Happy Thanksgiving from The Randy Report

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

At The Randy Report, I talk a lot about politics and the political positions we all have.

The official policies here today are definitely "pro-Thanks" and "pro-Giving."

I'm thankful for so many things this year - especially my hot hubby, Michael, and the 1st Amendment :)

That said, it's easy for so many to enjoy this day. Whether wealthy or not, most of us have family, friends and a warm place to be today. I'm thankful that's the case for me and my family today.

But there are many less fortunate.

Today I'm thinking of LGBT kids who have been turned out of their homes because their families won't accept them for who they are, and they become homeless. And that's just the beginning of a nightmare journey for these kids in crisis.

The mission of the Ali Forney Center in NYC is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.

The Center is committed to providing these young people with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met, and where they can begin to put their lives back together.

I humbly ask you to please take one minute - 60 seconds - and consider what a small donation could mean to help these young people.

If you feel so moved, click over to the Ali Forney Center website and consider this worthy organization when you think of "giving" today.  No amount is too small to help.

I'm thankful every day that I get to share, post and pontificate here on The Randy Report.  Hopefully, I entertain a bit, help crack a smile, and every now and then inform.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here.

Happy Happy everyone!

News Round-Up: October 9, 2017

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• I'd love to say the above looks just like how hot hubby Michael and I begin our mornings, but it kinda wouldn't be exactly the altogether, absolute truth... :)

• Did you hear Little Richard has now denounced his years as a homo after coming out in 1995?

• A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Donald Trump's support in rural America is eroding. Back in February, 55% of rural Americans approved of Trump, 39% disapproved. That's now dropped to 47% approval, 47% disapproval. This is his base, and they are growing weary of his antics.

• Hey NYC - don't miss the Ali Forney Center's Annual Fall Gala "A Place At The Table" this coming Friday. The event is hosted by Tituss Burgess and honoring Lady Gaga and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. BUT - the main deal is supporting an awesome organization that helps at risk LGBT homeless youth.

• The Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt admits Donald Trump  used lots of racial slurs on the set of the now defunct reality show. Pruitt says he never called the Trumpster out because it wasn't his job to do so.

• Check out the trailer for the upcoming Danseur, a documentary on young male ballet dancers. The clip description reads, "Unfortunately, not everything is beautiful in ballet. Young boys are often verbally, physically abused and bullied. These are their stories."

Music Video: Maggie Szabo's "Don't Give Up" Is A Love Letter To Trans Youth

Maggie Szabo

Acclaimed Canadian pop singer/songwriter Maggie Szabo recently released her moving and uplifting new music video, "Don’t Give Up On Love," from her upcoming EP Worthy.

The video, a love letter of support to the LGBTQ community, tells the story of a transgender high school student attending prom.

Szabo's soaring vocals sweep across an emotional, anthemic musical landscape accompanied by gospel-tinged backing vocals. The lyrics share an empowering message of hope and acceptance.

When your back’s against the wall
Cuz you feel you've lost it all
There’s nowhere left to turn and no one left to call
There is someone just like you
Who feels the same way too
Why would you surrender?
Don’t give up on love

Touching and authentic, the video is dedicated to transgender youth around the world who live in fear and suffer from rejection and exclusion.

Via press release:

The powerful and poignant narrative of ‘Don’t Give Up' is reflected in an exquisitely cinematic video, that follows a girl who is struggling with her gender identity and the pressures of conformity in high school. Szabo’s ultimate messages to fight for social justice and equality, “people are people, love is love. Society needs to stand up” professes Szabo. “I can’t stand by and watch millions of transgender youth live in fear for their safety, outcast from their homes and marginalized by society simply because they are struggling to understand their gender identity. I want to stand with them.”

"Don’t Give Up" was written and recorded in Los Angeles along with Stefan Lit (One Direction) and Chaz Mason.

With over 14 + million Youtube views, Szabo has been featured on several high profile media outlets including Billboard, Perez Hilton, Huffington Post and Yahoo Music!

A portion of the proceeds from this music video will be donated to the Ali Forney Center whose mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.

Watch "Don't Give Up" below.

Lady Gaga Visits Ali Forney Center In NYC

Lady Gaga, during a visit to the Ali Forney Center in NYC, says that kindness has been an important component to finding peace in her life.

I have to mention early on here that the work the Ali Forney Center does in NYC is beyond fantastic. Please consider them for your holiday charity dollars.

Via The Today Show:

“I’ve been searching for ways to help myself. And I found that kindness is the best way,” she told TODAY recently while on a visit to Harlem’s Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth, to surprise the teens living there.

She’s a superstar singer and passionate activist, but when Lady Gaga meets a trauma survivor, she’s just one of them. “I told the kids today, ‘I suffer from PTSD.’ I’ve never told anyone that before. So here we are. But the kindness that’s shown to me by doctors as well as my family, and my friends, it’s really saved my life.”

According to the Ali Forney Center, 80 percent of the youth there are kicked out of their homes because of their sexuality. The rest run away because of neglect, abuse, rejection, or a combination of those.

“How’s it going? I’m Lady Gaga; it’s nice to see you,” she said to the shocked crowd. Needless to say, the introduction was not necessary. One teen told her, “When family was, like, kind of, like, pushing me away because I’m gay, all I had is you and ‘Born This Way’ album on repeat.”

Madonna Spends Thanksgiving With Homeless LGBT Teens

Outstanding.

The Queen of Pop herself, Madonna, spent her Thanksgiving with homeless LGBT youth of the Ali Forney Center in New York City.

The Ali Forney Center is the largest and most comprehensive organization in the nation dedicated to housing LGBT youth.

AFC serves youth aged 16-24, and provides emergency and transitional housing, street outreach, a drop-in center, medical and mental health treatment, a vocational/educational program, and a counseling project for the families of LGBT youth.

Earlier this year, I interviewed Carl Siciliano, founder and executive director of The Ali Forney Center. An awesome and inspiring man who walks the walk when it comes to helping people. Take a listen to my interview here.

Had so much fun sharing Thanksgiving at the Ali Forney Center in Brooklyn! This center protects LGBT Youth from the harms of homelessness and empowers them to reclaim their lives. Each year the Ali Forney Center provides care for over 1,200 youth who are rejected by their family due to their LGBT identity. AFC provides these youth with tools they need to become independent and more importantly, AFC provides these youth with the love and support they are denied by their families. Because everyone deserves to be loved and everyone deserves a home. 💘🙏🏻💙!!!

A photo posted by Madonna (@madonna) on Nov 25, 2016 at 11:57am PST

Ali Forney Center's Carl Siciliano Interviewed On "The Daily Show"

The Daily Show's Jessica Williams sat down with virulently homophobic pastor James David Manning of Atlah Worldwide Church, and yes, kids, he's still crazy as ever.

Additionally, Williams chats with Ali Forney Center handsome Executive Director Carl Siciliano, who’s currently raising funds to buy the property, which is up for auction due to around $1 million in debt.

Radio Show: Carl Siciliano Of The Ali Forney Center Talks Homeless LGBT Youth

Carl Siciliano, founder/Executive Director of The Ali Forney Center

With the Ali Forney Center's funding raising effort continuing in hopes of purchasing the anti-gay ATLAH Church in Harlem, I wanted to share my radio show interview with founder and Executive Director Carl Siciliano.

I'm really proud of this interview from my companion  radio show - The Randy Report on BlogTalkRadio.

Carl Siciliano talks with me about the current #HarlemNoHate Campaign which aims to raise funds to help the Center purchase a church in Harlem to expand it's services for homeless LGBT youth.

The poetic irony is that the pastor of the church, Rev. James Manning, has spent years spewing vitriolic hate speech towards the LGBT community in Harlem.

Pastor Manning is notorious for signage at the church with messages such as “Jesus would stone homos” and that all supporters of LGBT people should be cursed with cancer, HIV, madness, and eternal damnation.

"The biggest reason our youths are driven from their homes is because of homophobic and transphobic religious beliefs of their parents. If we are able to obtain the space it would truly be a triumph of love over hatred," says Siciliano.

The church is being put up for auction due to unpaid bills and tax liens on February 24th. The goal of the #HarlemNoHate campaign is to purchase the church and make what was once a place that put religious-based hate on broad display, and turn it into a safe haven for young LGBT.

The Ali Forney Center is the largest and most comprehensive organization in the nation dedicated to housing LGBT youth. AFC serves youth aged 16-24, and provides emergency and transitional housing, street outreach, a drop-in center, medical and mental health treatment, a vocational/educational program, and a counseling project for the families of LGBT youth.

Listen as we talk about the difficulties homeless LGBT youth face and how you can help.

You can donate to the #HarlemNoHate campaign by clicking here.

Ali Forney Center: Foreclosure Auction For Hate Church In Harlem On Hold

The auction of the anti-gay ATLAH church in Harlem, scheduled for February 24, has been put on hold temporarily via restraining order from the New York State Supreme Court.

As regular readers know, the Ali Forney Center - the largest, most comprehensive organization that addresses the needs of LGBT homeless youth - has been raising money to try and buy the church at auction and turn it into a center for those youth in crisis.

Via press release:

"This development gives us more time to research the conditions of the ATLAH building and assemble the most advantageous financial package possible prior to making a bid for the building at auction" said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. "While we are excited at the possibility of acquiring the building at auction, we were anxious at needing to rush quickly into this process. The temporary restraining order allows us time to gain more knowledge and strengthen our position."

Subsequent to learning that the ATLAH church building had been foreclosed due to over $1 Million in debts and scheduled to be auctioned, AFC launched the #HarlemNoHate campaign. Since January 29th, the campaign has resulted in $315K in donations towards a building acquisition fund. AFC has committed to use those funds to attempt to acquire the ATLAH site at auction in order to provide housing and vocational support to homeless LGBT youth, or to acquire another site for those purposes if unable to obtain the ATLAH site.

You can still contribute to the fundraising effort by clicking here.

NYC: Ali Forney Center Raises $200K To Purchase Anti-Gay Harlem Church

Via press release:

Less than two weeks after the ATLAH church, home of virulently anti-LGBT Rev. James David Manning, announced it had been foreclosed and was being put up for auction, the Ali Forney Center launched the #harlemnohate campaign and has raised $200,000 as an initial goal towards buying the building to provide housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth in Harlem.

“It has been an extraordinary two weeks,” said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director and Founder of the Ali Forney Center. “We have been overwhelmed with support and encouragement and now have the opportunity to turn a place that has promoted hatred and violence into a safe space for LGBT homeless youth,” continued Siciliano.

“Ali Forney, who inspired the founding of the organization, was murdered in Harlem in 1997, only 12 blocks from ATLAH. In 2013 Islan Nettles was beaten to death in Harlem only one mile from ATLAH. Could there be a more just outcome to the ATLAH foreclosure than that the young LGBT people most endangered by the hatred and contempt Manning promotes would take over his building?” said Siciliano.

“AFC’s acquiring the beautiful and historic building that now stands as a symbol of hate would be extraordinary, but the bottom line is this: the Ali Forney Center has 200 youths per night on the waiting list for our beds. As an organization, we have no obligation more urgent than to increase our capacity to provide housing to these vulnerable youth. With the support of the Harlem community, those who have contributed and many others offering to help, we approach the February 24th auction with confidence and hope. Given the real estate market in Harlem we anticipate the bidding will go significantly higher than the $1.02M owed and we are in discussion with potential developers and investors to acquire the building and we anticipate having a partner by the time of the auction. We will continue fundraising through the #HarlemNoHate campaign and make every effort to be in as strong a position as possible to acquire the building,” concluded Siciliano.

To contribute to the campaign, supporters can go to http://harlemnohate.org

Anti-Gay Harlem Church Could Become A Haven For Homeless LGBT Youth

A Harlem church, which has become a symbol of hate and homophobia, may present an opportunity to be repurposed as a haven for homeless LGBT youth.

Via Huffington Post:

A New York state judge has ordered the ATLAH World Missionary Church to be sold at a public foreclosure auction, according to court records cited by DNAinfo New York. The church, which has been known to display messages like "Jesus would stone homos" and "Obama has released the homo demons on the black man" on its billboard, has reportedly amassed debts and tax liens totaling more than $1.02 million.

The Harlem church could prove to be a commodity in Manhattan's cutthroat real estate market. But the Ali Forney Center, an advocacy group dedicated to homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens and young adults, hopes that an online fundraiser will help raise $200,000 to secure the property as housing for its clients.

Carl Siciliano, who is the Ali Forney Center's founder and executive director, said in a press release that repurposing the church to house homeless LGBT youth would "truly be a triumph of love over hatred."

"The biggest reason our youths are driven from their homes is because of homophobic and transphobic religious beliefs of their parents," he said. "Because of this, it has been horrifying for us to have our youths exposed to Manning's messages inciting hatred and violence against our community. It has meant the world to us that so many Harlem residents have stood up to support our young people, and are now urging us to provide urgently needed care at the site of so much hatred."

LGBT rights activist Scott Wooledge, who is working with the Ali Forney Center to raise the funds to buy the church and has raised over $200,000 for homeless youth over the past two years, echoed those sentiments.

