Chrysalis
Karsten Fatur posted a photo:
Your mental illness does not define you; it is just a chrysalis for you to break free from as you spread your wings and fly. It covers you completely and it changes you, but when you emerge you are stronger than ever.
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Instagram: @karstenfatur
CGI_U_MorningPlenary_StrongerTogetherMovingfromConflicttoCooperation
Clinton Global Initiative posted a photo:
Credit: Adam Schultz / Clinton Global Initiative
Stronger Together: Moving from Conflict to Cooperation
From the Charleston shootings and the spread of ISIL, to the ongoing discrimination against LGBT individuals, there is no shortage of reminders that the world must continue to address the ongoing risks of intolerance and extremism. While access to information is a powerful tool for combatting these threats, a true culture of inclusion requires more than information alone—even in our tech-focused, increasingly interconnected world. To truly achieve equality of opportunity for all individuals, it is critical that students also expose and speak out against discrimination and violence, and go beyond this by taking part in the challenging work of building networks of cooperation and trust. This session will explore how students, universities, and civil society can:
• Move beyond tolerance alone and begin the hard work of building cross-cultural alliances.
• Create proactive dialogue with historically underrepresented, marginalized, or insecure sectors of society.
• Launch effective and inclusive social movements that can harness online tools for tangible, offline impact.
#Coming Out- Gautam's Story – Experiences of Being Gay
navaid91 posted a photo:
Gautam hails from humble beginnings. Gautam was bullied throughout his childhood, being called names like ‘girl, eunuch, and hijra’. Thankfully, when he told his parents about his sexuality, they stood by him like a rock. Click Here For This Video- www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R1XPs-kBVI
Get the Facts on North Carolina's Anti-LGBT Law
Innovate Advocates Discuss Expanding Support for the LGBTQ Community at HRC Global Summit
On the third day of HRC’s inaugural Global Innovative Advocacy Summit, advocates from 26 countries discussed strategies for expanding support for the LGBTQ community.
Innovators dove into the theme of engaging allies — both in individuals and in the institutions of daily life. Tamas Dombos of the LGBT Alliance in Hungary presented on how his organization expanded support for LGBTQ rights outside his of country’s capital city by taking their message on the road, with events in nearly a dozen cities across Hungary. His organization took their message of inclusivity to town squares, staffing tables with games intended to educate potential allies on the LGBT community.
Similarly, HRC’s Ben Needham, Director of Project One America, presented on how HRC is working to advance equality in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. He explained his program’s approach of having individual conversations with potential allies and the one-on-one conversations his team engages in to identify supportive churches congregations and local businesses across those states.
Singapore’s Darius Zheng presented on the innovative work executed by his organization, Pink Dot. Since 2009, Pink Dot has organized a day-long rally in support of the freedom to love. In 2015, the rally brought out over 30,000 people to celebrate this message — in spite of the fact that same-sex relationships are still criminalized in Singapore.
During the afternoon, the innovators expanded on their conversations about engaging straight allies and also looked at creating allies within faith communities, the business community, labor movements, and political parties. After breaking up to learn about how several of the innovators have made progress with finding allies within these institutions, HRC’s Senior Vice President, Mary Beth Maxwell facilitated a discussion about the opportunities and challenges that advocates face in this type of work.
The day begin with a roundtable breakfast on transgender justice in recognition of International Transgender Day of Visibility. The discussion focused on sharing methods for reducing violence, harassment, and discrimination faced by transgender individuals, as well as models other countries have developed for public education initiatives.
HRC President Chad Griffin joined the innovators to wrap up the day and celebrate their tremendous accomplishments in their home countries. Joining the group after being in North Carolina earlier in the day, he spoke about all of the challenges still facing LGBTQ Americans.
HRC’s Global Summit will wrap up on April 1. Read more about HRC Global’s work here.
North Carolina Starts To Face Real Economic Consequences For Anti-LGBT Law
It’s getting harder and harder for Gov. Pat McCrory (R) to deny the economic fallout from the anti-LGBT law.
