HRC’s Welcoming Schools Relaunches Website with Exclusive New Classroom Resources

Post submitted by Welcoming Schools Project Coordinator Charles Girard

HRC’s Welcoming Schools is proud to announce the relaunch of its website — now even easier to use and navigate for everyone, from teachers and educators, to parents and caregivers.

The website can still be found at:  www.welcomingschools.org

HRC’s Welcoming Schools is the nation’s most comprehensive  program dedicated to creating respectful and supportive elementary schools for all students and their families. The new website is loaded with resources to ensure that teachers and other adults who work with children have the most up-to-date language, most useful tips and best practices at their fingertips.  

Here’s what to love about our updated site:

It’s easier to navigate.

You’ll spend less time clicking and more time reading our lesson plans and deciding what books you’ll choose for your classroom, or to read with your children. It includes drop down menus for research, trainings and resources.

It works easily on smartphones, tablets and laptops.

We know that educators aren’t always near a computer when they want to access resources like our sample responses to anti-LGBTQ language in the classroom, or our other incredibly useful guides. So we’ve designed our new site to be easily viewed on tablets, smartphones, desktop computers and any other device you use to access the internet. Now you’ll be able to call up our classroom tips from virtually anywhere.

We’re offering even more essential resources.

Wondering why schools should embrace LGBTQ families? Curious if we have any lesson plans to help students understand transgender identities? Don’t worry, we have all of those answers and more.

Check out our website, share it with the teachers, parents and other educators and caregivers you know. And, please, let us know what you think.

HRC Welcoming Schools is the nation’s premier program dedicated to creating respectful and supportive elementary schools that celebrate family diversity and LGBTQ-inclusion, prevent biased-based bullying and gender stereotyping, and embrace all students. We envision a day when all schools will truly be Welcoming Schools.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrcs-welcoming-schools-relaunches-website-with-exclusive-new-classroom-reso?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

N.C. Lt. Gov. Says DOJ is Extorting State Over HB 2

Dan Forest claims the Justice Department is “holding the children of North Carolina hostage” by threatening to withold federal funding because of HB 2. 

www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/5/12/nc-lt-gov-says-doj-extorting-state-over-hb-2

LGBT-Focused Channel Here TV Expands to Amazon

The subscription-based channel continues branching from cable to the web.

www.advocate.com/television/2016/5/12/lgbt-focused-channel-here-tv-expands-amazon

Okla. Politician Sally Kern: Gays Still Worse Than Terrorists

Finally leaving the Oklahoma legislature, Kern goes out with a bang.

www.advocate.com/politicians/2016/5/12/okla-politician-sally-kern-gays-still-worse-terrorists

Olly Murs Celebrates Soccer Win With An Impressive Trophy And Nothing Else

There are two things that should be universally embraced by all — winning and nudity.

That’s not to say losing and clothes deserve any scorn, but there’s no denying the allure of their much more titillating counterparts.

When combined, the two forces act in a near-perfect union.

Related: The Most Homoerotic Moments In Soccer Set To Romantic Music, Just Because

Look no further than performer Olly Murs for proof.

The “Troublemaker” singer recently took to Twitter to celebrate his soccer team, the Coggeshall Town Football Club, winning their division championship. Naked, of course.

He posted a few other team shots as well:

Well done it Boys!!! Championssssss 2016!!! @CoggeshallTown ??? brillianttttttt buzzing!! Get in!!! pic.twitter.com/oRYKvKYIyp

— Olly Murs (@ollyofficial) May 11, 2016

And the crowd. Went. Wild.

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/arJvd-ZR4GE/olly-murs-celebrates-soccer-win-impressive-trophy-nothing-else-20160512

Massachusetts Senate Passes Transgender Rights Bill By Wide Margin

The Massachusetts state Senate on Thursday passed a transgender rights bill that provides non-discrimination protections for trans people in the area of public accommodations, the exact type of non-discrimination protections other states have been pointedly denying to their trans citizens.

Senate Bill 735 passed by a wide margin of 33 to 4 and is expected to pass the House.

Mass. Senate passes transgender rights bill 33-4.

— State House News (@statehousenews) May 12, 2016

“In Massachusetts we are civil rights pioneers by nature” – Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz in opening comments on transgender rights bill.

— State House News (@statehousenews) May 12, 2016

BuzzFeed reports:

Democrats argued the legislation advanced basic civil rights for transgender people, blocking several amendments from Republicans that would have weakened the legislation.

“It is our responsibility to advance these provisions when there is clearly evidence that transgender people can and are being discriminated against,” Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, a Democrat, told BuzzFeed News before the vote.

The bill appears poised to pass the House and reach the governor’s desk.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo told reporters last week that he likes the bill as passed by a joint judiciary committee, suggesting he is prepared to bring the legislation to a floor vote.

While Republican Governor Charlie Baker had initially signaled ambivalence on the bill (which led to him being booed off stage at an LGBT event), he appears more favorably disposed to the bill at present:

Lizzy Guyton, a spokesman for Baker, told BuzzFeed News in a statement that the governor “will carefully review a bill should the legislature act,” adding that he “believes no one should be discriminated against based on gender identity.” The governor also supports existing state laws banning transgender discrimination in housing and employment, Guyton added.

[Top photo via Dominic Holden / Twitter]

The post Massachusetts Senate Passes Transgender Rights Bill By Wide Margin appeared first on Towleroad.

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NC Lt. Gov. Dan Forest: Obama Administration Using Extortion to Push ‘Radical Leftist Agenda’ – WATCH

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest accused the Obama administration of using the legal battle over HB 2 as a political football to push its “radical leftist agenda.”

Speaking with The Daily Signal, Forest called the DOJ’s countersuit against North Carolina, a suit that could result in the loss of $2 billion in federal funds for the state, “extortion.” Forest also says the federal government is holding the children of North Carolina hostage.

As for U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s comparing HB 2 to Jim Crow laws and other forms of state-sponsored discrimination, Forest says,

“To use Jim Crow laws is pretty shameful…the color of somebody’s skin, the pigment of their skin has absolutely nothing to do, zero to do with what bathroom somebody goes into, what locker room or shower they use, what lunch counter they sit at, it has nothing to do with that. That’s why we got rid of those nefarious laws called Jim Crow laws because they were amazingly discriminatory. However, somebody’s biological sex has everything to do with which bathroom you use.”

ICYMI: Loretta Lynch Announces Federal Lawsuit Against NC, Tells Trans Americans ‘We See You’ – WATCH 

Forest went on to say that HB 2 “has absolutely nothing to do with Jim Crow laws. She knows that. But they’re pushing the envelope here to, again, push their agenda so that they can redefine what the term sex means in the Civil Rights Act.”

As for what Forest would tell transgender North Carolinians who feel discriminated against, he says, “You’re welcome here. There’s no discrimination going on in North Carolina.”

Forest also denies perpetuating the anti-trans LGBT bathroom predator myth.

Watch, below.

The post NC Lt. Gov. Dan Forest: Obama Administration Using Extortion to Push ‘Radical Leftist Agenda’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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Texas Republicans Are Chomping At The Bit To Hop On The Transphobia Train

Without the legislature in session, Texas Republicans are finding other ways to come out against transgender equality.

The post Texas Republicans Are Chomping At The Bit To Hop On The Transphobia Train appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/05/12/3777656/texas-transphobia/

Massachusetts State Senate Approves Measure Extending Crucial Protections to Transgender Community

Today, HRC hailed the Massachusetts State Senate’s vote extending commonsense non-discrimination protections to the state’s transgender residents and visitors. While Massachusetts state law already prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in housing and employment, the new legislation will extend the same crucial protections to public accommodations.

Following expected approval by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the bill will head to the desk of Republican Governor Charlie Baker who has not indicated whether he will sign the bill. In recent weeks Baker has made positive statements in support non-discrimination laws for the transgender community.

“We commend the Massachusetts Senate under the leadership of Senate President Stan Rosenberg for choosing to lead by embracing acceptance, respect and dignity for all at this pivotal moment for transgender equality in America,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “While North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has legislated hate by signing the vile HB2 into law, governors from Georgia and South Dakota have joined the growing list of fair-minded Republicans standing up for fairness and equality. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans– on both sides of the aisle– know that discriminating against the LGBT community is wholly unacceptable.”  

“We look forward to continued equality momentum in Massachusetts with a positive vote in the House, and we urge Governor Baker to sign this vitally important measure into law when it reaches to his desk,” Winterhof said.

If  Baker signs the bill, Massachusetts will join 18 other states and more than 100 cities that have explicit non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, housing and employment.
The bill has overwhelming support throughout the state and the region. Several New England  professional sports teams and Massachusetts education groups have endorsed it, along with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, and the Boston Globe’s editorial board.

HRC is a proud member of the Freedom Massachusetts campaign, mobilizing our in-state members, as well as donating staff and other resources to the effort over the last year.

Above: MA Senate President and HRC’s Marty Rouse

www.hrc.org/blog/massachusetts-state-senate-approves-measure-extending-crucial-protections-t?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

LGBTQ Progress in the Philippines

In May of 2015, HRC was proud to partner with GenderProud founder Geena Rocero and the Association of Transgender People of the Philippines for a three-city tour to empower local transgender activists to tell their own authentic stories, and become advocates for non-discrimination.

Rocero, a longtime HRC supporter and transgender advocate, saw her dream come to fruition as she returned to her native country to build awareness and destigmatize the lives of transgender people in the Philippines.

“All that work that we’re all doing is for the trans youth,” Rocero said in a video with HRC. “Hoping that their lives will be better than ours, so they can thrive more.”

The tour kicked off with an unprecedented gathering of more than 160 transgender activists and allies who came together for a few days of inspiration, connecting and skill building. The participants were also offered media and storytelling trainings so they are better equipped to share their stories with policymakers, the media and the public.

Rocero and fellow advocates are now seeing the tides slowly shift – earlier this week the Philippines elected Geraldine Roman, a transgender woman and member of the Liberal Party, as the representative for Bataan Second Legislative District. She is the Philippines’ first transgender member of Congress.

“Philippines just elected its FIRST Transgender woman in Congress,” Rocero shared on Facebook. “Huge Congrats Geraldine Roman! So PROUD!”

While the Philippines has one of the highest rates of acceptance of LGBTQ people in Asia, transgender people are often stigmatized. LGBTQ activists are working in this overwhelmingly Catholic country to pass national level legislation to protect or advance the rights of LGBTQ people. Unfortunately, a non-discrimination bill that would protect LGBTQ people has languished in Congress for years.

www.hrc.org/blog/lgbtq-progress-in-the-philippines?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed