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Fast Five Fix: June 21

Outing & out gay celebs, OccuPride to stop actual Pride in SF, Dan Savage puts a dollar in the swear jar, and Britney – Britney – Britney!

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Rainbow bus club, gay news, Washington Blade

Queerty uncovered this bizarre group of straight guys who love to play gay for the day, rent busses and play dance music, and just pride out. Ummm... thanks? (h/t Queerty — click for more)

While Entertainment Weekly tackles gay celebrities coming out of the closet on their own terms, my boss, Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff contributed quotes to a much different New York Observer magazine story about pushing closeted celebs out of the closet. Now here’s the news:

  • An LGBT Occupy Wall Street offshoot, OccuPride, plans to disrupt the San Francisco Pride parade this weekend, maybe even stop it in its tracks, says LGBT newspaper Bay Area Reporter. Meanwhile, OccuPrider Scott Rossi tells JoeMyGod they aren’t against having a good time, but want to make people aware of the corporate takeover of Pride.
  • Towleroad tells us the Canadian porn star murderer who posted video of dismembering his ex on YouTube, before shipping body parts off to members of Parliament, has plead not guilty to his murder…
  • Troy Michigan mayor, Janice Daniels, whose foot seems ever so resolved to stay firmly in her mouth when it comes to talking about LGBT people, has done it again; and this time — with a pending recall election hovering over her head — she may have sealed her fate, according to Autostraddle.
  • Dan Savage said something VERY naughty about GOProud on Twitter after the gay conservative group endorsed Mitt Romney. GOProud leadership was quick to reply, as was friend of the Blade and DailyKos superstar, Scott Wooledge.
  • Alec Baldwin should just get off Twitter… read what homophobic junk he tweeted now at Queerty.

Finally, remember playing Britney’s album “Baby… One More Time,” over and over again and hearing the duet “I Will Still Love You?” The guy singing with Brit is named Don Philips, and on Sunday he auditioned for his old song-mate Britney Spears, Simon Cowell and everyone else on the X Factor, and came out of the closet in the tearful exchange with the “Toxic” songstress. Watch part of that audition here:

Apparently, however, his audition crashed an burned. Too bad he can’t now say to Britney “Oops, I did it again!” (h/t Towleroad)

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Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner

Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’

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Queen Jean (Screen capture via vulture/YouTube)

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.

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Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor

Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance

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Madonna surprised New York fans with an impromptu show in Times Square. (Photo by Alex Antonioni; courtesy Warner Records)


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. 

Madonna performs in Times Square on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Antonioni; courtesy Warner Records)
(Photo by Ricardo Gomes; courtesy Warner Records)

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Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping

Marriage equality support lowest since 2016

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Progress rainbow flag and trans flag flying. (Washington Blade Photo by Michael Key)

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.

New data from Gallup shows a decline in LGBTQ support. (Graph courtesy of Gallup)

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.

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