25 Congressional Democrats to LGBT People: We’re With You (Video)
“I know you’re hearing a lot of hateful rhetoric about our LGBT families,” says Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego. “Please, hang in there.”
www.advocate.com/politics/2016/5/17/25-congressional-democrats-lgbt-people-were-you-video
London Mayor Hoists Rainbow Flag Over City Hall For International Day Against Homophobia
London just elected a new mayor and he seems pretty dope. Sadiq Khan already made headlines by being a real dick to Donald Trump (hooray!) and now he’s flying a rainbow flag over London City Hall to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).
So far, the flag-raising has been well received in England, the country that refined homosexuality to an art form.
“I was elected on a pledge to be Mayor for all Londoners and I will work with the LGBT+ community,” wrote a mayoral spokesperson on the Mayor’s behalf, “to do everything I can to make London a more tolerant, fairer place to live.”
The mayor has spoken in the past about being a victim of hate crime (he’s Muslim) and acknowledged that all minorities are vulnerable. In addition, he promised to attend Pride. The former mayor, Boris Johnson, skipped Pride every year since 2010, though he did support marriage equality.
Khan, on the other hand, seems to be taking a far more active role, even at great personal risk. Several years ago, after announcing his support for marriage equality, other Muslims sent him death threats. At the time, he was the MP for the unfortunately-named area known as “Tooting.”
In addition to supporting gay marriage and gay flags, Khan voted in favor of nondiscrimination protections and for broadening marriage protections to members of the armed forces.
More recently, he got into a tiff with Donald Trump over Trump’s Muslim ban. Khan observed that the ban would prevent him from visiting the US, and Trump relented and said he’d make an exception. But Khan stood his ground and retorted that Trump was missing the point — that the ban itself was the problem.
So far, it seem like London’s got a real winner on its hands. Must be nice to have politicians who are actually intelligent, sensitive people who genuinely want to improve the lives of everyone around them. Is it too late for America to say “never mind” about that whole declaring-independence thing?
Self-Hating Gay Man’s Disastrous “Take Down” Of Gay Culture
If you’re looking for a lesson in how internalized homophobia can mix seamlessly with antiquated puritanism to produce a toxic sludge dressed up in a three-piece suit of “social analysis,” your search is over!
Jason Hill has been kind enough to offer a master class on the above topics in his riveting expose hit piece on his fellow gays, posted to the conservative blog The Federalist.
Hill, a self described, “gay, Jamaican…conservative Democrat,” has so much to say about modern gay culture, we don’t even know where to begin.
So we’ll take his points as they come.
On gay marriage:
Marriage between two men in our contemporary culture is a colossal waste of time, a hopeless undertaking doomed for failure, and, fundamentally, a naive endeavor profoundly at odds with the hypersexual, broken, and ethically bankrupt ethos and nature of gay male culture.
If it isn’t glaringly obvious by his eyebrow-raising opening argument, Hill is not a believer in open relationships or non-monogamy, but rather than say “to each their own,” it’s as if every gay man in the world who has an honest conversation with himself about love and sex and arrives at any conclusion other than life-long monogamy is actually chipping away at human decency itself.
We hate to break it to you, Jason, but gay men did not invent promiscuity. We’re pretty sure plenty of straight guys throughout history, some with fancy titles like Father, President and Your Excellency, have spent countless hours in the pursuit of “getting it in.” Let’s not pretend this is a modern, or gay, phenomenon.
Related: I Don’t: Six Kinds Of Relationships To Try Before, Or Instead Of, Marriage
“The majority of gay men, with their transparent and blatant preference for open relationships and polyamorous dalliances,” Hill writes, “will suffuse mainstream culture with ‘experiments in living’ that will radically alter the sexual landscape of our culture.”
Hill goes on to say that, “heterosexuals are considered to possess a higher share in humanity than gays,” but that the “worst” of the straight world shouldn’t be used to judge the groups “majority-forming members.”
So who does he lump into the “worst” category?
Prisoners, the mentally and physically handicapped, rapists, those who fail to care for their children, those unable to procreate, serial killers, the elderly, the asocial, the non-communicative, and those who participate in traditions of wife beating, philandering, and wife desertion are all accorded the right to marry. But at least some persons in this list are regarded as, at best, psychological aberrations who are incidental to the larger heterosexual marrying population and, at worst, social ballasts who, if we did not live in a civilized society would be a job for the sanitation department to dispose of.
We’ve never wanted so badly to realize we’re being trolled, because that truly makes the blood boil. The handicapped, rapists, the elderly — what’s the difference, anyway?
Let’s get back to the sex part because if we read the above quote one more time we’ll lose our lunch:
Sexual promiscuity among gay men is an addiction that has little to do with conquering prey and liking the chase. At some point in a heterosexual man’s life, mindless and maniacal cruising for sex with women ceases and he begins, like women, the biological search for an ideal mate who will be a suitable mother to his future children.
Thanks Dr. Judgy-Mc-Ass-Hole for that diagnosis and biology lesson. Those heterosexuals sure are noble creatures, aren’t they?
After literally countless more bogus points that you can read in full if you really have the stomach for it, Hill get’s to his conclusion: we need a new “moral contract” for gay men.
What would that look like?
This moral contract, I believe, will forge a new culture, in which a milieu of respect and authentic validation transcends the obsession with validating oneself and others via an appeal to sexual anatomy…Whatever those rules of engagement are, though, they seem unlikely to be authentic unless we admit that, despite the growing acceptance of homosexuality, the psychological trauma of growing up and still living in a world that is run predominantly by heterosexual men is still a deeply painful world to live in.
Without claiming to be victims, this open admission of shame, guilt, and pain will allow us to connect to each other and the world in a way that is healthy, sustainable, and deeply loving. This ethos, generated by a radical break with the culture as it stands, is the only way to foster a love for humanity and create a new world in which we feel at home—one we have co-created by suffusing it with an original, passionate, and authentic assemblage of who we are as moral creatures.
What do we want? Heteronormativity! When do we want it? Now!
We offer our deepest condolences to any man who ends up on a dinner date with Mr. Hill. That will be one conversation you’ll definitely want back.
For someone so adamantly opposed to sexual pleasure, he sure does spend a hell of a lot of time thinking about it. Coincidence?
Elton John Blasts NC Governor Pat McCrory’s ‘Failure of Compassion’ for Trans People
Elton John has written a letter blasting North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory for his “failure of compassion” for transgender people.
In an article which appeared Tuesday on The Hill, John took McCrory to task not only for signing the horrific ‘bathroom bill’ HB 2 into law, but for prioritizing the supposed threat posed by non-existent transgender bathroom predators over the real threats that transgender people face every day.
John writes, “What’s worse than the discriminatory bill itself, and the millions in taxpayer dollars McCrory is wasting to defend it, is that the governor signed it after admitting he had never met a transgender person.”
He adds that HB 2 sends a dangerous message to the LGBT community and to the world:
“It’s a message we hear far too often. This brand of ignorance deliberately shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community. It’s dangerous, and it goes beyond bathrooms. As the father of two children, I would hope their world is free of discriminatory, hateful legislation like North Carolina’s.
Forcing transgender people to use the bathroom of a gender with which they don’t identify isn’t just inconvenient or impractical. For many, especially young students still grappling with their transition, it can be traumatic, and at worst, unsafe.”
McCrory’s biggest failure, John says, is “a failure of compassion, a failure to recognize the difficult and frequently unwelcoming world transgender people must navigate every day, stigmatized by the fear and ignorance of others.”
Transgender men and women are more likely to be exposed to HIV, to rely on sex work to make ends meet, to suffer violence violence, depression, and to have attempted suicide compared to cisgender people. Bills like HB 2 severely set back the fight against anti-trans injustice. “To address these problems, our leaders must first acknowledge their existence, as well as the existence of the people affected,” John writes. “And yes, that starts with bathrooms.”
The post Elton John Blasts NC Governor Pat McCrory’s ‘Failure of Compassion’ for Trans People appeared first on Towleroad.
Powerful New Ads Highlight Donald Trump’s Attacks on Women: WATCH
Priorities USA, a SuperPAC supporting Hillary Clinton, is about to spend $6 million on a set of ads which give new life to Donald Trump’s disgusting attacks on women which will air in Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Nevada, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The ads feature quotes from Trump being ‘dubsmashed’ by women and the debunking of Donald’s claim that he has “respect” for women.
Said the group’s Guy Cecil: “This is only the beginning of an aggressive and sustained advertising campaign against Donald Trump and the more voters learn about him the less likely they’re going to be comfortable with the idea that he could be president.”
Watch:
The post Powerful New Ads Highlight Donald Trump’s Attacks on Women: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
‘Go-Go Boy Interrupted’ Tries to Survive a Gay Pool Party – WATCH
Go-Go Boy Interrupted took a serious turn this week in episode 7 of the web series’ second season. The show from comedian Jimmy Fowlie looks at one of the most dreaded (or alternately, one of the most anticipated) events on the gay social calendar: the gay pool party.
As Fowlie’s character Danny explains, “When you’re living in L.A., people hate to commit to plans. They’re all quietly waiting for something better to come along. But if it’s a Saturday in West Hollywood, there’s one text that will get their attention: ‘House party, free booze.’”
The episode sees the return of Heather Morris (Glee), Scott Evans–
Danny’s mother (Lynne Marie Stewart)–
and the arrival of Danny’s love interest, played by Broadway alum Nick Adams.
See how Danny navigates the gay WeHo pool party scene, below.
The post ‘Go-Go Boy Interrupted’ Tries to Survive a Gay Pool Party – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Washington Mystics’ Stefanie Dolson Comes Out
Former University of Connecticut women’s basketball standout and current All-Star center forward for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics Stefanie Dolson came out in a soon-to-be-published issue of ESPN The Magazine.
Dolson, who wrote a piece for ESPN The Magazine’s May 23 WNBA Issue, said she made the decision to come out through a social media post because she had to be true to herself and wanted her fans to know the real her.
“Before posting, I thought about what people might say because this photo made it clear that we’re together, but then I realized that the reactions of others didn’t matter to me,” Dolson wrote. “I wanted people who are fans and supporters to know who I really am.”
She also noted that her generation’s ever-growing comfortability with sexuality and being open has taught her that gender comes second to someone’s personality. Dolan also touched on her ability to be a role model for youth who might not feel comfortable with themselves as part of the LGBTQ community.
“There are a lot of girls who struggle being who they are. We need people who are out so that those girls know it’s OK to be themselves, regardless of stereotypes,” wrote Dolson. “I just am who I am. And I’m happy.”
Coming out – whether it is as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or allied – matters. When people know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far more likely to support equality under the law. Beyond that, our stories can be powerful to each other.
Whether it’s for the first time ever or the first time today, the experience of coming out and living openly covers the full spectrum of human emotion — from fear to euphoria. Coming out — whether it is as LGBT or allied — is a deeply personal journey for each individual. Learn more at HRC’s Coming Out Center.
www.hrc.org/blog/washington-mystics-stefanie-dolson-comes-out?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Words Matter.
Growing up, many of us heard the term “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” This could not be farther from the truth. When talking about sexual orientation and gender identity, the words we choose and how we use them matter deeply.
People often speak without thinking and may not realize the words or terms they are using are offensive. The language they use, particularly relating to the LGBTQ community, may not always be meant in a harmful or demeaning way, but it can have a devastating and lasting effect.
Biphobia, homophobia and transphobia are sadly still prevalent, and when people use anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in their daily lives it creates an unwelcoming and potentially unsafe environment. We know from decades of research that LGBTQ students experience high rates of verbal harassment at schools, and in HRC’s groundbreaking survey of over 10,000 LGBTQ teens, many reported hearing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric not only from peers at school, but also from elected officials, clergy, teachers — even their own family members. Young people who are exposed to this harmful language are potentially less likely to come out as LGBTQ because they fear rejection or physical harm.
Not only should people avoid using derogatory language in general, but it is imperative the stop engaging in homophobic name-calling — including phrases such as, “That’s so gay.” Using the word “gay” to mean something is “stupid” or to degrade someone disparages the entire LGBTQ community.
The website NoHomophobes.com tracks in real-time Twitter posts that contain anti-LGBTQ words and phrases including “faggot,” “no homo,” “so gay,” and “dyke.” It also measures weekly and all-time uses of those four terms, while providing a running feed of users posting the offensive language.
The website’s numbers are startling, and appalling. For the week of May 6-12, the word “faggot” was tweeted nearly 49,000 times, while “no homo” was tweeted more than 20,000 times. Since the website began tracking these statistics on July 5, 2012, “faggot” has been tweeted more than 35 million times, while the terms “no homo” and “so gay” have each been tweeted nearly 11 million times and “dyke” has been tweeted almost five million times.
That being said, there are many people who refrain from talking about sexual orientation and gender expression because they fear saying the wrong thing, or it feels taboo. HRC’s Glossary of Terms is a valuable guide, providing words and meanings to help make conversations easier and more comfortable.
Additionally, HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program provides resources with LGBTQ+ definitions for both adults and children to help ease conversations. Welcoming Schools’ resource What Do You Say to ‘That’s So Gay’ and Other Anti-LGBTQ* Comments? also provides helpful, simple and straightforward suggestions for responding to students who use words including “gay” in an offensive manner.
It is important to always be aware of the language we use, not just when speaking one-on-one with another person, but at all times — and especially when we’re in public. Click here to read through HRC’s Glossary of Terms.
www.hrc.org/blog/words-matter1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: May 17, 2016
“WE’RE TALKING ABOUT KIDS” – PRESIDENT OBAMA GIVES PASSIONATE ARGUMENT FOR PROTECTING TRANSGENDER STUDENTS: In his first public comments since his administration issued guidance ensuring that transgender students are treated with respect in public and federally-funded schools, President Obama said it is society’s obligation “to make sure that everybody is treated fairly, and our kids are all loved, and that they’re protected, and that their dignity is affirmed.” During an interview Monday with BuzzFeed, the president said the school guidelines are modeled after “best practices” developed by school districts already treating transgender students with respect and inclusion. “We’re talking about kids,” he said, noting the stark reality that LGBT youth “are subject to a lot of bullying, potentially they are vulnerable.” More here.
TRUMP BAFFLINGLY SAYS LGBT COMMUNITY SHOULD TRUST GOVERNORS LIKE MCCRORY, ABBOTT TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS… The Washington Post reports the presumptive GOP candidate thinks the Obama administration’s guidance protecting transgender students ought to be rescinded, and instead the LGBT community should rely on governors to “make the right decisions.” Because that’s worked so well so far.
THE EU CONDEMNS HB2, ASSERTS ANTI-LGBT LAWS VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS AGREEMENT: The European Union (EU) is condemning HB2 and anti-LGBT laws in Tennessee and Mississippi for violating a decades-old United Nations agreement on civil rights. The EU says that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the UN in 1966, prohibits “any discrimination and guarantees to all persons equal and effective protection.” In a statement, the EU asserts that the covenant protects LGBTI people from discrimination.
NORTH CAROLINA HB2 FALLOUT CONTINUES…
DESPITE PENTAGON STUDY SHOWING FEASIBILITY OF LIFTING BAN, TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS STILL IN LIMBO: A new study commissioned by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter found that there are an estimated 2,450 transgender people actively serving in the military, and that any costs associated with lifting the military’s ban on openly-transgender service members would have a negligible effect on the military’s annual $610 billion budget. The study found that if the Pentagon did not cover these costs, including medical procedures like hormone replacement and surgery, rates of substance abuse and suicide among transgender service members could go up. Nevertheless, the Pentagon and White House have yet to reach a solution and lift the ban, continuing to call the matter “complicated.” With only 8 months left, the administration is quickly running out of time to act. More from The New York Times.
WATCH: GLOBAL ADVOCATES MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA AND BIPHOBIA: In a new HRC Foundation videos series, international LGBTQ rights advocates highlight their work across the globe, raising up International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT)’s 2016 theme of mental health and wellbeing. The HRC Foundation has partnered with leading LGBTQ entertainment company Logo for a new Global Ally multiplatform storytelling campaign. The campaign features dozens of international equality activists, whose work ranges from fighting to stop the dangerous, debunked practice of “conversion therapy” in El Salvador, to ending so-called “anti-propaganda” laws in Russia that ban LGBTQ Russians from receiving information crucial to their wellbeing. Today, the HRC Foundation also released the third annual Equality Rising: Global Equality Report, an analysis of the work underway and emerging challenges facing LGBTQ activists, advocates, and allies around the world.
PRO-EQUALITY GOP MEMBERS FIGHT ANTI-LGBT MEASURE: Some House Republicans have come together to fight an anti-LGBT provision tacked onto the National Defense Authorization Act. The provision was designed to undermine President Obama’s executive order protecting LGBT workers employed by federal contractors. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) has offered a bipartisan amendment to strike the provision. All eyes are on the House Rules Committee and whether they will allow a vote on the amendment.
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SAYS ‘YES’ TO ADMINISTRATION’S GUIDANCE ON TRANS STUDENTS: Despite anti-trans rhetoric from their governor and some state lawmakers, the Mississippi Department of Education is standing up for students and announced it will implement the U.S. Department of Education’s guidance on supporting transgender youth. In a statement by the Mississippi Department of Education, officials emphasized the need for “a safe and caring school environment” and called it “critical to a student’s ability to learn and achieve.” Meanwhile, in Alabama, one State School Board member is seeking to pass a resolution that would undermine the very same federal guidance to the detriment of transgender students across the state.
ALABAMA CHIEF JUSTICE MAY SOON BE #NOMOORE: In a blistering story about corruption and ethics scandals across all three branches of state government in Alabama, The New York Times reports on embattled Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s suspension for defying federal court marriage equality rulings. Moore could — thankfully — be removed permanently from his seat over his latest ethics violation, in which he ordered probate judges statewide to explicitly refuse to implement the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. Say #NoMoore, via The New York Times.
SC PASTOR NEEDS REFRESHER ON SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: Following the failure of an anti-transgender measure in the state’s legislature this legislative session, a pastor in Rock Hill, SC is attempting to move a discriminatory ordinance through the local city council. Pastor Joey Deese told the city council that SC needs to take a “Biblical stance” on the issue of transgender people using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN BANGLADESHI LGBT ACTIVIST’S MURDER: Police in Bangladesh have made an arrest in the tragic murder of Xulhaz Mannan, who was an editor for the country’s only LGBT magazine. Bangladeshi police have taken Shariful Islan Shihab into custody, questioning him in not only about the murder, but other activities carried out by the Islamic State in the country.
READING RAINBOW
The Washington Post is tracking the latest developments out of NC, including TurnOutNC’s press conference on Monday… Towleroad profiles the dangerous hate group Alliance Defending Freedom… Bustle breaks down some of the major stereotypes facing the bisexual community… JewishJournal highlights leading organization’s support of Department of Education guidance… Lee Lynch celebrates LGBTQ authors in On Top Magazine… and Pink News celebrates that Denmark has removed “gender identity disorder” from its list of mental illnesses…
Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to A.M. Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!
www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tip-sheet-may-17-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
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