Alabaman Paul Hard’s #HRCTwitterTakeover Ahead of Roy Moore’s Suspension from the Bench
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Everyone Is Freaking Out About Solange’s New Album “A Seat At The Table”
Everyone Is Freaking Out About Solange’s New Album “A Seat At The Table”
Solange’s first offering since 2012’s EP True dropped today, and critics haven’t been stingy with superlatives when describing the rush of listening to the album.
Related: Beyonce Speaks Out Against Anti-LGBT Law, Says “Y’all Means All”
The Guardian calls A Seat at the Table “a stately, sprawling celebration of black identity” that displays an “artful, keening single-mindedness.” Mashable gushed that “her ethereal voice demands attention and space that we must grant her in order to collectively move forward, even just a bit.” NPR hailed the work as “a floating melange of R&B, bold in its quiet and understated sounds, bolder in its message.”
Related: Lemonade Takeaway: Beyonce’s Four Best Tracks (And One Glaring Problem)
Solange herself describes the work as “a project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief, and healing.”
Fans have been taking to Twitter all morning to praise the surprise release:
Y’all need to listen to this Solange album like yesterday.
— I’m Jass (@jASSrcouch) September 30, 2016
This Solange aint got a wack song on it bruh. BRUH
— Chil Scott-Heron (@GFiftyTwo) September 30, 2016
New Solange pic.twitter.com/maxfu8IJCh
— Lillian (@lillian) September 30, 2016
THANK YOU SOLANGE FOR THIS ALBUM !!!!!
— bbysmith. (@_crownxroyal) September 30, 2016
This Solange album is a solid project
— (insert pun here) (@alovelytay) September 30, 2016
Yes this Solange album is ???
— Yy?¿ (@SylvrDolla_) September 30, 2016
In less than 24 hours of being released, I have listened to Solange’s album three times, and have no plans of stopping
— Cierra Baldwin (@Yung72Chisholm) September 30, 2016
Solange’s album is great.. that’s all.
— ye (@OnYeahK) September 30, 2016
I’m obsessed with A Seat at the Table. Thank you for this album, Solange.
— Brit M. (@britmishelle) September 30, 2016
This Solange dope af
— Kel (@FeetUp_Chillin) September 30, 2016
Solange’s album is good for my soul.
— Jilly (@JillianNiaa15) September 30, 2016
Have you given the album a spin yet? What are your first impressions? Weigh in in the comments below.
Teen’s Story About Hooking Up With Married Politician Sounds Awfully Like Mike Yenni
Teen’s Story About Hooking Up With Married Politician Sounds Awfully Like Mike Yenni
Yenni (left) and Daigle (right)
So we already told you about Mike Yenni, the conservative politician from Louisiana who was just outed for allegedly having an affair with an anonymous 17-year-old Catholic school boy/mall food court employee. Local Louisiana news station WWL-TV broke the story last night. Well, we think–emphasis on the word think–we’ve found the guy. His name is Alex Daigle and he’s 19 now, openly gay, and attending Brown University.
Related: Married Conservative Politician Outed For Sexting Teen Boy, Kissing Him In Mall Bathroom
In an op-ed titled I was seduced by a politician published earlier this year by the blog The Tab, Daigle writes about an alleged affair he had with a married politician from Louisiana who sounds an awful lot like Mike Yenni.
Daigle, whose Facebook profile says he went to high school at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, starts out by saying that he comes from “a good, Catholic family from Louisiana, where I learned how to be both a Christian and a Southern gentleman.”
Yenni speaking to students on Career Day at Jesuit High School in 2013.
“The summer after my high school graduation,” he writes, “I was working a minimum wage mall job when I was approached by a man who said, almost fatherly, as I was eating a cookie, ‘Caught you with your mouth full?’”
Talk about a come on!
Daigle calls the man “Kevin.” We suspect–emphasis on the word suspect–that it was likely Mike Yenni.
“Afterwards, an acquaintance told me Kevin had seen me at my graduation luncheon and wanted to get to know me,” Daigle continues. “He told me Kevin was ‘discreet,’ a casual gay term for men who are not out of the closet to family members or friends. Not only that, Kevin was married.”
Daigle goes on to say that he and “Kevin” began texting and then sexting one another.
Related: Engaged Politician Admits To Hooking Up With Guys, At Center Of Sexting Scandal
“We talked about our lives and discussed the possibility of eventually meeting to sleep together,” he says. “Once, on the phone, after telling him he should come to the mall to chat before my shift, he said that he ‘couldn’t be seen in public with other guys.’ I was confused. He clarified: he was a politician with a wife and a young child.”
According to his Twitter profile, Yenni says he is “happily married with one daughter.”
“I had seen his name on election posters in the past,” Daigle continues, “and he already held a fairly high local position. He was easily recognizable as a high profile person to thousands of people around the city.”
Indeed, Yenni was the former mayor of Kenner, the city neighboring New Orleans, and campaigning for President of Jefferson Parish at the time.
Daigle then recounts an incident the happened inside the mall bathroom that sounds almost identical to the alleged underwear exchange involving Yenni reported by WWL-TV:
The Esplanade mall in Kenner, where Dillard’s is located.
“He texted me that he was at the mall’s Dillard’s, and that he saw some underwear he wanted me to wear for him,” he says. “I agreed to meet him in the employee bathroom, working through my general discomfort.”
He continues: “He passed by my counter and glanced at the back hallways of the food court. We met in the bathroom. He handed me the Dillard’s bag, which held three pairs of designer underwear, worth $75 in total. We kissed briefly.”
Related: Antigay Politician Busted For Boozing, Playing Strip Poker With Teen Boys
Daigle says he found the whole thing very “exciting.”
“I was seventeen at the time and flattered to think a married guy wanted to break vows just to be with me,” he writes.
The alleged relationship continued for about a month, and primarily involved sexting and, as Daigle puts it, “failed plans to meet and references to the underwear he’d bought me.” He says he grew frustrated with “Kevin’s” flakiness and “generally bland attitude about the gravity of the situation,” so he cut eventually off communication, blocking the old man’s number.
Yenni on the campaign trail in August 2015.
“Since then, he has remained active on the political scene, and I know thousands of people have voted for him under essentially false pretenses,” he writes. “Meanwhile, I know he’s been with many other boys and will continue to find more. Part of me wants to reveal his identity, but I simply don’t know what that would accomplish. I am still disgusted by his actions.”
Daigle says the whole thing has made him “wary of older men.”
“Young men are fetishized and taken advantage of, people feel the need to be secretive about their lifestyles, and, evidently, abuse can arise,” he writes. “I’ve learned my lesson, and, even if the situation is alluring, I’ll continue to steer clear of any older guys, and trust my instincts when they sense trouble.”
He now says he feels the need to “warn other young, gay men — particularly those in relatively conservative environments — to steer clear of older men, especially in clandestine, intimate situations.”
“These men abuse the immaturity and lack of experience of younger men and take advantage of the fact the younger person may be more prone to continue an inappropriate relationship despite serious discomfort.”
Still no comment from Yenni.
Related: Antigay Politician Caught In Sex Scandal Can’t Stop Talking In Circles, Refuses To Resign
Trump Deposition, Rafael Nadal, Lady Gaga, Gary Johnson, Snowboarders, Rosetta: HOT LINKS
Trump Deposition, Rafael Nadal, Lady Gaga, Gary Johnson, Snowboarders, Rosetta: HOT LINKS
NEVER SAID THAT. New Clinton ad hammers Trump on false debate statements.
SET FOR RELEASE TODAY. The Trump deposition video: “A video of Donald Trump testifying under oath about his provocative rhetoric about Mexicans and other Latinos is set to go public as soon as Friday, drawing new attention to those comments just weeks before voters cast their ballots in the presidential race.”
MORE CORRUPTION. Trump Foundation not licensed to do business in New York: “Under the laws in New York, where the Donald J. Trump Foundation is based, any charity that solicits more than $25,000 a year from the public must obtain a special kind of registration beforehand. Charities as large as Trump’s must also submit to a rigorous annual audit that asks — among other things — whether the charity spent any money for the personal benefit of its officers.”
BOUNCE. Clinton leads in three key swing states – Michigan, New Hampshire, and Florida: “Clinton has taken a 7-point lead against Trump in Michigan, with 42 percent of the vote to his 35 percent, according to a Detroit News/WDIV poll. In a two-way match-up that excludes third-party candidates, Clinton still maintains her 7-point advantage. She’s ahead by the same margin in New Hampshire, taking 42 percent of the vote to Trump’s 35 percent, according to a WBUR poll. And in Florida, Clinton leads Trump by 4 points, 46 percent to 42 percent, according to a Mason-Dixon poll.”
ENDORSEMENTS. Chicago Tribune endorses…Gary Johnson? “We reject the cliche that a citizen who chooses a principled third-party candidate is squandering his or her vote. Look at the number of fed-up Americans telling pollsters they clamor for alternatives to Trump and Clinton. What we’re recommending will appeal less to people who think tactically than to conscientious Americans so infuriated that they want to send a message about the failings of the major parties and their candidates. Put short: We offer this endorsement to encourage voters who want to feel comfortable with their choice. Who want to vote for someone they can admire.”
BERNIE BRO. I wrote that I despised Hillary Clinton, and now I take it back: “Secretary Clinton, I’m sorry. And I retract my previous position of hatred and angst towards you. You have made mistakes, some of them grave, and some of them unforgivable. Unfortunately, that comes with decades of life in the public eye, pressure, and microphones in your face. But you have also accomplished far more in your life as a public servant than just about anyone that’s run for this office, and certainly far more than I ever will. When November rolls around, you’ll have my vote.”
NORTH CAROLINA. House Speaker says Charlotte ‘compromise’ would never have led to HB2 repeal: “House Speaker Tim Moore (R) publicly admitted this week that even in the best case scenario, they were never prepared to repeal all of HB2. They would have always left in the restrictions on which restrooms transgender people can use, even though that’s exactly the provision that has prompted nationwide boycotts by businesses, entertainers, and sports leagues.”
ITALY. Two former nuns legalize their love in civil union. “According to an interview published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the women, identified only as Federica and Isabel, are former Franciscan nuns. Isabel is reportedly from South America, while Federica is a native of southern Italy. Driven by their passion to serve others, the two nuns spent time working in a drug rehabilitation center, where they met and slowly fell in love.”
ROSETTA PROBE. The European Space Agency’s most ambitious mission has come to an end, colliding with comet’s surface: “After twelve-and-a-half years in space, the European Space Agency spacecraft finally met the surface of the duck-shaped mass of dust, ice and rock, switched off its transmitters and hung up the phone to its controllers on Earth.”
CUCKOO CLUB. London investment banker punches bouncer and calls him a ‘gay c–t’. “Former Goldman Sachs analyst Mitchell Bayer-Goldman, 24, knocked out security guard Allewyn Tredoux at VIP hangout The Cuckoo Club in London’s Swallow Street last December. Bayer-Goldman refused to pay £500 of a £1,500 bill and after assaulting Mr Tredoux was then dragged to the top floor by bouncers and held until police arrived, Westminster Magistrates heard.”
Investment banker Mitchell Bayer-Goldman punched Mayfair bouncer and called him a ‘gay c***’ > t.co/sKRugTCu0o #Lgbt #London pic.twitter.com/ni5tPeBo7V
— K. (@Kylens) September 30, 2016
RAFAEL NADAL. The touching moment he stopped a tennis match to help a woman search for her missing daughter: “The mother was in tears and thought she lost her daughter, but the stoppage allowed everyone to focus on the missing child. After she and several fans called out for the girl, she was found and reunited with her mom as both cried.”
SUPER BOWL. Lady Gaga is confirmed for the halftime show.
It’s not an illusion. The rumors are true. This year the SUPER BOWL goes GAGA! @nfl @FOXTV @pepsi #PERFECTILLUSION #GAGASUPERBOWL pic.twitter.com/qR4O57451G
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) September 30, 2016
FBF. In 1985, snowboarders were shunned.
FRIDAY FLASH. Sailor Shi.
The post Trump Deposition, Rafael Nadal, Lady Gaga, Gary Johnson, Snowboarders, Rosetta: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.
Trump Deposition, Rafael Nadal, Lady Gaga, Gary Johnson, Snowboarders, Rosetta: HOT LINKS
Seth Meyers Recaps This Week’s Political Blunders from Trump, Howard Dean, and Gary Johnson – WATCH
Seth Meyers Recaps This Week’s Political Blunders from Trump, Howard Dean, and Gary Johnson – WATCH
On Thursday, Seth Meyers took a closer look at this week’s political blunders.
Laying into Donald Trump’s debate performance, Meyers ripped Trump and his son Eric for suggesting it was courageous to not mention Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs during the debate.
“Yes, how courageous,” Meyers quipped. “He didn’t attack Hillary for her husband’s affairs. What a hero. Someone should give Donald Trump a trophy. Oh, right. He already has one.” Meyers then showed an image of Donald with his wife Melania.
Just for fun, Meyers also reveled in how Hillary burned Trump for having humiliated and fat-shamed former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Referring to Hillary’s line that Donald ‘likes to hang around beauty pageants,’ Meyers joked, “There’s really nothing creepier than a guy who hangs around beauty pageants.”
RELATED: Alicia Machado Responds to Trump’s ‘Sex Tape’ Attacks in Spanish, on Instagram
As for former DNC chairman Howard Dean’s suggestion that Donald Trump is a coke user, Meyers said, “Also you can’t call Donald Trump a coke head. If you do he’ll take it one step further. ‘Some people are saying Hillary and El Chapo are the same person.’”
Then there was Gary ‘What is Aleppo?’ Johnson. Meyers first referred to an interview Johnson did with MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt in which he bit his tongue while talking to make a point that all he would have to do is show up at a presidential debate to gain traction in national polls. Meyers joked, “Maybe next time, only eat half the brownie before you do an interview.” Johnson is an advocate for marijuana legalization.
Meyers also skewered Johnson for his disastrous performance in a town hall with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. If you thought he would be more prepared to discuss foreign policy after failing to know that Aleppo is the center of the refugee crisis in Syria, you’d be wrong.
PREVIOUSLY: Seth Meyers Moderated the Second Presidential Debate, Asked Trump, ‘How’s Your Penis?’ – WATCH
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is struggling to gain support from millennial voters, leaving many to wonder if Bernie Sanders could have done more to get them behind Clinton. But it’s not so simple, Meyers explained: “What’s everyone expecting of Bernie? He’ll take out his flute and the millennials will flock to his side?”
Watch, below.
The post Seth Meyers Recaps This Week’s Political Blunders from Trump, Howard Dean, and Gary Johnson – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Seth Meyers Recaps This Week’s Political Blunders from Trump, Howard Dean, and Gary Johnson – WATCH
AL Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended Without Pay for Remainder of Term Over Gay Marriage Order
AL Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended Without Pay for Remainder of Term Over Gay Marriage Order
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended without pay for the remainder of his term after being found guilty by The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) on judicial ethics charges stemming from his defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.
Moore, who has been defying the federal government since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, was suspended in May and charged with violating ethical rules for trying to stop probate judges from issuing marriage licenses in the state.
“For these violations, Chief Justice Moore is hereby suspended from office without pay for the remainder of his term. This suspension is effective immediately,” the order stated.
The court found him guilty of all six charges of violation of canon of judicial ethics. Moore’s term is to end in 2019. Gov. Robert Bentley will name a replacement for Moore. Moore was tried Wednesday before the COJ on the six charges that claimed he violated canons of judicial ethics regarding that Jan. 6 administrative order to the state’s 68 probate judges.
In January, Moore issued an order prohibiting 68 probate judges from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples telling them they had a “ministerial duty” to do so.
In his order, Moore actually cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling. Moore claimed that the high court’s ruling only applied to Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, the states directly involved in Obergefell.
In March, the Alabama Supreme Court dismissed a series of petitions asking it to declare that the state’s ban on gay marriage is still in effect.
That decision meant anti-gay foes like the Alabama Policy Institute were out of legal options to try and fight the SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage in Obergefell. However, that fact didn’t stop Chief Justice Roy Moore from writing a scathing rebuke of Obergefell and insisting that the state’s ban on gay marriage was still in effect.
Watch the closing arguments at the judicial ethics trial for Moore:
The Guardian noted earlier this week that Moore has to be looking ahead to his next chapter which may be running for governor:
Moore has picked a political fight that may not make sense to people elsewhere. But in Alabama, his intentions are clear: by carrying his fight against the federal government to the brink of judicial destruction, he is appealing to the rebellious nature of Alabamians and positioning himself to run for governor.
The stakes are high for him. He will turn 70 in February, which means he will not be allowed to run for a supreme court spot during the next election, in 2018. And as the sitting chief justice, he has no power to change the trajectory of gay marriage, the issue that brought him to this point. So the worst punishment the Alabama court of judiciary – a court for judges – could inflict on him would be to allow him to serve out his term, fading into obscurity as neither martyr nor decision-maker.
“That’s the irony,” said Wayne Flynt, a historian at Auburn University. “He needs them to remove him.”
Shortly after the Obergefell ruling, Moore predicted all-out war over it.
Moore said that same-sex marriage would lead to the “persecution” of Christians who would be forced to “accept evil” and “condone sodomy.” He also said it would lead to a massive and possibly violent backlash and claimed that the founding fathers would be “incensed” at the SCOTUS decision, calling the Court a tyrannical force trampling on freedom.
Moore said he saw his battle as a holy one:
“God gives rights and the government’s role is to secure those rights. When governments [sic] dismisses god out of the equation and pretends to get rights, we suffer accordingly.
“I think that’s where we were in 1776 and if government is not securing the rights god gave us….[same-sex marriage] is not really securing it, is it?”
The post AL Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended Without Pay for Remainder of Term Over Gay Marriage Order appeared first on Towleroad.
AL Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended Without Pay for Remainder of Term Over Gay Marriage Order
UN Appoints First-Ever Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
UN Appoints First-Ever Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Today the United Nations (U.N.) officially appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand to serve as its first-ever Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. After a vote at the U.N. Human Rights Council to create this position in June, the Council launched a search for qualified candidates that resulted in today’s approval of Muntarbhorn.
“This is a huge step forward for LGBTQ human rights worldwide,” said Ty Cobb, Director of HRC Global. “Professor Muntarbhorn brings a wealth of experience to this position and will help to ensure that the U.N. follows through on its commitments to combating violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people.”
Muntarbhorn is a Professor Emeritus of Law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand and has worked on a variety of human rights issues – including as the co-chair of the committee that drafted the 2006 Yogyakarta Principles on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity. He has also served in several high level roles at the U.N., including Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Special Rapporteur on North Korea and technical adviser to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on LGBTQ issues in Asia.
As HRC reported in June following the Human Rights Council vote, the new independent expert will assess the state of LGBTQ human rights, liaise with LGBTQ advocates and allies around the world and engage with governments and civil society to make recommendations for combating violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people. In addition, the expert will serve as a bridge between the U.N. Human Rights Council and the organization’s General Assembly, and be empowered to issue private communications to governments, including in emergency situations.
In today’s decision, representatives from Saudi Arabia, speaking for the states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (excluding Albania), and Russia noted that they opposed the appointment of the Independent Expert, and their countries would not cooperate with the position.
“We look forward to working with Professor Muntarbhorn to ensure he can be as successful as possible and establish the position on strong footing for the future,” said Cobb. “An expert like this can have enormous impact and we look forward to ensuring that Muntarbhorn has the support he needs to protect the human rights and dignity of LGBTQ people around the world.”
Photo: Edmund Settle
Victory in Alabama: Anti-LGBTQ Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended from AL Supreme Court
Victory in Alabama: Anti-LGBTQ Chief Justice Roy Moore Suspended from AL Supreme Court
Today, HRC hailed a decision by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary to suspend anti-LGBTQ Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore from the bench for the remainder of his term, due to his unethical and extralegal actions surrounding marriage equality. Moore will remain on the bench, but will not receive a salary and he will be unable to make any legal decisions. Moore’s term is up in 2018, and he will be unable to run for the office of Supreme Court justice again in Alabama as he will be past the office’s age restriction. The nine-member Court of the Judiciary found Moore unanimously guilty of all six charges brought against him.
“Roy Moore has flagrantly and willfully attempted to block marriage equality at every turn in Alabama, using his position of power to push a personal, radically anti-LGBTQ agenda. We are thrilled that justice has been done today and he will no longer be able to use the bench to discriminate against people he had taken an oath to protect,” said Eva Kendrick, state manager for the Human Rights Campaign, Alabama. “Roy Moore’s bigoted rhetoric and unethical actions harmed LGBTQ Alabamians and emboldened those who would seek to hurt us further. We hope this is a turning point for our state. We must focus on electing politicians and judges who will move us forward, not backward.”
Earlier this year, HRC Alabama initiated the #NoMoore campaign to remove Moore from the Alabama Supreme Court for his blatant legal and ethical failings. HRC Alabama called out Moore’s discriminatory behavior with a billboard in downtown Montgomery, and held rallies and press conferences outside each of Moore’s ethics hearings — including Wednesday’s final hearing. This marks the second time Moore has faced negative consequences for pushing his personal agenda from the state’s highest court.
Last year, HRC and other civil rights organizations joined the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) ethics complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission of Alabama, seeking Moore’s removal for violating the obligations of his office. The complaint details Moore’s blatant disregard for the law, including communications in which he urges Governor Robert Bentley and members of the Alabama Probate Judges Association to ignore federal court rulings striking down the state’s ban on marriage equality.
In 2014, HRC launched Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. HRC Alabama continues to work to advance equality for LGBTQ Alabamians who have no state level protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations. Through HRC Alabama, we are working toward a future of fairness every day — changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.
HRC Mississippi Attends University of Southern Mississippi Voter Forum
HRC Mississippi Attends University of Southern Mississippi Voter Forum
Post submitted by Harry Hawkins, Field Organizer HRC Mississippi
On Wednesday, I took part in a Voter Education Forum at the University of Southern Mississippi. The event, which the Student Association of Social Workers hosted, showed the documentary film, “Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot.” After the film, I had a chance to address the students about the importance of their vote in this election. I also used this time to address the LGBTQ students in the audience about how we must vote not only to preserve the rights that we have achieved over these last eight years, but to ensure we will have a president who will continue to advocate for the LGBTQ community every day.
There is so much at stake for the LGBTQ community in the 2016 presidential election. Think of all the progress we’ve made under President Obama’s leadership and what could be rolled back. Have you registered to vote yet? The deadline is approaching — click here to register in your state. Also, check out our Vote Equality 2016 program to learn to take the pledge to support pro-LGBTQ candidates and receive important election updates from us.
ACC Moving Championship to Orlando in Protest of N.C.’s Anti-LGBT Law
ACC Moving Championship to Orlando in Protest of N.C.’s Anti-LGBT Law
The connection between Pulse and House Bill 2 is “impossible to ignore,” wrote SB Nation.
www.advocate.com/sports/2016/9/30/acc-moving-championship-orlando-protest-ncs-anti-lgbt-law
