PHOTOS: Queermosa just celebrated Taiwan's first-ever LGBTQ awards ceremony

PHOTOS: Queermosa just celebrated Taiwan's first-ever LGBTQ awards ceremony

Queermosa

On October 28, the first Queermosa Awards, founded by Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (TIQFF) and sponsored by Portico Media, was successfully launched to bring broad media visibility to the people and companies working hard to have LGBTQ voices heard in Taiwan. Click here to see more information about Queermosa Awards.

GLAAD, as a consultant and supporter for the Queermosa Awards, sent our blessings to the Awards and the Taiwanese LGBTQ community. GLAAD Entertainment Director Ray Bradford filmed a video for the Awards. He said, “At GLAAD, our mission is to accelerate the acceptance of LGBTQ people around the world through the power of media. We are fully aware the acceptance is a global mission. Media has a powerful role in accelerating that acceptance around the world. You’ve made tremendous progress there in Taiwan, but you still have further to go, and we all do, frankly. But together we are strong.”

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD, Ray Bradford

This year, the Awards welcomed a crowd of big names–Ella, HUSH, Stephen Rong, Kristy Cha Ray and others. During an interview, Ella, who’s currently pregnant, opened up that if her child is gay, she will feel lucky for them, and she will love her kids unconditionally regardless of sexual orientation.

The support and love for the Queermosa Awards also flooded on social media. Here are some posts people have shared:

And check out these photos from the event:

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

Queermosa Awards, Queermosa, Asian LGBTQ, Asia, China, Taiwan, Media Awards, GLAAD

 

For more updates on the Queermosa Awards, please check GLAAD blogs and Queermosa Awards official website.

October 28, 2016

www.glaad.org/blog/photos-queermosa-just-celebrated-taiwans-first-ever-lgbtq-awards-ceremony

Just Try And Pay Attention To Sports Talk While Pitcher Poses For ESPN “Body Issue”

Just Try And Pay Attention To Sports Talk While Pitcher Poses For ESPN “Body Issue”

screen-shot-2016-10-28-at-1-36-35-pm
Next time your friend says he’s not into sports, refer him to this page. Participating in ESPN’s always-anticipated “Body Issue,” Chicago Cubs pitcher Joseph Arrieta was gracious enough to show his prowess on the field — in a full state of undress.

Related: PHOTOS: Skinny-Dipping Swimmer Nathan Adrian Brings Speedo Tan To ‘ESPN Body Issue’

A short film, sure to pique your interest, shows the man doing what he does best — albeit in his birthday suit. Check it out HERE.

www.queerty.com/just-try-pay-attention-sports-talk-pitcher-poses-espn-body-issue-20161028?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

SCOTUS to Rule on Transgender Teen Gavin Grimm’s Bathroom Battle with VA School District

SCOTUS to Rule on Transgender Teen Gavin Grimm’s Bathroom Battle with VA School District

Gavin Grimm

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the issue of transgender bathroom rights in the coming year.

The Court announced on Friday it would take up a case involving transgender student Gavin Grimm of Virginia who has been engaged in a legal battle with his school district over being granted permission to use the boy’s restroom.

The case will have implications for President Obama’s guidance to public schools not to discriminate against transgender students, and will also likely impact North Carolina’s anti-trans ‘bathroom bill’ HB 2.

10 WAVY reports: 

The justices said Friday they will hear the appeal from the Gloucester County school board sometime next year. The high court’s order means that student Gavin Grimm will not be able to use the boys’ bathroom in the meantime.

The Washington Post adds:

School districts across the country are split on how to accommodate transgender students in the face of conflicting guidance from courts, the federal government and, in some cases, state legislatures that have passed laws requiring people to use public restrooms that coincide with the sex on their birth certificates.

The justices accepted a petition from Gloucester County, Va. On a 5 to 3 vote in August, they said the school board did not have to comply with a lower court’s order that 17-year-old student Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male, should be allowed to use the boys’ bathroom during his senior year of high school.

