Open Question: Why do Christians get to have and control everything?
They get all the power. They decide if Lgbt gets rights. The get to decide how the world runs. If they don’t get what they want they cry victim and get it anyway. Its not fair. Christians need be held accountable and stop getting away with stuff.

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20151104010551AAET5Zc

Open Question: LGBT PLEASE ANSWER?
Who would you rather see top who?

Rather see drake top chris

Or

Have drake top chris

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20151103225804AAsB8FE

Houston Repeals LGBT-Inclusive HERO

Activists are stunned after the HERO, or Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, failed with voters by a wide margin on Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The ordinance had banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and 11 other minority categories in employment, housing, and public accommodation. But anti-LGBT forces rallied, including influential and well-monied donors like the lieutenant governor and the owner of the Houston Texans football team, to repeal the measure, which the city council previously passed.

The opposition painted the law as a “bathroom bill” by preying on fears of transgender people, claiming that men would invade women’s restrooms to assault them; such behavior has never been reported.

“Prop. 1 is not about equality. That’s already the law,” said Lt. Gov. Patrick in a video posted as part of the campaign to Vote NO. “It’s about letting men in women’s locker rooms and bathrooms.”

On the other side of the fight, the ordinance had received public support from President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. It also got the backing of nearly 60 companies — including from Apple, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, BASF, and EMC. 

It’s a blow specifically to the city’s out mayor, Annise Parker. She had pressed for the law, and was then sued when its detractors pushed to get the repeal placed on the ballot. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in July that Houston officials either had to repeal HERO or put it up for a vote by the public. 

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin noted that Houston becomes the largest American city without protection from discrimination for LGBT citizens, and he warned that opponents of equality will try to expand on their success in other parts of the country.

“It’s almost unbelievable that this could happen in a city like Houston, but make no mistake: if we don’t double down today, we’ll face the same thing again and again in cities across the nation,” said Griffin in an email to HRC supporters. 

The coalition formed to fight for the ordinance, Houston Unites, said on Tuesday that it would press to have it restored. 

“We are gravely disappointed that for now, Houstonians will continue to be denied critical local protections against discrimination,” the group said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding later that “Tonight is not the end.”

Watch an example of the video campaign run against HERO:

Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/election/2015/11/03/houston-repeals-lgbt-inclusive-hero

Houston Voters Reject Measure Barring LGBT Discrimination

Houston voters struck down a non-discrimination ballot measure Tuesday, delivering a blow to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement that had campaigned heavily for passage.

Prop. 1, known as Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, would have barred discrimination on the basis of race, age, military status, disability and 11 other categories in a variety of areas. (Religious organizations and institutions would be exempt from the requirements.) 

It was HERO’s protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, however, that attracted the most attention and made the ballot measure the center of the LGBT community’s efforts this election. 

The Houston City Council narrowly approved the equal rights ordinance last year, but after a petition drive by anti-gay activists, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the city in July to either repeal it or put it on the November ballot — giving each side just a few months to make their case. 

A long list of local and national figures publicly came out in support of Prop. 1, including President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The measure also had the backing of companies like Apple and GE, as well as local businesses that wanted to avoid a backlash similar to what Indiana experienced when Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed an anti-gay “religious freedom” law earlier this year.

But these heavy hitters weren’t able to get past the catchy, fear-mongering slogans and images used by their opponents. 

Conservative activists — who were heavily outspent by LGBT advocates — dubbed Prop. 1 the “bathroom ordinance” and adopted the slogan “No men in women’s bathrooms,” playing up fears that passage could lead to male sexual predators dressing up as women and entering women’s restrooms. 

This factually dishonest message proved to be incredibly effective: Many Houston voters seemed to think the measure was solely about access to restrooms and were unaware of the broader nondiscrimination protections in the measure.

The most recent TV spot released by the anti-Prop. 1 coalition Campaign for Houston, for example, showed a man entering a bathroom stall with a young girl. 

“Any man at any time could enter a woman’s bathroom simply by claiming to be a woman that day,” the narrator warned.

Lance Berkman, who used to play for the Houston Astros, cut an ad with the same message, saying he was concerned about the safety of his female family members if HERO passed.

“My wife and I have four daughters,” he said in the spot. “Proposition 1 would allow troubled men who claim to be women to enter women’s bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms. It’s better to prevent this danger by closing women’s restrooms to men, rather than waiting for a crime to happen.”

Prop. 1 never specifically mentioned bathrooms. It did, however, encompass barring discrimination in public accommodations, which includes public restrooms. 

Houston Unites, the pro-Prop. 1 coalition, responded to these sorts of claims by pointing out that “it is — and always will be — illegal to enter a restroom to harm or harass other people.” Other Texas cities that have adopted LGBT protections have also said they haven’t seen an increase in sexual assaults in women’s restrooms.

Those facts, however, never caught on. 

The writing was on the wall even before the full tally came in Tuesday night. Early voting results showed that 62.5 percent of voters backed repealing the ordinance, compared with 37.5 percent supporting it. 

“Our message worked,” cheered Jared Woodfill, a spokesman for Campaign Houston, at a party Tuesday evening. 

Advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas contributed the most on HERO’s behalf, according to the Houston Chronicle, spending more than $619,000 and $562,000, respectively. 

Major funders of the efforts to sink HERO were Houston real estate executive Allen Hartman, who donated more than $206,000, and GOP donor Steve Hotze, who contributed more than $146,000. 

Matt McTighe, executive director of the pro-LGBT Freedom for All Americans, said there just wasn’t enough time to educate the public on the issue.

“There is a way to talk about this, and there is a way to educate people. The unfortunate thing is that it’s very time-consuming, and it’s also very expensive,” McTighe told The Huffington Post Tuesday night after the loss, calling from Houston.

McTighe, who was also active in the marriage equality movement, noted that wins in that area started happening only after years and years of losses.  

“I feel very much that we’re at the same place as a movement where we were around 2009, when we had lost 32 times in a row every time the word ‘marriage’ appeared on a ballot for gay and lesbian people having the freedom to marry,” McTighe said. “We finally, as a movement, through those losses, learned how to do things differently. We learned how to change our tactics and shift our messaging.”

And finding a silver lining in Tuesday’s loss, McTighe said what they learned through the HERO work was invaluable for moving forward. 

“This is still an issue that hasn’t really come up at the ballot box as much. So the work is really just beginning in terms of how to talk about this, how to message around it in the face of the attacks we are now seeing from our opponents,” McTighe added. “This has been a huge learning experience that we’re going to get a lot out of.” 

There is no federal law protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination, although a group of lawmakers introduced a bill in July that would provide comprehensive protections. 

Also on HuffPost:

— 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/4b376daa/sc/7/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C110C0A30Chouston0Eequal0Erights0Eordinance0In0I84692880Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

Open Question: Please help: Do you think my friend is gay or bi?
Please tell me if you think my friend could most likely be gay or bi based on my descriptions about him. We are both college aged males and I am bi myself. We been friends for over 6 months.
-Out of the 24 friends he has on Facebook, at least two I know for a fact is gay, because one has a boyfriend and the other is pretty open about it. One other friend has a picture of himself with a pink long-hair wig and cross dresses. Another has a rainbow profile picture previously, which could mean he just supports the LGBT community, but he also looks gay to me based on what I saw. That’s at least 4 gay male friends on FB out of only 24 friends.
-My friend has a previous PROFILE picture of a male pop star with both his hands touching his collar as a pose.
-He walks FAR away and out of sight to answer his phone calls virtually EVERY time someone calls him.
-He admits he’s shy around “lots” of people, including me.
-When is is texting/chatting with people on his phone or laptop, he tries to hide the conversations from me, even though I don’t care who he’s speaking to.
-He rests his head on his dad’s lap or on his shoulders, when he lays down, and he is freaking 19! He crosses his legs with one knee on top of the other.
-While he doesn’t talk much, when he does, he NEVER talked about girls once.
-One time I had a magazine with a almost nude female on the cover and I asked if he’s interested in it, and he said “no.” He considers even women a few years older than him to be “old.” I ended up asking my friend if he “likes girls, guys, or both,” and he stared at me a paused for a few seconds before asking me “what I meant,” when I told him, I mean “do you like to date girls, guys, or both,” he then turned his head away from me and said “girls.” I finished by asking him, “so you never liked guys before?” And he said “no.” He broke eye contact right after I explained what my question meant. Is this a good sign he is gay or bi? He was speechless and just stared at me for some seconds when I asked him THEN he answered me. What do you think about his answer and reaction?

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20151103201325AAprYDZ

Houston Unites Statement on Prop 1 Vote

“We are disappointed with today’s outcome, but our work to secure nondiscrimination protections for all hard-working Houstonians will continue.”
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/houston-unites-statement-on-prop-1-vote?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

AP Calls Houston Vote, Says Equal Rights Ordinance #HERO Has Been Defeated

HERO has fallen, according to the Associated Press.

With 66 percent of precincts reporting Election Day returns, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was trailing 61 percent to 39 percent.

The pro-HERO coalition Houston Unites conceded the race in an email shortly after AP called the vote:

The coalition partners that make up Houston Unites, including ACLU of Texas, Equality Texas, NAACP Houston Branch, Texas Freedom Network, Freedom for All Americans and the Human Rights Campaign, released the following joint statement after today’s vote.

“We are disappointed with today’s outcome, but our work to secure nondiscrimination protections for all hard-working Houstonians will continue. No one should have to live with the specter of discrimination hanging over them. Everyone should have the freedom to work hard, earn a decent living and provide for themselves and their families.

“Although Houston won’t yet join the 200 other cities that have similar nondiscrimination measures, the fight continues. We will continue telling the stories of Houstonians whose lives would be better off because of HERO – including people of color, people of faith, veterans who have served our country, women, and gay and transgender people.

“We’ve learned some important lessons, as well. We have to continue sharing our stories so that more Houstonians know what HERO is really about and aren’t susceptible to the ugliest of smear campaigns run by the opposition. And we must remember that all of us are stronger when we stand together, speaking up with one voice for protections like those in HERO, rather than allowing those who oppose fairness and equality to divide us.”

Speaking at the pro-HERO campaign’s election watch party, Mayor Annise Parker called the anti-HERO campaign “a calculated campaign of lies designed to demonize a little-understood minority,” referring to transgender people.

“They just kept spewing an ugly wad of lies from our TV screens and from pulpits,” Parker said. “This was a calculated campaign by a very small but determined group of right-wing idealogues and the religious right, and they know only how to destroy, not how to build up. It was clear when we passed the ordinance in council, that if we had agreed and said we’ll take gender identity out, they would have gone away. That would have been wrong then, and it would be wrong now, and it will be wrong in the future.”

Well before AP called the vote, anti-LGBT elected officials were already celebrating. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Houstonian who paid $70,000 for an anti-HERO TV ad, issued this statement:

“I want to thank the voters in the City of Houston for turning out in record numbers to defeat Houston Prop 1 — the bathroom ordinance. The voters clearly understand that this proposition was never about equality — that is already the law. It was about allowing men to enter women’s restrooms and locker rooms — defying common sense and common decency.

“I got involved and took a leadership role in fighting this misguided ballot proposition because we have to stand up to this kind of pandering to political correctness. It’s unfortunate that liberals like Annise Parker are so out of touch with the people of Houston that something like this shows up on the ballot.

“The supporters of this proposition brought in movie stars and elites from Washington, DC and Hollywood to try to force their twisted agenda on the good people of Texas. It didn’t work and advocates of this ridiculous proposal are on notice tonight that the voters of Houston will not stand for this kind of liberal nonsense.”

Lambda Legal weighs in:

Today, Houston voters went to the polls and rejected the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), defeating a citywide ordinance that would have prohibited discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation on the basis of race, age, gender, pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or military status. Kenneth D. Upton Jr., Senior Counsel in Lambda Legal’s South Central Regional Office in Dallas, and Lambda Legal Dallas-based Community Educator Omar Narvaez issued the following statements after results of the election were announced:

“We knew this vote would be an uphill battle, and we witnessed the opponents of HERO pull out all the stops, launching a campaign full of distortions and fear-mongering designed to mislead and confuse voters,” Upton said. “But we also saw an impressive coming together of the Houston business, faith and civic communities in Houston Unites, which campaigned tirelessly in support of HERO and for ensuring that all Houstonians can live their lives and provide for their families without fear of discrimination. Sadly, the ugly and divisive tactics of the opponents of HERO succeeded in persuading a majority of Houstonians to vote no. But we have faced disappointments before that did not stop us – this fight for fairness is far from over.”

“Working on the ground in Houston, especially in the days leading up to Tuesday’s vote, I witnessed firsthand the passion and dedication of everyone at Houston Unites,” Narvaez said. “This loss is tough to take, and the hatred and misinformation that was spread about people who are transgender, in particular, was unconscionable. I am proud to have been part of this grassroots effort and truly believe that we will be back and that full and equal protections for all Houstonians will be achieved in the near future.”

And the ACLU.

Said Terri Burke, Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas:

“It’s a tragedy that Houston remains the only major city in Texas—indeed, the last big city in the United States—that does not extend equal rights protections to all of its residents and visitors. This is not who we are and I hope when this issue arises again, the city’s majority will vote and do the right thing. The next mayor and newly elected members of Houston’s city council must prioritize the passage of a new equal rights ordinance as quickly as possible.

“Opponents of equality utilized fear-mongering and disinformation to sway Houston voters to deny equal rights and protections to people in this great city, but none of us who have worked to bring equality to Houston are throwing in the towel. We will continue the fight to ensure that everyone can live fairly and equally under the law.

“We have been honored and privileged to host the dedicated staff of the Houston Unites campaign in our headquarters and in our homes. We intend to harness the energy and enthusiasm of everyone who came together for this campaign to continue the fight for equality in Houston and across Texas.”

Both the 2016 Final Four in April and Super Bowl LI, scheduled for February 5, 2017, are set to take place in Houston.

Expect calls for both to be relocated.

The post AP Calls Houston Vote, Says Equal Rights Ordinance #HERO Has Been Defeated appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

AP Calls Houston Vote, Says Equal Rights Ordinance #HERO Has Been Defeated