Actress Stephanie Beatriz Comes Out as Bisexual
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine star came out via Twitter.
www.advocate.com/coming-out/2016/7/18/actress-stephanie-beatriz-comes-out-bisexual
Daily Archives: July 18, 2016
Ellen DeGeneres
Chaos in Cleveland: RNC Shuts Down Never Trump Requests for Roll Call Vote – LIVE VIDEO
Chaos in Cleveland: RNC Shuts Down Never Trump Requests for Roll Call Vote – LIVE VIDEO
The Republican convention in Cleveland devolved into chaos on Monday as the chair shut down a parliamentary request for a roll call vote on adopting the rules of the convention.
The request for a roll call vote came from Never Trump forces that hoped to defeat the convention rules and rewrite new rules that would have ultimately allowed delegates to vote for a candidate other than Donald Trump.
The Hill reports on what the Never Trumpers intended:
Delegates Unbound, a group of delegates that support unbinding the delegates to free them from their pledge to vote for Trump, announced Monday afternoon it had secured enough support to force that roll call vote.
The delegates aim to vote down the rules package in its entirety in order to force the party back to the drawing board under pressure to unbind delegates.
When it came time to consider the roll call vote, the chair apparently ignored petitions submitted by Never Trump delegates.
The RNC also suggested that some delegates who signed petitions for a roll call vote ultimately changed their mind.
Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack brought up the Rules Committee report, which would keep delegates bound to Trump. Anti-Trump forces began shouting and wanting a roll call vote in a last-ditch effort to unbind GOP delegates and let them vote their “conscience.”
Their objections were shouted down by pro-Trump supporters. The package was passed on voice vote. Boo’s and chants were drowned out by cheers of “USA!” and Trump supporters.
Womack left the stage and left the podium, while the house band came on to play amid the confusion. He returned later and called a voice vote, where both “Ayes” and “Nays” were loudly heard. Womack ruled the Ayes had won.
Video: Drama in Cleveland — GOP delegates shouting down the chair, demanding a roll call vote t.co/RZMXLZG8cL
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 18, 2016
ROLL CALL VOTE!!!! pic.twitter.com/NE4GqoQCnO
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 18, 2016
THIS IS THE GOP CONVENTION. Btw. pic.twitter.com/nxuGuN2QgP
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 18, 2016
Roaring boos as rules committee package is adopted pic.twitter.com/enjSbVRWO2
— Melanie Mason (@melmason) July 18, 2016
Anti-LGBT former Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli was among those trying to force the roll call vote.
“This is disgusting,” [Cuccinelli] said to C-SPAN as delegates yelled over each other, some chanting “We love Trump” while others yelled for a roll call vote. Cuccinelli threw his credentials on the ground as chaos ensued.
SPOTTED – @KenCuccinelli & @BeauCorrell leading #NeverTrump revolt. Podium abandoned. #RNCinCLE in chaos now. pic.twitter.com/2Cy5LuBoWL
— Mike Valerio (@MikeNBC12) July 18, 2016
.@KenCuccinelli says roll call was disrespectful to the grassroots. “You win an election by appealing to the voters” pic.twitter.com/GicgimVOdG
— Kira Lerner (@kira_lerner) July 18, 2016
Former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey (NH) described the maneuver as fascist. Humphrey told MSNBC, “This is a meeting of brown shirts…people who act like fascists.”
The Colorado delegation walked out of the convention after the role call vote was denied.
Watch live video from the RNC, below.
twitter.com/i/live/753267649300144129
The post Chaos in Cleveland: RNC Shuts Down Never Trump Requests for Roll Call Vote – LIVE VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Okla. Gov. Mary Fallin: GOP Platform Not Anti-Gay Because Gay People Were on the Committee – WATCH
Okla. Gov. Mary Fallin: GOP Platform Not Anti-Gay Because Gay People Were on the Committee – WATCH
Notoriously anti-LGBT Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN on Monday that the Republican Party’s platform isn’t anti-LGBT because “there were gay people on the platform committee.”
As we’ve reported, the Republican Party’s 2016 platform is staunchly anti-LGBT: it opposes marriage equality, endorses anti-trans bathroom bills, says every child deserves a “married mom and dad”, and supports the harmful practice of conversion therapy.
RELATED: 2016 GOP Platform Lays It Bare: Today’s Republican Party is an Anti-LGBT Hate Group
And while advocates of LGBT rights tried to steer the platform committee towards slightly less homophobic territory, they have since given up.
Talking about the perception that the platform is anti-LGBT, Fallin, co-chair of the platform committee, said the committee and the party are focused on, “How can we make America great and stand for the human rights of all people, not just one segment, one class, one race, one preference, but for all people in the United States.”
PREVIOUSLY: OK Gov. Mary Fallin Won’t Say if She Thinks Businesses Have Right to Deny Service to Gays
Asked what she would say to gay people who don’t feel included in the platform, Fallin responded, “Well, there were gay people on the platform committee themselves and we respect that. We’re an inclusive party; we’re a big tent.”
She added, “The main thing is, we think all human beings, no matter who you are, deserve respect, deserve equal treatment, and should be respected in all that we do, and be protected,”
Raw Story notes that the one openly LGBT person on the platform committee has not exactly endorsed the anti-LGBT planks the GOP is touting:
“[…] the LGBT person on the platform committee, Rachel Hoff, has already said publicly that her experience on the committee and the platform the GOP has put out makes her want to leave the Republican Partyfor the first time in her life.
The Daily Beast reported last week that Hoff might be an out LGBT person, but the committee itself is comprised mostly of anti-LGBT loons. Including one Baptist Deacon, who took out a newspaper ad claiming homosexuality is “killing people 2 to 3 times the rate of smoking.”
Of the party’s big gay problem, GOP chair Reince Preibus said, “We’re still a party that believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to kick people out. I can’t win this race if I tell people that they’re not welcome in our party.”
Watch Fallin justify the GOP’s homophobia, below.
You can also watch out Hoff talk about the platform’s anti-LGBT language, here:
The post Okla. Gov. Mary Fallin: GOP Platform Not Anti-Gay Because Gay People Were on the Committee – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Monday: RNC Features Anti-Equality Senators Tom Cotton, Jeff Sessions and Joni Ernst
Monday: RNC Features Anti-Equality Senators Tom Cotton, Jeff Sessions and Joni Ernst
Taking the stage on the opening night of the RNC convention, and just hours after their party embraced the most overtly anti-LGBTQ platform in its history, are three U.S. Senators who embody the GOP’s hostility toward equality: Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Joni Ernst (R-IA). Their political careers have been marked by opposing LGBTQ equality, and embracing the discriminatory provisions reflected in their party’s new platform.
On Wednesday, Mike Pence, who has made anti-LGBTQ animus a cornerstone of his political career, is poised to accept the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination. The following night, Donald Trump is expected to accept the party’s presidential nomination, finalizing a ticket that would put at risk everything the LGBTQ community has gained over the last eight years.
Sen. Tom Cotton
During his time in the U.S. Senate, Cotton voted against the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit LGBTQ discrimination in public schools. Cotton was also one of the senators who refused to acknowledge that the attack at the Pulse Nightclub targeted LGBTQ people.
In addition, in 2015, Cotton defended the Arkansas Governor’s religious freedom bill that enables discrimination against LGBT people, people of color, minority faiths and women by asserting, “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions
Sessions has a long anti-equality record in Congress. He opposed the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling, saying, “What this court did was unconstitutional, I don’t think they had the power to do what they did…there’s nothing in the Constitution that requires such a result…”
Sessions voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and is a cosponsor of the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), legislation that could allow Kim Davis-style discrimination against LGBTQ people across the nation. Sessions also voted against repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Sen. Joni Ernst
Like Cotton, Ernst voted against the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit LGBTQ discrimination in public schools, and amendments that would ensure that same-sex couples have access to Social Security and veterans benefits.
The Trump-Pence Ticket
Pence became a national disgrace in 2015, for his “license to discriminate” bill that could have allowed businesses to deny service to LGBTQ people — and subsequently defending the bill over an outcry from the business community and a majority of Hoosier voters. In a now notorious interview with ABC last year, Pence refused to answer eight separate times when asked whether businesses should be able to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Pence’s discriminatory bill had enormous consequences for the business and economic health of Indiana after a flood of companies spoke out against his bill. Indianapolis’s nonprofit tourism agency estimated that, Pence’s anti-LGBTQ bill cost the city alone up to 12 conventions and $60 million in lost revenue. Polling conducted by HRC after the 2015 fight found that 75 percent of Hoosiers said the debate was bad for the state’s economy and 70 percent of those surveyed said they opposed to the law.
Trump has reaffirmed his opposition to transgender equality, appeared alongside Tony Perkins — leader of SPLC-designated hate group the Family Research Council — and delusionally bragged about fictional support from the LGBTQ community in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. His false claims about his own support are belied by his own long record of opposing LGBTQ equality.
For more on Trump and Pence’s opposition to LGBTQ equality, click here.
| Paid for by Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |
Congressional Committee Focuses on LGBTQ Human Rights Abroad
Congressional Committee Focuses on LGBTQ Human Rights Abroad
For the first time in Congressional history, a full committee in the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing with a witness whose exclusive focus was on the human rights of LGBTQ people around the world. On July 12, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing entitled “Human Rights Under Siege Worldwide,” which included testimony from Mark Bromley, chair of the Council for Global Equality, a coalition of human rights groups – including HRC – that seeks to encourage greater U.S. support for LGBTQ people and communities around the world.
“Human rights protections are indeed under siege and that is particularly true for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals globally,”Bromley said in his testimony. “The targeted attack on a gay bar in Orlando just one month ago today, which killed 49 young persons and wounded scores more, provides a sobering reminder of that fact, and it lends a jarring perspective from which to consider the global human rights landscape today.”
A number of Committee members used the hearing as a chance to focus attention on the human rights of LGBTQ people, including the chairman of the committee, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), and the committee’s top Democrat, Eliot Engel (D-NY, and one of the key champions of LGBTQ human rights abroad, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI). Members of the LGBTQ community have experienced “horrific violence” in many parts of the world, Cicilline said, which puts them “at grave risk for injury or death, simply because of who they are.”
HRC’s Government Affairs Director David Stacy also submitted testimony for the hearing. Setbacks for LGBTQ people around the world have “real consequences for the U.S. and our national interests,” said Stacy. “A world that is more free and tolerant is one that will lead to more stability and more peace, since countries that respect human rights and freedoms have a proven track record of greater stability and peace.”
As President Obama said in his 2015 State of the Union address, the United States must “defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender…not only because they are the right thing to do, but because ultimately they will make us safer.”
Stacy offered several ways that members of Congress can help to defend the human rights of LGBTQ people around the world, including passing legislation like the Global Respect Act, which would stop human rights violators from coming to the U.S., or the International Human Rights Defense Act, which would permanently codify the State Department’s Special Envoy for LGBT Human Rights.
Judy Shepard, who has served on the HRC Board of Directors since 2001 and has appeared at HRC Foundation’s Time to THRIVE conference, also submitted testimony for the hearing. Her son, Matthew Shepard, was attacked in a brutal hate crime in 1998. Following the death of their son, Judy and her husband Dennis established the Matthew Shepard Foundation to continue championing social justice, diversity awareness and education and equality for LGBTQ people.
“We need to promote human rights and civil rights for LGBTI people around the world before another family loses a child. We cannot wait for tragedy to inspire good intentions,” she wrote.
Stacy also urged the U.S. to continue accepting refugees, “since LGBTQ people in particular view the U.S. as a beacon of hope, a place where they can flee to in order to live out their lives free from fear and the specter of death looming over them.” While there has been an impulse to keep refugees out after the attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, that would be “inhumane,” and send the wrong signal.
“The United States must not surrender to nativist instincts when so many people need our help and need to flee to safety,” Stacy wrote. HRC recently hosted a summit and released a paper outlining ways the U.S. government and other bodies, such as the United Nations, can help LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers reach freedom and safety.
Stacy also encouraged members of Congress to raise LGBTQ human rights issues in meetings with foreign leaders and to meet with LGBTQ advocates and activists when traveling abroad. Additionally, he pushed for additional funding for LGBTQ human rights groups through the State Department’s Global Equality Fund and through other mechanisms.
Alabama Judicial Ethics Commission to Chief Justice: Roy, Bye
Alabama Judicial Ethics Commission to Chief Justice: Roy, Bye
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore could be removed from the bench for a major ethics breach — again.
QUIZ: Which 'Looking' Guy Is Your Soulmate?
QUIZ: Which 'Looking' Guy Is Your Soulmate?
Get ready for one long last Look with this highly scientific quiz.
www.advocate.com/quizzes/2015/02/26/quiz-which-looking-guy-your-soulmate
UPDATED: 33 Out Athletes of the Rio Olympics
UPDATED: 33 Out Athletes of the Rio Olympics
www.advocate.com/sports/2016/7/11/10-out-athletes-rio-olympics
