Last year at this time, as much of the world was on lockdown due to the pandemic, Leslie Jordan began posting daily videos of himself on Instagram.
The actor known for roles in the “American Horror Story” franchise and “Will & Grace” was staying near family in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was bored.
Many of Jordan’s videos included him asking “How ya’ll doin?” He referred to his followers as “hunker downers.” Sometimes he posted stories about Hollywood or his childhood growing up with identical twin sisters and their “mama,” as he calls her. Other times he did silly bits like complete an indoor obstacle course. He quickly became a bright spot during an otherwise bleak time and his followers grew.
“Someone called from California and said, ’Oh, honey, you’ve gone viral.’ And I said, ’No, no, I don’t have Covid. I’m just in Tennessee,” said Jordan. Celebrities including Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Alba and Anderson Cooper, along with brands such as Reebok and Lululemon, would post comments.
Soon he became fixated with the number of views and followers he had, because there wasn’t much else going on.
“For a while there, it was like obsessive. And I thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Stop, stop, stop.′ You know, it almost became, ’If it doesn’t happen on Instagram, it didn’t happen.’ And I thought, ‘You’re 65, first of all. You’re not some teenage girl.’”
The spotlight led to new opportunities. Earlier this month he released a gospel album called “Company’s Comin’” featuring Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Eddie Vedder and Tanya Tucker. He also has a new book called, “How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived.” It’s Jordan’s second book. His first, “My Trip Down the Red Carpet” was published in 2008.
“That sort of dealt with all the angst and growing up gay in the Baptist Church and la, la, la, la, la. And this one, I just wanted to tell stories.” In “How Y’all Doing,” Jordan writes about working with Lady Gaga on “American Horror Story,” how meeting Carrie Fisher led to Debbie Reynolds calling his mother, and the Shetland pony he got as a child named Midnight.
Jordan says it was hard to narrow down what he wanted to write about because he’s a storyteller by nature.
“It’s very Southern. If I was to be taught a lesson or something when I was a kid, I was told a story.”
With no shortage of anecdotes, Jordan ends the book with a tease there’s more to come. “This is not goodbye forever,” he writes but won’t say if there is an official plan for more, just that if this book does well, he’d love to write another.
Now that the globe has hit the one year mark of the pandemic, Jordan is less reliant on Instagram. He sometimes has to remind himself to post something new and can scramble for content.
“I didn’t plan it in any way at all,” he said of his quarantine surge in popularity. People say to me, ‘Tell me what you did, because I want to get a lot of followers.’ I have no idea. I remember the day it got to a million. Now it’s almost 6 million. … I’ll tell you where it helps, when they go to negotiate the money,” he laughed.
Jordan, who was most recently in the Fox comedy “Call Me Kat” starring Mayim Bialik and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” says he made a decision when he turned 60 to treat showbiz like a regular job and clock out each evening. “At six o’clock, the curtain goes down. TV and movies, see, that’s my job. I have other things that I do besides that.” These days, Jordan spends much of his spare time taking riding lessons and is preparing for his first horse show in June.
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards has promised to veto any “unnecessary” and “discriminatory” legislation targeting “fragile” trans youth that winds up on his desk.
The Democrat said in a press conference on Monday (19 April) he would oppose bills seeking to ban trans youth in sports, as well as a proposal that would make it illegal for trans minors to access vital gender-affirming medical treatment. Edwards called both measures “unnecessary and discriminatory”, adding that he’s “hopeful” the state’s legislature “will not seek to advance those bills”.
“I am really concerned about emotionally fragile people and the idea that the weight of the state would be put behind something that to me is unnecessary and discriminatory and very hurtful for those individuals when there’s not a compelling reason to do it,” Edwards said.
He also said the proposals would have an “adverse impact to the state” should they be brought into law.
AP reported that New Orleans, Louisiana is scheduled to host the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Final Four basketball tournament in 2022. The NCAA has issued a statement declaring its support for trans student-athletes and said it will choose locations for its tournaments where “hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination”.
Two of the four Louisiana lawmakers sponsoring the bans on trans athletes in school sports have said they intend to move the bills forward despite this.
Republican senator Beth Mizel told the LA Illuminator that the state should “not let the NCAA or any other special interest group tell us what to do”. She claimed any group that said they would boycott the state should the anti-trans bills pass into law was practising a kind of “extortion”.
Louisiana lawmakers introduced four anti-trans measures thus far in 2021. Two bills – Senate Bill 104 and House Bill 575 – would ban trans minors under the age of 18 from receiving healthcare and mental health services related to their gender identity.
SB 104 would require trans youth to get permission from their parents before pursuing any gender-affirming care, including counselling.
HB 575 would prohibit trans minors from getting any prescriptions for drug therapy or even gender-affirming surgery even if they have the permission of their parents. The bill would also force school staff to out trans students to their parents. If it were to pass into law, it would criminalise anyone that provides gender-affirming care to trans minors with a two-year prison sentence or a $10,000 fine.
Highlighting the school’s “double standard”, he asked board members at the time: “Why is it against dress code for a man to be comfortable with his masculinity and defy the gender norms society has imposed on us?
“Why is it harmful for me to wear nail polish? If it’s not harmful for girls to wear it, why is it harmful for males?”
Now, months later, Trevor Wilkinson has finally convinced Clyde School Board to introduce a gender-neutral dress code.
According to the Abilene Reporter, the new code no longer mentions nail polish or makeup at all, and all other requirements will apply to all students, regardless of their gender.
Board members even included high school students in the drafting of the new code.
Trevor Wilkinson told local news station KTXS: “It is with great honour that I am pleased to announce that Clyde High School’s dress code is officially gender-neutral forever.
“I’m at a loss of words for the joy I am feeling on this special day.
“I am so blessed by the support, love, and help I have received through this experience.”
He added on Facebook: “It has been great to be able to help be a small part of a much needed change.”
Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian, reality TV star and transgender activist, said Friday she is running to be governor of California, as a recall of the sitting Democratic governor moves forward.
In a press release posted to Twitter, Jenner, a longtime Republican, said that she’d make a “formal announcement” in the “the coming weeks” and pitched herself as a “compassionate disruptor” who will campaign on “solutions” and “providing a roadmap back to prosperity” for the state.
“California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision,” Jenner said.
Jenner’s campaign website also went live Friday morning. Axios first reported the news.
POLITICO reported this week that Jenner did not cast ballots in nearly two-thirds of the elections in which she was eligible to vote since 2000. Though critical of Newsom, she did not vote in the 2018 gubernatorial election in which the Democratic governor had the biggest landslide victory for a non-incumbent since 1930.
All told, Jenner has voted just nine times in California’s 26 statewide elections since 2000, Los Angeles County records show.
Jenner announced she is a transgender woman in April 2015. She starred in her own reality TV show, called “I am Cait” in 2016.
“The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president,” she wrote.
Despite her renouncement of Trump, pro-LGBTQ groups were quick to slam Jenner over her entrance into the race Friday, citing her prior support for him.
“Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out,” tweeted Equality California.
Instagram is launching a new anti-bullying feature to filter out “racist, sexist, homophobic” abuse in your DMs.
While Instagram already “proactively looks for hate speech or bullying” in public comments, the new feature will focus the abuse users receive in direct messages.
The new tool will filter DM requests, where users say they receive the most abusive messages, containing “offensive words, phrases and emojis”.
Users will be able to toggle filters on and off for DMs and comments in a new “Hidden Words” privacy section, where they will be able to add words, phrases and emojis that they don’t want to see in addition to a predefined list.
The list of terms already created by Instagram was developed in collaboration with “anti-discrimination and anti-bullying organisations”.
Instagram said: “We understand the impact that abusive content – whether it’s racist, sexist, homophobic, or any other kind of abuse – can have on people.
“Nobody should have to experience that on Instagram. But combatting abuse is a complex challenge and there isn’t one single step we can take to eliminate it completely.”
To further combat hate on the platform, Instagram will also start filtering common misspellings of offensive terms in public comments, “so that even if a word you don’t want to see is accidentally or deliberately spelled wrong, you still won’t see it in your comments”.
In addition, a third new feature means that when a user blocks someone, they will also be able to preemptively block any new accounts the user might create in the future.
A trans woman in Oklahoma was denied the life-saving coronavirus vaccine because she had a “mismatched” identity document.
The resident, who has not been named, was turned away by the Logan County Health Department because her name did not match what was written on her ID card.
She sought to explain this administrative snag to healthcare officials – she was waiting on the paperwork, she claimed – but the department still refused, KOCO5 News reported.
Frustrated, the woman reached out to Freedom Oklahoma, Oklahoma’s sole statewide LGBT+ advocacy group, for help – and they were prepared for a fight.
Tweeting the Oklahoma State Department of Health, the group wrote: “Why is Logan Co Health Department turning away a trans woman trying to get a vaccine and telling us to take it up with the state?”
The department replied on 14 April that it is coordinating with both county health officials and activists to “rectify” what happened.
“It is a top priority to ensure equity in our state’s public health system, including ensuring every Oklahoman has access to the COVID-19 vaccine,” it added.
State officials later stressed that the incident was a one-time thing in a statement to activists.
“The equity of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution has always been paramount in the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s effort to vaccinate Oklahoma,” a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, a situation with a resident being denied a vaccine, due to a mismatched ID, at one of our county health departments was handled poorly.”
In Oklahoma, trans locals face an uphill climb all too common in the US to have their name and gender changed on identification documents.
While more and more state legislators have cleaned up these confusing legal frameworks, making it easier to acquire accurate ID, roadblocks – and there are many – remain.
In the confusing patchwork of US states that allow trans people to update their documents – or not at all – the muddled system, at times, limits what kinds of services trans people can access.
But policymakers aren’t exactly lacking in reasons to iron out these processes.
According to a report from the Williams Institute, 42 per cent of trans people who are eligible to vote in 45 American states do not have accurate identification documents. Researchers estimate that’s more than 350,000 trans Americans.
Moreover, a trans person simply having a passport or birth certificate with the correct gender can drastically improve their mental health, a studyfound.
Even then, some people (and countries and international agencies, such as the United Nations) question whether there’s even a need for a gender marker on identity documents at all.
Police in South Africa are investigating the killing of a young gay man – Lonwabo Jack – who’s believed to be the country’s fourth LGBT+ murder victim in less than a month.
The body of the 22-year-old was found with stab wounds in a pool of blood on Sunday (18 April) in Mau-Mau, Nyanga East. He died on his birthday, according to the Lesbian Alliance Of South Africa (GLASA).
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana told IOL that no arrests had been made yet, and that allegations of rape had also formed part of the investigation.
“Lonwabo was a nice kid, he was always surrounded by his friends and liked fun and good times,” said Lonwabo’s father Mzwabantu.
“He was a quiet kid and would not say some of the things he would experience because he felt like he could handle them just like any other man. However, when he told us that he was raped we knew as his parents that we had to take a stand. Having a gay child has taught us a valuable lesson.”
The family are said to be distraught after learning of the manner of his son’s death. “We also suspect that he was raped because his shorts were taken off,” he added.
“It’s heartbreaking to give birth to a child and also bury them, especially because he was never sick.”
The brutal killing came days after LGBT+ protests at the South African parliament on Friday (16 April) as queer people demanded tangible action against the rising rate of hate crimes.
Less than a week ago South African media learned of the death of Nathaniel Mbele, a gay man who was stabbed in the chest near the city of Vanderbijlpark.
Shortly before this police found the mutilated remains of Andile “Lulu” Ntuthela, a gay man who was butchered and burned. He was tragically preceded by Sphamandla Khoza, 34, a gay man who was stabbed, beaten and had his throat slit in Durban.
“It comes as a great shock to hear that there has been another horrific rape and murder of LGBTIQ+ persons,” said Siyabulela Monakali, spokesperson for the women’s rights and gender-based violence group Ilitha Labantu.
“We urge members of the community to work together to help root out this scourge of violence and discrimination. We need to build communities that are tolerant and accepting of people’s diversity and not discriminate against anyone based on their sexuality.
Petaluma City Schools (PCS) invites elementary school parents and caregivers to attend an online education session regarding supporting LGBTQIA+ students on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 from 6-8pm. This session, which is open to families with elementary students in other nearby school districts, will aim to provide both an introduction to relevant topics for LGBTQIA+ youth and families who may be at the beginning of their journey, as well as more in-depth information for families who have already been on this journey for a while. Spanish translation and ASL interpretation will be available.
For this gathering, we will be joined by panelists from the following local community organizations, with descriptions of relevant program offerings listed next to each:
North Bay LGBTQI Families: Community building events and school advocacy resources for LGBTQIA+ families, and monthly social and family gatherings for gender expansive youth under age 12.
Positive Images LGBTQIA+ Center: Peer support groups for youth/TAY and adults, Leadership Development Program for youth/TAY 12-24, LGBTQIA+ Cultural Competency Trainings and Consultation, Community Outreach Events, Resources and Referrals.
Promotores de Amor/LGBTQ Connection: Education and resources for support of LGBTQIA+ youth in the Latinx community; peer support and youth leadership development programs for ages 14-24.
Amor Para Todos: Advocacy and implementation to create more gender and LGBTQIA+ inclusive school and community environments through things like policy and curriculum changes, gender neutral restroom signage, as well as elementary APT Student Clubs (similar to GSAs).
Petaluma TIDE: Raising awareness, coalition building and advocating for equity in school communities through dialogue and relationships.
UCLC/CUAC (United Community Learning Coalition/Comunidad Unida en Aprendizaje Colaboratorio): A working group dedicated to building a wraparound support model for the schools to address educational inequities in Petaluma.
For event security purposes this session will be presented as a webinar, and participants will have the opportunity to send in written questions via this form both before and during the event. Participants may also submit their questions by phone by calling McKinley School at 707-778-4750.
Please know that through this event we intend to offer a safe and supportive space for our LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community members. Hate speech or disrespectful conduct of any kind will not be tolerated, and any participant displaying conduct of this nature will be removed from the event immediately. You may submit any questions or feedback you have regarding this event via the form above.
See below for call-in options, and we look forward to seeing you on the 28th!
When: Apr 28, 2021 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Virtual Parent & Caregiver Education Night on Supporting LGBTQIA+ Students
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://petk12.zoom.us/j/84338809877
Or One tap mobile :
US: +16699006833,,84338809877# or +13462487799,,84338809877#
Or Telephone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592
Las escuelas de la ciudad de Petaluma (PCS) invitan a los padres y cuidadores de la escuela primaria a asistir a una sesión de educación en línea sobre el apoyo para los estudiantes LGBTQIA + el miércoles 28 de abril de 2021 de 6 a 8 p.m. Esta sesión, que se ofrece a familias con estudiantes de primaria en otros distritos escolares cercanos, tendrá como objetivo proporcionar una introducción a temas relevantes para los jóvenes y familias LGBTQIA + que pueden estar al comienzo de este camino, al igual que información más detallada para familias que ya llevan un tiempo en este camino. Habrá traducción al español e interpretación de ASL.
Para esta reunión, se nos unirán panelistas de las siguientes organizaciones comunitarias locales, con descripciones de programas relevantes al lado de cada una:
Familias LGBTQI de North Bay: eventos comunitarios y recursos de defensa escolar para familias LGBTQIA +, y reuniones sociales y familiares mensuales para jóvenes menores de 12 años de género expansivo.
Positive Images LGBTQIA + Center: Grupos de apoyo para jóvenes / TAY y adultos, Programa de desarrollo de liderazgo para jóvenes / TAY 12-24, Capacitaciones y consultas sobre competencias culturales LGBTQIA +, Eventos de alcance comunitario, Recursos y referencias.
Promotores de Amor / LGBTQ Connection: Educación y recursos para el apoyo de los jóvenes LGBTQIA + en la comunidad Latinx; programas de desarrollo de liderazgo juvenil y apoyo entre pares para edades de 14 a 24 años.
Amor Para Todos: Promoción e implementación para crear más entornos escolares y comunitarios inclusivos de género y LGBTQIA + a través de cosas como cambios en las políticas y el plan de estudios, señalización de baños neutrales en cuanto al género, así como grupos de estudiantes APT de primaria (similares a los GSA).
Petaluma TIDE: aumentar conciencia, formación de coaliciones y promoción de la equidad en las comunidades escolares a través del diálogo y las relaciones.
UCLC / CUAC (United Community Learning Coalition / Comunidad Unida en Aprendizaje Colaboratorio): un grupo de trabajo dedicado a construir un modelo de apoyo integral para que las escuelas aborden las inequidades educativas en Petaluma.
Por motivos de seguridad, esta sesión se presentará como un seminario web y los participantes tendrán la oportunidad de enviar preguntas por escrito a través de este formulario antes y durante el evento. Los participantes también pueden enviar sus preguntas por teléfono llamando a la escuela McKinley al 707-778-4750.
Tenga en cuenta que a través de este evento tenemos la intención de ofrecer un espacio seguro y de apoyo para nuestros miembros de la comunidad LGBTQIA + y BIPOC. No se tolerará el discurso de odio o la conducta irrespetuosa de cualquier tipo, y cualquier participante que muestre una conducta de esta naturaleza será retirado del evento de inmediato. Puede enviar cualquier pregunta o comentario que tenga sobre este evento a través del formulario anterior.
Vea a continuación las opciones de llamadas, ¡y esperamos verlo el día 28!
Cuándo: 28 de abril de 2021 a las 06:00 p.m. hora del Pacífico (EE. UU. Y Canadá)
Tema: Noche educativa virtual para padres y cuidadores sobre el apoyo a los estudiantes LGBTQIA +
Haga clic en el enlace a continuación para unirse al seminario web:
In keeping with our mission of ending HIV in Sonoma County we have partnered with Q.Care, a telehealth service provider so that we can offer PrEP to all that come through our doors. With PrEP, people who are HIV negative take medication once a day to reduce the risk of getting infected if they are exposed to HIV. It is an additional method that can be used with other HIV prevention strategies such as condoms.
Executive Director, Sara Brewer states, “Despite the success of marketing PrEP to gay men, there has been less effort to inform the general public. This has led to a huge disparity of awareness, access, and usage among different populations, especially people of color, women, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men who are not integrated into the gay community.”
Even if people have heard about PrEP there are several other potential barriers such as cost, access to medical care, insurance coverage, perceived stigma and more. At Face to Face, we see the expanded use of PrEP as the highest priority in preventing new infections and are pleased to offer support to help overcome these challenges. This is an alignment with and another step in our mission of ending HIV in Sonoma County.We are truly thrilled to be able to expand our servicesin providing PrEP to our clients.
If you know someone, or if you yourself are interested in finding out information on PrEP, our prevention team offers educational services and will assist you through every step to get on PrEP. Access includes virtual doctor visits, convenient at-home labs and prescriptions delivered directly to your door. Getting on PrEP has never been easier.Contact our PrEP Navigator, Angel Ortiz at aortiz@f2f.orgor call our offices at 707-544-1581
