André Leon Talley, giant of the fashion industry, has died aged 73.

Talley, who was Vogue’s first Black creative director, and later editor-at-large, passed away on Tuesday (18 January), his literary agent confirmed.

He had been suffering from an unknown illness.

A pioneer in fashion, Talley passionately championed diversity and inclusion in an industry that for years resisted it. He was remembered by friends and fans for his glamour, grace and grit.

Talley grew up with his grandmother in the city of Durham in Jim Crow era North Carolina, and told NPR in 2018 that he first came across a copy of Vogue at his local library when he was nine or 10 years old.

He described it as a “rabbit hole” into “a world of glamour”, and added: “[Vogue] was my gateway to the world outside of Durham.

“It was the world of literature, what was happening in the world of art, what was happening in the world of entertainment.”

Talley went on to study French literature at Brown University, where he wrote his thesis on the influence of Black women in Charles Baudelaire.

He later moved to New York City, working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Andy Warhol’s Factory studio, and at Women’s Wear Daily, Interview, W, and the New York Times.

Talley finally made his way to Vogue, where he was fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, creative director from 1988 to 1995, and editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013.

The fashion icon became known for his signature kaftans and capes, and told NPR: “I went to [Morocco] and saw that the men in North Africa in Marrakech and Casablanca walked around in caftan shirts and loose-fitting clothes all day, every day… I decided: I want to be like that. I want to wear that instead of a suit because it’s comfortable. You are ventilated. You’re roomy. You’re cozy, and you can just stretch.

“I’m not a tall stick anymore! I’m a big, big guy of great girth and people think I look like maybe my clothes don’t look that important, but I have taken great time and [done] fittings for my capes and caftans made by the great designers.

“I will continue to wear these things for the rest of my life!

Talley published three books during his lifetime: A.L.T.: A Memoir in 2003, the photography book A.L.T. 365+, and in 2020, The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir, which became a New York Times best seller.

In 2010 and 2011, he had a place on the judging panel of America’s Next Top Model. 

Diane von Furstenberg, the designer who was a close friend of Talley’s, wrote: “Goodbye darling André … no one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did. No one was grander and more soulful than you were.”

Bette Midler added: “I’m sorry to say the extraordinary André Leon Talley has died.

“He was such a force and believed in the magic of fashion and its illusions with all his being. His life was a saga of great highs, great lows, the dramatic, the ridiculous, and the endless pursuit of beauty. Love and RIP.”

Slave Play writer Jeremy O’Harris tweeted: “For a little Black gay boy who reached for the stars from the south there were few people I could look up to up there amongst the stars who looked like me just more fab except for you André.

“For a generation of boys André Leon Talley was a beacon of grace and aspiration. RIP.”

Preston Mitchum, attorney and director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, tweeted: “André Leon Talley made it possible for so many Black queer boys and men to express ourselves out loud. No reservations.

“A legend. An icon. May he rest in peace and power knowing that he paved the way for many people who looked up to him.”

On Martin Luther King Jr Day, we revisit the legendary civil rights leader’s relationship with LGBT+ rights.

Dr King’s legacy is towering and complex. He devoted his life to – and was ultimately murdered for – advancing the rights of Black Americans, rallying against the “three major evils” – racism, poverty and war. But when looking back at his life and work, it is of course natural to wonder about the things that largely went unsaid.  For many, queer Black folk in particular, his stance on LGBT+ rights is a topic of much conversation.

During his lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr was not a vocal advocate for gay rights (he was assassinated a year before Stonewall, in 1968), nor did he speak out against them. One of the rare (if not only) examples of him discussing sexuality publicly comes from an advice column written in 1958, in which an anonymous boy who felt “about boys the way I ought to feel about girls” asked Dr King what he could do, or where he could “go for help”.

“Your problem is not at all an uncommon one,” Dr King replied. “However, it does require careful attention. The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired.

“Your reasons for adopting this habit have now been consciously suppressed or unconsciously repressed. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with this problem by getting back to some of the experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit.

“In order to do this I would suggest that you see a good psychiatrist who can assist you in bringing to the forefront of conscience all of those experiences and circumstances that lead to the habit. You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognise the problem and have a desire to solve it.”

Were such words written in 2020, they would rightly be condemned. Do they indicate that Dr King saw homosexuality as something that could, in this boy’s case at the very least, be fixed? It seems so. Attitudes like this were hugely prevalent at the time, with the LGBT+ community under constant attack from the government and by society.

However, they were usually combined with an aggression and a hate that was entirely absent in Dr King’s response. It’s possible that he both believed this boy’s sexuality could be changed, and truly believed in equality for all, with no exception.

The opinions of those who knew and loved him, however, suggest he was no homophobe.

Bayard Rustin on Martin Luther King Jr: ‘He would not have had the prejudicial view’

Bayard Rustin, the legendary organiser of the 1963 March on Washington, became one of Dr King’s most trusted advisors while he was organising the Montgomery bus boycott and was influential in his adoption of non-violence tactics. He was also a gay man.

In 1987, almost 20 years after Dr King’s assassination, Rustin approached the subject of his attitudes towards gay people in an essay.

“It is difficult for me to know what Dr King felt about gayness except to say that I’m sure he would have been sympathetic and would not have had the prejudicial view,” he wrote.

“Otherwise he would not have hired me. He never felt it necessary to discuss that with me.”

Rustin said this his own gayness “was not problem for Dr King but a problem for the movement”, explaining that eventually some of the reverend’s inner circle eventually “came to the decision that my sex life was a burden” and “advised him that he should ask me to leave”.

“I told Dr King that if advisors closest to him felt I was a burden, then rather than put him in a position that he had to say leave, I would go,” he continued.

“He was just so harassed that I felt it was my obligation to relieve him of as much of that as I could.” After the split, Rustin said, King “continued to call on me, over and over”.

Dr King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, certainly believed his central mission was inclusive of LGBT+ rights, even if he remained quiet.

Coretta Scott King was a tireless gay rights campaigner

In 1998, addressing a Lamda Legal anniversary luncheon, Mrs King said: “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people, and I should stick to the issue of racial justice.

“But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr said: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr’s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.”

Mrs King was a tireless LGBT+ rights campaigner, coming out in support of the groundbreaking Gay and Civil Rights Act that would have banned anti-gay discrimination in many public arenas in 1983.

Until her death in 2016 she continued to fight for LGBT+ equality: calling on then-president Bill Clinton to stop the gay military ban in 1993 and condemning George W Bush in 2004 for his anti-marriage equality stance.

Declaring marriage equality a civil rights issue at the time, she said: “With this faith and this commitment we will create the beloved community of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream, where all people can live together in a spirit of trust and understanding, harmony, love and peace.”

On the other hand, there are those who have positioned Dr King’s legacy as against LGBT+ rights. Most notable, his own daughter, Bernice King, said in 2004 her father “did not take a bullet for same-sex unions” while campaigning against marriage equality (though it appears she has since changed her own position, having welcomed the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on the matter).

Those who believe Dr King would have supported the community have dismissed Bernice King’s words, noting that she would have been approaching five-years-old when her father died and therefore, couldn’t possibly know his view on the matter.

Ultimately, it’s impossible to know what Dr King’s true position was. The fights for queer liberation and Black liberation have overlapped and diverged and various points in history – and continue to do so to this day. Neither community (not its intersection) is a monolith, and no person is all good or all bad.

It’s impossible to say exactly how Martin Luther King Jr felt about LGBT+ people and their rights simply because he isn’t around to tell us. On the evidence and testimonies available, it seems his thinking was flawed, but not malign, and he may well have considered himself empathetic to the community. Ultimately, the biggest crime is that he isn’t around to tell us today.

Karine Jean-Pierre could become the first out lesbian and first Black woman to be named White House press secretary.

The political heavyweight served as Kamala Harris’ chief of staff during the Biden-Harris campaign, and has now been tipped for a permanent role in the new administration.

NBC’s White House correspondent Geoff Bennett tweeted Wednesday (18 November) that Jean-Pierre has “emerged as a top candidate” for press secretary, citing multiple sources.

Symone Sanders, TV pundit and a senior advisor to the campaign “has also been discussed” for the role, he added.

“No final decisions have been made, officials stress, as the emerging West Wing leadership also considers how to structure the communications office in a rapidly-changing media environment,” Bennett added.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=PinkNews&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1329069612911239171&lang=en-gb&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk%2F2020%2F11%2F19%2Fpolitical-trailblazer-karine-jean-pierre-tipped-to-be-first-ever-black-and-lgbt-white-house-press-secretary%2F&siteScreenName=PinkNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=500px

Were Karine Jean-Pierre to clinch the role, she would be the first Black woman in the role as well as the first out LGBT+ press secretary.

Many will recognise her from a viral video in which she jumped to protect Harris after an animal rights activist attempted to grab her microphone during a campaign event in 2019.

A seasoned campaigner, activist and strategist, she has previously worked on presidential campaigns for John Edwards, Martin O’Malley and Barack Obama.

