61 Photos Boast a Decade of Pride for Metro East Illinois

www.advocate.com/pride/2018/6/11/61-photos-boast-decade-pride-metro-east-illinois

‘Power Ranger’ David Yost says conversion therapy led him to have a nervous breakdown
“It took me years to be comfortable and really be open about myself,” 49-year-old Yost reveals.

www.queerty.com/power-ranger-david-yost-says-conversion-therapy-led-nervous-breakdown-20180611?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump: ‘The Fact That I am Having a Meeting is a Major Loss for the U.S., Say the Haters & Losers’

Hours before a first meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Donald Trump tweeted in defense: ‘The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers. We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle (sic) launches have stoped (sic), and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!’

The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers. We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle launches have stoped, and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018

Trump added: “Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly….but in the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!”

Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly….but in the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018

He added: “Stock Market up almost 40% since the Election, with 7 Trillion Dollars of U.S. value built throughout the economy. Lowest unemployment rate in many decades, with Black & Hispanic unemployment lowest in History, and Female unemployment lowest in 21 years. Highest confidence ever!”

Stock Market up almost 40% since the Election, with 7 Trillion Dollars of U.S. value built throughout the economy. Lowest unemployment rate in many decades, with Black & Hispanic unemployment lowest in History, and Female unemployment lowest in 21 years. Highest confidence ever!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018

The post Trump: ‘The Fact That I am Having a Meeting is a Major Loss for the U.S., Say the Haters & Losers’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump: ‘The Fact That I am Having a Meeting is a Major Loss for the U.S., Say the Haters & Losers’

Together We Talk: Q&A with the Orlando United Assistance Center

Following the tragedy at Pulse two years ago, the Orlando community needed a place for survivors and victims’ families to mourn, to heal and to find support.

Local governments and nonprofits immediately responded by creating the Family Assistance Center at Camping World Stadium, working to address urgent practical and emotional needs. Staff and volunteers helped 986 individuals and 298 families in just eight days. 

A month later, the Orlando United Assistance Center (OUAC) opened as a long-term hub of services and support for survivors, victims’ families and other community members impacted by the Pulse tragedy.

Joél Morales, the Community Partnerships Manager for the Orlando United Assistance Center, has been involved with the organization since its first days at Camping World Stadium.

HRC sat down with Morales to discuss the five most important things they have learned about how communities heal after tragedy.  

It’s been two years since the Pulse tragedy. How have you seen the role of the Orlando United Assistance Center evolve since then?

Initially, we were set up to be a crisis response hub for families, survivors and loved ones. We are still meeting those needs, but we are also expanding to meet the needs of the community as a whole. We noticed that not only those who were directly affected by Pulse had been impacted. Recently, we have been moving towards serving everyone who was impacted – directly or indirectly.

How have young people (children and teens) in Orlando responded to Pulse? How does your team at OUAC tailor your support services to individual needs?

Children and teens responded through creativity, built from the desire to spread love. Our youth hold a special compassion not only for the communities they are a part of, but even those they aren’t. They offer a love for each other that holds no barriers and affirms all identities. This love is the love they aimed to spread through various creative projects, such as Stars of Hope.

At OUAC we recognize that each person who walks through our door has a different background, is built on different experiences and experienced that terrible night differently. We know the support they need is not a “one size fits all” answer; they deserve specialized care and support to meet each of their needs. We work with a variety of different programs, organizations and resources to help meet as many of the needs of our community as we can. We know we cannot do it alone, and we use our community to help our community heal.

How do you think the Pulse tragedy has changed Orlando, especially in terms of its commitment to equality and support for the LGBTQ community?

After Pulse, a lot changed in the community. Before Pulse, a lot of organizations were separated from each other into different silos, all working for similar goals but not as a unified coalition. In response to Pulse, everyone began working together to heal and rebuild, and we saw a lot of those barriers break down. Organizations and people who had never worked together before came together. Through this we created a more unified community and have been able to accomplish more of our goals since we are working together, rather than separately. Important organizations were born in response to Pulse such as QLatinx and the Contigo Fund, which put queer members of our community, from all different backgrounds, into positions of leadership. From community organizations to government officials, Orlando has welcomed queer people to join and lead.

Last year Orlando marked the memorial of Pulse with community-wide Acts of Love and Kindness. Why is it important to your community to respond in this way?

The beautiful thing about Acts of Love and Kindness is that it encourages the community to continue that love and support seen after Pulse. It helps keep the memories of those lost alive through a positive impact made each and every day through the compassionate acts of community members. After Pulse, I saw the outcry of the community to help and support those who had just experienced one of the worst nights of their life. People were lining up to give blood, food, water–anything they could. Seeing how many people were doing anything and everything they could to support the LGBTQ community was so inspiring and reminded me of how there is so much love in our world, even when horrible things happen. There is always love; there is always hope; there is always each other.

Where do we go from here? How will the Orlando community and people impacted by Pulse continue to build resilience?

First and foremost, we keep going. If there is anything the last two years have taught me, it is that there are gaps in service and our most marginalized groups fall into them. We continue to fill the gaps and move to build on the needs of our most vulnerable. We build resilience by working together, not separately, and by acknowledging where our different identities overlap. We build resilience by teaching compassion, reaching out to each other, speaking up for one another and by educating and advocating.

Resilience is like an umbrella. It is always going to rain but having an umbrella keeps you from getting soaking wet during an afternoon rain. You might get a few drops of rain on your pants or shirt, but nothing like if your umbrella isn’t working. Building resilience is about keeping that umbrella in working fashion, helping yourself get through the rainstorm without too much damage or ruining your hair. 

www.hrc.org/blog/together-we-talk-qa-with-the-orlando-united-assistance-center?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HRC Responds to SCOTUS Ruling That Could Disenfranchise Millions

HRC responded to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute that states can purge voters from the rolls solely on the basis of infrequent voting.

“The right to vote is the touchstone of our democracy and tactics designed to disenfranchise voters are dangerous to the health of our country,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that could disenfranchise voters in Ohio and lead to similar laws that could impactmillions of voters across the nation.”

The State of Ohio has a process in place that removes voters from registration if they have failed to vote or respond to a single address confirmation notice over a certain period of time. Voters are not notified when their registration is removed. As noted by the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund (NAACP-LDF) and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), the National Voting Rights Act has been interpreted for more than two decades by the Justice Department, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations, as prohibiting mechanisms that would remove voters from the rolls based on inactivity and Ohio’s law reflects “no justifiable change in law or fact” to that longstanding interpretation.

The Human Rights Campaign supports coalition partners in the fight to preserve voting rights and continues to work tirelessly through campaigns like HRC Rising and HRC Project One America to register voters in states where voting rights are especially vulnerable.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-responds-scotus-ruling-that-could-disenfranchise-millions?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Maine Becomes Third State to Offer Non-Binary Gender Identification on Driver’s Licenses and IDs

Maine has become the third state in the U.S. to offer non-binary gender identification on driver’s licenses and IDs.

The Maine Secretary of State: ‘Upon receipt of a completed Gender Designation Form, the BMV will issue a sticker for the license or ID that will read: “Gender has been changed to X – Non-binary.” At this time, the face of the credential will still show an “M” for male or “F” for female. In conjunction with a system upgrade and new design for licenses and IDs, which will be available by July 2019, the gender information on the front of the card will be displayed as “M”, “F” or “X” and the sticker will be phased out. Prior to issuance of the new credential design in 2019, non-binary gender stickers will be issued by the main office of the BMV, located at 101 Hospital St. in Augusta. Customers can submit the gender designation form at any BMV branch office.’

California and Oregon also offer the designation, as does the District of Columbia.

The post Maine Becomes Third State to Offer Non-Binary Gender Identification on Driver’s Licenses and IDs appeared first on Towleroad.

Maine Becomes Third State to Offer Non-Binary Gender Identification on Driver’s Licenses and IDs