Tag Archives: CNN

OWN and ‘Becoming Chaz’

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When I first heard that Oprah Winfrey was starting her own network — aptly called the Oprah Winfrey Network or OWN — I was expecting something like Lifetime or even The Hallmark Channel. Who knew we’d end up with a cross between Logo and Bravo and CNN?!

OWN is the home, of course, of Lisa Ling’s “Our America” series which has had installments so far featuring transgender people (“Transgender Lives”) and ex-gays (“Pray the Gay Away”). And today, I saw for the first time a short trailer about “Becoming Chaz,” a documentary on Chastity Bono’s transition to Chaz Bono which will include interviews with Chaz’s gay icon mom, Cher. It premiers in May on OWN

Here’s the trailer. I know I’ll be watching.

—  admin

CNN posts video on ‘Born This Way’ blog

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A while back I posted this about DJ Paul V.’s website Born This Way. First, it has nothing to do with Lady Gaga. But the site if is filled with submitted pics where, as kids, you could tell something was up. It’s a sweet and endearing site. And now CNN has caught wind of it.

CNN’s Jennifer Smith posted this video and article where Paul V. talks about what he created and how it’s taken off.

—  Rich Lopez

Larry Craig ‘making the rounds’ again in D.C.

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Disgraced former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who resigned two years ago after he was caught cruising for gay sex in an airport bathroom, has returned to Washington as a lobbyist. The Huffington Post reports:

Those walking around the halls of Congress on Monday afternoon were treated to a peculiar sighting as Former Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), long ago disgraced in a bizarre airport bathroom scandal and two-years removed from office, rode the subway that runs beneath the Capitol.

[Craig] was, he said, “making the rounds” to see former Senate colleagues. From which CNN reported that the Idaho Republican was now a lobbyist, free to talk shop with Congress members after waiting through a cooling off period.

Craig’s firm, New West Strategies, wouldn’t actually confirm lobbying was now part of his portfolio. “I didn’t say that,” said Mike Ware, a principle at New West, adding, with emphasis, that “the cooling off period IS over.”

 

—  John Wright

HRC calls out Pastor Joel Osteen, who will again promote gay teen suicide on CNN tonight

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Above is video of the Houston megachurch pastor’s latest remarks, which are scheduled to air tonight on CNN. And below is a press release that just came across from the Human Rights Campaign:

HRC to Joel Osteen:  Use Your Pulpit for Good, Not Hate

Televangelist’s Hateful Remarks Before a National Audience are Dangerous

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, today called on Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, TX and well-known evangelical preacher with a syndicated television following of over 7 million viewers, to immediate apologize for his remarks on national television that “the Scripture shows that [homosexuality] is a sin.” Osteen made the remarks on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight. The full show will air tonight.

“It’s a real shame that someone of Joel Osteen’s prominence and life experiences would repeat this tired and dangerous statement. It furthers ignorance and discrimination by some Americans and adds a burden to those already struggling to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “One would hope Mr. Osteen would use his pulpit, with an audience of over 7 million people, to tell all human beings that they are loved just the way they are. Instead he chose to send a dangerous and irresponsible message.”

The American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association have both concluded that same-sex attraction is normal.

Mr. Osteen’s position does not reflect the views of many religious leaders and denominations. Mainline denominations such at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the Episcopal Church, see God’s divine presence working across the spectrum of human sexuality. Many Baptists also dispute Mr. Osteen’s stance.

“Joel Osteen is certainly entitled to his opinion, but America needs to know that he doesn’t speak for all Christians, he doesn’t even speak for all Baptists,” said Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre, a Baptist minister and member of the HRC Religion Council. “As a Southern Baptist and an ethicist I believe that we can’t follow Jesus’ commandment to love God and our neighbor as our self if we start with the premise that homosexuality is sinful. Starting with the belief that people are sinful doesn’t allow us to get to know them, let alone love them.”

HRC encourages young Baptists who are struggling with their identity to contact the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB) for resources on the church and sexuality. AWAB’s website is http://www.wabaptists.org/. AWAB partnered with the Human Rights Campaign in 2010 to honor several Washington, DC area Baptist pastors who were instrumental in passing marriage equality legislation in the District of Columbia.

—  John Wright

Obama coming to Super Bowl if Bears make it

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Jets QB Mark Sanchez has what it takes to get the gays in Dallas excited about the Super Bowl.

I’ll be rooting for the Bears and the Jets this weekend, because, seriously, would you rather have a bunch of people from New York and Chicago in Dallas for the weekend, or a bunch of people from Green Bay and Pittsburgh?

Also, Jets QB Mark Sanchez and Bears QB Jay Cutler are way hotter than Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Besides, the Packers beat my Eagles, so they deserve to go down in flames. And, on top of all that, if Chicago defeats Green Bay for the NFC Championship, the Huffington Post reports that the president will be here:

Many Chicago fans are confident that the Bears can win the NFC title and head to the Super Bowl in Dallas this year, and President Obama says if that happens–he’ll be there.

“If the Bears win, I’m going no doubt,” Obama told CNN in the Oval Office Wednesday morning.

The Bears face their ultimate rivals, the Green Bay Packers, this Sunday for the NFC championship. If they win, they’ll head to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas on Feb. 6.

—  John Wright

WATCH: Gay intern Daniel Hernandez, who saved Gabrielle Giffords’ life, on CNN

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On Sunday morning Instant Tea broke the news that Daniel Hernandez Jr., the intern credited with saving the life of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after Saturday’s shooting, is gay.

Unfortunately, just a few hours after we posted this exclusive story, our website went down for maintenance. Talk about bad timing!

Anyhow, we thought we’d follow up on our little scoop by sharing Hernandez’s interview with CNN, in which he refuses to take credit for saving Giffords’ life.

“People have been referring to me as a hero. I don’t think that’s something that I am,” Hernandez tells CNN. “I think the people who are heroes are the people like Gabby who are public servants and who have dedicated their lives to public service. So it just makes me happy that I was able to help her in any way that I could.”

Spoken like a true gay Latino hero.

—  John Wright

WATCH: Mom says son was stapled to wall by bullies at high school in South Texas

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Mary Koch tells CNN that her 14-year-old son’s teacher at Carrizo Springs High School did nothing to stop the abuse. The district says the teacher has been placed on administrative leave, and that the students involved have been placed in an alternative school.

—  John Wright

WATCH: Associated Press on gay Skype wedding

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The Associated Press has posted this concise video wrap-up about a gay Dallas couple’s recent Skype wedding, which was subsequently declared invalid by the Superior Court in Washington, D.C. CNN also posted follow-up story about the wedding over the weekend. And to think it all started right here on Instant Tea.

—  John Wright

‘Women in Media’ graphic novel features Ellen

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Bluewater Productions, the same publisher that brought you the Lady Gaga comic, now offers its new graphic novel Female Force: Women in Media available tomorrow in stores. It’s more a compilation of previous comic book editions of biographies on Oprah, Barbara Walters, Meredith Viera and, of course, Ellen.

Not digging the cover all that much. With creepy smiles and heads floating in the clouds, it looks more like a memorial of female TV hosts gone to the great beyond. Just sayin’.

Here’s the word from Bluewater about the new release:

“The collected illustrated life stories of these media power players are together for the first time in this special collectors graphic novel. The ‘Female Force’ series has received international attention from The View, CNN, Vogue Magazine, People Magazine, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and thousands of other media outlets.

“Female Force offers a broad examination of strong and influential women who are shaping modern history and culture. In past issues, the monthly series has featured Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephenie Meyer, JK Rowling, Margaret Thatcher and others.”

You may want to hold your breath for their upcoming releases. A biography on Betty White is slated for a December release as is Female Force: Sarah Palin, The Sequel. Hopefully, just in time for Christmas!

—  Rich Lopez

Report: Gay Dallas couple’s Skype wedding declared invalid by District of Columbia

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Mark Reed-Walkup, left, and Dante Walkup

We’ve got a message in to Mark Reed-Walkup to try to confirm what we just read at TBD.com, which is reporting that Reed-Walkup’s recent Skype wedding has been declared invalid by the District of Columbia.

If you’ll remember, Reed-Walkup and his longtime partner, Dante Walkup, were married in October in a ceremony that was held in Dallas but officiated via Skype from D.C. Reed-Walkup told us previously that officials in D.C. had found nothing in the law that would prohibit such an e-marriage, but apparently they’ve change their minds. Amanda Hess reports at TBD.com:

On Oct. 10, Mark Reed and Dante Walkup made history by marrying in D.C. (where same-sex marriage is legal) at a ceremony in Texas (where it isn’t). The arrangement took some technological finesse: As Reed and Walkup exchanged vows in a Dallas hotel, D.C. marriage officiant Sheila Alexander-Reid oversaw the ceremony from the District, linking up with the couple online via Skype. The “e-marriage” inspired coverage in the Washington Post, CNN, and Time magazine. Now, it’s caught the attention of the D.C. marriage bureau.

“The D.C. marriage bureau kicked back the certificate we had filed,” Alexander-Reid told me today. Alexander-Reid says that she and the couple both received letters from D.C. Superior Court stating that it had determined the marriage license filed following the Skype ceremony to be invalid.

“The return is invalid because it has come to the attention of the court that the subject contracting parties to the marriage and you, the officiant, did not all personally participate in a marriage ceremony performed within the jurisdictional and territorial limits of the District of Columbia,” the letter reads. Alexander-Reid also received a fresh marriage license from the court. Alexander-Reid could use it to re-officiate a Reed-Walkup ceremony, should they choose to marry again in D.C., this time “with all parties . . . in physical attendance.”

UPDATE: Reed-Walkup reports via text message that he’ll call Instant Tea back as soon as he’s done with a CNN interview.

—  John Wright