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Half of Americans Believe Christian Nationalism Is a Rising Threat To Freedom Mexican President Ends Funding For HIV/AIDS Programs & Organizations 5 Surrogacy Steps For Gay Men
Hate Crimes Have Risen 226% In Areas Where Trump Held Rallies RuPaul To Get Daytime Talk Show Virgin Atlantic’s New Gay Mascot Universal Announces ‘Cats’ Movie
73rd Opening Of The Beaches Pete Buttigieg The Religious Left’s Role In Politics House Music Legend Kim English Passes Away
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Half Americans Believe Christian Nationalism Is A Rising Threat To Freedom By Michelle Jenkins
Roughly half of registered voters in the United States think “Christian nationalism” is a rising threat to America’s freedom. A poll from Morning Consult shows almost half of respondents think it is “an important or critical threat to the vital interests of the country within the next 10 years.” They defined Christian nationalism as “the belief that the country is or should be a Christian nation that can often include social and political campaigns supposedly aimed at maintaining or reverting back to that status.” These would include laws targeting LGBTQ rights and “religious freedom” laws intended to give Christians a license to discriminate against women, LGBTQ people, racial minorities, and other religions. The ideology uses “efforts to restrict the space for religious pluralism in the country and give special privileges to a narrow segment of white Christians in America,” according to Rachel Laser, president of the nonpartisan Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “There is a strong movement to 06 www.cityxtramagazine.com
preserve white Christian power in America right now, and a real feeling of fragility about the changing demographics of America,”
she said. The Trump administration has been particularly vocal about lifting up both Christian nationalism and white nationalism – the belief that America should be run and populated by only white people. Despite being decidedly un-Christian in his behavior, the President has unprecedented support among evangelicals and his staunchest defenders are often far right religious leaders and Christian hate groups. Nearly half of evangelicals answering the poll dismissed Christian nationalism as a concern. 47 percent of respondents found Christian nationalism to be “a critical or important threat.” 62 percent of registered Democrats thought it was dangerous, but only 35 percent of Republicans.
with Christian nationalist viewpoints were the most likely to have voted for President Trump. “Trump will continue to position himself as the only person who can stop the assaults on Christianity,” he said. Democrats, on the other hand, have become enamored with presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the out gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has been vocal about the importance of progressive Christians to stress their brand of the religion to blunt the influence of the far right in politics.
“The idea that the only way a religious person could enter politics is through the religious right — I just don’t think that makes sense. What could be more different than the message I take from my faith and what we’re being shown in “Enshrined in this idea of Christian nationalism is that the Washington right now?” Buttigieg said in an interview true American is the white American,” Andrew Whitehead, on Morning Joe. an assistant professor in “I think a lot of people wonder sociology at Clemson where they fit, either because University, told Morning who they are, if you’re a Consult. member of the LGBTQ community like I am, or In a 2018 study conducted by because of what you believe Whitehead and colleagues politically,” Buttigieg went on. “I found that those who identify think the time has come for
for more of a religious left to emerge in our country, that let’s people know that they aren’t alone when they look at faith and think that teaches us to reach out to others, to humble ourselves, to take care of the immigrant, the prisoner, and frankly the sex worker.” Just as significant is that Buttigieg says the president has to represent people of no faith. Despite the enduring image of Americans as people of faith, even the religious right is shrinking and the number of people who profess no faith is growing. Not coincidentally, that group is actually much more likely to support LGBTQ rights. Morning Consult’s survey was conducted among 1,994 registered voters with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
STD & Oral HIV Testing Every Second Tuesday of Each Month By The AIDS Healthcare Foundation
organizations have flourished. At the 22nd International AIDS Mexican President Ends Conference Funding For HIV/AIDS (AIDS 2018) ProgramsBy& Organizations held in Drew Williams Amsterdam last July, President López Obrador has UNAIDS praised this model, halted public funding to civil calling it an international best society organizations and practice for fighting HIV. other intermediaries — many of which have worked with the While the government itself also has done good work on Mexican government on HIV their own to combat HIV, the testing and prevention. partnership has helped them This move, ironically, comes to do more effective outreach, as President Trump — in his with communities building State of the Union speech — their own programs to stop the pressed for more resources to virus, allowing these groups to combat HIV throughout the have a greater impact. United States. For example, one of the “I announced two days ago a groups most affected by HIV memorandum, a circular so as in Mexico are the users of innot to transfer resources from jectable drugs such as heroin, the Budget to social many of which were deported organizations, to unions, to from the United States, or who organizations of the so-called were unable to cross and civil society, NGOs, to settled along the border. In philanthropic associations, many cases, members of this and nothing of that is going to group are less likely to receive be allowed,” said President government outreach, either Obrador in his announcement. due to a lack of trained “Government support will be personnel, social stigma, or delivered directly to the because this community lives beneficiaries.” in dangerous areas that many Since 2006, the National AIDS do not wish to enter. Program of the Ministry of An organization named Vetver Health (CENSIDA) has been has been working to slow HIV in charge of getting funds to and Hepatitis C transmissions CSOs, with the understanding amongst these users, that those receiving funds providing first aid, clean were registered, had solid syringes, and other care. The accounting, and paid their loss of funding could halt their taxes. Since then, these work. 08 www.cityxtramagazine.com The move by Obrador is
intended to halt corruption, even though there hasn’t been any evidence of same within the CSOs fighting HIV. The deep cuts to these programs, however, will likely cause many of them to disappear while others cut back on services over the financial strain being imposed upon them. Halting funding for doesn’t stop with HIV cutbacks. The decision by President Obrador will also cut funding efforts related to human rights, shelters and other work around gender-based violence, and pro-environment programs. Without the funding provided from the government, it is unlikely that these programs can continue, and certainly not without big cuts. Mexico doesn’t generally receive foreign aid or foundation dollars that could supplement these organizations, nor does it have a culture of individual donations. It is worth noting that President Trump’s budget proposal includes $300 million to combat HIV and AIDS in the United States — but cuts four times that much from global initiatives to combat the virus.
With your sperm frozen, the second step is to identify your egg donor. Selection of 5 Surrogacy Steps For Gay Men your egg donor is an incredibly By Guy Ringler important step Building the family of your in your family-building process dreams can be a complicated because she will provide half road for anyone. For gay men the genetic make up of your and same-sex couples, fitting children, and her egg quality together those seemingly will impact your ultimate jumbled puzzle pieces can success rate. seem insurmountable at times. Take your time with this step, Yet in reality, for gay men, and search through as many building a family through agencies and referral sources surrogacy is as simple as five as needed until you find your steps. And for each of those perfect donor candidate. If steps there are professionals to having a donor with blonde hair help guide you along the way. is important to you, then you can have that. If having a Before you take the first step, Stanford grad is important to there’s a prologue to the journey: Get a semen analysis. you… you’ll pay for it handsomely, but you can have It’s important to test the that too. Never settle for less quantity and quality of your sperm to determine if we need than what you are looking for. Your child’s genetic make-up is to take additional steps in the at stake. treatment process to improve your sperm. The semen Now that we have the sperm analysis is a simple test that and the egg, the third step is your primary care physician for your fertility doctor to create can order and facilitate. the embryos. Our goal is to create between four and 10 Once we know we have your blastocysts to freeze, or to sperm in good working order, the first step in the journey is to biopsy for genetic testing and freeze your sperm. Along with then freeze. We hope to that comes important, required generate enough good quality embryos to provide you with FDA infectious disease screening, and genetic carrier several chances for pregnancy. screening blood tests. The best This is where the whole place to freeze your sperm is process can take a big pause, with the fertility doctor you’ll be if you choose. The embryos are using for your journey. frozen, and they can remain that way for years depending 12 www.cityxtramagazine.com
on where you are financially, in your relationship status or anything else that might make you want to slow down the process. Once you’re ready to move forward with building your family, the fourth step is to find a surrogate. That woman could be someone you know, or it could be someone you have identified through a surrogacy agency.
I always recommend choosing a surrogate candidate you can easily communicate and relate with. Surrogate mothers are amazing women who commit a year of their lives to help you become parents. Select the woman you want to carry your child during its development. Consider whether you want to become very involved in her life during the pregnancy, or if you prefer to remain more detached. The agency will work to meet expectations of both surrogates and intended parents to help insure a successful journey. For those wanting twins, now is also the time to decide if you want to have them with one surrogate or two. More and more people are finding that having two surrogates, each carrying one child at the same time, leads to a much better chance for healthy babies. It also increases the chances that you will have twins born around the same time as one another. Once you’ve chosen your surrogate comes the fifth and final step: the embryo transfer. After preparing your
surrogate’s uterus with hormones to make it optimally receptive, your fertility doctor will carefully transfer the embryo into the surrogate. Ten days later is the pregnancy test and, hopefully, some great news – you’re pregnant! After that last step, there’s no way to get around it: You now have nine months of waiting. Depending on your arrangement you may be talking with the surrogate via Skype on a weekly basis, visiting the doctor with her, or having no contact at all. Certainly the medical aspects of this entire process are incredibly intricate and complicated. Yet the journey for the parents does not have to be. By taking it one step at a time, and being sure to engage experienced, compassionate professionals each step of the way, the process can be as easy as five simple steps. Enjoy the journey!
Here, the researchers explain their methodology: Using the Hate Crimes Have Risen 226% In AntiAreas Where Trump Held Rallies Defamation League’s Hate, By Michael Brayson Extremism, A recent study by scholars from Anti-Semitism, Terrorism map the University of North Texas data (HEAT map), we has shown that “counties that examined whether there was a had hosted a 2016 Trump correlation between the campaign rally saw a 226 counties that hosted one of percent increase in reported Trump’s 275 presidential hate crimes over comparable campaign rallies in 2016 and counties that did not host such increased incidents of hate a rally.” crimes in subsequent months. We already knew that U.S. To test this, we aggregated hate crimes have been on the hate-crime incident data and rise since Trump’s election. Trump rally data to the county Even though the president’s level and then used statistical spokespeople falsely claim that tools to estimate a rally’s he doesn’t support political impact. We included controls violence, he continues making for factors such as the county’s barely veiled threats to his crime rates, its number of political opponents. active hate groups, its minority But this is the first study to populations, its percentage with quantify how Trump’s very college educations, its location presence might increase in the country and the month animus against marginalized when the rallies occurred. people (though researchers Their analysis included all stop short of claiming reports of vandalism, causation). intimidation and assault
following Trump’s rallies. The researchers don’t directly blame Trump for the rise in hate crimes, but they do acknowledge “The Trump Effect” in public schools, in which young people mimic Trump’s abusive words and actions against their peers. In the past, Trump has praised citizens for attacking journalists, praised police for “roughing up” arrested suspects and has called Mexicans drug dealers and rapists. His policies have mostly targeted the poor, undocumented immigrants, trans people and people of color. When asked whether he thought he should tone down his language, Trump responded, “I think my language is very nice.”
www.FernadinaBeachPride.com 14 www.cityxtramagazine.com
“Now more than ever before we need a global voice that will help everyday people navigate this unique time RuPaul To Get in history,” said Daytime Talk Show Ru. “Not only do By David Vandygriff I want to be a The queen of all queens might part of that conversation, I want become the next queen of to help facilitate it.” daytime TV. RuPaul will premiere June 10, Last summer Variety reported and will air Monday through that RuPaul was filming a talk Friday on select Fox TV show pilot for Telepictures, the stations, including WNYW in Warner Bros. production New York and KTTV in Los company behind The Ellen Angeles, as a three-week test DeGeneres Show and—for all run limited series. of you ’90s kids out there—The “Part of the appeal of doing Rosie O’Donnell Show. Now limited series is the freedom it we get the first taste of what allows to try something really the chat fest will be like in a different. That’s this show,” new clip from the talk show, featuring Ru walking the lit-up ddded Frank Cicha, EVP, Programming, FOX Television runway, and telling the Stations. RuPaul will be everybody in the audience to executive produced by Jill Van “say love!” Lokeren (who worked on The We feel like we’ve heard that Oprah Winfrey Show) and before. Is anyone else getting World of Wonder’s Fenton Déjá Ru? Bailey, Randy Barbato and According to Deadline, the talk Tom Campbell, who are also show—appropriately titled, producers RuPaul—will be “entertaining, on heartfelt,” and feature Ru’s RuPaul’s “modern take on the talk Drag format.” Race. “He will showcase his aspirational message with celebrity and newsmaker interviews, along with empowering everyday people to become their best selves. His sense of beauty, make-up and style will make the runway work for everyone,” reads the series description 16 www.cityxtramagazine.com
According to Variety, Ru will host, and “bring his unique, positive and aspirational point of view to the
format, interviewing celebrities, giving beauty and glam tips, playing games, and dishing on pop culture.” The trade paper also reports that the glamazon’s show will not contain cooking or exercise segments, but his closest squirrel friend, Michelle Visage, is “expected to play a major role.” The description of the series is giving us serious RuPaul Show vibes, which was Ru and Michelle’s late-night talk show that ran on VH1 for two seasons from 1996-1998. We are surprised that Ru has any time left in his schedule. In addition to hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race, he is also starring in a new Netflix series, AJ and the Queen, judging World’s Best on CBS, and hosting Drag Race U.K., which is set to premiere later this year Honestly, the more RuPaul on our TVs the better, and we can’t wait until the Supermodel of the World is telling daytime audiences nationwide: “Everybody say love!”
Humphrey continued: ‘By introducing our new flying icons, I hope encourages Virgin Atlantic’s New Gay Mascot itpeople from By David Vandygriff all Virgin Atlantic will soon be up- backgrounds to feel at home dating its airplanes and flying with us, but also working replacing their iconic Varga Girl with us.’ with a more diverse lineup of Virgin Atlantic’s promised to figures. achieve gender equality in the The Varga Girl — a white, company, as well as 12% typically dark-haired woman — black, Asian and minority adorned the British airline’s ethnic group representation by fleet of planes for the last 35 2022. years. She was depicted in a WHAT’S IN A NAME? form-fitting red dress that These new icons will start unpeeled to reveal the Union appearing later this year, when Jack. the company adds new She was based on Alberto long-haul A350 planes. Vargas’s pin-up illustrations Further, the planes will also during World War II. earn some new names like The airline, however, is now Rain Bow and Mamma Mia. retiring her in favor of a more Old stalwarts like Hot Lips and diverse lineup, including a gay Barbarella will also man, a black man and woman, and an Asian woman. They will still be wearing red outfits and Union Jack capes. With the gay male icon, his red outfit blends into a rainbow at the bottom. ‘The saying goes “You can’t be what you can’t see” and that has never been truer than the aviation industry’s glamorous image in the past,’ said Nikki Humphrey, senior vice president of people at the company. The company wants to be more inviting not only to all travelers, but employees as well. 18 www.cityxtramagazine.com
continue to operate. These changes are mostly being met with praise and approval. The names, however, have caused some raised eyebrows. ‘Putting the black icon on a plane called Cool Runner sounds like a tired trope that predictably links black people to ‘urban’ culture and entertainment, and betrays exactly the kind of stereotypical thinking Virgin claims it’s trying to change,’ commented author Afua Hirsch. This isn’t the only progressive change Virgin Atlantic has introduced recently. Last month, the company announced make-up would no longer be required female crew members. They will also start providing pants as a uniform option instead of only skirts.
