Anti-Gay Alt-Right Tennis Pro Tennys Sandgren Rips Media: ‘You’re Hastening the Hell You Wish to Avoid’

Tennys Sandgren, the anti-LGBT alt-right-sympathizing American tennis pro, was defeated in the quarter finals of the Australian Open  on Wednesday, and read a statement to the media off of his phone in his post-match press conference.

During the tennis tournament, Sandgren’s old tweets were unearthed in which he chummed with Charlottesville marchers, expressed racist views, praised Alex Jones, blasted women’s rights, and more.

Sandgren had a few choice things to say about LGBT people in his tweets as well, including, “Stumbled into a gay club last night… my eyes are still bleeding #nooneshouldseethat.” When a follower joked about his use of the word “stumbled,” Sandgren replied, “what can I say the trannies were calling to me”.

Sandgren claimed to not be any of that in his post-match statement, saying he was demonized, though the tweets speak for themselves.

Said Sandgren:

You seek to put people in these little boxes so that you can order the world in your already assumed preconceived ideas. You strip away any individuality for the sake of demonizing by way of the collective.

With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds. To write an edgy story, to create sensationalist coverage, there are a few lengths you wouldn’t go to to mark me as the man you desperately want me to be.

You would rather perpetuate propaganda machines instead of researching information from a host of angles and perspectives while being willing to learn, change, and grow. You dehumanize with pen and paper and turn neighbor against neighbor. In so doing, you may actually find you’re hastening the hell you wish to avoid, the hell we all wish to avoid.

There was more to the statement than appears in the clip above, according to the Washington Post:

It is my firm belief that the highest value must be placed on the virtue of each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. It’s my job to continue on this journey with the goal of becoming the best me I can and to embody the love Christ has for me, for I answer to Him and Him alone.

I’ll take questions about the match, if you guys don’t mind. Thank you. If you have any questions about the match.

The post Anti-Gay Alt-Right Tennis Pro Tennys Sandgren Rips Media: ‘You’re Hastening the Hell You Wish to Avoid’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Anti-Gay Alt-Right Tennis Pro Tennys Sandgren Rips Media: ‘You’re Hastening the Hell You Wish to Avoid’

Trade Minister Reveals Government Couldn’t Cope If Existing EU Deals Are Reopened
A Trade Minister has let slip the Government would be unable to cope if countries with EU trade deals wanted to renegotiate them with the UK before Brexit.

International Trade Minister Greg Hands admitted to MPs that if all those countries which currently have an agreement with the EU wished to reopen talks to get a better deal, the UK would struggle to carry out negotiations.

The Government is under pressure to lock-down trade deals with more than 65 countries which the UK is set to lose after Brexit.

But appearing before the International Trade Select Committee today, Hands effectively admitted the Government is a hostage to fortune as if those countries wished to reopen negotiations, his department wouldn’t be able to cope.

He said: “What we want to do is secure continuity in those trading relations.

“For the reasons I outlined, renegotiating one of those agreements may not be possible, there’s also reasons of continuity, there’s also reasons of resources in our department.

“If we were to enter into 40 plus live trade negotiations, and have to get them done within the space of 14 months, you’ve got to bear in mind what is actually possible.

“But also most importantly we have the ability to return to those agreements in the future once we have made that transition.”

The SNP’s Angus MacNeil, chair of the Committee, accused the minister of failing to put himself in the shoes of other countries, such as South Korea, who will see Brexit as an opportunity to get a better agreement.

He said: “You think that other countries aren’t in anyway going to look for an opening – they seem to be quite agreeable.

“But isn’t this just a trade gambit of not showing their hand and if there’s last minute pressure on the UK for a concession before agreement, do you have a plan to deal with that or do you just wait and see?”

He added: “If you put yourselves in their shoes, any trade negotiator from a third country who is worth his salt and looking for a promotion from where he is at the moment, he’s not going to let this opportunity pass him by surely?”

Hands claimed other countries would not want to reopen talks on trade deals as they would not “want to risk the whole agreement and the whole trading relations to do that when both sides are clear that we don’t want to substantively change the terms of trade.”

The EU currently has active trade agreements with 65 countries and if the UK does not get these to agree to carry over its deals, World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs will be applied on goods.

Additionally, a free trade deal with Canada is currently being ratified by EU member states, while an agreement with Japan – the world’s third largest economy – has been agreed in principle.

Last year, Fox revealed that while his department had been in discussions with many of the countries who have a free trade deal with the EU, no formal agreements have been reached about continuing those arrangements after Brexit.

His team’s chief negotiator also admitted that even if some countries agree in principle to roll over the deals, “what people say today sometimes changes tomorrow.”

Speaking to HuffPost UK after the meeting, committee member Chris Leslie said: “Ministers have got to wake up and smell the coffee because the reality of trade relations is starting to bite.

“In the real world, countries are not just going to roll over and do Liam Fox’s bidding, they are going to take the opportunity to try to press for better.

“By letting slip the limited capacity they have in the department, there are clear risks we are going to have trade deal chaos after March 2019.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trade-eu-brexit-greg-hands_uk_5a68c708e4b002283008c675

HRC Mississippi Speaks to Public Relations Class

HRC Mississippi staff, including myself, had the privilege to speak to a public relations class at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. This was an opportunity share our advocacy work and our efforts to change hearts and minds in Mississippi.

As a public relations major at Mississippi State University, I utilized this occasion to talk to the students about how I use the skills I learned in college to affect change in our state.

I also spoke about our internship program each semester, which teaches valuable skills to become an LGBTQ advocate and leader.

HRC Mississippi is proud of the relationships we’ve built on college and university campuses across our state. Together with staff and students, our work is succeeding in creating safe and welcoming campuses for LGBTQ students while also getting more young people engaged with the important work for equality in Mississippi.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-mississippi-speaks-to-public-relations-class?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Republican Guy Benson insists he’s not “a self-hating gay,” calls critics “so boring”
“Some unimaginative leftists like to believe this qualifies me as a self-hating gay person. This is so boring,” Benson says.

www.queerty.com/republican-guy-benson-insists-hes-not-self-hating-gay-calls-haters-boring-20180124?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Briefe und Essenspakete: Touristen sitzen seit Tagen in Schweizer Höhle fest

Die wichtigsten News des Tages direkt aufs Handy – meldet euch hier an.

www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/touristengruppe-sitzt-seit-tagen-in-schweizer-hohle-fest_de_5a68a1b2e4b0dc592a0e8676

This Man Hugs Stray Dogs So They Feel Loved

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/this-man-hugs-stray-dogs-so-they-feel-loved_uk_5a68b697e4b0dc592a0eadf5

HRC Leads Community Organizing Trainings Across Alabama

Post submitted by Richard Caban Cubero, Alabama Field Organizer

HRC Alabama has established a series of trainings called “People Will Rise” (PWR), which are skills-based trainings that prepare participants to build influence in their area through community organizing.

Thus far, the trainings have targeted LGBTQ and allied communities in Birmingham, the Shoals area, Montgomery and Huntsville.

From passing the state’s first LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance in Birmingham to helping elect the state’s first Democratic U.S. Senator in 25 years, community organizing has produced a string of political victories for pro-equality Alabamians.

PWR trainings tap into this success, building pathways for energized Alabamians to make a difference. From the start, these trainings clarify how an individual can build power by first defining what power really is: The ability to influence the quality of a relationship.

Participants are then taught how to use this simple framework to build a multifaceted approach to increasing support for LGBTQ issues. By helping demystify the meaning, process and value of community organizing, these trainings are helping to guide communities across Alabama toward success.

With eight trainings this month and more scheduled for February, we are building a network of focused, passionate and empowered communities ready to influence decision makers in their local and statewide communities. With elections right around the corner, this empowerment is more significant than ever for pro-equality Alabamians

If you would like to schedule a training tailored to the needs of your community, contact Richard Caban Cubero, HRC Alabama Field Organizer, at [email protected].

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-leads-community-organizing-trainings-across-alabama?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory

Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted an attack on Samsung over the 50,000 missing FBI texts that some conservatives are certain must contain evidence that the intelligence agency is trying to undermine the Trump presidency.

Tweeted Trump: “Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok? Blaming Samsung!”

Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok? Blaming Samsung!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2018

VOX has an excellent summation of the backstory on the FBI agents at the center of the missing emails story:

Strzok and Page have been in the crosshairs of the White House and its defenders since the mid-December release of texts in which they discussed an “insurance policy” against Trump in the runup to the November election. Special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team when he became aware of the texts, but that hasn’t stopped some conservatives from alleging that they prove the Mueller probe is a partisan witch hunt…

…There is very little evidence to support this allegation, but it shows every sign of snowballing into a big deal. President Trump called the missing messages “one of the biggest stories in a long time” in a Tuesday morning tweet; Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said an investigation into how they disappeared is already underway.

The “missing texts” conspiracy has legs because for months, Republicans have been arguing that the FBI in general, and Mueller’s probe specifically, is irreparably biased against Trump. Some Republicans, like Florida Rep. Francis Rooney, have called for a ”purge” of purportedly disloyal bureau personnel.

This rhetoric points to the real scandal here: Republicans are trying to impose a partisan, Trump-loyalist litmus test on America’s top law enforcement agency. Moreover, they’re working to derail a probe into the growing evidence that Russia meddled in an American election on a massive scale.

More at VOX.

Trump tweeted about it earlier this week as well:

In one of the biggest stories in a long time, the FBI now says it is missing five months worth of lovers Strzok-Page texts, perhaps 50,000, and all in prime time. Wow!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2018

VOX adds:

The official explanation from the Justice Department is that there was a problem with Strzok and Page’s bureau-issued Samsung Galaxies — that “firmware upgrades” and other technical issues deleted records of texts sent from many phones across the bureau. But Trump and his allies didn’t buy it and have waged a furious campaign in the media to declare the missing texts as proof of an FBI conspiracy.

There is no evidence to support such a wild claim. Whether there actually was a software glitch is easily verifiable; according to a Monday statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Inspector General’s office is already investigating the issue.

The post Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory