National
Fast Five Fix: June 15
Back from a brief recess, we’ve got loads of celebrity, television and marriage news

Apple iOS 6 will include same-sex couple emoji. For those of you who, like me, don't have an iPhone, an emoji are complicated little emoticons that always show up as weird boxes when you're looking at some clever guy's Grindr profile on your Android phone. (h/t GoodAsYou)
Sorry kids, been away with the bronchitis going around the DMV this month. I still suspect pollen has something to do with it, I just have to figure out how to pin it down. While I was on my death bed, Indiana Republicans stopped gunning for a marriage amendment! Now we’re back from outer space, with some headlines for you!
- AfterEllen.com tells us the next season of Project Runway (that’s still on?) will feature an out lesbian designer who is rocking some fine looking dreadlocks.
- Same-sex significant others are better than opposite-sex significant others at slapping that fork out of your hand when you’ve had too much, according to some research uncovered by Autostraddle.com. I’m better at slapping that hand before its within a foot of my fork. Don’t take food out of a fat kid’s mouth. Nuh uh.
- Sex and the City’s Stanford wants you to stop calling him Stanford. So says AfterElton.com.
- Queerty tells us that Cheyenne Jackson and Rob Lowe are both signed on for the Liberace biopic. I guess they’re still looking for a Liberace. What’s Kevin Spacey up to these days?
- General Mills has declared war on marriage, so says National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown, according to Towleroad.
Finally, ever wonder what it would be like to watch Joy Behar and Jane Fonda make out awkwardly for an inappropriately lengthy amount of time? Well wonder no more!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ebZqxaGXHU
(h/t HuffPo)
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.


National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.

The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
