Pope Francis Speaks Out Against Transgender Kids – VIDEO

During a recent trip to Poland, Pope Francis condemned school policies around the world that he says allow children to ‘choose their own gender.’

Pope Francis said it is “terrible” that, “Today in schools, they are teaching this to children — to children! — that everyone can choose their own gender.”

The pontiff’s remarks seem to misunderstand a key part of gender identity, namely that gender identity (much like sexual orientation) is not something you choose but something you are.

RELATED: Magician Destroys the Transgender Bathroom Myth with the Help of Peanut Butter and Jelly – WATCH

Pope Francis spoke about transgender children while addressing a closed door meeting with bishops in Poland.

The AP reports: 

The pope said he wanted to conclude his remarks by reflecting on this: “We are living a moment of annihilation of man as image of God.” […]

Without specifying, he blamed this on textbooks supplied by “persons and institutions who donate money.” The pope blamed what he called “ideological colonizing” backed by “very influential countries” which he didn’t identify.

One such “colonization” he said — “I’ll say it clearly with its first and last name — is gender.”

Francis also brought up the previous pope, Benedict, in his comments on transgender children. The Pope said,

“Speaking with Pope Benedict, who is well, and has a clear mind, he was telling me: ‘Holiness, this is the epoch of sin against God the Creator.’ He’s intelligent! God created man and woman, God created the world this way, this way, this way, and we are doing the opposite. We must think about what Pope Benedict said — ‘It’s the epoch of sin against God the Creator.’”

Pope Francis has a muddled record on LGBT rights. He has been described by some as the most-LGBT friendly pontiff ever. In the wake of the Orlando massacre, he said that the Catholic Church should apologize to and seek forgiveness from gay people. However, he remains a staunch opponent to same-sex marriage.

Watch a video from USA Today, below.

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Nick Jonas Goes for an Icy Swim in His Skivvies with Bear Grylls – WATCH

Nick Jonas stripped down to his underwear and swam across an icy, partially frozen lake with Bear Grylls on his show Running Wild.

Jonas and Grylls crossed the lake with their clothes in waterproof bags to keep them dry.

The actual swim was torturous and Jonas took to cheering himself on to get across the lake.

Once to the other side, Grylls suffered something of a wardrobe malfunction.

Undeterred, the pair quickly emerged from the water and set to the task of drying off and warming up.

Jonas had a hard time regaining feeling in his feet, saying that his diabetes often slows circulation to his feet–a problem exacerbated by the icy dip.

To help Jonas regain feeling, Grylls warmed Jonas’ feet up by putting them in his armpits. “Warmest part of the body,” Grylls said before adding, “Well, second warmest part of the body. I wasn’t going to subject Nick to that after that ice swim.”

After everything was said and done, these boys were all warm smiles.

Jonas is not the first hunky celebrity to get shirtless and wild with Grylls. Previous guests who have ditched their shirts while hanging with Grylls include Zac Efron and Jake Gyllenhaal. In fact, Gyllenhaal faced a similar challenge to the one Jonas was confronted with when he crossed an icy river with Grylls (shirtless, naturally) back in 2011.

Watch, below.

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The Stunning Hypocrisy of Marco Rubio

Rubio can’t seem to decide if he sympathizes with the LGBTQ community or not.

The post The Stunning Hypocrisy of Marco Rubio appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/08/03/3804736/hypocrisy-rubio-reelection-pulse-anti-lgbtq-event/

HRC Endorses Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire for U. S. Senate

Today, the Human Rights Campaign announced its endorsement of New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kelly Ayotte.

Governor Hassan has always fought for the rights of all citizens to participate fully in the civic and economic life of their communities. As a State Senator, she worked tirelessly to achieve marriage equality, helping make New Hampshire one of the first states to pass legislation ensuring access to legal marriage for all. Earlier this year, she took a bold and historic step by issuing an executive order extending vitally important non-discrimination protections to transgender people in New Hampshire with respect to government employment, contracts and programs.

“Maggie Hassan has stood with us and fought with us for years to ensure LGBTQ people are treated equally under the law,” said HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. “We’re proud to endorse Maggie Hassan and look forward to working with her to pass the Equality Act so that everyone, including LGBTQ people, can live free from fear of discrimination.”

“I am honored to accept the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign and thank them for their leadership in advocating for LGBTQ equality,” said Gov. Maggie Hassan. “I firmly believe that when we bring people in from the margins and ensure their full inclusion, we help unleash talent and energy that strengthens our democracy, our economy and our communities. I have proudly stood with our LGBTQ community and have worked hard to promote equality and inclusion here in New Hampshire during my time as Governor. While we have made great strides towards equality in recent years, there remains significant work to be done. In the U.S. Senate, I will continue fighting for policies that help ensure that all citizens are fully included in all aspects of our society, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

HRC previously endorsed Hassan in her 2012 campaign for governor based on her proven pro-equality record.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-endorses-gov.-maggie-hassan-of-new-hampshire-for-u.-s.-senate?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

YouTube Star Comes Out as Transgender

Claire Kittrell, who created the viral ‘Gingers Do Have Souls’ video and starred in the reality show Hollywood Hillbillies, came out as transgender in an emotional YouTube video yesterday.

“I wasn’t going to make this video,” Claire said in the video. “I feel like I’m stronger now more so than I’ve ever been because I’m learning to accept myself and I’m learning to be more comfortable in my own skin.”

Coming out is a long and arduous process. For people whose gender identity or innate sense of their own gender doesn’t match with the gender assigned at birth, unraveling and expressing it can be complex and difficult.

“This is who I am,” Claire wrote in the video description. “No longer going to hide.”

HRC stands in support of Claire for taking this brave step and for sharing her story and struggle to live openly and authentically.

For HRC’s transgender visibility resource guide, visit www.hrc.org/resources/transgender-visibility-guide

www.hrc.org/blog/youtube-star-comes-out-as-transgender?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Ariana Grande Releases Two New Tracks, ‘Voodoo Love’ and ‘OG Honeymoon Ave’ – LISTEN

Ariana Grande has dropped two previously unreleased tracks from her 2013 album, Yours Truly.

Yours Truly was Grande’s first solo record and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Grande released the previously unknown tracks “Voodoo Love” and “OG Honeymoon Ave” on Soundcloud, where she has just created an account named “arianagrandeforrealidkwhyicantgetmyownlinkbutok”–presumably because “arianagrande” was already taken.

“OG Honeymoon Ave” is a different version of “Honeymoon Ave” which opened Yours Truly.

PREVIOUSLY: Ariana Grande Wants A Little Less Conversation in Sultry New Single ‘Into You’ – LISTEN

Listen, below.

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Trump Spokesperson Katrina Pierson in 2012: ‘Gay Is Not Normal’ 

Those who have been closely following this year’s election on cable news will undoubtedly recognize Katrina Pierson as one of Donald Trump’s more prominent and truth-resistant surrogates. Pierson often appears on CNN, attempting to clean up Trump’s most recent incendiary remarks.

She has also been known to make incendiary remarks of her own on a wide range of subjects. Even her jewelry seems to stir controversy because in the world of Donald Trump, there’s no such thing as bad press.

Now, it turns out that gay people can be included among the many groups Pierson has attacked and degraded.

As BuzzFeed’s Dominic Holden reports, Pierson in 2012 said “gay is not normal” in an extensive back and forth on Twitter over same-sex marriage.

Pierson also suggested that the constitution doesn’t offer marriage equality protections and that a gay marriage that takes place in a church will never be a real marriage, so to speak.

@michael_atx You will never for acceptance, but you could win coexistance. Gay is not normal, accept that.

— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 1, 2012

@michael_atx I didn’t realize that #marriage was in the U.S. Constitution? Did I miss that page? Federal license? @tedcruz #txsen

— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 1, 2012

@michael_atx Even getting “married” in a church doesn’t make it a marriage.

— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 1, 2012

RELATED: Donald Trump Incites Twitter Takedown with ‘Ask the Gays’ Remark – VIDEO

Here’s how Pierson responded to the tweets resurfacing:

“It’s a long reach to go back to 2012 to try to create a new hit piece and call it relevant,” Pierson wrote to BuzzFeed News in an email. “You’ll also find that as a grassroots volunteer for multiple campaigns, it’s quite common that Twitter is a platform to promote/defend the policies and values of the candidates at the time. Many times, it’s about engaging trolls which can lead to humorous and sarcastic banter.”

“I’m sure you’ll also find that the positions/values of the candidates are not necessarily a sole reflection of the individual promoting or supporting said candidate,” she added.

“Therefore, there is nothing to square.”

Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the LGBT community likes him, that he is a friend to the LGBT community and that he is a better candidate on LGBT rights than Hillary Clinton.

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Trial Begins for ‘Gay for Pay’ Actor Accused of Murdering Fetish Film Producer

Back in November, we told you how a Dallas-area gay adult film producer was found brutally murdered, when emergency crews responded to a fire at what was apparently his studio.

Police later arrested 19-year-old Daeveion Mangum (right) in the murder of 60-year-old Michael Castagne (above).

Mangum’s trial began Tuesday, and prosecutors say he bludgeoned Castagne 32 times in the head before setting him on fire. Mangum has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense against sexual assault and saying Castagne tried to force him to perform in a video that included sex with another man, The Dallas Observer reports:

Castagne managed a wine bar, but in his spare time he produced and sold low-budget porn on his website JockPhysical.com. The site specializes in medical fetish films.

Castagne’s signature was shooting films in which he was a doctor giving an exam to a male patient, though his head was always cropped out of the frame. His “patients” were always young, usually in their teens or twenties. The “exam” consisted of normal things a doctor might do, but would end in a prostate exam and usually include the patient masturbating and having dildos or other sex toys inserted into his anus. He worked with only of-age men, having kept meticulous records of all of his clients, according to investigators.

Mangum, a husband and father of two young children, had appeared in at least three videos for Castagne, earning $1,100. Castagne had also advanced Mangum money to pay for diapers, and given him rides to the studio from Fort Worth.

But on this occasion, Castagne wanted Mangum to perform with another longtime employee — Tyler Griffith — in a “massage therapy” video, the Observer reports. When Mangum refused, Castagne became upset but eventually agreed to have the two perform separately.

After Griffith returned home, he saw Castagne’s image on the TV news and called police. Mangum’s trial is expected to conclude Friday.

Watch a report on the murder from last year below.

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Road to Rio: The Status of LGBTQ Equality in Brazil

Post submitted with contributions from Katherine Burns

Ahead of the 2016 Olympics, HRC is taking a look at the status of LGBTQ equality in Brazil. To learn more, check out HRC’s Global Spotlight on the host country.

Every year, millions of people participate in Pride parades in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s sexual and gender diversity is reflected in these and other Prides in the country, and revelers celebrate notable victories including marriage equality. However, Brazil remains plagued by homophobia and transphobia. According to Grupo Gay de Bahia, an LGBTQ civil rights organization in Brazil, the country has the highest levels of reported violence against the LGBTQ community in the world.

The Brazilian government has enacted many laws protecting minority communities, including LGBTQ people. In 2013, Brazil approved marriage equality. It was also among the first countries in the region to allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt children. These victories, however, are a result of actions taken by the executive and judicial branches of the government. The Brazilian National Congress has been passive, and sometimes even hostile, toward LGBTQ equality.

While progress is being made despite the country’s conservative and macho culture, the gains have not tamped down an epidemic of violence targeting LGBTQ community. On average, an LGBTQ person is killed every day in Brazil, according to Grupo Gay de Bahia. Transgender women and other gender non-conforming people are disproportionately affected by anti-LGBTQ violence.

Brazil’s National Congress has often blocked legislation to protect these vulnerable groups. However, cities including Rio de Janeiro have bypassed the national legislature, enacting their own ordinances prohibiting discrimination and providing equal access to government services to the LGBTQ community. As the world tunes into the 2016 Olympics in Rio later this week, HRC commends the city for its non-discrimination ordinance passed in 2000.

Travelers heading to Rio are encouraged to review the State Department’s travel advisory for the Olympics, and remain vigilant about the potential for violence, both in general and targeting the LGBTQ community. 

www.hrc.org/blog/road-to-rio-the-status-of-lgbtq-equality-in-brazil?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed