Posts Tagged ‘gay’

With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers – one mixed-race and one Korean – Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents shes always known… Off and Running follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves

Already on track to have the best-selling album of 2008, rapper Lil
Wayne leads the nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards with
eight, including album of the year and best rap album for "Tha
Carter III," best rap song for "Lollipop" and best rap/sung
collaboration for "Got Money" featuring T-Pain.

Other leading artists are Coldplay, who earned seven nominations,
and Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West, who each scored six.

In album of the year, the nominees were: Coldplay for "Viva La Vida
Or Death And All His Friends," Lil Wayne for "Tha Carter III,"
Ne-Yo for "Year of the Gentlemen," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
for "Raising Sand" and Radiohead for "In Rainbows."

For record of the year, the nominees were: Adele for "Chasing
Pavements," Coldplay for "Viva La Vida," Leona Lewis for "Bleeding
Love," M.I.A. for "Paper Planes" and Plant & Krauss for "Please
Read the Letter."

Song of the year nominees include: "American Boy," by songwriters
William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John
Stephens, Estelle Swaray and Kanye West; "Chasing Pavements" by
songwriters Adele Adkins and Eg White; "I’m Yours" by Jason Mraz;
"Love Song" by Sara Bareilles; and "Viva La Vida" by songwriters
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin.

Two of West’s nominations came for his production on "Tha Carter
III" and "American Boy." He is also up against himself in the best
rap performance by a duo or group category, for "Swagga Like Us"
with Jay-Z & T.I. and featuring Lil Wayne and "Put On" with
Young Jeezy. Jay-Z also faces off against himself in that category,
with "Swagga" going up against his collaboration with Wayne on "Mr.
Carter."

In the best new artist category, Adele, Duffy, the Jonas Brothers,
Lady Antebellum and Jazmine Sullivan received nominations.

In the best pop collaboration category with vocals, the nominees
were: Alicia Keys and John Mayer for "Lessons Learned," Madonna,
Justin Timberlake and Timbaland for "4 Minutes," Plant and Krauss
for "Rich Woman," Rihanna and Maroon 5 for "If I Never See Your
Face Again" and Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown for "No Air." source

Britney Spears’ new music video for the song Circus leaked online. Do you think the old Britney is back? So far the pr machine that is spinning the new Britney seems to working it’s magic on her first week album sales. Britney is expected to debut her new album "Circus" at the number one spot on the Billboard charts.

Britney Spears’ sixth studio album, "Circus," is on track to debut
at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 next week, as the Jive set will lead
Nielsen SoundScan’s Building chart when it is released later today
(Dec. 3).



Unweighted first-day sales of "Circus" through the close of
business yesterday stood at 219,000. Billboard estimates the eight
merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan’s Building chart — Trans
World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Starbucks,
Borders, Target and Anderson Merchandisers — comprise about 80% of
all U.S. album sales.



Sources close to the project suggest that "Circus" could move as
much as 450,000 in its first week.



If "Circus" arrives atop the tally, it will be Spears’ fifth No. 1
album. Among female artists, only four have racked up more
chart-toppers: Barbra Streisand (eight), Madonna (seven) and Mariah
Carey and Janet Jackson (both with six). source

Kanye West was number one this week with his pop album  808’s and Heartbreak while Guns and Roses’ big comeback flopped with lackluster sales.

After nearly 17 years in the studio, one truly odd MTV VMA appearance, a failed world tour, a riot in Philadelphia, a lot of defensive talk from Sebastian Bach, a leak facilitated by Mike Piazza and DJ Eddie Trunk, a much-ballyhooed exclusive deal with Best Buy, a lawsuit involving the Offspring, the apparently empty promise of free Dr Pepper for all, innumerable and mysterious delays, $13 million in reported production costs, a Greatest Hits album, a change in managers, five possible producers, five guitarists, two bassists, three drummers, the invention of the iPod, a guy with a KFC bucket on his head, zero promotion from the album’s mastermind, and now, rumors of a potential reunion of the original lineup, Guns N’ Roses’ sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy, sold a whopping 261,200 copies its first week on store shelves.

That’s right, just 261,200 copies.

Two weeks ago, it seemed like the #1 position on Billboard’s weekly albums sales chart could have gone to either Guns or Kanye West. Chinese Democracy was released on November 23, and West’s 808s & Heartbreak dropped November 24. It was a battle that pitted one of hip-hop’s biggest stars against one of rock’s most enigmatic ringleaders, and in the end, GN’R just couldn’t contend.

When Nielsen SoundScan issued the latest national album sales data on Wednesday (December 3), it was West’s latest at #1, opening with sales of more than 450,100, leaving the #2 slot wide open for Guns … or so it seemed. Unfortunately, no one factored country crossover cutie Taylor Swift into the equation. In its third week out, her new one, Fearless, climbed from #4 to #2, thanks to sales of close to 267,400 — meaning GN’R’s first appearance on the chart in close to 20 years will be at #3.

Whether it was to pick up Kanye’s new one or Axl Rose’s magnum opus, consumers made their presence felt at record retail last week — one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Virtually every album in Billboard’s Top 200 experienced either increased or stronger sales, with 22 new efforts cracking the chart. Beyond ‘Ye and GN’R, two other albums debut in next week’s top 10: Ludacris’ Theater of the Mind bows at #5, selling 213,500 units, with The Killers’ Day & Age following at #6, scanning 193,400 copies. source

The pregnant man Thomas Beattie shocked America with his appearance on Oprah. People reports that the  pregnant transgender man gave birth to a baby girl and is now a mother.

Thomas Beatie, also known as The Pregnant Man, has given birth to a girl, he confirms to PEOPLE exclusively.

Beatie, 34, who began life as a woman and legally switched to a
male identity, while preserving his female reproductive organs, and his
wife Nancy, 46, welcomed a daughter at an Oregon hospital on June 29.
Both Beatie and his daughter are healthy and doing well, he tells
PEOPLE.

Beatie, who took twice-weekly doses of testosterone and had
his breasts surgically removed during his female-to-male transition,
made headlines around the globe last April when he announced in an
exclusive interview in PEOPLE and on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he was expecting a child – while legally living as a man. source

The pregnant man who conceived a child after a gender-reassignment operation has apparently given birth to a healthy baby girl.

“She’s really cute, really pretty,” a source told ABC News.

Thomas Beatie, 34, told People magazine that he had given birth at a hospital in Bend, Oregon on Sunday. “The only thing different about me is that I can’t breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers don’t,” he said, adding that he planned to publish a book about the experience this autumn.

The bearded Mr Beatie was born a girl and named Tracy Lagondino, but had gender-reassignment surgery and is now legally male and married to Nancy. The couple, together for ten years, run a custom screenprinting business in Bend. He decided to get pregnant because his wife had had a hysterectomy. He was able to conceive because he kept his female organs when he switched genders.

To conceive, Mr Beatie stopped the bimonthly testosterone injections he was receiving as part of his sex change.

The couple bought anonymous donor vials from a sperm bank and, struggling to find a doctor willing to help them, resorted to home insemination with a syringe bought from a vet that is typically used to feed birds.

“I actually opted not to do anything to my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day. I see pregnancy as a process and it doesn’t define who I am,” Mr Beatie told the TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey in April. “I feel it’s not a male or female desire to have a child. It’s a human need. I’m a person and I have the right to have a biological child,” he said.

Mr Beatie caused a sensation when he went public with his pregnancy in Advocate, a gay magazine. He posed holding his bulging naked stomach for a photograph reminiscent of Demi Moore’s headline-grabbing 1991 cover photo for Vanity Fair. “How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible,” he wrote. “I will be my daughter’s father, and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family,” he said. source

There were rumors when the  B2K child molestation sex scandal broke of another young singer named Quindon Tarver who was going to accuse Chris Stokes of child molestation and sexual abuse. Now Vibe magazine has a cover article about how Chris Stokes manipulated and controlled the lives of the boy band members. Quindon says in the Vibe  article that Chris Stokes told his mother that he wanted to fly them to L.A.  "I’m getting ready to go to court on a child molestation charge." Tarver says Chris Stokes told him and his mother,"but it’s not true I’m going to win it."  Chris Stokes allegedly told Quindon’s mother that he was being accused of molesting children. If that did happen then why did she turn her helpless child over to him?

Click here to learn more about the shocking B2K sex scandal.

Quindon was formerly managed by Chris Stokes and is trying to make a career comeback. Quindon Tarver is now 25 years old. He was discovered by director Baz Luhrman and known as the choir boy from the Leonardo DiCaprio film Romeo and Juliet.  Quindon sang "Everybody’s Free" and a cover version of the Prince song "When Doves Cry" which appeared on thre Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. He recently tried to make a comeback on American Idol but was eliminated in the Hollywood  audition phase. Check out some clips we found of a young Quindon and Quindon performing his famous songs today. Click here to watch Raz B and his brother Ricky Romance’s child molestation accusation youtube videos.

The B2K scandal began when former B2K member Demario "Raz B" Thornton and his brother
Ricky "Romance" Thornton made shocking sexual allegations against Chris Stokes and
Marques Houston during the holidays. Raz B later issued an apology via youtube but many people believed that Raz B was forced to apologize by L.A. gang members. This is criminal and a shame if it is true that they were allegedly molested as children.  Click here to read scans of the Vibe magazine article.

Looking back, he says he was “manipulated,” “cheated,” and “sabotaged” by Stokes. But according to Tarver, the damage to his career was just the beginning. “I have had some things that haunted me for quite some time,” he says, his voice in a whisper. “He is a very dirty, rotten guy.”

    “For a certain amount of years, I was molested. I wouldn’t say exactly by Chris, but he would organize it.” Tarver stops speaking. It sounds like he’s hyperventilating. “He’d organize activities to be dome as he sat and watched … Watching or coaching, if you will.

    He would make another member of like come and do things … Oh my God. Four years. It was rough.”

    Tarver says Stokes made him take showers with the other boys. He says Stokes would ask him, “Who do you think of at night when you masturbate?” He says Stokes made him and Marques Houston kiss each other. “ a lie detector test, anything,” he says. “This is just a little bit of the things I went through.”

    Quindon says his “crying days are over”. He has forgiven Stokes and Immature. “I’ve given it to God. He can take care of it better than anyone can. I think felt like he killed my name, killed my career, everything. But see, what God has for me is for me, and it ain’t nothing he can do about it. is not going to stay on top forever….God isn’t going to allow that”. source

The pregnant man Thomas Beattie shocked America with his appearance on Oprah. Now News of the World has an exclusive new interview with the happy parents as they await the arrival of their baby in 4 weeks.

"I feel fantastic," he said. "I cannot wait to see my baby’s face."

In a tender and intimate moment, Thomas shares a cuddle with wife Nancy—before telling the News of the World of his secret hopes for the future.

With four weeks to go, he sensationally reveals the couple are ready to have MORE BABIES after the birth of their daughter.

And as well as posing for these amazing world exclusive pictures, Thomas opens up his family album to show unseen snaps of his life as a teenage beauty queen.

Thomas—who changed sex ten years ago but kept his ovaries and womb so he could have children—told us: "I feel on top of the world.

"I’m 36 weeks now and almost due but I feel fantastic. Every day Nancy a

nd I think about how we just cannot wait to hold our daughter for the first time, to finally get to touch her and see her face.

"We have her nursery ready and her diapers are lined up in her bedroom. Everything is ready to go.

"We have even picked a name which we both love—although we’re waiting until she is born before we tell anyone. All the people who really know us and love us, our friends and family, have been incredibly supportive.

"So much so we might even have more children. We will just see what the experience is like with our daughter’s arrival first and then give it some thought." source