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Universal Announces ‘Cats’ Movie By Adam Montgomery
For all the feline lovers, fans of the musical, or just the perversely curious: Universal has announced that the film version of Cats will utilize motion capture to create the movie’s feline characters. The news came out of Cinema Con, the Hollywood trade show where studios often show sizzle reels to generate buzz for their upcoming releases. That appeared to be the strategy for the Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables) directed film, which brings the celebrated Andrew
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Lloyd Webber show to the silver screen. Though the footage shown at the convention didn’t show the final renderings of the movie’s characters, it did show behind the scenes footage of the performers wearing the standard dotted leotards used for motion capture filming. Hollywood used the same technique to realized characters like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cats has long toiled in
so-called Development Hell. The popularity of the plotless dance musical made tinseltown interested in producing a movie version, with various directors like Steven Spielberg signing up for the project only to leave later on. Hooper’s version will feature Oscar winners Jennifer Hudson and Judi Dench, as well as Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and James Corden. The movie will hit cinemas this December.
and 2nd Streets is home to numerous bars, pubs, nightclubs, and lounges 73rd Opening Of The Beaches sitting in one By Jennifer Moore perfectlynamed The City of Jacksonville Beach bubble: "the beach bars." All welcomes you to our 73rd offer a decent amount of both Annual Beaches Parade! April indoor and outdoor seating/ 28, 2019 - 2:00pm Downtown standing space. Bar patrons Jacksonville Beach can be seen all hours of the day, into the wee 2 a.m. lastJacksonville's Atlantic coastal city is a sun-beaming hideaway call time. Traffic in the area picks up significantly on the for visitors and a transit- , all-inclusive commu- weekends, but the bars stay busy Tuesday-Sunday nights nity to its residents. An 8from about 9 p.m. until close. square-mile mix of housing, The amount of room, variety, hotels, retail, dining, nightlife, and appeal of open-air patios, and outdoor recreation is paired with nightly drink speenough reason for those who cials and the absence of uberlive there to "never cross the ditch" - and enough for guests competitiveness or difference among establishments, attracts to follow. people to the small, compact The boardwalk between the setting. There is a little beach and the backside of something for everyone, from buildings and residences on 1st relaxing grotto The Wine Bar, street draws large crowds of all to your standard Irish pubs, to ages, from all around town, as the reggae-themed Jamrock. well as tourists. Infused with There are family-friendly typical beachwear shops, bars, restaurants, dance clubs, and restaurants, beach rentals, and beach hangout bars. hotels, the long stretch stays Like the bars, almost all of the occupied by beach-goers and restaurants in the area have vacation-stayers. outdoor seating that is just as A 10-block stretch along 1st popular as its enclosed friendly
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counterpart. Access to views of beachfront and pedestrian activity is a large reason why. The extreme walkability and layout of Jacksonville Beach makes for a very noticeable scenery. Call it a pattern, deja vu, or the scary fakeness of a summer postcard - if you come to the beach be ready for the oncoming speedy sea of bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, joggers, and dogs. Moving aside for an inanimate object may seem bothersome, but the curb appeal of bike racks is unparalleled for those who live at the beach. The beach access walkways and the pier are perfect for sightseeing, lounging, and fishing.
