Critics Blast UPenn Nominating Lia Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year Award

anthropologists on Twitter have pointed out, today marks the 9-year anniversary of a monumental day in pop culture: It’s the day both Lady Gaga and Katy Perry debuted the lead singles for their third and fourth albums, respectively.It may seem hyperbolic to call the day “monumental” in retrospect, but the dual releases had the music world buzzing. Two megawatt stars giving us a first taste of their new eras? Both following up massively successful, generation-defining albums? Media outlets covered it with a frenzy, writing of a pop chart “smackdown” and wondering who will win “The Battle Of The Comebacks.”It was such a moment, that Glee even staged a Gaga/Katy debate of its own in its fifth season!9 years ago this week, @KatyPerry and @LadyGaga created a pop culture moment with the release of their singles “Roar” and “Applause.” It even inspired an entire episode of ‘Glee’ titled ‘A Katy Or A Gaga.’Despite the comparisons, the stars showed love to each other on Twitter.

The latest changes to the COVID guidelines out of the CDC have left some joking that they’ve given up entirely.Official changes to coronavirus precautions were released yesterday, with an even more lax handling of exposures and vaccination:The update isn’t a huge overhaul of the existing guidance, but it does represent an increasing focus on individuals making their own decisions about their level of risk and how they want to mitigate that risk, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the @ASTHO.

A gay male couple informed the Washington Blade this week that they were assaulted by a group of young men on June 17, at least of one of whom shouted the word “faggots,” while the couple was holding hands walking home on the 1500 block of T Street, N.W. a few doors away from their house.

Anne Heche is being remembered fondly by social media users.The actress died Friday, a week after crashing her car into a home on the west side of Los Angeles, setting the car and house afire. Many are also expressing sympathy for the home’s occupant, who lost everything in the blaze.Several Twitter users are noting the impact of Heche’s relationship with Ellen DeGeneres.

To paraphrase DJ Caspar: “Take it back now y’all, five bops this time!”We’ve finally reached the end of the week, and it couldn’t come soon enough. The vibes have been a bit of a mix bag: Trump was raided by the FBI, Black trans women made history, and gay conservatives dropped the most embarrassing app made in years. A true whirlwind.Our time machine look through queer music hist’ry this week is also a fairly mixed bag, with a good balance of bops and ballads.From a morning angel to a love that’s faithful, here’s your weekly bop rewind:This breezy, romantic tune was one of Johnny Mathis’ first pop chart hits, and a lovely entry at that.

There’s strength and beauty in creating community. For many queer and trans folks, finding that community is of utmost importance.

After voters defunded their local library over the inclusion of LGBTQ+ books, residents of a small town in western Michigan helped raise almost nearly $115,000 to keep its doors open.An initiative to renew tax funds for Hudsonville’s Patmos Library, which is located 20 miles east of Lake Michigan outside Grand Rapids, was rejected by Jamestown Township voters last week.

On Friday it was revealed that federal agents seized 11 set of documents during its raid on former president Donald Trump‘s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. The haul include materials marked as “classified/TS/SCI” documents — shorthand for “top secret/sensitive compartmented information.” Other documents were marked “secret” or “confidential.”After the Monday search, Trump blasted the action as, “a prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024,” which is pretty wild considering at the time he was one of the few people who knew exactly what the FBI had discovered in his home.And all week, the former president’s allies parroted his lies, blasting the raid as sham.

Heche in one of her biggest B.O. hits — I Know What You Did Last Summer (Image via Mandalay)

Actress Anne Heche has died after being taken off life support.Heche, the former partner of Ellen DeGeneres, had been declared brain dead, a representative for Heche told the Los Angeles Times, but she was kept on life support for a time.“She was declared brain dead last night but has been kept on life support for organ donation,” rep Holly Baird told the Times in a Friday email. Medical personnel were determining if any of Heche's organs are in a condition to be donated after Heche's injuries in a fiery car accident a week ago. But she has now been taken off life support, the Times has just reported.Her son Homer released this statement to the Times: “My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom.

Ryan Murphy‘s frightening anthology, American Horror Story, and the fans have been hungry (so much so that a number of stan accounts recently banded together to strike until official details were announced for the 11th season).Well, do you hear the dinner bell, AHS fans? It’s feeding time as the show has confirmed a number of high-profile cast additions the past week. And, thankfully, “AHS11” is shaping up to be one of the series’ gayest seasons yet.Related: Nico Greetham strips down to his briefs, and—okay, we’ll watch ‘American Horror Stories’ now!It’s no secret that Murphy loves to collaborate with a recurring stable of actors, so we’re not surprised to see a lot of familiar faces here.

Homes displaying Pride decor in Frenchtown, New Jersey have fallen victim to a string of vandalism this week. Now, citizens and authorities are fighting back.Over the course of August 7th and 8th, eleven Pride flags were reportedly torn down across the city.

The much loved ESPN reporter M.A. Voepel has come out as Trans. In an emotional tweet he began, “In sports media, we’re lucky to tell stories of others’ journeys. We have our own, too. Part of mine is being transgender, and I’m transitioning to male.” Voepel’s decision to come out about his transition was prompted […]

BBC One’s new documentary Tom Daley: Illegal to be me is out and people are praising the diving champion for this insightful look into homophobia in the Commonwealth countries. In the documentary, he travels to different countries to talk to LGBTQ+ athletes impacted by homophobic legislation. Tom Daley is certainly not new to using his […]

With societal acceptance of LGBTQ people growing so much in the past few decades, what happens when one member of a heterosexual marriage evolves in their views and the other one stays stuck in the past?For one man who recently vented on Reddit about his homophobic wife, his strategy is simple — don’t back down. His post has since gone viral, racking up over a thousand (mostly) positive comments of encouragement.As the man tells it, a family conversation about the same-sex kiss between two loving, female characters in the Disney/Pixar film Lightyear sparked a “huge fight” between him and his wife.“My wife was explaining [the kiss scene] to my mom and I and she was huffing and puffing about it ‘not being right’ and ‘not something she wants our kids seeing,” he wrote.

Ryan O’Connell

Since he was named White House national monkeypox response deputy coordinator, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, or Dr. D for short, has been logging long hours at the office, getting very little sleep.“First, I’m excited to be here, and to be working with Robert Fenton, the national monkeypox response coordinator, who brings so much experience from [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] as an emergency management leader,” Daskalakis says.

Twee letters van het Homomonument bij de Westermarkt zijn gestolen. Dat werd opgemerkt na de demonstratie van afgelopen woensdag. Een woordvoerder van de gemeente laat weten dat eneacute;eneacute;n van de letters inmiddels weer gevonden is en is teruggeplaatst in het monument. Protest

Actress Anne Heche, the former partner of Ellen DeGeneres, died Friday at 53. Heche's death comes a week after after she crashed her car into a house in Los Angeles, setting the car and house on fire. Police said she had narcotics in her system. Heche's family confirmed her death after earlier announcing that she had been taken off life support.

It goes without saying that Keith Haring’s work is possessed of a childlike simplicity; albeit a simplicity that stands in marked contrast to its libidinous subject matter.But what happens when the latter is completely out of the picture?Related: “Keith Haring’s Ghost” Spreads Message Of Love With Guerrilla ArtDangerous Minds points out that a Keith Haring coloring book is readily available on Amazon (for a scant $7.95, no less), and the result looks shuttled in from some alien dimension in which the artist’s work is readily kid-friendly.Not only does it teach children how to make a big mess with crayons, it’s also a counting book, with every image centering around a number between 1 and 19.Related: Happy 58th Birthday, Keith HaringYou can see the entire set of 20 lithographs at Artnet Auctions, which are selling for the not-so-scant price of $800-$1,200 per plate.Here are some highlights from the work: 

which premiered last week. Following up the much more earnest “Western Wind,” it’s the second single off her upcoming album Loneliest Time due out this fall.While summer’s still here, Jepsen keeps things bright and beachy in the video, taking us to Malibu for tale after tale after tale of dates gone sour.Not since the clip for her breakthrough hit “Call Me Maybe”—which also featured a shirtless hunk with a gay twist!—has Jepsen given us this much of a storyline.

A post shared by Calvin Harris (@calvinharris) It’s safe to say that besides working on his long-gestated new album, Scottish music producer Calvin Harris has also been working on his body.The DJ first made a splash in dance circles in 2007 with his album, I Created Disco. This was followed by worldwide über hits such as ‘Sweet Nothing’ (with Florence Welch), and ‘This Is What You Came For’ (with Rihanna).Since 2017’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol.

While swiping through dating apps, you might see a lot of bios where people proudly called themselves sapiosexuals. But what does this word even mean, and why is it being used to describe sexual or romantic desires? Read on to learn more about the term sapiosexual, its meaning, and how to know if you’re sapiosexual.RELATED: Would You Date A Sapiosexual?The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a sapiosexual as someone who is “sexually attracted to highly intelligent people”.

The Right Stuff is a brand new dating app for conservatives looking for love, since “other dating apps have gone woke”.

A League of Their Own is all about people finding their team, and for Max Chapman (Chanté Adams), a Black woman who dreams of being a professional pitcher, that journey involves a surprising family member: the trans uncle she never knew she had.Early in the series, the audience hears about Max’s estranged “Auntie” Bertie, but when Max finally gets to meet Bertie for the first time since she was little, she finds out he’s a trans man and he’s living his best life.Bertie — played by trans actor Lea (pronounced “Lee”) Robinson (he/they) — is happily married, owns a home, and hosts queer parties with his friends from around the country. Contrast that with Max, who is closeted, afraid of people seeing the real her, and unsure of what she wants.

As a result of the negative media attention the case has received, a federal judge granted a motion to change the name of a controversial lawsuit in Texas that threatens the availability of life-saving HIV prevention drugs.The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, claims media coverage of the case led to harassment of the first-named plaintiff, which necessitated a change in the name. Attorneys representing the federal government did not object.On Thursday, judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the case would be changed from Kelley v.

Keanan has released the music video for Country Boy, his brand new song which details his journey as an artist breaking into the music industry.

A new report has revealed government officials in Malaysia have allowed so-called ‘conversion therapy’ as a means to “rehabilitate” LGBTQ+ people.

A League Of Their Own is one of those movies the gays have always adored.There are, of course, the obvious reasons for this: namely, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, Geena Davis, Lori Petty… we could go on.But fabulous casting aside, there’s a deeper reason why Penny Marshall’s 1992 film has endured for LGBTQ audiences despite not having any explicitly gay characters in it. It’s because the story of A League Of Their Own—a fictionalized account of the very real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL)—has always been queer.It’s a fact that’s only recently come to light, as 95 year-old former AAGPBL player Maybelle Blair—who consulted on both the film and the Amazon series—publicly came out for the first time in her life and shared that she was not alone.

Anne Heche is not expected to survive after suffering an ‘anoxic’ brain injury from her car crash, her family has said.Heche’s spokesperson said in a statement from her friends and family:“We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne’s recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses.“Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive.“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.“Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit.

Have an event coming up? Email your information to Managing Editor Tammye Nash at nash@dallasvoice.com or Senior Staff Writer David Taffet at taffet@dallasvoice.com by Wednesday at 5 p.m. for that week’s issue.

As a result of the negative media attention the case has received, a federal judge granted a motion to change the name of a controversial lawsuit in Texas that threatens the availability of life-saving HIV prevention drugs.The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, claims media coverage of the case led to harassment of the first-named plaintiff, which necessitated a change in the name. Attorneys representing the federal government did not object.On Thursday, judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the case would be changed from Kelley v.

Pediatrics, researchers found that the percentage of adolescents identifying as transgender actually declined between 2017 and 2019. That finding challenges the claim, often repeated by skeptics of gender identity, that the number of people identifying as transgender is climbing due to broader societal acceptance, the influence of social media, and peer pressure.The findings were based on data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial national survey distributed to high school students asking them about the environment they face at school, their mental well-being, and their health habits, including drug or alcohol use. Although the CDC survey does not require states to record students’ gender identity, questions about sexual orientation have been administered since 2015, and 16 states opted to include questions asking students about their gender identity in 2017 and 2019.

When wrestler Mack Beggs stepped onto the mat to compete during his days as a high schooler in Texas, he not only faced the opponent in front of him, but often a raft of adversaries in the stands. They booed him and hurled invectives.

Florida’s Medicare system is eliminating coverage of gender-affirming care for trans youth and adults.The new regulations announced yesterday will block medical providers from seeking reimbursement from the state for “puberty blockers, hormones and hormone antagonists, sex reassignment surgeries, and any other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”It comes after the Florida Medical Board voted to ban gender-affirming care last week.The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which oversees the state’s Medicaid system, said the new rules will go into effect on August 21 of this year, forcing patients to pay for these services out-of-pocket. The announcement was met with criticism from a broad spectrum of medical experts, LGBTQ+ groups, and trans people nationwide.Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, and National Health Law Program issued a joint statement, calling the move “morally and legally wrong as well as medically and scientifically unsound,” and promised to fight back.“Ignoring thousands of public comments and expert testimony, Florida’s AHCA has finalized a rule that will deny Medicaid coverage for all medically necessary gender-affirming care for both youth and adults,” the coalition said.

On August 10, The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatorio Romano revealed that Pope Francis had three meetings with groups of Trans people in the Vatican. The people had found shelter in a Catholic church during the Covid pandemic. The first meeting between Pope Francis and the Trans folk who found shelter in the Blessed Immaculate Virgin community […]

Reading Football Club has debuted a new flag for the stadium in collaboration with LGBTQ+ supporters group, Proud Royals.

Queer as Folk creator Stephen Dunn explained why the show’s title is an “incredibly powerful” reclamation of what was once a homophobic slur and why the series “dealt with the real issues of what it is to be queer” so boldly.

Hub-a-dub-dub (Image via Instagram)

Dave Chappelle hung out with transgender comedian Flame Monroe this week.

monkeypox vaccine supplies diminish, a health expert has shared guidance for people unvaccinated from the viral disease. The latest figures confirm 71 Scottish cases - an increase of four from the last week, reports Public Health Scotland (PHS).

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — A Las Vegas man who was one of the earliest cases of monkeypox in Nevada speaks out about his ordeal, hoping to break stigmas and encourage testing and vaccines for prevention.™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company.

READ MORE: Nadine Dorries says favourite rugby league moment is Jonny Wilkinson's union drop goalThe announcement came following recommendations from the RFU, which initially allowed some transgender women to play women's rugby, but they have had to apply on a case-by-case basis. The World Rugby rules state: "Transgender women may not currently play women's rugby… because of the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates."The RFU said that it "has contacted registered trans female players, on whom the policy will have a direct impact to offer its support in continuing to encourage them to participate in the sport".

Kimberly Kantor, second from left, and Lorie Burch, center, with their children, from left, Kaia, Poppy Jean (in Burch’s arms) and Carlie, holding Adlee Louise

Lia Thomas, the first transgender woman who has earned a national title in Division 1 athletics, was nominated by the University of Pennsylvania for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award. The former University of Pennsylvania swimmer has been the center of national debate about transgender athletes in sports.

Lia Thomas has been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award by her alma mater. In March, Thomas became the first transgender woman to win a Division 1 title, where she won in the Women’s 500-yard freestyle event.As the first trans NCAA champion in Division I history, Thomas quickly became the face of the ongoing backlash against transgender athletes’ participation in sports — specifically the participation of trans women. Beyond elite competition, the controversy continues to intensify throughout the country — over the past year, 10 states have passed anti-trans legislation banning trans student-athletes from competing in categories that align with their gender identities.“I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman,” Thomas told JuJu Chang on Good Morning America in May. “But I also don’t need anybody’s permission to be myself and to do the sport that I love.”Thomas began her medical transition in 2019, following the NCAA requirements of completing at least one year of hormone therapy prior to competing in women’s sports categories.In her conversation with Chang, the Ivy League swimmer set the record straight on her reason for transitioning, debunking the ludicrous claim that she did so in order to have an “advantage” while competing.Thomas recalled that her swimming career was actually what kept her from transitioning in the first place.“Trans people don’t transition for athletics,” she emphasized.

issued a notice last year that it would enforce the ban on sex discrimination in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to include discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in any educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission put out a similar notice on discrimination in the workplace.

outlawed abortion minutes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — asked Bridges why she was using the phrase “people with a capacity for pregnancy” instead of saying “women” when talking about the effects of abortion restrictions. “Would that be women?” he asked Bridges, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.“Many cis women have the capacity for pregnancy; many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy,” she replied.