Watch: Ad Championing Transgender Athlete Chris Mosier Drops During Olympics

Chris Mosier. Via GoFundMe.

Nike has released a new ad featuring Chris Mosier, a duathlete (that’s running and cycling) who was chosen for Team USA for the 2016 World Championship. Mosier is the first transgender athlete to be chosen for a U.S. national team.

Related: Nike Expands Pro-LGBTQ #BeTrue Athletic Apparel Campaign

There were questions as to whether he would be able to compete due to policies regarding transgender athletes. He qualified in 2015, after beginning competing as a transgender man in 2010. Mosier reached out to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Triathlon Union upon qualifying, challenging the rule requiring “full lower” sex reassignment surgery. The IOC ruled in January that transgender athletes are able to compete without having had surgery.

Chris Mosier. YouTube, Nike.

Trans men are free to compete without restriction. Trans women no longer have to have surgery and must have testosterone levels equal to or below those of cisgender women, reports The Washington Post.

A study published last year showed that as testosterone levels in transgender women decrease, so too does muscle mass, bone density and other physical characteristics.

Related: Chris Mosier Poses Nude In ESPN Body Issue

The ad’s theme “Unlimited Courage,” is explored through Mosier’s determination to both athletic excellence and to fight for equality and acceptance.

Chris Mosier. YouTube, Nike.

Mosier is asked a series of questions: “How did you know you’d be fast enough to compete against men? Or strong enough? How’d you know the team would accept you? Or that you’d even be allowed to compete?”

Mosier’s answer to each one: “I didn’t.”

“Didn’t you ever want to give up?” Mosier is asked.

“Yes,” he says, “But I didn’t.”

Watch the ad below.

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Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Will Stand Trial For Defying Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Aww, what a shame: notorious bigot Judge Roy Moore is about to learn about justice first-hand, now that a panel has ordered him to go to trial in September over his defiance at the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling.

That’s the good news. The bad news: this could actually help Roy Moore become Alabama’s next governor.

As you’ll recall, back in January Moore wrote a memo to Alabama judges indicating that they should not issue marriage licenses to gay couples. That triggered a complaint from various civil rights groups. And although the wheels of justice turn slowly, those complaints eventually brought Moore before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, an entity that ensures state judges are behaving properly.

Since Moore’s memo effectively violated a US Supreme Court ruling, it wasn’t hard for the court to agree that Moore’s actions warranted investigation. They just ruled that he’ll have to appear in September to defend his actions.

This is the second time Moore’s gotten in trouble for his personal agendas. A few years ago, he was thrown out of office in a similar proceeding when he refused to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from government property. As it turns out, there’s an obscure document called The US Constitution that prevents the government from favoring one religion over another.

Now for the bad news: as discussed on a recent episode of the podcast Defining Marriage, a recent survey shows that a large number of Republican voters in Alabama favor Roy Moore in the 2018 race for Alabama’s next governor. (The current Republican governor is embroiled in a sex scandal, because of course he is.)

After Moore was thrown out of office a few years ago, he ran for Supreme Court again and won. If voters were able to forgive his Ten Commandments fit, there’s a good chance they won’t mind his malfeasance over gay marriage. In fact, it might improve his chances. We could soon lose one enemy of equality on the state Supreme Court, only to see him reappear as the chief executive of Alabama.

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Here’s What Sparked Michael Phelps’ ‘PhelpsFace’, the Biggest Meme of Rio 2016: WATCH

The best and biggest Twitter meme to come out of the Olympics so far has been ‘PhelpsFace’, inspired by a pissed-off still photo of Michael Phelps taken when he was warming up for his semifinal heat in the 200m butterfly event.

So what caused Phelps to make the face?

RELATED: Rio 2016 Day 3 Report: Another Arrest, a Lesbian Marriage Proposal and the Men’s Gymnastic Final

Here’s video of the moment that sparked #PhelpsFace, which occurred as South African swimmer Chad le Clos appeared to annoy Phelps by shadowboxing in his line of vision before the race.

As the sportscasters note, “This is great television.”

Watch:

As New York magazine notes, the two swimmers have a longstanding rivalry, made more bitter because it got personal.

Phelps lost to le Clos in 2012 by five hundredths of a second, so le Clos sent Phelps into retirement with a loss. When Phelps came out of retirement two years later he decided to take on le Clos in the butterfly again, and beat him after le Clos trash-talked him. And so did le Clos’s dad, taunting Phelps.

But then it got personal:

A few months later, le Clos revealed that the back-and-forth with Phelps hurt him. And then he tried to hurt Phelps. “If I was as great as he was, I would conduct myself in a way children would be proud of,” le Clos said, clearly referencing Phelps’s 2014 DUI arrest and subsequent stint in rehab. “I thought I was good friends with him, clearly not. I don’t think he likes me very much,” he added.

So that’s what caused the #PhelpsFace. And Phelps beat le Clos on Monday night, but both lost to Hungarian Tamas Kenderesi.

Tonight is the final. We’ll see where it goes from here.

And here are a few of the #PhelpsFace memes:

When you go to @CNN expecting unbiased, honest journalism #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/So68je480i

— Jonas Mcgreggor (@JonasMcgreggor) August 9, 2016

When u realize there’s enough food in the wrld to feed everyone but 1/9 will go to sleep hungry tonight #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/kYwLYgk7uo

— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) August 9, 2016

When you ask for almond milk then see them pouring dairy. #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/947RDRn4ic

— PETA (@peta) August 9, 2016

When you open @Grindr and there’s only tops. #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/TNGkandYaN

— Q. Allan Brocka (@allanbrocka) August 9, 2016

When you’re walking down the street and hear “Excuse me sir, do you have a minute for…” #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/5dsVIgdQiK

— Mike T (@majtague) August 9, 2016

When you realize it’s only Tuesday. #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/5GuWV0grq4

— Meredith Frost (@MeredithFrost) August 9, 2016

The post Here’s What Sparked Michael Phelps’ ‘PhelpsFace’, the Biggest Meme of Rio 2016: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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Trump Suggests Assassination is the Only Way to Stop Clinton: WATCH

Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the only thing that could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal judges to the Supreme Court if she were elected President would be to assassinate her.

Trump made his remarks at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Said Trump, “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day.”

Politico reports: 

The reference to the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, could be interpreted as a joke about using violence to stop Clinton or her judicial picks.

Trump was speaking at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he repeated his regular claim that Clinton intends to “abolish” the Second Amendment, presumably by appointing liberal justices to the Supreme Court. But Trump punctuated that line with an aside, suggesting that Second Amendment supporters might be in a position to stop her even if she’s elected.

Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook responded in a statement: “This is simple–what Trump is saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way.”

Clinton campaign: “A person seeking to the be President of the United States should not suggest violence in
any way” pic.twitter.com/SwFhiwUqdr

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) August 9, 2016

UPDATE. Perhaps predictably, the Trump campaign has responded to the outrage on social media over Trump’s remarks by attacking and blaming the “dishonest media.”

Said the campaign in a statement:

“It’s called the power of unification — 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it wont be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump.”

The Trump campaign releases a statement about his “2nd Amendment people” comment: pic.twitter.com/u8GLZsAMtP

— Mic (@mic) August 9, 2016

The post Trump Suggests Assassination is the Only Way to Stop Clinton: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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Philippines President Lashes Out at US Ambassador: That ‘Gay’ ‘Son of a Bitch Annoyed Me’

The president of the Philippines has called the United States’ ambassador to the country a “gay” “son of a bitch” that “pissed” him off.

Reportedly intending the remark as an insult, Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Ambassador Phillip Goldberg in an address to his nation’s troops.

International Business Times reports: 

Duterte told the soldiers he and Goldberg disagreed during the campaign after Duterte made a joke about the rape and murder of Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill during a 1989 Davao City prison riot. “I am OK with him,” Duterte said of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, before adding, “I quarreled with his gay ambassador. I am pissed with him. He meddled during the election, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that.”

He also added, according to Yonhap news agency: “That son of a bitch really annoyed me.”

The State Department responded on Monday, none too pleased with Duterte’s most recent remarks. Via Inquirer.net:

Department of State press director Elizabeth Trudeau told US reporters on Monday that they had asked Filipino charge d’affaires Patrick Chuasoto to visit and clarify those remarks. […]

Trudeau confirmed that the State Department was aware of the Philippine President’s remarks.

“We’ve seen those inappropriate comments made about Ambassador Goldberg,” she said. “He’s a multi-time ambassador, one of our most senior US diplomats.”

As IB Times noted before, the remark that Duterte made to set off the war of words between him and Goldberg was about the rape of an Australian missionary. Said Duterte of the rape:

“What a pity. What came to my mind was, ‘They raped her, lined up for her.’ I was mad because she was raped? Yes. That’s one reason. But she was so beautiful. The mayor should have been first.”

Duterte was the mayor of the city where the woman was raped.

Goldberg condemned those remarks at the time, saying, “I can only agree with the colleague from the Australian Embassy. Any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder, are not ones that we condone.”

Goldberg’s response incensed Duterte, who said Goldberg “should not interfere with our national election.”

The post Philippines President Lashes Out at US Ambassador: That ‘Gay’ ‘Son of a Bitch Annoyed Me’ appeared first on Towleroad.

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Poll: Majority of Young Adults in America Support Pro-LGBTQ Policies

Results of a new GenForward survey show overwhelming support among young adults for policies benefiting LGBTQ people in employment, health care, adoption, and more.

Conducted by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the survey of young adults ages 18 to 30 was designed to assess the views of America’s young adult population with an emphasis on how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation.

The survey’s key findings:

• 92 percent support for HIV and AIDS prevention
• 90 percent support for equal employment
• 80 percent support for LGBTQ adoption

A large majority also support better training of law enforcement on transgender issues, government support for LGBTQ youth organizations, and insurance coverage for transgender health issues.

“It has been widely documented that public sentiment in support of policies that advance LGBT rights like same sex marriage has evolved rapidly over the past few decades,” the report stated. “… Large majorities of young adults across race and ethnicity groups support a range of LGBT policy issues. It seems that this generation of young adults have grown even more supportive of LGBT rights over the past two years.”

These findings are particularly compelling given the emerging power of the youth vote at a time when anti-LGBTQ positions are still being advanced by candidates up and down the ballot, in states and races across America, including GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Trump has been a consistent opponent of marriage equality and recently expressed support for the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which would expose LGBTQ people to discrimination.

As noted today by HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride in The Advocate, Donald Trump is “committed to appointing anti-equality judges to the federal bench, supports a bill legalizing Kim Davis-style discrimination, and endorsed the ability of states like North Carolina to pass discriminatory and hateful anti-LGBTQ bills.”

“Trump’s campaign is not a collection of ignorant statements. It is a candidacy of hate and fear that poses serious risks to people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and LGBTQ people,” she continued.

Trump has vowed time and again to oppose LGBTQ equality and roll back progress for our country. His policy positions are extreme and dangerous — and would deeply impact the lives of real people if implemented. Trump has attempted to obfuscate his views because he knows they are out of step with the vast majority of voters who will go to the polls in November.

www.hrc.org/blog/poll-majority-of-young-adults-in-america-support-pro-lgbtq-policies?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

An Olympic Marriage Proposal Says 'Love Wins' to the World

The engagement of a women’s rugby player at the Rio Olympic Games is a heartwarming victory for the international LGBT community.

www.advocate.com/sports/2016/8/09/olympic-marriage-proposal-says-love-wins-world

The Sad Last Days of Homo-Hate Queen Phyllis Schlafly

Endorsing Donald Trump, battling over control of the organization she created, alienating her family members — this is how staunch homophobe Phyllis Schlafly is spending her golden years.

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/8/09/sad-last-days-homo-hate-queen-phyllis-schlafly

She Said ‘YES!’ Rio Volunteer Pops Question To Her Olympian Girlfriend

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Tom Daley Unwittingly Steals Spotlight From Equally Adept, Equally Speedoed Daniel Goodfellow

Few things could quash the unimaginable high of winning your first-ever Olympic medal — but being meticulously cropped out of media coverage and inadvertently surrendering all the attention to your diving partner would certainly qualify as one of them.

Related: Time To Watch Tom Daley Get Fitted For His Impossibly Small Swim Brief

That’s the very odd plight facing Great Britain’s Daniel Goodfellow today — after winning a bronze medal alongside media favorite Tom Daley in the men’s synchronized 10m platform event on Monday evening.

Photo editors at The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express all-too eagerly clicked into the Tools section to effectively crop the handsome athlete out of the picture, while writers vaguely referred to Goodfellow as Daley’s “synchronized partner” as duly noted by The Media Blog and various flummoxed Twitterers:

Congrats to Tom Daley (and his synchro partner Dan Goodfellow, who seems to be getting cropped out of the story): pic.twitter.com/DEizCZT14s

— The Media Blog (@TheMediaTweets) August 8, 2016

Tuesday’s Daily Express back page:
Daley leaves it late#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #diving #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/395mKATxvi

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) August 8, 2016

Come on papers two people trained hard to win that medal. Poor form #Rio2016 #diving #bronze t.co/wHI0vUhcn7

— Rogan Thomson (@roganthomson) August 8, 2016

Congratulations are in order – BUT Imagine if your parents named you ‘synchronised partner’ I’d be so pissed ? pic.twitter.com/D210xzEsVL

— Jeanette Kwakye (@JNETTEKWAKYE) August 8, 2016

Related: The 30 Hottest Tom Daley Photos Never Before Seen On Queerty

As The Guardian reports, the Times‘ sports editor blamed the oversight on tight deadlines and promised to rectify the misstep in later editions of the paper. But is it enough to satisfy Gabby?

Come on @thetimes you can do better than this, won’t take long to change ‘synchronised partner’ to Dan Goodfellow. t.co/seGtNSBSOU

— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) August 8, 2016

@GabbyLogan plus I’ve seen a lot of tv interviews before and after with Tom but a lot fewer with Dan. Do papers deserve different treatment?

— ALEX KAY-JELSKI (@AlexKJTimes) August 8, 2016

Related: PHOTOS: Skinny-Dipping Swimmer Nathan Adrian Brings Speedo Tan To ‘ESPN Body Issue’

Then there’s mom. Goodfellow’s mother is far from pleased and has taken to Twitter to express her consternation:

@suttonnick I am very surprised by this photo. Is it for real? I am Dan’s mum

— Sharon Goodfellow (@goodfellowshar1) August 8, 2016

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