News Round-Up: June 14, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• International pop star Ricky Martin shirtless selfie (above). What else do you really need to know? Oh, and he just helped kill a 'religious freedom' bill in Puerto Rico.

• Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled state Senate killed a proclamation recognizing Pride Month. So, LGBTQ ally Gov. Tom Wolf attended a Pride event and read his own proclamation.

• Right-wing Christian activist Dave Daubenmire surprised many this week when he warned straight men that “masturbation is a form of homo sex." According to the activist, "You’re having sex with yourself. It’s a male having sex with a male. That’s homo sex.”

• The official White House twitter account for real shared a photo of Donald Trump accosting an American flag in recognition of Flag Day:

pic.twitter.com/c40BQpZFtW

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 14, 2019

• Donald Trump continues his history of not paying his bills as his campaign still owes the District of Columbia over $7 million for costs related to his inauguration.

• Authorities have arrested a Florida Chick-fil-A owner and operator on two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation involving a 15-year-old girl. Pinellas County Sheriff deputies say that Heather Matuszek gained the trust of the girl while acting as a youth leader at the Clearwater Community Church.

• Speaking with Fox & Friends, Donald Trump wouldn't commit to supporting his own Vice President, Mike Pence, in the 2024 election. “You can’t put me in that position.”

• Taylor Swift dropped a new track in time for Pride Month titled, "You Need To Calm Down," complete with lyrics that take a none-too-veiled swipe at homophobes and a shout-out to GLAAD.

In the song, Swift sings, "You are somebody that we don’t know / But you’re comin’ at my friends like a missile / Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? / Sunshine on the street at the parade / But you would rather be in the dark ages / Makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night." Hit the play button below.

Celebrating International Masturbation Month

Did you know that May is International Masturbation Month?

If not, no worries - there's still time to catch up.

IMM was first observed as National Masturbation Day on May 7, 1995, when San Francisco based sex shop, Good Vibrations, declared the day in response to the firing of Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. Edler had been sacked by then-President Bill Clinton for daring to promote the notion that masturbation be a part of sex education for public school students.

Sexual health and wellness company Tenga decided a survey was needed to ask the important questions about masturbation - who, what, why and when?

The poll included more than 13,000 respondents aged 13-74 in 18 countries.

Some of the more interesting bits of data show:

• Men are far more likely to masturbate than women - 92% to 76% respectively.

• 39% of Americans masturbate on at least a weekly basis. Only 39%?

• Men in general pleasure themselves 4.8 times a week. Only 4.8 times a week?

• Men who are 18-34 years old masturbate 5.3 times a week; 35-54 years old tend to masturbate an average of 3.8 times per week; and men 55+ masturbate an average of 4.4 times per week.

• Around the world, gay and bisexual individuals are 23% more likely to masturbate weekly than heterosexual folks. Duh - No surprise there...

• 76% of gay/bisexual folks are open to chat about masturbation as opposed to only 42% of heterosexuals. Double-duh...

• 55% of Americans don't talk about masturbation.

• Guys who are open to owning sex toys say they are more satisfied with the quality/frequency of masturbation vs. men who are not open (88% vs 62%).

• The award for #NoShocker goes to: Men are much more likely than women to watch porn when they masturbate while women use their imagination.

• Liberals are more likely (89%) to say they've masturbated compared to 82% of conservatives.

• Submitted without comment: Top 3 Most Satisfied Countries - India 86%, Mexico 82%, Brazil 81%; Least Satisfied Countries - Japan 38%, South Korea 41%, Hong Kong 52%

Check out the full report from Tenga here.