So many devastating things happened this week, but this is something wonderful: Irish PM Leo Varadkar brought his partner to a dinner with famously homophobic Mother Pence & Mother’s Husband. [Towleroad]
Details about the mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. [Pajiba]
I don’t really get the editorial decision behind the new Vogue covers. [Dlisted]
Yay for Lilly Singh, what great news. [LaineyGossip]
Shay Mitchell totally looks like Budget Kylie Jenner. [Go Fug Yourself]
This is how Operation Varsity Blues began. [Jezebel]
Carly Rae Jepsen’s ginger cat is amazing. [OMG Blog]
Lisa Vanderpump manipulated the Puppygate situation. [Reality Tea]
JK Rowling says we’ll never see Dumbledore be openly gay, but he totally is. [The Blemish]
Vice President Mike Pence invited me and Matt to his home at the Naval Observatory this morning. It’s great to be back here for a really warm reception. pic.twitter.com/Wkh2Ic8lWP
— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) March 14, 2019
The Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar called out various forms of discrimination in a meeting with Mike Pence on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/zJwr6Oxije
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 14, 2019
Now that is expert level trolling. Mother Pence must have been so uncomfortable. And let’s not even get started on Mike. That pained smile he does is pretty much what he probably looked like the entire time.
Pence looks like he’s about to vomit!
To be fair he always looks like that.
@ Steph : yes, he does. He looked even worse when he sat behind Trump at the State of the Union address IMO.
Congrats to Irish PM Leo Varadkar and his partner for living out loud . Bless your little hearts, gentlemen. Rock on.
Naw, he looks like he’s checking him out in that particular photo to me and thinking “That’s a fine looking, tall, young man…and I mean that totally platonically. These are normal non-gay thoughts.”
Yeah, in all the photos it looks to me like he’s rather enjoying himself.
Exactly, pence looks looks like he’s into him, actually.
My husband and I have always said, if Trump gets a 2nd term, it’s off to Ireland for us. From everything I’ve heard, Leo Varadkar is an amazing Taoiseach.
I’ll be honest with you, from an Irish person; he’s not. His party has terrible policies towards the most vulnerable of society and his support of progressive social issues (including gay marriage!) has only come long after the public protested and fought for those changes. For example, he was opposed to repealing Irelands strict abortion laws up until he saw that it was going to be a major factor in his popularity. Only then did he come out and stand up for women (even though 11 a day were travelling to get health care in the UK). He’s not the worst that we’ve had for sure and this is a cool thing that he did.
I agree with you Babadook, he’s a bit of a Thatcherite. As right wing as you can get in ireland which admittedly isn’t very right wing at all!
However, I will say that I think his change on abortion came because he really did listen to women’s stories and when presented with all the information, he knew it was the right thing to do.
I also think it’s telling that while plenty of people in ireland dislike him, I’ve never anyone criticise him because of his sexuality or his race.
(I also just love the optics of Leo visiting Pence, hand in hand with his boyfriend. Next level trolling)
Still better than Trump?
@Lulu, when you say ‘ I also think it’s telling that while plenty of people in ireland dislike him, I’ve never anyone criticise him because of his sexuality or his race.’ is that a refelction on him or the irish people as a whole?
Are you saying he’s good at his job despite his sexuality and/or race? As if either of those things are relevant.
We irish, as a majority, are neither homophobic nor racist therefore those factors do not come in to our critism of him or his ability to do his job.
@dear, i think lulu means unlike in the US, homosexuality is not a big deal to the Irish people apparently. That was my take anyway
Thank you for this! I think a lot of people just assume that just because he’s gay, he must have fairly liberal views. Obviously, that’s not the case.
I am also from Ireland. When Leo was elected my sister from America ring me and said oh my god you guys are so great and so ahead of us blah blah blah. And I said why? And she said because you would like to the gay Prime Minister wow. To be honest I had completely forgotten he was gay. I just known as Leo a kind of so so politician who to be honest is more style than substance. People don’t even think of his gayness hete. They look at all the things he’s done or has not done. I suppose that shows how Ireland has grown so much full stop
I’m not really sure how you can assert the Irish aren’t racist when the country is 90% white. I mean let’s not paint it as a utopian inclusive society. It hasn’t had the opportunity to be racist. But knowing what I know living in Boston, essentially the most Irish American city full of first generation immigrants, my experience as a person of color has not been uh, positive. A very famous Irish celebrity recently told some very horrific racist stories from his youth.
Katherine
But ginormous strides in social progress *have* been taken, these past ten years alone . We can’t deny the stupidity of running a crntre-right government in a nation that needs basic resources protected and nationalised, etc etc….but so much now is truly unrecognisable, and it’s all for the good and cannot be undone by bigotry should it arise. 🙏🏼
(Grrrr what *wasn’t* for the good was Rahm Emmanual thrusting that uncontrollable thug Conor McGregor to march alongside the bemused Taoiseach in the StPday parade in Chicago today. Poor diplomacy. )
And it’s not like he would have been unaware of the issues women were facing, he was a Doctor. I’ve no time for him as a politician myself.
PS Boston Irish are a very different type from the Irish at home.
Have a good day, and steer clear of their green beer!
Greetings from the land of multicultural St Patrick’s Day rave-ups! ☘️It’s been fantabulous. Couldn’t get into the bookshop due to a Rio-level flamenco/carnival dance extravaganza. Everyone radiantly happehh! It’s wonderful. Hipsters in tweed jackets and beards are having the time of their lives, looking like actors today!
But about dear Leo: yeah a congenial gay man isn’t necessarily an Anarcho-Syndicalist and Radical Feminist. (Though he has absorbed late lessons, I believe.) But I’m thrilled by his ‘two fingers’ to Pence and the bigots. (And McGregor 😡)
Let us remember the lesson of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher…..a woman, yes; but no Sister, she.
Am also Irish.
Leo has a veneer of liberality because he is gay, and half-Indian and his Dad was an immigrant but he comes from a centre right conservative party, and he hasn’t been tested as leader in a general election. He’s doing an ok job but we’re very happy to be super critical of our politicians in Ireland.
I’m delighted he took his boyfriend to Pence’s house, but I do remember last year it being report that Pence specifically said come back next year with him. He almost never brings out the boyfriend so it is high-level trolling to do it in this circumstance.
Purpeller
Well said. And second in command Coveney, roaring at Mary Lou Sinn Fein today about the ‘Eff Off England’ banner in the NYC parade. Leo couldn’t very well engage in fisticuffs there.
✌🏽 Did Celebbers see the story of the elderly chap in Manchester, who stood in loving friendship outside the main mosque there, as a guard whilst devotions took place? ? A solo gesture that meant so much x c🙏🏼
On the superficial, Leo and Matt, look good.
bwahahahaha…. I bet Mother is spending her days at trump hotel while the vp house is fumigated. you just know she’s called in bible thumpers to go thru every room chanting prayers or whatever it is they do…
gawd, I love this one.
@ mycomment : As a bible thumper of sorts, I can tell you that I have never chanted in any of my rooms. LOL. I don’t clean them much either. Too busy catching up on Celebitchy, my favourite news source!
And as for fumigating, I have never done this. One time when I had mice in my old house, I simply got a cat (from a rescue organization, of course) and left the dirty deed to him. RIP, Jack the Cat/ Mr. Jack/ Jackie Boy. A ginger for the ages.
Burn it down!
IN YOUR FACE, PENCE!
Anything to make him uncomfortable, I’m 150% there for it.
Hell yes
+1000
Pence better get used to being uncomfortable, because if whatever theology he pretends to believe in is true, Jesus is going to be very pissed at him when the time comes, and is going to kick his a** from here to Hades.
@ Kittycat : I see your “hell yes” and raise you a “boom”! LOL
That’s the St. Patrick’s day gift we are needed!! Love you Leo
That’s what I read too. She was in Dubai.
I read somewhere that the wife was not there for the visit, the lady in pink is his sister.
Correction – Mother Pence did NOT attend. The article says that’s Pence’s sister. How Christian of Mother.
Adding: “This is the first time that Vice President Pence has hosted an openly gay world leader at his residence, though that may simply be a reflection of their low numbers,” the paper [Washington Post] adds. Hahahaha
This story made my day. Maybe even my year. Thank you Leo & Matt!!!
Mother Pence had one of those oldenday faint-attacks and had to lie down.
I love this SO much. Well done!
That’s not Karen Pence in the photo, though?
You are correct. It’s Pence’s sister. Mother was attending the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi.
We can just call mike pence Ofmother
it’s his sister. His wife probably refused to attend.
Pence is so jealous of Leo, you just know it.
Shay Mitchell is so beautiful and interesting looking, I hate that she looks like a budget Kylie.
Also, I’m sick of JK Rowlinng’s sh*t.
The partner looks really young.
He’s from Cork…..the soft damp air here rejuvenates us daily. Dr Matt is older than he looks.
Hmmmmm mmmmm (in Wendy Williams tone.)
I am so loving this. Unbelievably great to see. Eff off, Pence. You are a terrible representation of America. The Irish dudes get all kudos and respect from me. You rock!!!
This has made my day! Epic trolling!
From a Muslim Celebitchier, this is a hard day. As my husband went to the mosque for prayers, I found myself terrified that someone would be a copycat shooter.
One love, everyone. Thank you to all the kindness from people of all faiths.
Terrifying! Sending positive thoughts your way.
As salaam alaikum. One world, one race.
Much love from a pagan ally. There’s no room for hate in our world.
His wife probably couldn’t attend because of the school she works at…imagine that
I still can’t comprehend that something so horrific has happened in beautiful small Christchurch. Hopefully NZ will tighten its gun laws now, which are pretty lax compared to Australia and the UK’s.
It’s horrific – I can’t even comprehend it. As an Australian who grew up in Tasmania, not far from Port Arthur – it brings back a lot of scary memories. I’m heartbroken for all Kiwis and the Muslim community worldwide.
I have no doubt the NZ government will be swift in fixing the gun laws, just like Aus and the UK did following similar heinous attacks. If only the US could have the same response.
Much love to everyone. I’m heartbroken.
It’s terrifying that it only took a month for this white supremist to stockpile his weapons. A month! Hopefully NZ will set up a national gun registry to prevent someone from being able to do that again.
I believe I’ve read that there are a lot of neo-Nazis in NZ. My husband has been many times and said they’re not an unusual sight in Christchurch.
Heartbreaking sadness in a nation seemingly free of this one-man ideological plague.
But on reflection, and completely ignoring the native Maori population as ever, New Zealand has, for all my life (60+), been seen as an idyllic return to England as it was in the 1950s. Which if you were white was a jolly nice place to live, except that you needed considerable economic cushioning, and blinkers, as the country was in fact racist, brutally tough, and impoverished for many.
But NZ offered popular post-war emigration for the many who flinched morally at the thought of South Africa. It seemed by far the more decent option .
These right wing sociopaths think they can preserve a vision of old England that was badly warped all along, it never existed in GB, let alone in New Zealand. (Proves to me that, worldwide, ideology is way inferior to love of shooting)
But NZ did grow into a civilised young nation of its own, not just a large-scale Hertfordshire.
It appears that this grim terror strike may prevent civic/racial divides there before they ever crystallised. In that sense, the dead will be honoured martyrs, whose loss has shown the country its own peaceful reflection, reminded NZ of its true colours, and they are GOOD.
Rest in peace: One Love 🙏🏼
A sad day for a kiwi celebitchies…
The rise of right wing extremism is so scary 🙁