First Checks from $29.5M Fund Sent to Pulse Victims' Families and Survivors (Video)

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/9/27/first-checks-295m-fund-sent-pulse-victims-families-and-survivors-video

Pulse Shooting Survivor Brandon Wolf’s #HRCTwitterTakeover

Ahead of the the 2016 Vocal Majority Bus Tour Kickoff with HRC and Americans for Repsonsible Solutions today, Pulse shooting survivor Brandon Wolf took to @HRC’s Twitter handle to discuss the loss of his friend, Drew Leinonen and the need to end gun and hate violence in America.

The attack on Pulse nightclub has tragically become a symbol of how deadly anti-LGBTQ hate can become when it is combined with easy access to military-style assault weapons. In the wake of the attack in Orlando, HRC has been joined by a wide range of civil rights leaders in speaking out against laws and politicians who foment hate against LGBTQ people. HRC has also called on Congress to establish protections for LGBTQ people in all fifty states through the Equality Act and officially adopted a resolution in support of common-sense gun violence prevention legislation that will help ensure LGBTQ people and all Americans are safe and equal in every community.

Here’s what Brandon had to say in his #HRCTwitterTakeover:

www.hrc.org/blog/pulse-survivor-brandon-wolfs-hrctwittertakeover?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Sacramento Kings Add Trans-Inclusive Restrooms

The new home of the NBA team, the Golden 1 Center, is the first major stadium to have all-gender bathrooms.

www.advocate.com/sports/2016/9/27/sacramento-kings-add-trans-inclusive-restrooms

Trump Unprepared for Debate, While Clinton Was Overprepared, Say Critics

Several anchors and commentators have accused Hillary Clinton of actually preparing too much for Monday’s presidential debate.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/9/27/trump-unprepared-debate-while-clinton-was-overprepared-say-critics

Tim Kaine, ‘Thanks a Lot, B-tch’, WhatsApp, Rosie O’Donnell, Katy Perry, Belgrade: HOT LINKS

ORLANDO. Tim Kaine makes unscheduled visit to Pulse nightclub: “Accompanied by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself badly wounded as a victim of a mass shooting at a constituent event in suburban Tucson in 2011, Sen. Kaine told reporters quietly, “This is a weird thing to say but I always hoped that the Virginia Tech one would be the worst one ever…as bad as that was, I hoped that nothing would ever eclipse it but, such as life we got work to do so.”

Tim Kaine visits the Pulse Nightclub Memorial here in Orlando, he is joined by Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly, and Sen Bill Nelson. pic.twitter.com/dqK4qEuvIY

— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) September 26, 2016

DAYTIME TV. Neil Patrick Harris says he doesn’t want to permanently co-host Live! with Kelly Ripa. 

DATA COLLECTION. Facebook has been ordered to stop collecting and storing data from German users of WhatsApp: “The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information said Facebook was infringing data protection law and had not obtained effective approval from WhatsApp’s 35 million users in Germany.”

VIRAL. Reporter who yelled “Thanks a lot, b**ch” deemed the runner up in the first presidential debate: “The reporter, Al Jazeera English’s Kimberly Halkett, was apparently trying to get an interview with Mark Cuban when she was pushed out of the way. She was nahhht happy.” (Work unfriendly language below). 

DISCRIMINATION. Urban Outfitters in LA refuses to let transgender customer use female dressing room: “Nicholas Gorham — who identifies as a “gender-fluid trans person,” uses female and gender-neutral pronouns, and primarily wears women’s clothing — was told by the attendant that she could not get a fitting room next to her friend Tamara, a cisgender woman.”

NOVEMBER 8. Katy Perry gets naked to encourage you to vote.

SOCIAL MEDIA. The best memes that resulted from last night’s debate.

ANALYSIS. The presidential debate and misogyny: “Trump’s only policy proposal for women still seems to be ‘treat them like sh*t.’”

ORLANDO. Pulse shooter told police negotiator he was attacking the nightclub because of bombings against ISIS in Iraq and Syria: “You have to tell the U.S. government to stop bombing. They are killing too many children. They are killing too many women, okay…Yo, the airstrike that killed Abu Wahib a few weeks ago. That’s what triggered it, okay?”

NO ONE PUTS BABY IN A CORNER. Madonna comes to the defense of Rosie O’Donnell. 

Mess with my girl Rosie and you’re messing with me!!! Cruelty never made anyone a winner. ❤️ #rebelhearts4ever pic.twitter.com/gvkF6HpU47

— Madonna (@Madonna) September 27, 2016

PRIDE. Serbian capital of Belgrade holds march despite security concerns: “Past Pride events in Serbia have been banned by the government due to concerns and threats of violence from anti-gay protestors. In 2010, the Pride march was marred by violence when rioters set fire to buildings and hurled petrol bombs and bricks at riot police, while chanting “Death to homosexuals.” More than 100 people were injured in the chaos, and subsequent Pride events in Serbia were banned, before continuing again in 2014.”

TUESDAY INSTASTUD. Underwear model David Rest…and his friends.

The post Tim Kaine, ‘Thanks a Lot, B-tch’, WhatsApp, Rosie O’Donnell, Katy Perry, Belgrade: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

Tim Kaine, ‘Thanks a Lot, B-tch’, WhatsApp, Rosie O’Donnell, Katy Perry, Belgrade: HOT LINKS

Labor Department Sues Start-Up Co-Founded by Peter Thiel for Discrimination

The Obama administration has filed a lawsuit against Palantir Technologies, the start-up co-founded by gay Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel which does big data analysis for the military and US government counter-terrorism groups and financial groups.

The Department of Labor filed suit against Palantir, alleging that the firm discriminated against Asian applicants in screenings and interviews, Reuters reports:

In one example cited by the Labor Department, Palantir reviewed a pool of more than 130 qualified applicants for the role of engineering intern. About 73% of those who applied were Asian. The lawsuit, which covers Palantir’s conduct between January 2010 and the present, said the company hired 17 non-Asian applicants and four Asians.

“The likelihood that this result occurred according to chance is approximately one in a billion,” said the lawsuit, which was filed with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

The majority of Palantir’s hires as engineering interns, as well as two other engineering positions, “came from an employee referral system that disproportionately excluded Asians,” the lawsuit said.

Said OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu in a statement: “Federal contractors have an obligation to ensure that their hiring practices and policies are free of all forms of discrimination. Our nation’s taxpayers deserve to know that companies employed with public funds are providing equal opportunity for job seekers.”

Thiel, who brought down Gawker Media for outing him by bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company, and told the Republican National Convention that he’s “proud” to be gay, recently made headlines when he reportedly told friends that Donald Trump promised to nominate him to the Supreme Court.

Reuters adds: “Since January 2010, Palantir has been a party to federal government contracts worth over $340 million, the lawsuit said.”

The post Labor Department Sues Start-Up Co-Founded by Peter Thiel for Discrimination appeared first on Towleroad.

Labor Department Sues Start-Up Co-Founded by Peter Thiel for Discrimination

Gay Men Visiting San Francisco Attacked in Apparent Hate Crime

New Yorkers Neil Frias and Jeff White, in San Francisco for the Folsom Street Fair, were pepper-sprayed by men calling them “fags” who were “destroying family values.”

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/9/27/gay-men-visiting-san-francisco-attacked-apparent-hate-crime