TODAY IS FREETHINKERS DAY!

RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE SEASON 7 (FINALLY) HAS A LAUNCH DATE

RuPaul's Drag Race FINALLY has a launch date for season seven.

The draggiest day of the year will be 2 March, and there are two new surprises.

Queer Eye's Carson Kressley and TV personality Ross Matthews will be joining the judges table to read the queens alongside Michelle Visage and the mother herself RuPaul.

'Yes, Virginia, there is a gay Santa Claus!' beams RuPaul. 'I asked for a new, wickedly funny, smart and experienced judge…and I got two!

'Ross and Carson are the perfect addition to the "RuPaul’s Drag Race" family because they’re not just showbiz experts, they’re superfans and longtime lovers of the art of drag.'

'I have never been more qualified to do anything in my entire life,' Mathews said.

'As quite possibly the biggest super fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race in the entire galaxy, I take my position as a judge very seriously and will proudly serve as a voice for my fellow super fans—albeit a very high-pitched voice.'

Celebrity guests judges this season will feature Ariana Grande, Kathy Griffin, Michael Urie, Demi Lovato, Olivia Newton John, Jessica Alba and more.

If you need reminding of all the fierceness for this season, thenmeet the queens here. 

SOURCE: GAY STAR NEWS

TODAY IS FUN @ WORK DAY!

KID CUDI: PLAYING GAY IN 'JAMES WHITE' WAS 'DOPE'

Rapper Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi has described his gay role in the filmJames White as “dope.”

The film, which premiered over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, explores “a really rich, close relationship between a single mother (played by out actress Cynthia Nixon) and her son (Christopher Abbot),” who is heterosexual. Cudi plays the son's best friend.

“This was way different that anything else I've ever done,” Cudi, who also scored the film, told Billboard before the film's premiere. “It was dope to do that. I felt like I had a responsibility to present a different walk in life from that world.”

Cudi lamented that scenes in which he comes out and kisses a male friend (David Call) were cut.

“When he comes out of the closet it's not really a thing. I think that's something the world needs to see. 'Cause it's not a thing. We're all equal.”

“I'm mad [director Josh Modi] cut out my kissing scenes with David,” Cudi said after the premiere, where he watched the finished film for the first time. “We made out so many times – and it was so good! That's my only gripe.”

Cudi added that he had no hesitation in playing a gay character:

 “My thing is what story are we trying to tell here. I didn't flinch. 

I'm secure with mine. I'm an artist – it's about playing characters that are intriguing and stimulating.”

SOURCE: ON TOP MAG

TODAY IS CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY!

BILL GATES PREDICTS HIV VACCINE IN NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has predicted that a vaccine, and new more intensive drugs to combat HIV will be available in the next fifteen years.

Gates made the prediction at the World Economic Forum in Davos, describing the two steps forward as “miracles”, but saying they are within reach.

As well as saying he thinks a vaccination would be available for HIV, and the new drugs, he said he thought the need for lifelong treatment would be eradicated, and the numbers of new diagnoses would be curbed.

“We’re pretty optimistic in this 15-year period we will get those two new tools,” he said.

“We won’t see the end of AIDS,” Gates continued. “But both for malaria and AIDS we’re seeing the tools that will let us do 95-100% reduction. Those tools will be invented during this 15-year period.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was set up in 2000 by the billionaires, and in their annual letter about the work of the organisation this year, said: “When we reach that point in the region with the most dense HIV transmission in the world, cases will start going down everywhere around the globe for the first time since the disease was discovered more than 30 years ago.”

Bill Gates has donated over $30 million (£20 million) to the foundation.

SOURCE: PINKNEWS

COPING WITH BEING THE THIRD WHEEL WHEN ALL YOUR FRIENDS ARE COUPLED UP

I once thought that everyone looked at coupling and the single life the same way I did. Now after numerous conversations with my peers over the simplest things regarding the two subjects, I now see that I was wrong. As a matter of fact, the commentary I get reminds me that some views on relationships haven’t changed since the “Sex and the City”era.

There are days when I would randomly talk to my peers at the coffee shop or online Facebook chats about my life as a single person. I never using the word “single” in my conversations, but I do talk about what I do when I’m alone to some of my closest friends. I’m a social introvert. I like to be alone a lot, even though I never turn down an opportunity to come to a little get together with some of my closest friends.

It just so turns out that a lot of my friends have a significant other with them.

When it comes to my friends, 98 percent of them have a partner. Whether they are married or in a relationship, they are taken 100 percent. Somewhere down the line, I began to accept the fact that no matter where I was, I would always end up as that one person who comes to a get together alone.

I have been the third wheel on many occasions. One time I went to a dinner with two couples. They thought I felt uncomfortable as the fifth wheel, but I wasn’t. I ordered the food and beer that I wanted. I even asked them questions about their lives together as a couple. I was showing that them being a couple wasn’t a problem with me whatsoever. I actually enjoyed their company and wanted to know more about them if they were willing to share with me.

It took some time for them to realize that, but eventually, they saw that I was comfortable with being the only single person in a room full of taken men and women. But of course, they began asking me what I do when I’m alone since I don’t have a partner. I shared my stories, and a lot of them sometimes wonder if I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown or something. There are a lot of things I do just like couples.

One night, I was drinking a bottle of red wine after finishing homework for class and I was wearing nothing but boxers and roaming around my apartment like a cartoon character when the buzz kicked in. I got to my bed after moving around and watched the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” on my computer. When the movie got to the part where they were in Italy eating pizza in Naples, I began to feel hungry myself for pizza. It was 1:30am and I was drunk in my kitchen, half naked, baking a large homemade pepperoni pizza in my apartment alone.

My peers weighed in after I told that story. They told me that they couldn’t do that alone. At one point, they thought I was crazy.

For me, I was happy about what I did that night. Even though that night would’ve been extra wonderful with someone else in the room, I still treasure moments like that until the day I’m off the market.

I think my conformity to the single life came from growing up as an only child with parents who were workaholics. They were rarely in the house. So I was alone most of my time with my dog, video games, and constant library rented movies. Over the years, I became career focused. I was taught to focus on your career and create my foundation before I ever got the idea of dating someone. It’s that old saying:

“If you don’t know how to be by yourself, what are you going to do with somebody else?”

So for all the single people, enjoy it while you can. Don’t be jealous or embarrassed when you see two people together or alone in a room with other couples. Praise and celebrate with them, and keep the idea that it will happen to you as well.

In the meantime, take yourself out to dinner, have a glass of wine, and show how much you love yourself. Go the movies or rock concert. Take yourself to the club and get turnt up by yourself with friends. Order a gyro and eat it by yourself. Strut your way down your city and feel proud to be single. You know there is someone out for you, but continue having fun until the day that happens.

SOURCE: MUSED MAG