Madelyn and Margo Whitley are not your everyday twins. In fact, they’re 19-year-old sisters breaking the internet and into the fashion industry. When I get to chat to them, it’s a normal rainy day in Paris. Squeezed into frame, the twins ironically admit they have no idea how to use Zoom despite having made quite a name for themselves on the small screen. Unlike other creators, the Whitley twins had no intentions of becoming “trans icons”, they just wanted to have some fun on TikTok.
“We didn’t want to inspire people. We never wanted a following. We just wanted something fun for the two of us to do,” Madelyn says. “It’s welcomed attention, but we’re just making silly videos and there’s still some part of me thinking ‘I should not be influencing this many people and there’s a lot of eyes on me right now’,” Margo jokes.
For both Madelyn and Margo, the reality of their following is something that hasn’t quite sunk in. Instead, they treat their new platform in as much of an open way as possible. “It never really feels like we’re influencing people, but I’m glad that we are because we’re literally just being ourselves. I didn’t want it to be something where it’s like, ‘Here’s what you should do and here’s how you should be yourself.’ I didn’t want to be one of those motivational pages. It’s just not me,” Madelyn explains.
Similar, to her sister, Margo agrees that they shouldn’t have to exhaust their identities for the sake of education. “I don’t think I would use TikTok as an educational space. I’m so tired of trans girls being ‘trans girls’. Why aren’t we just girls? We don’t want to have to explain every single detail of our experience,” says Margo. “Trans people have been around for a minute. I will message a bunch of trans girls and closeted girls who want advice. I will help my girlies forever and we are sisters. I don’t care if I don’t know who you are. I love you. I’ll help you, but I don’t want to have to explain the nitty gritty of it all to straight men that have so many questions.” As young creatives, the twins want to document their lives but not feel obligated to educate.
“Also, it’s not my responsibility to educate people. We’re teenage girls,” Madelyn chips in. “We shouldn’t have to educate all of TikTok on what it means to be trans and how to be trans. It’s just a fine line that we walk between saying: ‘Google it yourself or let me educate you and expose you to what this is.’ What we’re try to do is to normalise transness, because trans women are so targeted and marginalised.”
As both sisters carve out a niche for themselves on TikTok, they hope their exposure and influence will help the online culture drive social change. “The culture of TikTok is already so strong. I see it becoming its own relevant part in society. People started dressing like e-girls now and we have gay TikTok with the inside jokes,” Madelyn says. “I really think it’s going to impact cultural and societal norms. It’s gonna leak over into society, and people are gonna feel more comfortable being themselves, dressing how they want to dress, wearing makeup how they want to do it ,and being themselves daily and in public, not just behind the screen.”
69% of U.S. Catholics have supported gay marriage since 2016
U.S. Catholics’ gay marriage support consistently above national average
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis recently said he supports legalizing civil unions for gay couples. Most U.S. Catholics believe same-sex unions should be legal — only they go further than the pope and support marriage for same-sex couples. A majority of Catholics have consistently approved of gay marriage in Gallup polling since 2011, with an average 59% approving from 2011-2015, rising to an average 69% since 2016.
U.S. Catholics’ support for gay marriage has consistently exceeded the national average by five or more percentage points since the 2000s.
U.S. Catholics’ Support for Legal Same-Sex Marriage, 2006-2020
Do you think marriages between same-sex couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?
U.S. Catholics
National adults
Difference
% Should be valid
% Should be valid
(pct. points)
2006-2010
49
42
+7
2011-2015
59
54
+5
2016-2020
69
64
+5
Figures only shown from Gallup’s annual Values poll, conducted in May of each year
Gallup
Civil unions for same-sex couples are, and have been, allowed in some countries as well as some U.S. states in lieu of the legal distinction of marriage. In most cases, civil unions allow many of the same benefits as marriages, but not all. Civil unions remain as legal options for couples in five U.S. states after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Other states that once allowed civil unions have since converted these arrangements to legally recognized marriages.
Line graph: Americans’ views of whether marriages between same-sex couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages, since 1996. Currently, 67% say marriages should be legal and 31% say they should not. This is roughly the opposite of what it was in 1996.
Lower Support Among Frequent Catholic Churchgoers
From 2016 to 2020, Gallup found that the more often a Catholic attends church, the less likely they are to support legal recognition of same sex marriage.
A small majority (56%) of Catholics who report attending church weekly support gay marriage, compared with two in three Catholics who attend church nearly weekly or monthly (67%). In contrast, 78% of Catholics who say they seldom attended mass support it.
Meanwhile, 56% of Catholics who say that religion is “very important” to their life support same-sex marriage, while 78% of Catholics who say religion is “fairly important” support it. Eighty-seven percent of Catholics who say religion is “not very important” to their lives support gay marriage.
Bottom Line
Catholics, who constitute more than a fifth of U.S. adults, have been consistently more supportive of same-sex marriage than the population as a whole over more than a decade — much like young adults and Democrats.
Francis’ comments are unprecedented for a pontiff but will likely make little difference on the issue in the U.S., where same-sex couples have enjoyed full marriage rights and protections since 2015. Politically, the issue is largely a moot point, with no serious efforts being made to overturn that right by lawmakers. However, recent statements made by two U.S. Supreme Court justices suggest that the right of marriage license issuers to deny a license to same-sex couples could be revisited — potentially reigniting an issue once considered settled law.
From a global perspective, Francis’ new stance on civil unions could potentially be more influential in countries where gay rights are less accepted and LGBT citizens can be legally discriminated against.
The University Club will be transforming its space from a beloved nightclub where you can dance for hours to an entertainment venue featuring returning and new talent.
The historic bar is committed to adapting to ensure the safety of its guests and hopes to have these changes completed by the end of the year, said show director Jay Brooks, also known as drag performer Kelly Kelly.
The club hopes that by adding more talent and shows per night, it will encourage people to stay for a show and drink rather than dance and party in large groups, said Kelly.
The University Club celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Kenny Scott, 57, has been an employee since it first opened. With the exception of Spectrum Disco in the 1980s, a popular club located at what is now High Dive, University Club has been the only LGBTQ nightlife space in Gainesville.
Members of the LGTBQ community are vocal about the importance of nightlife. Places like University Club were once the only spots gay people could truly be themselves, Kelly said. Often outcast by their own loved ones because of their gender or sexual identity, people find a new, loving community in these spaces.
“You can go to any club to party, but you go to a gay club to call a family,” Kelly said. “We can’t just wake up, walk outside and say, ‘Let’s go to this super comfortable place right now where I can be around people that are like me, that think like me.’ You don’t get that unless you’re in a gay club.”
Employees of the University Club have formed their own family over the years; It’s one that welcomes people of all identities and expressions.
Daryl Marshall, 33, said he was seeking a gay bar to go to when he moved to Gainesville for college about five years ago. He frequented the club as a patron and eventually became a bartender.
When Alachua County enacted in March its stay-at-home order, nonessential businesses like the University Club closed. It stayed closed for most of the summer. The University Club briefly re-opened for about two weeks in June, but closed again when cases spiked, Kelly said.
Not being able to work was like losing a piece of his family, Marshall said.
The University Club management was able to pay its employees through a Payment Protection Program through the Small Business Administration for around three pay periods, Scott said.
While management knew it could handle the first couple of months without receiving income, Kelly Kelly said she established a GoFundMe page in late June called “The University Club Family Fund” to cover the club’s rent and other costs, as well as to pay its employees. In just under two weeks, the page reached 90% of its $10,000 goal.
“The community just showed out and really rallied behind us,” Kelly said.
Scott said it is important for places like the University Club to be open because it shows that someone has their back. For Scott, the financial impact isn’t the hardship throughout this pandemic. The loss of connection is.
Others in the service and entertainment industry agree. Eveleena Fults, also known as Ivy Les Vixens, is the leader of the Les Vixens burlesque troupe. A frequent performer at the University Club, Fults said being able to entertain for her community helps people feel more connected to one another. Entertainment even in the LGBTQ community is predominantly geared toward men, Fults said.
“Someone struggling with their identity can come see a show and see these powerful queer women doing their thing and owning it and being out and proud,” she said. “Just to be an out and proud lesbian, in every space, and representing our community wherever I go and whichever stage I’m one. For me it’s a responsibility, but it’s also kind of my favorite thing.”
When venues closed, entertainers like Fults and Kelly Kelly transitioned to digital shows to maintain their livelihood.
Performing online from home doesn’t compare to the glitter, bright lights and encouraging fans the University Club provides. Fults said she went from performing upwards of 15 shows a month to nothing. “Going digital sucks my soul out a little bit,” Fults said.
