Hillary Clinton promises to fight for LGBTI equality

Hillary Clinton is making sure LGBTI voters know she wants their support. Today, 3 October, the Democratic Party presidential candidate spoke to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights organization in the US.

‘I see the injustices and dangers that you and your family still face,’ Clinton said, according to the New York Times. ‘I am running for president to end them once and for all.’

The former secretary of state was enthusiastically received by a crowd of approximately 800 grassroots leaders. Her appearance today is cover for the scheduling conflict with the group’s national dinner, to be held tonight.

While she shows her comedy skills on Saturday Night Live, Vice President Joe Biden will give tonight’s HRC keynote address. The Democrat is mulling his own run for the White House.

Clinton applauded the end of the country’s military policy that did not permit troops to serve openly.

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is over,’ she said. ‘But that doesn’t change the fact that more than 14,000 men and women were forced out of the military for being gay.’

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell started when President Bill Clinton was in the White House.

She praised HRC for its marriage equality work.

‘I am running for president to stand for the fundamental rights of LGBT Americans and all Americans,’ Mrs. Clinton noted. ‘That’s a promise from one HRC to another.’

Clinton’s full name is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She also pointed to the troubling statistics of anti-transgender crime.

‘We’ve got to address the growing crises of transgender violence. Transgender people are valued. They are loved. They are us.’

The group’s president, Chad Griffin, is a former Clinton aide. The organization usually does not endorse until the general election.

Tonight’s event is sold out and expected to draw over 3,000 guests. Apple CEO Tim Cook and actress Ellen Page will be honored.

 

The post Hillary Clinton promises to fight for LGBTI equality appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/hillary-clinton-promises-to-fight-for-lgbti-equality/

REVIEW: Spartacus Hotel – Seminyak, Bali

It had been a long flight from London to Denpasar. It was then about a 40 minute taxi ride from the airport to Seminyak where my accommodation was for the first night of my holiday.

The grandly named Spartacus.

The taxi-driver had a little difficulty finding it, but phoned ahead for precise directions. The entrance was discrete, but once inside the grounds are immediately attractive, the rooms surrounding a central pool.

The rooms were spacious – simple and modern without being luxurious. Extra points for having a towel swan to welcome me on the bed.

Spartacus is a men-only kind of place, but there wasn’t anything sleazy or overtly sexual about it. Other guests seemed generally friendly, but if you weren’t looking for conversation then you could easily just mind your own business.

All rooms were fully booked during my stay and it was a mixed crowd – some couples, groups of friends on holidays – most people seemed to be in the 30-50 age bracket.

The service was friendly and professional, and the wifi worked in the rooms and around the pool.

It was an easy walk to the bars and restaurants of Seminyak, and taxis were readily available for exploring the island.

Highly recommended.

Read more from Gareth Johnson

Read more hotel reviews

The post REVIEW: Spartacus Hotel – Seminyak, Bali appeared first on Gay Star News.

Gareth Johnson

www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-spartacus-hotel-seminyak-bali/

Gay Iconography: Little Richard’s Rocking Legacy

When it comes to icons, there are few who could stake a more legitimate claim than Little Richard. The flamboyant legend has been credited as the creator and architect of rock ’n’ roll, fusing rhythm and blues with his over-the-top performance style and wild, powerful voice.

If there was ever any doubt of the impact Richards had on the last seven decades, just take a look at the artists he personally touched. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones opened for him on tour. Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards explained after hearing Little Richard’s song “Tutti Frutti,” “it was if, in a single instant, the world changed from monochrome to Technicolor.” Other artists who have claimed Little Richard as an inspiration include Rod Stewart, Lou Reed and David Bowie (who compared his own experience hearing “Tutti Frutti” to hearing God).

There’s more to Richard’s legacy than the birth of a new genre. He also successfully brought together black and white audiences at a time when racial tensions ran at an all-time high. His wild, passionate performances drew black audiences down from the balcony seats to rush the stage among the white concertgoers on the floor as the two races danced together.

