHD, Depression, Anxiety and other mental health and behavioral disorders, frankly, what is going on? It is no secret that western medicine takes quick and easy approach to “fixing” our problems simply by masking the symptoms. Have a problem? Take a pill. Feeling depressed? Here’s a pill. Do you have chronic inflammation that is likely to result in a heart attack or some other debilitating condition that’ll probably kill you? Take a pill. Oh by the way, that pill also has a host of side effects that despite helping your initial condition will create many new conditions that are just as bad if not worse.
Many anti-depressant medications include a “Warning, this pill my cause thoughts of suicide in children and young adults.” WTF?? Isn’t the idea supposed to be to improve the symptoms of depression, not make it worse? In addition to a host of other side effects, an important thing to consider about these treatments, and western medicine in general is that it only treats the symptoms. Thus you can take the medication all your life, but is it going to fix the cause and thus end the disease for you in the long run?
The current view of our society in general is that the body and the mind are separate. That we can treat them as separate halves of a whole. But that’s simply too easy. Let’s take depression for example. Whenever you see a commercial for an anti-depressant, you’ll see these cute little animations about how depression causes a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes you depressed. It’ll then show you how the drug being advertised can fix your depression by balancing out said chemical imbalance. Simple right?
If depression is purely the result of a physiological imbalance, then why is it considered a “mental” health issue? Because the physiological responses are just another symptom that exasperates the initial cause and making the overall conditioning growing increasingly worse. Depression has many causes, everything from chronic stress, traumatic life changes, physical and mental abuse, genetics, medications, the list goes on and on.
Exercise has been shown to “balance” out the chemical imbalance created by many mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, ADHD and such. (1, 2, 3) Treating the physiological imbalance that is either created by or causes such mental health issues but it also has an impact from the cognitive (mental) side of the disorder as well. By helping to release stress, anxiety and allowing the brain to rewire itself in addition to therapy practices. It can also improve self-esteem, confidence and self-efficacy; which are further improved through regular exercise.
The rise of diagnoses for mental disorders is not surprising as the number of overweight and obese people continue to climb. Our increasingly sedentary population with an over abundance of food, increased work load and increased stress, has helped to set the stage for mental disorders to start to have a truly substantial impact on our quality of life. Taking a dedicated 30-60 minutes every day and using it toward consistent exercise can help turn the tide for a person to not just cope with, but have a firm grasp on their own mental health.
In addition to releasing the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Which if you remember from your Zoloft commercial (not a paid endorsement) are the neurotransmitters that when, out of balance, can lead to symptoms of depression. While anti-depressants tend to treat each one of these imbalances individually, regular aerobic exercise has been shown to improve the production, balance and impact of all 3 neurotransmitters together. In addition to a host of other hormones and neurotransmitters that aren’t covered by your doctor’s prescription or a commercial.
Stress can cause anxiety, anxiety creates physical tension which manifests itself into everything from high blood pressure, increased heart rate, tense muscles, trouble breathing and the onset of panic attacks and hyper ventilation. This can lead up to negative thoughts of self-doubt, fear, lack of confidence and worry which only feed back into the stress and make the problem worse. In the worst of episodes, you might think you’re having a heart attack, even if there is nothing wrong with your heart. A common thing a good-intentioned friend might tell you is simply to relax. But it’s not that easy, if we could just let ourselves relax, there wouldn’t stress in the first place right?
Stress increases in part by a hormone called Cortisol which is a hormone that activates your sympathetic nervous system. In short, when you feel the physical symptoms of anxiety like I described above, you will find your good friend Cortisol is there helping to cause it. Cortisol is not entirely bad however, it plays a key role in your “Flight or Fight” ability to sense danger and your response to it. For example, if you see a bear in the woods and it stands up on it’s hind legs toward you, are you going to try and run or are you going to confront the bear? Your “Flight or Fight” instinct is what helps you make that decision.
So to sum up, when confronted by a bear, Cortisol is good. When you are dealing with the physical manifestations of anxiety due to chronic stress, Cortisol is bad.
When you exercise, you contract and relax muscles, your heart rate increases and so does your blood flow. In addition to increasing production of all those feel good neurotransmitters that are now flowing through your nervous system and increasing the activation of your sympathetic nervous system, that includes the release of Cortisol. Often times the body's acute response to exercise is mistaken for that of a panic attack, which if you suffer from chronic anxiety is definitely not fun. While it takes a lot of time and mental will to overcome those feelings, once you engage in a regular exercise program, you'll find that exercise can, in fact, help reduce chronic anxiety.
Within your tendons and muscles themselves, you have structures called "Muscle Spindles" which are basically sensory receptors that are sensitive to changes in muscle length. These are good because they keep your muscles from ripping your tendons out of your bone and causing you to tear yourself apart. Essentially when you contract a muscle, the muscle pulls on the tendon, which pulls on the bone and allows you to move. The muscle spindle, helps you to regulate the force in which you move so that you don't inadvertently hurt yourself by pulling to hard. In addition, the muscle spindles are what holds your tension in your muscle. Tight muscles can happen due to challenging workouts, stress, anxiety, sickness or anything else really and is often a physical manifestation of those issues. When you exercise, however, such as cardiovascular exercise or stretching. You are physically engaging your muscle spindles to release the tension. This is why, when you are particularly sore after a workout, it is good to go for a walk, run, swim, bike ride or other low intensity activity. Not only does it help increase blood flow to repair your muscle tissue, but it releases the tension.
In the end, while exercise certainly isn't a "cure all" for any mental health conditions, it is certainly beneficial toward preventing and treating mental illness, it should be apart of everybody's daily routine, especially for kids. Yet with our increasingly sedentary habits and modern conveniences, in addition to paranoia of our current socio-political climate. It is very challenging for kids and adults to find their recess where they can release and express themselves physically. It is very important that we make it a part of our life.Are you a goal-oriented individual looking for some extra guidance in your training? Check out Online Coaching with Stonewall!
Meet the Queens of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10
The fourteen queens competing to make their mark on the historic 10th season include:
Asia O'Hara (Dallas, TX) | Twitter/Instagram: @AsiaOharaLand
Texas is back in the house. A formidable competitor on the pageant circuit, Asia won Miss Gay America the first time she entered. Multi-talented, Asia has a costuming business on the side, designing for color guard teams and ice skaters.
Aquaria (Brooklyn, NY) | Twitter: @aquariaofficial, Instagram: @ageofaquaria
Aquaria already has a big reputation preceding her into the competition. At just 21, Aquaria has been photographed by Steven Klein for the pages of Vogue Italia. Confident and at the center of New York’s Drag Scene, Aquaria has the support of some of nightlife’s biggest legends.
Blair St. Clair (Indianapolis, IN) | Twitter: @ BlairStClair, Instagram: @ blairst.clair
A small-town girl with big city dreams, Blair St. Clair is a Broadway baby at heart. Combining her love of musicals with her passion for drag, Blair plans to sing, dance and act her way across the finish line of the competition.
Dusty Ray Bottoms (New York, NY) | Twitter: @DustyRayBottoms, Instagram: @dustyray
Self-described as “dark, glamorous and trashy,” this punky queen defies categorization. Look for the queen with the signature dotty-faced makeup. A Kentucky native who moved to the big apple to pursue acting, Dusty channeled his desire to perform into drag.
Eureka O'Hara (Johnson City, TN) | Twitter/Instagram: @eurekaohara
She’s back! Season 9’s Southern belle departed way too soon after injuring her knee. But Eureka is back following knee surgery, and hungrier than ever to prove herself the second time around.
Kalorie Karbdashian-Williams (Albuquerque, NM) | Twitter/Instagram: @kalkarbdashianw
Kalorie’s infectious giggle might be the first thing to enter a room, but it’s her gravity-defying ass that has all eyes on it as she leaves. This twerk queen proudly flaunts her curvaceous body in daring sexy dance performances.
Kameron Michaels (Nashville, TN) | Twitter: @KameronMichaels, Instagram: @kameronmichaels
You’re equally as likely to find this tattooed muscle queen down at the gym pumping iron, as you are to find performing at her local drag bar in Nashville. Deliberately intending to capture strength and beauty, Kameron Michaels is the body builder Barbie doll.
Mayhem Miller (Riverside, CA) | Twitter/Instagram: @TheOnlyMayhem,
Mayhem enters the competition with big expectations, as the sister of Drag Race alumni like Raven, Morgan McMichaels, Delta and Detox. Mayhem dazzles her Los Angeles’ audiences with polish and sass.
Miz Cracker (New York, NY) | Twitter/Instagram: @miz_cracker
Proud to call Bob The Drag Queen her drag mother, Miz Cracker began doing drag as a member of Bob’s Marches for Equality in Times Square. Pretty and witty, Miz Cracker captures you with her beauty, and then surprises you with the belly laughs.
Monét X Change (Bronx, NY) | Twitter/Instagram: @monetxchange
Monet blurs the lines of comedy, performance and New York City grit. A degree in Opera Performance means she’s the singer of the season, while her bright colorful street style ensures all the judges eyes will be on her.
Monique Heart (Kansas City, MO) | Twitter: @IAmMoniqueHeart, Instagram: @kevinandmonique
A creative well-rounded queen who knows how to do hair, makeup, dance… and make an entrance. A devoted Christian, Monique enters the competition hungrier than most to win, and with a promise to live up to her moniker as the “Heart of Season 10.”
The Vixen (Chicago, IL) | Twitter/Instragram: @TheVixensworld
Hailing from Chicago’s South Side, The Vixen combines elements of political art and protest into her performances. This vocal, woke queen brings both activism and fire to the stage - and is not about to take on her competition lying down.
Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (Tampa, FL) | Twitter/Instagram: @VanessaVanjie
Get these cookies, baby! Drag Race Season 3 and All Stars Season 1 star Alexis Mateo’s drag daughter brings electricity to the stage, with her high-energy dance performances and winning personality. Will Vanessa finish the job that Alexis Mateo started?
Yuhua Hamasaki (New York, NY) | Twitter: @YuhuaNYC, Instagram: @yuhuahamasaki
Originally hailing from China, Yuhua moved to Manhattan’s Chinatown when she was seven. Now a sickening seamstress by day and a hard-working queen by night, Yuhua regularly sews gowns for New York royalty like Peppermint and Bob the Drag Queen.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
DNC on the Passage of Anti-LGBTQ Adoption Bill in Georgia Senate
On Friday, the Georgia State Senate passed SB-375, a bill that would allow Georgia’s adoption agencies to deny LGBTQ couples the ability to adopt a child based on religious objection. In response, DNC LGBTQ Media Director Lucas Acosta released the following statement:
“Plain and simple, Georgia’s Republican lawmakers are discriminating against LGBTQ parents. Rather than focusing on empowering families or uniting children with loving parents, Georgia Republicans want to strip qualified potential parents of their ability to provide for a child in need. With over 400,000 children in foster care nationwide and nearly 14,000 in Georgia alone, the Georgia legislature should be focusing on how it can attract more qualified and loving parents to the system – not rejecting potential homes based on the gender identity or sexual orientation of the parents.
“As the special elections in GA SD-06, HD-117 and HD-119 proved, voters are rejecting the far-right, extremist agenda of Georgia Republicans and will hold them accountable in November.”
“Plain and simple, Georgia’s Republican lawmakers are discriminating against LGBTQ parents. Rather than focusing on empowering families or uniting children with loving parents, Georgia Republicans want to strip qualified potential parents of their ability to provide for a child in need. With over 400,000 children in foster care nationwide and nearly 14,000 in Georgia alone, the Georgia legislature should be focusing on how it can attract more qualified and loving parents to the system – not rejecting potential homes based on the gender identity or sexual orientation of the parents.
“As the special elections in GA SD-06, HD-117 and HD-119 proved, voters are rejecting the far-right, extremist agenda of Georgia Republicans and will hold them accountable in November.”
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