Bobservations

While in Portland, we decided to use the MAX trains to get from our hotel into the downtown area. It would be easier than driving in, fighting the traffic, and then hunting for parking; plus, once in the city, you can hop on the light rail to get to different areas. It was perfect.

We were shuttled from the hotel to a transit center, found the correct line, and waited for the train. We easily found a seat when the train arrived and settled down for the short trip. At one stop, a young girl got on, walked by me and sat down two seats away. A young man was sitting across from her, his skateboard on the floor, when the young girl snorted a wad of phlegm into her throat and then spit it on the kid’s board.

The kid went nuts, screaming at her, and demanded that she use her shirt to wipe the loogie from his board. The two began screaming at one another and I turned to Carlos and whispered:

“At the next stop, run for the doors.”

“I can’t see the doors.”

“Run to your right, then right again, and through the doors.

“I can’t see the doors.”

“Okay then. I’m gonna run. Text me when you get to safety.”

Good times.

PS The girl cleaned the loogie and the boarder got off at the next stop.

This one goes back to March 2011. Shortly after the arrival of Consuelo:

“Consuelo Roca Jones: #11 of 1500

When we adopted Miss Jones, they gave us a small bag of cat food, and this toy. It has a ball that runs through a channel, and lights up as it does so, with a scratch pad in the center.

Little Miss Jones loves to bat the ball around and watch it light up.

We also bought another scratching tool for her, but Tuxedo has taken to it most of all. he loves to sit in it, play under, lay atop it, but, most of all, guard it from the other cats.

That's my boy!”

I love how Tuxedo is not using it as a scratching post, but is just sitting there daring Consuelo to try and come on it. It was, and still is in many ways, Tuxedo’s world.

This is what common sense looks like … students in Massachusetts will get free lunch and breakfast at school thanks to a new 4% tax on people who earn more than $1 million after voters passed a constitutional amendment for that additional 4% state income tax on wealthy people.

PS 4% is $40,000; a drop in the bucket to feed children.

After Jason Aldean released his bigoted, gun-toting anthem to hillbillies and toothless cousin fuckers—a song that roared to the top of the charts and then dropped just as quickly—fellow country singer Chris Houseman showed Aldean how it’s done with his song, “Blueneck”:

Grew up with cornfields in every direction

That's where I learned all of my lessons

About life and living without fences

In the land of the free to have opinions

 If you work a job, you oughta make a livin'

George Straight or George Gay, there's no difference

People need help and I think that we should listen

 Three chords and my truth is

I'm a good ole boy with a bleeding heart

Just a homegrown hick with a hybrid car

I think y'all means all and I know we all

Just wanna know that we belong

There's a lot more color in the mix

When you're loud and proud out in the sticks

I am what I am, you get what you get

 Yeah, I guess I'm a red state Blueneck

My American dream is wide open spaces

Plenty of room for us all to be safe in

Yeah, that's a future that I'm chasin'

So I'm gonna go make it

 And that’s the America I believe in …

As I said on Tuesday of this week, first thing in the morning:

“I wonder just how drunk Rudy Giuliani is right now.”

And I laughed. From America’s Mayor to America’s Drunk Criminally Indicted Uncle in twenty years.

Last January, Abigail Zwerner was shot in her classroom at Richneck Elementary  by a 6-year-old student and is now suing the school district for $40 million.

Now, I found that a bit excessive until I read that the school district is arguing that Zwerner is only entitled to file a worker’s compensation claim because the injury she sustained from the shooting is a “workplace injury,” and that the shooting was a hazard of the job.

Yes, they want to set a precedent that a teacher should expect that getting shot is one of the dangers of her job and therefore she cannot sue.

Now I want her to sue for $400 million.

Speaking of guns, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat of course, approved a measure that would allow firearm retailers or manufacturers to be sued for marketing guns to people under 18 and promoting other improper marketing ploys geared toward the sale of weapons.

The law also allows civil action against the firearms businesses if they’re found to have marketed guns for unlawful paramilitary or private militia-related activities.

Good first step. Now, ban all assault weapons.

Tomás González, a Chilean Olympic gymnast, a bendy little nugget, has come out in his autobiography, "Champion: Lessons, Triumphs and Talls of an Olympic Gymnast":

"I suppose it is no longer an issue, but yes, I am gay. And if it is about making it public, I prefer to do it in this book.”

González realized he was gay when he 24, but coming from a traditional family did not make it easy to be openly gay; it also didn’t help that he experienced abuse in the sport where “machismo and homophobia are problems that exist in society and in the gym as well."  But the better news is Tomás González has been in a relationship for six years and hopes to marry and have a family:

"We all work, pay taxes, have a role in society. So, I want to have the same rights as any citizen. Regardless of any sexual orientation, we all have to have the same rights."

Welcome Out, Tomás, and please accept as our gift, from HOMO HQ, the Official Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome Out.

And here we have dancer and model Josh Fine, also bendy, and maybe a little fine, too, but the real question is: Would You Hit It?

Meme Dump

Bryan Ruby Comes Out

It’s hard for a professional baseball player to come out as gay while playing; it’s just as difficult for a country music singer to announce their queerness to the world. Both professions are not known to be full of the love for The Openly Gay.

But imagine you’re Bryan Ruby, who made history as the only active pro baseball player—for the minor league Salem-Keizer Volcanoes—and a country western singer trying to make a name for himself while coming out while released a new song, “Christmas With You,” dedicated to his boyfriend:

♪ ♫ I don’t wanna sing carols, hang stockings by the fire;

If I said I wanna go shopping, I’d be a stone-cold liar.

 I don’t care about decorating or all the holiday food.

All I wanna do is spend my Christmas with you. ♫ ♪

When he came out, Ruby acknowledged that he’s on a minor league team and “not a hot-shot prospect” for the major league, but maybe by taking this step, he’ll make it easier for the next gay ball player, or country singer, to come out.

“I kept thinking about the little 14-year-old me, who was scared because I’m a baseball player who loved country music. Those are worlds where people like me are told they can’t belong. I want to help create a world where future generations ... don’t have to sacrifice authenticity or who they really are.”

Welcome out, Bryan, and please accept as our gift, from HOMO HQ, the Official Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

On a personal note, please accept my invitation to join the Husband In My Head Club … just saying.

Welcome out.

LGBTQ Nation

Bobservations

Carlos and I rarely fight. Oh, we have disagreements and discussions, but they hardly ever escalate into some sort of yelling kinda thing; we generally agree on most things, and those that we don’t, well, in the end, he does it my way. I kid; we just compromise. But … after his recent hernia surgery, I  made it clear he wasn’t to lift anything, and that included dogs and cats; he even slept in the guest room, door closed, to keep the cats from jumping on him.

We had his follow-up appointment with the surgeon last week, who was pleased with Carlos’ progress and happy he had very little pain. He gave the ‘OK’ for Carlos to resume playing the trumpet but cautioned him against lifting anything over twenty pounds for the next month or so.

And that’s the rub … we did the groceries and he tried to carry the bags. I reminded him that I would be carrying the bags, and once we got home, he could put things away. We went to CostCo and, again, he tried lifting a box filled with groceries and again I reminded him that I would be carry the boxes and once we got home, he could put things away. We also bought dog food—a fifty-pound bag because it was the only one they had—and AGAIN he tried to lift the bag and yada yada yada … We left the bag in the car because it was too big for the Pet Food Cupboard™, but on Sunday, I heard him in the garage, in the car, opening the back, and then coming inside.

He is NOT carrying that dog food, I thought. And then I heard the bag open and heard the contents being emptied into another container for storage and I went mad. But I held it in. I calmly did my thing. I went into the kitchen to fix dinner and when he came in, I got mad all over again, and  to cover my anger I threw a spoon into the sink from across the room.

“Is something wrong?” He said oh … so … sweetly.

5 … 4… 3 … 2 … 1

"QUIT FUCKING LIFTING THINGS! THE DOCTOR TOLD YOU NOT TO LIFT ANYTHING, AND I’VE TOLD YOU TO LET ME DO IT AND YOU WON’T LISTEN. STOP PICKING STUFF UP!!”

“But I feel—”

“NO ONE CARES HOW YOU FEEL! YOU’RE NOT A DOCTOR! I DON’T WANT YOU TO HAVE TO UNDERGO SURGERY AGAIN JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU’RE SMARTER THAMN A DOCTOR. YOU’RE NOT.

“STOP.LIFTING.THINGS.”

Then I asked if he wanted chopped scallions on his soup, because once the rage was released, I was in a good mood.

Carlos, on the other hand, hasn’t lifted another thing.

A Straight Pride group held their event in Dallas over the weekend and … three people showed up.

So, either there are only three straight people in Dallas, or the people of Dallas see a ridiculous stunt when it advertises on Facebook. Which was where the anti-LGBTQ Straight Pride group Protecting Our Next Generations [PONG] promised to discuss abortion [hint: it’s murder], marriage values [hint: Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve or Madam and Eve] and genders [hint: there are just two].

PS Two of the men that showed up were from Boston and the third was a Proud Boy from Hateville, USA, so not a single person living in Dallas stopped by.

Go figure.

Speaking of dumb homophobes, a _____ supporter in Minneapolis left an ignorant comment about a  gay bar after _____ held a rally in that city last month, and her ignorance went viral.

The gay bar in question, the Saloon nightclub, protested BLOTUS by flying the giant _____ baby balloon from its rooftop and this irritated _____ supporters so much that one, Pamela Ogletree, took to Twitter to proclaim that Saloon would no longer be getting her business.

A commenter asked: “Were you a frequent visitor??”

And one finally told her: “Cuz it’s a gay bar, Pamela.”

And suddenly a meme was born; one person turned the phrase, “It’s a gay bar, Pamela,” into a rainbow-colored enamel pin—it’s available for $10 with 50% of proceeds going to Out Front Minnesota, the state’s leading LGBTQ organization. T-shirts were made; signs posted; Tweets sent out.

“It’s a gay bar, Pamela” is the new “That’s so dumb.”

Pamela Ogletree has not responded to media requests seeking to understand how long she’d patronized the Saloon before it “lost her business.”

Deplorables are dumb.

Last Summer _____ said he would be pursuing gun control measures after a series of shootings in El Paso and Dayton. This fall he quietly dropped the plan because he was told it would hurt his election chances.

Earlier this Fall, he said he would meet with representatives of the vaping industry to try and stem the deaths from vaping. Now he’s shelved those plans, too, because, again,it would hurt his election chances.

Plainly: _____ wants guns and vaping to continue no matter how many are injured or killed because his winning reelection is more important than human life,

That’s all.

Last week, Lil Nas X became the first out gay musician, and rapper, to take home a Country Music Association Award when he and collaborator Billy Ray Cyrus won the “Musical Event of the Year” trophy for the remix of “Old Town Road,” which spent an unprecedented 20 weeks at # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They beat out the duo of Brooks & Dunn, the duo of Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton, and the group of Maren Morris and the Brothers Osborne.

Although Lil Nas X is the first gay musician to win a CMA for his own song, it isn’t the first time the show has handed out an award to an LGBTQ+ person. Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally both won for co-writing Kacey Musgraves’ LGBTQ+ anthem “Follow Your Arrow” in 2014. 

Still ….

Jon Bon Jovi is hot; younger and older; hot and hot. And compassionate.

Bon Jovi dedicated his newest song “Unbroken” to honor veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD]), but he also, through his JBJ Soul Foundation, donated $500,000 to help build the Walter Reed facility in Washington DC for the homeless veterans.

The new facility expects 300 residents and offers a small gym, a courtyard, and a computer room. Residents can use the lounge as a meeting place among the occupants or when their family somes for a visit.

In another effort to help support veterans suffering from PTSD, all the proceeds from Bon Jovi’s song “Unbroken” will be donated to the Patriotic Service Dog Foundation, where veterans and first responders get to be paired with service dogs.

Jon Bon Jovi also owns and runs two Soul Kitchen restaurants in New Jersey where people in need can get a meal, and pay only what they can afford.

Hot, and compassionate.

Less hot, and less compassionate, and entirely full of crap, Dave Cathy’s Christian-owned Chick-fil-A has promised to stop giving to anti-LGBTQ charities, a vow it has made at least once before, and broken.

Don’t hold your breath, and don’t eat their crap chicken.

And finally, Isaac Churchill.

I don’t know much about him except that he’s a dreamy model with luscious hair …and lips, and really doesn’t mind taking his clothes off.

Oh, and I believe he lives in Milan. Dreamy.

Jake Owen:Country Singer And LGBTQ Ally ... Believe

Of all the singers, in all the genres, in all the world, country singer Jake Owen released a cover of Cher’s 10998 hit “Believe” and dedicated it to the LGBTQ community—see a snippet of the song HERE, it's actually pretty good ... though it doesn't hurt much that Jake Owen is hot...

And naturally, because there are a lot of bigots and homophobes who listen to country music, when he received a negative anti-LGBTQ comment about the song, Jake said on Instagram:

“I believe #loveislove

Some of my closest friends and coworkers, are part of the #lgbt community and I couldn’t be more happy for the progress they have made. I’m inspired by people loving people no matter who you are. I BELIEVE the world needs more love. No matter where it comes from.

So with that said, I googled “gayest” songs of all time and the boys and I decided to put our country spin on Cher’s “Believe.” Hope you dig. I plan on releasing all of these backstage random songs we’ve created very very soon. Stay tuned friends, and most importantly, love everyone. 🌈”

And then another so-called fan responded:

“Suddenly I feel sick that I have tickets to your show here on Thursday night.”

And Jake wrote in response:

“I’m sorry you feel sick that you have tickets to my show Thursday night. Maybe it would do you good to come out, smile, laugh, sing along with a bunch of strangers that are all going through what we call “life.” I definitely didn’t delete your comment or anyone’s comment from this feed. It’s really only you and a few other ignorant people that make yourself look silly. If you make it out to my show, come give me a hug. You need one. If you decide not to come, trust me … we will all be okay. We like to share our shows with people that are kind, and loving.”

Thanks Jake, for being an ally, and for standing up to those who hate.

The Dixie Chicks and Donald [t]Rump

You remember when the Dixie Chicks, at the height of their Country Songbird Sweetheart reign, by way of lead singer Natalie Maines, took on President W for the war and said they were ashamed he was from Texas? And remember how their careers suddenly tanked because everyone from Toby Keith to Reba McEntire to country radio came down on them for speaking their own opinions? Their music was pulled from the airwaves and the Chicks were shunned by the music industry for having the courage to speak their mind about a man who is an American war criminal.

I fell in love with the Chicks right about that time, and now I love ‘em even more.

I first read of this over at Blobby’s but thought I’d share it here myself:

The Dixie Chicks are back, and as one of my favorite Chicks songs says, they are not ready to make nice. On their DCX MMXVI World Tour they have taken on a new political foe: Donald [t]Rump.

While singing the song Goodbye Earl, they show this photo of the ultimate bully as a back drop:

See, the song tells the story of two best friends from high school; Mary Ann leaves the town after graduation, while Wanda stays and married Earl, who physically abuses her repeatedly. Wanda files for divorce but "Earl walked right through that restraining order and put her in intensive care." When Mary Ann flies in for a visit the women decide "that Earl had to die," and they kill him, by poisoning his black-eyed peas.

Now, the Chicks aren’t saying [t]Rump has abused his wives — though perhaps being a serial adulterer is a form of abuse — but they are suggesting that [t]Rump is to America what Earl was to his wife in the song.

And I don’t believe the Chicks will face any backlash for this dig at a GOP candidate because even though [t]Rump has done everything wrong, offended just about any group he chooses, lied and name-called and foot-stomped about how mean people are to him, he won the nomination anyway.  But, the more people that come out against [t]Rump, and show him in his true colors, the more hurt he is going to feel. And come election day, when he loses, and tries to tell us all that he never wanted to be president anyway because being president is a loser job and he’s just oh so rich, the better we are all going to feel.

And so for that, “Thanks Chicks.”

PS: here's the Chicks song about not feeling bad for speaking their minds:

Ty Herndon Comes Out ... Then Billy Gilman Does, Too

After nearly two decades in country music and after nearly twenty years of speculation over his sexual orientation, Ty Herndon has come out as gay:

"I have an awesome relationship that I've been in for a good number of years. I] love him very much and he loves me."

Herndon was married twice in the past and revealed that both is ex-wives knew he was gay when they married him; sounds like marriages of convenience to stave off the rumors of his homosexuality.

"I had a lot of people around me that I trusted at a time and I was like, 'Hey, you know this about me but the world doesn't. So I'm gonna need to call on your services for a little while.' It was unfortunate that I had to do that, but I felt that's what I had to do to have my career. Standing on some pretty solid legs today, so I get to tell my truth today."

Truth. That’s what it means; being able to be yourself, love yourself, and let everyone know exactly who you are, damn the torpedoes.

"I've dreamed about being in country music since I was 6 years old. It's my life, it’s what I do, it's who I am, and I went to great lengths to cover up that fact to be to be a country star."

Rumors began circulating about Herndon's sexuality back in 1995, when an undercover male police officer alleged that Herndon exposed himself in a park where he’d gone to buy crystal meth:

"I wish I had really great recall or memory about that. I think I had been up for like 6 days doing drugs the night and the day was really a huge blur for me."

Now fully clean and sober, Herndon is looking forward to a future with Matt, his partner of five years.

Happiness, truthfulness; it’s all in those two words: I‘m gay.

And then, hours later, it happened again …

On the heels of Ty Herndon’s coming out, fellow country music performer Billy Gilman announced that he, too, is gay.

He had his Coming Out on YouTube, and during the five-and-a-half-minute long video, Gilman credited his friend Ty Herndon for making his road a little easier to follow. But, at the same time, he talked about the mere rumor that he might be gay hurt his career, and likely cost him a record deal:

“I threw a showcase in Nashville, and no major label showed. … It’s difficult for me to make this video, not because I’m ashamed of being a gay male artist, or a gay artist or a gay person, but it’s pretty silly to know that I’m ashamed of doing this knowing that I’m in a genre and an industry that’s ashamed of me for being me.”

Several months ago, a reporter took a picture of Gilman and his partner. He says at that moment he knew what he needed to do.

“It was in that moment that I knew that I’d rather it be from me, than you reading it from somewhere else. I can honestly say I’m scared to death.”

Scared, sure, because you never know what the future holds for you, especially in the country music arena.

I mean, look at it: it appears that Ty Herndon was encouraged to get married twice to maintain a heterosexual image; it seems that just the rumor that Billy Gilman was gay stopped him from signing with a major Nashville record label even though he’d been a very popular child star in country music.

And then there’s Chely Wright.

In the late 90's, after years of singing in Nashville, Chely Wright had her first Number One country hit, "Single White Female".  She followed that up with three other top 10 hits and sold over a million singles in the United States. She made her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on September 16th, 1989 and made many subsequent appearances, especially after having that Number One. But, since coming out as gay in 2010, Chely Wright she has not once been invited back to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, even though she was considered a regular, pre-2010.

The good news is, that may be changing, slowly. Ty Herndon notes that he’s seeing increased support for gay country singers, and the LGBT community in Nashville and Country Music:

"Traditionally in country music, we don't see a lot of support for the LGBT community, but that's changing so much. Nashville is changing so much. I mean my goodness… Kacey Musgraves won Song of the Year for [the lyrics] 'follow your arrow, wherever it points' and two amazing songwriters that happened to be gay wrote that song."

So, maybe there is hope that gay country artists can record music, can be openly gay, and can be invited back to the Grand Ole Opry.

Failing that, at least allow the good folks at Homo HQ to offer a big “Howdy” and a “Welcome Out” to Ty and Billy, and to make sure they receive the Obligatory Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome out, boys, welcome out.

Ty Herndon

Billy Gilman