Video Captures Trans Woman Being Physically Assaulted On NYC Subway While Bystanders Do Nothing

A social worker in New York was verbally and physically assaulted while riding the subway during rush hour last week, and she caught the entire thing on video.

Related: This Christian Mom Performing Her Transphobic Rap Song Deserves All Of Your Ridicule

Pearl Love is an outreach social worker for Translatina Network. Last Thursday, she was riding the 6 train to work when a woman sitting across from her launched into an unprovoked transphobic tirade, verbally assaulting her before eventually standing up and beating Love while the other riders did nothing.

Related: Transphobic Woman Wants $25,000 From Planet Fitness For Canceling Her Membership

“It was a crowded train and everyone heard it but no one helped me,” Love explains. “Now you can understand what’s happening in my everyday life. That happens all the time. But it’s my first time recording it.”

Love spoke with Mic’s Matthew Rodriguez about the incident and the struggles she faces each day as a trans woman.

“That’s just a really small thing that I face every day,” she shared. “I go to a job interview, they look at me like, ‘You’re never going to get a job. They never even waste your time asking anything about you when you look feminine.”

See the disturbing video below.

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South Africa’s First Gay Rugby Team Launches Racy New Recruitment Campaign

South Africa’s first-ever gay rugby team is out to prove that it’s more than just a bunch of “fairies” and “fudge packers.”

In a fun and provocative new recruitment campaign just launched today, members of Johannesburg‘s openly LGBT-inclusive Jozi Cats rugby club appear with un-PC terms like “Fairy?” and “Queen?” emblazoned inquisitively above their heads. The ads are designed both to draw new members to the team and to tear down gay stereotypes within the broader — and still very macho — South African rugby culture.

“Though it is hard hitting and disruptive, it’s really to kind of normalize things, to let people know that you can be a queen and be a rugby player,” says Chris Verrijdt of Havas PR South Africa, who created the campaign. “You can be a pillow biter or fudge packer or any of those derogatory terms, and still be a man. We’re not questioning masculinity here. If anything we’re saying, ‘Well are you or aren’t you? It doesn’t matter. We just need you to play for the team.’”

Nearly a decade ago South Africa, became just the fifth country in the world to recognize marriage equality. But widespread acceptance of LGBT people is still developing, especially outside of the country’s large cities.

“It’s such a relevant time for this conversation to be had,” says player (and “Fudge packer?” model) Anthony Seger. “We have one of the world’s most liberal constitutions, but culturally, we’re still quite a conservative bunch of people.”

Jozi Cats chairman Teveshan Kuni says the team, which caters to all levels of rugby experience, provides South African gays with one of the few available outlets for non-scene socializing. “If you’re sick of the gay dating apps and you’re not somebody who goes to gay bars or gay clubs, there’s simply no alternative space to meet anybody.”

Despite the fact that rugby is one of South Africa’s most popular sports, the Jozi Cats are still the country’s — and indeed the entire African continent’s — first and only openly gay team. The country has never had rugby representation at the Gay Games or Outgames, and it has yet to participate in the Bingham Cup, the international gay rugby tournament named for 9/11 hero Mark Bingham.

But Kuni says the team is now on the fast track to changing that, and has begun fundraising for all three events. “We’re quite excited,” he says. “If you had asked anybody on our team even three months ago if they thought they’d have shot at representing South Africa in a gay rugby tournament, they’d have looked at you and said, ‘What are you on?’”

Kuni says he even has his eyes on the possibility of South Africa hosting the Bingham Cup as soon as 2020. But first their own league will need more out more players, which makes the ad campaign so vital.

“It’s going to be disruptive, it’s going to be a conversation starter,” says Seger. “But ultimately we hope it’s going to create awareness so that people know there’s a space where guys who are gay can play rugby and feel completely safe.”

Watch the behind the scenes video from the campaign’s photo shoot:

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John Kasich Will Suspend His Presidential Campaign: REPORT

John Kasich, Ohio Governor and Republican presidential hopeful, will drop out of the race for the GOP nomination on Wednesday.

Kasich suffered a brutal defeat in Indiana on Tuesday night after a string of losses. Kasich has only managed to win one primary this cycle, his home state of Ohio.

Kasich’s announcement comes after Ted Cruz dropped out of the race on Tuesday night.

MSNBC is reporting that a senior campaign adviser has confirmed the news to them. POLITICO confirmed that report. The Columbus Dispatch adds:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich abruptly canceled a planned trip to Washington today as some advisers have been suggesting he should end his presidential campaign. Kasich, who plans to make a statement in Columbus at 5 p.m. today, had planned to hold a major news conference upon his arrival at Dulles International Airport at 10:45 a.m. in suburban Washington. But Kasich’s plane apparently never left Columbus. And by 11:30 a.m., reporters were told the press conference was cancelled.

Kasich, who plans to make a statement in Columbus at 5 p.m. today, had planned to hold a major news conference upon his arrival at Dulles International Airport at 10:45 a.m. in suburban Washington. But Kasich’s plane apparently never left Columbus. And by 11:30 a.m., reporters were told the press conference was cancelled.

