HRC Releases Congressional Hall of Shame

In conjunction with HRC’s Congressional Scorecard, HRC released a list of several Senators and Representatives who have particularly anti-LGBTQ records. These Senators and Representatives not only voted for anti-LGBTQ legislation, they’ve introduced harmful bills and amendments, made extreme anti-LGBTQ statements and received a low score on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard.

1. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

   Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. When Gohmert opens his mouth, you never know what will come out of it, except that it will be mean, derogatory, or just plain nuts. In April, Gohmert described PayPal’s decision not to invest in North Carolina because of their anti-transgender law “the height of lunacy.” In another bizarre attack on LGBTQ rights, Gohmert said that NASA would never choose to send same-sex couples into space. Rather, Gohmert said, it’s up to NASA to be a “modern-day Noah” and “perpetuate humanity and the wildlife kingdom.” Gohmert also called for the  impeachment of the U.S. Supreme Court because of the Obergefell decision last June, which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country.

2. Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

   Rep. Steve King (R-IA) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. King has been a ring-leader for anti-LGBTQ causes for his entire career in Congress. He’s spent the last decade fighting marriage equality and notoriously compared marriage equality to marrying a lawnmower. In May, King described the Department of Education’s recent Title IX guidance on transgender students as an “egregious example” of regulatory overreach, setting the tone for the hearing. In June, King proposed a vehemently anti-transgender measure that would prohibit transgender people from using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity in the U.S. Capitol.

3. Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK)

   Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. In the dark of night during a committee vote at 2am, Russell offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow, under the guise of religious liberty, sweeping anti-LGBT discrimination in all federal agencies. The provision jeopardizes President Obama’s executive order prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination in federal contracting, and could have far-reaching consequences, potentially even undermining existing federal nondiscrimination provisions. The White House has already indicated its strong opposition to the Russell Amendment.

4. Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC)

   Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. Pittenger has a knack for inserting his foot squarely in his mouth. Just a couple of weeks ago,  Pittenger spoke about protests in Charlotte, saying “they hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not.” Earlier this year, he offered an amendment to an appropriations bill to prohibit funds from being taken away from any entity in North Carolina for any reason including fraud, failure to carry out the terms of a contract, or if used in violation of the law–all to stop the federal government from using federal law to end HB-2 discrimination.

5. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL)

   Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. In only his second term, Byrne is making a name for himself opposing LGBTQ equality. He offered an amendment to the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5055) to  require federal agencies to allow religiously affiliated contractors to discriminate in hiring with taxpayer funds.

6. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)

   Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) has earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard, one of only two Members of Congress from New Jersey to do so—Democrat or Republican. Last year, we learned that Garrett’s poor lifetime voting record on LGBTQ issues is no aberration, but rather reflects his anti-LGBTQ convictions. He refused to make his required contribution to the National Republican Congressional Committee because they were recruiting and supporting gay Republicans.

7. Raúl Labrador (R-ID)

   Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. A founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Labrador is the sponsor of one of the most dangerous anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation in Congress—the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA). FADA would sanction unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination against LGBTQ people. Lacking any semblance of tact, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on FADA on the one-month anniversary of the tragedy in Orlando.

8. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

   Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. Cruz made anti-LGBTQ invective a hallmark of his failed presidential campaign. There are too many examples for us to list. By the end of his campaign, Cruz was making anti-transgender comments at practically every campaign stop, even releasing an ad attacking transgender people using the restroom in line with their gender identity, calling it “PC nonsense that is destroying America.”

9. Mike Lee (R-UT)

   Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. Lee is the Senate sponsor of the anti-LGBTQ First Amendment Defense Act. In an interview about the bill with NPR last year, Lee claimed that LGBTQ people are not “subject to widespread discrimination.” Lee is also a cosponsor of legislation that would allow child welfare organizations, including adoption and foster care providers, to make placement determinations based on the organization’s “religious beliefs or moral convictions” regardless of the needs of the child.

10. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)

    Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) earned a zero on the Congressional Scorecard. Lankford, who in 2012 said being gay was a choice, has made it his mission to attack the Departments of Education and Justice for issuing guidance supporting transgender students, calling it “threatening and intimidating.” He also said the guidance had “major implications for safety” and that it would “make the majority of American families unwelcome in their own school.”

11. Dishonorable Mention: Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)

    Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) with a 56 on the Congressional Scorecard has the dubious distinction of being the worst scoring Democratic in the House and Senate. The average score for Democratic Representatives is 96.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-releases-congressional-hall-of-shame?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The Federal Government Made A Gay Dance Video And It’s Flat Out Fabulous

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has produced a music video that joyfully educates gay men about HIV prevention options. Amazingly, it’s foot-stomping fabulous.

The song, “Collect My Love,” was released by The Knocks and it features vocals by Alex Newell, the young gender-bending singer who rose to fame by stealing season three of the television series, Glee (his rendition of “Boogie Shoes” on that show is a one-way ticket to our happy place).

In the CDC music video is newly released, Newell performs the song in a crowded, gay-friendly dance club. The atmosphere is ebullient and cruisy, with gay men making connections left and right. That’s where HIV prevention comes in. We have a hard time believing this would get made under the angry, antigay Trump/Pence White House.

 

Gay couples meeting at the club are shown later, as their relationships develop. There is a condom negotiation, a man shown taking PrEP, and even a character who discloses he is HIV positive and undetectable. The CDC has filled the video with every prevention method available, and they do it in a sex-positive, non-judgmental atmosphere. The video was created as part of the “Start Talking. Stop HIV.” campaign that reaches out to men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly African-American and Latino gay men.

The CDC is exceedingly careful to provide scientifically accurate messages, but has certainly never delivered these messages in such an innovative and entertaining way. The video incorporates both PrEP and the fact people with HIV can become undetectable — two important and often misunderstood issues being heavily discussed among the gay community right this minute.

The men featured in the video are youthful and attractive, but blessedly, they look like young men you might actually meet in a club, not unattainable icons from the pages of Men’s Fitness. In fact, there’s a plus-sized bear seen tearing up the dance floor who walks away with the video during his few seconds on camera. In our mind’s eye, that jubilant, self-possessed man is not going home alone.

Sure, the world conjured in the CDC video may not reflect all interactions among gay men as we know them to be. Stigma and judgment still exist and are practiced nightly in clubs throughout the country. But we wholeheartedly support this alternative, aspirational world, where gay men live joyfully and play responsibly. That’s the world we want to live in.

The video will be shared on social media and through CDC’s community partners. But why wait? Check it out, and share it with your networks. Discuss it. Start a conversation about the ways we can protect ourselves and our community.

And put on your boogie shoes.

www.queerty.com/federal-government-made-gay-dance-video-flat-fabulous-20161008?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

There’s There There: 5 Must-See Spots In Oakland To Add To Your Bucket List

Beyond the ‘Stro is a Queerty/GayCites series exploring the popular San Francisco districts outside the Castro where LGBTQ folk mingle with our non-gay counterparts. This column looks at the Oakland & The East Bay.

One of the many great things about the LGBTQ Mecca know as San Francisco is how well it’s situated to easily explore California. To the north, Russian River and wine country beckon less than an hour away. To the South, there is Half Moon bay and the beaches of Santa Cruz, among other attractions.

Due East, lies, of course, the East Bay, and the minor LGBTQ Mecca known as Oakland, the state’s 7th largest city where the weather is warm and the hillsides verdant. This city offers a diverse population that’s no less vibrant than SF–from UC Berkeley students to middle-class same-sex families raising kids to some of the state’s most integrated ‘hoods.

Here are five must-see places worth taking the jaunt to the other side of the bay…

1. Club BNB

Formerly known as Bench & Bar, this iconic Oakland club with a Latin flavor recently received a major makeover. It merits a visit because of the local vibe, strong drinks, and dance floor that matches SF’s best. Check out the ourdoor patio in the summer.

2. Fox Theater

After over 40 years of abandonment, this art deco jewel re-opened its doors in February 2009 with an ornate restoration and has helped lead the revitalization of downtown Oakland. Located just half a block from the BART station, it’s easy to get to and from shows without the hassle of parking, and with acts such as U2, Keane, and Seal having graced the stage of the cabaret style theater, you know that you’re going to witness some of the world’s top entertainers.

3. Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café

Alice Water’s renowned Shattuck Avenue eatery in Berkeley launched the farm fresh local food revolution in 1971. Today, there are dozens of restaurants with celebrity chefs in the Bay Area who can equal, and at time, surpass the place where it all began. But it’s still worth the trip to visit this special place with some of the most fresh and delicious food in the world. And if you are worried about the price tag, make a rez at the cafe downstairs, rather than the restaurant, where the food is nearly as good but served in a more simple atmosphere.

4. Lake Merritt

Lake Merritt is actually a large lagoon smack in center of Oakland, a short walk from downtown. It’s a great place to jog or just stroll around, day or night, and rivals some of the great American urban parks. It is a bird refugee, with grassy shores, so there’s lots of nature to enjoy despite the city setting. Pack a picnic and people watch. Explore great neighborhoods radiating every direction from the water.

5. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Designed by world class architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the museum opened this spring to great fanfare. Mixing Art Deco and modern elements, it sits on the edge of the UC Berkeley campus with a spiraling concrete and steel structure that’s impossible to ignore–and worth the trip across the Bay Bridge. Stroll around the campus and get lunch at the museum cafe before checking out the impressive collection in one of the Bay Area’s most radical new spaces.

www.queerty.com/theres-5-must-see-spots-oakland-add-bucket-list-20161008?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

National Coming Out Day to Coincide with Religious Holidays

We live in a beautiful, ever changing world where almost every day is sacred for someone, somewhere. This is no less true for many LGBTQ Jews and Muslims who will be celebrating National Coming Out Day and observing Yom Kippur and the Islamic holiday of Ashura all on the same day – Tuesday, Oct. 11 (Yom Kippur begins at sundown and continues through the next day).

This year Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and Ashura, commemorating the day Musa (Moses) was saved by God, coincidently fall on the same day as National Coming Out Day. For LGBTQ adherents of Judaism and Islam and their allies, this is a particularly important time that makes coming out even more meaningful.

While the deep reflections of these holidays nourish our spiritual lives and timeless connection to our past and God, the traditional Torah recitation of Leviticus 18:22 on Yom Kippur — “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence” — can be painful for LGBTQ people to hear and read and is often why many feel as if they cannot come out. This makes it particularly crucial for allies to express their support for their LGBTQ friends and loved ones and remind them that they will be loved, no matter what.

“God knows you’re already the person you need to become, even if you don’t know that yet,” says Dr. Joy Ladin, a transgender Jewish woman, in HRC Foundation’s “Coming Home to Judaism and to Self”.

In HRC Foundation’s “Coming Home to Islam and to Self”, Hassan, a Muslim physician of Pakistani origin, reminds that if you are LGBTQ, “you are not less loved by God…”

The reality is that many LGBTQ adherents of Islam and Judaism may not come out on Tuesday for many variety of reasons — whether internal or external — and that’s OK.

But, with National Coming Out Day coinciding with such important holidays this year, we are reminded more than ever that when you make any room for others, no matter how big or small, you also make room for yourself too. Such awareness marks a good way to observe Yom Kippur and Ashura while coming out into a fuller truth, inside and outside.

Whether it’s for the first time ever or the first time today, coming out can be an arduous journey. It is also a brave decision to live openly and authentically. For more information and resources on coming out and National Coming Out Day, visit HRC’s Coming Out Center and follow the hashtag #ComingOut.

www.hrc.org/blog/national-coming-out-day-to-coincide-with-religious-holidays?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Go East, Young Man (Photos)

www.advocate.com/photography/2016/10/08/go-east-young-man-photos

Trump's Crisis Raises Scary Alternative: 'Pence for President'

Some Republicans are calling for Donald Trump to step aside and let Mike Pence take over.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/10/07/trumps-crisis-raises-scary-alternative-pence-president

Christian Campus Group: Supporters of Same-Sex Relationships Shouldn't Work Here

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship insists it isn’t firing those who disagree with its views, but it does suggest they come forward and resign.

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/10/07/christian-campus-group-supporters-same-sex-relationships-shouldnt-work-here