Lurker > ZannoL

With COVID-19 cases rising in Texas, the mayors of nine cities penned a letter to Texans with an urgent request: dont let your guard down with the virus.

In a three-page letter released Thursday afternoon, the mayors asked everyone to say vigilant and do the simple things to combat the coronavirus: social distance, wash your hands and wear a face covering in public.

Its a message, they admit, that this long into the pandemic can easily get lost or be ignored. But it's one, they said, all Texans must continue to practice.

The virus is here. Infections are rising. Hospital capacity is filling up, the mayors wrote. This isnt meant to scare you, but it is meant to be very honest. The virus doesnt leave just because our collective urgency has gone away.

The letter was written by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Joe Zimmerman of Sugar Land, Pete Saenz of Laredo, Jeff Williams of Arlington, Steve Adler of Austin, Ron Jensen of Grand Prairie, Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Dee Margo of El Paso and Dan Pope of Lubbock.

In Texas, there are more than 1.5 million COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon, including 2,100 deaths. There have been an estimated 63,000 recoveries.
In Houston alone, there are nearly 11,000 cases, including 175 deaths.

Six of those deaths came Thursday as the city has seen a spike in fatalities since Texas began reopening in May.

If we want the economy to open fully and stay open, if we want to send our kids back to school from pre-k to college, if we want to watch and play sports with people in the stands, if we want to attend cultural arts events like concerts and theatre, if we want banquets and parades in the fall, if we want our lives back as Texans, we need to take this seriously, they wrote.

Meanwhile, you're downplaying a contagious virus that's spread by people who don't show symptoms, and has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

but people in states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, etc... are proving that they're fucking stupid.

what a dumbass state

its pure insanity that people living the life they want to live can get them killed or persecuted by society to a point of suicide.

When the openly gay frontman of a hugely popular Lebanese pop group strutted onto the stage of a Cairo summer festival in 2017, rainbow flags lifted in the air, and something sparked inside Sarah Hegazi.

As a lesbian in a country where homosexuality is taboo, and gay people are routinely persecuted by the authorities, here was a glimmer of freedom. Beaming with joy, she raised both hands in the air and hoisted her own rainbow flag aloft. A friend captured the moment on camera.

It was the start of her undoing.

A storm of public outrage over the rainbow flags erupted on social media and was whipped up by Egypts thunderous TV talk-show hosts. Police raids followed. Dozens of people were arrested, including Ms. Hegazi the start of a desperate trajectory, marked with violence, despair and exile, that culminated in tragedy on Saturday when the 30-year-old Egyptian took her life in Canada.

In a short, poignant handwritten note, she begged forgiveness for her action from her three siblings, and her friends. The experience has been harsh and Im too weak to resist, she wrote.

She saved her final words for her persecutors.

To the world, she wrote. Youve been greatly cruel, but I forgive.

In recent days Ms. Hegazis final words have reverberated across Egypt amid an outpouring of grief. On social media, many replaced their profiles with rainbow flags, shattered by the loss of another young Egyptian.

At the other end of the spectrum, others denounced her actions and said she deserved her death.

I think that's the term guys and non-lesbians use

Despite lesbian sexual attraction excluding men, most mainstream lesbian representation is made for male consumption. In mainstream porn, the dissonance between the identity represented onscreen and the intended audience is interesting to dissect. After all, straight porn is made for straight men and gay porn is made for gay men. But mainstream lesbian porn isnt made for lesbians. In an interview with VICE, lesbians explained that the unrealistic aspects of lesbian porn made it a turn off for them. A common complaint was the lack of sensuality, the overuse of scissoring, and the common inclusion of men. Lesbian sexuality is modified for the male audience in the mainstream porn industry.

We see this trend in mainstream cinemas portrayals of lesbians as well. Blue Is the Warmest Color, one of the most well-known lesbian movies, was directed by a man and includes a 7-minute long sex scene. Mainstream films choose to either avoid representing lesbian sex, since the reality is unappealing to a male audience, or to transform it into a performance for men, thus making it unappealing to lesbians.

The inclusion of men in lesbian sexual attraction is not restrained to media and the porn industry, however. Its widespread in real life as well. A frequent response to lesbians coming out is an accusation of them hiding or misunderstanding their attraction to men. And an unfortunately common experience is men offering to help them unlock their secret attraction to them. The absurd reality is clear: there is a staunch refusal to see lesbians as wholly unattracted to men.

Dumb bitch just trying to earn brownie points with the LGBT community but ends up sounding stupid instead.

Paulina Porizkova has shared a stunning bikini photo of herself posing in front of a rainbow in honor of Pride Month, revealing she had 'secretly hoped for a gay son.'

The 55-year-old model took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a throwback snapshot of herself frolicking in the ocean in a gold string bikini. She added a rainbow in the background of the picture to show her support for the LGBTQ community.

In the caption, she opened up about the gay men she met as a young model in Paris while sharing that when her son's Jonathan and Oliver Ocasek were growing up, she wished that they were gay.

'I had no idea what gay was until I got to Paris, where I immediately developed a crush on every gay man around me so well dressed, so well spoken, so fun, so sensitive, so talented, so good looking! only to find out their interest in me was not reciprocated,' she recalled.

If I crushed on a guy he was always gay. I call that having great taste in men.'

Paulina met her late husband, The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, while the band was filming the music video for Drive in 1984 and became his third wife in five years later.

They had two sons together, Jonathan, 26, and Oliver, 22, and the mom admitted that she would have liked at least one of them to be gay.

'Being a mom of two sons, I secretly hoped for a gay son,' she explained. 'Well, maybe not so secretly, my sixteen year old had to break it to me gently: "mom, Im sorry, but I dont think Im gay."

Likewise, my gay girlfriends (unfortunately didnt encounter as many) were really hot to me. But less I was blinded by gay fabulousness its necessary to acknowledge the darkness: the pain of growing up feeling different, alone, being relentlessly picked on, threatened, afraid.

'You know what Im proud off?' she asked. 'My amazing, fabulous gorgeous talented LBGTQ friends who, despite growing up in the dark, nevertheless chose to grow into the light, to shine and sparkle and reflect that light onto the rest of us.'

i'd give him a lil kiss on the cheek

He's pretty handsome

He hot lol

lol whyd you tag me

He's aesthetically pleasing

i'd give him a lil kiss on the cheek

He's aesthetically pleasing

In the midst of Pride Month, Pablo Alborn took to social media to share a very personal message with his fans.

We need to reconsider our lives, careers, what does and doesnt make us happy, he said of the bittersweet year. I think that we often forget about the love that unites us and makes us stronger.

In a three-minute video posted to Instagram, the Spanish crooner came out as gay, reminding fans that hes always fought against every manifestation that prohibits or embarrasses any freedom or equality, from racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and any other type of hatred.

Today, I want my voice to be louder and for it to have more value and weight. Im here to tell you that I am homosexual and its okay, Alborn expressed. Life goes on, everything will remain the same, but Im going to be a little happier than I already am.

In the video, posted Wednesday morning (June 17), the Solamente Tu singer said he feels blessed of being raised in a home where he had the freedom to be who he wanted to be and grateful for having the support of his friends and Warner Music family.

But unfortunately, there are so many people that did not have the same experience I did. Thats why today, without fear, I hope I can make somebodys journey easier with this message. But above all, I do this for me.

Alborn further emphasized that his public life will focus on his music career with the respect of his profession and fans.

Music is freedom, I want to feel as free as my songs, he said.

Got to love a video that edits out her assaulting the cop before he takes her down.

Underage with possession of alcohol on a beach that you can't have alcohol at. She tries to weasel out of it, gets followed, pushes cop, kicks cop, spits on cop, gets taken down.

At least watch the full video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkLb-0-L5OA

Why the fuck do you even bother coming in these topics and commenting?

Gay and lesbian weddings have boosted state and local economies by an estimated $3.8 billion since same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in the United States in 2015, according to a study published on Thursday.

Nearly 300,000 gay and lesbian couples have tied the knot since the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, according to researchers from the Williams Institute at Californias UCLA School of Law.

Marriage equality has changed the lives of same-sex couples and their families, said the studys lead author Christy Mallory, state and local policy director at the Williams Institute. It has also provided a sizable benefit to business and state and local governments.

Some $3.2 billion has been spent on weddings, while thousands of traveling wedding guests spent $544 million. The events generated an additional $244 million in state and local taxes, the research found.

About 45,000 jobs also were supported by same-sex weddings, according to the study.

Gay marriage was first approved in the state of Massachusetts in 2003, with several states following suit.

By the time of the Supreme Courts landmark decision, some 242,000 same-sex couples had wed, the study said.

The total has since more than doubled, with more than half a million gay and lesbian couples marrying in the United States.

The United States is one of 28 United Nations member states that recognizes the right of same-sex couples to marry after Costa Rica joined the ranks on Tuesday.

According to advocacy group Open For Business, gay marriage in Costa Rica could boost the economy by up to $592 million

I'm literally a Republican and even I can't deny that the GOP is absolutely overrun with misinformation and fake news.

They are quite literally getting people killed.

Absolutely disgusting party, and their reliance of deliberate fake news / propaganda is unacceptable.

On Monday, Texas recorded its highest daily number of patients hospitalized due to the coronavirus for the fourth day in a row. The record-breaking numbers come as the state continues to reopen its economy

The state's Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,326 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients who are currently in Texas hospitals, bypassing the previous record high on Sunday of 2,287. There are currently 51,365 total staffed hospital beds in the state, with 14,525 hospital beds available. Only 1,626 beds in Intensive Care Units are currently available in the state.

Overall, there have been 89,108 cases of COVID-19 reported in Texas, with an estimated 28,036 active cases and an estimated 59,089 recoveries. Nearly 2,000 people have died in the state as a result of the disease.

On June 3, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order to announce the third phase of reopening the state. The state has moved forward with the reopening plan, with restaurants being permitted to increase capacity to 75% and nearly all businesses allowed to operate at 50% capacity.

Abbott said Friday that he didn't see a "real need to ratchet back the opening of businesses in the state," partly due to the number of hospital beds open, the Texas Tribune reported.

The governor added that he is "concerned, but not alarmed" by the test numbers, citing the high volume of tests being conducted. The state has conducted nearly 1.5 million tests.
Harris County, the largest county by population in Texas, is currently reporting 16,778 cases, the most in the state. The county includes Houston, a city hit hard by the disease.

In Houston, officials are warning that they may need to order citizens back home and open a coronavirus hospital at a football complex in the city as cases surge. As of Friday, the Houston area is at what officials are calling a "Code Orange" meaning an uncontrolled level of transmission of the disease.

"We've already uncorked the genie. We got our wish, which was to end the home quarantine orders," said Dr. Jeremy Finkelstein, an emergency medical specialist at Houston Methodist. "And now we're seeing people treat that as if COVID-19 is no longer an issue and that's far from the fact."

MAGA types spent three months telling people #FilmYourHospital, that health officials are lying, it's all a Bill Gates conspiracy to bring down Trump, don't wear masks because CO2 buildup, etc etc

Well, here we are.

I mean isnt this what Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick wanted? Its a wet dream

Fuck em, they demanded to be let out, let them enjoy the consequences.

On Monday, Texas recorded its highest daily number of patients hospitalized due to the coronavirus for the fourth day in a row. The record-breaking numbers come as the state continues to reopen its economy

The state's Department of Health and Human Services reported 2,326 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients who are currently in Texas hospitals, bypassing the previous record high on Sunday of 2,287. There are currently 51,365 total staffed hospital beds in the state, with 14,525 hospital beds available. Only 1,626 beds in Intensive Care Units are currently available in the state.

Overall, there have been 89,108 cases of COVID-19 reported in Texas, with an estimated 28,036 active cases and an estimated 59,089 recoveries. Nearly 2,000 people have died in the state as a result of the disease.

On June 3, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order to announce the third phase of reopening the state. The state has moved forward with the reopening plan, with restaurants being permitted to increase capacity to 75% and nearly all businesses allowed to operate at 50% capacity.

Abbott said Friday that he didn't see a "real need to ratchet back the opening of businesses in the state," partly due to the number of hospital beds open, the Texas Tribune reported.

The governor added that he is "concerned, but not alarmed" by the test numbers, citing the high volume of tests being conducted. The state has conducted nearly 1.5 million tests.
Harris County, the largest county by population in Texas, is currently reporting 16,778 cases, the most in the state. The county includes Houston, a city hit hard by the disease.

In Houston, officials are warning that they may need to order citizens back home and open a coronavirus hospital at a football complex in the city as cases surge. As of Friday, the Houston area is at what officials are calling a "Code Orange" meaning an uncontrolled level of transmission of the disease.


"We've already uncorked the genie. We got our wish, which was to end the home quarantine orders," said Dr. Jeremy Finkelstein, an emergency medical specialist at Houston Methodist. "And now we're seeing people treat that as if COVID-19 is no longer an issue and that's far from the fact."