The post John Kasich Will Suspend His Presidential Campaign: REPORT appeared first on Towleroad.

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The Ironic Ways The Target Boycott Is Backfiring For Conservatives

It’s actually conservatives who are making Target stores unsafe.

The post The Ironic Ways The Target Boycott Is Backfiring For Conservatives appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/05/04/3775201/target-protest-backlash/

Kids Of Gay Dads Are Perfectly Well-Adjusted, Thank You Very Much

It turns out, the kids of gay dads are alright!

In news that is sure to get the heads of homophobes spinning like Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist, a new study has proven that kids of gay parents are just as happy and well-adjusted as kids of straight parents.

Medical Daily has all the details on new research that’s dropping at the annual Pediatric Academic Societies meeting this week:

This latest study, led by scientists from Boston’s Tufts University and affiliated medical center, looked at gay fathers raising children under the age of 18. They elicited online survey responses from 732 gay fathers across 47 states on a variety of questions concerning why they chose to be parents, how they raised their children, and whether their families experienced any stigma or discrimination.

Comparing their answers to those obtained from an earlier survey of straight fathers, the researchers found no difference in the frequency of self-reported parenting activities, like reading to their children or going on outings. Similarly, 88 percent of gay fathers disagreed that their children were unhappy, compared to 87 percent of straight fathers; and 72 percent reported that their kids didn’t “worry a lot” versus 75 percent of straight fathers.

Unfortunately, gay parents and their children still face stigma:

…nearly a third reported feeling stigmatized for their decision to raise children, oftentimes from their own families. And a similar percentage said their children experienced stigma as well, though mostly from friends and religious institutions instead.

It’s fairly interesting stuff. We recommend you read the article and the study further, especially if you’re thinking about having little ones someday yourself.

We hope gay parents continue to be open and break through these barriers so that one day having two dads or two moms will be stigma free for all involved.

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Steve Grand, Davey Wavey Will Talk You Through Hooking Up Online

Steve Grand is more than just a pretty face. He knows a lot about acronyms (UC, $$$$ and DDF, for example) used for cruising online. Davey Wavey puts the church boy ho entertainer through his paces with a very challenging quiz about dating app terminology and he passes with flying colors. The guys then get into an in-depth and thoroughly educational discussion about how to decide on the proper profile photo (recent pics only, fellas!), finding the right app (Davey is a big Surge fan and will give you a discount tryout code) and online etiquette (don’t be an asshole, OK?).

Related: Steve Grand Reveals All About Sobriety And Lack Of Body Hair In Photo Message

Learn all you need to know about online dating below.

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SLC Gay Pride Parade Turns Away LGBT Groups in Favor of Corporate Entries

Critics allege Salt Lake City’s Pride Parade has become too corporate after at least 13 entries from LGBT community groups were placed on a waiting list for this year’s event.

However, parade organizers say only 30 percent of the event’s 150 entries are corporate, and that the LGBT groups were left out because they turned in their applications late. Bonnie O’Brien, who puts together the parade for the Pride Center, also says she will work to ensure that groups currently on the waiting list can participate in this year’s event.

KUTV.com reports that Michael Sanders (right), a gay activist who owns a local consignment shop, has marched in the parade for six of the last seven years, but was told there is no room for his entry in 2016.

“I’m disappointed,” Sanders said. “When I see a parade that accommodates corporations and big-business marketing to my community and doesn’t really have room for me anymore I feel that is broken. … The parade is our parade, it’s our protest march. it’s our call to action.”

O’Brien told KUTV.com that corporate sponsors are critical to the event’s success, brining in about $200,000 for the Pride Center each year.

“This building isn’t open and the services that are available at this building don’t exist without corporate sponsorship,” she said.

WATCH KUTV’s report below.

The post SLC Gay Pride Parade Turns Away LGBT Groups in Favor of Corporate Entries appeared first on Towleroad.

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Identity Through Artivism

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2016/5/04/identity-through-artivism

Does This New York Times Article Portray Trump As Pro-Gay?

A New York Times article portrayed Donald Trump as possibly a bit pro-gay, or at least not as antigay as other GOP candidates, and the HuffPo’s Michelangelo Signorile is frothing mad.

It all started with veteran reporter Maggie Haberman’s piece “Donald Trump’s More Accepting Views on Gay Issues Set Him Apart in G.O.P.,” an article that is, quite frankly, full of more anecdotal evidence of Trump’s alleged gay-friendliness than any kind of real facts about the matter.

Hey, he appeared in a skit featuring Rudy Giuliani in drag! He wants Caitlyn Jenner to use any Trump Tower bathroom she pleases!

The reporter’s audacity to suggest that Trump is anything but the most virulent homophobe to ever run for office rubbed Huffpost Queer Voices Editor-at-Large Signorile the wrong way:

Yes, that is the sound of a white gay guy comparing (apparently all white) gays to blacks in his first few paragraphs to make a lazy point, a point which is based on nothing but pure speculation, by the way. Sigh.

And so the indignation continues:

Well, as long as other gay commentators and pundits weren’t having it, either. You can find the rest of Signorile’s piece here, but to us, it seems like reporter-policing gone mad. The assumption that readers (of the New York Times, no less) aren’t intelligent enough to fill in the holes of a fairly interesting article is an unfair one. (Queerty actually ran a similar but better nuanced post on Trump: Five Times You Totally Hated Yourself For Agreeing With The Awful Donald Trump.)

With all the media sources out there, we could use more thoughtful analysis and less shrill nagging. For the former, read the Times piece here.

For the latter…well you can just about guess where we’ll send you.

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Obama Administration Poised to Designating Stonewall Inn and Surroundings a National Park

President Obama is making preparations to declare the Stonewall Inn and the area around it a National Park, a move that advocates have been pushing for some time.

The Washington Post reports:

While most national monuments have highlighted iconic wild landscapes or historic sites from centuries ago, this reflects the country’s diversity of terrain and peoples in a different vein: It would be the first national monument anchored by a dive bar and surrounded by a warren of narrow streets that long has been regarded the historic center of gay cultural life in New York City.

Federal officials, including Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), will hold a listening session on May 9 to solicit feedback on the proposal. Barring a last-minute complication — city officials are still investigating the history of the land title — Obama is prepared to designate the area part of the National Park Service as soon as next month, which commemorates gay pride.

Nadler and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have asked the president to protect the site under the 1906 Antiquities Act. In a sign of how much has changed since 1969, the three officials who represent the area — City Council member Corey Johnson, state assembly member Deborah Glick and state senator Brad Hoylman — are all openly gay and endorse the idea of making it a monument, as does the local community advisory board.

New York lawmakers have been pushing for the designation for years.

In June 2014, Jewell announced a theme study of the area:

Back in September 2015 we reported on a rally held by Nadler and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to build support for the designation.

Said the organizers of that rally: “There are more than 400 national parks in America, two-thirds of which are dedicated to sites of cultural and historic significance.  In Seneca Falls, New York, Women’s Rights National Historical Park tells the story of the first Women’s Rights Convention held there in July 1848. The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama traces the march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the struggle for civil rights. A national park for Stonewall would tell the story of the LGBT community’s fight equal rights in America.”

Said Nadler to the Washington Blade at that time:

“The National Park Service, through national monuments, through national battlefields, all kinds of national things, illustrates the story of this country. It’s important to expand the diversity of this story presented by the National Park Service, in this case, to present the story of the struggle for civil rights of LGBT Americans. There is nothing in the National Park System that deals with this, and that’s a huge omission in terms of the history of this country, the history of this struggle and the ongoing struggle for human rights.”

The Blade added:

The U.S. government already designated the privately owned Stonewall Inn in 2000 as a national historic landmark, but that’s considered a lower-tier designation given to 2,500 sites throughout the country. Last year, the Department of the Interior announced it was undertaking a theme study to examine ways to incorporate LGBT stories into the the National Park Service. The new effort to have a national monument dedicated to the Stonewall Riots shares a similar goal, but is separate and distinct from the agency-led initiative.

The push has been gathering supporters from far afield as well. In March, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wrote a letter.

Said Garcetti:

“Two and a half years before the Stonewall Riots in New York City, the first documented demonstration for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights in the nation occurred outside the Black Cat Bar in Silver Lake on Sunset Boulevard. The demonstrations happened after undercover LAPD officers arrested and assaulted bar patrons for kissing during a New Year’s Eve celebration in 1967. Displaying great courage and bravery, 200-300 Angelenos protested these police actions against the LGBT community. In 2008, as then City Council President of Los Angeles, I worked to successfully designate the Black Cat Bar as registered landmark in the City of Los Angeles.

“Los Angeles has played an influential role in the nation’s LGBT history that includes the formation of first American gay rights group, the Mattachine Society; the first gay publication, One Magazine; the first gay pride parade on the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; and the first parade protesting the military’s LGBT ban. It is with this history in mind that I write in support of designating the Stonewall Inn in New York City as a National Monument through the Antiquities Act.

“Although the struggle for equal rights extends from coast to coast, the Stonewall Riots in 1969 served as an historic turning point in LGBT history. Recognizing the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park in New York City’s West Village would honor the American LGBT experience in every city and help to teach people of an important historical event that has helped to shape our nation.

“The struggle for equality touches us all and our National Monuments are an excellent apparatus for telling America’s history. I hope that by designating Stonewall as a National Monument we preserve a part of history that has long lived in the shadows.”

The NYT adds:

White House officials said no decision had been made. President Obama has the power to create national parks and monuments, as he has done repeatedly during his two terms.

Even if Obama decides not to make the designation, it could still happen through Congress, and Gillibrand and Nadler say they have prepared legislation and are gathering support for it already.

(Stonewall Inn photo, top, Johannes Jordan Wikimedia Commons)

The post Obama Administration Poised to Designating Stonewall Inn and Surroundings a National Park appeared first on Towleroad.

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