News Round-Up: January 9, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Check out the Russian/American "cultural" exchange (above) between InstaHunk bfs Alex (Russia) and Brett (U.S.)

• Asked about the now empty Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS after the Trump administration fired the council members, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tossed off a vague "We'll keep you posted."

• Superstar Ricky Martin got a bit "cheeky" promoting his latest concert dates in Las Vegas at The Park Theater.

A moment in Vegas. . . We are back to Vegas! Get your tickets NOW 👉 ticketmaster.com/rickymartin #RICKYALLIN @parktheaterlv . 📷: @walid.azami

A post shared by Ricky (@ricky_martin) on Jan 4, 2018 at 10:13am PST

• This is a big deal - Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have been appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Previously, only 1 African American had ever served on this body during its 201-year history.

• LGBT fans of Star Trek: Discovery were left heartbroken after the most recent episode.

• Hunky Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds was recently asked on Twitter which Hollywood "Chris" does he think is the hottest - Pratt, Hemsworth or Evans? Using ice cream as a metaphor, Reynolds got a bit cheeky. He also threw in a Chris Pine shout out as well.

And of course, some Pine nuts generously sprinkled on top.

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 2, 2018

• Uganda's LGBTQ film festival persevered despite being raided by the police.

• The state of Connecticut have soon have the very first openly gay Chief Justice of any state Supreme Court.

• Big shout out to British gravity racer Zach Leader who recently came out via Instagram. Check out his message below.

So 2018 is finally here and for about 6 months now, this is how I wanted to start the new year. A fresh start. No more hiding, no more lies, no more fannying around! To some of you this won’t be news or anything new but to a lot of you, I imagine it won’t have even crossed your mind. Some of you may have thought about it I imagine 😂 What I’m trying to do is come out and say I’m gay 🏳️‍🌈 I’ve spent a lot more time in paddocks in recent seasons but this issue has never come up, I’ve never known if the paddocks would accept a gay rider. I guess I’ll find out soon! 😂 I’ve always worried that people would look at me differently and so wouldn’t accept me into paddocks. I’ve always worried this would hinder me from getting sponsors and maybe even signed by teams in the future; that team managers wouldn’t want the hassle and so wouldn’t bother, regardless of how good I may be. Obviously I’ll find all this out in good time but I really hope everyone both in general life and racing life accepts me for who I am. This is a purely personal decision to come out but maybe if there are other LGBT racers in British paddocks then it may help them to find themselves and consider coming out too, or find the confidence to talk about it. I’m always happy to talk to anybody about it 😊 Maybe one day we may see more racers happy and confident to come out as a member of the LGBT community! 😊 I’m telling you all now though, I’m a man on a mission. I’m going to be the first openly gay BGBC champion and then one day I’m going to Britain’s one of Britain’s first openly gay national motorcycle champions and the ultimate goal is to be THE FIRST EVER OPENLY GAY BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPION. And mark my words, I’ll get there if it’s the last thing I do! I’m going to be an ambassador in racing for the LGBT community too which I’m going to be incredibly proud to do 😊 Feel free to message about anything guys but I hope you all accept me and continue to show me the love! ❤️ I don’t currently have that special guy in my life to share everything with and to share my journey to glory with at the moment but I’m working on it 😜 Happy new year everyone! #gay #gayteen #lgbt #gayracer #comingout

A post shared by Zack Leader (@zleader77) on Dec 31, 2017 at 5:20pm PST

51 Years In The Making: Star Trek Gets First Same-Sex Kiss

Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz boldly go where no two men have gone before as Rapp laid some lip-lock on Cruz in the mid-season finale of Star Trek: Discovery.

It's taken the Star Trek universe 51 years to get here. Journey on.

#KissesInSpace

Out gay men kissing on Star Trek. ❤️ You #BoldlyGo @wcruz73 & @albinokid 🏳️‍🌈🖖pic.twitter.com/fEo1wWOWt1

— Q. Allan Brocka (@allanbrocka) November 15, 2017

Not everyone was thrilled by the diversity:

Thanks my 10 year son walked in the room during that scene.. Can't gay people have their own tv shows separated from normal shows?

— Leo Lyman (@the4thwise) November 13, 2017

AIDS IN SPACE!

— Brad2theBone (@JTCMD) November 13, 2017

This scene made me want to gag tbh

— Unity (@illuisrood) November 13, 2017

Oh well time to turn the channel.

— Prof Erwin Corey (@ProfErwinCorey) November 13, 2017

PUKEeeeeeeee 🤢🤮

— Robert Harrell (@underhillrock) November 13, 2017

It's obvious what the Left is doing: inundate entertainment media with constant messages of homosexuality as "normal."

It's not normal, it's abnormal. It's deviancy.#Disgusting

— Glenn Reschke (@CayenneDude) November 13, 2017

You know it's bad when we have to watch the BS agenda on the shows we watch to relax. I will take Kirk and the green lady any day over this gay agenda BS.

— Grandpi J. (@GrandpiJ) November 13, 2017

Sorry .. Why bring gay shit like this into this fanchise .. ewww . If it goes like torchwood im out ... seems like everyone in tv has to b gay now days

— jordan fisher (@flashfish01) November 13, 2017

(h/t Boy Culture)

Podcast: Texas' Anti-Trans Bill; Star Trek Discovery; New Jersey's Support For Trans Students

Listen in as I discuss this week’s LGBTQ headlines including:

• The Texas Legislature is on its way to approving an anti-transgender “bathroom” bill

• Rhode Island becomes the 9th state to ban harmful “ex-gay therapy”

• New Jersey passes required guidance for trans students

• Star Trek Discovery will feature its first gay romantic couple

• We may soon find out if Academy Award winner Moonlight opened the door for more mainstream success for queer-themed cinema

All that and more on this episode of The Randy Report.

For past episodes, or to subscribe to the podcast for free, click here.

And, by the way, please feel free to share The Randy Report podcast with friends. It's a great way to catch up on the week's LGBT political, pop culture and entertainment headlines in about 15 minutes :)

Chris Pine On "Gay Sulu" In STAR TREK BEYOND

Star Trek star Chris Pine was asked by the Hollywood Reporter his thoughts on the news that the character of "Sulu" is revealed to be gay in the latest Trek film, Star Trek Beyond:

“Amen, man. It’s about f—ing time. The fact that there’s still a conversation about it means that there’s still room to go in terms of it being normalized.

"My only rebuttal to George Takei — no matter what kind of creative differences he had about Sulu being gay, and I can understand his creative differences — is the fact that our job is to make people feel less alone. If there’s one kid in Middle America who feels any amount of self-loathing because he feels different, or is being bullied because he feels different or looks different or sounds different, if our film can give him solace and make him or her feel less alone, then abso-effin-loutely we should do it all the time, every day of the week.”

Star Trek Beyond Reveals Sulu To Be Gay With Same-Sex Partner

The character of "Hikaru Sulu," played by John Cho in the current reboot of the sci-fi franchise and George Takei in the iconic TV series, is portrayed as openly gay and having a same-sex partner in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond.

Via OUT:

Star Trek Beyond’s Hikara Sulu will be revealed as gay in the third installment of the sci-fi reboot as a nod to the role’s original actor and openly gay activist, George Takei.

Sulu, played by John Cho in Beyond, will be shown to have a daughter with a same-sex partner, Cho revealed in an interview while promoting the movie in Sydney.

“I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out it,” Cho told The Herald Sun, “which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicize one’s personal orientations.”

Takei was closeted during his time on the show, but later came out in the early 2000s and has been a strong voice for LGBT rights. In 2015, he revealed that he had approached Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry about gays and lesbians on the show. The show had already pushed serious cultural boundaries when an episode aired the first interracial kiss on television.

Takei said that the creators worried if they went too far, they would lose the show.

“But I think we’re getting closer to that utopian society that Gene Roddenberry visualized,” Takei said last year, “much more rapidly than even the technology.”

Trailer: "Star Trek Beyond"

Not many details of the film are public as yet.

All folks know (from this trailer, at least) is that the movie picks up a few years into the Enterprise’s five-year mission to explore the galaxy and something has gone wrong.

An unknown enemy attacks the ship, destroys it, and sends the crew scrambling for their lives on the surface of the nearby planet.

Release date: July 22, 2016

Chris Pine as "Captain James T. Kirk"

(h/t JMG)

Action-Packed First Trailer For "Star Trek Beyond"

The first trailer for the upcoming Star Trek Beyond (over 6 million views in one day) looks to be a bit less cerebral and a lot more "action movie."

The film hits theaters July 22, 2016.

TV: Star Trek Will See New Reboot By CBS

Producer Alex Kurtzman has announced he will produce a new series based on the Star Trek saga, but with a new twist.

Via Mashable:

The new series, set to premiere in January 2017, will have a "special preview broadcast" and then be available exclusively on CBS All Access - the network's digital streaming service.

The new series "will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966," according to the release.

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run Star Trek series has gone before — directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” Marc DeBevoise, executive vice president/general manager of CBS Digital Media, said in a statement. It will be CBS All Access' first original series.”

CBS All Access already features every episode of every previous Star Trek series.

The new series premiere will air on the heels of the original series' 50th anniversary celebration.

George Takei Explains Much Of The Star Trek Lore & Metaphors

Star Trek star, LGBT activist and soon-to-be Broadway actor (in the upcoming ALLEGIANCE) George Takei chats with Big Think regarding the creation, thinking and ideas behind the now iconic TV series STAR TREK.

Takei explores Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's ambitious and progressive vision for the future: "Roddenberry felt that the Enterprise was a metaphor for starship earth and the strength of this starship lay in its diversity."

We also learn that Takei's character, Sulu, represented a united Asia free of the many strifes Roddenberry witnessed during the 20th century. Takei tells us how the name "Sulu" came about; it's an incredibly inspirational story.

Finally, Takei explains the now-glaring omission of gay and lesbian characters from Roddenberry's progressive Enterprise.

In short, it was the 1960's and the biracial kiss between Uhura and Kirk nearly sank the show. Roddenberry knew there were limits to what the public would tolerate and he couldn't risk losing his platform for social commentary by testing them. Thankfully, as Takei notes, times have changed quite a bit since then in so many ways. And Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry are partly responsible.

The fabulous Nichelle Nichols from "Star Trek"

My Facebook friend Aaron Baldwin shares some facts about the fabulous Lt. Uhura from the original Star Trek:

“Uhura” comes from the Swahili word UHURU meaning “freedom”. Uhura was pretty much the first ever black main character on American television who was not either a maid or a domestic servant.

In 1966, TV network NBC refused to let Nichelle Nichols be a regular, claiming Deep South affiliates would be angered, so Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry hired her as a “day worker,” but still included her in almost every episode. She actually made more money than any of the other actors through this workaround, and it was kept secret from the other actors, but it was still a humiliating second-class status. The network people made life hard for Nichols, constantly trying to pare down her screen time, purposefully dropping racist comments in her presence and even withholding her fan mail from her.

This deplorable state of affairs led Nichols to make the decision to quit after the 1st season, but then she happened to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who pleaded with her to stick with the show because as a black woman she was portraying the first non-stereotypical role on television.

Star Trek is still winning in the public arena with the huge success of it's latest movie sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness."