In the past weeks, the tragic shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando has weighed heavily on all of our thoughts.
With 49 victims, the hashtag #SayTheirNames has served as a way to memorialise those who lost their lives.
However, now Ryan Murphy (the man behind Glee and American Horror Story) has directed a tribute video for HRC, featuring actors of both shows, along with a host of other A List stars, in a touching tribute to honour the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando.
In the video, 49 celebs wear black and sit against a black backdrop, each one reciting a brief biography of one of the victims.
Lady Gaga, Caitlyn Jenner, Matt Bomer, and Laverne Cox are just a few of the many names who came together to tell these stories. They also use the platform to call for an end to hate crimes and gun violence.
Ellen DeGeneres has been a gay icon for decades now, and the talk show host has marked Pride Month with a touching video featuring many LGBT celebrities who have opened up to her over the years.
In the video, she talks with Orpah Winfrey about her own experience:
Your true legacy, the real work that you’ve done on the planet, will be teaching people how to live authentically as themselves.”
Winfrey appeared on the landmark episode of DeGeneres’ sitcom Ellen in 1997 when her fictional character of Ellen Morgan came out. At the same time, DeGeneres herself came out on the cover of Time magazine.
I think my biggest fear in doing that was having a panic attack quite frankly. I was just so ready to do it … and excited to do it.”
In another moment, Transparent creator Jill Soloway, a bisexual whose father is transgender, says:
When people come out, they are literally coming out to save their lives. They’re coming out to make a break for freedom for authenticity. It really is an example for all of us.”
And Caitlyn Jenner, who DeGeneres had confronted about her lukewarm endorsement of same-sex marriage, is seen in the video saying:
There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning and be able to be your authentic self.”
But the last words belong to President Barack Obama who tells DeGeneres:
As much as we’ve done with laws and ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell etc, changing hearts and minds? I don’t think there’s anybody who’s been more influential than you have been.”
Last week Donald Trump kindly declared that he would allow Caitlyn Jenner to use the women’s facilities in Trump Tower.
Jenner posted a video on Facebook of herself using the ladies’ room at Trump International Hotel in New York City this week, taking a stand against recent discriminatory legislation that passed in North Carolina, which requires transgender people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and government agencies based on the gender assigned on their birth certificates.
In the video, entitled “Bathroom Break,” Jenner declared herself to be a “trans woman in New York [who] has to take a pee,” and then walked into Trump International Tower.
Last week. Donald Trump said I could take a pee anywhere in a Trump facility. I am gonna go take a pee in the ladies’ room.”
After she was finished using the facilities, she thanked Trump for allowing her to do so — but she also had a message for Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Thank you, Donald, really appreciate it. And by the way, Ted — nobody got molested.”
When Caitlyn Jenner appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show last week, Ellen’s reactions were mixed, especially in response to Jenner’s views on same-sex marriage.
Calling herself a “traditionalist,” Jenner admitted that she used to oppose equal marriage, before publicly coming out as transgender.
I think, like a lot of people on this issue, I have really changed my thinking here to, ‘I don’t ever want to stand in front of anybody’s happiness.’ That’s not my job, okay?”
Explaining that she had changed her mind on the issue, she said:
If the word ‘marriage’ is really, really that important to you, I can go with it.”
However, DeGeneres appears to have been taken aback by the answer – telling SiriusXM host Howard Stern that she was baffled.
She said:
Caitlyn Jenner is on the show today, and she really still has a judgement about gay marriage. I said to her: ‘You’re wanting people to understand and accept you – this is like really confusing to people – but you still have a judgement about gay people and marriage’.
She said ‘if the word marriage is that important’ …and I was like, ‘it is, because that’s the word!’. We want the same thing as everybody.”
DeGeneres also questioned the star’s Republican beliefs – despite Republicans actively opposing trans rights.
She’s a Republican and conservative – and I think a lot of Republicans are wishing she wasn’t a Republican.”
The entertainer also revealed that Jenner refused to dance with her – which most guests including President Obama have done on her talk show.
She said:
No, she didn’t dance. I don’t think she’s a dancer. Maybe she didn’t want to dance with me cause I’m a lesbian! She was great, it was a great interview. I don’t really know her, and I’m trying to understand it, because I don’t fully understand it either.
I also want everyone to be happy I don’t fully understand all of that, but I want her to be happy. Which is what I want for her, for me.”
E! Entertainment’s much anticipated premiere of “I am Cait” — Caitlyn Jenner‘s new series documenting her first months as a woman — on Sunday was packed full of emotional and eye-opening scenes.
But one especially memorable moment was when Kanye West arrived with wife, Kim Kardashian, and bestowed the former Olympian with high praise.
Kanye said Jenner’s transition was
… one of the strongest things that have happened in our existence as human beings that are controlled by perception.”
He went on to say
You couldn’t have been up against more. Like, your daughter is a supermodel, you’re a celebrity, you have every type of thing, and it was still like, ‘f*** everybody, this is who I am.’”
Jenner appeared to be very touched by Kanye’s words.
Later in the show, she explained how much the rapper helped stepdaughter Kim deal with the transition process.
Kanye and I have never really been very close, but I love his open-mindedness,” Jenner said. “I love how he’s helped Kim come to grips with what’s going on.”
‘I am Cait’ has found widespread praise for focussing on anti-trans violence, as opposed to just Jenner’s personal life.
This video showing how children react to Caitlyn Jenner‘s transition is making me tear up with happiness, as I think about a world that is more accepting of the trans community.
The children who participated in the focus group video were presented with two pictures.
The first was a photo of a muscular 1976 Bruce Jenner in all his Olympic glory and the second a photo of Caitlyn Jenner in a red dress from her recent photo spread in Vanity Fair.
They were then told the photos showed the same person.
While one child said, “How could a boy turn into a girl? That’s impossible,” the conversation eventually turned into one of acceptance.
One child saying…
It’s important to be yourself because if you’re not yourself, then who are you?”
The kids were also shown some of the reaction, both positive and negative, to Jenner on social media.
They looked at each other in astonishment when read a tweet, which read:
Bruce Jenner is a sick man and I don’t need a psychiatrist to tell me Bruce Jenner has a mental disorder.”
Several had thoughtful and mature reactions.
I think they’re just scared of change, I think they just want everything to stay the same because they just don’t know how to handle it. It’s important for you to be yourself because if you’re not yourself then who are you?”
Vanity Fair just released its newest cover featuring Caitlyn Jenner, the woman formerly known as Bruce.
The cover, which was shot by famed queer photographer, Annie Leibovitz, is set to grace the July 2015 issue of the magazine. You can see the landmark cover below.
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