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DeSantis Says He's Willing To 'Take Away Lunch Money From Poor Kids' For Anti-Transgender Crusade Far Right Again Says Marriage Equality Will Lead To Incest, Polygamy
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Demi Lovato Shares Why She’s Using She/Her Pronouns Again
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New Research Challenges Claim That Youth Identify As Transgender Due To ‘Social Contagion’
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Is The Sober-Curious Trend Here To Stay? An Introduction To Kampgrounds Of America The Black And Brown Activists Who Started Pride Kevin Bacon Hopes They/Them Can Inspire LGBTQ+ Kids in Conservative US HGTV's Keith Bynum & Evan Thomas Talk Those Long-Awaited Wedding Plans Monét X Change Reveals The One Thing She’d Return To RuPaul’s Drag Race For Monét X Change Reveals The One Thing She’d Return To RuPaul’s Drag Race For Southern Roots Filling Station Owner Says He’s Facing Possible 400% Rent Increase
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DeSantis Says He's Willing To 'Take Away Lunch Money From Poor Kids' For Anti-Transgender Crusade By Leroy Johnson
At a press conference about addiction, DeSantis began by saying doctors should be sued for providing gender affirming treatment to children. "They wanna castrate these young boys - that's wrong," the governor said. "I think these doctors need to get sued for what's happening." Later at the event, DeSantis complained about a USDA decision to add gender identity to its sexual discrimination
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policies. The USDA is responsible for administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides funding for school lunches. The Biden administration has not moved to take action against states based on the decision but DeSantis claimed that the president was "threatening to take away lunch money from poor kids as punishment from us protecting
women’s sports." “They’re so intent on destroying the competition of women’s athletics that they’re going to use school lunch money for poor kids as a cudgel to try to get us to submit to what they want," he added. "We’re not backing down one inch on this!” In June, DeSantis signed a bill that prevents transgender girls from competing with other girls on public school teams.
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Far Right Again Says Marriage Equality Will Lead To Incest, Polygamy By Larry Massengill
Anti-LGBTQ+ forces are again trotting out the tired arguments that marriage equality will lead to legalization of incestuous or polygamous relationships — this time in response to the Respect for Marriage Act. Never mind that the U.S. has had equal marriage rights for all couples, regardless of gender, since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015, and those other kinds of relationships haven’t received legal blessing. Right-wing groups claim the Respect for Marriage Act goes further than Obergefell and threatens religious freedom. The act has been proposed in Congress to safeguard marriage equality in the event the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell. Justice Clarence Thomas, in his concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade — said he would like to see Obergefell reversed, along with rulings that established rights to contraception and same-sex intimacy. The House of Representatives passed the bill in July, and it is 08 www.jaxgay.com
pending in the Senate, where the 50 Democrats and independents who support it must attract the votes of at least 10 Republicans to overcome the filibuster rule. So far five Republicans are expected to support the measure. At least two coalitions of rightwing groups are pleading with Republicans to reject the bill. One coalition sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week, bearing the names of 83 conservative leaders, including Michael P. Farris of the Alliance Defending Freedom, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, and other usual suspects. Their letter claims the Respect for Marriage Act “would require federal recognition of any one state’s definition of marriage without any parameters whatsoever. This would include plural marriages, time-bound marriages, open marriages, marriages involving a minor or relative, platonic marriages, or any other new marriage
definition that a state chooses to adopt, including through undemocratic imposition by a state Supreme Court.” However, no state has chosen to adopt such a definition, and there’s no record of any state proposing this. The organizations also contend the act would threaten religious freedom because it would bar anyone acting under a state law from denying full faith and credit to a marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the spouses. They say this would harm faith-based nonprofits that contract with governments to provide services such as foster care and adoption — but there’s already an uproar about these groups using taxpayer fund to discriminate. The right-wing groups further bring up the specter of the federal government depriving religious institutions of tax-exempt status, but that’s far-fetched. A separate statement with some of the same signatories makes similar arguments. A group called the Conservative Action Project urges rejection of the Respect for Marriage Act, saying, “Such a troublesome policy pronouncement by Congress in favor of same-sex marriage
would not only legislate a harmful, anti-family policy but also would unleash further religious freedom violations, threaten the tax-exempt status of religious entities, and wrongly marginalize social conservatives.” It brings up several cases where private businesses ran afoul of state antidiscrimination laws by refusing to provide goods or services for weddings of same-sex couples, along with Kim Davis, the former county clerk in Kentucky who went to jail for contempt of court because she shut down all marriage license operations rather than issue licenses to same-sex couples. The statement refers to male-female unions as “natural” marriages and says
they are “part of the very fabric of a free society” — not that any same-sex couples are keeping different-sex couples from marrying. It also claims that if the Respect for Marriage Act becomes law, “if any state recognized polyamorous marriages, the federal government would be forced to recognize them as well (as a matter of federal law).” Again, no state recognizes such marriages. A Senate vote on the Respect for Marriage Act will probably come in September, one of its lead sponsors, Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, told her state’s PBS outlet Friday. She said that in addition to the five Republican senators who have gone public with their support, there are five leaning in favor of
the bill. Those who have publicly committed as definite or likely supporters are Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio (both cosponsors), Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. She did not name those leaning. LGBTQ+ rights advocates are pushing some other Republican senators. The Human Rights Campaign Monday delivered petitions bearing hundreds of signatures of Utahns to Sen. Mitt Romney’s office in Salt Lake City, urging him to support the bill. Romney, who at times has shown willingness to go against his fellow Republicans, hasn’t taken a public stand on the legislation.
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Demi Lovato Shares Why She’s Using She/Her Pronouns Again By David Vandygriff
During an interview on Monday promoting the album HOLY FVCK, out singer Demi Lovato shared why she changed her pronouns.
doing some healing and self-reflective work. And through this work, I've had the revelation that I identify as nonbinary.”
“I've actually adopted the pronouns of she/her again,” Lovato revealed on The Spout Podcast. “So for me, I'm such a fluid person that I don't really… I don't find that I am… I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced and my masculine and feminine energy, so that when I was faced with the choice of walking into a bathroom and it said, women and men, I didn't feel like there was a bathroom for me because I didn't feel necessarily like a woman. I didn't feel like a man. I just felt like a human. And that's what they/them is, is about for me, it's just about, like, feeling human at your core.” Earlier this year, Lovato, who is nonbinary, updated her pronouns on Instagram to they/ them/she/her. In May 2021, Lovato, 29, told listeners on her podcast 4D with Demi Lovato, "Over the past year and a half, I've been
She added, “With that said, I’ll officially be changing my pronouns to they/them. I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am, and still am discovering.” "Recently I've been feeling more feminine, and so I've adopted she/her again," Lovato explained during Monday’s interview. "But I think what’s important is, like, nobody’s perfect. Everyone messes up pronouns at some point, and especially when people are learning, it’s just all about respect."
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In July 2021, Lovato tweeted about being misgendered. "If you misgender me, that's okay. I accidentally misgender myself sometimes! It's a huge transition to change the pronouns I've used for myself my entire life. And it's difficult to remember sometimes!" she tweeted.
"As long as you keep trying to respect my truth and as long as I remember my truth, the shift will come naturally," Lovato added. "I'm just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process." Lovato’s album HOLY FVCK is out August 19.
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New Research Challenges Claim That Youth Identify As Transgender Due To ‘Social Contagion’ By Alex Whitman
Gender dysphoria is not driven by “social contagion” and transgender youth do not identify as transgender to escape stigma related to their sexual orientation, new research suggests – directly rebuking two popular theories embraced by conservative politicians and a small percentage of the medical community seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for transgender young people.
disorders and “social contagion.” Rep. Gary Click (R), the sponsor of a similar measure in Ohio, said while testifying that he believed young people who identify as transgender are often influenced to do so by social media or a “desire to fit into a group or escape an adverse experience.”
“Sadly, work in this area has become highly politicized,” Jack Turban, an incoming assistant professor in child and In a paper published adolescent psychiatry at The Wednesday in the journal University of California San Pediatrics, researchers found Francisco and the paper’s lead that the percentage of author, told Changing America adolescents who openly on Wednesday. identified as transgender “This is difficult to watch for declined between 2017 and those of us who have 2019, which challenges a dedicated our careers to theory that the number of transgender youth in the U.S. is supporting the mental health of climbing due to the influence of young people,” he said. “We regularly see young trans things like social media and patients who become more peer pressure. anxious and depressed as they In April, Missouri Rep. Suzie watch politicians stigmatize Pollock, a Republican who them on large national sponsored legislation this year platforms.” that would have stripped In states like Florida and doctors that provide gender-affirming care to minors Alabama, where legislation targeting transgender young of their medical licenses, said people has become law, the “root cause” of gender “things are even worse,” dysphoria is abuse, mental Turban said.
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In the study published Wednesday, Turban and his colleagues analyzed data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey – a biennial survey distributed to high school students across the country. While the CDC survey does not require states to collect or report information on adolescents’ gender identity (questions about sexual orientation have only been administered since 2015), 16 states opted to do so in both 2017 and 2019, culminating in a sample of roughly 100,000 young people per year. Using that dataset, researchers found that most transgender youth between 2017 and 2019 were assigned male at birth – a discovery that challenges another fringe theory that adolescents assigned female at birth are more likely to identify as transgender because of social media, peer pressure and other external influences. From 2017 to 2019, the percent of transgender youth assigned female at birth fell from 1.9 percent to 1.4 percent of the transgender population, the
the study found.
shortly after it was released for The paper disproves the “social “oversights that occurred during the original assessment contagion” hypothesis that of the study.” stems from a 2018 study of online parent forums. Researchers on Wednesday According to that study’s also found that data did not findings, children are more support a theory that there is a likely to experience “rapid national trend of cisgender onset gender dysphoria” when youth identifying as they spend more time using the transgender to flee the stigma internet or have friends who of being gay or lesbian. are transgender. Comparing rates of bullying That theory has been victimization among disproved by multiple studies transgender adolescents and published in peer-reviewed cisgender sexual minority journals including The Journal adolescents, researchers found of Pediatrics and The that rates of victimization were Sociological Review. much higher among transgender young people. Joerg Heber, then-editor-inchief of the journal PLOS ONE, According to Turban, experts which published the original working in transgender health study, issued an apology care have never given much
credence to the idea that lesbian, gay or bisexual youth identify as transgender to escape judgement or torment from their peers. “That simply isn’t what we generally see in clinical practice,” he said. Turban said he hopes his research will be used to eradicate the use of unfounded theories in political discourse and policy making, which is what motivated him and his team to take on the study in the first place. “My hope is that we can move away from a politicized discourse about trans youth and toward one that is compassionate and evidence based,” he said.
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Is The Sober-Curious Trend Here To Stay? By Drew Williams
Most of us have become familiar with the concept of Dry January, especially when trying to be more mindful of our spirit consumption in conjunction with keeping our bodies healthy. The thoughtfulness regarding alcohol has, more recently, become an intermittent constant, especially in the lives of young people as they embrace new ways to take care of themselves both mentally and physically. With some non-alcoholic wines tasting better than their boozy counterparts and celebs like Katy Perry creating lines of alcohol-free drinks, it's no wonder the sober-curious movement has become a trend. If you're wondering whether or not you categorize yourself as sober-curious, consider how often you drink and if you ever stop as an experiment to improve your general well-being. While having a drink from time to time may not have adverse effects on your health, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to a whole slew of health problems including cancer and a weakened immune system (per CDC). There is often a presumed 16 www.jaxgaycom
assumption that someone needs to hit extremes to tailor back on their booze intake, but according to a piece in The New York Times, when a person questions their decisions made around alcohol, they in turn become more mindful regarding their choice to drink. With this newfound mindfulness and the emergence of booze-free bars, what does the future look like for the sober-curious? The Sober Lifestyle Is Not Just An Experiment While alcohol-free beer has been around for a while with most varieties lacking a similar taste to their boozy counterparts, the options available today tell a different story. More and more companies are jumping on the sober train and according to CNN Business, this includes major brands like Heineken and O'Douls. Brands like Seedlip which produces non-alcohol liquor are seeing a gain in popularity as more people take proposed "breaks" from everyday alcohol consumption. Non-alcoholic craft beer company Athletic Brewing Co. has numerous positive reviews on Facebook with one user claiming, "This
isn't your daddy's NA beer from years ago. It's really good and is very close to the real thing." With bigger brands jumping on the non-alcoholic bandwagon, it makes the notion of "not drinking" a trendy thing to do in 2022 according to Ginger Hultin, MS, RDN . With options increasing and expecting to gain in volume by 23% from now until 2026, it's safe to say the non-alcohol trend could be here to stay. Not only that but the NA buzz is indicating a new cultural shift among young and older Americans of today that The Washington Post has coined the "Neo-Moderation Movement."
An Introduction To Kampgrounds Of America By Eric Rutherford
The Kampgrounds of America, Inc. operates the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds, with more than 520 locations across the United States and Canada. The campgrounds offer RV sites, tent sites, deluxe cabins, camping cabins, and some more unique experiences that vary by location.
maximum convenience, and are perfect for stopping after a long day on the road. The KOA Holiday locations are aimed at both relaxation and playing. They feature RV Sites with patios, deluxe cabins with full baths, premium tent sites, and group meeting facilities. The top -line facilities are called KOA Resorts, and visitors will find robust recreation and staff-led Each KOA campground activities, pools, and food features a convenience store, pet park, laundry facilities, and service. playgrounds. Ours also fe KOA says that 9.1 million atured a free mini golf course, a households went camping for good-sized pool and deck, a the first time in 2021 — and one communal fire pit area, and a -third of those said the large bouncy pad similar to an pandemic was the reason they enormous trampoline (while my tried camping. What’s more, son loved it, my own knees told urban residents have become me to stop after approximately one of the most avid camping two minutes). segments, camping more KOA separates its locations into frequently and for longer three types: KOA Journey, KOA periods than people living in the Holiday, and KOA Resort. KOA suburbs or rural areas. Due to the increase in popularity, more Journey campgrounds are campgrounds are being built usually located very close to highways and main roads, for
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and expanded. In fact, KOA opened 26 new franchise locations in 2021, and the company has new campgrounds in Virginia, California, Alabama, Nebraska, and Oregon coming soon. Both RVs and campgrounds are getting greener. KOA is now implementing Level 2 EV Chargers at select campground locations across the U.S. and Canada. The company says that each unit will be able to charge one electric vehicle while also providing amperage for RVs through an available outlet. The Level 2 chargers use a 240-volt electric supply and can charge the vehicle up to 10 times faster than a Level 1 (120-volt) charger. These EV chargers are currently available at seven campgrounds in Michigan, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, with exponential growth expected in the future.
The Black And Brown Activists Who Started Pride By Carl Romer
Pride Month, which takes place in June, is a time to celebrate the moments in queer history that sparked activism and progress toward equality. But one piece of history that frequently gets lost is the fact that many of these defining moments were only made possible by Black and brown LGBTQ+ activists fighting for their liberation. As Black and brown people, their marginalization was furthered by their sexual orientation, causing violence, discrimination, and oppression toward them with respect to income, employment, housing, education, political representation, access to health care, and other public and private services. Their fight for liberation and equality has been whitewashed out of much of the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Each historical era determined not only how Black and brown people who identify as gay lived, but also what they risked losing by revealing their sexual preference or identity. The first national gay rights organization, the Mattachine Society, was founded in Los Angeles in 1950. Within two years of its founding, the 20 www.jaxgay.com
Society turned its attention to fighting police abuses of the Chicano community and police entrapment, wherein police officers would flirt with, coerce, or even sexually assault suspected homosexual men, then arrest them for “lewd and dissolute” behavior. The first LGBTQ+ Pride was the commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which served as a catalyst for the LGBTQ+ movement for civil rights in the United States and around the world. Fifty-two years ago, in the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police violently raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar, and hauled off employees and patrons—a majority of whom were Black or brown. The raid led to six days of protests, largely led by Black LGBTQ+ women. It was reported that Storme’ DeLarverie—a gay rights activist and “male impersonator”—threw the first punch at the riot. Marsha P. Johnson was an activist and self-identified drag queen who advocated for trans people, homeless people, sex workers, people living with HIV/AIDS, and incarcerated people; she led protests and riots demanding civil rights for gay
