By reinstating events in NC, NCAA tells LGBTQ athletes they are on their own

www.glaad.org/blog/reinstating-events-nc-ncaa-tells-lgbtq-athletes-they-are-their-own

NCAA Caves, Will 'Reluctantly' Consider N.C. for Games

The National Collegiate Athletic Association says the half-hearted repeal of House Bill 2 convinced them to reconsider North Carolina as the site for future championship games.

www.advocate.com/sports/2017/4/04/ncaa-caves-will-reluctantly-consider-nc-games

Will Instagram censor Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest thirst traps?
Get ready.

www.queerty.com/will-instagram-censor-cristiano-ronaldos-latest-thirst-traps-20170404?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

George Michael ‘Sexual Freedom Party’ to be Held at London Park Where He Used to Cruise Men

A “Sexual Freedom Party” in honor of George Michael is being planned for April 8 on Hampstead Heath, the London park and well-known gay cruising area where Michael used to pick up men.

The party was announced by the Camden LGBT Forum and Queer Tours of London.

They write:

In the week that George Michael was finally laid to rest Camden LGBT Forum in partnership with Queer Tours of London announce they are working together to organise this event as part of a programme of activity that also marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. While the passing of this law was a momentous moment in our history we know far too well that it wasn’t the end of the struggle.

This fact is highlighted very clearly by the fact that such a confident and successful individual as George Michael still found it impossible to be open about his sexuality in the late 1990’s.  His sexuality was used to both criminalise and humiliate him; sadly despite his and many others who have bravely fought back this still goes on for so many of us.  So we want to use this celebration of one of the LGBTQIA+ community’s finest to continue to challenge the barriers that still remain.

Said Queer Tours of London organizer Nell Andrew: “No longer with us but with presence stronger than ever, we gather at the world famous cruising  area on Hampstead Heath, to ‘Go Outside’ in honour of George Michael.  It will be a celebration of how he too back control after a very nasty public outing and turned it into a celebration of sexuality and sexual freedoms with the song Outside and his every statement and action following this episode said screw the judgement of others. We dance and sing and roll together and shout out, in the immortal words of George, “This Is My Culture!”

More info HERE.

The post George Michael ‘Sexual Freedom Party’ to be Held at London Park Where He Used to Cruise Men appeared first on Towleroad.

George Michael ‘Sexual Freedom Party’ to be Held at London Park Where He Used to Cruise Men

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: April 4, 2017

NCAA’S DAMAGING REVERSAL ON DISCRIMINATORY LAWS IN NC: Today, HRC and Equality NC released the following statements in light of the NCAA decision to consider North Carolina for championship games, despite the discrimination against LGBTQ people that remains enshrined in state law. “The NCAA’s decision to backtrack on their vow to protect LGBTQ players, employees and fans is deeply disappointing and puts people at risk,” said HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin). “After drawing a line in the sand and calling for repeal of HB2, the NCAA simply let North Carolina lawmakers off the hook.” “It is disappointing to see the NCAA backpedal after it stood strong against the deeply discriminatory HB2,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro (@CristoferSgro). “HB142 continues the same discriminatory scheme put forward by HB2 and does little to protect the NCAA’s players, employees, and fans. The NCAA’s decision has put a seal of approval on state-sanctioned discrimination.” More from HRC.

• Over the last 24 hours, mayors and councilmembers of major U.S. cities reaffirmed their bans on taxpayer funded travel to North Carolina — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Santa Fe Mayor Javier González, Cincinnati City Councilmember Chris Seelbach and Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. More from The Charlotte Observer.
• Cooper’s coalition moving MORE anti-LGBTQ bills: NC Gov. Roy Cooper sold out the LGBTQ community in signing the discriminatory HB2.0, and the legislators he joined forces with are already moving to pass additional anti-LGBTQ measures. More from The Charlotte Observer.
• HARK THE SOUND! Last night, the Tar Heels took home the National Championship title. UNC Coach Roy Williams has been outspoken about HB2 and the damage it has done to his state. ICYMI from The News & Observer.
• Keep an out: Check out this ad from a broad coalition of civil rights organizations calling out this so-called ‘deal’ for what it is — doubling down on the discriminatory aspects of HB2 today in The Charlotte Observer.

DEMOCRATS SECURE VOTES TO FILIBUSTER GORSUCH: Last week, HRC called on every pro-equality member of the U.S. Senate to vote “no” and filibuster Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, and our allies responded. “Neil Gorsuch refused to answer basic questions regarding his alarming history of opposing civil rights,” said HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin). “Anyone looking to gain a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court must prove they will apply a compassionate, impartial, and inclusionary interpretation of the Constitution faithful to its drafters’ vision — and Judge Gorsuch proved he is not that person. We believe every U.S. Senator must not only oppose Neil Gorsuch but also filibuster his nomination. Republicans should not unilaterally change long-standing Senate rules to allow Trump’s nominee to waltz into the Supreme Court.” Read more about Gorsuch’s long and troubling career opposing civil rights, including for LGBTQ people, here. More on the filibuster news from The Washington Post.

TUESDAY TWEET: Before Trump was elected, Senate Republicans stubbornly refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, then-President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. Some Republicans even went so far as to suggest that if Hillary Clinton won, they would stand united against any of her judicial nominee. Yesterday, Huffington Post reporter Jennifer Bendery (@JBendery) called out the hypocrisy of some Senate Republicans speaking out against the filibuster of Gorsuch.  

FIFTH CIRCUIT PANEL HEARS ARGUMENTS ON ANTI-LGBTQ LAW, H.B. 1523: Yesterday in Lubbock, Texas, a conservative three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments regarding Mississippi’s anti-LGBTQ law, H.B. 1523. The law, deceptively titled “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” enables almost any individual or organization to discriminate against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, at school and in their communities. It is under review after being blocked from implementation last summer by a federal judge. Arguing against the law is Robbie Kaplan, the litigator who took on the discriminatory federal law known as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at the Supreme Court of the United States. Kaplan spoke passionately about why this law is unconstitutional, and why it should be struck down. More from the Associated Press.

GLOBAL ADVOCATES FROM NIGERIA TO PERU JOIN HRC TO FIGHT TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND LGBTQ COMMUNITY: In an oped posted this morning in Advocate, HRC SVP for Programs, Research and Training discusses the power of HRC’s Global Innovative Advocacy Summit, a gathering of 30 LGBTQ global leaders. The Trump Administration’s anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim policy positions have taken a distressing toll on the global LGBTQ community — especially those who are refugees trying to escape a dangerous home country for a better life. Read the full piece from Advocate.

DRAG PERFORMER GIA GUNN COMES OUT AS TRANSGENDER: Gia Gunn, a former contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, came out as a transgender woman to mark Transgender Day of Visibility. In a powerful video posted to Instagram, she said, “Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey. If you are in transition, or struggling with your gender identity, I want to hear from you in the comments and let’s be visible.” More from NewNowNext.

CONGRATS RAFFI!: Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, the first openly transgender staff member at the White House, will return to the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as the Director of External Relations. Prior to her White House position, she served as a policy advisor for NCTE.

DOMINICAN LGBTQ COMMUNITY FEELS LOSS AFTER OPENLY GAY AMB STEPS DOWN: Former US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster was a mainstay in the country’s LGBTQ community — speaking at Pride events, flying the rainbow flag outside of the US Embassy and living proudly with his husband, Bob Satawake. More from Washington Blade.

���� INDIAN ADVERTISEMENT NOTES POWER OF LGBTQ FAMILIES: Created by Vicks, the ad features the powerful relationship between an adopted daughter and her transgender mother, and the mother’s the struggle to secure rights for herself and her family. More from Asian Age.

READING RAINBOW

Teen Vogue interviews openly gay Christian singer Trey Pearson (@TreyPearson) about his newest music video, with LGBTQ themes; The Associated Press reviews a new Oscar Wilde exhibit at London’s Tate Britain gallery;
 

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

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-april-4-2017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Trump’s Pick for Army Secretary is Main Sponsor of Anti-LGBT Legislation in Tennessee

Tennessee state senator Mark Green is Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Army. He would succeed Obama’s Army Secretary Eric Fanning, the first openly gay man to hold that position.

And what a change it would be. The HuffPost reports that Green is the main sponsor of an HB2-like bill that targets LGBT people.

Writes Amanda Terkel:

Green is the sponsor of SB 127, a bill that would bar government entities from taking “discriminatory action against a business entity on the basis of the internal policies of the business entity.”

Tennessee does not currently have nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, although some municipalities do have stronger rules protecting LGBTQ government employees. Green’s bill, however, would bar local governments and public universities from looking at companies’ internal policies when doing business or giving out contracts ― because it would be considered discrimination against the business.

“You [wouldn’t be able to] have a provision in your contracting rule saying, ‘We’ll only contract with organizations that treat married same-sex couples equally. You couldn’t do that,” explained Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project. “Or you couldn’t say, ‘We’ll only subcontract with companies that have contraception as part of their health insurance.’ It’s not just LGBT [issues].”

…The legislation is reminiscent of HB 2 in North Carolina, which also shackled municipalities from writing more-inclusive nondiscrimination policies than existed at the state level. North Carolina’s measure, however, was more encompassing than the one in Tennessee.

Green’s bill is under consideration by the House. It has already passed the state Senate.

The post Trump’s Pick for Army Secretary is Main Sponsor of Anti-LGBT Legislation in Tennessee appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump’s Pick for Army Secretary is Main Sponsor of Anti-LGBT Legislation in Tennessee

HRC, Equality NC Speak Out Against NCAA’s Damaging Reversal on Discriminatory Laws in North Carolina

Today, HRC and Equality NC released the following statements in light of the NCAA decision to consider North Carolina for championship games, despite the discrimination against LGBTQ people that remains enshrined in state law.

“The NCAA’s decision to backtrack on their vow to protect LGBTQ players, employees and fans is deeply disappointing and puts people at risk,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “After drawing a line in the sand and calling for repeal of HB2, the NCAA simply let North Carolina lawmakers off the hook.”

“It is disappointing to see the NCAA backpedal after it stood strong against the deeply discriminatory HB2,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro. “HB142 continues the same discriminatory scheme put forward by HB2 and does little to protect the NCAA’s players, employees, and fans. The NCAA’s decision has put a seal of approval on state-sanctioned discrimination.”

Last Thursday, the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Roy Cooper passed an egregious bill — HB142 — that keeps some of the most discriminatory provisions of HB2 alive. Under this new “HB2.0,” which replaces one discriminatory, anti-transgender bathroom bill with another, the North Carolina General Assembly reserves total control over bathroom access throughout the state to itself; that means no city, state agency, public university or school board can ever adopt a policy that ensures transgender people have access to restrooms consistent with their gender identity.  Further, no city can even consider passing any protections for LGBTQ people until 2020. At the end of this discriminatory “moratorium,” cities will still be prevented from ensuring transgender people are able to use facilities consistent with their gender identity. This action targeting LGBTQ individuals — particularly transgender people — is the very definition of discrimination and continues a shameful chapter for North Carolina.

Civil rights groups including HRC, the NAACP, Equality NC, and the National Center for Transgender Equality have been working to correct the record on the discriminatory measure, and the tide has turned in calling out this sham “deal” exactly for what it is. Top headlines include: The New York Times editorial board, “North Carolina’s Bait-and-Switch on Transgender Restroom Law;” Steven Petrow for The Washington Post, “You can’t compromise on civil rights. But North Carolina just did;” The Charlotte Observer editorial board, “HB2 repeal: Cooper turns back on LGBT community;” Slate, “The HB2 “Repeal” Bill Is an Unmitigated Disaster for LGBTQ Rights and North Carolina;” Mother Jones, “Don’t Be Fooled. The North Carolina “Compromise” Doesn’t Actually Protect Trans Rights;” ESPN, “NCAA, NBA and ACC say they’re pro-LGBT — now’s their chance to prove it;” The Nation, “The So-Called ‘Repeal’ of North Carolina’s Bathroom Bill Is a Terrible Deal for Civil Rights.” Further articles and statements from other major publications, as well as the business and entertainment community, can be found here.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-equality-nc-speak-out-against-ncaas-reversal-on-North-Carolina-HB2?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

18 Women Who Came Out Before Ellen

www.advocate.com/women/2017/4/04/18-women-who-came-out-ellen