Open Question: So in Texas do they not use their brains?
thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/10/16/3712803/texas-lgbt-discrimination-ken-paxton/?ref=yfp
Daily Archives: October 16, 2015
Ex NFL Hunk Brendan Schaub Reveals Jock-Strapped Tight End On Fox Sports
Ex NFL Hunk Brendan Schaub Reveals Jock-Strapped Tight End On Fox Sports
Brendan Schaub was once a professional football player for the AFL’s Utah Blaze, but these days UFC is his sport of choice. After paying his dues in the cage, he now co-hosts The Fighter and the Kid, a weekly MMA podcast on Fox Sports.
But, as you can see in the below photo, he certainly hasn’t let himself go now that he’s behind the mic:
And now for some bad news. We considered just letting the fantasy live, but the pic appears to be a photoshopped version of the below image that Schaub tweeted:
We’re going to stick with blissful ignorance, though, and pretend we never saw the original.
Dan Tracer
The one day that sparked an amazing rise in people coming out on Facebook: After the Supreme Court upheld same-sex marriage rights nationwide, there was an enormous spike in the number of Americans coming out on Facebook.
The one day that sparked an amazing rise in people coming out on Facebook: After the Supreme Court upheld same-sex marriage rights nationwide, there was an enormous spike in the number of Americans coming out on Facebook.
submitted by piede
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The one day that sparked an amazing rise in people coming out on Facebook: After the Supreme Court upheld same-sex marriage rights nationwide, there was an enormous spike in the number of Americans coming out on Facebook.
byu/piede inlgbt
Kickboxer Picks Up, ‘Marries’ Cristiano Ronaldo in Morocco: PHOTOS
Kickboxer Picks Up, ‘Marries’ Cristiano Ronaldo in Morocco: PHOTOS
Soccer stud Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have had quite the bromance during his vacation in Morocco.
While taking a respite from his busy pants-dropping and fútbol schedule, he hung out with his good “bro”, Moroccan super heavyweight boxer Badr Hari (below).
Hari was apparently more than happy to play ambassador and host to Ronaldo during his stay.
Welcome to Morocco, bro!
And as good bros do, they got a little…well, faux-flirtatious?
While hanging poolside, this pic happened. And Hari shared it on Instagram with the caption, “Just married Hahahaha 
❤️. Always there to pick you up bro.”
Sadly, the bro-cation had to come to an end, as all bro-cations must. The two “newlyweds” made sure to grab a goodbye meal together with their other bros, before going their separate ways.
Til next time, bros. And congratulations?
The post Kickboxer Picks Up, ‘Marries’ Cristiano Ronaldo in Morocco: PHOTOS appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
Kickboxer Picks Up, ‘Marries’ Cristiano Ronaldo in Morocco: PHOTOS
Bernie Sanders Gives Martin Shkreli's Donation to an HIV Clinic
Bernie Sanders Gives Martin Shkreli's Donation to an HIV Clinic
Bernie Sanders has refused to accept the donation of a pharmaceutical CEO who controversially raised the price of an AIDS medication.
Instead, the presidential hopeful has donated the sum — $2,700, the maximum amount allowed from a private donor — to Whitman-Walker Health, a Washington, D.C.-based clinic that specializes in the treatment of HIV patients and the LGBT community, reports the Boston Globe.
“We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” said Michael Briggs, the campaign spokesperson of Sanders, about the donation from Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Shkreli made headlines in September when he hiked the price of Daraprim, a vital part of treating toxoplasmosis (which disproportionately affects patients with HIV and AIDS), by more than 5,000 percent, from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
Sanders, a Democratic candidate who is an outspoken opponent of “Big Money” and an advocate for lowering drug prices, joined the many voices, including Hillary Clinton, who decried Shkreli’s actions.
“I would lump Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry at the top of my list of people who do not like me,” he said during Tuesday night’s debate of Democratic presidential candidates. During this time, Shkreli tweeted about his donation, which was made September 28.
Shkreli has defended the price hike, maintaining it is a necessary increase that will support research and development for a better treatment. An unlikely supporter of the 74-year-old liberal, he says he made the donation in the hopes of obtaining a private meeting with the Vermont senator, in order to explain his position.
“I’d ask him, what role does innovation play in health care?” Shkreli stated. “Is he willing to sort of accept that there is a tradeoff, that to take risks for innovation, companies have to invest lots of money and they need some kind of return for that, and what does he think that should look like?”
Shkreli is now “furious” that this meeting will not occur, and fears Sanders is “appealing to the masses, that he’s just kind of talking out of his rear end so that he gets some votes.”
He is also not pleased with how Sanders responded to his donation.
If @BernieSanders doesnt want my $, he can send it back to me. Keeping it & then donating that amount to charity means he still accepted it.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 16, 2015
In his interview with the Globe, Shkreli expressed an even less favorable view of Clinton, saying, “I don’t think she really stands for anything.” But the former secretary state also had sharp criticism for the 32-year-old CEO at a recent Human Rights Campaign gala, in which she made several key promises to the LGBT community.
“Now with pressure from me and others, the CEO of the drug company says he’ll lower the price, but he hasn’t done it yet, and every day that he stalls, people with HIV are forced to worry and wait, and pay hundreds of dollars more, for medication that keeps them well,” she said. “That is wrong, and as president, I’ll take on the drug companies, I’ll cap out-of-pocket expenses for people with chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS.”
Daniel Reynolds
www.advocate.com/politics/2015/10/16/bernie-sanders-gives-martin-shkrelis-donation-hiv-clinic
Texans Owner Donates $10,000 To Fight LGBT Protections In Houston
Texans Owner Donates $10,000 To Fight LGBT Protections In Houston
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has donated $10,000 to Campaign for Houston, an organization that opposes the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a nondiscrimination law that’s up for vote on November 3rd.
While the ordinance provides wide-ranging nondiscrimination protections for Houston residents and visitors, including in cases of race, sexuality, gender, disability, nationality, and religion, the Campaign for Houston has centered in on LGBT protections, particularly the fact that this law allows trans women to use women’s restrooms and trans men to use men’s restrooms.
“We are Citizens of Houston of all races, creeds and political beliefs who feel there should be NO MEN IN WOMEN’S BATHROOMS,” the organization’s website reads.
Last month, former Houston Astros star Lance Berkman repeated this rhetoric when he was featured in an ad produced by Campaign for Houston. “Proposition 1, the bathroom ordinance, would allow troubled men to enter women’s public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms. This would violate their privacy and put them in harm’s way,” Berkman said.
McNair, who has a net worth of approximately $3.3 billion, frequently supports conservative causes. According to the Washington Examiner, between 2009-2013, McNair donated nearly $3.4 million to conservative politicians and policies, with “most of it going to pro-Mitt Romney super PACs in the final weeks of the 2012 election cycle.” Texas Monthly calculated that since the beginning of 2015, he’s given more than $6 million to GOP candidates across the country, including Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, and Lindsey Graham.
Considering the NFL owner’s history of political contributions, Richard Carlbom, the campaign manager for Houston Unites — a coalition supporting HERO — wasn’t surprised or alarmed by McNair’s donation. “McNair is a conservative donor, and the folks that are running the Campaign for Houston are his close friends,” Carlbom told ThinkProgress. “The important perspective here is that they sent a letter to hundreds of business leaders in the community asking for donations, and he is the one high-profile person they can point to that made a donation.”
The NFL’s interest in Houston’s nondiscrimination ordinance goes beyond McNair, however: The city is set to host the Super Bowl in 2017. In 2014, Arizona was in the news due to the state’s Religious Freedoms Restoration Act, which allowed businesses the right to discriminate against customers and patrons based on their religious beliefs. The bill was considered a “license to discriminate” against LGBT customers.
At the time, the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury all spoke out against the law. The NFL even released a statement that said, “Our policies emphasize tolerance and inclusiveness, and prohibit discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other improper standard.”
Many believed that the league would move the Super Bowl from Arizona if the bill was passed, but Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed it before that became an issue. The same concern has been raised in Houston.
“The HERO supporters have tried to scare people into believing that we would lose the Super Bowl,” Campaign for Houston spokesman Jared Woodfill told the Houston Chronicle. “Obviously, if there were any truth behind that, Bob McNair wouldn’t be donating to the folks that are opposed to the ordinance.”
But Carlbom said that because Houston is one of the only major cities in the United States without a nondiscrimination ordinance in place, if the law is not passed next month, it could send a signal to organizations like the NFL that Houston isn’t a safe place to hold big events.
McNair addressed his donation in a statement released by Texans communications director Kevin Cooper:
“Houston is a city known for the diversity and exceptionalism of its hard working people. We are also a city that works to ensure that everyone is treated respectfully and fairly.
“I strongly believe that everyone who lives or works in or visits Houston should be treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Because of the way the HERO ordinance is written, it has begun to separate rather than unite our community. This problem can be solved by defeating the current bill in November, thoughtfully rewriting it and then resubmitting it to the voters.”
Tags
The post Texans Owner Donates $10,000 To Fight LGBT Protections In Houston appeared first on ThinkProgress.
