News Round-Up: April 17, 2019

Ben Zerbst and Donald Romain

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks Ben Zerbst and Donald Romain took each other to Disneyland for some Hump Day fun. #FutureDILFSofDisneyland

• Brunei has defended its punishment of death by stoning for gay sex in a letter to the European Parliament. Under the country's new law, not only are LGBTQs targeted but adultery garners the same punishment, and thieves and robbers risk amputations.

• Prosecutors plan to seek a sentence of four to 10 months’ jail time for actress Felicity Huffman for her role in the college admissions scandal.

• This year's Time 100 - the 100 most influential people of 2019 - includes Lady Gaga, Indya Moore, Ryan Murphy, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

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@speakerpelosi is one of the 100 most influential people of 2019. "Nancy Pelosi is living proof that when it comes to getting the job done, more often than not, it takes a woman," writes @hillaryclinton. See the full #TIME100 list at the link in bio, and swipe for a video interview with Pelosi. Photograph by @paridukovic for TIME. Video by @spencerbakalar, @francescatrianni and @ggarciapardo

A post shared by TIME (@time) on Apr 17, 2019 at 4:25am PDT

• Nevada could soon join the three other states - California, Illinois, and Rhode Island - that ban the 'gay panic' or 'trans panic' defense in cases of assault or murder.

• Folks were wondering why queer rapper Lizzo performed at Coachella Music Festival this past weekend when it came to light owner Philip Anschutz has given his money to anti-LGBTQ organizations.

Lizzo explained:

"Whether we like it or not most major organizations are run by bigoted millionaires that donate to bigoted organizations. I realize my activism is to disrupt those spaces and spread my message to thousands of ppl."

"Y’all may not agree w it and that’s ok. But know that I’m doing what I gotta do to make sure my big black ass voice is heard. Can’t wait to dismantle the hate that funds this country… but until then, imma be putting big, black, femme, lgbtq+ bodies on stages and telling our stories."

Here's Lizzo's latest music video "Juice" featuring a whole bunch of RuPaul's Drag Race queens for added fun. Her new album Cuz I Love You drops Friday.

Cher Honors Adam Rippon For TIME's "100 Most Influential People Of 2018"

The one and only Cher, Grammy-winning singer and an Oscar-winning actor, wrote a tribute to Olympic figure skater and now-LGBTQ icon Adam Rippon who is being honored by TIME Magazine as one of 2018's "100 Most Influential People."

From a perspective that only Cher could write from, she shares her view on our man Adam:

All figure skaters are beautiful, but Adam Rippon is different. He isn’t just a beautiful skater. He has humility, grace and an incredible sense of humor.

You could see in the leather-harness suit he wore to the Academy Awards that he isn’t afraid to take chances. It wasn’t about the suit, really. It was about the fact that he dares to be different in a world where being different always comes with a cost. I thought it was fabulous, of course.

Adam is a skater who happens to be gay, and that represents something wonderful to young people. When I was young, I had no role models—everyone looked like Sandra Dee and Doris Day. There was nobody who made me think, Oh, I could be like them. They represent me. Adam shows people that if you put blood, sweat and tears into what you’re doing, you can achieve something that’s special. You can be special. And I think that’s very brave.

Click here for the full list of 2018 honorees.

TIME 100: Hillary Clinton Gives Sen. Elizabeth Warren Her Due

Former U.S. Secretary of State and a 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gives Sen. Elizabeth Warren her due for TIME's 100 Most Influential People:

"It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests.

"Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.

"Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma. She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself."

SCOTUS: Antonin Scalia Praises Ruth Bader Ginsberg For TIME 100

Justice Scalia, the longest-serving member currently on the Supreme Court, praises fellow SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg for TIME's 100:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had two distinguished legal careers, either one of which would alone entitle her to be one of TIME’s 100. When she was a law professor at Rutgers and later Columbia, she became the leading (and very successful) litigator on behalf of women’s rights—the Thurgood Marshall of that cause, so to speak. President Carter appointed her to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980, and President Clinton to a seat on the Supreme Court in 1993.

Having had the good fortune to serve beside her on both courts, I can attest that her opinions are always thoroughly considered, always carefully crafted and almost always correct (which is to say we sometimes disagree). That much is apparent for all to see.

What only her colleagues know is that her suggestions improve the opinions the rest of us write, and that she is a source of collegiality and good judgment in all our work.

(h/t JoeMyGod)