Major Victory for Choice at U.S. Supreme Court Today

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that would have shuttered a majority of the state’s abortion clinics. 

www.advocate.com/women/2016/6/27/major-victory-choice-us-supreme-court-today

PHOTOS: New York City Pride, the Main Event

www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/27/photos-new-york-city-pride-main-event

Stephen Colbert 'Comes Out' to RuPaul as a Drag Queen (Video)

Stephen Colbert tells RuPaul “it made me feel beautiful” to be performing as “Raven.”

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2016/6/27/stephen-colbert-comes-out-rupaul-drag-queen-video

Boxers or Briefs? Dog Lovers Drop Their Shorts and Spill – WATCH

The Underwear Expert is back and asking their favorite question again: boxers or briefs?

Host DanielXMiller recently went to a dog park in West Hollywood to learn what kind of drawers dog lovers prefer. He found two hunks to talk to about their underwear habits and also convinced them to drop trou and do a little modeling–well one of them at least (you’ll see why the other kept mostly covered up, below).

Previously, UE has talked with naked Tom of Finland models, shirtless parkour athletes, Democratic primary voters, dodgeball players, WeHo kickball players, DJs, dancers, CrossFit-ers, male models, and men on the street in Hollywood, WeHo, and Santa Monica about what they like to wear under their shorts.

Watch the latest installment, below.

The post Boxers or Briefs? Dog Lovers Drop Their Shorts and Spill – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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Matt Baume: ‘Is Donald Trump a Friend to The Gays?’ – WATCH

When Donald Trump told his supporters to “Ask the gays” about how much better he would be for the LGBT community than Hillary Clinton, he ignited a Twitter firestorm he likely didn’t see coming.

But what are we to make of Trump’s frequent protestations that he is a friend to “the gays” when we also know that his real friends are people like Phyllis Schlafy, Jerry Falwell Jr., and Robert Jeffress? Matt Baume explores this question and shows what a friend to ‘the gays’ really looks like. Hint: a lot like Elizabeth Taylor. And as Baume says to Trump, “You, sir, are no Elizabeth Taylor.”

Watch, below.

The post Matt Baume: ‘Is Donald Trump a Friend to The Gays?’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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HRC Encourages People to ‘Take Pride in Knowing’ on National HIV Testing Day

Each June during LGBTQ Pride Month, we reflect on the tremendous progress we’ve made in the fight for full LGBTQ equality and recommit ourselves to the work ahead. For HRC, that work includes bringing about an end to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, which continues to disproportionately impact members of the LGBTQ community, especially men who have sex with men and Black and Latinx people.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in eight Americans does not know their HIV status. That means that many people are not benefiting from the litany of HIV prevention and treatment options that now exist. In order to help close this gap and mobilize grassroots support for ending the epidemic, HRC is helping LGBTQ people and allies ‘Take Pride in Knowing’ their HIV status this summer.

Made possible with the generous support of the Coca-Cola Foundation, HRC will be providing LGBTQ people and allies with information and resources about where and how to get tested at pride festivals and community events throughout the year. Specifically, HRC will provide people with free copies of “What Do I Do? A Handbook to Understanding Health & HIV,” as well as safer sex cubes containing condoms, lubricant and information about Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-daily pill regimen that can help you stay HIV-negative.

This initiative builds on a partnership HRC Foundation began three years ago with the Greater Than AIDS campaign to normalize conversations about LGBTQ sexual health and wellness. Every year, HRC attends more than 200 pride festivals and interacts with hundreds of thousands of people across the nation.

Today, on National HIV Testing Day, be sure to take the test and take pride in knowing your HIV status. Regardless of the outcome, you’ll be in a position to take control of your sexual health and look great doing it.

There are several different ways to test for HIV, from oral swabs to home testing kits. There are also thousands of locations across the country where you can get an HIV test at little or no cost to you. Click here to find a testing site near you.

To find an HRC booth at a pride festival near you, click here. To find out more about our work to end the epidemic, click here. Join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #NHTD and #TakePrideInKnowing

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-encourages-people-to-take-pride-in-knowing-on-national-hiv-testing-day?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Institutionalizing U.S. LGBTQ Work Abroad

With the Obama Administration beginning to wind down, HRC and its allies have begun taking steps to ensure that the significant and historic progress made on LGBTQ rights during the last eight years will be continued by the next administration. This includes the enormous strides taken to prioritize LGBTQ human rights in U.S. foreign policy agencies.

“President Obama has taken a number of historic steps to prioritize the human rights of LGBTQ people around the world,” said David Stacy, HRC’s Government Affairs Director. “It is crucial that this work continue in the years ahead, no matter who sits in the Oval Office next year, so that LGBTQ people around the world continue to feel the vital support of the U.S. government.”

Most recently, a group of 85 Members of Congress, both from the House and Senate, signed on to a letter authored by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), which called for “the institutionalization of programs that address the global challenges of the LGBT community.”

The letter was addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry and Gayle Smith, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and called on them to support “robust funding for USAID’s LGBT portfolio” as well as “the creation of permanent positions at USAID” to focus on LGBT human rights. The letter’s signers also “strongly urge full support for institutionalizing the Department of State Office of the Special Envoy,” a position now occupied by Randy Berry. “This will be critical to its ability to carry out its mission in the years ahead — affirming and strengthening the U.S. commitment to LGBT equality as a permanent and critical component of our international human rights policy.”

The letter from the Members of Congress follows a letter that HRC sent last month, along with the Council for Global Equality and the American Jewish World Service, calling for USAID “to direct available funding towards strengthening USAID’s commitment to protecting LGBTI populations.” This would be done “by increasing staffing levels within USAID’s LGBTI Office and through financial resources to LGBTI populations and civil society abroad.”Some of the major Obama Administration achievements on LGBTQ human rights abroad include:

• A 2011 Presidential Memorandum on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons, the first ever of its kind;
• Launching the Global Equality Fund in 2011, a private-public partnership that provides resources and diplomatic support to civil society organizations (CSOs) and human rights defenders working to advance and protect the rights of LGBTI persons in over eighty countries.
• The appointment of LGBTQ-focused staff at USAID in 2014; and
• The 2015 creation at the U.S. State Department of the position of Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons.

www.hrc.org/blog/institutionalizing-u.s.-lgbt-work-abroad?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

PHOTOS: The Glow of Pride in San Francisco

www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/27/photos-glow-pride-san-francisco