Julian Assange’s Internet Has Been Cut Off, But Has He Left the Ecuadorian Embassy?

Hacktivist group WikiLeaks says founder Julian Assange’s internet has been intentionally cut off by a state actor.

Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for over four years to avoid being extradited to Sweden on charges of sex crimes. 

WikiLeaks tweeted out on Monday, “Julian Assange’s internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party. We have activated the appropriate contingency plans.”

It is not clear at this time what those contingency plans consist of.

Julian Assange’s internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party. We have activated the appropriate contingency plans.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 17, 2016

Other WikiLeaks members have reportedly experience communications outages as well.

I’ve spoken with 14 other @wikileaks task force members who have also experienced internet/phone outage. WTF. #freejulian

— dan rolle (@danrolle) October 17, 2016

The news regarding Assange’s internet comes on the same day that Russian media outlet Russia Today’s UK bank accounts have been closed. Via The Guardian:

Russia has angrily accused Britain of trampling on freedom of speech after NatWest said it was closing down the bank accounts of the Kremlin TV channel Russia Today (RT).

Russian MPs, the foreign ministry and human rights officials all condemned the move, and said the UK government was guilty of violating press freedom and of double standards. “Long live freedom of speech!”, RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, tweeted sarcastically.

Simonyan said she had received a letter out of the blue from NatWest saying that it was pulling the plug on the broadcaster’s accounts from mid-December.

#RT bank accounts blocked in UK pic.twitter.com/C2bymqfFhz

— RT (@RT_com) October 17, 2016

Earlier, there had been speculation that a series of cryptic tweets sent out by WikiLeaks indicated that Assange had died.

Via Gizmodo: 

In the absence of context, some users on Twitter, Reddit, and various image boards were quick to speculate that the tweets were the result of a “dead man’s switch,” triggered in the event of Julian Assange’s untimely end. Such switches do exist (both mechanically and electronically) and many speculated that all 349 gigs of the heavily-encrypted “Wikileaks insurance” from 2013 are intended for precisely that purpose.

However, later tweets by WikiLeaks volunteer Kelly Kolisnik confirmed that Assange is alive.

Help tweet #FreeJulian and #PrayforAssange. @WikiLeaks needs you as they face illegal attacks and blockades. @CommunityWL @WLTaskForce pic.twitter.com/f2P1cma4RL

— Kelly Kolisnik (@kellykolisnik) October 17, 2016

@JohnDeplo You can’t go in without an appointment. Julian is confirmed to be perfectly fine. Thanks for your support and for checking 🙂

— Kelly Kolisnik (@kellykolisnik) October 17, 2016

@davidleary9981 Yes, the embassy confirmed he doing fine

— Kelly Kolisnik (@kellykolisnik) October 17, 2016

Kolisnik also retweeted this video.

UK Ecuadorian Embassy Security Office confirmed @WikiLeaks founder Julian #Assange is alive & well! .@TRUNEWS Excited for upcoming drops! pic.twitter.com/tnBxNEP9R4

— Edward Szall (@realEdwardSzall) October 17, 2016

Meanwhile, a mysterious video has surfaced alleging Assange has left the Ecuadorian embassy and is as of this posting in a blue van just outside the compound.

.@JohnDeplo: Blue #G4S van parked in-front of UK Ecuadorian Embassy holding @WikiLeaks Julian #Assange @TRUNEWS vid:t.co/q6NoyFCCFA pic.twitter.com/xemxpxfCxK

— Edward Szall (@realEdwardSzall) October 17, 2016

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not point fingers at things just yet. I have no reason or proof to believe that #Assange was in the G4S van.

— John Deplo (@JohnDeplo) October 17, 2016

[h/t ABC News]

The post Julian Assange’s Internet Has Been Cut Off, But Has He Left the Ecuadorian Embassy? appeared first on Towleroad.

Julian Assange’s Internet Has Been Cut Off, But Has He Left the Ecuadorian Embassy?

WATCH: Dolly Parton Tells Christians To Stop Judging Gays And Love More

www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/10/watch-dolly-parton-tells-christians-stop-judging-gays-love/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Simon Cowell Apologizes After Making Crude Anal Sex Joke to Gay ‘X Factor’ Host: WATCH

Simon Cowell apologized on Saturday night’s UK X Factor after making a crude sexual joke about British TV personality Rylan Clark-Neal.

Rylan is a former X Factor contestant and UK Big Brother winner who has since become a TV host for various programs. He’s out and married to an ex-cop and former Big Brother contestant.

Cowell caused gasps from the X Factor audience when, during banter on the program about front doors, he quipped to Rylan: “I thought you liked the back door.”

Cowell apologized quickly for the remark.

Watch:

Rylan tweeted a statement on Sunday following the incident:

Just to clear it all up. X pic.twitter.com/GRCpRddDgx

— Rylan Clark-Neal (@Rylan) October 16, 2016

The post Simon Cowell Apologizes After Making Crude Anal Sex Joke to Gay ‘X Factor’ Host: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Simon Cowell Apologizes After Making Crude Anal Sex Joke to Gay ‘X Factor’ Host: WATCH

Gay Trump Supporter Attacks Protester at N.C. Rally

Wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap and a “Gays For Trump” shirt, he attempted to eject the objector from a campaign event.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/10/17/gay-trump-supporter-attacks-protester-nc-rally

Students On High Alert After College Creeper Caught Recording Guys In Dorm Showers

A resident hall at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is on high alert after a peeping Tom was caught filming male college students in the shower.

It was 1 AM and “George,” a sophomore at the university, was minding his own business in his stall when all of a sudden he looked up at and, through the steam of the shower room, saw someone holding an iPhone over the door.

George was being recorded.

Related: PHOTOS: A Lot Happens Inside The Men’s Shower Room

He quickly grabbed his towel and bolted out of the shower stall just in time to see the peeping Tom slam and lock the door of a neighboring stall. George ran and got the resident hall manager, Paul, and two others. They waited outside the shower stall where the Peeping Tom was hiding and ordered him to come out.

“My friend was very angry,” Paul tells his school newspaper. “He kept banging and shouting for him to come out.”

When the peeping Tom finally emerged, the four students confiscated his iPhone, where they were horrified to find nearly 70 other videos of various male college students in the shower.

“We saw the clips in the Recently Deleted album,” Paul explained. “They were videos of other men.”

Police were called. An hour later, they arrived to arrest the Peeping Tom, a 24-year-old senior at the university, for “possession of obscene material.”

Related: Straight Guys Reveal How It Feels To Be Cruised By Gay Men In The Shower Room

“We’re supposed to feel safe and secure, but now I can’t shower without looking over my shoulder,” George told the paper.

Another student added that he used to love taking long, hot showers, but now rushes through them, terrified of being recorded.

“I was quite concerned as this is the second time this has happened here,” he said. “I also take more notice who I bump into in the toilet.”

Meanwhile, Paul is urging other residents of the dorm to be extra cautious in the shower rooms.

“We strongly advise all residents in every hall, no matter their gender, to be careful when they shower or use the washroom,” he said. “No one is safe, so bathe quickly and be observant of the openings in the toilet cubicles.”

“Voyeurism,” he added, “is not tolerated in my hall.”

Related: Straight Man Unsure About His Buddy’s Shower Room Butt-Slapping Antics

www.queerty.com/students-high-alert-college-creeper-caught-recording-guys-dorm-showers-20161017?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Anti-LGBT Trump Bumper Sticker Goes Viral 

An image of a pro-Trump bumper sticker showing a stick figure swathed in the confederate flag beating up a similar figure emblazoned with the LGBT pride flag has gone viral.

The image circulated online over the weekend and led many to question whether the sticker was in fact real. Reportedly snapped in Orlando, Florida (adding insult to injury), the photo combines a Trump / Pence 2016 bumper sticker with the more offensive anti-LGBT sticker made by a company called Fast Decals.

The company also sold a sticker that had an inverted power dynamic, with an LGBT flag-man beating a confederate flag-man. It is not clear whether this was created in response to the above sticker going viral or whether it was previously available.

RELATED – Man Wearing ‘Gays for Trump’ T-Shirt Attacks Protester at Trump Rally: WATCH

As Attitude notes, Fast Decals has officially stopped selling the sticker in question and instead is now offering a peace sign sticker that combines both the LGBT pride and confederate flags.

HRC President Chad Griffin was among those who tweeted the image, writing, “This week, @WyoJudyShepard & I warned about hate in this election. Now this in Nashville.” Griffin has since deleted that tweet.

No reporting has corroborated Griffin’s claim that the photo was taken in Nashville.

That the photo was allegedly taken in Orlando can also not be verified at this time.

The image was, however, widely interpreted to be emblematic of the sort of hatred Trump’s campaign has inspired.

This is why all LGBT people and all supporters of LGBT rights need to go out and vote for Hillary Clinton on November 8th. pic.twitter.com/REwrySgvqN

— Sam Kalidi (@samkalidi) October 16, 2016

The post Anti-LGBT Trump Bumper Sticker Goes Viral  appeared first on Towleroad.

Anti-LGBT Trump Bumper Sticker Goes Viral 

#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: October 17, 2016

NEW HRC INDEX SHOWS CITIES IN BOTH BLUE AND RED STATES LEADING THE WAY IN LGBTQ EQUALITY: Today, HRC and the Equality Federation Institute, released their fifth annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only nationwide rating system of LGBTQ inclusion in municipal law and policy. The 2016 MEI reveals that cities across the nation are not waiting for their states to extend vital protections to the LGBTQ community, nor are they intimidated by some state elected officials threatening to deny cities the ability to extend fully-inclusive protections to their residents and workers. Instead, municipalities in red states and blue states alike are boldly enacting laws and policies prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing and public accommodations, and working to ensure that everyone is guaranteed the same access to city services. Read more here from TIME magazine’s Katy Steinmetz (@katysteinmetz). Some key findings:

