#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: July 22, 2016

TRUMP & PENCE CLOSE OUT WEEK OF ATTACKS ON LGBTQ EQUALITY AT RNC: The Republican National Convention drew to a close last night, with Donald Trump and Mike Pence wrapping up a week during which the GOP adopted the most anti-LGBTQ platform in its history and featured a parade of anti-LGBTQ speakers. In his speech accepting the party’s nomination last night, Trump appallingly pandered to LGBTQ people while he  and running mate have opposed equality at every turn. Yesterday, HRC released a new microsite highlighting how Trump and Pence threaten historic gains the LGBTQ community has made in the last eight years. “Donald Trump and Mike Pence are now leading the most antiquated, anti-LGBTQ ticket in recent memory,” said HRC Communications Director Jay Brown. “Together, Donald Trump and Mike Pence threaten everything we’ve gained — from marriage equality to worker protections — and Trump has vowed to sign hateful federal legislation that would open LGBTQ people to Kim Davis-style discrimination across the country. This week has also shown, sadly, just how far the GOP has left to go, as they doubled down on the most anti-LGBTQ platform in history. This is clearly a ticket that will ‘Take America Backward Again’.”

• The RNC platform committee passed a slew of anti-equality provisions, including attacks on transgender people and a commitment to overturn nationwide marriage equality.
• Featured speakers launched attacks on LGBTQ people; retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn even attacked transgender people serving our country in the military.
• Former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson compared transgender people to someone who “woke up… after seeing a movie about Afghanistan and saying ‘you know what? I’m Afghanistani [sic].”
• Meanwhile, five LGBTQ-supportive Republicans were among those skipping the convention –  Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Illinois Rep. Bob Dold, and Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Read about their pro-equality records here.

ON ANNIVERSARY OF EQUALITY ACT INTRODUCTION, HRC ANNOUNCES SUPPORT OF MORE THAN 80 MAJOR CORPORATIONS: Today, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the Equality Act, HRC announced that Adobe Systems Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Alcoa Inc., Automatic Data Processing Inc., Bank of America Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Cargill Inc., Chevron Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Darden Restaurants Inc., Delhaize America Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Americas, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kenneth Cole Productions Inc., Pure Storage Inc., TIAA, Uber Technologies Inc., WhiteWave Foods Co., Williams-Sonoma Inc., Xerox Corp., and Office Depot Inc. have joined HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. “These leading companies are joining a bipartisan chorus in Congress and the vast majority of Americans who support ending unfair and unjust discrimination against LGBTQ people,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “They are stepping forward to say that all Americans should be able to live free from fear of discrimination and have a fair chance to earn a living. Momentum is on our side, and we will not rest until the Equality Act is the law of the land.” Read more here.

CITING HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT CREATED BY HB2, NBA MOVES 2017 ALL-STAR GAME OUT OF NC: Yesterday the NBA announced that it is standing up for LGBTQ equality and pulling its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, NC. Despite the NBA’s repeated warnings that it would consider moving the high-profile game out of the state if the anti-LGBTQ HB2 law was not repealed, the state’s General Assembly shamefully adjourned after 100 days of inaction earlier this month. HRC President Chad Griffin hailed the news saying, “Today the NBA and Commissioner Silver sent a clear message that they won’t stand for discrimination against LGBTQ employees, players or fans. The NBA repeatedly warned state lawmakers that their hateful HB2 law created an inhospitable environment for their 2017 All-Star Game and other events. Nevertheless, Governor McCrory, Senator Berger and Speaker Moore doubled down on HB2 and refused to undo their discriminatory and costly error in judgment. Every day that HB2 remains on the books, people across North Carolina are at risk of real harm. We appreciate the leadership of the NBA in standing up for equality and call once again on lawmakers to repeal this vile HB2 law.” More from USA Today.

• The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board: “We’re falling behind, North Carolina. It cost us deeply this week. It will continue to hurt us.” More here.
• This isn’t the first time the NBA has made a bold move for equality, according to Charlotte Magazine’s Adam Rhew. In 1958, the NBA pulled games from Charlotte because of its discriminatory Jim Crow laws.
• Our favorite headlines: From The New York Daily News, The Charlotte Observer and Mother Jones
• Meanwhile, the Greensboro, NC-based ACC is taking wait and see approach: The collegiate athletic league, scheduled to hold championship games in NC through 2019, released a statement saying it is waiting to see how things “evolve.” More from CBS Sports.

ADF-INGERPRINTS ALL OVER MISSISSIPPI’S H.B. 1523: Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that for nearly a year, the anti-LGBTQ legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) coordinated with state officials in Mississippi to introduce, support and defend the discriminatory H.B. 1523. HRC Mississippi state director Rob Hill said in the Post: “Wherever hateful anti-LGBTQ legislation pops up, the Alliance Defending Freedom is usually not far behind. HB 1523 never reflected the true values of Mississippians, so it’s no surprise that Governor Bryant, Lt. Governor Reeves and Speaker Gunn enlisted ADF when crafting one of the most overtly discriminatory laws in the United States.” Read the full story here. Need a refresher on ADF? Check out HRC’s explainer.

OFFICE OF MINORITY HEALTH RELEASES REPORT ON LGB OLDER ADULTS: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Office of Minority Health has released its first ever report comparing the health of LGB and heterosexual older adults. More from HRC.

• Justice in Aging also released a report highlighting the unique legal needs of LGBTQ seniors. More from Huffington Post.
• The Austin Chronicle interviewed several HIV+ Austin residents about their experiences during the HIV & AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. More here.

AFT PASSES RESOLUTION SUPPORTING LGBTQ STUDENTS AND STAFF: Earlier this week, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at its biennial convention passed a landmark resolution supporting of LGBTQ students and staff. More from HRC.

READING RAINBOW

CNN shares Charlize Theron’s speech highlighting the effects racism, sexism and homophobia have on HIV & AIDS advocacy… Huffington Post speaks to Republicans who want to move on from the party’s anti-LGBTQ agenda… The Atlantic details why California schools are teaching students about the LGBTQ community… NPR shares the story of teens taking PrEP to prevent HIV… WSOC Charlotte shares how HB2 is affecting a local LGBTQ leadership camp… and The Associated Press looks at how the Nevada Department of Corrections is changing their policies to stop discriminating against HIV positive inmates…

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tip-sheet-july-22-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The GLAAD Wrap: Degrassi's 500th episode, George Takei's new musical, Against Me!'s new single

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-wrap-degrassis-500th-episode-george-takeis-new-musical-against-mes-new-single

'Looking' Creator: Richie Would Have Gone to a Club Like Pulse 

Can Richie, Raúl Castillo’s queer Latino character on Looking, help open the door for more authentic representation of LGBT Latinos on television and film? The show’s creators hope so. 

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2016/7/22/looking-creator-richie-would-have-gone-club-pulse

Republican Convention Largely Ignored by Social Media (Video)

www.advocate.com/election/2016/7/22/republican-convention-largely-ignored-social-media-video

How “Looking” Helped Jonathan Groff Love Being Gay

Jonathan Groff had been openly gay for years before starring in the HBO show Looking, but he claims the series — particularly the sex scenes — led him to embrace his sexuality in ways he’d never been able to before.

Related: Will “Looking: The Movie” Top The Series In Sex Appeal?

Appearing in the show meant “really publicly owning my sexuality,” he tells The Daily Beast. “It was a different step. I mean, now I’m fucking guys on TV.”

Though that runs the risk of sounded glib, Groff claims playing Patrick Murray was a genuinely transformative experience, and a positive one at that. “The show has changed me for good,” he says. “Being gay and in every scene having to explore gay identity, you can’t help but think of your own gay identity and of where you fit in the community and who you are and the issues we talk about.”

Related: The Trailer For “Looking: The Movie” Is Ready For You Now

And here’s the sentence we’ve waited our whole lives to write, but never thought it would actually arrive: The actor confides that he’s particularly fond of the ass-eating scene in his upcoming film.

“I love doing those scenes!” he admits. “These sex scenes are an opportunity to illuminate something in a character but also in life for people. Like this is what actually goes down.”

And to think that when he first came out to his parents, he told them not to worry — because he’s not too gay.

“I said, ‘I’m gay, but I’m not going to be in a parade or anything,’” he says.

Related: Where Did “Looking” Go Wrong?

The irony that he subsequently accepted the invitation to be Grand Marshall of the New York Gay Pride Parade in 2014 isn’t lost on him:

Doing the gay pride parade, I really realized that I was proud to be gay. It’s one thing to be out and it’s another to be proud of it. I think when I first came out it was like OK I’m gay, but if I could not be gay I’d not be gay, but I’m gay. That’s how it was when I first came out. But Looking really was an experience that changed all of that for me.”

The final episode of Looking airs June 23.

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The 5 Lives Of Sean Paul Lockhart, AKA Brent Corrigan

IFC made our week when it announced it had acquired distribution rights to King Cobra, the true-crime porn drama starring James Franco about the the murder of Cobra Video founder Bryan Kocis in 2007, bringing it one step closer to our bedroom screens.

Yet the man of the hour, real-life Kocis protégé and you-could-say-the-reason-he-got-murdered, Brent Corrigan, sat out the preem and disavowed the movie, blasting producers for “bastardizing my early years in porn.”

Which we can understand. These days, the 29-year old super-bttm is horse-ranching in New Mexico and flashing Twitter.” So in honor of his place in the world, and so that it not be forgotten, we put together a mini bio of the man and the legend.

Here’s how he got there, in 5 stages of Sean:

1. Underage

At 17, Corrigan, given name Sean Paul Lockhart, heard the siren call that is the thump-thump of West Hollywood and started making regular trips from home in San Diego, fake ID in hand. Before long, he was introduced to Kocis via webcam audition.

Cobra Video was about “Capturing the Erotic Essence of Youth” in barely-legal bareback vids, and the soon-to-be-known-as Corrigan was a Kocis dream come true, one more in a line of underage boy-models seduced by the then-44 year old.

In short order, Corrigan starred in Cobra’s Every Poolboy’s Dream, Schoolboy Crush, Bareboned Twinks (!) and Casting Couch 4. While Kocis thought he had both a boyfriend and a cash-cow under contract, his star saw it differently; now 18, Corrigan got a lawyer and outed himself as underage at the time his first films were shot.

Two years later, Kocis would be dead in a bizarre plot to cast Corrigan in a rival company’s “million-dollar porn,” the subject of director Justin Kelly’s King Cobra. After slashing his throat and stabbing him 28 times, his killers set the house on fire; Kocis’ erotic essence was up in smoke. Corrigan was not involved in the murder plot, but it somehow added to his legend.

2. Wet Dream

In the meantime, Corrigan became wet dream passivo in (some favorite) titles like The Porne Ultimatum, Getting Levi’s Johnson, Brent Corrigan’s Heat, Gay Massage House, Jacked. He was the adorable but naughty boy-next-door: a smile that said, yes, you. Brent was attainable.

The industry liked him, too. Among the accolades: a Golden Dickie in 2008 for Best Twink Performer, Bottom; GayVN Awards, 2009 Best Bottom, 2009 Best Pro/Am Film for Summit, 2009 Best Twink Film for Just the Sex 1 & 2, 2010 Best Bottom, 2010 Web Performer of the Year and 2010 Best Amateur/Pro-Am for The Big Easy.

3. Behind Behind the Camera

Because Hollywood, it wasn’t long before the actor turned not-so-great director. In titles like Brent Corrigan’s Working Hard, it’s kind of clear he wasn’t. This stage could also be called denial.

4. Crossing Over

Also because Hollywood, Corrigan took a stab at legit films, appearing in a dozen or so indies. Despite undeniable screen presence, when he’s naked but also clothed, Corrigan’s appeal hasn’t translated to the big screen so far.

5. Swallow It

#BarefootAndBareback in #NewMexico on #QuarterHorse #SalvadoraDalí last night. #ShirtlessHorseman #feet #gay #stud pic.twitter.com/3Mup9TnwmD

— Brent Corrigan (@BrentCorrigan) July 12, 2016

As the popular performer transitions, quite nicely, from twink to twank, Corrigan is all about a different kind of spread, the one he’s got near the Rio Grande in New Mexico with his bf and their dogs. He’s also just finished a memoir with the cute title Incorrigible (his “true story”), and although he hasn’t made a movie in a while, he does stay porn-relevant with a very activo Twitter feed, worth a visit for affirmations like: “I am happier and healthier than – very truly – ever in my entire life!”

That plus all those pics. He’s still got it.

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The Stars of ‘Looking’ Reflect On Politics and Legacy of the Gay Drama

There’s a lot you could say about HBO’s Looking. Since its debut in 2014, the divisive drama has been a lightning rod of conversation, whether it’s been heaping praise onto director Andrew Haigh’s signature naturalistic style, discussing the need for diverse representation or just wondering whether Patrick (Jonathan Groff) would end up choosing sweet, sensitive Richie (Raúl Castillo) or the British beefcake Kevin (Russell Tovey).

As the series concludes tomorrow with a final wrap-up movie, we sat down with stars Murray Bartlett and Frankie J. Alvarez to discuss their experiences on Looking and the lasting impact they hope the show will have.

What first drew you to this project?

Murray Bartlett: I think it was when I saw Andrew Haigh’s film Weekend. I was really moved and touched, because I felt like it’s a very honest, very human kind of take on life. I really related to it. I feel like he brought that sensibility to the show, he and Michael Lannan. I just respond to that kind of stuff on screen — just very pared back, very honest kind of recognizable moments between people. I was really excited to be part of something that had that tone, and I think then having that tone with characters that are mostly gay was something very new.

Frankie J. Alvarez: I was doing a play out in Louisville at the Actors Theatre. I was playing a confederate soldier, and the play dealt with slavery. It was a very heavy, dark play I was working on. When I got the audition, it was for Richie at first, so I really liked a heart-forward character. For me, it was refreshing. It was a very different thing than I was playing at the time. I got the audition before Christmas break, so I had a few weeks to prepare. Weekend was on Netflix and they recommended that we watch the film. I watched Weekend, and that was the galvanizing point for me when I knew, oh my god, to work with a writer-director of such delicate and responsible, intelligent hands. I knew that this was going to be a really magical project.

You guys have such a natural chemistry on screen. How did you build that relationship?

Bartlett: I think we were very lucky. We had a really great rapport, all of us, and became really good friends really quickly. I guess there’s some luck in that, but it’s probably orchestrated by Andrew Haigh and Michael Lannan bringing together a group of people that they knew were going to be harmonious and were going to work together well. I think it was kind of genius in that way. Not just in the cast, but in the crew and all the elements of the show brought together a really lovely group of personalities that fit together well. A lot of the actors live in New York, so between seasons we hang out a lot. It was interesting, by the end, I think they started to slant the writing toward our real-life friendships. They’d start to include a lot of things that were just sort of happening in real life, so it became this very seamless thing. It really felt like a bunch of friends hanging out together with a camera.

Alvarez: I think part of it is Murray has a theatre background, obviously Jonathan has a very prestigious theatre background, and me as well, so we had a sort of simpatico there from the beginning. Then we shot the pilot in May and we didn’t shoot the first season until September, so we had the whole summer. All three of us are New Yorkers, so we’re hanging out with each other’s partners, we’re going to movies, we’re going to Broadway shows, we’re having drinks — we’re having A LOT of drinks — and we liked each other so much, we kept hanging out. By the time season one began, we’re already percolating in a best friends kind of way.

We’re in the midst of a really contentious political season. Do you consider Looking to be a political show?

Alvarez: I think it’s quietly political. The show was never an issues-based show, and that was something Andrew and Michael were really conscious about. They wanted it to be a show about three gay men who are dealing with relationship issues, intimacy issues, career struggles, and if political things came about — gay marriage, Truvada, PrEP — they were dealt with in a nuanced, character-based way and not in a ‘Full House special episode’ way. I think certainly, because of the tragic events that happened in Orlando, when I saw the movie a second time, it was after it happened. Seeing those scenes in The Endup in the last third of the movie for me that was really affecting. As a Florida native, it was latin night, and you read the names and it’s all guys with last names just like mine. Watching those scenes at The Endup, it’s a moment of celebration, there’s also a break-up that happens, there are people that meet and hook-up for the first time. Those situations that happen in the film are exactly the kinds of things that were happening that night, and to have a horrible symbol of hatred come in and destroy that safe haven, it was shocking and saddening and maddening, frankly.

Bartlett: I think one of the great things about the tone of the show is that it focuses on these people’s lives and their loves and their intimacies, but interwoven into it are a lot of political ideas and issues that are very pertinent. I like the way they’re threaded through in a more subtle way. I think it’s smart. I feel like it’s easy for us to feel like we’ve made great strides in terms of gay rights and human rights, particularly when you live in New York or LA or San Francisco, but I feel like the veil has kind of been pulled back at the moment, and we’re seeing some dark sides of humanity. It’s scary. I think the more we focus on the things that unite us and the common elements that we all share of love and intimacy and relationships and connecting with each other, especially in the face of all this darker side of humanity kind of rearing its head, I think the better.

What do you make of some of the criticism the series faced?

Bartlett: I think the positive thing about that is that it brought up a lot of questions particularly in the gay community about how do we want to be represented, how are we represented, what are we ready for? How do we see ourselves? And it set up these interesting conversations between different sections of the gay community that liked the show or identified with it or didn’t. I think that’s healthy. It’s like holding a mirror up, check and see where we’re at. That’s what I took from it.

Agustín in particular received a lot of criticism from viewers. Did that surprise you?

Alvarez: I was very surprised. When Jonathan and I were building these characters, and especially this friendship that they’ve had, they’d been friends for a decade. They went to Berkeley together. We knew that there was an Agustín prior to the pilot. We knew that there’s no way this guy could’ve been this way and these two would’ve become friends, you know that something happened along the way when he moved to San Francisco, when he got into the art world and saw everyone else rise above him, it was like he needs to put on a kind of mask. He needs to be a certain version of himself. His journey in the series is obviously like the version that I’ve created of me isn’t working, isn’t getting me where I want to be, and maybe where I want to be isn’t actually who I am, so who am I actually? That was an amazing journey, but nobody knew that’s where it was going. … I think it was really lovely to see a character who always gets what he wants not really getting it and have him struggle through season two. I think that’s a testament to the writers. They really understand that this is the arc that we’re taking this guy on, and we’ve got to put him in this place in season one in order to get to this incredibly magical place in season two. I’m really proud to have been in probably the largest arc in the series.

Years from now, what would you like the legacy of Looking to be?

Bartlett: I want people to be saying that it had this very honest, authentic portrayal of intimacy and love and friendship that is universal, but that it was, hopefully, in some ways groundbreaking in showing intimacy between gay men, which I think is still quite new for our time.

Alvarez: There a lot of shows, shows that I like, like Ray Donovan or something, where it’s these sort of strong, silent, uber-masculine types who don’t share, don’t open up and are quietly tortured on the inside. We’ve come to worship these characters as a true sign of masculinity. That’s certainly not the way that I function with my friends, with all my straight guy friends. As a straight man in my relationship with my wife, that is not how I function. We are very open and honest with each other. Being open is also a trait of masculinity, just like being strong is a trait of femininity, as well. I think we have to get away from these gender normative labels, and I think, hopefully, Looking paves the way for storytelling that’s about male intimacy, not only sexual intimacy but also two friends opening up to each other.

Looking: The Movie premieres Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern on HBO.

The post The Stars of ‘Looking’ Reflect On Politics and Legacy of the Gay Drama appeared first on Towleroad.

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Donald Trump, Ghostbusters, MH370, Prince George, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Mark Cuban: NEWS

NYT. Donald Trumps’s speech, fact checked.

GAY REPUBLICANS WANT MORE. They hope for platform changes. “he platform was a major letdown for LGBT Republicans. With the gay marriage question settled by the Supreme Court, they hoped to get the party to at least move on, if not embrace gay Americans. And to help push them along, the American Unity Fund, backed by Paul Singer and other GOP megadonors, waged an unusually organized effort to install LGBT-friendly platform delegates.

INTERNATIONAL REACTION. Hit with a thud….

MARK CUBAN. Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner rips Donald Trump on Twitter. Just a few:

I used to be a crook. But trust me, I’m not any more. Says @realDonaldTrump

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 22, 2016

Dear world. Please ignore what the loud guy in the suit is saying. Americans are nothing like him. We love our country and are proud of it

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 22, 2016

To paraphrase @realDonaldTrump I’m the government and I’m here to save you, give you a job, cut you off from the world & end tech progress

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 22, 2016

MH370. Search for missing Malaysian airliner to be suspended: “Representatives of Australia, China and Malaysia said that the search could be revived if ‘credible new information’ emerged about the location of the airliner. So far, vessels surveying a 46,000-square-mile area in the southern Indian Ocean have turned up no sign of the aircraft and are expected to complete their search in the months ahead.”

TEXAS. School won’t help trans kids without outing them to their parents: “Fort Worth Independent School District, the sixth largest school districtin in Texas, has issued a new version of its guidance to protect transgender students from discrimination. Instead of eight pages outlining how the district will respect and accommodate students’ gender identity, the guidance is now just a two-page document about working with parents to create an individual education plan. If parents aren’t involved and supportive of their student’s identity, then the student will seemingly not be accommodated.”

GHOSTBUSTERS. All the women are gay, so deal with it: “Look, one of the most subversive aspects of Ghostbusters is that it’s a movie about women that doesn’t hinge on any kind of romantic plot. It’s about bad ass ladies bustin’ ghosts and not needing any men to help or give them permission (Kevin is wonderfully expendable). But I think it’s even more than that. They don’t merely not need men; they don’t want men, either. The male gaze is entirely absent from the film (which is probably a huge reason why straight cis dudes are so up in arms about it).”

PRINCE GEORGE. Kensington Palace released some photos of the little prince, who just turned 3.

Can’t believe it’s been three years already! pic.twitter.com/JFJOJtIgm6

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2016

Here are some new photos of Prince George on his 3rd birthday! pic.twitter.com/PYAf3YbOp0

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2016

TRAILER OF THE DAY. Snowden starring Joseph Gordon Levitt.

FRIDAY FLESH. Cordell Broadus.

The post Donald Trump, Ghostbusters, MH370, Prince George, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Mark Cuban: NEWS appeared first on Towleroad.

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