Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN File a Federal Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Trans Military Ban
Monthly Archives: August 2017
LGBTQ youth fall in love with LOVELOUD Festival
LGBTQ youth fall in love with LOVELOUD Festival
Salt Lake Tribune
On a beautiful day – and into the evening – in Orem, Utah, more than 17,000 fans, friends, and members of the LGBTQ and Mormon communities crowded into Brent Brown Ballpark to attend the first-ever LOVELOUD Festival.
LOVELOUD, the creation of Imagine Dragons front man, Dan Reynolds, served as a benefit concert and evening of celebration for LGBTQ youth. The event featured stellar performances from Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, Krewella, Nicholas Petricca of Walk the Moon, Joshua James, and Aja Volkman, as well as inspirational speeches from a number of notable advocates and celebrities including Julianne Hough, Steve Young, Mindy Glendhill, and more.
Designed to ignite the relevant and vital conversation of what it means to unconditionally love, understand, accept, and support LGBTQ youth, the performers took multiple opportunities in interviews and on stage to proclaim their love and acceptance for LGBTQ people. In a pre-concert press conference, Reynolds professed a strong belief that his home state of Utah was not only ready, but excited to share this moment within their own LGBTQ and Mormon communities. Reynolds said, “I know that there’s a community here that’s been waiting to shout and scream as loud as they can about how much they love and accept their LGBTQ youth.”
In a powerful on stage moment, Reynolds, along with Tyler Glenn, sang “I’ll Walk with You,” a primary song of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Glenn, who came out as gay in 2014 and performed a moving set with his band Neon Trees, broke down on stage when discussing how meaningful it was for him to be back in Utah, singing in front of a crowd that was willing to hear from him and others about LGBTQ love and acceptance.
Reynolds, who truly set the tone for a day of love, music, and acceptance, performed an incredible set with Imagine Dragons while between songs delivering powerful words directed towards the queer youth in the audience. Addressing the crowd he said, “I hope, I pray, not one more youth will feel the need to commit suicide. Please, we love you. We need you.”
Something I wanted to share after last night’s experience Thank you for inspiring me! #LOVELOUD #LOVELOUDFest pic.twitter.com/eZHOHeXcPq
— drea (@saintprentiss) August 27, 2017
From the GLAAD booth, where we were giving away stickers and information about our youth programming, we met with many young people, some of which were attending their first ever concert, and got the chance to hear how thrilled they were to be at an event with bands they loved that celebrated their identities as LGBTQ.
One young person came over to the GLAAD table and exclaimed that they were “shooketh” to see that 20% of millennials identify as LGBTQ, a statistic we were sharing from the 2017 GLAAD report, Accelerating Acceptance. If you don’t know what ‘shooketh’ means, you may be too old for our youth programming… but no one is too old or young to understand that LGBTQ youth are not just the biggest LGBTQ population, but are striving to live their lives as fully and authentically as possible.
For the final song of the evening, Imagine Dragons played “It’s Time” with intention. In a 2012 episode of Glee, “It’s Time” was sung by Blaine (Darren Criss) to his boyfriend Kurt (Chris Colfer). Ever since, the song has become an acceptance anthem for Imagine Dragons and Reynolds, as they look to continue their support for LGBTQ young people.
Every day, GLAAD is proud to work on behalf of bettering the lives and experiences of LGBTQ youth, but there are some days that blissfully overwhelm the most learned advocate–LOVELOUD fest was one of those days. LOVELOUD is more than a concert – it is progress and empathy manifested. GLAAD is honored to be a part of the larger push for acceptance for LGBTQ people in the music and entertainment industry, and we commend Dan Reynolds, and all performers and participants for their hard work and commitment to supporting LGBTQ youth.
August 28, 2017
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A Young Man’s Death, a Wealthy Donor, and the Cost of Silence
A Young Man’s Death, a Wealthy Donor, and the Cost of Silence
A 26-year-old black man died of an overdose at Demoratic donor Ed Buck’s West Hollywood home — and the story just gets more troubling from there. Why are the recipients of Buck’s funds not returning the money?
www.advocate.com/commentary/2017/8/28/young-mans-death-wealthy-donor-and-cost-silence
A Bank Holiday Monday outing to Petworth House, National Trust
Bi guy says he really doesn’t like penetrative sex, wonders if he can still be bisexual
Hurricane Harvey, Patrick Cowley, Minnie Driver, Frank Bruni, Taylor Swift, Gay Lions, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: HOT LINKS
Hurricane Harvey, Patrick Cowley, Minnie Driver, Frank Bruni, Taylor Swift, Gay Lions, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: HOT LINKS
HURRICANE HARVEY. Storm to move over Gulf of Mexico, make landfall second time.
HARVEY LATEST: The storm is moving back into the Gulf over the next 6-12 hours; even more rain is on the way: t.co/QOLcHGnV7c pic.twitter.com/vhWsS3Ie3a
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 28, 2017
HURRICANE HARVEY. Mexico offers relief: ‘The Mexican government expressed its solidarity Sunday with the United States following the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey and offered assistance to Texas. Mexico offered to help Texas deal with the disaster, “as good neighbors should always do in trying times.”‘
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO. Taylor Swift’s video director says he didn’t rip off Beyoncé.
ARIZONA. Joe Arpaio may challenge Senator Jeff Flake in primary: “Arpaio’s apparent interest in the Arizona primary comes as Trump continues to encourage potential challenges to Flake. He recently tweeted in support of former State Sen. Kelli Ward (R), who jumped into the 2018 primary before the 2016 race even ended. And Trump’s administration continues to speak to potential challengers, most recently meeting with a group backstage at his rally in Phoenix last week. ”
VIRGINIA. Police finally arrested a man who fired a gun at a black protester in Charlottesville.
Here’s the video—racist pulls gun and fires on black protester, cops did nothing pic.twitter.com/lE2PcGKJRw
— Matt Bors (@MattBors) August 26, 2017
FRANK BRUNI. The worst (and best) places to be gay in America. “There’s no such thing as L.G.B.T. life in America, a country even more divided on this front than on others. There’s L.G.B.T. life in a group of essentially progressive places like New York, Maryland, Oregon and California, which bans government-funded travel to states it deems unduly discriminatory. Then there is L.G.B.T. life on that blacklist, which includes Texas, Kansas, Mississippi and South Dakota.”
TRUMP. Isolating us from allies and militarizing the police.
MINNIE DRIVER. She may be coming back to Will & Grace.
CONDRAGULATIONS. A UK version of RuPaul’s Drag Race is definitely happening. ‘Speaking exclusively at DragWorld, Michelle explained: “Myself and Ru will be doing it, there will be no one else. It’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, and you speak English so we don’t have to worry about the translation.’
MISSOURI. College of the Ozarks named worst college for gay an trans students: “Valorie Coleman, a public relations director at the school, told the Springfield News-Leader that she does not consider the school hostile to LGBT people, but she acknowledged its strict rules against what she called sexual immorality.”
MALE MODEL MONDAY. Scott Gardner. More here.
AFTERNOONERS. Ultimate compilation of Patrick Cowley’s gay porn soundtracks to be released.
CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES. Florida church sues over designation as an anti-LGBT hate group: “In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Montgomery, Ala., federal court, Coral Ridge Ministries Media Inc. accused Amazon of religious discrimination and GuideStar USA and the SPLC of falsely labeling it as an anti-LGBT hate group. Coral Ridge does business as D. James Kennedy Ministries and is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It began in 1974 and produced a television show “Truths that Transform,” and a radio show by the same name.”
WILD CATS. Two male lions photographed fornicating.
MONDAY MUSCLE. Seth Holbrook.
The post Hurricane Harvey, Patrick Cowley, Minnie Driver, Frank Bruni, Taylor Swift, Gay Lions, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.
Back to School: Resources for Families
Back to School: Resources for Families
www.hrc.org/blog/back-to-school-resources-for-families?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
See which celebrities were star struck to meet the transgender service members at the VMAs
See which celebrities were star struck to meet the transgender service members at the VMAs
Last night at the 2017 MTV VMAs six transgender military service members took to the red carpet alongside GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis to share their personal stories and proudly raise the visibility for the over 15,000 current U.S. military service members and estimated 134,000 American veterans.
“All we wanna do is be treated like everyone else.” Trans active military service members speak out against the #TransBan | #VMAs pic.twitter.com/1N979lTFvV
— MTV (@MTV) August 27, 2017
U.S. service members Sterling James Crutcher, Logan Ireland, Jennifer Peace, and Akira Wyatt, and veterans Laila Ireland and Brynn Tannehill were invited by MTV to attend the 2017 VMAs after President Trump announced his intention to bar transgender people from serving ‘in any capacity’ in the U.S. military. Late Friday evening, President Trump officially directed the Pentagon to move forward with this discriminatory policy due to take effect on March 23, 2018.
“These brave and inspiring service members are not only serving our country and protecting us
Read about their military service here and visit Trans Military and SPARTA for more information and stories from and about transgender military service members, veterans ,and their families. Red carpet guests Logan and Laila Ireland first came out as transgender service members in The New York Times Emmy® nominated
The service members received huge applause when they entered the red carpet and spoke with MTV. Today their stories are running around the world, helping shift the narrative around Trump’s ban by making sure America hears the voices of those directly affected by this discriminatory policy. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of their night!
So incredibly honored to have these trans military members with us at the #VMAs tonight t.co/taFCsbkZzR pic.twitter.com/KLpadYupgT
— MTV (@MTV) August 27, 2017
Trans military members Akira Wyatt and Jennifer Peace spreading the word #notransban #vmas pic.twitter.com/ny8MhYmWX5
— NewNowNext (@NewNowNext) August 27, 2017
Numerous celebrities including Heidi Klum, Mel B, Kyle Richards, Tyler Posey, Gigi Gorgeous, Raymond Braun, Billy Eichner and Brendan Scannell voiced their support for the service members, joining the voices of the majority of Americans in all fifty states who oppose banning transgender Americans from military service.
.@heidiklum and @OfficialMelB support trans service members and veterans. Retweet if you do, too! #VMAs pic.twitter.com/l9Kyq4iWGr
— GLAAD (@glaad) August 27, 2017
Honored to meet @laila.ireland @transmilitary at the @vmas #OpenTransService @glaad #thankyou
A post shared by Kyle Richards Umansky (@kylerichards18) on
Thank you @tylerposey58 for taking a stand against the trans military ban! #VMAs #notransban
A post shared by @glaad on
They Make U.S. Stronger. #VMAs pic.twitter.com/F63wh8kdz1
— Raymond Braun (@raymondbraun) August 28, 2017
So incredibly honored & proud to stand with our breathtakingly courageous, patriotic service members of @TransMilitary at the #VMAs tonight. pic.twitter.com/TpsbnX9hJM
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) August 28, 2017
Thank you @BrendanScannell for standing up for trans service members and veterans! pic.twitter.com/J83gJ00dGr
— GLAAD (@glaad) August 28, 2017
Service members also wore GLAAD ‘&’ pins on the red carpet to represent all marginalized communities standing together.
The 2017 MTV VMAs were filled with powerful moments activism for marginalized communities who are facing attacks by an administration focused on strengthening institutional discrimination and walking back hard-fought progress. Susan Bro, the mother of the late Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville, announced the launch of the Heather Heyer Foundation from the VMA stage. Logic spoke powerfully about mental health and suicide following his performance of 1-800-273-8255. Paris Jackson called out the violent ideology of white supremacists and Reverend Robert Mead, a descendant of Robert E. Lee, condemned white supremacy and called all those with privilege and power to do the same.
#VMAs pic.twitter.com/C5iaDAXfEO
— MTV Look Different (@LookDifferent) August 28, 2017
Help GLAAD continue to further amplify the stories of transgender service members and fight back against President Trump’s discriminatory ban by getting your own “They Make Us Stronger” t-shirt, created in partnership with Kesha and George Takei and seen on the iconic VMA red carpet.
animals!!! excited to share that i’ve teamed up w/ GLAAD to support the trans people in our
military. snag a tee! t.co/BoUnUhsmZP pic.twitter.com/tnMZT3eg3E— kesha (@KeshaRose) July 31, 2017
I watched the VMAs last night and couldn’t be prouder. Support GLAAD and get your shirt at t.co/gusgofQ3R6 pic.twitter.com/40I3CXruCV
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 28, 2017
August 28, 2017
www.glaad.org/blog/see-which-celebrities-were-star-struck-meet-transgender-service-members-vmas
Two More Lawsuits Challenge Trans Military Ban
Two More Lawsuits Challenge Trans Military Ban
Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed a joint suit today, and the ACLU filed one as well.
www.advocate.com/military/2017/8/28/two-more-lawsuits-challenge-trans-military-ban
