Gay Men To That!!

41 years old with no underlying conditions.  From The New Orleans Times Picayune: Congressman-elect Luke Letlow died Tuesday evening from complications with COVID-19, shaking the Louisiana political world weeks after his election to represent Louisiana's 5th District in Congress as the state's youngest U.S. representative.  Letlow, 41, died at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport from “complications from COVID-19,” his spokesman, Andrew Bautsch, said in a statement. Letlow was admitted to a Monroe hospital with COVID-19 symptoms on Dec. 19th before being transferred to the Shreveport hospital and moving to the intensive care unit on Dec. 23rd. Letlow is survived by his wife, Julie Barnhill Letlow, and two young children, Bautsch said. Read the full article here.

Photo via The Verge This is what Zuckerberg was trying to avoid when he favored conservative posters.  Via New York Times: WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states accused Facebook on Wednesday of becoming a social media monopoly by buying up its rivals to illegally squash competition, and said the deals that turned the social network into a behemoth should be unwound. Federal and state regulators, who have been investigating the company for over 18 months, said in separate lawsuits that Facebook’s purchases, especially Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion two years later, eliminated competition that could have one day challenged the company’s dominance. Since those deals, Instagram and WhatsApp have skyrocketed in popularity, giving Facebook control over three of the world’s most popular social media and messaging apps. The applications have helped catapult Facebook from a company started in a college dorm room 16 years ago to an i...

  If you ever needed a reason to mask up and make sure you don't get COVID, here it is, guys!!  Via Cleveland Clinic: The study found a correlation between COVID-19 survivors and erectile dysfunction (ED). The research points to three factors that can lead to the potential onset of ED in men who have had the virus: Vascular effects. Erectile function is a predictor of heart disease, so we know that the vascular system and reproductive system are connected. We also know that COVID-19 can cause hyperinflammation throughout the body, especially in the heart and surrounding muscles. Blood supply to the penis can become blocked or narrowed as a result of a new or worsened vascular condition caused by the virus. Psychological impact. Sexual activity is closely associated with mental health. The stress, anxiety and depression caused by the virus and pandemic can be linked to sexual dysfunction and poor mood. Overall health deterioration. ED is typically a symptom of an underlying pro...

It's like they are hard wired to make all the wrong decisions with this pandemic, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans!!  Via New York Times: Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter. Now Pfizer may not be able provide more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of its commitments to other countries, they said. As the administration scrambles to try to purchase more doses of the vaccine, President Trump plans on Tuesday to sign an executive order “to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,” according to a draft statement and a White House official, though it was not immediately clear what force the president’s executive order would carry. Read the full story here.  

  Via CBS News: Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge brought by Oregon parents to a school district's policy allowing transgender students to use bathroom facilities that match their gender identity. The dispute was brought by a group of parents who argued the policy enacted by Dallas School District No. 2 in Dallas, Oregon, and left in place by lower courts violated other students' privacy rights. The policy was created after a transgender boy sought to use the boy's bathroom and locker room at his high school until he graduated. The school district allowed the student to do so over the objections of some parents. Read the full story here. 

From top, clockwise: Aaron Schock, József Szájer, Roy Cohn, Richard Grenell Michelangelo makes some great points as to why some gay men are drawn to anti-gay leaders who are, in fact, working against their own interests. This is true for some closeted gays as well as out gays.  Via The Signorile Report: Ultimately, what’s the difference if they’re out or not, if they don’t stand up against the assault? Trump has been the most anti-LGBTQ president in history. I’d argue the situation is actually worse with people like Grenell than with closeted aides because by being out they help create an illusion of gay acceptance, giving the authoritarian cover even as he takes rights from LGBTQ people to placate enemies of equality. Religious conservatives, to whom Trump bows, have learned to accept allowing an openly gay person in the administration to put on an appearance of tolerance (especially as long as the person is down with the rest of the far-right agenda). It’s a more efficient way to...

  Via CBS17.com: A California sheriff who made headlines after refusing to enforce the governor’s curfew and stay-at-home orders has tested positive for COVID-19, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. According to the sheriff’s office, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones developed symptoms last week “after a workplace exposure to an employee (who) later tested positive.” On Friday, Jones started experiencing a fever, congestion, light-headedness and a headache, according to the sheriff’s office. Jones’ symptoms were said to be mild, and had mostly gone away by Wednesday, officials said. The sheriff and his immediate family are quarantining as his family members await test results. On Nov. 24, Jones said he wouldn’t enforce a curfew or stay-at-home order amid surging COVID-19 cases in the state, citing Sacramento County’s previous successes following health guidelines. Read the full story here.  

Hopefully, this will help to counter the "anti-vax" emotions that run deeply for some Americans!  Via Today: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama are out to show that if a coronavirus vaccine is good enough for a president, it's good enough for all Americans. The three former presidents from both sides of the aisle have all pledged to take a COVID-19 vaccine on camera when it's available to them, hoping to assuage fears at a time when recent polls have shown that just under half of Americans said they would not take a vaccine. Obama spoke on "The Joe Madison Show" on SiriusXM Wednesday about his commitment to taking a vaccine. "I promise you that when it's then made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it, and I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don't trust is getting COVID," he said. Read the full story here. 

It always seems to be the self-loathing closet cases that inflict the most harm to the LGBTQ community! Via Vice News: A politician from Hungary’s ruling party has apologised for breaking COVID lockdown restrictions in Belgium to attend what local media reported was a full-blown orgy. József Szájer, a longtime representative of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, unexpectedly quit as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) on Sunday. On Tuesday, it was reported in Belgium that police had broken up a sex party involving 25 people above a bar in the centre of Brussels, only several hundred metres from the Belgian capital’s main police station. The media reports about the Brussels orgy on Friday said that most of the participants were men. Fidesz has waged an assault on LGBTQ rights in Hungary since coming to power in a so-called defence of what it terms “Christian values”. Now that it’s confirmed: József Szájer, the MEP busted during a gay gangbang, is not only a clo...