She also served on Obama’s White House staff as a regional political director, and was hired to Harris’ team in August, becoming the first Black person to serve as a presidential candidate’s chief of staff.

She is well-known as a political pundit thanks to numerous appearances on NBC News and MSNBC, and has long been a vocal advocate for LGBT+ rights and equality.

Karine Jean-Pierre fought Trump for the sake of her daughter.

In 2011 she spoke about her experiences working in politics as an openly gay woman.

Shortly after she left her position in the Obama administration, she told The Advocate: “What’s been wonderful is that I was not the only; I was one of many.

Queer Black American men suffer disproportionate levels of police discrimination, which in turn may contribute to increased risks of HIV, depression and anxiety, a study has found.

Research by Rutgers University, published in Social Science & Medicine, asked over 1,100 queer Black men to self-report any incidents of police discrimination, arrests and incarceration.

Between 2017 and 2018, some 43 per cent reported suffering discrimination at the hands of police and other law enforcement.

The results reinforced the notion that injustice is systemic and cyclical, with prior incarceration linked to later police and law enforcement discrimination, which in turn was linked to further arrest.

Lead study author Devin English, assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, said that despite the evidence suggesting queer Black men in the US may face “some of the highest rates of policing and incarceration in the world… research examining the health impacts of the US carceral system rarely focuses on their experiences”.

“This study helps to address this gap,” he added.

Scott Greenberg, executive director of the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, was unsurprised by the research. He told PinkNews: “With Black people five times more likely to be imprisoned in the US and sexual minorities three-fold more likely to be incarcerated, Black LGBTQ people occupy a reconstitutive crossing of inequity in the criminal legal system.

“One startling demographic disparity aggravates the other, in vicious cycles of poverty and discrimination — in school, employment, policing, family, and society at large.”

Police discrimination may contribute to high levels of HIV among Black queer men.

Respondents were also quizzed on their metal health and sexual behaviour, including their willingness to take PrEP.

Researchers found that those who had suffered high levels of police discrimination were also likely to be at higher risk of HIV and psychological distress, and were more reluctant to take PrEP than their peers.

Those who had been incarcerated or recently arrested were also vulnerable to a higher HIV risk and were less willing to take PrEP.

The study’s authors suggest that police discrimination and incarceration may lead to “a conscious, and potentially adaptive, avoidance of institutions” with a history of discriminating against queer Black men.

Queer Black men are the group most at risk of acquiring HIV in the US. In 2018, they made up 26 per cent of all new HIV diagnoses and 37 per cent of new diagnoses among queer men. Black Americans make up 13 per cent of the US population.

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Previous studies have suggested queer Black men are less likely to be on PrEP due to a mistrust of medical establishments, racism on the part of the prescribing physician, internalised and externalised stigma and ineffectivemessaging among other factors.

As Matthew Hodson, executive director of the UK-based Aidsmap, told PinkNews, it is these many and layered forms of discrimination that is perpetuating the epidemic of HIV among Black queer men, who are “at the intersection of two communities with high HIV rates”.

“Experience of mistreatment in healthcare services, racism, homophobia and a number of structural inequalities all intersect to deter black men who have sex with men from seeking out PrEP as a means of preventing HIV infection,” Hodson said.

“Although the US was the first country to introduce PrEP, take up among Black and Hispanic queer men has always lagged behind that of white men. A recent projection estimated that half of all US Black men who have sex with men were likely to acquire HIV in their lifetime, compared to one in four Hispanic men and nine per cent of white gay or bisexual men.”

He added: “The racial patterns of PrEP use we see in the US are also reflected in other western countries, including the UK, France, and Australia.”

Lisa Bowleg, professor of psychology at The George Washington University and co-author on the study, said the new findings “rightly directs attention to the structural intersectional discrimination that negatively affects Black sexual minority men’s health”.

“Despite experiencing a disproportionate burden of violence and discrimination at the hands of the police, and extremely high carceral rates, Black queer men are largely invisible in discourse on anti-Black policing and incarceration,” added co-author Joseph Carter, doctoral student of health psychology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.

“Our study provides empirical support for the intersectional health impacts of police and carceral discrimination that have been systemically perpetrated onto Black queer men.”

Last week two Black men, George Floyd and Tony McDade, were killed by police, leading to countless people protesting around the world in support of Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd died after a police officer pinned him down by the neck using his knee until he went limp. Tony McDade, a trans man, was shot and killed by officers while being chased in connection with a fatal stabbing.

For people of color – gay or straight, trans or cis – these stories, sadly, aren’t unique. Frankly, they’re commonplace. Black people have been dying at the hands of police in horrifying numbers for centuries – only now, the internet is being used to share these stories more widely than ever before.

The police violence being directed at those protesting racism in Minneapolis and in other cities around the world is, again, nothing new. The Black Lives Matter movement and associated groups have been organising protests against police brutality since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown Jr, an 18-year-old Black man shot dead by a white police officer.

Before that, Black people have been asking police to stop killing us for as long as there have been police. But all too often these efforts are welcomed with tear gas, rubber bullets and further violence. And at the end of it all, Black people are still being killed.

Just as the LGBT+ rights movement – which, it pays to remember, was spearheaded by Black trans women and butch lesbians – has been bolstered by straight-cis allies, and has furthered LGBT+ rights by winning over the straight cis (mostly) men who run our world, the Black community needs allies of all races to stand with us. Our voices, our bodies and our actions alone aren’t enough – to affect change as quickly as possible, we need your help.

If you want to stand up and be counted, here is a non-exhaustive list of things you can do.

1. Call for accountability.

The most immediate thing allies can do is to sign petitions and contact political representatives to demand justice for both George Floyd and Tony McDade.

A petition calling for charges to be filed against all four officers involved in Floyd’s death has so far attracted 10 million signatures. The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck has been charged with murder, but each additional name added will help build pressure for officials to take action against the other three.

A separate petition is simply calling for “Justice for Tony McDade”, and at the time of publication has been signed more than 430,000 times. McDade’s case is currently shrouded in uncertainties – signing his petition will help bring visibility and hopefully answers.

2. Protest.

If you feel safe doing so, consider joining a protest. Understandably not all queer people will be able to do this. If being in large groups and/or around police poses a danger to you, or if you are disabled and concerned about access/making a safe exit, do not feel compelled to protest. There are many lanes of resistance, and each of us can’t occupy all of them.

If you want to protest, it’s easy to find organised demonstrations through social media. Follow trusted Black organisers, protest with a buddy, and maintain social distancing. A widely-shared infographic has other good pieces of advice for protecting yourself.

3. Donate.

If you can afford to do so, there are many Black organisations that need funding at this critical time.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund – which, among other things, is working to free jailed protestors by paying bail and legal fees – has raised over $20 million in the past week and is now asking people to consider donating to other groups.

Its suggestions include the Black Visions Collective – a Black-led, queer and trans-centring organisation dedicated to Black liberation.

It also recommends people donate to Reclaim the Block, a coalition demanding that Minneapolis divest from policing and invest in long-term community alternatives, and the North Star Health Collective, which works with organisers to create safe and health events.

Further afield, there are local organisations working to free protestors across the US. The National Bail Fund Network is maintaining an updated thread of places where people can donate.

National Bail Fund Network@bailfundnetwork

Saturday THREAD – So much solidarity from coast to coast! This is an updated thread on bail funds supporting people arrested for demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, & all victims of police violence. 1/#FreeThemAll

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4. Educate yourself and others on being anti-racist.

Not being racist isn’t enough. Now as much as ever, it’s important to be vocally and actively against racism in all its forms.

If you aren’t sure what this means, or aren’t comfortable in your knowledge of these issues, take the time to educate yourself. Read books by Black authors, such as Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi, or Back to Black by Kehinde Andrews.

Share what you learn with white friends, challenge them when you see or hear them making ill-informed statements, and further the conversation as much as you can.

5. Be mindful on social media.

As journalist Paula Akpan recently tweeted: “Being online right now as a Black person is f**king exhausting.”

Be mindful of sharing videos showing violence against Black bodies without a proper warning. Be considerate in who and what you are retweeting. While racists must be held accountable, there are ways of doing this without amplifying their message of hate – by reporting them to social networks and/or, when appropriate, by informing their employers.

If you are unsure about what to share on social media, often the best thing to do is to amplify the voices of the oppressed – in this case, Black people. Retweet posts and share articles. It’s fine to contribute your own words of course, but be mindful and open to constructive criticism. Above all, remember if you have a platform – even a small one – and want to make a difference, use it.

6. Check in on your queer Black friends.

Amid all of this, don’t forget to keep in contact with your Black friends as you would at any other time. Remember that we won’t always want to talk about race and racism, even when it is dominating topic in the media and online. When we do, be sure to listen more than you do speak, and try not to use us as a resource for your own development.

7. Keep the energy going.

Right now it’s impossible to predict what the future will bring. But regardless, remember to remain committed to anti-racism. Whether the current protests beget sweeping change or whether the status quo returns, continue to make your voice heard, improve your own learning, and support Black people and Black causes.

Mike Pence was governor of Indiana when it experienced “the largest concentrated outbreak of HIV ever documented in the United States” in 2014-15.

Pence’s contribution to the crisis has been put under the microscope after Donald Trump put the vice president in charge of America’s response to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

It was back in early 2015 when public health officials noticed a spike in new HIV and hepatitis C transmissions in Austin, Indiana, with NPR reporting it as the “largest HIV outbreak in Indiana’s history” at the time.

Most the cases were linked to drug use, specifically the injection of prescription opioids.

At the time there was a ban on needle exchanges throughout the state, despite such programmes being a proven method of HIV prevention.

Before the crisis broke, Pence was a fervent critic of needle exchanges, and continued to oppose them for months after the crisis emerged.

It wasn’t until the end of March 2015 that he announced a state of emergency and said he was “prepared to make an exception to my long-standing opposition to needle-exchange programs”.

By this time Scott County had identified 80 new HIV transmissions, up from an annual average of five. The 4,200 population town would eventually count 215 new cases, a 5 per cent rate.

Two months later Pence signed a law allowing for needle exchanges across the state.

Mike Pence defunded Planned Parenthood, eliminating Indiana’s HIV test centres.

Compounding the issue was the complete lack of HIV testing centres in Scott County.

A Planned Parenthood which was the county’s only such facility closed in 2013, Mike Pence’s first year as governor, because of public health spending cuts.

Two years earlier, in 2011, the House of Representatives had passed an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood, tabled by then congressperson Pence.

Criticism continues to this day.

In 2017 Dr Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the Austin outbreak the largest fuelled HIV outbreak to hit rural America in recent history, and “the largest concentrated outbreak ever documented in the United States.”

It was suggested in a 2018 study that if Pence had acted sooner in introducing needle exchanges, the number of new HIV cases could be been reduced “substantially”.

After the announcement that Pence would head up the White House’s response to the coronavirus, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the vice president of “literally does not believe in science”.

“It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic,” she tweeted.

This decision could cost people their lives. Pence’s past decisions already have.

Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University, said that the decision “endangers us all”.

“It’s like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the US Mint,” he tweeted.

“This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue – we have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the US and we needed to rise above the partisan fray.”

Mike Pence defends his record.

In the face of renewed criticism, Mike Pence appeared on Fox News on Thursday, February 27, saying: “Indiana would go on to change the law to mirror what action I had taken, but it was a moment where we had brought all of the resources to bear, first from a health perspective, a law enforcement perspective, and I’m glad to say that we got all of those people treated.”

He added that he maintains his opposition to needle exchanges as a way to combat drug abuse, “but in this case we came to the conclusion that we had a public health emergency and so I took executive action to make a limited needle exchange available.”

Pete Buttigieg was accused of “contradicting God’s word” by pastor Rhyan Glezman, the older brother of his husband Chasten.

Glezman spoke out after Buttigieg questioned how Christians could support Donald Trump.

“Well, I’m not going to tell other Christians how to be Christians, he said during a CNN town hall event on Tuesday, February 18.

“But I will say I cannot find any compatibility between the way this president conducts himself and anything that I find in Scripture.”

The Democrat’s brother-in-law said that it was the “the height of intellectual dishonesty for Pete to make claims that there’s no compatibility with being a Christian and voting for Trump”.

“Just everything that Pete is pushing is, it’s anti-God. I’m just gonna be honest with you,” he told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

He’s the one that is openly contradicting God’s word over and over.

Glezman has previously spoken out against the Buttigiegs, telling The Washington Post that “while he wants the best” for his brother, he doesn’t “support the gay lifestyle”.

The pastor was interviewed for a profile of Chasten, in which the would-be first gentleman said he had been forced to leave home after coming out because his brothers rejected him.

Glezman rejected this version of events, and accused the Buttigeigs of making up the story for political clout.

“A mayor from a small city and his husband, a child who grew up with nothing and his parents kicked him out … it makes a perfect political story for the campaign,” he told The Washington Examiner.

“To me that’s very sad. If that’s all you have to stand on, you’re not fit to be president of the United States.”

Pete Buttigieg goes into Nevada caucuses after trying week.

Buttigieg’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination will be tested on Saturday, February 22 at the Nevada caucuses.

The former South Bend, Indiana mayor has spent much of the week defending himself after right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh questioned his suitability for the White House as a gay man.

Buttigieg fired barbs at both Limbaugh and Trump at the CNN town hall event, laughing at “the idea that the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Donald Trump [could be] lecturing anybody on family values”.

“One thing about my marriage is it’s never involved me having to send hush money to a porn star,” he added.