• This year, 60 cities earned perfect scores for advancing fully-inclusive policies and practices — up from 47 in 2015 and 11 in 2012, the first year of the MEI.
• Since the MEI’s debut in 2012, the number of cities earning perfect scores has more than quintupled, and today at least 24 million people now live in cities that have more comprehensive, transgender-inclusive non-discrimination laws than their state.
• 87 cities from states without nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people scored above the overall nationwide mean of 55 points. These cities averaged 80-point scores; 22 scored a perfect 100.
• Cities continue to excel even in the absence of state laws: 37 “All Star” cities in states lacking comprehensive non-discrimination laws scored above 85 points, up from 31 last year, 15 in 2014, eight in 2013, and just two in 2012.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER DOES NOT ENDORSE PAT MCCRORY: Citing North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s disastrous HB2 law, The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board chose not to endorse McCrory for the first time in a quarter century. Before this, the Observer had endorsed McCrory for two city council races, seven mayoral races and two gubernatorial races. Instead, the board endorsed Attorney General Roy Cooper for North Carolina Governor. Cooper, also endorsed by HRC, has said he will not defend the discriminatory HB2 in court and has vowed to repeal the bill if elected governor. Read the full endorsement at The Charlotte Observer.

• Responding to reports that a county GOP office in North Carolina firebombed, HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) tweeted: “Violence has no place in our politics, period. Relieved that no one was injured & hope we can all work together to #StopTheHate.”
• ICYMI: Following The Charlotte Observer’s  powerful and heartbreaking series, Permission to Hate, documenting anti-LGBTQ crime and discrimination in North Carolina, Executive Editor Rick Thames issued an urgent call to action,  “Let’s put a stop LGBTQ cruelty in our state,” offering a behind-the-scenes account of the series and announcing plans for a public forum to discuss what can be done  to “protect members of the LGBTQ community and to calm fears that triggered HB2.”
• The Duke (University) Chronicle interviews transgender advocate and HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) at a recent Hillary Clinton campaign event in Raleigh. Read the Q&A here.
• HB2 U, Pat! Today, on McCrory’s 60th birthday, North Carolina’s most celebrated writers and artists, including John Grisham, marked the occasion with a full-page advertisement in the Raleigh News & Observer urging voters to support candidates who will repeal the discriminatory HB2:

“HB2 U, PAT!” NC writers pen a political birthday greeting to #McCrory: t.co/PPxX1JAIfl #RepealHB2 #WeAreNotThis #VOTE #VOTE #VOTE pic.twitter.com/fIeDosTWfL

— Equality NC (@equalitync) October 17, 2016

HRC ENDORSES IN NC LT. GOVERNOR AND ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE: On Friday, announced its endorsement of Josh Stein for the office of North Carolina Attorney General, which is being vacated by Roy Cooper. Stein’s opponent, Buck Newton, has been an outspoken defender of the vile and dangerous HB2. While defending the law in April, Newton notoriously told a crowd, “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight.” More from HRC.

MONDAY MUST WATCH: This weekend, Donald Trump actually claimed that the satirical comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live was “rigging the election.” Check out a few of Saturday’s election-themed clips here and here.

OBAMACARE KID GROWS INTO HER OWN: The Washington Post catches up with “The Obamacare Kid,” who came out as transgender earlier this year. Marci, 17, still passionate about healthcare, now also advocates for the LGBTQ community and is learning and growing as a musician. She shares her journey of coming out, and how the Affordable Care Act helps transgender people to medically transition. Read the full profile at The Washington Post.

COMING OUT AS TRANS IN THE WORKPLACE: In the latest installment of The Des Moines Register’s ambitious and illuminating series, “Trans in Iowa: Fighting for Visibility,” reporter Courtney Crowder (@CourtneyCare) explores what it’s like to come out as transgender in the workplace. Read the full piece (and read the previous installments) here.

HBD, PLANNED PARENTHOOD! Yesterday Planned Parenthood marked its 100th birthday, celebrating a  century of providing vital healthcare to marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ community, and protecting everyone’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies and their health. More from The Advocate.

Congratulations to @PPFA & @PPact on 100 years of such important work. Proud to call @CecileRichards an ally & colleague. #100YearsStrong

— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) October 16, 2016

FOR OUR COMMUNITY, HIV IS TOO IMPORTANT TO IGNORE: Saturday marked National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day, and Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC’s senior vice president for research, training and programs, and Brent A. Wilkes, the national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, penned a piece for The Advocate to draw attention to the impact of HIV & AIDS on Latinx communities.

READING RAINBOW

BuzzFeed shares tips for parents of LGBTQ children… USA Today asks the question “What does it mean to identify as LGBT?”…  The Huffington Post takes a look at the LGBTQ-affirming children’s show “Steven Universe”… PinkNews shares a heartwarming letter from Hillary Clinton’s gay “nephew”…  BuzzFeed explains how puberty blockers work…

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to A.M. Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tip-sheet-october-17-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

GLAAD to honor Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed at GLAAD Atlanta

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-honor-atlanta-mayor-kasim-reed-glaad-atlanta