John Waters, Grand Theft Auto Gay Pride, Theresa May, Maya Rudolph, 23 Ways, Gus Kenworthy: NEWS

23 WAYS. Why it’s time to take action to heal the long history of systemic racism in America. “Using real-life examples, the video simply but devastatingly presents 23 separate ways that innocent black lives have been taken by police. Organized by Alicia Keys, the video features the aforementioned Beyoncé as well as the likes of Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Chris Rock and Pharrell Williams to read these tragic stories. We have all heard how easily a black life is taken at a traffic stop or in the hands of police custody, but these artists put context into just how shocking these deaths are in the face of innocent activities like selling CD’s or simply wearing a hoodie. This is not an instance of celebrities pandering to an issue, but rather a way to keep this issue at the forefront of our collective conscious.”

UK. Theresa May appoints anti-LGBT MP to cabinet: “Fox voted against equal marriage, describing the proposals as “absurd” and saying in a letter on his website that it “smacks of a form of social engineering of which Conservatives should be instinctively wary”. He was absent for votes on civil partnerships, gender recognition, equal age of consent, the abolition of Section 28 and the Equality Act abolition of Section 28. He also voted against equal adoption rights.”

HOUSTON. Texas gun range offers free training to new LGBT gun owners: “What we thought was going to be two classes, with maybe 40 people total, has now just totally blown up to 13 classes, and we’ve got over 550 signed up, with over a hundred done already.”

IRELAND. Lesbian couples five times more likely to split up than gay men: “The statistics show that 6pc of the 2,071 civil partnerships – the precursor to same-sex marriage – entered into between 2011 and 2015 ended up being dissolved. However, there was a huge disparity between the proportion of gay and lesbian couples formally calling it a day. Around 12pc of lesbian partnerships had been dissolved by the end of last year, compared with just 2.4pc of gay partnerships.”

MULTIPLE MANIACS. The return of the John Waters classic.

DUKE. Basketball game against Albany cancelled over HB2: “Holly Liapis, spokeswoman for the State University of New York system that includes Albany, says that game won’t be played because of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order banning publicly funded, non-essential travel to North Carolina.”

ISRAEL. Court restricts Gay Pride march in city of Beersheba: “Organizers sought to march down a main thoroughfare in the city on Thursday but the court said police intelligence assessments indicated the possibility of violence. It said there could be life-threatening violence against participants, and also that participants could contribute to violence in an effort to defend themselves. The court suggested the participants march along an alternative route but organizers declined, saying that would ‘hide’ them.”

ESPYS. Gus Kenworthy didn’t win the ESPY but he won in love.

GRAND THEFT AUTO. The new Gay Pride mod.

ROBYN COVER OF THE DAY. Emma Stone and Maya Rudolph hit “Call Your Girlfriend” right on target.

THIRSTY THURSDAY. Dallas model Marshall Price.

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WATCH LIVE: The 2016 Emmy Award Nominations Announcement

Happening Thursday at 11:30 AM EST, Anthony Anderson and Lauren Graham will announce the nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Watch a live stream of that announcement below.

The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards will air on Sunday, September 18. Jimmy Kimmel will return as the show’s host this year.

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Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Campus Safety

Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on campus safety. The hearing took a hard look at bullying, harassment, hazing, and violence on campuses, and it particularly focused on the needs of LGBTQ students.

One of the witnesses was Jane Clementi, the mother of the late Tyler Clementi and the founder of the Tyler Clementi Foundation. Jane told the Committee the story of her son Tyler, who was a freshman at Rutgers University in 2010. Without Tyler’s knowledge, his roommate streamed video footage on the internet of Tyler in his dorm room with another male.  After his roommate attempted to stream another such interaction a few days later, Tyler ended his life.

Jane implored the Committee to include the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Act in any reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This legislation would require colleges and universities receiving federal student aid funding to enact an anti-harassment policy that specifically prohibits harassment based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. The Tyler Clementi Act was introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) – the Ranking Member of the HELP Committee – as well as Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

Sen. Baldwin asked the witnesses to explain how their schools support their LGBTQ students. Washington State University’s Dr. Melynda Huskey spoke about the unique needs of LGBTQ students at her university, sharing her perspective as a mother and a lesbian. Joseph Storch of the State University of New York system talked about their long-standing efforts to ensure that transgender students are treated with respect. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) detailed the extent of harassment of LGBTQ people on campus, and focused her questions about the need for better data collection.

