Retired Columbus Fire Captain Lana Moore named Grand Marshal of Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and Parade

www.glaad.org/blog/retired-columbus-fire-captain-lana-moore-named-grand-marshal-stonewall-columbus-pride-festival

Bruce Springsteen, Edward Norton and CrowdRise Up the Ante in Fight Against HB2

Rock star Bruce Springsteen, along with actor and CrowdRise co-founder Edward Norton, today upped the ante in support of efforts to repeal North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law, offering the winner of a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) “Stand with Bruce” contest two full-access passes to The Boss’s April 25 show in New York as Norton’s guest, and the chance to meet Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Tomorrow noon (ET) is the deadline for a chance to win this opportunity of a lifetime, which includes a trip for two to New York City, VIP passes to Springsteen’s sold-out show, and, in an offer made today by Springsteen and Norton, the opportunity to hang out backstage with Norton and his pals, and meet The Boss, who recently cancelled a concert in North Carolina to protest that state’s anti-LGBT law.

“Some things are more important than a rock show, and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them,” Springsteen said in a statement announcing the cancellation of his North Carolina show.

The winner of the contest, offered by HRC, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, through its “Stand with Bruce” CrowdRise fundraiser, will also receive round-trip airfare for two to New York and two nights in a hotel. Contributions made in the contest will go towards HRC efforts to repeal HB 2.

After Springsteen canceled his North Carolina concert to protest the state’s radical and extreme new anti-LGBT law HB 2, HRC teamed up with CrowdRise and Norton to raise money to fight back against this hateful legislation, offering a chance to win tickets to the New York show. Today, Norton, inspired by Springsteen’s stance, sweetened the pot by offering the winner a chance to hang out with him backstage, and meet Bruce and his band. Every $10 donation gives donors one entry to win two flights to NYC, two nights accommodations, and VIP seats with backstage passes.  For full contest rules and to enter to win, visit www.crowdrise.com/nohate.

“This is an opportunity for our supporters to stand with Bruce and his band in the struggle against injustice, and to speak out for equality in North Carolina and beyond,” said Dane Grams, HRC Membership Director.  “Participating in this fundraiser helps elevate the voices of the thousands of citizens whose rights and fundamental dignity are being trampled by the elected leaders in North Carolina.”

Earlier this month, Springsteen said: “As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina, this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.”

North Carolina’s  H.B. 2 has eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future. In addition, the legislation prevents transgender students in public schools from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in publicly-owned buildings, including in public universities, major airports, and convention centers. Further, HB 2 revokes the ability to sue under state employment non-discrimination law on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, religion, national origin, and sex.

North Carolina lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session, and Governor Pat McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night. The discriminatory law is already facing a legal challenge, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said he will refuse to defend it in court.

North Carolina has the unfortunate distinction of  becoming the first state in the country to enact a law attacking transgender students, even after similar proposals were being rejected across the country — including a high-profile veto by the Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota. Earlier this week, the sponsor of a similar bill in Tennessee announced plans to pull the discriminatory legislation from consideration this year, after outcry from tens of thousands of fair-minded Tennesseans; major national child welfare, medical, and education groups; country music stars; and major business leaders. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Attorney General Slatery had also expressed concerns about the state losing millions of dollars in federal funds.

www.hrc.org/blog/in-nc-bruce-springsteen-edward-norton-and-crowdrise-up-the-ante?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

“Cisgender” and “Genderqueer” Added to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

Merriam-Webster, the leading U.S. publisher of dictionaries, added “cisgender” and “genderqueer” to its lexicon yesterday, following a similar decision by the Oxford English Dictionary last year. The new definitions are:
 

• Cisgender: of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth.
• Genderqueer: of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity cannot be categorized as solely male or female.

Members of the LGBTQ community have used these terms for years, but Merriam-Webster adding them to such its widely used resource makes them accessible to a much wider audience. While plenty of definitions of these words are available online, Merriam-Webster’s status as a linguistic authority lends legitimacy to these terms. The move helps broadens public understanding of the increasing diversity of words that people within the LGBTQ community use to describe their identities.

In the HRC Foundation’s 2012 survey of LGBTQ youth, respondents used these terms and many more — beyond lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — to describe their gender identities and sexual orientations.

Photo (c) Ane Cecilie Blichfeldt

www.hrc.org/blog/cisgender-and-genderqueer-added-to-merriam-websters-dictionary?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

North Carolina Conservatives Backtrack On Lawmaker ‘Loyalty Pledge’ To Discriminate

“I will not vote for any bill that would add the terms ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ or ‘gender expression’ to HB2 or any other statute or state policy.”

The post North Carolina Conservatives Backtrack On Lawmaker ‘Loyalty Pledge’ To Discriminate appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/21/3771552/north-carolina-hb2-pledge/

180 Strong: Pressure Builds as More Executives from Major Companies Call for HB 2 Repeal

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and Equality NC, the state organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians, announced that executives from the Alcoa Inc., BASF Corporation, Ben & Jerry’s, Cascade Engineering, Dansko, Etsy, Green Mountain Power, Kickstarter, KPMG LLP, Live Nation Entertainment, New Belgium Brewing, New Seasons Market, Osceola Music, Patagonia, Self-Help, The Fresh Market, Vanguard, Warby Parker and Xerox Corporation have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 180 leading CEOs and business leaders urging Governor Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal the radical provisions in the deeply discriminatory law that was rammed through the legislature on March 23rd.

A copy of the updated letter, which was first made public on Tuesday, March 29th, can be found here and below.

“Discrimination is bad for North Carolina, bad for America, and bad for business,” said HRC President Chad Griffin in announcing the letter. “These business leaders are speaking out because they know this attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual and especially transgender North Carolinians isn’t just morally wrong — it also puts their employees, customers and North Carolina’s economy at risk. For the sake of all North Carolinians, Governor McCrory and the General Assembly must act now to repeal this heinous attack on fairness and equality.”

“North Carolina’s place as a business leader in the South is based on fairness, inclusion, and diversity,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro with the original launch of the open letter. “HB 2 does not represent North Carolina values, and it weakens our competitive edge. We are glad to see our business community in the Old North State standing up against discriminatory measures like this. Governor McCrory made a mess of our state last [month], and our businesses are leading the charge to repair our state to a place of fairness.”

HRC has also invoked the North Carolina Public Records Law to gain access to any communications the Governor, the Executive Branch, or the General Assembly had among each other or with the kind of extreme anti-LGBT special interest groups who often craft and push this language. Specifically, the organizations are demanding that the government release any communications legislators or the Governor or his staff have had with the North Carolina Values Coalition or the Alliance Defending Freedom from the office of Gov. Pat McCrory, Senate leader Phil Berger and Speaker Tim Moore about HB 2.

Gov. Pat McCrory and state lawmakers are under increasingly intense pressure to repeal the discriminatory HB 2 in next week’s legislative session. Mayors and governors across the country are banning travel to the state, musicians are cancelling concerts, and the New York Times editorial board called North Carolina a “pioneer in bigotry.” Major film studios and corporations, from PayPal to Deutsche Bank, have stopped investments in the state because of the new law. The United Kingdom’s Foreign Office has even warned its LGBT citizens of the risks of traveling to North Carolina.

HB 2 has eliminated existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such protections from being passed by cities in the future. In addition, the legislation prevents transgender students in public schools from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in publicly-owned buildings, including in public universities, major airports, and convention centers. Further, HB 2 revokes the ability to sue under state employment non-discrimination law on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, religion, national origin, and sex.  Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night. The discriminatory law is already facing a legal challenge, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said he will refuse to defend it in court.

North Carolina has the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first state in the country to enact a law attacking transgender students, even after similar proposals were rejected across the country this year — including a high-profile veto by the Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota. North Carolina school districts that comply with the law will now be in direct violation of Title IX, subjecting the school districts to massive liability and putting an estimated $4.5 billion of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education, as well as funding received by schools from other federal agencies, at risk. This section of HB 2 offers costly supposed solutions to non-existent problems, and it forces schools to choose between complying with federal law — plus doing the right thing for their students — or complying with a state law that violates students’ civil rights. Read more about how this bill puts federal funding at risk here.

While the governor’s recent executive order extends protections to some state workers, it does nothing to fix the vile and discriminatory provisions he signed into law through HB 2. Under HB 2, transgender people are prohibited from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity in public buildings, including the University of North Carolina campus and the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Cities still cannot adopt ordinances to prohibit discrimination against their residents and visitors. And HB 2 still prevents individuals from bringing discrimination suit in state courts.

The full letter to Governor McCrory and list of signatories is below:

Dear Governor McCrory,

We write with concerns about legislation you signed into law last week, HB 2, which has overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across North Carolina. Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.

We are disappointed in your decision to sign this discriminatory legislation into law. The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business. This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the nation. It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.

Discrimination is wrong and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina’s legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session.

Sincerely,

Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Rick Anicetti, President and CEO of The Fresh Market
Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President, Box
James Avery, CEO, Adzerk
Brandee Barker, Cofounder, The Pramana Collective
Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
Michael Birch, Founder, Blab
Ed Black, President and CEO, Computer & Communications Industry Association
Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group
Nathan Blecharczyk, Cofounder and CTO, Airbnb
Neil Blumenthal, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Warby Parker
Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc.
Alex Boden, General Manager, Plum Organics
Ron Boire, CEO, Barnes and Noble
Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker
Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney
Michael Bronner, President, Dr. Bronner’s
Craig Bromley, President, John Hancock Financial
John Bryant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kellogg Company
Ursula Burns, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation
Wes Bush, Chairman, CEO and President of Northrop Grumman
Mandy Cabot, Co-Founder & CEO, Dansko
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-CEOs, Atlassian
Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Marc Casper, President and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
Safra Catz, CEO, Oracle
Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb
Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PVH Corp.
Wendy Collie, CEO, New Seasons Market
Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Roger W. Crandall, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Paul T. Dacier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation
Bracken P. Darrell, CEO, Logitech
Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options
Mike DeFrino, Chief Executive Officer, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Bill Demchak, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
Chad Dickerson, CEO, Etsy
Alex Dimitrief, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GE
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
Lynne Doughtie, Chairman and CEO, KPMG LLP
Sandy Douglas, Executive Vice President & President, Coca-Cola North America, The Coca-Cola Company
Martin Eakes, CEO, Self-Help
David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health
Randy Fiser, CEO, American Society of Interior Designers
Blair Fleming, Head, RBC Capital Markets, U.S.
Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners
Vince Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President, BD
Mark Gainey, CEO, Strava Inc.
Joe Gebbia, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Airbnb
Dave Gilboa, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Warby Parker
Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo
Kristen Koh Goldstein, CEO, BackOps
Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chair-man, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
John H. Graham IV, President and CEO, American Society of Association Executives
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg L.P.
Logan Green, CEO, Lyft
Mike Gregoire, CEO, CA Technologies
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
David Hassell, CEO, 15Five
Charles H. Hill III, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Pfizer Inc.
Dick Hodgin, Co-Owner and Chief Engineer, Osceola Music Inc.
Reid Hoffman, Chairman, LinkedIn
Robert Hohman, Cofounder & CEO, Glassdoor
Lane S. Hopkins, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Capital One Financial Corporation
Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Drew Houston, CEO, Dropbox
Stephen R. Howe, Jr., U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner, Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
William H. Howle, President of U.S. Retail Banking Group, Citibank
Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit
Chad Hurley, Cofounder, YouTube
Dave Imre, Partner and CEO, IMRE
Dev Ittycheria, President & CEO, MongoDB
Richard Jenrette, Founder, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
Michael O. Johnson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Herbalife
Kim Jordan, Founder & Executive Chair, New Belgium Brewing
Cecily Joseph, VP Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer, Symantec Corporation
Steve Joyce, CEO, Choice Hotels International
Travis Kalanick, CEO, Uber
David Karp, Founder and CEO, Tumblr
Travis Katz, Founder and CEO, Gogobot
Fred Keller, Founder & Chairman, Cascade Engineering
Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options
Dave King, CEO, LabCorp.
Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alcoa Inc.
David Kohler, President & CEO, Kohler Co.
Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel                 
Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Michael W. Lamach, Chairman and CEO, Ingersoll-Rand plc
Stefan Larsson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Lauren Corporation
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
Ralph Lauren, Executive Chair and Chief Creative Officer, Ralph Lauren Corporation
Jeff Lawson, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Twilio
Matthew Lepore, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, BASF Corporation
Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm
Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson
Frank Longobardi, CEO, CohnReznick LLP
Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, The Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group
Vishal Makhijani, COO, Udacity
Tom Mangas, CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Rose Marcario, CEO, Patagonia
Rob Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable
Bill Maris, CEO, Google Ventures
Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo
Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat
F. William McNabb III, Chairman & CEO, Vanguard
Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance
Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc.
Chris Meyrick, Chief Diversity Officer, American Express Company
Steve Mollenkopf, CEO, Qualcomm Inc.
Bob Moritz, US Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC
Denise Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, Campbell Soup Company
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
Oscar Munoz, President and CEO, United Airlines
Hari Nair, Vice President and General Manager, Orbitz.com & CheapTickets.com
Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Worldwide
Michael Natenshon, CEO, Marine Layer
Alexi G. Nazem, Cofounder and CEO, Nomad Health
Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder, Reddit
Laurie J. Olson, EVP, Strategy, Portfolio and Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc.
Bob Page, Founder and CEO, Replacements, Ltd.
Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO, American Airlines
Mark Pearson, CEO, AXA Financial Inc.
Mike Pedersen, CEO and President, TD Bank, N.A.
Michelle Peluso, Strategic Advisor and former CEO, Gilt
Christine Perich, CEO, New Belgium Brewing
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Mark Pincus, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zynga
Mary Powell, CEO, Green Mountain Power
Hosain Rahman, CEO, Jawbone
Michael Rapino, CEO & President of Live Nation Entertainment
Bill Ready, CEO, Braintree
Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia
Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners
John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation
Walter Robb, co-CEO, Whole Foods Market
Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems
Virginia M. Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM Corporation
Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg
Patricia Rossman, Chief Diversity Officer and HR Communications, BASF Corporation
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp
Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
Brian Samelson, CEO & President, eMaint Enterprises, LLC
Julie Samuels, President, Engine
George A. Scangos, PhD, CEO, Biogen
Charles W. Scharf, Chief Executive Officer, Visa Inc.
Paula Schneider, CEO, American Apparel
Steve Schoch, CEO, Miramax
Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal
Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO, Starbucks
Adam Shankman, Director and Producer
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association
David A. Shaywitz, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, DNAnexus
Behshad Sheldon, President and CEO, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals
Ben Silbermann, CEO, Pinterest
Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft
Jostein Solheim, CEO, Ben & Jerry’s
Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott International
David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp
Yancey Strickler, CEO, Kickstarter
Jerry Stritzke, President and CEO, REI
John G. Stumpf, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
Julie Sweet, Group Chief Executive North America, Accenture
Christopher J. Swift, Chairman and CEO, The Hartford
Bret Taylor, CEO, Quip
Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA
Brian Tippens, Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
David Tisch, Managing Partner, BoxGroup
Nirav Tolia, Cofounder and CEO, Nextdoor
Kevin A. Trapani, President and CEO, The Redwood Groups
Mark Trudeau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Paul Van Deventer, President & CEO, Meeting Professionals International
Ken Wasch, President, Software & Information Industry Association
Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman & President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation
Bob & Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen, The Weinstein Company
Devin Wenig, CEO, eBay
Tim Westergren, Founder and CEO, Pandora Media, Inc.
Robert Wolfe, CEO, CrowdRise
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook

www.hrc.org/blog/180-strong-pressure-builds-as-more-executives-from-major-companies-call-for?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Mariah Carey to be honored at 27th annual #glaadawards in New York

www.glaad.org/blog/mariah-carey-be-honored-27th-annual-glaadawards-new-york

Trump Blasts North Carolina Law, Says Caitlyn Jenner Should Pee Where She Wants

“There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go; they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble.”

The post Trump Blasts North Carolina Law, Says Caitlyn Jenner Should Pee Where She Wants appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/21/3771555/trump-north-carolina-transgender/

South Carolina businesses speak out, as opponents try to secretly pass anti-LGBT bill

www.glaad.org/blog/south-carolina-businesses-speak-out-opponents-try-secretly-pass-anti-lgbt-bill