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“I think a lot of people wonder where they fit, either because who they are, if you’re a member of the Pete Buttigieg The Religious LGBTQ community like Left’s Role In Politics I am, or By David Vandygriff because of what you Pete Buttigieg has been the believe politically,” Buttigieg subject of adoring profiles went on. “I think the time has lately, casting the gay mayor of come for more of a religious left South Bend, Indiana as the to emerge in our country, that future of the Democratic party. let’s people know that they CNN has even declared aren’t alone when they look at Buttigieg “the hottest candidate faith and think that teaches us in the 2020 race right now.” to reach out to others, to The coverage has helped humble ourselves, to take care Buttigieg distinguish himself of the immigrant, the prisoner, from the huge pack of and frankly the sex worker.” Democratic presidential The idea that a religious left will candidates and boosted his ever rival the religious right in fundraising efforts. terms of size and influence is But while reporters marvel at unlikely at best. Mainstream his willingness to learn Protestant denominations, like Norwegian to read more of his the Episcopal Church to which favorite author, what makes Buttigieg belongs, would be a Buttigieg so interesting (and liberal counterbalance. unique) is his willingness to However, those denominations engage in thoughtful have been shedding members conversation about big topics, for decades. Presently, only like racism. That’s especially about 650,000 people in the true when it comes to the role U.S. attend Episcopal services of religion in politics. weekly. “The idea that the only way a However, the point that religious person could enter Buttigieg is making is broader politics is through the religious and more important. right — I just don’t think that Democratic candidates need to makes sense. What could be be able to talk about their faith more different than the — and the application of that message I take from my faith faith — as openly as the and what we’re being shown in religious right does. That Washington right now?” doesn’t mean falling prey to the Buttigieg said this week on ridiculous literalism of the Morning Joe. religious right, which scours the 24 www.cityxtramagazine.com
Bible to justify President Trump’s worst excesses. (The administration plays that game too, using scripture to justify separating children from immigrant families.) At present, you’d be forgiven for thinking that religion in politics is owned by the religious right. When the mainstream media talks about people of faith in politics, they’re often talking solely about conservative evangelicals. That may not be accurate, but it is understandable. For Trump, no other group exists. The religious right is his base, and every policy decision he makes is with their support in mind. But there are liberal believers, like Buttigieg, and even liberal evangelicals. Their faith leads them to embrace progressive policies, including LGBTQ rights, which is embraced by 5,000 churches nationwide. None of this is to suggest that liberals want to erase the separation of Church and state. (On the other hand, the religious right considers that principle a myth.) Buttigieg prefaced his remarks to emphasize the importance of maintaining that wall. Reclaiming (or more accurately, rescuing) the language of faith from the right is a noble cause. When he was president, Barack Obama spoke about the importance of faith. But Buttigieg is taking it one step further, talking about how faith can bring people into politics. Just as significant is that
Buttigieg says the president has to represent people of no faith. Despite the enduring image of Americans as people of faith, even the religious right is shrinking and the number of people who profess no faith is growing. Not coincidentally, that group is actually much more likely to support LGBTQ rights. Whether anyone other than Buttigieg will continue this conversation is up for grabs. But the fact that Buttigieg raised it at all underscores just why he’s burning up the media race right now. Talking in plain language about important issues is one of his strengths. What’s setting him apart is talking about them in a way no one else does.
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Munster, Indiana. While she had many opportunities to travel the globe as a singer, she remained a devoted family House Music Legend Kim member and English Passes Away member of her By Ellen Davidson church, and Legendary house music never allowed herself to be vocalist Kim English has distracted from the path she felt passed away according to a was right for her.” Facebook post by Nervous A cause of death has not been Records. revealed, but Nervous Records “Kim’s discography includes said more details would be several songs that are widely forthcoming. recognized as all-time classics If you were at a gay club in the in the house music genre. She early 2000s—or listened to the had a unique ability both Queer as Folk soundtracks on through her singing and repeat—then you are familiar songwriting talents to inspire with English’s classic tracks people to dance and also such as “Everyday” and celebrate the joys of God and “Unspeakable Joy.” Between religion,” reads the Facebook 1999 and 2002 English had five post. singles that made it to the No. “She was a deeply religious 1 spot on the Billboard Dance and devoted member of the charts. Family Christian Center in
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British DJ Wayne G told Gay Star News that English was “the ultimate professional” and “the ultimate diva.” “I first heard her voice in 1994 as I started my DJ career,” he recalled. “Then when I started touring the USA in 2000, I met her several times, and she performed alongside me. She was always the ultimate professional, a voice like no other and the lyrics connected to the dance floor on a spiritual level. She was a true diva.”