The newly sworn in US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg has chosen a gay Navajo Nation member as one of his assistant secretaries.

Gay Democrat Arlando Teller was, until now, an Arizona state representative, and formerly served as deputy director of the Navajo Department of Transportation.

He will now take on the role of deputy assistant secretary of tribal affairs in the Department of Transportation, having officially resigned his seat as a state representative on Monday (1 February).

Teller told the Los Angeles Blade: “Elevating Indigenous nations’ by the Biden administration only invigorates and encourages me to do more. Representation matters.”

Teller is the second Navajo person to join the Biden-Harris administration, after Wahleah Johns was appointed director of the Office of Indian Energy in the US Department of Energy.

Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez said in a press release: “Words cannot express how proud we are of these two young Navajo professionals, who have dedicated themselves to serving our Navajo people and are now moving onto the federal level to help empower all tribal nations.

“In my conversations with the Biden-Harris Administration, I’ve advocated for the appointment of our Navajo people to high-level positions to help advance the issues of all tribes at the federal level.

“First Lady Phefelia Nez and I congratulate them and their families and we look forward to working with each of them on transportation infrastructure and energy development.”

Navajo Nation vice president Myron Lizer added: “Second Lady Dottie Lizer and I are excited to see our Navajo professionals excelling and establishing themselves at the federal level.

“We congratulate Arlando Teller and Wahleah Johns for helping to lead the way for Indian Country and for our Navajo people.

“We have many road and transportation and energy needs that I look forward to working together on to advance our priorities to help our Navajo communities.”

In November, 2020, Teller tested positive for coronavirus and will begin his work in the Department of Transportation from home while he recovers.

John Barrowman (pictured) who lives in Palm Springs, revealed how a producer telling him not to speak about being gay, made him determined to work even harder for the roles he wanted

Glasgow-born actor and performer John Barrowman, 53, is most famous for playing Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and its spin-off, Torchwood. He took part in I’m a Celebrity 2018 and is currently a judge on ITV’s Dancing On Ice. He lives in Palm Springs, California, with his husband, Scott Gill.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that you have to be yourself. I grew up as a people pleaser and it can be draining.

In college, I had this friend who used to try so hard to get people to like her that she was not able to make decisions based on what she wanted.

I thought, ‘Is that me, too?’ One day I was talking to my dad about her and he said, ‘You know what? Not everybody’s going to like you. Do your best to get people to enjoy who you are, but don’t change for them.’ It resonated with me.

In 1995, I got one of my first big telly jobs, on a U.S. series called Central Park West. Up until then I hadn’t publicly talked about coming out. I was living with my boyfriend, Scott, now my husband, in Chelsea, New York, I worked in musical theatre and we had a dog — I mean, how many more clues do you need?

Midway through the first season, I was called in by the producers. They asked me if I would not talk about being gay.

I was told that one of the best things that could happen would be if I was pictured collapsed in a gutter with a prostitute. One of the strangest things is that I was being asked to do this by a man, a producer, who I knew was gay.

So I said to Scott, ‘They want me not to talk about you anymore. They want me to lie about who I am.’

But I knew too many people who were living a lie. I continued to go places with Scott and to talk about him.

And then I got the script for the last two episodes. My character had been in a fire or a car crash, and the role was going to be recast. I’d been fired.

That made me more determined to work even harder for roles I wanted.

Years later, theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh said to me, over dinner one night — not in these exact words, but — ‘I admire what you’ve done. You’ve just been yourself the whole time, and you’ve hidden nothing.’ That makes me feel good.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/headm...-d88dflm2w

AIDS has claimed more than 33million lives and its causative agent, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has thus far proved impossible to find a vaccine for.

Drugs which prevent transmission of the virus and squash symptoms are now readily available in many countries, but 1.7 million people became infected with HIV in 2019.

Professor Jacques Pepin, an epidemiologist at Université de Sherbrooke in Canada, has been trying to discover the origin of HIV for decades, since his time as a GP in Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of Congo) in the 1980s.

Previous studies found the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in chimps first crossed over into humans in South-East Cameroon at the start of the 20th century.

Simian immunodeficiency virus can be fatal to chimps and is exactly the same as HIV, the only difference between the two is the host it lives inside.

HIV is an example of zoonotic transmission, where a pathogen can cross from one species to another, like Covid-19, bird flu and cowpox.

In the acclaimed first edition of his book 'Origin of AIDS', published in 2011, Dr Pepin concluded HIV likely infected a hunter in Cameroon at the start of the 20th century, before spreading to Léopoldville, now known as Kinshasa in the Congo. 

Now, a revised version of this 'cut hunter' hypothesis has been published which states the original 'Patient Zero' was not a native hunter, but instead a starving World War One soldier forced to hunt chimps for food when stuck in the remote forest around Moloundou, Cameroon in 1916 — giving rise to the 'cut soldier' theory.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Professor Pepin reveals how colonialism, starvation and prostitution helped create the ongoing AIDS epidemic.


Professor Jacques Pepin believes a hungry World War One soldier forced to hunt chimps for food when stuck in the remote forest around Moloundou, Cameroon in 1916 - the 'cut soldier' theory. Eventually, the soldier, after the war, came back all the way to Léopoldville and probably started the very first train of transmission in Léopoldville itself. From here, the virus spread and eventually was exported to the US, where it later went global

'During World War One, Germany had a number of colonies in Africa and the Allied forces decided to invade these colonies, one of which was Cameroon,' said Professor Pepin.

'Cameroon was invaded by a combination of British, Belgian and French soldiers from five directions.'

One of the invasion routes saw 1,600 soldiers venture from Léopoldville up the River Congo and its tributary the Sanger River before reaching the final destination in Cameroon on foot.

This path took them to the remote town on Moloundou, the location which previous studies had speculated was the site of the very first HIV infection.

'The soldiers spent three or four months in Moloundou before moving forward. When they were there, the main problem was not bullets from the enemy, but starvation,' Professor Pepin said.

The normal population of the entire South-East region of Cameroon in the 1920s was around 4,000, living off cassava, other crops and bushmeat. 

These people fled when the soldiers arrived due to their brutal reputation for slaughtering towns and ruthlessly raping women.

As a result, the soldiers soon ran out of food and were reliant on supplies sent by river from Brazzaville and Léopoldville.

However, the river only went so far and 'bearers', poorly-paid locals, were employed to manually carry food, wine, ammunition and weapons to Moloundou.

Daily treks of up to 25 miles carrying a 25kg (55lbs) payload and insufficient nutrition led to half of these souls perishing, Professor Pepin estimates.

The logistical issues led to mass starvation and forced soldiers to venture into the forest to hunt for any animal that could be eaten.

'All of a sudden you have 1,600 soldiers with rifles and plenty of ammunition, so the level of hunting in that area went up dramatically over these few months,' he told MailOnline.

'My hypothesis is that one of the soldiers got infected while hunting in the forest. A chimpanzee was killed and when cutting the animal to bring it back, there was an injury which got infected with the virus.

'Eventually, the soldier, after the war, came back all the way to Léopoldville and probably started the very first train of transmission in Léopoldville itself.'

Professor Pepin believes that once the virus had this foothold in the human population, it initially spread slowly, confined to what was the then capital of the Belgian colony.

He estimates that this one case of zoonotic transmission in 1916 led to around 500 infected people in the early 1950s.

The spread of HIV at this point was primarily driven by the reuse of dirty needles in hospitals, the result of resource shortages and limited disinfection capabilities.   

In 1960, the Congo shed the shackles of European colonialism, triggering an influx of refugees and migrants to the city.

The population of Léopoldville was about 14,000 at the start of the 20th century and now Kinshasa, the name given to Léopoldville in 1966, is home to 14 million people — a 1,000-fold increase in a century. 

However, the newly named city proved the perfect breeding ground for HIV as it created a lopsided sex divide, with ten men living there for every woman.

This led to poverty and rife prostitution, which helped the sexually transmitted virus spread among the city's population. 

'Every year prostitutes would have up to 1,500 clients. That was perfect for the sexual amplification of HIV between these high volume sex workers and their clients,' says Professor Pepin.

'That's when really sexual transmission became accelerated in the 1960s.'

The hub of Léopoldville was integral in the spread of HIV globally, Professor Pepin adds, saying by the 1960s a handful of cases were seen in other parts of the former Belgian Congo.

A Haitian technical assistant that came to the country after the nation's independence caught the virus in this region, and eventually took it home where it then spread among gay men.

'Within a few years it was re-exported to the US and in the US it spread among gay men and IV drug users and from the US it went to Western Europe,' Dr Pepin says.

Dr Jacques Pepin's book 'The Origins of AIDS', published by Cambridge University Press, is available to buy now for £21.99 RRP or £11.70 on Kindle... https://www.amazon.co.uk//dp/0521186374

When news broke that Kristen Stewart had been cast to play the late Princess Diana in a biopic, there was a mixed reaction. But the first look of Stewart as the People's Princess might be enough to change even the most sceptical of minds.

Simply titled Spencer (after Diana's family name), the forthcoming film will see Stewart playing the beloved royal at a pivotal time in her life — the days before she decided to officially end her marriage to Prince Charles. Set during Christmastime in 1991, the plot follows what should have been a standard holiday weekend at the royal's Sandringham Estate. But for Diana, the events of the getaway only fuel her desire to part ways with Charles and the rest of the Royal Family.

Bolu Okupe, the son of a former top Nigerian presidential aide has come out as gay, prompting his vehemently homophobic father to lament the “spiritual challenge” ahead.

In other words, former presidential spokesperson Dr Doyin Okupe won’t be winning any ‘Father of the Year’ awards after he voiced his disapproval of his son, Bolu Okupe, said he’s “gay AF” in a viral Instagram post.

Triumphantly holding an LGBT+ Pride flag behind him, a shirtless Bolu, based in Paris, France, threw on tight rainbow-striped shorts to announce to the world: “Yes, I’m gay AF.”

But the 27-year-old’s father, Doyin, the former special assistant on media and publicity to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo who dubbed being gay “un-biblical and un-African”,  was unimpressed.

President Joe Biden leaves after attending a virtual swearing in ceremony of political appointees from the State Dining Room of the White House, on Jan. 20, 2021

LOS ANGELES - In the spring of 2012, the gay rights organization the Human Rights Campaign asked Michael Lombardo, then the president of HBO, to host an event for Vice President Joe Biden. Not a fundraiser, mind you — but a meet-and-greet for the vice president to reach out to LGBTQ people in the entertainment industry.

The event was meant to be healing. As President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden sought re-election, Hollywood's gay community felt that the administration had not done enough. Sure, Obama had signed a bill in 2010 repealing the Clinton administration's disastrous military policy, "don't ask, don't tell;" and yes, the following year, Obama had instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defence of Marriage Act. But for monied LGBTQ people in the entertainment industry — who had supported Obama in 2008, only to see California's discriminatory Proposition 8 pass during his election — they wanted more from the administration than just rescinding a few hateful policies of the past.


Michael Lombardo attends the "All The Way" Los Angeles Premiere at Paramount Studios on May 10, 2016 in Hollywood City

Lombardo, his spouse Sonny Ward and their two children, opened their Los Angeles home to Biden. The vice president arrived, Lombardo tells Variety, and instead of going outside to work the crowd, "He sat down and talked to our kids — and to us — as a human. Totally unguarded, totally present for my kids, in a way that moved us enormously."

He was so engaged with them, Lombardo remembers, that Biden's handlers had to say to him, "Enough, Joe," prompting him to keep moving to the group of grownups waiting to meet him outside.

On May 6, 2012, shortly after the event at their home, Ward received a text from his aunt in Mississippi, saying they should turn on "Meet the Press." David Gregory had asked Biden whether the administration was re-evaluating same-sex marriage. Biden said he deferred to Obama, but went on to mention "Will & Grace," and warmly told the story of meeting Lombardo and Ward's kids. What it comes down to, Biden said, is simple: "Who do you love?"

With that one extemporaneous anecdote, Biden had not only gotten ahead of Obama on the same-sex marriage issue, but lapped much of the Democratic Party establishment. Three days later, Obama rushed out his own announcement in an interview with Robin Roberts, telling her that he, too, supported gay marriage.

Lombardo, now president of global television at Entertainment One, stayed in touch with Biden, supporting his 2020 candidacy when few in the entertainment industry did, and hosted another event at his home early in the primaries. "Our kids are much older now, and he is still Joe Biden — he spent time with them," Lombardo says. "They connected with him in a real way."

He sees Biden as the antidote for the toxicity of the Trump years.

"I think his morality, humanity and authenticity are rare," Lombardo says. "After four years of what we've seen in Washington, all of those qualities are what we desperately need of right now."

Netflix are adapting Heartstopper into an eight-part series.

The charming graphic novel takes place at a British all-boys grammar school and follows openly gay Nick and rugby player Charlie as they develop feelings for one another.

Doctor Who and Sherlock’s Euros Lyn has been attached to direct the half-hour series, which comes 18 months after See-Saw films optioned the rights to the Alice Oseman romance.

Alexi Wheeler, Director of Kids & Family Content at Netflix, praised the “brilliant and emotionally engaging characters” in Heartstopper and the “relatable yet somehow aspirational” story.

“The whole thing is just so poignant and beautifully crafted. To tell a love story between two boys who meet at school involves such vision and creative focus, Alice has absolutely delivered this here,” he said.

Oseman, who also helmed novels such as Solitaire, Radio Silence and I Was Born For This!, will write the series. “Alice is only 26 years old but her talent as a storyteller is astounding,” added Wheeler.

“We are clear in our ambition to entertain the world and that means making the best quality content for all of our viewers. We are especially aware that younger audiences are looking for relatable and sincere stories dealing with real life subjects; not shying away from elements of their own lives.”

Wheeler went on to say that Heartstopper is a “story that deserves to be told” and that she’s “proud to be championing” the beloved love story between Nick and Charlie.



“We care deeply that all young people see themselves reflected in our content, and are hopeful that many people, whatever their age or identity, will see themselves in this bold and uplifting series,” he concluded.

When we spoke to Oseman about the novel, which has received critical acclaim, she said it was important for readers to “learn about the issues and tensions that young LGBTQ+ people face”.

“The good thing about Heartstopper is that it appeals to everyone,” Oseman told GAY TIMES. “It’s through stories like this that straight and cis people can improve their empathy.”

She continued further: “I’ve had so many people reach out to me saying, ‘It’s so nice to see someone like me in this comic just falling in love and having a cute little romance’, but also from people saying, ‘Nick’s journey has helped me come to terms with being bisexual’, and stuff like that. For me, that’s the most wonderful thing.”

The Spijkerbar, the oldest gay bar in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in December 2020

Amsterdam's constricted centre — with its crooked canal houses and overcrowded bike stands — is the last place you'd expect to find an Ikea.

Yet the Swedish megastore's familiar yellow and blue logo is now on display in the Dutch capital.

But it is not a change in strategy from one of Sweden's best-known exports. It's not an Ikea at all. It's a bar protesting COVID restrictions.

Steven Koudijs and Tomas Adamer took over Spijkerbar — which first opened its doors in 1978 is the city's oldest gay bar — on March 1, 2020. But just two weeks later they were forced to close its doors after PM Mark Rutte announced a coronavirus lockdown.

"We had planned another month for the handover with the previous owner and wanted to start on April 1st. But that never happened. However, on the purchase contract, it’s officially March 1. This is also when the lease for this place started. Since then, costs are
coming in," Koudijs said during an interview in the empty bar at the end of December
2020.

"So we thought we’d put some money on top for remodelling and renovation because the bar was pretty run down," he added.

In the middle of 2020, from June to October, it was possible to open for a few weeks but COVID-19 measures restricted the number of people allowed inside to between 20 to 25 people.

"We have received permission from the municipality of Amsterdam to enlarge our terrace outside which partly compensated for the limitation of guests. But for the interior we had to hire a bouncer to keep an eye on the number of guests and turn people away
in case of need," Koudijs said.

Spiraling costs

The bar has been closed again since mid-October and costs are accumulating "The rent is already €5,500 per month," the owner said. "Then we also have the loan for the purchase worth €200,000, which must be repaid with 6 per cent interest within five
years."

This results in fixed costs of €10,000 up to €12,000 per month.

"We can't keep this up for long," he went on. "January and February will be a real struggle and after that, something just has to happen."

To receive financial support available to businesses struggling to weather the COVID storm, an overview of previous months' income is necessary but that's data that Koudijs is unable to provide, due to the takeover a few days before the lockdown.