Lindsay Gibbs
thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/10/16/3713392/texans-owner-lgbt-rights/
Valerie Jarrett Doesn't Think America Would Embrace An Anti-Gay President
Valerie Jarrett Doesn't Think America Would Embrace An Anti-Gay President
Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett has a message for the GOP presidential candidates — namely, Rand Paul, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz — who’ve been running on an anti-gay agenda.
“It might be interesting in the 24-hour news cycle,” she told me in a recent interview on SiriusXM Progress. “But ultimately… the American people don’t embrace that kind of opinion.”
Jarrett, who spoke with me about a groundbreaking federal report that calls for ending “conversion therapy” programs for minors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, responded to Rand Paul’s assertion in Iowa several days earlier that LGBT people don’t need to be protected by law against discrimination in employment. Paul, in backing up his claim, said, “If you are gay, there are plenty of places that will hire you,” explaining that “the things you do in your house, just leave those in your house and they wouldn’t have to be a part of the workplace.”
“Well, this is what I would say to you on that subject,” Jarrett said. “President Obama was elected not once, but twice based on his vision of America, which is one that unifies us, one that is inclusive, that says we should embrace all of our citizens, that we are a nation of immigrants, and that diversity is a strength. And that’s what the majority of the American people voted for, not once, but twice.”
Jarrett also discussed a report that was released this week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which looked at statements from across the spectrum of child adolescent and development experts regarding both gender identity and sexual orientation. The White House had previously called for banning “conversion therapy” for minors, something three states (California, Oregon and New Jersey) have already done.
“The report concluded firmly that conversion therapy — and the goal of conversion therapy is to change someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression — and it concludes that it’s not appropriate for mental health providers to engage in, and so this is a really important report,” Jarrett said. “What we should be doing is celebrating our young people, allowing them to be who they are, loving them for who they are, and not trying to change their identity.”
Jarrett talked about the immense progress the Obama administration has made on LGBT equality, sharing a story about the successful push to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which illustrates the great strides.
“I went to the Defense Department on the first anniversary of [the repeal],” she recounted. “And I sat there in the Pentagon with people in uniform who had to [previously] sneak into my office at the White House to talk about how important it would be to repeal it and who were saying, ‘You know, here we are in the military. We’re making this pledge and this oath and we’re having to lie about who we are.’ And so, for me to see them, sitting there in their uniforms, embraced by the Secretary of Defense — it just shows you how much progress we have made.”
In a lighter moment, Jarrett also weighed in on the plot line of “The Good Wife,” the CBS drama on which she made an appearance as herself last season, urging Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) to run for state’s attorney in Illinois. She said she decided do the show because she believes more women need to enter politics and it was an opportunity to put that message forth.
Asked if she believes Florrick’s husband, Gov. Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), should be chosen by Hillary Clinton as a vice presidential running mate should she win the Democratic nomination — something for which the character is positioning himself, as the 2016 presidential race is part of the storyline this season — Jarrett answered with a definitive no.
“I think she should think about Alicia,” she advised. “I would go back to the candidate that I brought to the party, and I’d say hands down I’d pick Alicia over Peter, any day. But if not, then maybe next year Alicia will actually run for president.”
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Open Question: Political Surveyy??
Open Question: Political Surveyy??
1. Gay marriage/LGBT rights?
2. Do you believe in God?
3. Abortion?
4. Environment?
5. Education?
6. your age?
7. Guns?
8. Christianity? 1. They have enough rights.
2. Yes
3. Its disgusting
4. Environment is fine. The world will end when Christ returns
5. Make college cheaper and allow school vouchers
6. 21
7. People have the right to own one
8. JESUS is the only way to heaven
HRC and Partner Organizations Release Guide for LGBT Asylum Seekers
HRC and Partner Organizations Release Guide for LGBT Asylum Seekers
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, in partnership with the LGBT Freedom and Asylum Network (LGBT-FAN) and the National LGBTQ Task Force, launched a new guide titled Stronger Together: A Guide to Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers.
HRC.org
Shirtless Christiano Ronaldo Gets Cozy With Another Dude By The Pool
Shirtless Christiano Ronaldo Gets Cozy With Another Dude By The Pool
Bromance alert!
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and heavyweight kickboxer Badr Hari are currently having the time of their lives in Morocco. The guys are on holiday together, engaging in shirtless poolside horseplay and joking about being “married” on Instagram.
Related: Finally! The Nude Photo Of Cristiano Ronaldo We’ve All Been Waiting For
Ronaldo, of course, is one of the most famous soccer stars in the world, and Hari is widely considered one of the best kickboxers on the planet, known for his dramatic and, at times, violent outbursts both inside and outside of the ring, though he seems to be keeping his temper in check for Cristiano.
Scroll down to see pictures from their vacation…
h/t: Daily Mail
Graham Gremore
