Donald Trump Is Now 'Born Again,' According to James Dobson

The extremely antigay figure assures evangelicals that Trump has accepted Jesus as savior.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/25/donald-trump-now-born-again-according-james-dobson

Orlando Massacre: ‘Ashamed’ Father Reportedly Refused to Claim Gay Son’s Body

Nearly 90 percent of the people killed in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history were of Hispanic descent.

The Puerto Rican community was hit especially hard: almost half of all Pulse casualties — 23 of them — were from the island. 

But for one young latin man, the sad reality of homophobia reportedly made the circumstances surrounding his death even more appalling.

Local news blog The Orlando Latino reported that a father refused to claim his son’s body because the son was gay, and the father was ashamed. “The tale is part of the untold stories of the Latino victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre,” the blog wrote.

As heartbreaking as it sounds, the episode illustrates how the stigma of being gay is still very alive in the socially conservative island. Among Puerto Rican residents ages 35 and older, only 26 percent of the population favored the legalization of same-sex marriage, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center poll.

Orlando Latino didn’t reveal the name of the victim “so as not to further victimize the deceased, who was Puerto Rican,” but it wrote that it’d “confirmed the information with several sources.”

When the Orange County Medical Examiner and the Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System started to release the names of the Pulse victims to the media, the USA Today noted that “within hours, dozens of people who might have kept their sexual identity relatively private suddenly became the faces of the most deadly shooting spree in U.S. history.”

Many LGBT Puerto Ricans who had left the island for the continental U.S. (around 300,000 of them live in Central Florida) were likely some of them.

“It’s a very touchy subject, but some of the victims’ families found out that their victim was LGBT when this happened, so they will have to do deal with that,” he said. “It’s tragic that someone has to wait until they die for their family to find out that they are gay,” Pedro Julio-Serrano, executive director of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a non-profit organization advocates for the inclusion of LGBT individuals, told Mother Jones. 

Thankfully, “after much convincing, the body was released to Orlando-area relatives and he has been buried,” wrote the Orlando Latino.

Top photo credit:  sarahmirk via Wikimedia Commons

The post Orlando Massacre: ‘Ashamed’ Father Reportedly Refused to Claim Gay Son’s Body appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/Dk7Bk3fuLtI/

Victims To Victors
“Obstacles . In light of the recent tragedy in Orlando, I felt now was an appropriate time to share my story because now, more than ever, it’s important to show people that fear will no longer control me and stop me from being who I am. The queer community has faced myriad obstacles throughout history. I personally have faced my fair share of obstacles. In 2012,

www.noh8campaign.com/article/victims-to-victors

The FBI Is Anonymously Calling LGBT Witnesses 'Not Credible'

A number of gay men are on the record, but the FBI is anonymously calling them “not credible.”

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/6/25/fbi-anonymously-calling-lgbt-witnesses-not-credible

Tennessee Judge Ignores Supreme Court, Rules Parental Rights Apply Only To ‘Husbands’

Judge McMillan said, “I believe as a trial court I am not to plow new ground, but to apply precedent and the law.”

The post Tennessee Judge Ignores Supreme Court, Rules Parental Rights Apply Only To ‘Husbands’ appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/06/25/3792723/tennessee-judge-ignores-marriage-equality/

The Brave Plaintiffs Who Helped Pave the Way for Nationwide Marriage Equality

Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of nationwide marriage equality, brave couples from all 50 states stood up and fought back against regressive laws through the courts and state legislatures to expand equal rights for all. They lived openly and honestly, shared their stories of struggle and love with the nation, and moved hearts and minds like never before.

Dozens of courageous couples took their fight for marriage equality to court, including Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the 2015 Supreme Court case that brought nationwide marriage equality.

In January 2015, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear Obergefell v. Hodges, a consolidation of Jim’s case with the cases of other plaintiffs from Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee. David Michener & William Herbert Ives, Robert Grunn, Nicole Yorksmith & Pamela Yorksmith, Joseph J. Vitale & Robert Talmas, Brittani Henry & Brittni Rogers, Kelly Noe & Kelly McCraken, Gregory Bourke & Michael DeLeon, Randell Johnson & Paul Campion, Jimmy Meade & Luther Barlowe, Kimberly Franklin & Tamera Boyd, Maurice Blanchard & Dominique James, Timothy Love & Lawrence Ysunza, Joy “Johno” Espejo & Matthew Mansell, Kellie Miller & Vanessa DeVillez, Sergeant Ijpe DeKoe & Thomas Kostura, Valeria Tanco & Sophia Jesty and April DeBoer & Jayne Rowse, were just some of the brave individuals and couples that fought for marriage equality in those states over the past several years.

Only a few short months later, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges on April 28, 2015, and ruled in favor of marriage equality on June 26, 2015.

One year later we honor the brave plaintiffs who helped pave the way for nationwide marriage equality – an important milestone in the fight for full LGBTQ equality. But there is more work ahead. Currently, 32 states lack fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people in housing, employment,and public accommodations, meaning that despite the Supreme Court ruling making marriage equality the law of the land. LGBT Americans can now marry in every state, but remain at real risk for discrimination. No one should be fired, denied an apartment, or refused service because of who they are. Last year on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision, Congress introduced a solution: the Equality Act. The Equality Act would guarantee protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity virtually every area of LGBTQ people’s lives from the school room to the court room to the board room. Learn more about the Equality Act.

Watch now:

www.hrc.org/blog/the-brave-plaintiffs-who-helped-pave-the-way-for-nationwide-marriage-equali?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed