NC Gov. McCrory Launches Anti-Trans Attack Ad Amid Slide In Polls

Gov. McCrory. Photo by James Willamore, CC 2.0.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has said repeatedly that his concern with allowing transgender individuals to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice is merely a privacy issue, not one of safety. A recent slide in the polls seems to have inspired him to change his tune to one more embracing of the politics of fear. He must be learning something from all those Trump rallies he’s been attending recently.

In a new campaign ad, a sexual assault victim is trotted out to imply a connection that is simply not there, as Charlotte‘s NPR outlet WFAE makes clear.

Related: McCrory Called A “Moronic Little Bigot Of A Tarheel Governor” In Leaked DNC Email

In fact, North Carolina good place a guard on every bathroom door checking birth certificates and it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference in this woman’s case, as she was assaulted by her brother in their home.

“At nine, I was molested by a teenager,” Gina Little says. “When I found out that President Obama and Roy Cooper want to force schoolchildren to share the same locker rooms, shower and restroom with someone who claims the opposite sex, I was horrified.”

The fact that they couldn’t find someone who was attacked by a transgender person in a locker room or bathroom, or someone using laws allowing trans people to use facilities matching their gender identity, is telling.

Finding examples of violence against trans people is much easier.

Attorney General Roy Cooper is McCrory’s challenger in the gubernatorial race. He opposes HB2, the bill McCrory signed into law, prohibiting transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match what is on their birth certificate in public buildings. Private businesses are allowed to set their own policies concerning the issue.

Cooper has refused to defend HB2 in court, noting that HB2 conflicts with that state Department of Justice policy and a similar one adopted by the state Treasury Department and saying he would defend the agencies against the state law.

HB2 also did away with all non-discrimination ordinances in the state, capped the minimum wage at $7.25 an hour and took away the right to sue for workplace discrimination in state court. That right has since been reinstated.

Related: This Is How You Support A Transgender Child

The Obama administration sent a directive to public schools instructing them to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity.

This is the McCrory campaign’s Willie Horton moment, hoping he can scare people into voting for him. In so doing he has shown just how desperate, dishonest and dangerous he is willing to be in the process.

Watch the misleading, disgusting ad below. Or don’t.

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Man Who Shows Up For Jack’d Threesome Winds Up Meeting His Murderers Instead

In 2014, the body of a Texas man was discovered in the backseat of a car just outside Houston.

The corpse of 53-year-old traveling salesman Kevin Moyer was naked and wrapped in a sheet.

Related: Two Seattle Men Brutally Murdered By Stranger They Met On “Grindr Or Jack’d”

Now, a gay couple — 23-year-old Arthur Christopher Harmon and 33-year-old Nikolaos Mihail — face murder charges following the guilty plea of Cody Lewis, another man involved in the crime.

This week during a court hearing, it was revealed the thugs used the hookup app Jack’d to seduce Moyer over to their home, with the sole intention of robbing him.

Related: Jilted Grindr Hookup Leads To Eight Hour Police Standoff, Gunshot Wound And Arrest

As Pink News reports, Moyer wound up murdered instead.

Authorities have recovered a bloody knife, a pellet rifle, and a mop, all of which were allegedly used during the attack.

Officers told the court that the men “communicated on a website and then met up that night for a possible relationship.”

Related: Dangerous Liaisons: Five Gay Online Hookups That Ended In Crime

Because Harmon and Mihail are gay, authorities have ruled out any hate crime charges.

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WATCH LIVE: Hillary Clinton Ties Donald Trump to Racist ‘Alt-Right’ Movement

Hillary Clinton will make a speech in Reno, Nevada today, discussing Donald Trump’s ties to the so-called “alt-right” (aka the racist right).

Earlier in the day, Clinton released an ad targeting Trump for his support of white supremacists and radical conservatives.

The New York Times reports: 

The speech, at a community college in Reno, Nev., will come one week after Mr. Trump named Stephen K. Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, as his campaign chief. Mr. Bannon has eagerly described the site as “the platform for the alt-right” — a loosely defined and contested term often associated with white nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiment.

Accordingly, one of Mrs. Clinton’s challenges will be explaining the “alt-right” to a national audience that may have little familiarity with it. Her campaign has accused the ideology’s proponents of “embracing extremism and presenting a divisive and dystopian view of America.”

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Hillary Clinton Ties Donald Trump to Klan, White Supremacists, Alt-Right in New Ad, Speech: WATCH

A new Hillary Clinton ad posted hours before a speech on the same topic ties Donald Trump to the racist, white supremacist, ‘Alt-Right’.

The ad comes as Trump is trying to persuade voters that he is exactly the opposite.

The Washington Post reports:

Clinton’s team knows that. It knows what he’s trying to do and it thinks it knows how to undercut it. Clinton’s ad also isn’t targeting nonwhite voters — she’s hoping to remind wavering Republicans of one of the reasons they were wavering in the first place. Trump is hoping to drive past these concerns; Clinton is trying to toss an anchor around his trailer hitch.

This is Trump’s main problem as the clock ticks down. Can he now, after a year-plus of making arguments that some racists did find appealing, redefine himself in the eyes of observers?

Clinton is scheduled to give a major speech on this topic at 3 pm ET at a community college in Reno, Nevada:

Accordingly, one of Mrs. Clinton’s challenges will be explaining the “alt-right” to a national audience that may have little familiarity with it. Her campaign has accused the ideology’s proponents of “embracing extremism and presenting a divisive and dystopian view of America.”

Watch the ad:

There’s a reason the most hateful fringe of the right wing is supporting Donald Trump.t.co/AqB3DM2m0N

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 25, 2016

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Watch the Full Episode for ‘Gaycation Presents: Orlando’ with Ellen Page: VIDEO 

Last night, VICELAND aired Gaycation Presents: Orlando, a special episode of its docuseries Gaycation with Ellen Page and her best friend Ian Daniel that looks at LGBT culture and struggles around the world. The pair traveled to Orlando in the wake of the Pulse massacre to help bring continued attention to the shooting left 49 people dead and was the deadliest mass shooting in US history. The massacre was also the worst terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11.

The episode begins with a haunting image of the crime scene outside Pulse just days after the shooting. Page and Daniel say they wanted to start their trip to Orlando by going to Pulse and paying their respects to the victims who lost their lives.

“We’re here because we just want to see how the community is feeling and dealing with this and just be here for those who feel like they want to share their story.”

You can watch the emotional episode in its entirety, below.

You can also read an interview that Daniel did with Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida, an organization working to advance LGBT rights in the state and the creators of the Pulse Victims Fund, here.

The post Watch the Full Episode for ‘Gaycation Presents: Orlando’ with Ellen Page: VIDEO  appeared first on Towleroad.

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ISIL Continues Inhumane Acts Against LGBTQ People

In yet another gruesome public execution, ISIL militants reportedly pushed four men off of a building in Mosul, Iraq last week after accusing them of “homosexuality and sodomy.” As is so often the case, a crowd gathered to watch the horrific display, which this time claimed two former members of ISIL among the dead.

While LGBTQ people in many parts of the world face violence and persecution, ISIL has become particularly infamous for their public executions of men they have accused of homosexuality. It is often difficult to ascertain whether the executed had actually engaged in same-sex sexual activity or whether ISIL leaders have levied the accusation of “homosexuality” against them as a way to garner public support for their execution.

HRC recently released a white paper providing background on the situation facing LGBTQ Iraqis and Syrians under ISIL control, which included a series of recommendations for the U.S. government, the United Nations and others. The primary focus of those recommendations is helping LGBTQ people flee the most dangerous areas and find refuge in more LGBTQ-friendly places. HRC also hosted a summit in June to focus attention on the issue, and released recommendations for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in May.

“The most important thing we can do is keep our doors open to refugees,” said Ty Cobb, the Director of HRC Global. “LGBTQ people around the globe are extremely strong and courageous, but in certain places, the violence is just overwhelming and they must have a place to seek refuge. Our country has long been a beacon of hope for all kinds of persecuted people, and this is not the time for us to turn our backs on them.”

HRC will continue advocating for the continued admission of refugees to the U.S., specifically to ensure that LGBTQ refugees are treated with sensitivity and confidentiality, and that they are resettled in areas that have LGBTQ resources. 

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HRC and Whitman-Walker Discuss Transgender Sexual Health

This week, HRC and Whitman-Walker Health, a DC-area health care nonprofit with a special expertise in LGBTQ and HIV-related care, released Safer Sex for Trans Bodies, a new resource for transgender and gender expansive people, as well as their partners, on sexual health.

Yesterday I sat down over Facebook Live with HRC’s Noel Gordon, Whitman-Walker Health’s Managing Director of Behavioral Health Stacey Karpen, and trans advocate and educator Angel Smith to discuss our new guide and the important, but too often ignored topic of transgender sexual health.

Sexual health remains an integral part of overall health, including for transgender and gender expansive people.  Despite that reality, resources regarding transgender sexual health remain sparse and significant barriers to care continue to exist for many in the community. Safer Sex for Trans Bodies and yesterday’s conversation with Noel, Stacey, and Angel hopefully provide trans people and their partners, along with health care providers and the general public, the information and guidance necessary to ensure that transgender people can be safe and respected in every setting.  

Our discussion touched on a wide range of experiences, challenges, and barriers, ranging from the stigmatization of our partners to disrespectful treatment by those tasked with our care. We also discussed the larger structural barriers to overall health for transgender people; many remain uninsured and others face categorical exclusions that ban them from receiving medically necessary care to transition.

Every person can have a role in changing these realities, but it begins by educating ourselves. We must acknowledge that transgender people are whole human beings. For too long, conversations around sexual health for transgender and gender expansive people have been stigmatized or ignored.  It’s time we finally have an open and clear dialogue about what inclusive and affirming sexual health looks like for people of all gender identities and backgrounds.  

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Donald Trump’s Courting of Hate Movement Dangerous to LGBTQ People

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, released the following statement ahead of Hillary Clinton’s speech addressing Donald Trump’s campaign of prejudice, paranoia and bigotry.

“Donald Trump has built an entire campaign based on division, fear and undermining equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Trump has threatened to undo crucial protections for LGBTQ people in the U.S. and around the globe, and courted the votes of anti-equality extremists. It’s also important to remember that the LGBTQ community is as diverse as the fabric of our nation. We are women and immigrants and Latinos and African Americans and people of all faiths — and Donald Trump’s campaign of hate has become a danger to us all.”

Donald Trump has embraced an anti-LGBTQ agenda from the start — opposing marriage equality and embracing laws that threaten the fundamental equality of LGBTQ people in their homes, schools and communities. He further doubled down on his opposition to equality by putting Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on the 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.

Over the last several months, Donald Trump has only burnished his anti-LGBTQ credentials. Last week, Trump was endorsed by James Dobson, who founded two of the most notorious anti-equality organizations in the nation: Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, which has since been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dobson linked the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., with “turning our back on God” and the “redefinition” of marriage.” Dobson has said that same-sex marriage is the “fall of Western civilization itself” and was part of a “master plan” for destruction of family. He even suggested marriage equality could lead to a “civil war.” Dobson has called Obama’s transgender student guidelines an effort to “sow chaos” and “impose tyranny.” Trump has also campaigned alongside Tony Perkins — the current leader of the Family Research Council — and is scheduled to speak at his Values Voter Summit on September 9 in Washington, DC.

Just one day after the attack on Pulse nightclub — the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history — Donald Trump bragged on television that he would be a better president for LGBTQ people, despite holding an array of anti-LGBTQ policy positions and selecting Mike Pence as his running mate. On Aug. 12, the two-month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, Trump appeared in Orlando not to meet with victims’ families or pay respects, but to court votes from anti-LGBTQ activists including Liberty Counsel, which supports and defends archaic laws criminalizing homosexuality with harsh punishments around the world, and has condemned President Obama and the U.S. government for speaking out against such laws, saying, “America should not be trying to make that country act in an immoral way.”

In addition to Donald Trump’s own vile views and behavior, Trump Campaign CEO Steve Bannon has launched vile smears against transgender people while he worked for Breitbart News. Trump’s new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is a former pollster for the National Organization for Marriage who once objected to the inclusion of openly LGBTQ people in the media, saying of one television show that featured a lesbian couple that people, “…don’t want their kids looking at a cartoon with a bunch of lesbian mothers.”

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