Don’t Be Dumb at Brunch: Cuba Could Get Marriage Equality While RuPaul Nabs an Emmy
Happy Sunday! It’s brunch time. Don’t be Dumb. This week we bring you stories about RuPaul’s Emmy, Cuba marriage equality, lowered sperm counts and more. Of course, we have our Whack Job of the Week — see who it is below.
Here are the week’s 5 news stories that’ll keep you looking well-informed at brunch:
Will Your Fishes Stop Swimming?
Do you plan on starting a family? You may want to get your sperm count checked. A troubling study shows sperm counts of men in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have fallen by more than 50% over the last 40 years. If the trend continues there could be an infertility epidemic by 2060. The cause? Chemicals found in plastics. Unfortunately, these chemicals are pretty much in everything we ingest — even in food and sex toys. It seems now is the time to head to the bank to make a deposit for the future. (No, not Wells Fargo.)
Ru’s on a Roll
RuPaul’s Drag Race took home its first Emmy for “Outstanding Reality Competition” this week just days after Ru won for “Outstanding Reality Show Host.” It’s the first time both a reality show and its host won in the same year. If you have watched the show over its many seasons, you know it’s not just about people dressing in drag. Ru acknowledged that in an interview later, saying he thought the show was rewarded for its “interesting balance of entertainment and of deep stories that really touch our audience.” We couldn’t agree more. Condragulations to RuPaul and the team at Drag Race. Shantay, you stay!
Feel the BERNIE
You might have seen one of the thousands of stories and social media posts this week proclaiming that Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie were officially outed as being a gay couple. It all started when an interview with Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman admitted that he used his own gay relationship as a context for the characters on the show. But Sesame Street released a statement saying Muppets do not have a sexual orientation. Some say it’s homophobic, but is it? Maybe it’s cool that there are no Muppet orientations and they just exist… together… like lovers.
Cuba Marriage Equality
Marriage equality may soon be a reality in Cuba thanks to new President Miguel Díaz-Canel who is quoted about wanting to eliminate all kinds of discrimination. In July, the Cuban National Assembly voted on a new draft of the country’s constitution designates marriage as a “voluntary union between two people.” This will come to a vote in Feb. 2019. We will be watching!
Whack Job of the Week: Not-So Superman Dean Cain
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a really ignorant former Superman, Dean Cain. The actor, who played Superman on the ‘90s TV series The Adventures of Lois and Clark, spoke Friday at the 13th Annual Values Voter Summit, a conservative political gathering hosted by the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council (FRC). GLAAD and longtime gay political writers Matt Baume and Jeremy Hooper engaged Cain via Twitter to discourage him from speaking to the hate group.
Cain, who was promoting his new movie, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer, claims he does not know much about FRC and that he is a supporter of gay rights and is pro-choice. Cain can’t proclaim to be a supporter of LGBTQ issues and at the same time engage an audience that seeks to eliminate protections and limit equality for our community. He also can’t claim ignorance as GLAAD and Baume sent Cain multiple news articles on FRC and their anti-LGBTQ work.
By the way, he voted for Trump too.