His pioneering mainstream success as a black rock ’n’ roller is even more impressive when you consider his persona. Richard began his career performing in drag, but his signature make-up, pencil-thin mustache and pompadour persisted throughout his early success. The costumes became more and more extravagant, including capes, jewels and even suits made of glass. His overtly feminine presentation didn’t stop him from creating a slew of hits.

For an interview in Playboy magazine, Little Richard told director John Waters: “I love gay people. I believe I was the founder of gay. I’m the one who started to be so bold tellin’ the world! You got to remember my dad put me out of the house because of that. I used to take my mother’s curtains and put them on my shoulders. And I used to call myself at the time the Magnificent One. I was wearing make-up and eyelashes when no men were wearing that. I was very beautiful; I had hair hanging everywhere. If you let anybody know you was gay, you was in trouble; so when I came out I didn’t care what nobody thought. A lot of people were scared to be with me.”

But Richard’s sexuality was still a matter of discussion. He’s identified as gay, bisexual and omnisexual over the years, having had a longterm, complicated relationship with former stripper Lee Angel and a short-lived marriage to Ernestine Campbell. However, an authorized biography, The Life and Times of Little Richard, outlined Richard’s wild ways, including orgies, voyeurisms and threesomes (including one with him, Angel and Buddy Holly). His more outrageous sexual exploits only further complicate Richard’s identity, which is also deeply connected to God and religion. (Richard was raised evangelical, became a minister after briefly quitting showbiz and remains deeply religious to this day.)

Regardless of Richard’s personal connection to the LGBT community, his contributions to queering the mainstream history of rock ’n’ roll can’t be denied. Take a look at some of our favorite clips of Richard in action, below.

Little Richard recorded “Tutti Frutti” in 1955. The song’s original lyrics were “Tutti Frutti, good booty/ If it don’t fit, don’t force it/ You can grease it, make it easy…” but were changed to be less graphic. The song became Richard’s first hit and has since been recognized as one of the most important songs of all time, ushering in the era of rock ’n’ roll. In 2010, it was added to the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

Richard’s song “Lucille,” was one of a string of hits, including “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Rip It Up” and “The Girl Can’t Help It.” “Lucille” reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and 21 on the Pop chart.

The Beatles, who opened for Little Richard, all claimed to be influenced by the piano playing superstar. John Lennon said when he heard “Long Tall Sally,” “It was so great I couldn’t speak. You know how you are torn. I didn’t want to leave Elvis, but this was so much better.” “Long Tall Sally” was the first song Paul McCartney played in public. When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, George Harrison thanked Richard by name. It’s also been said that Richard taught Paul McCartney how to sing with his signature scream.

His contributions aren’t limited to just music. He appeared in Disney’s first R-rated film, Down and Out In Beverly Hills in 1986, launching a career resurgence. In the film, he performs “Great Gosh a’Mighty,” which you can see in the clip above.

Despite the salacious details of Richard’s early days on the road, he has made several contributions to children’s programming. He’s appeared several times on Sesame Street, had a memorable cameo in Pee-Wee’s Christmas Special and even recording a rocking cover of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” (which led to a children’s album for Disney titled Shake It All About).

What’s your favorite Little Richard track?

The post Gay Iconography: Little Richard’s Rocking Legacy appeared first on Towleroad.

Bobby Hankinson

Gay Iconography: Little Richard’s Rocking Legacy

REVIEW: Warung Eny – Seminyak, Bali

My first night in Bali and I went out for a walk in Seminyak – primarily trying to get my body moving again after a long flight, but also to find something to eat.

There’s a huge array of restaurants to choose from in this district – from the high-end expensive to simple local cooking.

I was looking for simple local cooking and so opted for a relaxed looking cafe called Warung Eny.

What caught my attention was the smoke billowing from the outdoor charcoal grill, where they were cooking chicken over dried coconut husks.

Friendly and welcoming, I was soon tucking into a plate of nasi goreng with chicken – washed down with a large bottle of Bintang beer.

Nasi goreng is one of my favorite Indonesian dishes – it always seems to taste better when you’re eating it in an open-air cafe somewhere tropical and warm.

A good start to the holiday.

Read more from Gareth Johnson

Read more restaurant reviews

The post REVIEW: Warung Eny – Seminyak, Bali appeared first on Gay Star News.

Gareth Johnson

www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-warung-eny-seminyak-bali/

WATCH: Hillary Clinton Promises to Fight for LGBT Equality in Human Rights Campaign Speech

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the Human Rights Campaign at a daytime event before the group’s Washington D.C. gala this evening at which Vice President Joe Biden will give the keynote address. Clinton is appearing on the premiere of Saturday Night Live.

Clinton warned those gathered that the rights the LGBT community has fought so hard for could be taken away by conservatives and it is important to be vigilant.

“There are still public officials doing everything in their power to interfere with your rights.”

She referred to Mike Huckabee and Kim Davis:

“We assure [gay youth] it gets better, but it can still be really hard to believe that especially when you turn on the TV and you see a Republican candidate for president literally standing in the courthouse door in Kentucky calling for people to join him in resisting a Supreme Court ruling, celebrating a Kentucky clerk who’s breaking the law by denying other Americans their constitutional rights.”

She spoke of the international human rights abuses with regard to the LGBT community:

“Hundreds of millions of people live in places where they would be arrested, even executed for being gay…Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. I believe with all my heart the United States does have to stand up for human rights everywhere.”

Clinton told the group that military records should be corrected for service members discharged dishonorably for being gay:

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is over, but that doesn’t change the fact that more than 14,000 men and women were forced out of the military for being gay, some long before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell even existed,” Clinton said, referring to the 1993 law that allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military if they did not reveal their sexual orientation.

“They were given less than honorable discharges,” Hillary Clinton said. “I can’t think of a better way to thank those men and women for their service than by upgrading their service records.”

She also said that transgender people should be able to serve openly in the military.

Clinton also got huge applause when she said that Congress needs to pass the Equality Act which would forbid anti-LGBT discrimination across the nation:

“It’s a great noble piece of legislation. As president, I will fight for it and I hope many of you will be with me when I sign it.”

Watch highlights from the speech (we’ll publish full video when it’s available):

The post WATCH: Hillary Clinton Promises to Fight for LGBT Equality in Human Rights Campaign Speech appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

WATCH: Hillary Clinton Promises to Fight for LGBT Equality in Human Rights Campaign Speech

Vatican Priest Comes Out, Promptly Fired

A high-raking Polish priest who worked in the Holy See press office was fired from the Vatican after coming out in an Italian newspaper, Buzzfeed reports.

Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa told Corriere della Sera he was gay and in a relationship with a man, adding that he wants the Church to know “he’s happy and proud of his identity.” He also said he was prepared to face the consequences of his decision.

The Catholic Church, under fire lately for a disputed meeting between the Pope and antigay firebrand Kim Davis, wasn’t exactly proud itself; officials fired Charamsa on Saturday. Bishops are set to gather on Sunday to discuss the Church’s stance on family matters, which will likely include its hard-line stances on gay families.

Vatican press officer Frederico Lombardi released the following statement:

“(T)he decision [by Charamsa] to make such a pointed statement on the eve of the opening of the Synod appears very serious and irresponsible, since it aims to subject the Synod assembly to undue media pressure… will certainly be unable to continue to carry out his previous work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical universities, while the other aspects of his situation shall remain the competence of his diocesan Ordinary.”

According to the Vatican, Charamsa has been living in Rome for 17 years and has worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003. He also serves as assistant secretary of the International Theological Commission and teaches theology at two of Rome’s Pontifical universities.

www.advocate.com/religion/2015/10/03/vatican-priest-comes-out-promptly-fired

US figure skater Adam Rippon comes out

US figure skater Adam Rippon has walked out of the closet. He announced he’s gay in the October issue of the US Figure Skating’s official magazine. The 25-year-old has participated in three World Championships, finishing sixth in 2010. He’s not skated in the Olympics; he placed eighth in the 2014 US Championships, missing the 2014 Olympic team.

‘It’s the year 2015. So many more athletes are willing to be open, and it’s part of the culture now to be more open about who you are and what your interests are,’ Rippon said in the magazine, according to NBC Sports.

‘Of course people are interested in your sexual orientation, he continued. ‘People love rumors. When athletes come out and say that they’re gay, it makes it a little more normal and less of a big deal — especially in the athletic community. You have a lot of respect for your fellow athletes for working hard toward a goal. Their sexual orientation takes a backseat to that.’

Rippon hopes he can be a role model to future skaters and tier families.

‘I want to be a relatable example,’ the skater said. ‘And I want to say something to the dad out there who might be concerned that his son is a figure skater. I mean look at me; I’m just a normal son from small-town Pennsylvania. Nothing changed. I’d just like to be a good role model. I’ve been honest with myself the whole time. I worked hard and loved what I did.’

The figure skater is scheduled to compete next week at Finlandia Trophy in Finland.

The post US figure skater Adam Rippon comes out appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-figure-skater-adam-rippon-comes-out/

We Now Know How Many Inches Jake Gyllenhaal Is: WATCH

Radio producer, writer, and podcast host Starlee Kline appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show this week and discussed a recent episode of her podcast Mystery Show. The premise of Mystery Show is to figure out a minor mystery that can’t be solved by Googling alone. On the episode, Kline decided to figure out the actual height of Jake Gyllenhaal because there are online forums devoted to the topic.

RELATED: Jake Gyllenhaal Reacts to SCOTUS’ Marriage Ruling, 10 Year Anniversary of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ – WATCH

Gyllenhaal called in to the show and said he was 5’11” and a half. But the internet still wouldn’t believe it.

So Gyllenhaal showed up to Conan where he was officially measured.

Watch the Jake Gyllenhaal height question get solved:

The post We Now Know How Many Inches Jake Gyllenhaal Is: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

We Now Know How Many Inches Jake Gyllenhaal Is: WATCH

CeCe McDonald Reflects On Life And Activism Since Her Release From Prison

 

This is the first feature in a series that aims to elevate some of the transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals who have played a significant role in the ongoing fight for trans and queer liberation.

In a time when conversations surrounding transgender identity are taking shape at a continually increasing rate in mainstream culture, the images and stories of trans people being broadcast to the public oftentimes don’t reflect the nuances of the vast spectrum of trans experiences. In an effort to challenge and combat this, HuffPost Gay Voices is bringing together significant and historic trans and gender non-conforming figures to share their stories and discuss the ongoing struggle to achieve liberation for all marginalized people.

CeCe McDonald is a name that continually resonates in the hearts and minds of the queer community, and CeCe herself is an individual whose name holds an immense amount weight in conversations surrounding the incarceration of trans women of color and the prison industrial complex. 

McDonald was sentenced in May 2012 to spend 41 months in a men’s prison facility, despite identifying as female, for the death of Dean Schmitz in June 2011. McDonald was walking past a local bar on the night of Schmitz’s death when she became the recipient of racist, transphobic and violent language that evolved into an altercation with Schmitz and other bar patrons. After the group hurled a glass at McDonald’s face, she attempted to defended herself with a pair of scissors, resulting in Schmitz’s death.

Amidst large-scale outcry and support from the queer community, she was released in January 2014 after serving 19 months of her sentence. She now opens up to The Huffington Post about her life since leaving prison, her thoughts about Caitlyn Jenner and her growth as both an activist and a trans woman of color.

 The Huffington Post: How has your life changed both as an activist and as a black trans woman in America since your release from prison?

CeCe McDonald: Well, as an activist I have come to know a lot of people who are just as motivated and inspired to do activist work, especially around liberation for black trans women. But I’ve also come to a point where I have been calling out people on their falsehood and saying that they’re about that life when they’re really not. I’ve been really diligent about making sure people are adamant about the work that they do and who they do it for. And to not co-opt movements – you know, using certain movements for their own personal agenda or gain. 

But as an activist I have grown a lot. I have come to know and understand and learn about different cultures – to respect them. As a black person I do sometimes find myself in my own bigotry, so I’m just learning to decolonize my mind around a lot of shit that I’ve been taught for so long. It’s a process and luckily I have a very supportive, loving community and colleagues that work with me, help me with certain things and let me know. They motivate me more in the work that I do. As an activist I feel like we tend to box ourselves and fight for things that affect us directly, and with intersections of oppression I have learned that I’m connected to every fucked up thing that happens in the world regardless of if I want to see it that way or not.

Right now I’m really focused on the Black Trans Lives Matter movement here in Minneapolis with other trans, queer and gender-nonconforming people of color on doing some more physical action work and just bringing a different forefront to Minnesota in general. 

The Huffington Post: Caitlyn Jenner has completely changed the landscape when it comes to the way mainstream cultures conceptualizes transgender identity. Do you think there are productive things that could come from her form of visibility or do you think that she’s merely another conservative Republican trying to co-opt a movement for her own use?

I feel like me and Caitlyn Jenner only have one thing in common and that is being trans. I’m a black trans woman, she’s a white trans woman. She comes from a background of class and privilege, I don’t. She has money, I don’t.

I feel like society’s idea of “what trans women are” have loosely been based on Caitlyn Jenner coming out, so we fail to realize that this is a person that is definitely a conservative Republican and goes against all the things that we’re fighting for on a daily basis… conservative Republican politics are against women, are against trans women, are against the LGBTQIA community, are against impoverished communities. She seems to have this idea that if “they” can do it, we all can do it — and that’s just not the rhetoric that I feel our community needs to be internalizing. It’s actually laced with so much misogyny and transmisogyny anti-woman politics flowing around. We have trans women who don’t have the ability to transition the way that they want to because of funds and accessibility, having to deal with dysphoria on a day to day basis, and then we have this one trans woman in the media who somehow garnered more attention than Laverne Cox or Janet Mock or Carmen Carrera or any trans woman of color .

I feel like me and Caitlyn Jenner only have one thing in common — and that is being trans.

I’m not saying that she turned trans [to get attention] or anything like that but she’s definitely using our movement to push her own agenda and that’s very frustrating. Just take a look at the trans women and trans women of color who are working so hard to beat these stigmas, stereotypes and ideologies — so all I can say is I support her as a trans woman but that’s as far as it goes.

The Huffington Post: Let’s talk a bit about issues like prison reform and the incarceration of trans women. How do we get people in America to care about these issues and actually seem them as worthy of their time and resources to invest in them?

That’s a good question. We are given this false idea that prisons are safe or prisons protect you or prisons reform the people within them — we have come to see that’s not the case. People come out of prison sometimes worse than when they went in. Prisons not only affect the inmates but they affect the people that work there. We see that prisons take up resources, they take up space and we need to get people to understand that as long as people are using prisons for their own agendas and fear mongering tactics and having people believe that prisons are safe, then that’s what we’re doing to believe. But we need to decolonize our minds around prisons and what prison reform is. We don’t need any more prisons — we need those funds and resources that are put into prisons to be put into our communities, like our schools, our hospitals, our mental health facilities, fair housing and housing programs, employment agencies, places that will actually help people not turn to certain things that will tend to criminalize them and either have them incarcerated or dead. 

