LBJ’s Civil Rights Act Is Incomplete

The 36th president signed the Civil Rights Act over 50 years ago, but we’re still waiting for LGBT people to be added to it. Rob Reiner — director of the new film LBJ — talks about Johnson’s legacy and what’s changed since he was thrust into office.

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/11/03/lbjs-civil-rights-act-incomplete

Robbie Manson won ‘Athlete of the Year’ — celebrate with his steamy Instagram
It’s been quite a year for openly gay Olympic rower Robbie Manson.

www.queerty.com/robbie-manson-won-athlete-year-celebrate-steamy-instagram-20171103?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

28 Percent of People Worldwide Say Homosexuality Should Be Criminalized

A new ILGA survey has found that more than a quarter of people worldwide believe that homosexuality should be criminalized.

The survey (Minorities Report 2017: attitudes to sexual and gender minorities around the world) polled more than 105,000 participants from 77 countries and territories to respond to the statement “People who engage in romantic or sexual relationships with people of the same sex should be charged as criminals”.

Of those respondents, 28.5 percent believe engaging in same-sex relationships should be a criminal offence.

The report says “in criminalising states, unsurprisingly, the percentages that agree that same-sex romantic or sexual relationships should be criminalized increases substantially.”

RELATED: U.S. Clarifies ‘No’ Vote on UN Resolution Condemning Death Penalty for Homosexuality: There Were ‘Broader Concerns’

SBS reports:

“Much of the data elicited in this survey simply acts to confirm what sexual, gender and sex minority communities already know from personal or anecdotal experience,” the report adds.

“A finding that emerges repeatedly in this survey is that when respondents know people belonging to sexual and gender minorities, their opinions tend to be more inclusive and less harsh.”

Africa (45 per cent), Central Asia (45 per cent) and South Asia (42 per cent) were more in favour of punishing people in same-sex relationships, while Western Europe and North America had similar results to Australia and New Zealand, generating strong disagreement rates.

In Australia, 16 percent of respondents said that homosexuality should be criminalized.

The post 28 Percent of People Worldwide Say Homosexuality Should Be Criminalized appeared first on Towleroad.

28 Percent of People Worldwide Say Homosexuality Should Be Criminalized

Labour Party Investigating Shadow Minister Clive Lewis Over Groping Claim

Labour is investigating Clive Lewis after an official complaint accused the shadow minister of groping a woman at the party’s annual conference last month.

The allegation was made by a party member who said she was meeting the front-bencher for the first time when they hugged and gave her “bum a big squeeze”, reports The Independent.

The Labour Party told HuffPost UK in a statement: “The Labour Party is investigating a formal complaint made today against Clive Lewis.”

reprimanded by the party last month after a video emerged of him appearing to tell an audience member at an event to get “on your knees, bitch”.

The latest development comes after Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins was suspended from the party ahead of allegations of sexual harassment emerging in a national newspaper.

He has “absolutely and categorically” denied allegations.

The allegations of inappropriate behaviour that have rocked Westminster have already led to the resignation of Sir Michael Fallon as defence secretary.

Jeremy Corbyn is facing questions over why Hopkins was promoted to the shadow cabinet after a complaint against him had been made.

Labour MP John Mann will ask the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to introduce a new code of conduct to try and prevent staff members being subject to unwanted advances.

One of his demands is that Labour MPs be prevented from visiting the Sports and Social bar in parliament – a pub popular with young staff.

Mann also wants a MPs to be given compulsory management training and for a clear system of warnings for those who breach the rules.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/clive-lewis-investigation_uk_59fcc01fe4b0baea2631a878

Paid Leave: An LGBTQ Issue

By Mary Beth Maxwell, Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training, HRC Foundation

There’s no denying that just about every American — LGBTQ or not — will one day have to call their boss and tell them they can’t come in. Maybe they have to undergo cancer treatments. Perhaps an aging parent has had a medical emergency and is in the hospital. Or maybe they’re calling to tell their boss that they just went into labor and will be having a child. Whatever the reason, they’ll be largely dependent on the will of their employer when it comes to whether they get paid.

The United States lags far behind other industrialized countries when it comes to paid medical leave. And we are the only industrialized country to offer no paid family leave to working adults (for example, leave that would allow an employee to take care of a sick family member or welcome a new child). But despite the universal challenges resulting from our country’s lack of paid leave, LGBTQ people in the United States are uniquely impacted. And new research out from the Center for American Progress (CAP) backs that up.

According to CAP, 42 percent of LGBTQ people say they’ve needed to take time off work to care for a chosen family member — compared to 31 percent of non-LGBTQ people. And that’s just those who have taken time off, even considering many were not paid. Not only are we more likely to take time off work, but we’re more vulnerable to the lack of paid leave.

Consider that seven-in-ten LGBTQ Americans live in states that lack a family leave law or have a law that only allows leave for workers who have a biological or legal relationship with the child. LGBTQ couples raising children are also twice as likely to have household incomes near the poverty line compared to their non-LGBTQ peers — and single LGBTQ people are three times more likely to live near the poverty threshold as their non-LGBTQ peers.

Without explicit federal laws protecting us from being fired simply because of who we are, LGBTQ workers also remain at risk of being fired if we’re forced to come out when requesting leave.

Medical leave is especially important to LGBTQ people. Think about transgender people pursuing transition-related care or people living with HIV and AIDS. While people living with HIV are no more likely to request medical leave than workers without HIV, they will be impacted more acutely by an inability to access leave. And for the transgender worker, lack of explicit federal law protecting them from discrimination can make the request devastatingly costly in more ways than one.

There is good news. More and more policy leaders are working to address the gaps at the state and even federal level. And more and more companies are recognizing that providing paid leave isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s good for their businesses.

As organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, CAP, the National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Women’s Law Center and Paid Leave for the United States continue to push for more inclusive leave policies, it’s important for LGBTQ people to recognize the myriad ways in which we’re impacted by this country’s lack of paid leave — and to demand better.

Visit HRC’s website to learn more about LGBTQ Community and Paid Family and Medical Leave.

www.hrc.org/blog/paid-leave-an-lgbtq-issue?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The GLAAD Wrap: ‘No Dresscode Required’ and ‘BPM’ in theaters, new music from Sam Smith, Sia, and more!

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-wrap-no-dresscode-required-and-bpm-theaters-new-music-sam-smith-sia-and-more

Women Lawmakers Tell of Sexual Harassment in Congress

The suggestive remarks and propositions are all about power, the women point out.

www.advocate.com/politicians/2017/11/03/women-lawmakers-tell-sexual-harassment-congress