The post SCOTUS to Rule on Transgender Teen Gavin Grimm’s Bathroom Battle with VA School District appeared first on Towleroad.



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BREAKING: Supreme Court of the United States Will Decide Transgender Student’s Case

BREAKING: Supreme Court of the United States Will Decide Transgender Student’s Case

Today, HRC responded to news that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Gloucester County School Board v. Grimm, a case involving discrimination against a transgender student. Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy, filed suit against the school board alleging the district violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by denying him use of the boy’s restroom. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case will have far-reaching consequences for tens of thousands of transgender students across the nation.  

“The Supreme Court’s ultimate decision in this case will have a profound impact on transgender youth across the country,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “While hundreds of school districts nationwide are already respecting the civil rights of their transgender students, some are unconscionably discriminating against students like Gavin. Every day that discrimination is allowed to continue, transgender students are put at even greater risk of harm. No young person should wake up in the morning fearful of bullying or discrimination during the school day ahead.”

In June, a federal court ordered the Gloucester County School Board to allow Grimm full access to the restroom that corresponds with his gender identity, consistent with a ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In August, SCOTUS halted the lower court’s order, allowing the school board’s discriminatory policy to remain in place while the court awaited an application by the school board to have its full appeal heard. The Fourth Circuit ruling gave appropriate deference to the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX as allowing transgender students to use school restrooms consistent with their gender identity.

Allowing transgender people to access facilities consistent with their gender identity — something compelled for years by laws in 18 states as well as adopted by hundreds of cities and school districts around the country — has not resulted in problems. On the other hand, forcing transgender students to use sex-segregated facilities contrary to their identity can impose real harm on transgender students, further compounding the discrimination and marginalization they already face.

Denying transgender people access to facilities consistent with their gender identity has serious consequences. A recent study correlated the high suicide rates of transgender students with discriminatory bathroom restrictions, and according to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program, more than 50 percent of transgender youth will have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday.

The HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program works extensively with teachers and administrators to support transgender and gender-expansive students, create LGBTQ-inclusive schools, prevent bias-based bullying and gender stereotyping, and embrace family diversity. In 2015, the HRC Foundation, with the American Civil Liberties Union, Gender Spectrum, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the National Education Association, released Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12, which serves as the premiere best practices guide for schools nationwide.

www.hrc.org/blog/breaking-SCOTUS-will-decide-transgender-students-case?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

"My My Mississippi," the gospel anthem for #MyMississippi, debuts at TEDWomen

"My My Mississippi," the gospel anthem for #MyMississippi, debuts at TEDWomen

This week at the TEDWomen Conference in San Francisco, songwriter and producer Tena Clark debuted her new gospel anthem “My My Mississippi.” The single honors the Magnolia State’s LGBTQ community and its relationship with the place they call home. The song, which is now avaialble on iTunes, was performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the GLIDE Ensemble Memorial Choir. 

100% of the song’s proceeds will support organizations advocating for the Mississippi LGBTQ community, including efforts to completely defeat the state’s so-called “religious liberty” laws. Clark used the song’s debut to announce a march and rally in the Mississippi capital on December 11, organized with the Human Rights Campaign, to call attention to the LGBTQ community’s need for acceptance and equality. GLAAD’s #MyMississippi campaign is running between the song’s release and the December 11 rally in Jackson as a multifaceted effort to amplify the voices of anyone with marginalized identities who’s ever called the Magnolia State home. This is part of GLAAD’s ongoing Southern Stories initiative to amplify the unique voices of LGBTQ people in the U.S. South.

Tena, the award-winning creator of “My My Mississippi,” heads DMI Music & Media Solutions and has written hits for numerous successful artists and influencers, including Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin. “In the aftermath of the harmful “license to discriminate” bill HB 1523 being signed into Mississippi law by Governor Phil Bryant, Tena was moved to create the song, which is now available for download.

Follow GLAAD for updates on how to take part in #MyMississippi online and in person.

.@TenaClarkMusic shares “My My Mississippi” with #TEDWomen audience via @SFGMC & #GlideEnsemble! pic.twitter.com/ZXB7seSpmo

— Pat Mitchell (@patmitchell) October 28, 2016

@IAarchitects #TEDWomen 175 singers Glide Memorial & SF Gay Men’s Chorus at dinner show – moving song about Mississippi discriminatory laws pic.twitter.com/nZ1Wvu5KuW

— Mary Lee Duff (@mlduff) October 28, 2016

Listen to “My My Mississippi” on iTunes now!

Here are just some of the ways you can get involved, take action, and answer the question, “What is #MyMississippi?”:

  • Post pictures, videos, and messages across social media using #MyMississippi
  • Create original artwork for #MyMississippi and share it far and wide
  • Write open letters to local politicians explaining why all Mississippians need full equality and acceptance
  • Share your story online using #MyMississipi and with the local media

Learn more at glaad.org/mymississippi, where you can check out posts from Missippians and submit your own message to Mississippi for a chance to have it appear on GLAAD’s #MyMississippi Tumlbr site.

Many in the LGBTQ community know Mississippi as home to their families and friends and religious communities, and as the place they learned their values, even if their home hasn’t always welcomed them fully. In fact, across the United States, Mississippi has the highest proportion of same-sex parents raising biological, adopted, or step-children, according to a 2013 Williams Institute study. Some stay on the ground working to change their neighbors’ hearts and minds to foster acceptance, while others have found it best to build new communities elsewhere. #MyMississippi provides space for these many diverse voices and complicated experiences and “My My Mississippi” is its new anthem.

In late 2014, GLAAD commissioned Harris Poll to measure attitudes towards LGBTQ Americans. The research found that beneath legal and policy progress lies a layer of uneasiness and discomfort. While the public is increasingly embracing LGBTQ civil rights and equal protection under the law, many are still uncomfortable with having LGBTQ people in their families and the communities where they live. The numbers found that Southerners feel significantly more discomfort about their LGBT family, friends, and neighbors than is found in other regions of the country. To learn more about GLAAD’s year-round work to close this gap, check out glaad.org/southernstories.

October 28, 2016

www.glaad.org/blog/my-my-mississippi-gospel-anthem-mymississippi-debuts-tedwomen

Pat McCrory: Bad For Business

Pat McCrory: Bad For Business
Pat McCrory: Bad For Business

McCrory and HB2 have cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity as companies concerned with protecting their consumers and employees have moved conventions, trainings, operations, productions, and other major events out of the state. Just this week, the Charlotte Observer reported the state lost another $250 million when a real estate investment firm decided to take its investment — and a potential 730 jobs — elsewhere because of HB2. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has continued to put discrimination ahead of the state’s jobs and economy.

www.HRC.org
#turnOUT

Do We Really Need A “Will & Grace” Revival?

Do We Really Need A “Will & Grace” Revival?

will-grace2-jpg

Remember the days when we had to go searching far and wide for any kind of queer content on television? Now, all you have to do is catch a commercial for women’s deodorant to see trans women. So how will the Will & Grace reboot fare, now that they’re no longer the only gay game in town?

Here’s what we know of the rumor so far: they reunited for a little webisode a few weeks ago to remind people that voting is important if you live in a swing state. (And if you don’t live in a swing state, you can still have a say in the election as long as you can donate tens of thousands of dollars.)

That little video did well enough that now NBC is thinking about bringing everyone back for a something new — but what? We don’t know. From the sound of things, it would be a little Will & Grace miniseries. Not a full network sitcom, but something short and fun and limited.

At the time, both Debra Messing and Eric McCormack said that they’d be interested in talking about bringing the show back.

But, yeesh, let’s take a minute and think here. When you watch an episode of the show, it really does not feel contemporary, and not just because it’s shot at 1.33:1. You forget how far this country has come until you see the issues queers were dealing with in 1999. Coming out was a huge deal, discrimination was just expected, gay marriage was hahaha yeah right. The show created a happy gay fantasy bubble where the real world seldom intruded, but it had to do so because the real world was so unpleasant at the time.

Now, things are considerably better, the current GOP nominee notwithstanding. We don’t need as much of a fantasy bubble. Will those characters feel as daring and fresh as they did to an America that had never seen so much queerness on TV? Or will they just seem as boring and predictable as urban gays considered them when they first appeared?

www.queerty.com/really-need-will-grace-revival-20161028?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

FBI Director James Comey Re-Opens Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s Emails

FBI Director James Comey Re-Opens Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s Emails

hillary clinton emails james comey

FBI Director James Comey announced on Friday that the Bureau would be re-opening its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State.

Comey sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying it had discovered new emails while working on an allegedly unrelated investigation. The intent of re-opening the investigation is to determine whether this new crop of emails contained any classified material.

In letter to Senate Judiciary Cmte, FBI Director Comey writes that FBI is investigating add’l emails that were discovered

— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) October 28, 2016

NBC News reports: 

“In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation … I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation,” he wrote.

In September, Comey defended his agency’s decision to not press criminal charges in the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email sever. Documents related to the case were released just before the Labor Day weekend and included a summary of Clinton’s July interview with the FBI about her private email server, as well as a detailed investigative summary of the case.

The FBI language in the letter to Congress makes clear that new evidence has been discovered and thus will be reviewed — meaning FBI agents will read these emails. It is unusual for the FBI to tell Congress it is looking over newly discovered evidence in a criminal inquiry that was otherwise closed.

Asked to respond, a top Clinton campaign spokesperson tells NBC News, “No idea.”

Here’s the letter from the FBI saying it is REOPENING Clinton email inquiry to see if there’s more classified info pic.twitter.com/N8nDvZWjnk

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 28, 2016

FBI Dir just informed me, “The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Case reopened

— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 28, 2016

.@PeteWilliamsNBC makes the key point: There would have to be pretty dramatic information in these emails to change the previous conclusion

— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) October 28, 2016

Meanwhile, this sums it up.

pic.twitter.com/NckGixGPwH

— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) October 28, 2016

The stock market took a dive after the news broke.

U.S. stocks slide following news of FBI probe into Clinton emails t.co/yCI6qvx1aW pic.twitter.com/ZLNqnSqhEA

— Bloomberg (@business) October 28, 2016

UPDATING…

Speaker Paul Ryan says Hillary Clinton should no longer receive classified briefings until the probe is concluded.

UPDATE: Paul Ryan calls for a suspension of all classified briefings for Hillary Clinton until email matters are fully resolved. pic.twitter.com/ntyTfR4zR5

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 28, 2016

Trump’s campaign is ecstatic.

A great day in our campaign just got even better. FBI reviewing new emails in Clinton probe @CNNPolitics t.co/WBltG2lAK6

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 28, 2016

Still no word on what “unrelated investigation” the emails were connected with.

Law enforcement sources tell @evanperez newly discovered emails not related to WikiLeaks or Clinton Fndtn. They wouldn’t describe content

— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) October 28, 2016

Donald Trump hit the campaign trail in Manchester, New Hampshire shortly after the news broke, saying “this is bigger than Watergate.”

Trump: “This is bigger than Watergate. This is bigger than Watergate, in my opinion.” t.co/J54RiABFFl pic.twitter.com/rDPpOKNdzs

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 28, 2016

Reporters are still waiting for a response from Clinton’s team.

Reporters waiting for Hillary Clinton to step off her plane in Iowa shortly after FBI news broke. No comment from her team yet. pic.twitter.com/qPxSYPzB0F

— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) October 28, 2016

The post FBI Director James Comey Re-Opens Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s Emails appeared first on Towleroad.



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