"We, as a community, have a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn what was once a center of appalling hate into a home where our youth can be safe, nurtured, supported and thrive into self-sufficient adults," he told The Huffington Post in an email. "Let's seize the day, and turn the page on an ugly chapter in Harlem's history."

Siciliano has announced that should the Ali Forney Center not able to obtain the building, any funds raised will be utilized to increase its housing and vocational services for homeless LGBT youth in another site.

This is a wonderful chance to do something really beautiful. Please consider donating here.

You can follow the fundraising goals here.

Ali Forney Center's Annual Benefit Dinner - October 24, 2014

This year's Annual Benefit Dinner for The Ali Forney Center will be held on October 24, 2014, at Capitale in New York City.

The evening includes a cocktail reception, an extensive silent auction, live auction, performances by Lea DeLaria and Daniel J. Watts and more.

The mission of the Ali Forney Center is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.

However, this work cannot be done alone. The Center needs your help and support to make NYC a safer place for homeless LGBT youth.

This is one of the Center's biggest fund-raising events of the year. If in NYC, please consider attending; or if not able to attend, perhaps make a donation or donate something for the silent auction.

For ticket info, click here.

Benefit for Ali Forney Center on July 17th - "Oasis"

Summer benefit for the Ali Forney Center, which works with homeless LGBT youth, July 17th at Chelsea Piers.

Click here for ticket info.

Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour benefitting LGBTQ organizations

Tickets for the July 2013 Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay are on sale now.

The tour is presented by AccidentalBear.com and will be hitting San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and New York City, with more cities in the works for later this year and early next.

100% of the proceeds from the A.B. Queer Music Tour go to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF).

The mission of the tour is to bring awareness and visibility to LGBTQ music while working to diminish the stigma around mental health and raise money for suicide prevention efforts in each of the communities where the tour is taking place.

Help Accidental Bear support the missions of all the organization benefitting by purchasing your ticket to the Queer Music Summer Tour today and come have a great time for a great cause this July!

Tour Dates & Cities:

7/5 – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA - Tickets

7/7 – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA - Tickets

7/11 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR - Tickets

7/14 – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA - Tickets

7/19 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY - Tickets

Ticket pricing info for all 5 benefit shows:
$15 – G.A. (General Admission)

$45 – G.A.+ (General Admission + Tour T-Shirt + Photo with Bands)

$75 – V.I.P (General Admission Ticket + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at pre-show VIP reception, Tour T-Shirt and Photo with bands)

Watch videos by all the bands playing the tour at the following:
Logan Lynn
Big Dipper
Conquistador
Darling Gunsel
Rica Shay

What? You like FREE stuff?

Well, Accidental Bear has released a FREE digital 13 song compilation album called "AB // XO" with songs from the bands headlining the tour, which is available at AccidentalBear.Bandcamp.com - Download yours today for zero dollars and get excited about the shows this summer!

Find out more about the deserving beneficiaries of the fundraising:
San Francisco - The Stonewall Project
Los Angeles - LA Gay & Lesbian Center Mental Health Services
Portland - Q Center

Seattle - Pride Foundation - LGBTQ Community Foundation
New York City - Ali Forney Center

NYC: 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant

Hey NYC - don't miss the 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant this coming Monday, May 20th, to benefit the very deserving Ali Forney Center.

The Broadway Beauty Pageant will feature male cast members representing their respective Broadway shows, competing for the title crown through talent, interview and swimsuit competitions. The contestants will go head to head in front of a panel of celebrity judges, but ultimately, the final vote is in the hands of the audience members.

This year's event will be hosted by Tovah Feldshuh, and the fab celeb judges are Broadway favorites Billy Porter (KINKY BOOTS), Andrea Martin (PIPPIN) and Michael Urie (HOW TO SUCCEED...).

The mission of the Ali Forney Center is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood. Find out more about the Center by clicking here.


Click here for tickets to the event.

The 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant

Via press release:

Four-time Tony Award nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Tovah Feldshuh will return to host the seventh annual The Broadway Beauty Pageant.

Celebrity judges have also been announced. Andrea Martin (Pippin), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), and Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar) have been tapped to judge the event.

Lisa Lambert, the Tony Award-winning lyricist of The Drowsy Chaperone, will write the opening number.

The popular event is the annual benefit of New York’s Ali Forney Center. 

The Broadway Beauty Pageant will feature male cast members representing their respective Broadway shows, competing for the title crown through talent, interview and swimsuit competitions. The contestants will go head to head in front of a panel of celebrity judges, but ultimately, the final vote is in the hands of the audience members.

Monday, May 20th - 8pm
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

Click here for tickets

Watch "Half-Share" and donate to Ali Forney Center at the same time

From now until 2013, you can make a donation to New York's Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth just by renting or buying an episode of Half-Share on Amazon.com.

Half-Share — which has been getting its fair share of love at LGBT film-festivals over the last year — is a sitcom that follows Mac, a gay guy fresh out of a 14-year relationship, as he re-discovers socializing and dating with his hilarious friends on Fire Island.

You can check out a free viewing of the pilot episode tonight at 10pm EST/7pm PST on the official Half-Share website.

And if you like what you see, you can snag each episode online for the inexpensive price of $1.99 per rental or $4.99 per purchase, with 50 percent going towards the Ali Forney Center.

Hurricane Sandy left the Ali Forney Center underwater leaving its staff to try and help others while sorting through flooded office equipment and stacks of wet paper.

Help the Ali Forney Center today - benefit today in Hells Kitchen

Today from 4-7PM at Industry Bar - 355 W. 52nd Street.

Go have some fun for $20 and help a great organization.
Click the pic for larger view.

NYC: LGBT teen homeless center suffers major damage from Sandy

Among the casualties of Hurricane Sandy in New York City is an institution for homeless LGBT youth, the Ali Forney Center’s drop-in center on West 22nd Street in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Four feet of water from the Hudson River, just half a block away, surged into the facility when the storm hit Monday, executive director Carl Siciliano told the Washington Blade. “Everything is destroyed — all of the electricity in the place, the floors, the computers, the laptops, the phones, files, all the furniture,” he said.

“Everything is just destroyed. The refrigerator was floating and knocked over, all the food was out. The space is uninhabitable.”

If possible, please make a donation to the Ali Forney Center to help these most vulnerable.

Use this email address - mramos@aliforneycenter.org - to donate via Paypal

Donate via credit card: click here.

Siciliano said to the Blade, “The kids that come into that space are like our most vulnerable kids. They’re the ones who are out on the streets with nowhere to go. And that program’s really a lifeline for them. They get food and clothing and showers and bathroom facilities, medical care [and] HIV testing. It’s kind of our triage place in the city for kids who are chucked out on the streets.”

In the meantime the organization is finding alternatives for these young people, such as sending them to “storm centers” set up in Sandy’s wake, Siciliano told The Advocate. He has appealed to the federal, state, and local governments for assistance, and the Ali Forney Center is accepting donations on its website.

Homeless youth 2012

Yeah, it's my birthday and that's all fun.  But for many homeless youth there aren't many happy birthdays.  For many homeless youth, who are turned out of their homes by families who can't handle the fact that they are gay or lesbian, every day is very tough.

As the statistics state: 40% of homeless youth are LGBT and the main reason they are homeless is REJECTION.

I was incredibly fortunate my family never turned away from me, but for many LGBT youth it is a reality to find your family reject you for something that has nothing to do with them.

I'm lucky.  I have a good life.  And I'm lucky enough to know it.

I'm not a "birthday" kind of guy.  But if I got to make a real birthday wish - my wish is that these kids find some solace, comfort and support.  I don't have much but this "soap box"called The Randy Report, but that's my birthday wish.  Do something nice for the kids out there that have no support. If I can't get world peace, a cure for HIV and marriage equality - which admittedly takes more than the actions of one - I'd like to ask this. Anyone can contribute to helping homeless youth if they choose to do so. And it will make a difference in a life.  A very important life.

One great place to start, if you don't have a place in mind, is the Ali Forney Center in NYC.  The Center provides support and housing for LGBT homeless youth.  They rock and make the most of your donations.

No money in these tough times?  No prob - can you donate time?  That's my plan.  Instead of planting myself in front of my TV at night, I'm looking at helping out at local support centers here in Las Vegas.  Everything helps.

There. That's my birthday wish.  Help these kids.

Please.

Thanks for reading :)

NYC: Get your tickets now for OASIS benefit event

Don't miss the 3^rd Annual Oasis Summer Benefit for The Ali Forney Center at the beautiful Bowery Hotel Terrace this year for a spectacular evening of Chopin sponsored cocktails, silent auction, music, entertainment and more.

Mark your calendars now to make sure you don’t miss out on the summer’s hottest event. Tickets sell out fast, so be sure to watch out for emails about ticket sales in the coming weeks.

Proceeds go to help The Ali Forney Center which provides shelter and services for homeless LGBT youth.