Day: 12 December 2018
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Former Real Housewives star: “A gay son is a curse”
A former Real Housewives star launched a vile attack on gay people via social media.
Jim Marchese who starred in season 6 of Real Housewives of New Jersey launched a vile attack on the gay community saying that he thought that a gay son was a “curse” and robbed a family of its “heritage”.
Marchese, who starred alongside his wife, Amber in season six of Real Housewives of New Jersey published his tirade on Twitter to support Kevin Hart, who stepped down last week as the host of next year’s Oscars after historic homophobic tweets emerged.
Taking to Twitter, in front of his 197,000 followers, Marchese wrote,
“So true NO STRAIGHT MALE wants his son to be gay. A gay son is a curse that takes away your #family traditions #heritage #lgtbiq is a parents nightmare that destroys families,” Jim tweeted. “Ruins holidays like #Christmas #KevinHart we support you! #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder.”
He then went on to suggest that Europe was “importing Muslim men” because the LGBT+ community had caused a population growth “crisis”.
He then dug further to say that being gay was an act of “sexual deviance” and that no one was born gay – likening it to a “choice like being vegan”.
Jim and his wife Amber decided to leave the Real Housewives of New Jersey in 2015.
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This university asked a comedian to sign a “behavioural agreement” contract
He said nope.
Pexels / Pixabay A University in London has a behavioural agreement contract which it is asking performers to sign before they are allowed to perform on stage.
Comedian Konstantin Kisin was asked to sign the agreement and told about the universities “no tolerance policy” on a raft of issues including sexism, transphobia and homophobia.
The unpaid gig was supposed to be hosted by the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) at the University of London on behalf of university society Unicef on Campus, which has since apologised for the contract and said it “believes fully in freedom of speech”.
I just received an invitation to perform *comedy* at a university…
The title of this “contract” nearly made me puke. @UnleashedComedy pic.twitter.com/4tUPCFwTLG
— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) December 10, 2018
Konstantin Kisin shared the contract with Radio 1’s Newsbeat and said that it nearly made him “puke”. He then posted the contract on social media saying,
“I just think it reflects an attitude among a group of people, people at university particularly, where it seems that they have become places of indoctrination rather than learning,
“Students are being taught to prevent offence rather than to seek truth and pursue experiences.
“Universities used to be all about that, but now it seems they’re places where students are being taught to be woke.
“I think it reflects a broader issue, where increasingly there are people who value safety, or what they perceive to be safety.”
The full list of banned topics listed by the organisers were “racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia or anti-religion or anti-atheism”.
The contract said: “It does not mean that these topics cannot be discussed. But it must be done in a respectful and non-abusive way.”
Apologises
Unicef on Campus told Newsbeat, “Given that Unicef is a children’s charity, we wanted to make sure it was an appropriate event for the cause. We would never wish to impose that guests would have to agree to anything they do not believe in.
“We apologise for the misunderstanding.”
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Here are the sports stars who came out in 2018
2018 has been a whopping year for LGBT sports people. More and more stars feel comfortable to be their true selves in public.
Here are some of the sports stars who have come out in 2018.
Abrahm DeVine
Collin Martin
Twenty-three-year-old Collin Martin came out as gay, wrapped in a pride flag. Amen to that. He becomes the second Stateside pro footballer to do so. Robbie Rogers was the first in 2013. He made the announcement via Twitter, writing “I am announcing for the first time publicly that I am an openly gay player in Major League Soccer, June is Pride month, and I am proud to be playing for Pride, and to be playing as an out gay man.”
Hurley Haywood
US Racing Legend Hurley Haywood came out at the age of 69. He addressed his sexuality in his autobiography, Hurley! From The Beginning.
Jake Atlas
Pro Wrestler Jake Atlas came out in Feb 2018 saying, “I am proud to fulfil my promise of coming out publicly about my sexuality to be a voice for those that struggle with this issue like I have for many, many years.”
Karina Manta
US Ice Dancer Karina Manta comes out as bisexual. Karina is a professional skater and she shared the news (and her girlfiend) with the world in a video.
Mel Reid
Six-time Ladies European Tour winner and LPGA golfer Mel Reid has come out in an interview with Athlete Ally. She said, “I fell in love with a girl and I was excited about it, so I told my sister who was completely cool about it, and then my brother,”
“My parents are older than most, but they couldn’t have been better about everything.