This inclusive hearing was in stark contrast to a hearing in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday promoting a deeply discriminatory piece of legislation, the First Amendment Defense Act, which would allow taxpayer funded discrimination against LGBTQ people.

HRC thanks Sen. Murray – who has long been a champion for the LGBTQ community – for hosting this hearing which truly focused on the needs of vulnerable students as well as all of the Senators and witnesses who participated. 

www.hrc.org/blog/senate-committee-holds-hearing-on-campus-safety?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Targeted Interventions Found to Increase Healthy Habits of Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Post submitted by Ashley Jeffrey, HRC Foundation Coordinator 

A groundbreaking study found that programs designed specifically for lesbian and bisexual women helped participants significantly increase their physical activity and reduce their body weight.

Healthy Weight in Lesbian and Bisexual Women: Striving for a Healthy Community (HWLB) conducted the study, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The study tested the effectiveness of culturally tailored weight and fitness interventions for lesbian and bisexual women. Intervention processes for the study enrolled overweight lesbian and bisexual women ages 40 and older in weekly group meetings, nutrition education and physical activity. Participants also completed pre- and post-intervention surveys.

HRC’s collaborative resource Health Disparities Among Bisexual People noted that bisexual women face significant health disparities compared with the general population of women in the U.S. Most notably, bisexual women face higher rates of obesity than heterosexual women, but also higher rates of heart disease than heterosexual women and even higher rates of breast cancer and all cancers than the general population of women.

“Some groups of lesbian women are more likely to be overweight and obese than females of other sexual orientations,” a 2012 publication from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) noted. “Specifically, higher prevalence rates of obesity have been found among lesbians who are: African-American; live in rural or urban areas; have lower levels of education; and are from a low socioeconomic status.”

The HWLB study found that participants in the pedometer and mindfulness programs were more likely to increase their total minutes of physical activity by 20 percent, and those in the gym group were more likely to experience a 5 percent decrease in waist-to-height ratio.

“Nearly 60 percent of the HWLB participants increased their weekly physical activity minutes by 20 percent while 29 percent decreased their waist-to-height ratios by 5 percent,” the HWLB found. “95 percent of HWLB participants achieved one of their health objectives – which included nutrition goals as well as targets for physical activity and weight loss – while 58 percent achieved three or more.”

The HWLB initiative’s findings suggest that targeted weight and fitness interventions are effective in improving the health behaviors of lesbian and bisexual women. This research points towards a productive strategy to reduce obesity among women in the lesbian and bisexual community.

HRC Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) is the national LGBTQ benchmarking survey and report that helps healthcare facilities provide more equitable care to their LGBTQ patients. Please visit www.hrc.org/hei for more information on LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare facilities.

www.hrc.org/blog/targeted-interventions-found-to-increase-healthy-habits-of-lesbian-and?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Peter Thiel, Tim Tebow, Pam Bondi, Ted Cruz Among Speakers for GOP Convention: LIST

Among those slated to speak at next week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland are gay Paypal billionare Peter Thiel (who recently destroyed Gawker media by bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit), football player Tim Tebow, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and several Trump familly members. The list is expected to grow.

The list, as posted by the NYT:

Night 1: A Benghazi focus, followed by border patrol agents and Mr. Shaw, whose son was killed by an undocumented immigrant. Senator Cotton, Mr. Giuliani, Melania Trump, Ms. Ernst and others.

Night 2: A focus on the economy: Mr. White, president of the U.F.C.; Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas; Michael Mukasey, the former United States attorney general; Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a vice-presidential possibility; Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader; Tiffany Trump; Donald Trump Jr. and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Night 3: Ms. Bondi; Ms. Collins; Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas; Eric Trump; Ms. Gulbis; and the nominee for vice president.

Night 4: Mr. Tebow; Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma; Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman; Gov. Rick Scott of Florida; Mr. Thiel; Mr. Barrack; Ivanka Trump; Donald J. Trump.

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Prince Harry HIV Test Streamed Live on Facebook: WATCH

In an effort to remove the stigma around it, Prince Harry has been tested for HIV and streamed the procedure live on Facebook.

Writes the Royal Family on Facebook:

HIV rates in the UK continue to rise despite years of progress in treating the illness and one of the biggest factors has been that up to 17% of HIV positive patients are unaware of their status and unintentionally pass on the virus to partners.

Prince Harry believes until everyone feels relaxed about taking HIV tests – whether from high risk groups or not – then tackling the stigma and fear surrounding HIV testing will continue to allow the virus to win.

RELATED: Prince Harry Saved Fellow Soldier From Anti-Gay Incident

Watch:

NBC News adds:

The video hearkened back to groundbreaking images of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, reaching out to people with HIV in the 1980s. Diana’s gestures — including a photograph of her shaking hands with an HIV-positive man and hugging children with AIDS — went a long way toward removing the stigma around it.

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Armstrong Williams, Former Top Adviser to Ben Carson, Sued by Male Aide for Sexual Assault

Armstrong Williams (above), a former top adviser to Ben Carson, was sued on Wednesday for sexual assault, battery and failure to pay wages by Charlton Woodyard, a male aide who claims that Williams demanded he give him a massage, groped him, and then “rebuffed his advances,” the New York Times reports.

“I’m attracted to you, that’s just a fact,” Mr. Williams told Mr. Woodyard, according to the lawsuit.

While the incident went no further, the lawsuit said, Mr. Woodyard was soon demoted from his job in Alabama and was fired in April. He is suing Mr. Williams for sexual assault, battery and failure to pay wages.

Mr. Williams, who faced a similar lawsuit in 1997 and settled the case, denied the allegations in an interview on Wednesday. He said that Mr. Woodyard lived in his home temporarily, stayed out late partying, and was terminated from the job because of incompetence.

“This is someone that I cared about, we were tight, we were buddies, we hung out,” Mr. Williams said, suggesting that Mr. Woodyard was trying to extort money from him. “I’m single, I’m a bachelor, I’ve had these kinds of allegations before. He wants to get paid for doing nothing.”

Below, a video posted to Williams’ YouTube account featuring Woodyard, titled “A Look Into Our Future: Charlton Woodyard”.

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#BenchHB2: NBA Decision on All-Star Game Location to Come Soon

Since North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed the discriminatory HB2 into law in March, the NBA has publicly warned that the 2017 All-Star Game may be moved from Charlotte if lawmakers fail to roll back HB2’s vile anti-LGBTQ provisions. During a press conference last night, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said decision would come “soon.”

“We’re not prepared to make a decision today,” Silver said. “But we recognize the calendar is not our friend. February is quickly approaching, especially in terms of big events like the All-Star games if we’re going to make alternative plans.”

Last week, tech industry leaders sent a letter to Silver urging the league to move its 2017 All Star Game unless North Carolina legislators repeal the discriminatory HB2 law “in very short order,” the Associated Press reported. The letter, signed by leaders including those from SV Angel, Google, Reddit, Paypal, Lyft, and Pinterest, asserted that, “If the NBA holds events in North Carolina while HB2 remains law, players, employees, and fans will be at risk of discrimination — and that’s wrong.”

NBA TV Analyst Charles Barkley has spoken publicly against HB2, even threatening to boycott the game if HB2 isn’t repealed or if the game isn’t moved out of Charlotte.

HRC has been on the ground in North Carolina for months working toward repeal of the discriminatory HB2 law alongside Equality NC and other grassroots advocates. The state’s general assembly adjourned its short session last week after refusing to fully repeal the law, and is not scheduled to reconvene until January — leaving tens of thousands of people at risk in the interim. Despite widespread opposition to the law, the general assembly has been unwilling even to consider repealing the worst anti-LGBTQ components of the law, including its ban on transgender people accessing restrooms consistent with their gender identity in government offices and schools and its removal of municipalities’ ability to pass LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination laws.   

www.hrc.org/blog/benchhb2-nba-decision-on-all-star-game-location-to-come-soon?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Queer Protesters to LAPD: 'Black Lives Matter Here'

Hundreds of people rallied outside of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters Tuesday.

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/7/14/queer-protesters-lapd-black-lives-matter-here