Connect with us

Arts & Entertainment

Taylor Swift accepts Video of the Year at VMAs with local drag performers

Tatianna, Riley Knoxx joined the ‘You Need to Calm Down’ singer on stage

Published

on

(Screenshot via YouTube)

Taylor Swift opened MTV’s 2019 Video Music Awards on Monday with a performance of her pro-LGBTQ anthem “You Need to Calm Down” which ultimately won Video of the Year, the biggest award of the night.

Swift performed the song along with bestie Todrick Hall and a slew of drag performers who also performed with Miley Cyrus during her 2015 VMAs performance of “Dooo It.” Swift later slowed things down with her first live performance of the single “Lover.”

“You Need to Calm Down” won MTV’s Video for Good and Video of the Year. Swift brought up some familiar faces who appeared in the music video including Hall, local drag performer Tatianna and local Beyoncé impersonator Riley Knoxx.

Swift got political during her acceptance speech for Video of the Year urging fans to sign her petition for the Equality Act.

“I first want to say thank you to the fans because in this video, several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law, regardless of who we are, regardless of how we identify,” Swift says.”At the end of this video there was a petition — and there still is a petition — for the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law. I want to thank everyone who signed that petition because it now has half-a-million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House.”

Another notable moment of the night included John Travolta who presented Video of the Year alongside Queen Latifah. His time on stage got attention when he mistakenly tried to hand the award to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Jade Jolie instead of Swift.

Out rapper Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus won Song of the Year for their hit single “Old Town Road (Remix).” This was Lil Nas X’s first award for the song.

Lil Nas X also gave a futuristic, heavily choreographed performance of his second single “Panini.”

Miley Cyrus performed her latest single “Slide Away,” her first live performance since her public separation from husband Liam Hemsworth. Cyrus was spotted getting intimate with blogger Kaitlynn Carter after the VMAs.

Missy Elliott also performed a medley of some of her greatest hits before accepting MTV’s Vanguard Award. The rapper entertained the crowd with her songs “The Rain,” “Hot Boyz,” “Get Ur Freak On,” “Work It,” “Pass That Dutch” and “Lose Control.”

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Photos

PHOTOS: World Pride March

LGBTQ rights demonstration held in Amsterdam

Published

on

A scene from the 2026 World Pride March in Amsterdam. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

View on Threads
View on Threads
View on Threads
Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: Daddy Issues at Kiki

Evry Pleasure, Tiara Missou-Sidora, Indiana Bones perform

Published

on

Evry Pleasure performs at the 'Daddy Issues' drag show at Kiki on Wednesday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Continue Reading

Books

Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?

‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of St. Martin's Essentials)

‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages

Mom called you in a panic the other day.

She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.

These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.

You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?

Chin says maybe, yes.

He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.

Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.

Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.

Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.

Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”

Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.

Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.

Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.

Continue Reading

Popular