We are given this false idea that prisons are safe or prisons protect you or prisons reform the people within them, we have come to see that’s not the case. People come out of prison sometimes worse than when they went in.

The Huffington Post: What’s the best way for people that don’t identify as trans or gender-nonconforming to be allies to trans people, and black trans women specifically, and all of the issues that you’ve been talking about?

That’s an extensive list [laughs]. I feel like one of the ways that people can advocate for trans women in an everyday way is calling out bigotry, sexism, misogny, transmisogny, transphobia and homophobia when you see it… You have to think about how much of yourself that you’re putting out there in relation to you being an advocate for a trans woman. And that goes further than saying “I’m an advocate for a trans person,” you actually have to put in some work. Call out bullshit when it needs to be called out and call it in when it needs to be called in… Also, just supporting trans women on a day to day basis, whether supporting funding for them or helping them register for school or letting trans women know that you are there for them. You know, being an advocate for trans women isn’t just speaking up for trans women, it’s actively being there for trans women. Be able to share your space, do not co-copt our movements or our lives, don’t just tokenize us, don’t use our stories and our images for your own agenda or your own gain and make sure that if you are requesting something from a trans woman that you can pay her. People don’t understand that transitioning, especially medically, is really hard and a lot of trans women don’t have the funds or the resources to do those things. Just think about how we are uplifting and supporting and appreciating trans women – not just tolerating us but actually appreciating us and our stories and our struggles and our transcestors struggles.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I just want people to know that I strive so hard to be an outstanding advocate, not just for my own personal movements but for movements across the globe. I just want people to know that regardless of how I comes across, it’s about me calling things out when they need to be called out and I don’t have an issue with that. I’m tired of feeling like I, or any trans woman of color, feel like they have to walk around on eggshells or be coy and pretend that everything is ok when that’s not the case. And that’s the legacy that I want people to know – that I fought tooth and nail for trans women. That I fought so hard for trans liberation and the liberation of people of color and the ending of conservative politics so that we can try to live and be liberated like we really want to.

Somebody said to me last night that “the work isn’t done until it’s done.” A lot of people just gave up after gay marriage and so many things that they fought for that trans women were a part of, and once they had their victory trans women didn’t seem to matter anymore. And so I’m just saying that I’m not going to continue to support movements that are not supporting trans women because people are, again, co-opting our movement, tokenizing our movements, fantasizing and glamorizing our movements, white-washing our movements, gay-washing our movements and we, as trans women and trans women of color, need to take back out legacies. We need to take back our right to be who we are and not have people taking away our struggles and our transcestors struggles. My legacy is all of our legacies. And it started with Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major and the Stonewall Riots and the cafeteria riots, and those movements gave me the ability to even have this interview right now. Trans people have existed for centuries and we thrive and we will never be extinct. And as long as the human race exists there will always be trans people, there will always be queer people, there will always be gender-nonconforming people and we’re not going anywhere. I want that reality to live on through the lives of generations that come after us. We have to keep fighting — because the work isn’t done until it’s done.

“Free CeCe,” a documentary about the life and incarceration of CeCe McDonald co-produced by Laverne Cox, is currently in post-production and slated for an expected release date of April 2016. Head here for more info or to make a donation.

Check Huffington Post Gay Voices regularly for further conversations with other significant and historic trans and gender-nonconforming figures.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/4a6023de/sc/38/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A0C0A20Ccece0Emcdonald0Ereflects0Eon0Elife0Eand0Eactivism0Esince0Eher0Erelease0Efrom0Eprison0In0I82375660Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

WATCH: Ellen Page Discusses Receiving HRC’s National Vanguard Award with Seth Meyers

On last night’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, actress Ellen Page talked about receiving HRC’s National Vanguard Award at tonight’s 19th annual National Dinner.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/watch-ellen-page-discusses-receiving-hrcs-national-vanguard-award-with-seth?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed