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‘Mama Mia’, singer comes out and other top stories


By Johnny Trlica

Is it too early to start thinking about another World Series title? As we enter the dog days of summer, our Astros are just one of two teams (as of this writing) with 60 or more wins. The boys of summer are primed to bring H-Town back-to-back championships.

Here is a sampling of what we’ve been reading on the Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook Page.

‘Mama Mia!’ sequel opens

Here we go again. The sequel to Mama Mia! is ready for the silver screen. Mama Mia! Here We Go Again is set to open on July 20, reports SmoothRadio.com.

Original cast members Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski and Dominic Cooper are all back. Downton Abbey star Lily James plays a young version of Meryl Streep’s character Donna in flashbacks, while Jeremy Irvine plays a young Sam, Alexa Davies is young Rosie, Josh Dylan is young Bill, Hugh Skinner is young Harry and Jessica Keenan Wynn is young Tanya. Cher plays Donna’s (Meryl Streep) mother. Yes, her mother!

“Without giving too many spoilers away, it has been reported by Deadline that the sequel “goes back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present,†and so will be a half-prequel, half-sequel,†reads the report. “The story will flash between past and present after Sophie struggles to tell her mother Donna that she’s having issues over being pregnant. Donna comforts her by telling the story of her own pregnancy.â€

No need to panic

Coming out can be stressful; some of us even panic over it. Brendon Urie of the band Panic! At the Disco came out as pansexual in an interview with Paper.com.

“I’m married to a woman and I’m very much in love with her but I’m not opposed to a man because to me, I like a person,†he said. “Yeah, I guess you could qualify me as pansexual because I really don’t care. If a person is great, then a person is great. I just like good people, if your heart’s in the right place. I’m definitely attracted to men. It’s just people that I am attracted to. I guess this is me coming out as pansexual,†he added.

Urie said that people already thought he was bi because of his 2013 song “Girls, Girls, Boys,†which he said was about his first threesome.

Equator equality

Marriage equality continues its slow spread across the Western Hemisphere. Ecuador is the latest nation to legalize same sex marriage reports LGBTQNation.com.

“Two same-sex couples, whose identities have not been made public, tried to get married at the Civil Registry after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of marriage equality in January. That ruling was binding on twenty Caribbean and Latin American countries, including Ecuador, as all of the countries agreed to abide by that court’s rulings,†wrote the report.

With legal help the couples took their case to court. The lack of a procedure “cannot serve as an excuse to violate a right,†said Catalina Mendoza, the couples’ lawyer. The court agreed, ruling in favor of the couples, saying the Civil Registry should “immediately†allow the women to wed.

Right wing congressman under fire

Ever notice that the most anti-gay politicians usually end up in the crosshairs of a gay scandal? Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has been accused by as many as seven former Ohio State University wrestlers of knowing about sexual abuse of male wrestlers that allegedly took place in the school’s athletic department three decades ago, reports WashingtonPost.com

Michael Alf, who joined the team in the late 1980s, said the environment in the Ohio State locker room was “definitely disturbing,†with non-team members using the showers to ogle the wrestlers. “There was definitely inappropriate things that in my opinion were pretty disgusting going on all around us. You just took your shower and got out,†he said.

“Jordan definitely knew that these things were happening — yes, most definitely,†David Range, a former wrestler, told the Washington Post. “It was there. He knew about it because it was an everyday occurrence.â€

In June of 2015 following the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, Jordan wrote, “In today’s ruling, five judges overturned the sound public policy that was democratically enacted by millions of Americans in states across the country, including Ohio. This ruling follows what seems to be a recent trend on the Supreme Court: rulings based on the desires of the justices, and not the letter of the law and the framework of the Constitution. I am also concerned that this ruling opens the door for discrimination against those who believe in traditional marriage, and I believe Congress must work to ensure that no American is forced to violate their beliefs on this important issue, to ensure that all Americans, regardless of their beliefs, can co-exist peacefully.â€

Johnny Trlica is the manager of the Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page, your source for the latest LGBTQ news and information. Contact him at [email protected]

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