Eric Fanning Sworn in as Army Secretary, Thanks His Boyfriend
www.advocate.com/military/2016/5/19/eric-fanning-sworn-army-secretary-thanks-his-boyfriend
Monthly Archives: May 2016
Security Guard Arrested for Assaulting Trans Woman in Bathroom
Security Guard Arrested for Assaulting Trans Woman in Bathroom
The confrontation occurred at a Giant grocery store in Washington, D.C.
www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/5/19/security-guard-arrested-assaulting-trans-woman-bathroom
It Ain't Billboard, Babe: Kesha Strikes Back Against Dr. Luke
It Ain't Billboard, Babe: Kesha Strikes Back Against Dr. Luke
www.advocate.com/music/2016/5/19/it-aint-billboard-babe-kesha-strikes-back-against-dr-luke
Convicted Gay Basher Kathryn Knott’s Legal Troubles Just Got A Whole Lot Worse
Convicted Gay Basher Kathryn Knott’s Legal Troubles Just Got A Whole Lot Worse
It appears convicted gay basher Kathryn Knott‘s legal troubles are far from over.
Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught, the gay couple Knott and her friends brutally attacked back in 2014, just filed a civil suit against the police chief’s daughter and her cohorts, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams.
The unprovoked hate crime made national headlines back in September 2014. Both Haught and Hesse were severely injured while enjoying a date night. Haught was knocked unconscious and had to undergo emergency surgery to repair a fractured jaw bone and orbital. Hesse suffered cuts and bruising on his face and body.
According to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, both victims say that in addition to their physical injuries, they suffered psychological injury, emotional distress and embarrassment. They are seeking unspecified damages.
Last year, Harrigan and Williams both avoided jail time by accepting a plea deal that included community service and probation. Knott chose to fight the charged in court, where she lost. A jury convicted her of simple assault, conspiracy and two counts of recklessly endangering another person. In February, she was sentenced to five to ten months at Riverside Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia, where she’s currently awaiting release.
Neither the plaintiffs’ attorneys nor the defendants have issued any comment, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted when they do.
Related: Judge Refuses To Reconsider Kathryn Knott’s Sentence
This latest lawsuit comes just three weeks after Knott was slapped with another suit from blogger Kathleen O’Donnell, who alleges Knott used her daddy’s connections in law enforcement to get her fired from her job after writing a critical op-ed about the young gay basher.
Seth Meyers: ‘Black Women and Lesbians Are Liars’ – WATCH
Seth Meyers: ‘Black Women and Lesbians Are Liars’ – WATCH
On Late Night, Seth Meyers revealed that there are some jokes–no matter how funny–that he doesn’t feel comfortable telling.
“Every night I deliver jokes written by a diverse team of writers. As a result a lot of jokes come across my desk that due to my being a straight white male would be difficult for me to deliver,” he said. But being that he doesn’t want audience members to miss out on those jokes, he decided to invite two staff writers (one black woman, one lesbian) to tell “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.”
As you might expect, the jokes are pretty great. Like this one: “A lesbian Pennsylvania high school student was recently thrown out of her prom for wearing a suit. Even worse, they threw her out under hand.”
One of the best moments had to be when Seth squealed in delight at a lesbian-centric joke involving “eating out.”
Which also led to this.
But when Seth tried to get in on the fun…it kind of backfired.
Find out why Seth said black women and lesbians are liars, below.
The post Seth Meyers: ‘Black Women and Lesbians Are Liars’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
HRC Mourns Mercedes Successful
HRC Mourns Mercedes Successful
Mercedes Successful, a black transgender woman from Haines City, Fla. was found fatally shot in a parking lot last Sunday. Advocates are only now learning of her death because local press reports have continued to misgender her and use her birth name.
According to reports, Mercedes was a well-known performer in local clubs and the ballroom community, and was the winner of the 2014 Gay Caribbean USA Pageant, where she represented her home country, Jamaica.
Local authorities have not identified a suspect or a motive in the killing.
Transgender people, and transgender women of color in particular, face disproportionate levels of fatal violence. At least nine other transgender people have been killed this year, and several others have died under unclear circumstances.
Our sincere condolences to the friends and family of Mercedes Successful.
For more information on addressing anti-transgender violence, visit hrc.org/trans-violence.
www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-mourns-mercedes-successful?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
#Shame: House Leaders Play Shady Games on House Floor to Torpedo LGBT Non-Discrimination Amendment
#Shame: House Leaders Play Shady Games on House Floor to Torpedo LGBT Non-Discrimination Amendment
Today, HRC blasted House leadership for supporting anti-LGBT lawmakers who would invalidate President Obama’s Executive Order protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination. The House leadership held a vote open on the floor longer than permitted to flip seven Republican votes and kill an amendment from Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) that would ensure that funds from an appropriations bill cannot be used to discriminate against LGBT workers. While 36 Republicans initially voted for the amendment, seven Republicans reversed their votes on the floor, causing the amendment to fail on the floor by one vote.
“Today the House Republican leadership abused the voting procedures to twist arms and flip votes to deny LGBT people equal protections under the law,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “The House today voted against the seven in ten Americans who support legal protections for LGBT people. A handful of House members shamefully changed their votes, enabled their leaders who want to write discrimination into federal law, and left LGBT Americans at risk for being fired or denied a job for who they are or who they love.”
House Members chanted “shame” during the extended vote, which went well beyond the allotted time while leadership worked to flip votes.
This vote comes the day after a contentious debate in the House of Representatives over an amendment included in the National Defense Authorization Act, known as the Russell Amendment. The Russell Amendment would allow sweeping taxpayer-funded discrimination. A bipartisan group of Representatives, led by Reps. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Adam Smith (D-WA) filed an amendment to strip this anti-LGBT provision, but the House Rules Committee — an arm of House Republican Leadership — rejected the bipartisan amendment, refusing to allow debate or a vote on the House floor.
In July 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13672, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Maloney Amendment says that no funds from the bill can be used to contract with companies that aren’t in compliance with this executive order.
A nearly identical amendment passed last year in the House on a bill to fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. That amendment, offered by Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) received huge bipartisan support, with 60 Republicans voting yes — including Rep. Paul Ryan (before he was Speaker). Approximately 30 House Republicans who voted for equal rights last year, flip-flopped on the vote today.
A last-ditch effort by House Democrats to strip the amendment failed along nearly party lines on a procedural vote. Rep. Maloney gave an impassioned speech, saying “This is about whether we will reaffirm equal right or rationalize discrimination. When my husband and I got married after waiting 22 years, so many of you expressed your support. Will you now look me in the eye and say it would be okay for me to lose my job over it?”
Personal Security
Personal Security
jessicajane9 posted a photo:
Feeling very safe, pictured with one of Pink Punters wonderful security staff
Would All LGBTQ Americans Please Stand Up?
Would All LGBTQ Americans Please Stand Up?
How many Americans are gay? That’s the question posed by a new piece in Time Magazine about the efforts of a coalition of experts from 21 federal agencies to figure out how to even start collecting data to help answer that question.
“After centuries in the shadows, many experts believe that we need a full accounting of the nation’s LGBT population and how they live for legal, economic and health reasons,” writes reporter Katy Steinmetz.
The old 1-in-10 rule popularized in the ’70s and based on Alfred Kinsey’s estimate that 10% of American males were homosexual has been replaced by more accurate number suggesting 5% of the U.S. population actually identifies as LGBT, Steinmetz reports. Of course, that doesn’t factor in people who may be closeted or who engage in homosexual behavior but don’t identify as LGBT. Meanwhile, most Americans seem to think LGBT people make up roughly 25% of the population for some reason.
But according to Steinmetz and the officials she spoke with, figuring out how many LGBT people live in the U.S. isn’t as simple as adding a sexual orientation checkbox to census forms. There are logistical factors such as the language different people in different age groups use to identify and the vagaries of a generation that is increasingly more interested in sexual and gender fluidity than traditional binary notions of identity.
All of which is why, Steinmetz says, the U.S. census won’t be asking about sexual orientation anytime soon, despite increased interest.
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/VRojQeulz8c/lgbtq-americans-please-stand-20160519
Amid Shouts Of ‘Shame,’ House GOP Defeats Gay Rights Measure
Amid Shouts Of ‘Shame,’ House GOP Defeats Gay Rights Measure
