Texas Democrat Fights Back Against GOP Leaders’ Anti-Trans Bigotry, Proposes Statewide LGBT Protections

Republican state leaders in Texas have been leading the charge against transgender rights in recent weeks, suing the federal government on behalf of numerous states and vowing to pass a “bathroom bill” similar to North Carolina’s.

Now, Democratic lawmakers in the Lone Star State are finally starting to fight back. El Paso state Sen. Jose Rodriguez (above, left) is pledging to oppose anti-trans legislation and has announced plans to again file a bill in 2017 that would ban anti-LGBT discrimination statewide in employment, housing and public accommodations.

Speaking at the kickoff for an Equality Texas campaign on Friday in the Sun City, Rodriguez blamed himself and other Democratic lawmakers for not making the issue of anti-trans discrimination a priority sooner, according to KFOX.com.

“We’re talking about human beings who are members of our community just like anybody else and have the right to be treated like anybody else,” Rodriguez said. “This is a civil rights issue and a human rights issue. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed.”

Rodriguez is one of the few Democratic state lawmakers who’ve spoken out publicly in response to the hateful anti-trans campaign orchestrated in recent weeks by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“The state leadership are on these quests for some misdirected legislation. That’s their decision, but it is our job and it’s going to be my job as a state senator representing my community to fight as vigorously as I can against those discriminatory measures,” Rodriguez said. “We need to fight against any measure that discriminates against any segment of our population.”

Also speaking at the press conference was 23-year-old Adriano Kristian Perez, a  trans man who’s been rejected by his immigrant family, The El Paso Times reports.

“For a long time, I did not tell anyone. I kept quiet, maybe because I wanted to fulfill my family’s perfect American dream,” Perez said. “If there’s a single thing you need to know about me to put my life into context, it’s that I never felt like I belonged anywhere. For most of my life I didn’t really have a choice to decide who I was. It was decided for me.”

Watch KFOX’s report, as well as raw video from the press conference, below.

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Muhammad Ali, Heavyweight Champ Known as ‘The Greatest’, Dead at 74

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali died on Friday at 74 years old:

Ali died late on Friday at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, the family’s spokesperson Bob Gunnell said. His funeral will take place in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali was admitted to hospital on Thursday with a respiratory problem – a move that was described at the time as “a precaution”. However, reports emerged 24 hours later which said he had been placed on a life support machine and his family “feared the worst”.

Ali had become increasingly frail since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, aged 42, and in recent years had limited his public appearances. Earlier this month his brother Rahman Ali revealed that the condition was so advanced he could barely speak or leave his house.

The photo at the top of the article is one dedicated to the public domain by a fan who wrote:

Watching a story about Muhammad Ali on the Today Show. Made me think back to the day I met the greatest. It was in the 1993 at the old Bakery Center. I went to have a magazine signed by The Greatest during a book signing at Books & Books. Although everyone was happy to get their book signed, say a few nice words, and move on; I being a 23 year old said what the heck, why not ask for a picture with him.

I said, Champ, mind if I take a picture with you? Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Ali, by that time, stopped speaking publicly for all practical matters. Ali looked at me and said, come around here boy!. Of course, I did, going around the signing table. Then he grabbed me by the neck and asked me do you know who I am? I said of course, your are The Champ. He said no, I am the greatest of All Time!!! and pretended to knock me out. Everyone started cheering and applauding! He then proceeded to sign my magazine.

One of the greatest moments of my life!!

In his 2004 memoir, The Soul of a Butterfly, Ali wrote how he wanted to be remembered:

I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him, and who helped as many people as he could. As a man who stood up for his beliefs no matter what. As a man who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love.

And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.

The sentiment was shared by author JK Rowling via Twitter and shared widely across the web following his death.

Unsurprisingly, he said it best himself. #MuhammedAli pic.twitter.com/G1BykvvzfF

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 4, 2016

A documentary on the boxer noted that at one time there were rumors that he was gay because he had so many women around him yet only wanted to concentrate on his sport:

Another clip being shared on social media is this one in which he pranks children:

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Gay Couple in Morocco Thrown in Jail for Having Sex in their Car

Two young men will spend six months in jail after police caught them having sex in their car in a deserted area of Guelmin, a city in Southern Morocco.

On Wednesday, Moroccan LGBT rights group Collectif Aswat wrote about the incident on its Facebook page, in Arabic and French:

“On Thursday May, 26 Collectif Aswat heard that two young men were arrested on homosexuality charges in the city of Guelmin. The court sentenced them to six months in jail,” followed by the English hashtag #Love_Is_Not_A_Crime.”

Gay Star News reported that lawyers refused to defend them because they had been charged with the crime of “homosexuality,” and they were not tried properly:

Prosecutors sped through a trial, before an investigation had even been completed and they weren’t able to get proper legal representation.

The couple, who GSN will not name to protect their safety, had gone to a deserted area in the outskirts of Guelmim, a southern city of the north African country, on 26 May.

Police reportedly caught the two young men having sex in their car and arrested them under article 489 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes ‘lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex’.

Despite the public prosecutor ordering a full investigation to be conducted before it was presented to the city’s Court of First Instance, the two men were quickly found guilty.

A recent case in Morocco shocked the international community when two men “who according to police reports identified themselves as gay, were dragged into the street, where one of the attackers filmed them being beaten and stabbed while anti-gay slurs were chanted. A clip of the video was posted online on March 25.”

Same-sex relationships are criminal offenses in 74 countries. In 13 of them, they are punishable by death.

Photos: Aswat Collective’s Facebook page.

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‘Just Pee!’ Kinky Boots Goes on a Musical Bathroom Break in Support of the Trans Community: WATCH

Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper rewrote the lyrics to the Kinky Boots finale number “Just Be,” to show support for the transgender community in the wake of North Carolina’s HB2 law and shot a new video with the Kinky Boots cast.

Today, Lauper will perform in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her concert proceeds will be donated to the fight against the state’s HB2 bill and her concert rider dictates that the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts must have a gender-neutral bathroom.

Said Fierstein of the new video:

“So, you don’t like transgender people? Have the balls to honestly say it. Today’s bathroom controversy is fueled by the same bigots that sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers forty years ago. All these years later they’re still hiding behind the claim that they’re only protecting their children. These discussions are great opportunities to educate and strengthen the bonds that make us all one human family. But when I see discussions on social media proposing a men’s room for adult males, a ladies’ room for adult females, a little girls’ room for little girls, a little boy’s room for little boys and then another pair of bathrooms for little boys with a parent and little girls with a parent… Well, it’s time to take a step back and laugh at our own absurdity. This video is a reminder that sometimes we go to the bathroom just to pee.”

Take a look at “Just Pee:”

You change the world when you change your mind. #JustPee #KinkyBootst.co/Y1ZOB0vKgT

— Kinky Boots (@KinkyBootsBway) June 3, 2016

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Univision offers supportive message to LGBT viewers at Copa América soccer tournament

www.glaad.org/blog/univision-offers-supportive-message-lgbt-viewers-copa-am%C3%A9rica-soccer-tournament

Kinky Boots New Viral Video Sings It’s ‘Just Pee’

Transphobes got you down? Let this bathroom-ography inspire you.

www.advocate.com/comedy/2016/6/03/kinky-boots-new-viral-video-sings-its-just-pee