The post North Carolina Starts To Face Real Economic Consequences For Anti-LGBT Law appeared first on ThinkProgress.
thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/01/3765676/north-carolina-economic-consequences/
Eyes on Mississippi Governor: anti-LGBT HB 1523 passes legislature
GLAAD
Mississippi’s House Bill 1523 has passed the Mississippi legislature. Pro-LGBT legislatures delyed the bill slightly, requiring another procedural vote on Monday, but it is nearly confirmed the bill will be sent to Governor Phil Bryant. House Bill 1523 is a so-called “religious freedom” bill that will allow organizations and employers to discriminate against LGBT people and not face legal repercussions.
GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis has called on Governor Bryant to veto the bill. “Last summer, I had the opportunity to spend time in Mississippi, where I met a vibrant and resilient LGBT community,” Ellis said. “LGBT Mississippians are working together to improve conditions and live their authentic lives. Governor Bryant must follow the lead of Georgia and veto this bill that would hurt businesses, endanger economic development and enshrine discrimination in Mississippi’s law.”
Media outlets around the country have been reporting on the dangerous nature of this bill, including Vox, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, CNN, Teen Vogue, and the Daily Beast.
As the Daily Beast notes, this bill is comprehensive and has the potential to be horrifically damaging to LGBT Mississippians. Fortunately, there has been growing opposition against HB 1523. As Mississippi news network, WJTV 12, reported, numerous organizations have joined together to confront this bill:
Additionally, people have already begun taking to social media to raise awareness of this discriminatory bill and to voice their opposition and to call for action:
URGENT: Mississippi just passed the most hateful anti-LGBT legislation in the country.t.co/zKC03jltOl pic.twitter.com/ky5PdFfP3e
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) March 31, 2016
Dear North Carolina and Mississippi:
Love, a Christian who believes in freedom for ALL. t.co/M7XTacVz96 pic.twitter.com/M7fyMch2Ik— Glennon Doyle Melton (@Momastery) March 31, 2016
Will national LGBT groups & corporations wait for anti-LGBT bill in Mississippi to become law before fully protesting—too late—like in NC?
— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) April 1, 2016
In Mississippi we use Religion as a shield to discriminate against certain groups of people. That’s not Christianity my friend. #HB1523
— Rep Jeramey Anderson (@RepJAnderson) April 1, 2016
Several organizations and businesses have stood in opposition of HB 1523. Some of these groups include MGM Resorts International, Tyson Foods, Toyota, Nissan, IBM, Skin by MD, Offbeat, Salon 11, Find It in Fondren, Planned Parenthood Southeast, A Plus Signs and Creative, Inc, the ACLU of Mississippi, the National Association of Social Workers, Human Rights Campaign, and the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.
www.glaad.org/blog/eyes-mississippi-governor-anti-lgbt-hb-1523-passes-legislature
Fantasy glade
Karsten Fatur posted a photo:
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120 Major CEOs & Business Leaders Urging North Carolina To Repeal Discriminatory Anti-LGBT Law
Today, HRC and Equality NC, the state organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians, announced that executives from Hyatt, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Northrop Grumman, Ralph Lauren, American Apparel, Qualcomm, Twilio, Udacity, Pandora Media, and EMC Corporation have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 120 leading CEOs and business leaders calling on 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 last week.
The letter — signed by dozens of CEOs from across the nation — was first made public Tuesday afternoon, and came only a day after Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announced he would veto anti-LGBT legislation in Georgia after facing a sustained outcry from a broad chorus of advocates and companies. A copy of the updated letter and its signatories 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 open letter on Tuesday. “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 Tuesday with the release 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 week, and our businesses are leading the charge to repair our state to a place of fairness.”
On Monday, Gov. McCrory unbelievably claimed, “We have not taken away any rights that have currently existed in any city in North Carolina” — but PolitiFact rated that claim as false. 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. The legislation also forces transgender students in public schools to use restrooms and other facilities inconsistent with their gender identity, putting 4.5 billion dollars in federal funding under Title IX at risk. It also compels the same type of discrimination against transgender people to take place in state buildings, including in public universities. Lawmakers passed the legislation in a hurried, single-day session last Wednesday, and Governor McCrory quickly signed it into law in the dead of night.
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 House Bill 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.
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,
Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President, Box
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
Nathan Blecharczyk, Cofounder and CTO, Airbnb
Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc.
Ron Boire, CEO, Barnes and Noble
Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker
Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney
John Bryant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kellogg Company
Wes Bush, Chairman, CEO and President of Northrop Grumman
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-CEOs, Atlassian
Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb
Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Paul T. Dacier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation
Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health
Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners
Vice Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President, BD
Joe Gebbia, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Airbnb
Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo
Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options
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
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.
Reid Hoffman, Chairman, LinkedIn
Robert Hohman, Cofounder & CEO, Glassdoor
Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Drew Houston, CEO, Dropbox
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
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
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
Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel
Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Michael W. Lamach, Chairman and CEO, Ingersoll-Rand plc
Ralph Lauren and Stefan Larrsson, Ralph Lauren Corporation
Jeff Lawson, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Twilio
Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm
Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson
Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola
Vishal Makhijani, COO, Udacity
Tom Mangas, CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Bill Maris, CEO, Google Ventures
Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo
Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat
Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance
Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc.
Steve Mollenkopf, CEO, Qualcomm Inc.
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
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
Mike Pedersen, CEO and President, TD Bank, N.A.
Michelle Peluso, Strategic Advisor and former CEO, Gilt
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Mark Pincus, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zynga
Hosain Rahman, CEO, Jawbone
Bill Ready, CEO, Braintree
Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia
Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners
John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation
Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems
Virginia M. Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM Corporation
Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp
Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
Julie Samuels, President, Engine
George A. Scangos, PhD, CEO, Biogen
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
Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott International
David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp
John G. Stumpf, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
Julie Sweet, Group Chief Executive North America, Accenture
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
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 CompanyDevin Wenig, CEO, eBay
Tim Westergren, Founder and CEO, Pandora Media, Inc.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook
Equality NC is a statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians. For more information, please visit www.equalitync.org
Public voting is open for the Italian Diversity Media Awards
Photo Credit: Diversity
Today, just one day before the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, the Italian Diversity Media Awards (DMA) has opened voting for the DMA nominees to the public. Diversity, the Italian association organizing the awards, works to reduce prejudice and discrimination against LGBT people. Organizers of the Diversity Media Awards are modeling the event after the GLAAD Media Awards.
Among the categories considered for the Diversity Media Awards are Cinema – Outstanding Italian Film, TV – Outstanding Program, and People – Person of the Year. Take a look at the people and works the LGBT community in Italy is celebrating this year – here is a glimpse at the DMA nominees.
GLAAD looked at the nominees, and wanted to share a few highlights among them.
Nominated in the category of Cinema – Outstanding Italian Film is Né Giulietta né Romeo, a comedy about 16-year-old Rocco who falls in love with another boy at school and decides to come out to his parents as gay. When his parents don’t take the news well, Rocco runs away to a gay icon’s concert, forcing his mother and grandmother to take a journey of acceptance to find him. Watch the trailer below:
Also nominated for Outstanding Italian Film is Io e lei, translated as Me, Myself and Her, starring Margherita Buy and Sabrina Ferilli. It tells the story of two women, Federica and Marina, whose long term relationship starts running into problems. The film casts the lesbian couple as protagonists in a romantic comedy, following their daily lives to show that an LGBT couple is like any other with its ups and downs. Watch the trailer below:
In the category of TV – Outstanding Program, one nominee is the Italian reality show, Vite Divergenti. The show is devoted to sharing stories of transgender people as well as their every day lives and struggles in Italy. Several individuals are also nominated for the Diversity Media Awards for their activism for the LGBT community. Among the nominees for People – Person of the Year are Barbara D’Urso, Italian TV actress and new gay icon, and MIKA, British singer songwriter. MIKA came out as gay in 2012 and released a song about the lack of diversity in the entertainment industry in 2015. Watch “Good Guys” below:
The Diversity Media Awards have also nominated several foreign series including The Bold and the Beautiful, (which is simply called Beautiful in Italian), Grey’s Anatomy and Faking It, which have also been nominated for the GLAAD Media Awards. Vote for you favorite nominees on this site. The DMAs are scheduled to be held in Italy this May. Click here to learn more about the nominee selection program and visit Diversity to see a full list of the DMA nominees. You can also learn more about the GLAAD Media Awards, to be held in LA on April 2, 2016 and in NYC on May 14, 2016.
www.glaad.org/blog/public-voting-open-italian-diversity-media-awards
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