people in the days following the raid on Stonewall. Together with Sylvia Rivera—who, at only 17 years old, was already a seasoned activist with the Black liberation movement— Johnson founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970 to provide safety and shelter to homeless LGBTQ+ youth. Another leader in the Stonewall riot, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy—went on to direct the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project, a San Francisco-based nonprofit. This month also marks the 40th anniversary of the first reported AIDS case in the U.S. On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report describing “pneumocystis pneumonia” in previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. By the end of that year there were 270 reported cases and 121 deaths from severe immune deficiency— what would later be known as AIDS—among gay men. In 2020, according to UNAIDS estimates, 37.6 million people globally were living with HIV and 34.7 million people had died from AIDS-related illnesses. The epidemic has
disproportionately affected Black Americans, who represent 12.4% of the U.S. population but account for 43% of HIV diagnoses, 42% of people living with HIV, and 44% of deaths among people with HIV. Over 290,000 Black Americans with stage 3 HIV (AIDS) have died since the epidemic began. Today, groups like the Reclaim Pride Coalition, in the home of the Stonewall Inn, are attempting to reclaim the movement’s original purpose. Corporations have increasingly used their money to influence Pride marches, but such corporate presence or rainbow
Twitter handles without corresponding policy support is façade for lack of institutional change. Despite recent victories at the Supreme Court for employment law, junior and nonsupervisory staff still struggle to live openly in their workplace for fear of reprisal or being passed over for promotion. One in five trans people are denied housing applications, and one in 10 are evicted because of their gender identity. Trans women still report disproportionate harassment and brutalization by police. Queer youth are overly incarcerated, and, on the inside, 15% of gay and
bisexual boys and 9% of lesbian and bisexual girls report adult staff engaging them in sexual contact. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have been and continue to be at the center of Black, indigenous, and other people of color movements. Queer folks of color have intersecting identities that make studying their experiences deeply meaningful for the entire community. Pride month is a celebration of our progress— but must also be an acknowledgement of the work that still needs to be done.
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Kevin Bacon Hopes They/Them Can Inspire LGBTQ+ Kids in Conservative US By Judy Hatfield
Written and directed by John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Penny Dreadful), the Peacock original film They/Them tells the story of a group of LGBTQ+ kids being sent away to a conversion camp. The list of LGBTQ+ characters entering this conversion camp includes Jordan (Theo Germaine), Veronica (Monique Kim), Stu (Cooper Koch), Alexandra (Quei Tann), Toby (Austin Crute), Kim (Anna Lore), and Gabriel (Darwen Del Fabrio). Running the place is Owen Whistler (played by Kevin Bacon), who promises the group that this camp isn’t as scary as they might think it is. But this is, afterall, a horror movie, so everyone is a suspect. In real life, however, Bacon is all ally. During an interview with PRIDE, Bacon talked about his hopes that this movie can
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inspire queer children in conservative parts of the United States to see themselves represented in They/Them. The actor said: “Young people who have a different gender identity who can see themselves in this film – maybe they’re in a small town in rural America, in a conservative world with conservative parents. Maybe they’re closeted, bullied. To see people like themselves on the screen and empowered, [that] would be a beautiful resolve.” You can watch PRIDE’s full interview with Kevin Bacon and Carrie Preston below. Bacon also remarked about the potential that They/Them has to make conservative parents second-guess their decision to submit their LGBTQ+ kids through practices such as conversion therapy. “Wouldn’t that be just the greatest win if it
happened to one person?” the actor reflected. “That would be absolutely fantastic.” As a legendary actor with such a prolific career, Bacon had a very intentional reason for joining the cast of They/Them. He explained: “I liked the idea that you’re going to take something as horrible as the concept of gay conversion and put it in a very accessible genre – meaning, horror. Which a lot of people really love, and the stakes are very high, it’s life and death, and sometimes has the possibility of tapping into something in a pop culture way.” LGBTQ+ people – and fans of horror in general – can’t wait to watch They/Them and see how it plays out in this terrifying and queer-inclusive movie. They/Them premieres Friday, August 5 on Peacock.
HGTV's Keith Bynum & Evan Thomas Talk Those Long-Awaited Wedding Plans By Jennifer Dillard
Bargain Block is currently airing its sophomore season and raking in big numbers every week on HGTV.
Bargain Block has had with audiences so far. Speaking of Pride, the stars have been very open about their relationship and the hardships they've faced in the construction and home renovation industry.
Hosted by business partners and fiancés Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas, the show attracted more than 20 million viewers in its freshman season. "We always try and be as incluAnd now, the duo is ready for sive as we can in our company. more. But Keith actually has a lot of "Bargain Block is all about us experiences in the construction taking multiple homes on a industry and a lot of single block in Detroit and homophobia and not super they're all abandoned homes. great employment We renovate them, style them opportunities for people like up and make them perfect for us," Thomas said. first-time home buyers," "It just really stuck with me how Thomas said of the premise of I was treated in the the series. construction field in different "It is really crazy to think about. parts of the world." Bynum We were at Pride and you see added. "Detroit never one time like a million people at once has had any kind of issue. and that is really We've always felt very overwhelming. The fact that 20 welcomed and very at home times that have seen our show there. We just don't give up. I is kind of overwhelming," don't ever let anybody dictate Bynum said of the success how I'm going to live my life. I
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don't think that that's something anybody should do." As the duo approaches ten years of being together and five years of being engaged, the couple still doesn't have any immediate plans to tie the knot. "I'm going to have to do it before we can't...that's terrifying. We are really, really swamped. I don't want it to be an afterthought. I want to have the time to put it together like we want. I don't want it to be big or crazy, but I want it to be memorable and special. At this point in Texas, it's common law after seven years, so technically we're married if we go by the South rules," said Bynum. Until the big day, fans can catch Evan and Keith every Wednesday when Bargain Block airs on HGTV.
Monét X Change Reveals The One Thing She’d Return To RuPaul’s Drag Race For By Austin Joshlin
RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Monét X Change declared she has absolutely “no desire” to return to the franchise – unless she can ‘whoop’ one legendary queen’s ‘a**’. Monét left fans gagging after she danced the house down to Katy Perry’s “Swish Swish” against eventual All Stars 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon. The amazing performance was truly the culmination of a stellar season for Monét including her fantastic Mike Tyson Snatch Game and unforgettable Ella Fitzgerald lip-sync. But Monét told Vulture she’s officially completed her third and last Drag Race season. The fan-favourite joined the all-winners season because producers reached out to her “at a really vulnerable point” during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she couldn’t see herself rejoining the franchise. “I don’t think I’d ever come back again,” she said. “They hit me up for this during season three of the pandemic.” Monét continued: “The pandemic made me miss performing and they got me at a really vulnerable point. “But I can confidently state I 28 www.jaxgay.com
have no desire to go back to Drag Race again.”
Queen’s a** in head-to-head combat.
Monét X Change spilled the “full tea” and admitted she turned down some “really big opportunities” to do All Stars 7. But now, she couldn’t “think of a single scenario” where she’d compete on the drag reality show again. She reiterated her commitment to steering clear of RuPaul and the werkroom in a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly. “This is definitively my last,” she said. “I’m done, I’m good, three times, I’m good, I’m good.” In both interviews, Monét was questioned about whether she could be tempted back into the show if there was a “RuPaul’s Best Friend Race”.
“You know what, here’s the only way I’d do Drag Race: a 10-episode arc of just me and Bob [the Drag Queen] doing Drag Race together,” she said. “That’s the only way I’m coming back.” Monét clarified the season would just be her and Bob “competing against each other”, and it would see her “whooping his a** every week”.
“Making him my son, as Nicki Minaj would say,” she added. Monét hinted fans could see her produce an opera album or even sing with some companies after an absolutely jaw-dropping performance in this season’s talent show. She told Entertainment Weekly she’s found a “new BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx voice teacher” and even had suggested they might compete “offers from opera companies” in a theoretical version of All to perform with them. But she Stars where best friends from wanted to ensure she’s the Drag Race franchise “singing healthily to step back compete in teams. into the operatic machine” first. Monét X Change said she “I’ve gotten two great offers to wouldn’t return for a best friend’s season. However, she do some fun stuff that I can’t told Vulture the one way she’d really say yet, but, yes, I will be singing classical music and return to Drag Race would be some opera with companies in to whoop Bob the Drag the US,” she said.
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Texas AG Willing To Spearhead Supreme Court Case To Criminalize Sodomy Again By David Vandygriff
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said that he would be willing to defend a state law that would challenge Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court decision that said that states couldn’t ban people from having gay sex. In the early 2000’s, Paxton was a vocal supporter of putting gay people in jail for what was then the crime of having sex, something he believed was necessary for “public health” and to “discourage sexual activity outside of marriage.” “Would you, as attorney general, be comfortable defending a law that once again outlawed sodomy?” NewsNation host Leland Vittert asked Paxton this past weekend.
In his concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas even suggested that the Court should “correct the error” made in decisions like Lawrence and allow the states more power to control people’s lives. And Paxton said he was willing to go along with that plan. “Yeah, I mean, there’s all kinds of issues here, but certainly the Supreme Court has stepped into issues that I don’t think there was any constitutional provision dealing with,” Paxton responded. “They were legislative issues, and this is one of those issues and there may be more.” Paxton started to ramble, so Vittert asked: “Just for the sake of time here, you wouldn’t rule The host brought up the out that if the state legislature possibility of overturning the passed the exact same law that 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence overturned on – and allowing states to throw sodomy, you wouldn’t have any gay people in jail for private, problem then defending that consensual sex between adults and taking that case back to – because of the Court’s the Supreme Court?” decision this past Friday to “Yeah look, my job is to defend overturn Roe v. Wade, which the state law and I’ll continue to throws other decisions based do that,” Paxton responded on the right to privacy and substantive due process into “Would you support the question. legislature in bringing that test?” the Vittert asked. 32 www.jaxgay.com
“I don’t know, I’d have to take a look at it,” Paxton said. Paxton, back when he was a Texas state representative, was one of several lawmakers who signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to decide in favor of Texas’s sodomy ban in Lawrence v. Texas. In the brief, Paxton and his colleagues argued that sodomy bans were required for “protecting public health.” “One of the rational bases for enacting [the ban] was to protect public health from the very real danger of same-sex sodomy,” the brief states. “Legislators are especially concerned for the health safety and well-being of those who may seek to engage in same-sex sodomy.” The brief brings up statistics that show that HIV hit gay and bi men particularly hard but does not show how sodomy laws – which make prevention and treatment measures for HIV more difficult – are related to this, unless one were to assume that people actually decided not to be gay because of this law. The brief also argued that states have a right to
“encourage marriage and discourage sexual activity outside of marriage” and that the law is “one part of a larger network of laws designed to further the legitimate State interest of promoting traditional marriage of one man and one woman.” Paxton’s statement comes after years of attacking LGBTQ rights. Earlier this year he issued a non-binding legal opinion that parents who allow their transgender children to access gender-affirming care are violating their children’s constitutional rights and therefore “legally constitute child abuse.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) then issued an order calling for the state to investigate parents of transgender children as child abusers. His order cited Paxton’s opinion and has already led to a lawsuit against the state. In 2019, Paxton opened an investigation into possible “religious discrimination” against Chick-fil-A as the fast food chain’s donations to anti-LGBTQ causes got media attention again. In 2015, Paxton issued an opinion advising local officials that they could refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds, a stance that led to an ethics complaint against him signed by over 200 lawyers who argued that his opinion could encourage those officials to violate the constitutional rights of LGBTQ people. www.jaxgay.com 34
Southern Roots Filling Station Owner Says He’s Facing Possible 400% Rent Increase By Adam Patterson
Some popular local restaurants and other businesses say they’re being priced out of Jacksonville due to rising rental costs. The owner, Juan Pablo Salvat, says his rent could go up 400%.
happening to a lot of people, not just us. We are one of many,” says Salvat. Southern Roots Filling Station is a plant-based vegan restaurant with loyal customers like Cheryl Anthony who are outraged.
He says that makes it nearly impossible for him to stay at this location. It’s disappointing news for customers who walk through these doors every morning. “What can be done to prevent this from happening,” says Salvat. Salvat says other local small business owners are facing a similar struggle. “It’s frustrating because it’s
“It’s like I’m speechless. I’ve never heard of a 400% increase,” says Anthony. Anthony says without small businesses like the Southern Roots Filling Station she worries about her community. “This is walking distance within some really small interesting places. I don’t want to see any big companies taking over, it changes the environment,” says Anthony.
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Commercial real estate experts like Amanda Kinkade say there’s a simple reason why this is happening. “The demand. So people are coming into our market. Depending on the side of town and the space. Yes we are seeing that,” says Kinkade. She has this advice for small business owners in Jacksonville. “If you can’t lock into a good rate, try to do that. We have been seeing rent increases per year. They use to be 3 to 4%, now we are seeing double,” says Kinkade Now Salvant says nothing has been set in stone yet for this potential rent increase. He’s hoping to keep negotiating.
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