These performers took the pandemic as a learning experience to try something new. Now they must know how to set up digital platforms, stream and wear protective gear while still serving up signature looks, Kelly said.
We have entered a digital tipping era, Kelly said. The drag and burlesque shows at the University Club are offered at no additional cost to visitors, so performers heavily rely on tips from the audience. This entertainment aspect is popular throughout LGBTQ clubs throughout the country, making these spaces that much more special.
Digital tipping through apps like Venmo and Cash App lets people who are still hesitant to go out contribute to their favorite entertainers as well as people in person who are using cash less often, Kelly said.
Performers must also know all the rules and regulations that are being implemented to maintain safety and hygiene.
These regulations are something the University Club is strictly following, Scott said.
Hand sanitizer bottles are placed throughout the club and visitors are encouraged to wash their hands every 30 minutes in the bathrooms available both upstairs and downstairs. Masks are required for entry but may be removed to drink beverages. Scott said he is using more plastic cups when serving drinks to minimize the spread of germs. He also makes sure to frequently sanitize everything throughout his shift.
Scott is trying not to fret too much about the future. “It’s kind of like a yo-yo,” watching the COVID-19 case numbers go up and down, he said. He said he does fear the University Club may have to close again if there is a spike in cases. For now, he will continue to follow the strict guidelines the club has put in place to protect not only its customers, but more importantly, its employees.
Pope Francis attends a interreligious ceremony for peace Tuesday in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
toggle caption
Gregorio Borgia/AP
Pope Francis attends a interreligious ceremony for peace Tuesday in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome.
Gregorio Borgia/AP
Updated at 2:42 p.m. ET
Pope Francis has called for legislation to protect same-sex couples, according to comments he made in a new documentary that mark a break from Catholic doctrine.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They are children of God and have a right to a family,” the pope said in an interview in the documentary Francesco, which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”
Francis noted he has stood up for civil unions before, but his remarks in the documentary go beyond what he has said previously and sharply diverge from the view of his predecessors. LGBTQ rights groups hailed the comments as a major step, but, along with conservative religious groups, they raised questions about the context of the quotes delivered in a movie and how much weight the comments held.
Before he became the pontiff, then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio opposed same-sex marriage legislation but supported some level of legal protection for same-sex couples.
Shortly after becoming pope in 2013, he made big headlines when asked about reports of gays in the clergy, Francis answered, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
It was a shift in tone from traditional Catholic teaching.
In 2003, the Vatican’s office on doctrine — under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI — taught that “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.” Placing them on the same level as marriage, it added, would mean approval of “deviant behavior.”
Advocacy groups representing LGBTQ people welcomed Francis’ new remarks.
DignityUSA, an organization representing LGBTQ Catholics, said it is “cautiously optimistic” but that the group wants to see the remarks in context and hear the Vatican’s response.
“If this statement is allowed to stand, this could be a global game changer for gay and lesbian people, for same sex couples, for LGBTQ people broadly. I think we’re just going to have to see where it lands,” Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA’s executive director, told NPR.
“I’m very conscious of the tremendous impact that this could have, particularly for queer people in countries where there are no legal protections at this point, where they are very much subject to violence and to social marginalization,” Duddy-Burke said.
in a tweet following the news, Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said, “This is a significant step forward for inclusion and acceptance in the Catholic Church, letting LGBTQ Catholics know that being a person of faith and being LGBTQ are not mutually exclusive.”
But the pope’s latest comments drew some criticism.
The remarks are a form of “pastoral outreach,” said Bill Donohue, president of the U.S.-based Catholic League, a conservative group. “It’s not going to change doctrine. He doesn’t have the authority to do that anyhow.”
He continued, “I think it’s going to be greeted with a great deal of mass confusion on the part of the laity. … I think the lack of clarity is the most disturbing thing about this.”
The documentary, by filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, tackles many of the issues championed by Pope Francis such as climate change, income inequality, interfaith relations and migrant rights.
In another remark in the film that could stir controversy among U.S. conservatives, Francis condemns the Trump administration’s policy on family separation at the southern border.
“It’s cruelty, and separating kids from parents goes against natural rights,” the pope said, adding that “it’s something a Christian cannot do.”
That’s an echo of the pope’s past criticism, in 2016, of then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett wouldn’t say during her confirmation hearing whether she thinks the Supreme Court correctly decided same-sex marriage. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP; POOL PHOTO used with permission)
In a Hail Mary bid to thwart the expected confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, cries have emerged that she poses a threat to marriage equality — and leading that charge is the named plaintiff and defendant in the lawsuit that extended marriage rights for gay couples throughout the country.
Jim Obergefell, the widower who sued Ohio to ensure his name would appear on the death certificate of now deceased spouse John Arthur, and Rick Hodges, the Republican official who represented the state in denying him that right — but a supporter of same-sex marriage — both took part Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters against Barrett’s confirmation.
Obergefell, pointing to comments Barrett has made in the past about Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissent in his lawsuit, said he fears with Barrett on the bench following her nomination by President Trump, marriage rights for gay couples would be “chipped away.”
“I remember clearly what life was like before the day that the right of same-sex couples to marry became the law of the land,” Obergefell said. “We were able to have at most what [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg called ‘skim milk marriages’: Marriages in which, depending on state laws, we were not recognized as the families that we are.”
Fears over the potential vulnerability of same-sex marriage were heightened this month after U.S. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a statement essentially declaring war on the Obergefell decision, citing insufficient protection for religious liberty. If Barrett were to replace progressive champion Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, the court would have a new 6-3 conservative majority in any re-evaluation of the case.
Hodges, despite being the official blocking Obergefell’s placing his name on his spouse’s death certificates, said when the ruling came down from the Supreme Court in 2015 for marriage equality, “I did everything I could to prepare my department for marriage equality and equal treatment of all Ohioans marriages.”
Breaking with his party as a Republican in opposition to Barrett, Hodges said he thinks that work could be undermined with her confirmation.
“I fear that what’s at stake with this fateful nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that all Americans are treated with full dignity and respect regardless of who they are or whom they love, and that all American families benefit equally and fully from government services they pay for through their taxes,” Hodges said.
Hodges during the call said joining with Obergefell in opposition to Barrett’s confirmation was a “real pleasure,” adding the two are “bound by our names on a historic, momentous and frankly wonderful decision.” Obergefell said at the start of the call the two have become friends.
For her part, Barrett during her confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee said Obergefell “clearly says there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage,” she wouldn’t budge from no comment on whether she’d vote to overturn the decision, most notably in an exchange with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
“[You’re] implying that I’m poised to say I want to cast a vote to overrule Obergefell, and I assure you, I don’t have any agenda, and I’m not even expressing a view of disagreement with Obergefell,” Barrett said. “You’re pushing me to try to violate the judicial canon of ethics and to offer advisory opinions, and I won’t do that.”
But Barrett has already articulated personal and religious opposition to same-sex marriage. In 2015, Barrett signed with other Catholic women a letter to bishops affirming marriage is “founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman.”
Barrett has also admitted to taking speaker fees from a legal fellowship affiliated with Alliance Defense Freedom, a group that fought against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ rights across the board.
Denise Brogan-Kator, interim CEO for the LGBTQ group Family Equality, said in the conference call with Obergefell and Hodges the confirmation of Barrett based on her past statements would be “an LGBTQ rights emergency.”
“I’d like to say that if the 1,200 rights and responsibilities attendant to marriage are chipped away, one by one, state by state, then we might have marriage, but we won’t have marriage equality,” Brogan-Kators said. “That is not the vision of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision.”
Although LGBTQ advocates are sounding the alarm over Barrett’s confirmation that could lead to a roll back of same-sex marriage, legal experts have downplayed that threat, although they conceded indirect challenges are still possible.
If Barrett were to end up being the deciding vote in a re-evaluation of the issue before the Supreme Court, it would likely come in the form of a state challenging the legality of the Obergefell decision — either in the form of a state legislature passing a new law against same-sex marriage or a state official simply declaring the decision was incorrectly decided.
At least one such declaration is already pending before the Supreme Court in terms of birth certificates. Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fischer has filed a petition asking justices to take up Box v. Henderson, a case to determine whether Obergefell applies to the birth certificates of the children of lesbian parents. It would take a vote of at least four justices to agree to take up the case.
“[T]he Court should take this case for plenary review and hold that Obergefell does not preclude states from reasonably (and rebuttably) presuming that a birth-mother’s husband, but not a birth-mother’s wife, is the biological father of her child,” the petition says.
The Obergefell decision, however, explicitly addressed the birth certificate issue and the right for same-sex parents to place both their names on their child’s birth certificate was reaffirmed in 2017 in Pavan v. Smith.
A state most likely to mount a challenge to Obergefell could very well be in the South, where polls show support for LGBTQ rights is weaker and politicians in recent history — most notably Roy Moore in Alabama — have railed against same-sex marriage to win public favor.
Jay Barth, a political scientist at Hendrix College and author of “The South and the Battle over LGBTQ Rights,” told the Washington Blade he’s “not immediately expecting” states in the South to challenge Obergefell, making the case for “a tale of two Souths right now in terms of these issues.”
“Look at the states like Georgia and Florida and Texas that have now really become more New South states with significant LGBTQ populations and straight populations increasingly, pretty well educated, that are not into that issue anymore,” Barth said. “But then there are rural southern states and I think you put Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana in that camp, where you’re maybe more likely to see anything like that.”
The Blade reached out to offices of the state attorneys general in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana seeking comment on whether they’d seek to challenge the Obergefell ruling. The only response came from Amanda Priest, a spokesperson for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who said, “The Attorney General does not have any pending litigation with respect to this matter.”
Barth, however, concluded his “gut” feeling is a direct challenge to Supreme Court precedent like Obergefell won’t happen and states would be more likely to challenge LGBTQ rights with state religious freedom laws allowing the denying of services to same-sex couples or a group refusing to provide marriage benefits to same-sex couples.
“I think we probably have some hints of where the new justice will fall, that she’s probably more likely to fall in the hardcore camp with Alito and Thomas, but I think we’re still not positive there,” Barth said. “Clearly, there will be a battle within the conservative majority to move her to their side with the chief justice on one faction and Justice Alito on the other side to get her to come down on any issue.”
The chances of defeating Barrett’s confirmation in the U.S. Senate — where a confirmation vote is scheduled for Monday — are slim to none. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday sought to adjourn the Senate until after Election Day to block Barrett’s confirmation vote, but that motion was defeated in the Senate by a vote along party lines.
Polls have shown a bare majority of the American public backs her confirmation. A Morning Consult poll made public on Wednesday found 51 percent of American voters back her confirmation, compared to 28 percent who say the Senate should reject and the 21 percent who have no opinion.
The most imminent opportunity for Barrett to adjudicate a case related to LGBTQ rights is the issue of foster care. Catholic Social Services, in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, is arguing a First Amendment right to refuse to place children with same-sex couples — even though it had signed a contract with Philadelphia agreeing not to engage in anti-LGBTQ discrimination through its taxpayer-funded activities. The case is set for oral arguments on Nov. 4, the day after Election Day.
David Flugman, an attorney at the New York-based law firm Selendy & Gay PLLC who has litigated on LGBTQ issues, said the rollback of same-sex marriage with Barrett on the Supreme Court is “all too real” and the foster care case will be the canary in the coal mine.
“While I take some comfort in the notion that LGBTQ equality enjoys broad popular support in this country, the court could very well use the scalpel of religious liberty to kill the reality of equality with a thousand cuts,” Flugman said. “All Americans who believe in equal rights under law should rightfully be concerned.”
It started with maid outfits taking over those cringe accounts that task themselves with bringing viewers’ fantasies to life. Then, the thirst traps turned into an experiment: Many young men are taking advantage of Halloween to give the femboy look a try, and they’re sharing their first impressions of what it feels like to wear a maid outfit. The maid outfit is so ubiquitous, there are TikTok comedy sketches about being caught wearing one and people are daring each other to wear them. According to Google Trends, search for “maid outfit” (in accordance with the hashtag used on these videos) is the highest it’s been in the last five years. In other words, the outfits have grown astronomically popular in just a few short weeks.
I love trying new fitness concepts, so when I heard about Board30, a HIIT workout using resistance bands, I immediately wanted to see what it was all about. The brand claims that its unique blend of cardio, strength training, calisthenics, and stretching will produce results quicker than other workout systems. So, naturally, I wanted to put it to the test.
I attended classes at a Board30 studio over the course of two weeks, for a total of nine workouts. Because a change in body composition isn’t always reflected by the scale, I didn’t want to use my weight as a barometer for results. Instead, I had the manager take my measurements at the beginning and end of my two-week trial.
While I was sore pretty much every day of the two weeks I worked out with Board30, I still wasn’t expecting much change in such a short period of time, especially because I didn’t adjust anything about my diet to increase my chances of seeing results. I was shocked when I lost two inches, including an entire half-inch from my hips. If my results sound enticing, here’s what you should know about this up-and-coming fitness brand.
What Is BOARD30?
The BOARD30 workout centers around a long body board with resistance bands attached to both corners at the front and back of the board, and bands that run the board’s length on both sides. There are also long, flat bands attached to the walls of the studio. The studio near me in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, also features sky bands, which are resistance bands coming down from the ceiling, and mini trampolines for an added cardio element.
Founder Floery Mahoney previously owned a Pilates studio and developed the BOARD30 system by first tying resistance bands to her furniture. After only 30 minutes a day for two weeks, the results she saw inspired her to create and launch the BOARD30 brand.
The concept combines resistance band training, low-impact interval training, Pilates groundwork, and wall resistance band training for a full-body HIRT (high-intensity resistance training) workout. The national fitness chain currently has six locations in five states, with more planned to open in 2021.
What Is a BOARD30 Workout Like?
While it may vary by studio and trainer, the workouts I attended included one-minute work intervals followed by 20 seconds of rest. That was a big adjustment for me, as I’m used to HIIT workouts where the work interval is typically shorter. The longer intervals coupled with resistance bands made movements I wouldn’t usually struggle with suddenly much more difficult.
I immediately noticed my muscles fatiguing faster than I expected them to. For example, the classes often started with a warmup comprised of marching up and down the board, holding the side bands while swinging your arms. I could not believe how much my shoulders started to burn just during that warmup!
The rest of the workout varied greatly per class. The design of the resistance bands on the board and walls creates countless exercise options. We did bicep and tricep work with handles attached to bands at the top of the board, butt and inner-thigh work with ankle straps attached to bands at the back of the board, back and shoulder work using the sky bands hanging from the ceiling, and all kinds of cardio using the bands attached to the wall.
What Makes BOARD30 Different From Other Workouts?
Training with bands adds resistance to more range of motion exercises. It also requires slower, more controlled movement because there is resistance at every point, in contrast to weight training, when gravity usually works in your favor for half the movement.
The slower pace made me more aware of how I move my body, making it obvious when I fell out of form to compensate for weaker muscles. For example, I noticed that I tend to sink into my hip while doing donkey kicks and fire hydrants instead of keeping my body steady. Recognizing that alerted me to engage my abs more to get back to proper form.
I thoroughly enjoyed feeling out of breath from the interval cardio and sore in all the right places (hips, lower butt, shoulders, abs) from the resistance training. But my favorite part of the workout was that it taught me a new type of strength. It showed me that being strong is more than the ability to lift heavy things. The BOARD30 workouts challenged my body in ways I’m not used to, proving strength is also the concentration and power needed to move in a fluid, controlled manner. It was like mindfulness meets movement.
How You Can Do BOARD30 Workouts at Home
If there isn’t a BOARD30 studio near you or you prefer to work out at home, don’t worry. The company has developed an at-home option consisting of app-based workouts on the BOARD30MINI ($250). The flat, wooden platform is only 10 pounds and takes up just two feet of space, making it easy to store and use pretty much anywhere.
The BOARD30MINI comes with four resistance tubes, a set of handles, ankle straps, and two flat resistance bands. The subscription-based app ($20 per month) will include a variety of classes, including Pilates, cardio, strength training, and more. New classes will be added each month and feature celebrity trainers like Darci Bawdon. The company also has plans for additional BOARD30 at-home accessories, like a bar attachment and door-anchored overhead system.
Since my two-week trial, I’ve kept this workout as part of my overall fitness routine. It brings an added component of toning, strengthening, coordination, and stretching that feels refreshing. I recommend it for anyone looking to challenge their mind and body in new, functional ways.
Fans of the Christian pop group Avalon always wondered why founding member Michael Passons resigned abruptly in 2003 and then seemed to drop off the face of the earth.
There was talk of a solo album but none materialized. The official word was that he was “moving on to other things.”
The group had had a wildly successful run. Founded in the mid-’90s, Avalon released its self-titled debut album in 1996 on Sparrow and four more (“A Maze of Grace” in 1997, “In a Different Light” in 1999, “Joy: a Christmas Collection” in 2000 and “Oxygen” in 2001) as well as a hits collection with new material (“Testify to Love: the Very Best of Avalon”) in 2003 racking up 19 No. 1 singles on the Billboard gospel charts, two RIAA-certified gold albums, six Dove Awards, an American Music Award and three Grammy nominations.
Initially there was a blond male and female singer and a brunette male and female singer to round out the foursome in ways that were both visually and sonically appealing. There was regular turnover in one of the “female” slots but Passons, Janna (nee Potter) Long and Jody McBrayer formed the group’s backbone all through its early and most successful years.
After years of silence, in September, Passons came out as gay on Josh Skinner’s “Jonah and the Whale” podcast and said he was fired from the group for declining to continue with “reparative” therapy. The podcast generated significant media buzz and was aggregated in mainstream outlets like Billboard and People.
Though candid and forthcoming in the podcast, there was more to the story. Passons, a 54-year-old Yazoo City, Miss., native, was chatty and candid in a 45-minute phone interview from his Nashville home on working in the CCM (contemporary Christian music) bubble, hiding his sexuality for so many years, why he opted to come out now and about the Dove Award he nabbed from Whitney Houston at the 1998 ceremony. His comments have been slightly edited for length.
Avalon in 1997. From left are Nikki Hassman-Anders, Jody McBrayer, Janna Long and Michael Passons. (photo by Paul Elledge; vintage promo material via Sparrow/EMI)
WASHINGTON BLADE: It was great to hear the podcast. It felt like you’d just kinda vanished.
MICHAEL PASSONS: I understand that people would see it that way because you’re just kind of out of the public eye when you’re not making music, not putting music out and doing interviews, and I had not done any of that pretty much in 17 years. And I didn’t really expect this podcast to get the attention that it did get. It was a bit of a surprise to me that there was so much of an interest in a 17-year-old story.
BLADE: Why did it feel like now was the right time? How did it come about?
PASSONS: It wasn’t some calculated move, I was approached by a friend who introduced me to Josh Skinner who has a podcast Jonah and the Whale and said would you like to be a guest? This particular podcast deals with an underwater moment in your life and I had previously had conversations with my family just a couple months earlier, just about my life and the truth of my life so I thought, “Well now is the perfect time,” so it really wasn’t planned out far in advance. An opportunity landed in my lap and I decided to tell the story.
BLADE: Had you been approached before?
PASSONS: Well, I’ve been pretty under the radar. I’ve been traveling the last 15 years with another Christian group, but only in the band. I play keys for Point of Grace. I wanted to keep my foot in the water … but I didn’t want to be the front guy … so I really hadn’t been approached by journalists at all until now.
BLADE: You tell in the podcast about how they came to your house for a meeting in 2003 and this all came to a head. How had they known you were gay in the first place? What led up to that meeting?
PASSONS: Well at that point I was 38 years old, I wasn’t married, I wasn’t dating, (so) rumors begin to swirl when you have that type of scenario and we had discussions about it several years before. So that’s when … they said to me I needed to go to therapy. It really was in 2002 that they wanted me to go to reparative therapy or at least go see a counselor or some guy who said his credentials were counseling gay people. So I did that to appease them but I knew it was a fruitless effort, and as I say in the podcast, that didn’t last very long. I told them I wasn’t going back to that. It had been a conversation for about a year or so before 2003.
BLADE: Did you have a pretty good relationship with them otherwise?
PASSONS: Well over the course of the eight years we were traveling together, I saw those people more than anyone else. Our schedule was so demanding and we toured almost nonstop. … So we did at the time have this family-type relationship but … groups often have a shorter shelf life than solo artists because there are multiple people with multiple goals and aspirations and so unless all four of us aligned, there were always going to be these times where one wants to do a solo deal or they think we should do this or go in this direction and so we kind of started growing apart in our vision. Jody and Janna wanted to do solo records and I thought that was something that was going to fracture the group and our brand and that did cause some tensions because the other two members really wanted to focus our efforts on the Avalon brand because that’s what was familiar to everyone. So over the years we became not as close and then of course you add something like this which kind of draws a line and you have to choose what side of the line you’re going to be on.
BLADE: Bear with me a sec, but I’m going to read you Jody’s quote to CCM Magazine in April, 2004 when he said: “We had a meeting at Michael’s house one day and he told us he was going to move on to other things. We sat and cried and felt like the rug had been pulled out from under us. Things had felt great with the new group and Michael seemed to get along and blend vocally with (then-new member) Melissa (Greene) really well. But Michael had been with us from the beginning and just felt it was time for him to do something else. It’s weird but since his departure, it seems everyone is looking for some scandalous thing to have happened there. It makes me just want to say, ‘Look, I’m sorry to disappoint you that we don’t have some juicy gossip or ‘Dynasty’ episode happening here.” Based on what you shared in the podcast, that was a gross mischaracterization of how it went down. Did you read that at the time? How did it make you feel?
PASSONS: At the time the record label and management held really right reins on us because they created the group, it was their idea. They wanted to find a group that was already in existence that was two guys, two girls. They couldn’t do it so they said, “Let’s just put one together,” so we never felt like we had ownership of much. … So when management and label say, “This is what you are to say,” it became kind of like a bullshit fest at that point. You just gotta stick with the story and that’s what Jody was doing, he was sticking with the story he was told to say. … That was just the way they chose to handle it at the time. … Interestingly enough, Jody reached out to me after the podcast aired and we had not really talked in 17 years other than bumping into each other in a restaurant and saying a quick hello. We met for about an hour we met at a park here in Nashville and just walked around and he apologized profusely and said his heart was broken when he was listening to that podcast. He was very sincere and I accepted what he had to say and I feel like our relationship has actually — there was some definite closure there as far as what I’d been feeling all of these years and so that was a good thing that came out of this and I’m glad he reached out to me.
The Blade invited McBrayer to comment. In response to the question, “Did you feel muzzled by the label?” he sent this response: “Absolutely muzzled. However I would have never ever said anything to hurt Michael’s reputation. We were asked for years about what happened and myself and my family refused to say anything that would put Michael in a bad light. We were given a statement and told to go with it. We did everything we were told at the time. … Michael knows I love him and hate how all of it went down and how he was treated by the industry. I’m so thankful he’s happy and grown beyond it all now. I will continue to protect him. He will always be family.”
BLADE: Was there any truth to what they were saying? Had you been considering a solo album?
PASSONS: No. I know my strengths and my strength was not as a solo artist. … I enjoyed the team mentality of a group. … I think fans and people outside the industry took the press release at face value but people inside the industry heard pretty quickly what had really happened. Gossip and rumors spread really quickly around Nashville so I just thought, “OK, I’m gonna just start life No. 3 here.” (chuckles)
BLADE: A few other big CCM artists eventually came out like Jennifer Knapp and Ray Boltz. Did you follow that or ever compare notes with them?
PASSONS: I don’t know either of those artists personally. I’ve never really interacted with them. I think we did a show once with Jennifer years and years ago but it was just mainly, “Hello, nice to meet you.” I applaud them for living their best life and telling their truth but I just never felt like mine was necessarily a story that needed to be told. I wasn’t a solo artist. I would get recognized occasionally. People would say, “Oh, you’re that guy who was in that group,” but I would say 80 percent of fans just knew me as the blond guy. So I didn’t feel like I had tons of name recognition or that my story mattered. But in the last few years, I wanted to be more truthful with my family so that’s really where all this came out of.
BLADE: Did anybody else from your CCM days reach out besides Jody?
PASSONS: I’ve received tons of texts and Instagram messages from friends from home, friends from college, fans, strangers. As far as the industry, some people that I haven’t seen in a while. It was very interesting. Amy Grant texted me and told me she listened and thought my story was beautiful in the way I told it and graceful and I appreciated that. Susan Ashton reached out and I haven’t seen her in years. She was very encouraging. She said, “You are seen and heard and loved.” Everything has been overwhelmingly positive.
BLADE: Did you get to know the other artists very well or have much interaction on the multi-artist tours you did like “Emmanuel” or “My Utmost”?
PASSONS: Yeah, we had a lot of time to just hang out, especially on the bus. You’re traveling late at night and everyone’s wired so you’re staying up and visiting. But we were really new artists at that time and we were thrown into a mix of all of these people that were our mentors, our heroes. We were fans of theirs and now we’re all of a sudden peers, just because of how Avalon came together. Our very first tour before we even sang a note on a record was “Young Messiah” in ’95. We had just come together weeks before and just had enough time to record one Christmas song so that we could sing that song on that tour and there we were next to 4 HIM and Point of Grace and Steven Curtis Chapman and Larnelle Harris and that was mind-blowing to be with all these great artists. But yes, everyone was very welcoming had lots of encouragement for us and advice and I actually really enjoyed those tours.
BLADE: I saw you guys once with Twila Paris. What was she like?
PASSONS: That was our first tour (the “Where I Stand Tour” in 1997). We did Young Messiah that Christmas and then we did our record, then we toured with Twila. We were definitely getting our feet wet just seeing how this industry was going to work … how we were gonna mesh as a group because we were thrown on stage and we had to find our blend. Live, It’s one thing to be in the studio and be mixed and blended but to sing live, the Twila Paris tour was really just where we began to hone our craft as a group and so yeah, that was wonderful. I had many good experiences wth that tour. We did a spring tour and a fall tour with Twila and it was a long tour but we definitely leaned a lot.
BLADE: Is there anybody in CCM who struck you as markedly different from their public persona?
PASSONS: I feel like everyone would be a little different than what you perceive them to be because you only see a very structured view of them by the PR department of the record label. I really enjoyed getting to know Sandi Patty because when you listen to her music, you just don’t pick up on the edge that she has. She has this great sense of humor that’s a little edgy. I don’t know, my image of Sandi Patty was that she was always walking around in some state of meditation or sitting around in a prayer circle because when you’re growing up you just think of someone in such a reverent way because you respected their music so much and she was just she a cut up, she kidded around, she invited us to her home in Indiana at that point just to hang out with her family and I just I enjoyed seeing a whole different side of her. She’s a very strong personality, a strong woman and listening and singing along with her records, it was just good to see the other side of her.
BLADE: What have you been living on all these years?
PASSONS: I play for Point of Grace and also a friend of mine in town, an attorney and I actually work with her in her law practice and of course being friends with the boss, you can leave anytime and so I’m free to travel whenever I need to and want to so that allows me to hang out with Point of Grace and go where they go. 2020 has been interesting. Since March, we’ve only had two shows and they were very small, so it’s been really interesting year for sure.
BLADE: What denomination did you grow up in?
PASSONS: Southern Baptist. A little country church in Mississippi.
BLADE: Are there still elements of Baptist or evangelical theology you struggle with? Queer or otherwise?
PASSONS: I’m past struggling with it. Of course, it’s something I think about often but I don’t struggle with it any longer. … I’ve definitely got a different view of spiritualism. I don’t consider myself religious but I do believe in God and so I do have a spiritual life but it just doesn’t involve organized religion and that’s just where I’ve landed.
BLADE: But do you still believe the Christianity basics — Jesus died for our sins and rose on the third day and so on or is it a broader thing for you?
PASSONS: It’s a broader spiritual thing and like I said in my previous interview, I’m just in this place of my prayer to God is show me what is true. I’m not gonna close my mind to anything, I’m not going to say, “Oh this is what I was taught and I don’t believe that anymore,” I just want to step back and rebuild all those boxes, rebuild what my spirituality is, kind of like just implode it to ground level and let’s start again. I was taught by very well-intended people. All my Sunday School teachers in that little church, they didn’t have any malice, they were well-intended people teaching what they believed. We were spoon fed, so at some point in your life you have to just decide of all that information you took in, what do you really believe? I had to get to the point where I was OK disagreeing and not believing some of the things I was taught. it wasn’t disrespectful to those people, I just have to find my own way.
BLADE: Do you think the conservative, white evangelical world will ever become openly accepting of LGBT people? Is it a lost cause or could it be a whole different story in another generation?
PASSONS: I think there is hope. I’ve seen so much progress in Christian circles just in my lifetime that I never thought I would see. It’s pockets, it’s not widespread, but … I think there is hope. A lot of things used to be justified with scripture that they eventually came around on. (Author) Peter Gomes calls it “the last prejudice of the church.” … After I left, Avalon recorded a song called “Orphans of God,” which I thought was interesting that they were singing it because I was definitely an outcast to them. But now my friend (out country singer) Ty Herndon and Kristen Chenoweth are going to cover it for a Christmas release as a duet and they asked Melissa Greene and I to sing backing vocals on it so now it will take on a whole new meaning. It was a really nice, full circle moment.
BLADE: Did you keep up with what Avalon was doing much after you were kicked out?
PASSONS: No. It would have put me in a bad headspace.
BLADE: Have you had many boyfriends? Are you in a relationship now?
PASSONS: I am. I’m with a wonderful guy now and it’s going well.
BLADE: Not married though?
PASSONS: No, not married (laughs).
BLADE: How long was it before you were comfortable dating guys?
PASSONS: It took me a while, because when all that went down, I internalized a lot of things and I thought, “Well this is my fault,” type of thing. It really took many years for me to just work through all the junk and work through that cloud in my head and so it wasn’t like some big unleashing. It wasn’t like I left Avalon and just started living my best life, it definitely took awhile to repair the hurt that happened from those several years when Avalon was ending and all the things I went through at that point.
BLADE: Do you know of other LGBT people in CCM who are not out?
PASSONS: Yeah, I do. I feel for them because I know that panicky feeling I used to have, that someone might catch on. … But I think a lot of conservative Christians might be naive as to how many people are gay or bi in their church. You learn from a very early age to be a good actor.
BLADE: Who was your favorite Avalon producer to work with?
PASSONS: Brown Bannister produced most of the records when I was in the group. He’s, you know, such an icon in our industry and I have so much reverence for him and so much respect, so it was an honor to work with him. He actually brought out the best in me. There was something about just his people skills and he was just so kind and thoughtful in how he spoke with you and guided you through the recording process. He just took the time, even just to find the right microphone for me, because the mic in the studio can make a world of difference. I remember going through five or six mics before we found the right one. A lot of producers are just like, “OK let’s get this going, all right that’s great on to the next one.” He just took time to make it right and I appreciated that.
BLADE: How long did it take to make those albums on average?
PASSONS: When it came time to record, we would try to just block off weeks where we would just go in there and do vocals, vocals, vocals vocals and really mainly weekdays because we would go out on the weekends and do one-offs, you know, weekend dates here and there. So we wouldn’t obviously do a new record in the midst of a tour because we’d want to tour the new record but during our one-offs we would get in there and try to get in it done and probably over the course of a month and a half, two months, we would have everything done.
BLADE: How involved were you all with the vocal arrangements? I always loved that outro and all those layers on “We Are the Reason,” for instance. How did you come up with all those intricate lines?
PASSONS: We had a great vocal vocal producer named Michael Mellett and he had been a studio singer in Nashville a long time and had toured with Billy Joel as a background singer. He would come in and help arrange our parts and he was amazing at it. And I remember he did work on our Christmas record and I remember that outro those alternate melodies that he helped us come up with, I loved that too. I felt like that really updated the song. It’s interesting because when we did it it was 20 years old and now it’s been 20 years since we did it, so it needs to be done again now. But it was my favorite song growing up. I used to sing it with an accompaniment tape at my little country church when I was a kid.
BLADE: Yeah, I love it too. Did (songwriter) David Meece ever say anything after you guys cut it?
PASSONS: Indirectly. I think he might have said something to Brown but we heard that he liked it.
BLADE: Who’s a celebrity who would exemplify your type?
PASSONS: (laughs) My type, wow. I’m definitely attracted to someone who is confident but not cocky, someone who has sensitivity but is not overly sensitive, someone who’s just confident in themselves, that’s a big attraction to me. If I were to throw out a celebrity I see a lot of those qualities in, and maybe I’m wrong, but someone like Bradley Cooper.
BLADE: Did you guys in Avalon have any say in choosing singles?
PASSONS: We were included in conversations but I feel like ultimately the label got what they wanted. There’s one little battle that we won and in retrospect not just one, but I just remember this instance, where the label disagreed with us about what we should call our second record and had we listened to the label, we probably would have sold a lot more. They wanted us to call it “Testify to Love” and we had no idea when we were naming the record and about to release it that that would be the one song that Avalon would be known for or that it be our biggest song ever. We thought “A Maze of Grace” was such a clever title. They disagreed but they let us do what we wanted. But who knew “Testify to Love” would become such a huge song for us?
BLADE: Was (Sparrow president) Bill Hearn around much?
PASSONS: We would see him periodically and even his father Billy Ray, who started the company, they’re both deceased now, but they were very approachable. They weren’t always in our meetings because we were more with A&R and publicity and stylists but when they were around, they were very approachable, very hands on.
BLADE: When you win a Dove Award, did you each get one or just one for the group?
PASSONS: At the ceremony, just one is given but then they mail three more to you like a month later.
BLADE: Where do you keep yours?
PASSONS: I have a little study/office that I’m sitting in right now. I just have them on a shelf along with some pictures and mementos and things I like to keep out. The interesting story about one of our Dove Awards is our first Dove Award for new artist of the year and that was in 1998 I believe, and we got new artist of the year at the 29th Dove Awards and that was the year that Whitney Houston performed with Dottie Rambo … and we were backstage after we won doing a press junket so I missed her performance and I’m a huge Whitney Houston fan, like I would rival anyone else saying they’re a huge Whitney Houston fan. (laughs) She’s pretty much my all-time favorite artist. So after the show some press people wanted to take a photo of Whitney holding a Dove Award. She didn’t have one so Jody was standing close by with his and they said, “Can we have your Dove Award for a picture,” and so Whitney took our Dove Award and had her picture made with it and of course that was the only one we got that night and our manager said, “OK I’m gonna take that to the office and hold it ’til the others come in and you all can come by and pick them up,” and so before he could get to it, I got that particular one and took a Sharpie and made a mark on the bottom of it and the day that our manager said, “OK you can come by and pick up the Dove Awards they’re all in,” I was first one in there and I picked them all up and looked for the one I made the mark on because I wanted the one that Whitney had held. So I’m holding it right now, I’ve got that one in my hand and I always think of Whitney.
BLADE: Who were your favorite CCM acts growing up? Or did you listen to more pop?
PASSONS: I listened to a lot of pop and and country. My family is from a rural Mississippi town so country music was really most of what was on the radio and I love that old ’70s country. I still listen to it just because it has a lot of good memories. But I didn’t really know there was such a thing as CCM other than, you know, like Bill and Gloria Gaither-type stuff until I was in high school and someone handed me a tape of “Age to Age” by Amy Grant and that just lit a fire in me like I had no idea this type of thing existed, this is what I want to do. And of course I’ve just been — I was a fan of Amy Grant from that day on and she was definitely a huge influence in the way I would sing music, the way I would write music, I would listen to interviews of her and I would just — she was a great teacher in that respect of just knowing how to respond to questions, how to react to people, just her demeanor, how she handled herself, she was definitely a role model.
BLADE: So that must have been mind-blowing to work with her producer (Brown Bannister) all those years later.
PASSONS: Yeah, definitely. And then her text last week, yeah, that was a nice moment.
BLADE: Why didn’t the more progressive Christian denominations ever have their own version of CCM? There are a few fledgling queer gospel singers out there but nothing like the machine that CCM was. Maybe they didn’t care as much if their kids listened to Metallica or whatever?
PASSONS: I think your theory might hold some weight, just that the conservative Christians were looking for an alternative for them and their families to listen to. One thing I think there probably wouldn’t have been a market in the liberal circles to sustain the industry, they wouldn’t have purchased the CDs and the music. It was the conservatives who made this a business and the Christian music business is a business. You have to be making money to be in CCM, that’s the dichotomy that I’ve always wrestled with. CCM depended on Becky, and I’ll tell you who Becky is. Becky is the pseudonym for their target audience. So any meeting we were in, it was always asked, “What would Becky buy, would Becky like this song?” And Becky is a 20-, 30- or 40-something conservative Christian female and she was the target audience because she was the one buying the CDs and the tapes and downloading the music and so I think that’s maybe why the conservative church has kind of a market on CCM music.
BLADE: Is she related to Karen?
PASSONS: (laughs) That’s funny. If they’re not related, they’re probably best friends.
BLADE: When your bandmates came to your house that day, did it feel like it was coming from a place of love and concern or did it feel like a power play? Like they were trying to oust you?
PASSONS: It did feel like a power play. There were some very complicated personalities in the group and so it definitely — I did not feel much love that day.
BLADE: To me, it was like when Florence got kicked out of the Supremes. They could go on and do whatever they want, but without Florence, it wasn’t the Supremes. Without you, it wasn’t Avalon. The one female singer didn’t matter so much because she always changed. That was like the new season of “Charlie’s Angels,” you always knew she would change. But when you left, it was never the same.
PASSONS: I appreciate that, I’ve heard several say that and it’s always good to know that my contribution is something that was missed.
Michael Passons (left) with his Avalon bandmates in a photo from their 1997 ‘A Maze of Grace’ album. With him from left are Jody McBrayer, Nikki Hassman-Anders and Janna Long. (photo by Paul Elledge; vintage promo material via Sparrow/EMI)
Princess Margaret’s hunky grandson Arthur Chatto has joined an ‘inclusive’ exercise gym to work as a personal trainer.
Arthur, 21, who is currently a student at Edinburgh University, is juggling his studies with working as an instructor at BoundFitness in the Scottish city.
The gym, which only recently opened, is described online as focusing on the ‘mental health benefits of exercise and ‘making exercise inclusive’.
Meanwhile in a profile of the young royal shared on Instagram, Arthur wrote: ‘I’m a level 3 personal trainer, I specialise in strength and endurance training with a military focus.’
Princess Margaret’s hunky grandson Arthur Chatto, 21, has joined an ‘inclusive’ exercise gym in Edinburgh as a personal trainer
A profile for the young royal which was shared on Instagram detailed his experience and said he ‘specialises in strength and endurance’
He continued: ‘I was lucky enough to row around the UK this summer! This gave me a lot of experience in training myself and the team to complete the challenging expedition.
‘I’ve found physical training to be an essential cornerstone in improving my own mental health and I want to share this with others.’
It went on to detail how Arthur would run two classes each week, including a session focusing on core and a bootcamp class.
Meanwhile the account also shared a snap of a grinning Arthur posing in front of the gym doors.
The 21-year-old, who is currently studying at University of Edinburgh, will teach two classes a week at the gym
An unlimited pass to the gym costs £24 per month, while students can snap up a membership for just £16 each month.
While Arthur is still best known for his lineage as the grandson of the Queen’s late sister Princess Margaret, he is quickly gaining a loyal online following thanks to his very cheeky Instagram snaps.
Far from the official photographs that we are used to seeing from royals, Arthur’s Instagram account gives a rare glimpse into his everyday life – and the 21-year-old has no problem sharing revealing snaps.
After attending Westminster Cathedral Choir school he followed in the footsteps of William and Harry at £33,270-a-year Eton.
Arthur is the son of Lady Sarah Chatto, whose mother was the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret (pictured, at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018)
At Eton he was in its Combined Cadet Force, which teaches pupils various military skills. It echoes the trajectory of Prince Harry, who also joined the CCF at Eton before enrolling in the Armed Forces.
He followed his older brother Sam and now attends Edinburgh University, where he studies Geography.
Princess Margaret’s grandson is also a fan of outdoor sports including Arctic diving and mountain climbing.
In August the royal joined a group of three friends to row around the UK in order to raise money for charity.
While Arthur is still best known for his lineage as the grandson of the Queen’s late sister Princess Margaret, he is quickly gaining a loyal online following thanks to his very cheeky Instagram snaps
The university student set off from London Bridge on July 8th as part of the GB Row Challenge.
Arthur was greeted quayside by his family and girlfriend Lizzie Friend in London after the gruelling 2,000-mile charity tour.
The team, which consists of Arthur alongside Charles Bromhead, Harry Lidgley, Oliver Dawe-Lane, had originally intended to raise the funds for Just One Ocean but said the coronavirus pandemic had inspired them to help the British Red Cross as well.
This past summer, everyone’s favorite Russian red scare from RuPaul’s Drag Race hit the New York Times bestsellers list with her first book, Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood. She then launched a new podcast, The Bald and the Beautiful, as well as a makeup line, all while continuing to co-host UNHhhh! and I Like to Watch with her partner in crime, Trixie Mattel.
Now she’s following in Trixie’s footsteps by releasing her own original music with her debut EP, Vampire Fitness.
Katya describes the five-track collection as a “dark and brooding international musical boat ride through the brain and mouth of famous cross-dresser Katya.”
“This brisk and beefy debut explores themes and topics such as eating food, dancing, having sex, relaxing, and DIY dentistry, all delivered in a variety of award-winning languages like Russian, Italian, Portuguese and English,” she continues. “With sexy, fly, hot and beautiful features from song-writing legends Alaska Thunderfuck and Trixie Mattel, it’s hard to believe it’s only $5. Wow!”
In case you’re wondering, the collaboration with Alaska is called “Come In Brazil,” and Trixie guests on the track “Ding Dong.” The EP will be released digitally on November 13, with Katya creeping out of her coffin to debut the first single, “Come In Brazil,” a week earlier on November 6.
“Can I just say I have heard this whole thing and none of you have any way of preparing yourselves for the sounds featured on this lively EP,” Ms. Mattel tweeted when Katya announced Vampire Fitness.
Can I just say I have heard this whole thing and none of you have any way of preparing yourselves for the sounds featured on this lively EP. https://t.co/VaE2AoUwBK
Best-selling author and social commentator Roxane Gay is the featured guest of “Creatives in a Time of Crisis,” a virtual discussion presented by the Marygrove Conservancy Department of Arts & Culture.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson will moderate the discussion, which also features guest Rochelle Riley, the City of Detroit’s director of arts and culture. Detroit Public Television will stream the event online on YouTube and Facebook live, 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Gay is the 32nd guest author in Marygrove’s Contemporary American Author Lecture Series. She’s considered to be one of the nation’s most perspective cultural critics and is the author of best-selling fiction and nonfiction writing, including the 2014 essay collection “Bad Feminist.” She’s also a contributing opinion writer to The New York Times.
Much of her research and writing includes the intersections of race, gender and pop culture.
Gay, a Nebraska native, has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from Michigan Technological University in Houghton and also attended Yale University, Norwich University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
GAO-21-69 Published: Oct 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 19, 2020.
Fast Facts
Veterans Affairs researchers have found that LGBT veterans may experience higher rates of depression and more frequent thoughts of suicide. Yet the VA can’t systematically analyze the health of these veterans because it doesn’t consistently collect data on sexual orientation or self-identified gender identity. For example, according to the VA, 89% of veterans’ records lack gender identity data. Without this data, the VA may miss opportunities to provide appropriate health screenings and identify disparities.
We recommended the VA improve its data collection and analysis to improve health equity and better understand the needs of LGBT veterans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) analyzes national-level data by birth sex to assess health outcomes for women veterans. For example, it analyzes frequency data to identify their most common health conditions. However, VHA is limited in its assessment of health outcomes for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) veteran population because it does not consistently collect sexual orientation or self-identified gender identity (SIGI) data.
VHA officials stated that providers may record veterans’ sexual orientation—which can be used to identify lesbian, gay, and bisexual veterans—in non-standardized clinical notes in electronic health records. However, without a standardized field, providers may not be consistently collecting these data, and VHA does not know the total number of these veterans in its system. VHA officials recognize the importance of consistently collecting these data, but have yet to develop and implement a field for doing so.
VHA collects SIGI data—which can be used in part to identify transgender veterans—in enrollment, administrative, and electronic health record systems. Although VHA has worked to improve the collection of these data, GAO found inconsistencies in how VHA records SIGI and, according to VA, 89 percent of veterans’ records lack SIGI information. VHA added a field to collect this information in the administrative system; however, these data are not linked to electronic health records. As such, VHA providers cannot see the data during clinical visits when determining the appropriate services for transgender veterans, such as screening certain transgender men for breast and cervical cancers, as required by VHA policy. VHA’s plan to link SIGI data across both systems has been postponed several times, and the data remain unlinked.
VHA Sexual Orientation and Self-Identified Gender Identity (SIGI) Data Collection Limitations, Fiscal Year 2020
Until VHA can more consistently collect and analyze sexual orientation and SIGI data for the veteran population served, it will have a limited understanding of the health care needs of LGBT veterans, including any disparities they may face.
Why GAO Did This Study
VHA provides care to a diverse population of veterans, including women and LGBT veterans. These veterans may experience differences in health outcomes that are closely linked with social or economic disadvantage, and VA considers it important to analyze the services they receive as well as their health outcomes to improve health equity.
House Report 115-188 included a provision for GAO to review VA’s data collection and reporting procedures for information on veterans’ gender and sexual orientation. This report describes how VHA assesses health outcomes for women veterans and examines the extent to which VHA assesses health outcomes for LGBT veterans.
GAO reviewed VHA directives and VHA’s Health Equity Action Plan. GAO interviewed officials from VHA’s Women’s Health Services and LGBT Health Program, VHA researchers who focus on women and LGBT veterans, and representatives from other health care systems with experience collecting gender and sexual orientation information.
GAO is making four recommendations to VA to consistently collect sexual orientation and SIGI data, and analyze these data to assess health outcomes for LGBT veterans. VA concurred with GAO’s recommendations and identified actions it is taking to address them.
1.
The Undersecretary for Health should consistently collect sexual orientation data in VHA’s health record system, which could include adding a field for providers to input veterans’ sexual orientation. (Recommendation 1)
Open <label class=”status-code-label”>Open</label><p class=”status-code-description”><p>Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.</p></p>
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs
2.
The Undersecretary for Health should analyze veterans’ sexual orientation data in order to assess health care outcomes for lesbian, gay, and bisexual veterans. (Recommendation 2)
Open <label class=”status-code-label”>Open</label><p class=”status-code-description”><p>Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.</p></p>
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs
3.
The Undersecretary for Health should consistently collect veterans’ self-identified gender identity data within and across record systems. (Recommendation 3)
Open <label class=”status-code-label”>Open</label><p class=”status-code-description”><p>Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.</p></p>
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs
4.
The Undersecretary for Health should analyze veterans’ self-identified gender identity data in order to assess health care outcomes for transgender veterans. (Recommendation 4)
Open <label class=”status-code-label”>Open</label><p class=”status-code-description”><p>Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.</p></p>
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Some of the images in the new book (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
If these pictures got into the wrong hands when they were taken, many of these men could have ended up in prison – or even dead.
They may seem like simple images now, and nothing out of the ordinary, but in fact they show incredible acts of bravery.
They were taken in the U.S. between the 1850s and 1950s when gay relationships were illegal, and even punishable by death until the 1873 in South Carolina.
Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell, who are married, collected over 2,800 images over the last 20 years from flea markets, estate sales and family archives before digitising them for their book Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love.
Among the previously unpublished pictures are formal studio portraits and more candid shots at the beach or in homes.
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The subjects vary from 19th century working class men to fashionably dressed businessmen, students, soldiers and sailors.
They give a fascinating insight into life as a gay man all the way from the U.S. Civil War through to World War Two and into the 50s.
Their collection now includes photos from all over the world.
‘Love is universal’ (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
At the time, gay relationships were illegal (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
The photographs are from a 100-year period (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
Hugo and Neal’s obsession with the pictures started while at an antique shop in Dallas, Texas, where they found an image from around 1920 showing two men in a loving embrace, gazing at one another.
The collectors were curious how this photo—an accidental find—could have survived into the 21st century.
A second photo came to them through an online auction. Presented in a small art deco glass frame with the words ‘yours always’ etched into the glass, it shows two soldiers from the 1940s posed cheek to cheek.
Following these early discoveries, Hugh and Neal began to devote more time to search for photographs.
Commenting on the release of the book, the authors said: ‘The subjects of our photos will publicly narrate their own lives for the first time in history.
‘And far from being ostracized or condemned, they will be celebrated and loved.
‘And the love that they shared will inspire others, as they have us. Love does not have a sexual orientation. Love is universal.’
The photo collectors, a married couple, spent 20 years sourcing images (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
The collectors, Hugo and Neal, started the project after accidentally finding a pic of men in love (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
Soon, the couple became experts at deciphering the platonic from the romantic, picking up on tell-tale signals that the subjects may have been lovers.
From their work, they also picked up trends throughout the ages.
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For example, many men started wearing rings in some of the images, though gay marriage was not legal at the time.
One of the earliest photos in the book, from around 1860, shows one of the men wearing a ring on his little finger.
During WWII the appearance of wedding rings, bracelets, and other jewelry serving as symbols of commitment became more common and were worn by many soldiers and sailors.
Hugo and Neal started noticing trends through the period (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
The collectors became experts at finding tell-tale signals that the subjects of the photos were in love (Picture: Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s)
Another theme that emerged was the photo booth picture, strip which was popular with couples for decades.
The anonymity of the photo booth was a safe place for a couple, as they could act as the subject, the photographer, and developer.
ROME — Protesters turned out in force on Saturday for rival demonstrations on a bill that would make anti-L.G.B.T. violence a hate crime carrying harsher penalties than under current law, coming out by the hundreds in Rome despite a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the country.
Demonstrations were planned throughout the country ahead of a parliamentary vote planned for this coming week, with supporters framing the measure as a long-overdue means to provide basic human rights and protection from attack, and opponents depicting it as an overreaching step that would also suppress opinion and religious beliefs.
“We have been through centuries of discrimination,” said Marlon Landolfo, 21, who recounted a vicious homophobic attack on him and another man in northern Italy last month. “Now it’s 2020 and we are still discussing a law that protects us for what we are.”
The bill under debate would explicitly recognize anti-L.G.B.T. and anti-women hate crimes and hate speech by including those offenses under an existing law that makes discrimination, violence or incitement to violence based on someone’s race or religion a crime punishable by up to four years in prison.
Current law does not have a specific designation for such offenses against L.G.B.T. people, and as a result, homophobic or transphobic assaults are tried on lesser charges than racially motivated or anti-Semitic ones.
The bill, which appears to have the support of a parliamentary majority, makes discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity an aggravating circumstance, which could mean added time to sentences.
Decades of efforts and multiple attempts to extend protections to L.G.B.T people have failed in Italy, making the country an outlier among Western European democracies such as Britain, France and Spain. Italy approved same-sex civil unions in 2016 but does not allow same-sex marriage.
Within the European Union, it is joined by Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in not responding to European Parliament appeals for member states to prosecute hate crimes and hate speech motivated by homophobia and transphobia.
Supporters of the bill face resistance from traditional opponents such as conservatives and the Roman Catholic Church, but also from some less expected corners, such as one group of feminists.
Proponents say a change would allow the authorities to keep statistics on homophobic and transphobic attacks, provide a deterrent and send a clear message that these are hate crimes.
Mr. Landolfo, his ankle still sore after a beating last month in the city of Padua, said he felt disheartened by the debate around the new bill. He and another young man, Mattias Fascina, had held hands and exchanged a quick kiss during a date on a September night when a gang mocked them, then punched and kicked them while shouting homophobic slurs. Under Italian law, the pair cannot be considered victims of a hate crime.
The attack on Mr. Landolfo is not an isolated case. Arcigay, Italy’s leading L.G.B.T. association, records more than 100 episodes of violence, hate and discrimination every year. In September, in the northern city of Novara, a man kicked his lesbian neighbor and broke her nose. In the city of Bergamo, residents of an apartment complex insulted and threatened two homosexual neighbors, prompting them to temporarily move out of their apartment.
“These episodes rarely turn into official complaints,” said Francesca Rupalti, a lawyer with Rete Lenford, a network of lawyers for L.G.B.T. rights. “Without a specific law, it is hard to prove homophobic acts.”
Alessandro Zan, a member of Parliament with the center-left Democratic Party who proposed the bill, said its ratification would denote a significant cultural shift in a society with deep patriarchal and conservative roots.
“These people are particularly exposed to hate crimes,” he said. “This is why we particularly need to protect them.”
Unlike the United States, where speech is largely protected by the First Amendment, Italy and many other European countries scarred by fascism and Nazism have stricter laws against preaching racial or ethnic superiority. They have also outlawed blatantly discriminatory associations or groups.
“Laws need to balance freedom of expression and hatred,” Mr. Zan said. “This law says clearly that discriminating against L.G.B.T. people and inciting violence against them is not an opinion.”
Some opponents of the bill say it will cross the line into censorship. They have presented hundreds of amendments — including one that mockingly asked to extend protection to bald or white-haired people — in order to slow down the legislative process.
One objection is that the bill, which opponents have dubbed a “gag law,” could be used to suppress dissenting opinions about same-sex marriage or adoption by homosexual couples. A prominent opponent, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the nationalist League party, said the bill “puts ideas on trial” and has insisted that Italy does not discriminate anyway.
Supporters say the bill would not infringe on free speech or religious liberty. Groups or individuals, they say, will still be able to promote and discuss their values as long as they do not engage in violent behavior or incite violence and hatred.
The nationalist and conservative political opposition has been joined by Italy’s Catholic bishops. That has unnerved advocates for the bill who had been encouraged by tolerant remarks from Pope Francis. The pope told a gay man in 2018 that God had made him that way, and in 2013 famously said “Who am I to judge?” when asked about a priest said to be gay — a dramatic change of tone in Vatican comments on homosexuality.
But the Italian bishops conference, which is influential in domestic politics, has argued that the measure could criminalize expression of the church’s belief that marriage should be between a woman and a man, if it were interpreted as incitement to discrimination.
The bishops said in a statement that Italian law already has tools available to punish violent and discriminatory behavior, and that adding more “incriminatory norms” would threaten liberty.
Some opponents from the left have also joined the fight against the proposed law. Although many leading feminist groups in the Western world have expressed support for L.G.B.T. protections, a group of well-known Italian feminists has criticized the pending bill for embracing a broader definition of women by using the term “gender identity,” which would include transgender women.
In an open letter published on a notable feminist website, the 13 signatories argued that the progress made against sexual discrimination against women in Italy would be undercut if the broader concept of gender identity is applied.
Francesca Izzo, a former member of Parliament with the Democratic Party who signed the letter, said that while it was important to fight homophobia and transphobia, it was a separate issue from the overall rights of women.
Proponents of the law reject that argument.
Mr. Zan, the lawmaker, said that feminists and L.G.B.T. people were fighting the same battle. “Violence against L.G.B.T. people is just another consequence of sexism,” he said. “Anatomy is not a person’s destiny.”
Like many LGBTQ Detroiters, husbands Luis and Joshua Mandujano met at Gigi’s Gay Bar, the combo bar and cabaret that has been a hotspot for gay nightlife in the city for nearly 50 years. In fact, before the Mandujano’s even began dating, they had regularly attended Gigi’s for 20 years collectively. So, when the former owners made the decision to sell, Luis Mandujano was thrilled to get an offer. “It’s very near and dear to our hearts,” he said. “[When] we were approached by the current owners and asked if we were interested in taking over the property we discussed it, and we knew that it would be a big challenge because of the work that it needed, but we agreed.” In the following months, Mandujano said that Gigi’s has received a several-hundred thousand-dollar “rejuvenation” that he called a much-needed “facelift.” “It needed just a fresh paint job, holes in the wall that needed to be patched, leaks in the ceiling that were coming from the rooftop, faucets that didn’t work, toilets that were in ill repair — just a number of those things,” he said. “Now, we have what we call a five-to-10-year plan and part of that plan is to expand to an outdoor patio area.”
Photo by Joshua Mandujano.
Photo by Joshua Mandujano.
Already, however, the duo has been hosting outdoor parking lot events. This has been a means of both socially distancing during the novel coronavirus pandemic and putting on events while waiting for the finalization of a patio permit. Currently, the Mandujano’s have expanded upon Gigi’s offerings and have been doing Sunday morning brunch shows that, when it’s safe for customers once again, can be moved indoors. “We’ll be able to expand it and have much more variety as far as individual performers and food,” Luis Mandujano said, adding that he plans to continue the outdoors shows at Gigi’s as well. He also emphasized the safety precautions that he and Gigi’s staff members have implemented to keep patrons from catching COVID-19. “Facemasks [are required], and if you don’t have them we provide them at the door. Temperature checks are done as you enter the venue, so if you come back the following day they’re done again. It doesn’t matter. All employees are required to check temperatures daily and we record those. We require hand-sanitizing stations throughout the bar and we have signage that explains that social distancing is required,” he said. “And we have seating outdoors in the parking lot patio and it’s spaced apart six-to-eight feet as is required by the executive order. And we’re under a tent that doesn’t have any sidewalls, so mother nature does the ventilating with the breeze that comes through.” Additionally, there are future plans to convert some of the kitchen into storage and knock some of the ceilings out to give Gigi’s “the industrial look.” But as many changes that have been implemented and that are planned for the future of Gigi’s, Mandujano made clear that the core of the establishment will remain the same.
Photo by Joshua Mandujano.
“This [COVID-19] environment has changed the dynamic dramatically, but one of the things that we told the individuals that were looking to offer us that venue was that we wanted to stay true to the roots of Gigi’s and make sure that the community was inclusive of all individuals to include a variety of performers,” he said. “… That’s one of the things that we have and will continue to stay true to: a venue where a variety of performers can continue to come and express their artistic inner selves.” And regarding operations, Mandujano said that the show director for Saturday, Friday and Monday events has been kept on. A former officer in the military, Luis Mandujano emphasized that he takes a family approach to running Gigi’s alongside his husband. “Just like the military, we’re a family and we need to take care of one another. And just like any other family, we’ll have our disagreements and our agreements, but we all have to carry some of the requirements to continue this business to go forward,” he said, adding that money isn’t the driving factor behind owning and operating Gigi’s. “We want our patrons and our employees to take ownership of that business and to make sure that it grows for the sake of the community, and I want to be able to offer that in whatever way we can — whether it be by being a charitable venue, offering charity through finances or by other means,” he continued. “We are a unique venue to the LGBTQ community, and we want to continue to be inclusive of all.”
Find out more about Gigi’s online on its Facebook page.