“They just assured me that as long as I love a good person, it doesn’t matter what race, gender or background they come from. I was very lucky my entire family is very liberal and embraced it totally.”
Nir Rotenburg
Professional Wrestler Nir came out as gay in July. Speaking to WDG, Rotenberg, who boxes professionally as Rixon Ruas said, “I understood the extent of the responsibility and the influence that my actions have now that I am a champion, and I knew that it was time to come out of the closet in public.”
“If I had a gay role model as a young wrestler, the fears I’ve had in the past would have been avoided”.
Robert Páez
Venezuelan Olympic diver Robert Páez came out as gay in a column with Outsports. He competed in the London 2012 Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the column he wrote, “Growing up in Venezuela, I knew from a very young age that I was different, despite not knowing what exactly that meant.
“It’s a difficult road, to know at a young age that we feel something that makes us believe we are not “right” in the eyes of society. Yet the truth is that if I was born that way, it was because God created me and he wanted it that way.
“When I finally came to believe that, that’s when I understood that I should accept with pride and courage…”
Tadd Fujikawa
US Open Golfer Tadd Fujikawa came out as gay in September 2018. Writing on World Suicide Prevention Day, Fujikawa said, “So…I’m gay. Many of you may have already known that.
“I don’t expect everyone to understand or accept me. But please be gracious enough to not push your beliefs on me or anyone in the LGBTQ community. My hope is this post will inspire each and every one of you to be more empathetic and loving towards one another.”
Todd Harrity
American squash player Todd Harrity revealed that he was gay in a heartfelt Twitter post in April. He said, “It has taken me a long time to accept myself as I am. But now I have, and am ready to put all of this behind me and move on with my life.”
Zack Leader
British Gravity Biker Zack Leader came out as gay in 2018. The biker who was 19 at the time came out in an emotional post on social media. He wrote,
“For about six months now, this is how I wanted to start the new year. A fresh start. No more hiding, no more lies,
“To some of you this won’t be news, but to a lot of you, I imagine it won’t have even crossed your mind. Some of you may have thought about it I imagine. What I’m trying to do is come out and say I’m gay.”
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THEATRE REVIEW | The Band
★☆☆☆☆ | The Band
The new show The Band is not, as you might think, a musical about Take That – but it damn well should’ve been.What we get is a show about four forty-something women who reunite after not having seen other for a long time to see their favourite boy band (now of course no longer a boy band) at a reunion tour concert in Prague. Why Prague you might ask? Because one of the women won a competition to see the band perform there. Why couldn’t one of them have bought tickets to a more local show if they loved the band so much? Well, that would’ve been too easy and would’ve left out one of the major plot points of this show – a broken penis.
Yes, a broken penis. You see, while the women are in Prague, they get a bit carried away and break the penis off of a priceless statue. Now, if this would happen in real life the women would’ve gotten heavily fined, and perhaps jail time. But when said penis, which is attached to a statue that actually does come to life (before the said penis is broken off), with the penis visible for all the audience to see, it makes for one of the most unintentional laughable moments in the West End. It’s not just laughable – it’s shockable! Who signed off on this scene? And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Take That’s big hit ‘Relight My Fire’ is sung while the characters (while still schoolgirls) are on a bus heading home from a concert, with the carefully hand-picked cast of the boy singers dressed up in bondage gear (with horse helmets). And then all of a sudden out of nowhere one of the girls is killed. Hmmm?
Another head scratcher is when the song ‘Never Forget’ is sung by the fab five in an airport lounge. There is also a bit of fat shaming in the show (one of the women is obese). Did I mention that the boys can’t really hold a tune and sing in harmony? Or in tune? Not once is the band introduced as characters, meanwhile, they glossfully sing in the background to scenes that have no real connection to the songs.
This is a jukebox musical that is as empty as a machine with no quarters in it. Sure the songs are great (who doesn’t love a Take That song or two), and one of the women happens to be lesbian, and AJ Bentley has the strongest vocals of all, but what do you expect from a musical show where the singers (boyband) were chosen from a reality television show?
Whoever signed off on this mess should be really ashamed of themselves. Robbie, Howard, Gary and Mark – you listening?
The Band plays at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. Book tickets now
