Daily Archives: May 15, 2018



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MISC

Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual

Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual
columbus police hate crime

columbus police hate crime

Columbus Ohio Police by Raymond Wambscans (CC BY-S.A. 2.0)

Rob heard a loud knock at his door late one night in August 2014. His landlord had been calling him about maintenance issues in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment, but that night she came with a male companion and began to scream at him. According to a police report, the man jumped into the argument and threatened Rob — who asked that we not use his full name — with a homophobic slur. Fearing an escalation, he called the police.

“A thing that I’ve dealt with my entire life as a gay man is extreme prejudice, from threats to constant harassment,” Rob said, noting that his landlord had previously told his neighbors that he was a “filthy queer.”

Columbus police acknowledged Rob’s concern that the incident may have been motivated by bias, but they got a key detail wrong in their incident report: They mistakenly marked it as a case of anti-heterosexual harassment.

Since 2010, Columbus police have reported six incidents that list bias against heterosexuals as the purported motivation. That’s more than any other local law enforcement agency in the nation reported during that period. Columbus Police Department Sgt. Dean Worthington acknowledges it’s likely that the officers who filed the reports marked the wrong box.

“Given the fact that our officers are human, we are prone to make the occasional mistake,” said Worthington. “I can assure you these mistakes were not intentional.”

Each officer has a supervisor whose duty is to check such reports, but it’s possible the errors still got through, Worthington added.

Those reports made their way from Columbus to Washington, D.C., where they were compiled with thousands of others into what the FBI calls the Uniform Crime Report. Every year a small number of anti-heterosexual hate crime reports end up in the UCR. From 2010 to 2016, the FBI reported that local law enforcement agencies noted a total of 142 of them.

ProPublica reviewed dozens of these reports, however, and found few, if any, actual hate crimes targeting people for being heterosexual.

We sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every law enforcement agency that reported a heterosexual bias crime in 2016 — the most recent year for which FBI data was available. We also sent requests to every agency that had reported two or more such crimes since 2010, as well as to any agency available in an online service used to send public-records requests called Muckrock.

In total, we were able to locate records for 58 cases.

None described hate crimes spurred by anti-heterosexual bias. As with the case in Columbus, about half were actually anti-gay or anti-bisexual crimes that were miscategorized. Seven cases appeared to reflect other types of bias, with victims targeted because they were Jewish or black or women. Some 18 cases don’t seem to have been hate crimes at all, containing no discernible bias element.

The findings reflect a larger problem: Many local law enforcement agencies do a poor job tracking hate crimes. It’s a problem that can endanger public safety and leave policy makers blind when grappling with the growing problem of hate crimes and bias incidents in America.

Rob says he was discouraged from pressing charges against his landlord due to a lack of witnesses present. The police filled out an incident report but he decided not to pursue it further, in part because he feared reprisal from his landlord. When he found out from ProPublica that the police had marked the report wrong, he said it felt like yet another slight.

“It’s just sad to hear because I know she was targeting me for being a gay man,” he said.

As ProPublica reported last year, when asked for hate crimes data, many police departments said they hadn’t investigated any hate incidents, had no records on file, or that their records were poorly kept. Some police departments don’t mark bias-motivated crimes as such, or officers aren’t sure of how to mark hate crimes within their record systems.

ProPublica found that many of the anti-LGBTQ crimes mismarked as anti-heterosexual were vandalism and involved the use of a common anti-gay slur. Even Palm Springs, California — which has one of the highest proportion of same-sex couples in the country, according to a census analysis by UCLA’s Williams Institute — misreported an anti-gay hate crime as anti-heterosexual.

In a few cases, victims were straight but were targeted by suspects who believed them to be gay. Even in cases of mistaken identity, the FBI instructs police to mark the perceived bias of the aggressor — in these cases, as anti-LGBTQ. In Columbus, Ohio, a straight man was called a “faggot” before he was assaulted. The report, however, indicated that the attack was motivated by anti-heterosexual bias. In Gainesville, Florida, a straight woman and her female roommate were targeted, police correctly marked it as an anti-lesbian hate crime on the incident report, but it was reflected in the FBI’s data as an anti-heterosexual incident. Officials weren’t sure why.

In the FBI’s bias codes system, 44 is the code for an anti-heterosexual crime, while 41 is the code for an anti-gay male hate crime, making such a mistake a matter of a single digit. Several police departments pointed to drop-down menus and online tracking systems as the reason behind mislabeling.

For example, San Leandro, California, reported three anti-heterosexual hate crimes to the FBI between 2014 and 2016. Judy Park, the department’s records supervisor, acknowledged that all three were in fact anti-gay hate crimes. She said the cases had been added to the department’s internal system correctly, but the computer software had extracted the bias code number wrong — showing a 44 (anti-heterosexual) instead of a 41 (anti-gay male) on the incident reports. Park said she would work with the software vendor to fix the problem and try to correct the mistake with the FBI. “Thank you for bringing it to our attention, because we never would have known,” she added.

Officials from five other police departments — Tehachapi, California; Evesham and Princeton, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville — also said they would work to correct such errors with state or federal agencies.

In some cases, police reports obtained by ProPublica showed no indication of a bias motivation in the description of the crime.

A number of these cases involved thefts, robberies and credit card fraud. In Benton, Kentucky, a few days before Christmas 2016, a suspect walked out of a Walmart with a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise, including drones, a scooter and a video game controller, according to Benton Police Chief Jeremy Hicks. He acknowledged the case was mistakenly mislabeled as an anti-heterosexual hate crime.

The erroneous reports suggest that the FBI is undercounting anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, which represent a significant portion of U.S. bias crimes. The FBI’s 2016 hate crimes report showed that sexual orientation-based bias crimes were the third most common hate crimes. The vast majority of those targeted victims for being gay, lesbian or bisexual. According to a National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs report, 2016 was “the deadliest year on record” for the LGBTQ community.

A statement from the FBI was unavailable at press time. We will update this story once we receive it.

To be sure, hate crimes against heterosexual people are possible. Federal law lists “sexual orientation” as a category of hate crimes, and a crime perpetrated against somebody for being straight would be a hate crime under federal law. But if there have been any of these crimes investigated or charged, it’s tough to find them in public records.

The difficulty of finding bona fide anti-heterosexual bias crimes or incidents is reflected by the lack of tips gathered by ProPublica’s Documenting Hate project. We’ve collected more than 500 tips from people who say they or someone they know was targeted because of their sexual orientation — but no tips at all from people who say they were targeted based on being heterosexual.

Anti-heterosexual hate crimes are so rare that experts working on hate crimes for years struggled to recall them, citing two cases of straight men getting assaulted at gay bars and a few attacks on religious institutions by gay activists in the 1990s.

ProPublica identified a handful of anti-heterosexual cases that fell into a gray area.

In Canton, Ohio, a yard sign opposing gay marriage was knocked over, damaging the steel posts holding it up. In Louisburg, North Carolina, signs encouraging people to vote for a state amendment to ban same-sex marriage were stolen multiple times in front of a Baptist church.

Police officials from Stark County, Ohio, and Franklin County, North Carolina, told ProPublica they weren’t sure why the incidents were reported to the FBI as prompted by anti-heterosexual bias. Experts weren’t sure how to classify these crimes, saying they could potentially reflect political or ideological bias.

Jeannine Bell, a law professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law who has studied hate crimes for more than two decades, says poor data collection indicates law enforcement agencies don’t take hate crimes seriously.

“It means that police fundamentally are not investigating hate crimes,” she said. “Hate crime needs to be more than checking a box.”

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The post Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual appeared first on Towleroad.


Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual

MISC

‘Deadpool 2’ features groundbreaking LGBTQ superhero storyline [SPOILERS]

‘Deadpool 2’ features groundbreaking LGBTQ superhero storyline [SPOILERS]

Photo Credit: 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

GLAAD President responds: “storyline is a milestone in a genre that too often renders LGBTQ people invisible.”

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today applauded 20th Century Fox for including two new LGBTQ superheroes in Deadpool 2 which is scheduled to be released nationwide on Thursday night, May 17. In the film, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Brianna Hildebrand) meets a girlfriend in her fellow X-Men teammate, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna). During the film, the two clearly state they are girlfriends, a first-of-its-kind moment in a wide release superhero film.

“20th Century Fox and Marvel have finally given countless moviegoers around the world what they’ve longed to see- LGBTQ superheroes in a relationship who protect the world together,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO. “Negasonic and Yukio’s storyline is a milestone in a genre that too often renders LGBTQ people invisible, and should send a message to other studios to follow this example of inclusive and smart storytelling.”

GLAAD tracks LGBTQ inclusion in film through the annual Studio Responsibility Index, which measures the quantity, quality and diversity of LGBTQ people in films released by the seven major motion picture studios (www.glaad.org/sri/2017). The sixth annual Studio Responsibility Index is scheduled to be released next week.

While comic books and superhero shows have seen a welcome increase in LGBTQ characters, those characters – or their LGBTQ identities – have often not yet made it to the big screen. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has included seconds-long cameos of out news anchor Thomas Roberts appearing as himself in The Avengers and Iron Man 3. DC’s Extended Universe has done the same with Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which included cameos by out commentators.

Universal’s Kick-Ass 2 (2013) included Insect Man as one of the everyday superheroes inspired by Kickass’ antics. He introduces himself by saying that a lifetime of being bullied for being gay inspired him to stand up for the defenseless, adding that he doesn’t wear a mask because it’s too much like being back in the closet.

DC’s Suicide Squad ignored Harley Quinn’s (Margot Robbie) bisexual identity. Last year’s Wonder Woman broke box office records, but did not include Diana’s (Gal Gadot) bisexuality – a story that played out in the recent Greg Rucka run of comics and which moviegoers hope to see included in the upcoming sequel.

Thor: Ragnarok included two characters who are bisexual and gay respectively in the source material, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (Taika Waititi). However, this film did not include any references to their identities or love interests, and as such, audiences would have no clue they were seeing queer characters unless they had read outside press or the source material stories. The likely Black Panther sequel should include the romantic relationship between Dora Milaje members Ayo and Aneka. Their story was explored in the GLAAD Media Award-winning spin off Black Panther: World of Wakanda and the two – alongside Dora Milaje leader Okoye – are set for a summer three-issue miniseries.

GLAAD’s 2017 Studio Responsibility Index found that only 23 of the 125 (18.4%) releases from the seven major studios in 2016 included LGBTQ characters. The majority of those characters were minor in both substance and screen time, 10 of the 23 inclusive films (43%) included less than one minute of screen time for their LGBTQ characters. Queer men far outnumbered women by two to one (47 to 22), and there was one character counted as non-binary (All, Paramount’s Zoolander 2) who existed only to serve as a punchline. Racial diversity took a huge drop, down to only 20% of all LGBTQ characters being people of color. GLAAD’s 2018 Studio Responsibility Index, examining the 2017 releases of the seven major studios and four subsidiaries, will be unveiled next Tuesday, May 22 at a special panel event at global entertainment agency WME, hosted by the agency and Endeavor Content.

May 15, 2018
Issues: 

www.glaad.org/blog/deadpool-2-features-groundbreaking-lgbtq-superhero-storyline-spoilers

MISC

Sen. Mitch McConnell appoints violently anti-LGBTQ activist Tony Perkins to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

Sen. Mitch McConnell appoints violently anti-LGBTQ activist Tony Perkins to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Family Resource Council President Tony Perkins espouses extreme anti-LGBTQ views

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today condemned the appointment of anti-LGBTQ hate group leader Tony Perkins to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Perkins was appointed on the recommendation of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to an announcement the Congressional Record.

Perkins, who serves as the president of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council, has an extensive anti-LGBTQ that GLAAD has compiled below. Notably, Perkins has called for Justice Kennedy to be impeached following his marriage equality ruling, promotes the dangerous and scientifically discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy, and has compared LGBTQ advocates to terrorists.

 

“Tony Perkins is the most recognizable anti-LGBTQ activist in America. He has espoused the most extreme views of LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities including vocally supporting foreign laws that punish LGBTQ identity with death,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “The idea that Perkins would be making policy recommendations to an administration that is already anti-LGBTQ is dangerous and puts LGBTQ people directly in harm’s way.”

The role of the USCIRF’s is to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and makes policy recommendations to the President, U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Congress. Tony Perkins is unqualified to hold this position, given his anti-LGBTQ record, detailed below.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Tony Perkins Extensive Anti-LGBTQ Record

 

 

  • Reportedly pushed to have scientifically discredited “conversion therapy” in the 2016 Republican Party platform.

 

  • Insists Target’s trans-inclusive bathroom policies have turned their facilities into “crime scenes” like a “live rendition of CSI.”

 

  • Says Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy should be impeached simply because of his marriage ruling.

 

  • Says about gay people: “They are intolerant. They are hateful. They are vile. They are spiteful”…”pawns” of the “enemy.” (See 1:30 mark.)

 

  • Claims DC’s ban on scientifically discredited “ex-gay” therapy is “locking kids into a lifestyle with devastating health, emotional, and societal consequences” and “opening a frightening chapter in the liberal recruiting of LGBTs.”

 

  • Claims LGBTQ activists are going to “start rolling out the boxcars” and carting away Christians (a reference to the Holocaust).

 

  • Claims gay parents ”provide distorted values to innocent adopted kids.”

 

 

 

  • Despite what health experts have said, insists that pedophilia is “a homosexual problem.”

 

 

  • The Family Research Council has distributed a pamphlet that begins by likening the logic behind same-sex marriage to the logic behind man-horse marriage.

 

  • Compares LGBTQ legal advocates to terrorists: “[B]ack in the 80s and early 90s, I worked with the State Department in anti-terrorism and we trained about 50 different countries in defending against terrorism, and it’s, at its base, what terrorism is, it’s a strike against the general populace simply to spread fear and intimidation so that they can disrupt and destabilize the system of government. That’s what the homosexuals are doing here to the legal system.” (0:31).

 

  • Says: “The truth is that we cannot redefine marriage without opening the door to all manner of moral and social evil.”

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  • Called the It Gets Better project “disgusting,” claiming it tells children “that it’s okay to be immoral” and constitutes a “concerted effort to persuade kids that homosexuality is okay and actually to recruit them into that lifestyle”; also called the project a “deceptive lie.”

 

  • Paid $82,500 to use the phone bank of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke for an election run-off.

 

  • Claims “blood of young marines” is on hands of legislators who voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

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  • Claims “people know intuitively that [homosexuality] is morally wrong.“

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  • Says: “it’s a fact” that homosexuality leads to “eternal damnation”

 

 

  • Claims his kids couldn’t be gay because he is “teaching them the right ways that they are to interact as human beings” (3:15-3:39).

 

  • Compared former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s proposed ban on supersized soft drinks to the “need” to ban homosexuality.

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  • Equates LGBTQ pride with drunkenness and adultery: “The month of June is Gay Pride Month. Now, I have not yet seen where they have declared Adultery Pride Month, I have not seen where they have declared the Drunkenness Pride Month.” 

 

  • Argues that scientifically-discredited “ex-gay” therapy should be framed as “successful,” and encouraging gays to “escape the homosexual lifestyle.”

 

  • Claims: “Even if society embraced homosexuality, there would never be that sense of self-fulfillment because it’s outside of how God created man and woman, and that’s the bottom line. They can’t erase that.” 

 

  • Claims Uganda bill (with death penalty attached) simply “upholds moral conduct.”

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  • Equates gay people with drug addicts, adulterers: “…[W]e need to be praying for those who are bound up in these lifestyles whether it is homosexuality, whether it is drugs, whatever it might be, anything that is outside the design of God for mankind, it could be adulterous relationships, it doesn’t matter.”

 

  • Says marriage equality will be “the nail in coffin of marriage” and will “take society down with it.”

 

  • Says Republican Senator Rob Portman should not support his gay son’s “choices that are both harmful to [him] and to society as a whole.”

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  • Claims service members’ same-sex weddings “desecrate” military chapels.

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  • Backed a double standard pertaining to the religious freedom of the pro-gay United Church of Christ, saying “I would use that term ‘Christian’ loosely.”
May 15, 2018
Issues: 

www.glaad.org/blog/sen-mitch-mcconnell-appoints-violently-anti-lgbtq-activist-tony-perkins-united-states

MISC

Post Date Etiquette: The Follow Up, The Next Date, and The Debrief

Post Date Etiquette: The Follow Up, The Next Date, and The Debrief

We’re all familiar with those awful, ancient dating “rules”. The same ones we’ve been conditioned into thinking are the norm; “Always play hard to get!”, “If he doesn’t call in 3 days, it’s over, he’s not interested!”. When you’re knee deep in swoon-city you shouldn’t have to stress about those trivial mandates. Let’s assume you’ve […]

The post Post Date Etiquette: The Follow Up, The Next Date, and The Debrief appeared first on PlentyOfFish Blog.

Post Date Etiquette: The Follow Up, The Next Date, and The Debrief

MISC

HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Spotlight: Sean Bender-Prouty

HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Spotlight: Sean Bender-Prouty

Post submitted by Sula Malina, HRC Foundation Children, Youth & Families Program Coordinator

The 2017 HRC Youth Ambassadors are a group of 16 inspiring young people, ages 15 to 22, from across the country who show courage in sharing their stories, and demonstrating a commitment to speaking out about issues facing all LGBTQ youth. As Youth Ambassadors, they represent HRC Foundation, using their voices to help raise awareness about HRC’s youth-focused programs.

HRC recently sat down with Sean Bender-Prouty (they/them/theirs), a Youth Ambassador from Arlington, Virginia, to learn more about their story. Bender-Prouty, 14, is the first openly-LGBTQ  person to attend their school and sits on the Youth Council of Gender Spectrum, an organization working to create inclusive environments for all youth.

To increase youth representation in the media, Bender-Prouty started their own magazine for LGBTQ teenagers. They have become an advocate for change both in schools and in mental health care systems, working to spread the message that we all deserve love and acceptance.

What inspired you to become an HRC Youth Ambassador?

When I came out, the LGBTQ+ community was my safe haven. It was where I could go to learn, to vent, to share and to be supported. I want to give back to the community and help the LGBTQ+ youth who will come after me. Working with HRC seemed like a perfect way to do this.

What’s been one highlight of your experience as an HRC Youth Ambassador?

I was able to speak on a panel about non-binary identities at the 2018 Time to THRIVE Conference. It was an amazing experience. I had never imagined I would be talking to hundreds of people about my identity and how to support non-binary people. (Watch the 2018 Time to THRIVE panel on non-binary identities here.)

What part of HRC’s work do you connect with the most?

The Welcoming Schools project is a very important one to me because it’s wonderful to see HRC reaching out to help students who need support. From a young age, students should be taught tolerance–not hate–and HRC is making sure that happens.

What’s your message to LGBTQ youth?

You are not alone. The community is here for you. Reach out and get help when you need it. Don’t be afraid to seek mental health care. Unfortunately, many LGBTQ+ youth and adults struggle with their mental health and are afraid to reach out. Find LGBTQ-friendly practices. We are working to make the mental health system more inclusive, but it’s a long journey. Until that happens, find people or hotlines who accept you and are willing to help you and support you. We will become your family if yours is not supportive. Just reach out.

LGBTQ youth face alarming disparities in mental health and access to LGBTQ-competent care. Studies have shown that, compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, LGBTQ youth report much higher rates of depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug use, and lowered self-esteem. Learn more at hrc.im/YouthReport.

To learn more about HRC Foundation’s work with LGBTQ youth, visit our Children, Youth and Families program, our Campus and Young Adult program and our Youth Ambassador resource page.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-foundation-youth-ambassador-spotlight-sean-bender-prouty?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

MISC

Alden Ehrenreich, Project Runway, Julian Castro, Ariana Grande, Asteroid, Bill O’Reilly, China, Meghan Markle: HOT LINKS

Alden Ehrenreich, Project Runway, Julian Castro, Ariana Grande, Asteroid, Bill O’Reilly, China, Meghan Markle: HOT LINKS
Quinn Hopkins

RIP. Novelist Tom Wolfe dies at 88, Superman actress Margot Kidder dies at 69.

$500 MILLION. China gives $500 million loan to Trump-backed real estate project in Indonesia in possible violation of emoluments clause.

ADAM SCHIFF. Trump violating emoluments clause by making deal with China to save sanctioned telecom company. “I certainly view this as a violation of the emoluments clause, yes. And many others as well, both foreign, in terms of the business effort to expand the Trump Organization.”

President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2018

Rep. Adam Schiff on President Trump’s attempt at a deal with Chinese company ZTE: “I certainly view this as a violation of the Emoluments Clause, yes” t.co/AvakVRNzYd pic.twitter.com/eMAfNLjzFv

— New Day (@NewDay) May 15, 2018

POLL NUMBERS. Trump suddenly believes in them: “Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best Poll Numbers in a year. Much of the Media may be corrupt, but the People truly get it!

Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best Poll Numbers in a year. Much of the Media may be corrupt, but the People truly get it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2018

BACK TO BRAVO. Project Runway is returning to its roots.

$1 MILLION. Mystery gift to Trump’s campaign traced to conservative judicial activists: “The $1 million inaugural gift came from a Northern Virginia company called BH Group, LLC. Unlike other generous corporate inaugural donors, like Bank of America and Dow Chemical, though, BH Group was a cipher, and likely was set up solely to prevent disclosure of the actual donor’s name. Almost nothing is known about the company, including who runs it or its reason for being beyond writing a seven-figure check on Dec. 22, 2016, almost a month before Trump was sworn in.”

2018. Dems ready to run on health care: ‘They’ve got a unified message blaming Republicans for “sabotaging” the health law, leading to a cascade of sky-high insurance premiums that will come just before the November midterm elections. They’re rolling out ads featuring people helped by the law. And Tuesday, they’re starting a campaign to amplify each state’s premium increases — and tie those to GOP decisions.

JULIAN CASTRO. A 2020 run?

WATCH: @JulianCastro is considering a run for president in 2020 & tells us he will “make a decision by the end of the year.” pic.twitter.com/TpXmpOyBri

— Washington Journal (@cspanwj) May 15, 2018

BILL O’REILLY. He’s coming back? “A year after O’Reilly’s abrupt exit from Fox News, where he was the top-rated host in cable news, the controversial anchor — who was forced out after the disclosure of sexual-harassment allegations and settlements paid to alleged victims — is in advanced discussions with Newsmax about developing a new show, we’re told. Newsmax is also chasing other former Fox News talent — Greta Van Susteren and Eric Bolling have been approached to join as hosts of hourlong shows in prime time. Bolling already has a deal with CRTV for a digital show.”

CAMEROON. Police arrest 25 men for suspected homosexuality: “Police arrested seven people in the cabaret, including a dancer, a waiter and the security guard. They then raided a gay movie theater in the  Emombo I Crossroads area and arrested 18 people there. After that, all 25 people were taken to the central police headquarters, where they were questioned all night. One police officer inadvertently revealed the extent of the interrogations in a conversation with a representative of LGBT rights attorney Jathan Ndongo.”

PEACE CORPS. Gay men fired after testing positive for HIV. “Despite effective treatment — within a month, medication had slashed the amount of HIV in his blood to an undetectable level — the Peace Corps notified Tin that because of his new HIV diagnosis, his assignment in Cambodia had been terminated.

FLAUNTING IT. Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef hit the gym.

DENVER. Longtime gay bar Denver Wrangler closing its doors. “The bar will close on June 25, according to an announcement on the bar’s website. A farewell beer bust, Wrangler’s long-running event that supports local charities, will be held on June 24. A Pride beer bust is scheduled for June 17.

SPACE ROCK. Asteroid the size of a city block to whiz by Earth today: “Asteroids this size approach about this close about once every decade or so, on average,” Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “So it’s a fairly rare event, a special opportunity, a chance to observe it scientifically.”

THE MEGHAN EFFECT. Meghan Markle expected to boost British economy to the tune of $1.4 billion.

NINTENDO LABO PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY. Ariana Grande featuring Jimmy Fallon and The Roots.

INTERVIEW CRASHER OF THE DAY. Harrison Ford.

PERSONAL BALL PIT OF THE DAY. A dog’s heaven.

TOO HOT FOR TUESDAY. Quinn Hopkins.

Instagram Photo

The post Alden Ehrenreich, Project Runway, Julian Castro, Ariana Grande, Asteroid, Bill O’Reilly, China, Meghan Markle: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.


Alden Ehrenreich, Project Runway, Julian Castro, Ariana Grande, Asteroid, Bill O’Reilly, China, Meghan Markle: HOT LINKS

MISC

VICTORY! Maryland Enacts Legislation Protecting LGBTQ Youth from Abusive “Conversion Therapy”

VICTORY! Maryland Enacts Legislation Protecting LGBTQ Youth from Abusive “Conversion Therapy”

Today, HRC, along with FreeState Justice, a legal advocacy organization that seeks to improve the lives of LGBTQ Marylanders, and WISE claimed victory as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed into law SB 1028 — critical legislation protecting LGBTQ youth from the dangerous and debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” With Governor Hogan’s signature, Maryland joins the growing number of states and municipalities adopting critical protections for LGBTQ youth.

“No child should ever be subjected to the abusive practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy,’” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This dangerous and ​inhumane form of child abuse has no basis in science and is ​uniformly rejected by every major mental health and child welfare ​organization. Today, Maryland is a better place for countless young people thanks to the many advocates, allies, parents, and survivors who spoke out against this practice and urged their elected officials — Republicans and Democrats alike — to adopt these crucial protections.”

FreeState Justice Executive Director Mark Procopio said, “In signing this legislation, Governor Hogan joined the General Assembly in choosing to not only protect LGBTQ youth from harm, but to send an affirmation to children across Maryland who may be struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity. They are perfect as they are.”

SB1028 was introduced in the Maryland State Senate by Senator Richard Madaleno and in the House of Delegates by Delegate Bonnie Cullison and passed the legislature with bipartisan support.

There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people such as depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness, and even suicidal behavior. The harmful practice is condemned by every major medical and mental health organization, including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and American Medical Association.

Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Washington all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this abusive practice. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including cities and counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Wisconsin. In addition, lawmakers in New Hampshire and Hawaii recently passed similar protections which currently await their governors’ signatures.

According to a recent report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 20,000 LGBTQ minors in states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed healthcare professional if state officials fail to act.

HRC has partnered with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and state equality groups across the nation to pass state legislation ending conversion therapy. More information on the lies and dangers of efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity can be found here.

www.hrc.org/blog/maryland-enacts-legislation-protecting-lgbtq-youth-from-conversion-therapy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

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