Week In Review: India Legalizes Gays, Farewell to Burt Reynolds and ‘Adventure Time’
In the Week in Review, we look at 10 of the week’s top stories that you may have missed. In this week’s edition, we say goodbye to both Burt Reynolds and Adventure Time, look back into our history in both real life and on TV and examine the power of butts.
Here are 10 of the week’s top stories:
1. Facebook Reaches Peak Ridiculousness, Banning Burt Reynolds’ Iconic Cosmo Centerfold
Much of the world was sad to hear that actor Burt Reynolds passed away yesterday at the age of 82 from cardiac arrest. But to add insult to injury, when many decided to pay tribute to the Hollywood star and sex symbol by sharing an image of the iconic 1972 Burt Reynolds centerfold by Cosmopolitan magazine, Facebook removed the image and banned some users for sharing it.
Read the full story here.
2. The Sad But True Story of San Domino, Fascist Italy’s Island for ‘Immoral’ Gay Men
From 1919 to 1945, fascist leader Benito Mussolini transformed Italy from a democracy into a totalitarian dictatorship by using state police to violently suppress all undesirables elements, including gay men. Towards this end, in 1938, the mayor of Catania, Sicily decided to stop the “spreading of degeneration” by rounding up gay men and shipping them off to San Domino, an island nearly 500 miles away.
Read the full story here.
3. Michael Henry’s New Video Explores the Alluring Power of Men’s Butts
Approximately 21% of all heterosexual men are dissatisfied with their bodies. So is it any wonder that the straight roommate of gay comedian Michael Henry wants to get a “butt enhancement” surgery? In the new Michael Henry comedy sketch, we get a look into straight male body image and the lengths some men will go to get laid.
Read the full story here.
4. India Decriminalizes Homosexuality: Country’s Top Court Throws Out Section 377
India’s Supreme Court has decriminalized homosexuality, throwing out Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a holdover from British rule. The court ruled discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a fundamental violation of human rights.
Read the full story here.
5. The Man Who Defaced an Australian George Michael Mural Has to Pay Up $14,000
Less than a month after the Dec. 24, 2016 death of George Michael, two Australian artists painted a mural of the 53-year-old pop singer in Sydney, Australia showing the pop star dressed as a saint and holding a joint and a bottle of poppers. Then, on Nov. 18, 2017, a tattooed 23-year-old man named Ben Gittany defaced the George Michael mural in black paint. Now, Gittany has to pay $14,000 in compensation and do 300 hours of community service scrubbing graffiti from public walls.
Read the full story here.
6. Relive the Drag-tastic Magic of NYC’s Wigstock Revival With These Clips and Photos
This last weekend, New Yorkers and famous drag queens from across America celebrated Wigstock 2018 — also known as Wigstock 2.HO — the revival of the ‘90s era New York City drag festival.
Read the full story here.
7. Shaping Queer History, One Scene at a Time: 32 LGBTQ Television Moments That Broke Barriers
With shows like Pose, Will & Grace and RuPaul’s Drag Race reverberating through households everywhere, it’s remarkable that gay TV moments — let alone openly LGBTQ characters on TV — were nearly non-existent in America only decades ago. But as we travel back through televised history, it’s possible to uncover at least 30 gay TV moments — spanning all the way back to the early ’70s — that not only helped shape television into the important medium it is today but spark the visibility necessary for the LGBTQ community to thrive.
Read the full story here.
8. This Wrestler Went on an Adorable Double-Date With His Dad and Their Boyfriends (Photos)
Former pro wrestler Matt Cage shows no mercy…. to our heartstrings. Recently, he posted the most adorable photo on Twitter of he and his dad on a double-date with their boyfriends. Though Cage got pushback from homophobic “fans,” every right-thinking person responded with an “Aww.”
Read the full story here.
9. ‘Adventure Time’ Finale Delivers the Big Gay Kiss Fans Have Been Waiting 10 Seasons For
Adventure Time, the long-running Cartoon Network series about a boy and his shape-changing dog in a post-apocalyptic future, came to an end this week. But before fans departed the Land of Ooo, we were given confirmation of the relationship between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the vampire, one of cartoondom’s most shipped queer couples.
Read the full story here. (And check out our top 10 Adventure Time episodes here.)
10. Bear Rapper Big Dipper Offers Track-by-Track Commentary on His New Album ‘Late Bloomer’
It’s been three years in the making, but the Big Dipper album Late Bloomer is finally here. A full-length album of 12 tracks, the Chicago-born and now L.A.-based queer rapper calls it his “most authentic, honest and personal music work ever.” We’ve loved this raunchy bear rapper’s rhymes for years now and couldn’t be more excited that his latest project has finally come to fruition.
Read the full story here.
