Paul Manafort on Paul Ryan: ‘I’m Going to Support Him as a Candidate for President’ Next Week – WATCH

Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort says he misspoke on Thursday when he said that he would soon be supporting Paul Ryan as a candidate for president.

Manafort made the comment about Ryan when responding to questions about Trump’s refusal to endorse Speaker Ryan in his primary race. Manafort told CBS This Morning, “Look. I support the speaker and I know after next week, I’m supporting him as a candidate for president, too.”

That response immediately drew laughter from Manafort and the show’s anchors, all of whom appeared aware of how big of an unforced error Manafort had just made.

Politico reports:

Co-host Norah O’Donnell remarked, “Oh, there is talk about that!”

“Please talk into the microphone,” co-host Gayle King added.

The other co-host, Charlie Rose, asked, “So Donald Trump is getting out of the election and Paul Ryan is jumping in?”

Manafort added at the end of the segment, “I’m going to get in trouble on that one.”

This is not the first time during this election cycle that Paul Ryan has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender who could wrest the party’s nomination away from Donald Trump. In April of this year, when Trump had virtually locked in the requisite number of delegates to win the GOP nomination, speculation grew that Ryan might be considering throwing his hat in the ring because of a video he released that looked an awful lot like a presidential campaign video.

Rachel Maddow dug into that prospect on her show at the time. Watch her take, below.

The post Paul Manafort on Paul Ryan: ‘I’m Going to Support Him as a Candidate for President’ Next Week – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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Pope Francis Says He Doesn’t Want Students Learning They Can ‘Choose Their Gender’

The pope’s latest comments on “choosing a gender” have upset LGBT activists.

The post Pope Francis Says He Doesn’t Want Students Learning They Can ‘Choose Their Gender’ appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/08/04/3805022/pope-comments-on-gender/

#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: August 4, 2016

SCOTUS ORDER DELAYS JUSTICE FOR TRANS STUDENTS: HRC yesterday expressed deep disappointment in a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to halt a lower court’s order forbidding a Virginia school district from enforcing its discriminatory ban on transgender students using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. The 5-3 order in Gloucester County School Board v. Grimm allows the school board’s discriminatory policy to remain in place while the Supreme Court awaits an application by the school board to have its full appeal heard by the Supreme Court. A final decision in the case would likely occur well into the school year. “Today’s Supreme Court order is deeply disappointing and subjects Gavin Grimm and students like him to unsafe and discriminatory conditions as they begin returning to school in the coming weeks,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “No young person should wake up in the morning fearful of bullying or discrimination during the school day ahead. Every day that discrimination is allowed to continue, transgender students are put at risk of harm.” More here.

TIM KAINE TAKES ON HB2: At a rally in Greensboro, NC, yesterday, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine urged North Carolinians to go “forward, not backward” on LGBTQ equality, and to stand up to the discrimination perpetrated by NC Gov. Pat McCrory’s HB2 law. “Now, I know in North Carolina, there’s been some pain over this issue. They snuck through in the legislature this HB2, and they tried to introduce it kind of in the dead of night,” Kaine said. “You all have stood up in a major way and you’ve said this is not who we are. This is not who North Carolina is. These are not our values.” He was joined by NC Attorney General Roy Cooper, who pledged to roll back HB2 if elected governor this fall. More from Politico.

• Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) called out the Trump/Pence ticket on its threats to roll back LGBTQ equality. More from The Huffington Post.  

TRUMP SPOKESPERSON SAYS “GAY IS NOT NORMAL”: While Donald Trump speciously claims he is a “real friend” of the LGBTQ community — facts prove otherwise — we now learn that one of his top staffers has been open about her anti-LGBTQ views. Trump national campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson tweeted in 2012 “Gay is not normal, accept that.” She’s argued that same-sex couples who marry in a church are still not married, and questioned the Constitutionality of marriage equality. In a tweet yesterday, HRC President Chad Griffin called on the Trump campaign to #StopTheHate. More from BuzzFeed.

#NOMOORE BILLBOARD GOES UP IN MONTGOMERY: HRC Alabama revealed a new billboard off I-85 in Montgomery calling out disgraced, notoriously anti-LGBTQ Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. The billboard, which reads “#NoMoore: Dismiss Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore” goes up as Moore, suspended from the bench in May, is set to be questioned by judicial prosecutors during a hearing Monday on ethics charges.

• AM Must Read: Check out this op-ed by Alabama Rep. Patricia Todd, “To move past George Wallace’s legacy, we have to stop electing people like Roy Moore,” in AL.com.

IMPORTANT OP-ED: LGBTQ PEOPLE OF COLOR FACE UNJUST CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: In an op-ed for The Advocate, Isaiah Wilson of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) takes a sobering look at how LGBTQ people of color are disproportionately targeted and harassed by law enforcement. In a new report, the NBJC and eight other organizations examine how the toxic combination of racism and anti-LGBTQ discrimination makes LGBTQ people of color more likely to be targets of abusive treatment in the criminal justice system. More from The Advocate.

• In the wake of Orlando, NPR’s Codeswitch explores the complicated relationship many LGBTQ people — especially trans people and LGBTQ people of color — have with law enforcement.
• The Detroit Police Department is holding a series of community conversations focusing on concerns of the LGBTQ community and offering resources. It recently hired an LGBT liaison. More from The Detroit News.

OLYMPIAN ELENA DELLE DONNE COMES OUT: WNBA star and Olympian Elena Delle Donne came out recently as being in a same-sex relationship. A star on the Chicago Sky WNBA team, she’ll represent the U. S. on our women’s Olympic basketball team in Rio. More from OutSports.

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 on Tuesday in an emotional YouTube video. “I wasn’t going to make this video,” Claire says. “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.” Watch the full video here.

TRANSGENDER RIGHTS BILL INTRODUCED IN INDIA: India’s government introduced legislation in the country’s parliament which would ensure transgender people protection from discrimination, exploitation and harassment. The bill would also facilitate access to government programs and services, as well as transition-related care. It is designed to comply with a ruling by the country’s supreme court recognizing basic rights for transgender people. More from BuzzFeed.

TOP COURT IN INDONESIA TO HEAR CASE ON BANNING SAME-SEX SEXUAL ACTIVITY: Indonesia’s Constitutional Court is set to hear a case on whether same-sex sexual activity will be criminalized in the country. Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia but in recent months, there has been an uptick in anti-LGBTQ violence. More from The New York Times.  

• The Road to Rio: ahead of the Olympics, check out HRC’s report on the status of LGBTQ equality in Brazil.

44 TURNS 55: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT OBAMA!

READING RAINBOW

Village Voice explores Maven, a LGBTQ summer camp designed to tackle diversity in the tech industry; The Charlotte Observer questions the effectiveness of increased security at Charlotte’s upcoming Pride festival in North Carolina; Fortune shares business reasons for LGBTQ equality; and Gay Times wishes President Obama a happy 55th birthday.

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to A.M. Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

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After School Satan Club Coming To An Elementary School Near You

Make way for Lucifer!

The Satanic Temple is working to get an after school program going in elementary schools, called the After School Satan Club. They hope to start the program in schools that already have Good News Clubs, which are affiliated with evangelical Christianity.

Related: Satanists Announce Plans To Turn Fred Phelps Gay In The Afterlife 

The Supreme Court ruled in Good News Club v. Milford Central School, in 2001, that a school operates a “limited public forum” and may not discriminate against free speech that takes place within that forum based on the viewpoint it expresses.

The Satanic Temple does not believe in any higher being, including Satan, but instead use the imagery and spectacle of Satanism in order to promote equality and the separation of church and state.

“It’s important that children be given an opportunity to realize that the evangelical materials now creeping into their schools are representative of but one religious opinion amongst many,” the After School Satan Club website read. “While the Good News Clubs focus on indoctrination, instilling them with a fear of Hell and God’s wrath, After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us. We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors.”

Related: Christians Pose As Gay Pothead Zombies To Spread Hate At Toronto Pride

The Good News Clubs are run by the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). They describe themselves as a “Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living.”

Amy Monsky, the former executive director of the Atheist Alliance of America, has been working with the Satanic Temple to develop a curriculum for its after-school program, reports The Huffington Post.

It will be staffed by volunteers and will cover “several areas of knowledge like science and art, philosophy and culture,” Monsky said.

Co-founder of The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, aka Douglas Mesner, said he is already hearing from interested teachers.

Related: Attempts To Get Gay Hookup Site Ads Removed From D.C. Metro Fail

“There’s a huge population of people who have been screaming about these Good News Clubs and are disgusted by their presence in the schools,” he said. “This is finally kind of blowing the lid off of all of that and making it a bigger public issue.”

But he also expects some push back.

“I think there’s going to be some schools that don’t want us there for sure,” he said. “I do expect we’ll have to round up legal counsel in at least more than one case.”

The group also produced an activity book for kids, “The Satanic Children’s Book Big Book of Activities,” which they handed out in front of schools to counter the Bible being passed out in this manner. They also sell the book on their site, for $9.95.

Watch the promo video The Satanic Temple released to get everyone excited about their unusual after school program.

Would you let your child attend an After School Satan Club? Let us know in the comments.

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PHOTOS: Boys, Boys, Boys In Cape Town

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WNBA’s Top Player and Team USA Star Elena Delle Donne Comes Out as Gay, Engaged

WNBA MVP and Team USA player Elena Delle Donne comes out as gay and engaged in an upcoming interview with Vogue magazine.

ABC News reports:

“It was just one of those articles where they came into my home, spent a couple days with me, and [fiancee] Amanda [Clifton] is a huge part of my life,” Delle Donne, a Chicago Sky star, told reporters in Rio, where she is playing for Team USA. “So to leave her out wouldn’t have made any sense. It’s not a coming out article or anything. I’ve been with her for a very long time now, and people who are close to me know that, and that’s that.”

The article states Delle Donne and Clifton were engaged June 2.

Even though her relationship is now public, Delle Donne said she still plans to keep her private life private.

“As the future keeps moving on, I don’t plan on having our relationship out in the public and all this media on it,” she said, “but obviously there’s excitement right now because people see it for the first time.”

Delle Donne says she has not come out up till now in respect of Clifton’s privacy, though there are many photos of them together on social media.

Congrats to both of them.

The post WNBA’s Top Player and Team USA Star Elena Delle Donne Comes Out as Gay, Engaged appeared first on Towleroad.

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British Gay Couple Beaten Unconscious In Brutal Attack on Greek Island of Mykonos

A British gay couple were hospitalized following a brutal homophobic attack in Greece.

Identified only as Tristan and Vestal, the London-based couple were set upon when they left a gay bar on the island of Mykonos. They were attacked from behind and punched and kicked as they lay unconscious on the ground.

RELATED: Bronx Man Has Nose Broken In Vicious Anti-Gay Attack

My friends Vestal + Tristan were victims of a #homophobic attack whilst in #Greece. They need help to recover: t.co/LBi3NMnSXz

— Christine Jolley (@LDNwickless) July 24, 2016

Tristan, who remembers only seeing Vestal “pinned up against railings” and came to later to find his partner still unconscious, told the Sun:

“The attack has left us feeling really shaken up and after suffering from headaches, dizziness and general fatigue since returning to the UK after the incident, I have now also been diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. We had to deal with the port authorities and the local police after the incident but all I wanted to really do for the rest of the holiday was lie in a darkened room. It was utterly depressing and emotionally very raw…”

Added Tristan:

“Vestal became conscious in the hospital, and couldn’t understand what had happened to us. It seemed that this was a homophobic assault and we just couldn’t grasp how unbelievable that was. We did nothing to provoke this. We’re so confused and, to be honest, still in shock.”

Friends of the couple have since set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Tristan who lost his front teeth in the attack. Their friend Daniel Hillman said:

“Anybody who can spare even a small donation to help with the costs of helping restore Tristan’s truly wonderful smile would be so appreciated. Tristan and Vestal are an amazing couple, they are positive, accepting, loving and will always support their friends and family in times of need.

“Through hard work and some hard times they stand tall as an example of true love.”

Police are investigating the attack, which took place in an area not covered by CCTV.

(Images via Twitter)

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Gay Syrian Refugee Kidnapped, Raped, Mutilated, and Beheaded in Istanbul

Housemates are speaking out about the horrific fate of Muhammed Wisam Sankari, a gay Syrian refugee living in Istanbul who was kidnapped, raped, mutilated, and beheaded in late July, the BBC reports.

The Turkish LGBT rights group KAOSgl spoke with Wisam’s housemates, who described the extremely dangerous and terrifying environment LGBT refugees are facing in Istanbul.

One housemate, named Rayan, said that Wisam “was feeling very insecure recently” because of male groups wielding knives who had threatened to rape them on the street.

Said Rayan: ““We were staying in a different house before and we had to leave that house just because we are gay. People around would constantly stare at us. We did not do anything immoral? About five months ago, a group kidnapped Wisam in Fatih. They took him to a forest, beat him and raped him. They were going to kill him but Wisam saved himself by jumping at the road. We complained to the Police Headquarters but nothing happened.”

Yenikapi, the Istanbul district where Wisam was killed.

Another housemate, Gorkem, went to identify Wisam’s body and said that they could only identify it because of the pants he was wearing, the body was so destroyed. He also described the night that Wisam disappeared:

“That night Wisam left the house. We were already anxious because of the threats. We told him not to go but he said he was going out for 15-20 minutes. He didn’t come home all night. The next day, we panicked when we couldn’t reach him. We went to the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM). They directed us to Fatih Police Headquarters. We did not even know how to get there or what to say. On Sunday police called us. We went to Yenikapi with Rayan. They had cut Wisam violently. So violent that two knives had broken inside him. They had beheaded him. His upped body was beyond recognition, his internal organ were out.”

Diya, another housemate, says he is living in fear and that the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM) and the UN will do nothing to help them:

“ASAM and the UN don’t do anything for us. We can only protect ourselves. We stay together to protect ourselves. We cannot get any information or answers. Just talk… ASAM called us after Wisam’s death. After his death… What’s the point? A very pure and good person is gone from this world.”

(photo kaosgl)

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34 Historic Images of Olympic Wrestling

www.advocate.com/sports/2016/8/04/34-historic-images-olympic-wrestling