PHOTOS: Long Beach Pride Marks The Beginning Of This Year’s Pride Season
Thousands gathered in Long Beach last week to kick off the 2016 Pride season. This year’s festivities included live music, drag performances, a dyke march, a gospel fest, a street fair and, of course, a parade. The year’s Grand Marshal was none other than Charo. Yes, the Charo. Cuchi cuchi!
Scroll down for photos from the festivities. Happy Pride!
When Your Friends Are A Soul-Sucking Pack Of Mean Gays
Everybody knows being gay is a competition, right?
No? Well it can sure feel that way sometimes.
And as anyone worthwhile who’s ever snagged a spot a the cool kids table can attest, mean gays never live up to the hype.
In this week’s episode of Jimmy Fowlie‘s Go-go Boy Interrupted, Danny gets in with a new crew of A-gays (including Scott Evans) and you can smell the disaster from a mile away. Or did someone leave the gas on?
Either way shit’s about to blow up.
Watch below:
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/hBxKJ70a-u0/friends-soul-sucking-pack-mean-gays-20160524
Gay Couple Goes Viral After Defying Homophobic Neo-Nazi Mob With a Kiss: WATCH
A group of neo-Nazi protestors from far-right group Hogar Social Madrid were demonstrating in Madrid on Friday and a gay couple stood up them with a long romantic kiss. Photos and videos of the kiss have since gone viral.
David Fernández and Gregor Eistert were just out for a Saturday stroll when they stumbled upon the demo.
“We completely forgot the demonstration was taking place and just like any other Saturday we were looking for a terrace in the centre of Madrid when we stumbled across a huge political rally,” Fernández told El Español.
The angry crowd started shouting homophobic abuse at the couple, such as “maricón!” (a derogatory Spanish word for a gay man similar to faggot) “You’ve got AIDS!” and “sickos” as they walked hand in hand.
So they reacted in the best way they could think of, a way that was bound to rile the crowd even more: they began kissing.
Said Fernandez: “It was completely spontaneous, it came from anger.”
The police removed the gay couple from the square, likely for fear of their safety.
Video of the kiss:
El beso gay que desafió a los neonazis en Madrid t.co/VUyN5tFgHYt.co/mph9cUyMiG
— El Español (@elespanolcom) May 22, 2016
Photo:
Que foton de. @lunanegra1976 pic.twitter.com/m7BYymSDXP
— juan carlos mohr (@juancarlosmohr) May 21, 2016
The post Gay Couple Goes Viral After Defying Homophobic Neo-Nazi Mob With a Kiss: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Arkansas News Reporter Responds to Viewer Who Tells Him ‘I Can’t Stand Your Gayness’
Mitchell McCoy, a reporter for KARK and FOX16 News in Arkansas, received a note from a viewer which read:
“Dear Mitch, I watched KARK before you joined and it was a reputable broad cast until now. I have been holding back for months but I can’t stand your gayness. You are on television every night and our children should not be watching people like you. You are a disgrace to Arkansas and I will be asking your boss to take you off. Do not be offended but society is not ready for gay men reading news.”
McCoy shared the note, signed “Sincerely, kark Channel 4 fan,” to his Twitter feed with a defiant retort.
“I get many emails but this tops it. I’ve dreamt of being a reporter since I was 9 and I won’t stop on your behalf. With that said, no matter who you are or what you believe in – dream loudly and don’t let anyone get in your way. The minute you stop…is the minute you stop being who you are. It’s not worth it. #DreamOn #StepUpStopBullying“
I get many emails but this tops it. I’ve dreamt of being a reporter since I was 9 and I won’t stop on your behalf. pic.twitter.com/gyFCRHfPHi
— Mitchell McCoy (@MitchellMcCoy) May 23, 2016
KARK stood by McCoy in a statement to Arkansas Online.
“As public figures, our journalists often receive messages from viewers — some good, some bad,” KARK news director Austin Kellerman said in an email. “It’s part of our profession. Mitch is a great journalist, and we’re happy to have him on our team.”
McCoy’s retort has inspired a wealth of support, including from CNN’s Don Lemon:
@MitchellMcCoy keep on keeping on. Don’t let anyone get you down. There will always be haters. Make them your motivators. 👊🏾
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) May 23, 2016
Some of McCoy’s highlight reel, via Raw Story:
The post Arkansas News Reporter Responds to Viewer Who Tells Him ‘I Can’t Stand Your Gayness’ appeared first on Towleroad.
Trump is No Moderate on LGBT Issues
In this political election season, we have heard some pretty vitriolic comments coming from the Republican candidates for president as well as others in the GOP including governors, state representatives and surrogates for right-wing, anti-gay organizations. From Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee to Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio we hear things like the LGBT community is “attacking religious liberty.”
We’ve watched as North Carolina governor, Pat McCrory squirms in his seat during interviews as he tries to defend the anti-LGBT bill he recently signed into law. Mississippi governor, Phil Bryant, who has a gay son, recently signed a similar bill into law in his state showing complete disregard for any dialogue on the issue.
Tennessee Governor, Bill Haslam recently signed a law allowing therapists to opt-out of treating LGBT people if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. Therapists! So when someone is at their most vulnerable and reaches out to talk to someone, they now face rejection. Lord only knows what that rejection could cause them to do. Dare we mention the likes of hate groups like Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins or the Liberty Council’s Mat Staver and their involvement in the construction and defense of these laws nationwide?
So that’s our “set-up” for this opinion piece. We now have a presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, the bombastic Donald J. Trump. He seems to have been anointed a moderate on LGBT issues in the social media sphere as well as the news media.
Maybe it’s because he’s a New Yorker? Maybe it’s because he let Caitlyn Jenner pee in the ladies room at Trump Tower? Let’s make one thing clear; Trump is NO moderate when it comes to LGBT equality. He just has others like those listed above doing his dirty work for him and helping him win the votes of Evangelicals. Trump is not afraid to use the LGBT community negatively to propel him into office.
Let’s look at the facts. This past January, Trump told Fox News Sunday he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would reverse nationwide marriage equality. He later told the Christian Broadcasting Network that evangelical voters can “trust me” to oppose marriage equality, adding, “I was very much in favor of having the court rule that it goes to states and let the states decide. And that was a shocking decision for you and for me and for a lot of other people. But I was very much in favor of letting the states decide…”
Well, we know what happens if it is left up to the states. It could take generations until all 50 states come on board. Just last week, Trump announced his 11 choices to fill any potential Supreme Court vacancy during his presidency that included many jurists appointed by anti-gay former governors Rick Perry and Tim Pawlenty as well as current governors of Utah and Michigan, Gary Herbert and Rick Snyder respectively (neither of whom have favorable views of the LGBT community).
The Heritage Foundation, also no friend to the LGBT community, has praised the Donald’s list for including names that they had previously supported.
Donald Trump also has expressed his support for the “First Amendment Defense Act” which is a proposed law currently under consideration in Congress which, according to the Human Rights Campaign, “would allow organizations and businesses contracting with the federal government to circumvent critical federal protections designed to protect same-sex couples and their families from harmful discrimination. It would also enable federal employees to refuse to fully perform their duties if they believe they conflict with their objection to same-sex marriage.”
Trump has said, “If Congress considers the First Amendment Defense Act a priority, then I will do all I can to make sure it comes to my desk for signatures and enactment.”
We all have seen the backlash that has ensued in North Carolina since the passage of House Bill 2 or the “bathroom bill” which requires a trans person to use the bathroom in accordance to the sex on their birth certificate and not their gender identity. Donald Trump says he doesn’t support such a law. When asked about it, this is when he famously stated that Caitlyn Jenner could use whatever restroom she would like at a Trump property.
However, on that same day, he told Fox News that a bill like HB2 should be left to the states to decide and that, as president, he would not interfere. He also just recently told the Washington Post that he would rescind President Obama’s historic directives that were announced last week protecting transgender people from discrimination.
We know what happens when states are allowed to decide these things. You end up with separate water fountains and more county clerks like Kentucky’s Kim Davis. As usual, Trump is talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Out of one side, he says “states should come up with a policy that’s going to work for everybody and protect people” in attempts to appeal to moderate Republicans and Independents. Out of the other side, he talks about supporting laws that are specifically designed to oppress the LGBT community, which appeals to his base, because they were passed at the state level. You can’t have it both ways. Trump is being a hypocrite when it comes to LGBT discrimination and trying desperately to look like a moderate.
As each of us, Democrat, Republican or Independent, heads into the voting booth this election season and pulls the curtain to cast their ballot, we hope you remember what appeared when the curtain was pulled back on the Wizard of Oz. Just like Donald Trump, Oz was a fraud.
Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami were one of the two plaintiff couples in the historic Hollingsworth v Perry Supreme Court case that restored equal marriage right in California. LGBT rights activists, they host a weekly podcast, The Husbands, on UBNradio.com.
The post Trump is No Moderate on LGBT Issues appeared first on Towleroad.
HRC Mississippi Takes Action in the Gulf Coast
Post submitted by Harry Hawkins, Field Organizer HRC Mississippi and Rob Hill, HRC Mississippi State Director
Since Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed HB1523, “The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act,” into law, HRC Mississippi has been working to repeal this discriminatory, anti-LGBT law.
HRC Mississippi joined hundreds of allies from across the Gulf Coast at a rally for the repeal of HB1523 in Bay St. Louis earlier this month.
Businesses posted signs stating “All Are Welcome” and I spoke with one local business owner who stressed that HB1523 is bad for business in the Gulf Coast, an area that relies heavily on tourism.
“We are just getting back on our feet after Katrina,” she said. “And now we have this law!”
Since Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed HB1523 into law, more than 75 major national corporations and businesses have spoken out against the horrific measure, that would allow individuals, religious organizations and private associations to use religion to discriminate against LGBT Mississippians in some of the most important aspects of their lives, including at work, at schools, and in their communities.
At a different HRC gathering in Gulfport, HRC spoke with several Gulf Coast residents who are deeply concerned about the state, especially in light of HB1523.
One woman, Elaine, explained prior to the gathering that she intended to move from Mississippi after the passage of the shameful law. She said that she wanted to find a place that was more welcoming and inclusive of all of its citizens, including LGBT people.
Upon reflection, however, she reported via email the following day that after she met “like-minded friends and colleagues” she decided to stay in Mississippi.
“I was inspired and energized,” she wrote. “I’m looking forward to being a part of HRC in every way possible.”
HRC Mississippi is giving people a way to connect and take action against HB1523. These events and interactions in the Gulf Coast are just a few examples of how to get involved.
Other ways to take action include:
We hope you can join us and to learn more about HRC Mississippi, click here.
www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-mississippi-takes-action-in-the-gulf-coast?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Sir Ian McKellen: 'India Needs to Grow Up' and Abolish Antigay Law (Video)
www.advocate.com/world/2016/5/24/sir-ian-mckellen-india-needs-grow-and-abolish-antigay-law-video
LGBT Voters on Why They Support Clinton, Sanders
Ahead of the Washington and California primaries, emotions remain high on both sides.
www.advocate.com/election/2016/5/24/lgbt-voters-why-they-support-clinton-sanders
The Criminal Justice System Is Broken and Trans People Are Suffering
While the world is obsessed with bathroom usage, transgender men and women are struggling for survival in the country’s prisons and detention centers.
www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/5/24/criminal-justice-system-broken-and-trans-people-are-suffering
PHOTOS: Sudsy Naval Academy Freshmen Mounting Rigid Pole Deserve Full Salute
What better way to mark the culmination of a year of intensive training than by scurrying to the top of a 21-foot-tall oil-slicked obelisk with your nearly-naked peers?
For the roughly 1,000 freshman at the U.S. Naval Academy, wrapping up the year by climbing the Herdon Monument is a rite of passage.
Some traditions should never be broken.
This year they accomplished their task of knocking off a cap on the tip and replacing it with a new one in 1 hour, 12 minutes and 30 seconds, which we hear is quite fast.
We give you the class of 2019:
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