"Maybe I could use the previous owner's figures, but he's no longer in the country," he explained.

Protest name change

In December, Koudijs and Adamer decided to cover the name of the Spijkerbar with the IKEA logo. At the same time, a crowdfunding campaign was launched, which has already raised almost €15,000 of the €60,000 needed.

Koudijs claimed that it has not been their intention to avoid the lockdown by changing the name. Instead, he wanted to create awareness for their difficult situation.

"When we put up the sign, only the hospitality industry was closed. Large stores like IKEA were open, with numerous customers without any distance. I don’t disapprove of the owners, but if you think a lockdown works, then it has to apply to everyone," he argued.
"The second reason is that the city centre is already changing because of too many Nutella shops or stores of famous brands. I would find it terrible if we were unable to protect such crazy, cozy, and special places as the Spijkerbar."

Legal consequences that might come from IKEA do not seem to worry him anymore.

"You can’t pull feathers out of a chicken that has already been plucked", he said, quoting a Dutch saying.

Saving a symbol of freedom

"There will be no legal consequences from the municipality of Amsterdam for the Spijkerbar," Eva Plijter, spokeswoman of the municipality of Amsterdam, said.

"All non-essential shops are closed, so is IKEA. The renaming of a café does not warrant opening under lockdown orders from the government. The only possibility to avoid closure because of the lockdown is to change the business into a new business. During
the current lockdown this would mean a bar or restaurant would need to become a store that sells food, such as a supermarket. In that case, they would need to apply for a different operating licence," she added.

Take-away, however, is allowed, says Plijter. But according to Koudijs, this is of little use to the Spijkerbar.

"Our guests come to us for the contacts, to have a beer and play pool. Most of them are local regulars. The Spijkerbar is their living room and coming here is a big part of their social life," he explained.

Saving the Spijkerbar is a matter of the heart for him.

"Since 1978, this bar has been a symbol of freedom. Here, canal boat owners, artists, and prostitutes come together and everyone has the freedom to be what they want to be, without fear of exclusion, judgment, or rejection. Now I wish for the freedom to continue
this tradition," he concluded.

Israel has vaccinated 1.8 million people in record time

In addition to purporting a false link between vaccines and homosexuality, Rabbi Daniel Assur also claims that both the virus and the vaccines are the work of a "global malicious government" trying to "establish a new world order."

A popular rabbi urged his followers not to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, warning them that doing so, it might "turn them" into homosexuals.


Rabbi Daniel Asor (Screenshot/YouTube)

Rabbi Daniel Asor's assertion goes against decrees issued by leading rabbis in Israel and around the world, who have called on ultra-Orthodox society to take every precaution against the global pandemic, including getting vaccinated.

The Haredi community has recorded extremely high morbidity rates due to repeated flouting of social distancing directives.

Asor, who has tens of thousands of followers on social media, is no stranger to controversy. In his latest online sermons, he argued that "any vaccine made using an embryonic substrate, and we have evidence of this, causes opposite tendencies. Vaccines are taken from an embryonic substrate, and they did that here, too, so ... it can cause opposite tendencies."

In addition to purporting a false link between vaccines and homosexuality, Assur also advocates various conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, claiming, among other things, that both the virus and the vaccines are the work of a "global malicious government," comprising the Freemasons, the Illuminati, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and others, who are "trying to establish a new world order."

He further argues that the virus was released to "cull global population" and that the vaccines seek to further this agenda.

Asor calls the World Health Organization and pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna "criminal organizations" that have deliberately mislead ultra-Orthodox leaders into supporting vaccination drives by presenting them with false data on its components and efficiency.

Further spinning his conspiracy theory, Asor claims that the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, a Department of Homeland Security that has joined forces with Israel's National Emergency Authority to battle the pandemic, maintains a "brutal army" in Israel that will be secretly embedded with local law enforcement to further the global government's nefarious agenda.

It should be stressed that leading rabbis in the Sephardi and Ashkenazi comminutes have deemed COVID-19 vaccines to be safe and are urging their followers to be immunized.

Responding to Asor's assertion that the vaccine could change one's sexual orientation, Havruta, an organization that acts to promote tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ people in Haredi society, said it was "currently gearing up to welcome our impending new members."