Brave gay army veteran prevents homophobic attack
Daily Archives: June 20, 2018
Lexi Maye: My First Day As a Cam Girl
Lexi Maye: My First Day As a Cam Girl
The rush of the internal webcam light turning on and revealing me to a chat room full of strangers overwhelmed me. I had never been exposed in this way. Within seconds, my room flooded with compliments about my appearance. All of these people were here to see me. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. In a way, I felt powerful. All these people wanted to see me, they all wanted my attention. Every chat message I got felt like applause. These people were taking time out of their day to gaze at a woman on a screen. I was happy to be that woman.
www.flirt4free.com/models/bios/lexi_maye/about.php?mp_code=f48t&service=girls
HRC Marks World Refugee Day 2018 with Powerful Video of Gay Asylum Seeker Fleeing Persecution
HRC Marks World Refugee Day 2018 with Powerful Video of Gay Asylum Seeker Fleeing Persecution
Today, HRC commemorated World Refugee Day 2018 by releasing a powerful new video featuring Robel Hailu — a gay Ethiopian asylum seeker who had to flee his home country simply because he publicly discussed his sexual orientation. HRC will also mark the day with a Twitter takeover by Rainbow Railroad — a Canadian-based international organization that helps LGBTQ people around the world escape persecution and violence.
“On World Refugee Day — and every day — the Human Rights Campaign stands in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom are LGBTQ,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “As the Trump-Pence administration turns away people fleeing barbaric persecution and unconscionably rips away children from their immigrant parents at the border, Americans must stand united in sending a powerful message that their cruel actions do not represent our values. We are a proud nation of immigrants, and refugees should be welcome here.”
HRC’s powerful new video features Robel Hailu, one of HRC’s 2018 Global Innovators and the co-founder and director of Ethiopian LGBTI — an organization that works to support and advocate for the LGBTQ community in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalized. Hailu participated in Mr. Gay World 2012, and became one of the first gay Ethiopian men to openly talk about his sexual orientation in public. In December 2017, he was forced to seek asylum in the United States, where he continues to advocate for the LGBTQ community back home in Ethiopia.
Today, HRC will also help to lift up the plight of LGBTQ refugees through a takeover of HRC’s Twitter account by Rainbow Railroad’s executive director Kimahli Powell. Rainbow Railroad is one of the only organizations in the world helping LGBTQ people escape persecution — such as in Chechnya, where confirmed reports reveal ongoing crimes against humanity, including abductions, detentions, forced disappearances, torture, and even murder of men suspected of being gay or bisexual. Since news of the anti-LGBTQ atrocities in Chechnya first broke more than a year ago, Rainbow Railroad has provided direct travel assistance and negotiated safe travel for more than 50 people impacted by the barbaric persecution. It has also worked with the Canadian government and other countries to help with direct assistance by way of emergency visas. In 2017, Rainbow Railroad helped more than 200 people from 14 different countries find safety. The Twitter takeover will begin at 4:00 p.m. EDT here.
Earlier this month, a gay refugee from Chechnya and Kimahli Powell joined HRC in Washington for a series of meetings with U.S. government officials on the ongoing crimes against humanity occurring in Chechnya. Since news of the atrocities first broke, HRC has repeatedly called on Donald Trump and Mike Pence to speak out and take action. In March, HRC released a letter from HRC President Chad Griffin to Donald Trump calling on him to end his deafening silence and publicly condemn the crimes against humanity. Both Donald Trump and Mike Pence continue to remain unconscionably silent.
The Trump-Pence silence on the Chechen anti-LGBTQ attrocities comes as their administration raises barriers for refugees and implements measures sparking outrage across the United States — including a widely condemned policy of ripping apart families who cross the border without documentation. As of May 31, the Trump-Pence administration has separated nearly 2,000 children from their parents at the border — an ongoing policy that is not required by law, despite such false claims used in attempts to justify the administration’s actions.
The Trump-Pence administration has also cut the number of refugees allowed into the United States by more than half. In a move universally condemned by immigration advocates, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that asylum seekers trying to seek refuge in the United States due to fears of gang or domestic violence in their home country are no longer eligible to enter.
These actions come as the Trump-Pence administration abandons U.S. leadership on human rights around the globe, exacerbating problems for many who face persecution and emboldening those who wish the LGBTQ community harm. 2017 marked the most serious crisis for international human rights and democracy in decades, according to the nonpartisan watchdog Freedom House, due in large part to the Trump-Pence Administration’s failure to maintain the United States’ long held international status “as both a champion and an exemplar of democracy.”
Utrecht Canal Pride 2018
Utrecht Canal Pride 2018
d66utrecht1 posted a photo:
Foto’s: Koen Kallenberg
Met hun gezamenlijke deelname aan de tweede editie van de Utrecht Canal Pride op zaterdag 16 juni benadrukken D66, VVD, GroenLinks, PvdA, CDA en Student & Starter dat zij, ondanks hun verschillen in achtergronden en politieke opvattingen, eensgezind zijn als het gaat om hun trots op en steun aan de LHBTI+-gemeenschap.
Gemeenschappelijke boot
Op de gemeenschappelijke boot scharen zo’n 120 enthousiaste leden van deze zes partijen, onder wie leden van de gemeenteraadfracties en de fracties in de Eerste en Tweede Kamer, zich achter de boodschap “We vote for love | Wij stemmen voor liefde”. De deelnemende partijen onderstrepen met de aankleding van de boot de veelkleurigheid van Utrecht en de Utrechtse politiek. Letterlijk en figuurlijk is er zaterdag een bont en divers gezelschap aan boord, dat vol trots de eensgezindheid van deze partijen laat zien op thema’s die raken aan het jezelf kunnen zijn.
Open, tolerant Utrecht
De lokale afdelingen van de partijen die meedoen hebben een verklaring ondertekend waarin ze niet alleen aangeven het Utrechtse Regenboogstembusakkoord volledig te onderschrijven, maar ook staan voor een open, tolerant Utrecht waar iedereen kan en mag zijn wie diegene is. De partijen staan voor een Utrecht waar ruimte is voor elke religie of levensovertuiging en waar het niet uitmaakt welke geaardheid of welk geslacht iemand heeft, of wat iemands achtergrond of afkomst is. De partijen hebben ook afgesproken dat hun politieke vertegenwoordigers in de Utrechtse raad zich zullen inzetten om die uitgangspunten om te zetten in concreet beleid en dat zij hun politieke vertegenwoordigers daartoe zullen blijven motiveren.
De gezamenlijke boot van de politieke partijen sluit als 41e boot zaterdag de bonte parade van boten op de Utrechtse grachten af.
Discounted Phones Save Lives of Homeless LGBT Teens — Now They Might Be Taken Away
Discounted Phones Save Lives of Homeless LGBT Teens — Now They Might Be Taken Away
A little-known program helps homeless youth find resources, but the government now wants to starve it to death.
World Refugee Day: A Survivor of Chechnya’s Brutal LGBTQ Crackdown Speaks Out
World Refugee Day: A Survivor of Chechnya’s Brutal LGBTQ Crackdown Speaks Out
Post Submitted by Helen Parshall, HRC Digital Media Manager, and Jeremy Kadden, HRC Senior International Policy Advocate
Earlier this month, HRC had the chance to sit down with AD, a survivor of the brutal crackdown on LGBTQ people in Chechnya that first made international headlines in April last year.
AD isn’t his real name; it’s a pseudonym created out of ongoing concerns for the openly gay man’s safety.
AD and Kimahli Powell, executive director of Rainbow Railroad, came to HRC’s office in Washington, D.C., to meet with White House and State Department officials to address the ongoing crimes against humanity occurring in Chechnya.
Below is AD’s story:
AD grew up in Chechnya, where he was working as a hairdresser. He certainly wasn’t “out” in any significant sense, since the climate for LGBTQ people is so dangerous in Chechnya, but a very small circle of people knew he was gay.
In March 2017, AD was at work when some men in police uniforms came in looking for him. The men called him over, took his phone and his passport, handcuffed him behind his back and threw him in the trunk of a car — all in broad daylight, in a busy area of town.
AD assumed this would be his last day alive.
The men drove him to an abandoned warehouse with other detainees including violent criminals, drug dealers, and men suspected of being gay or bisexual. They were forced into one room without any bedding or food.
The second room in the warehouse was the “torture room” where the detainees were beaten, humiliated and electrocuted. The officers did not use their hands, however, because they did not want to touch men suspected of being gay or bisexual. They demanded that the detainees give up names of other likely gay or bisexual men in their networks.
AD described hearing the screams all night long.
“They beat us because we are gay,” he says. “They believe we are supposed to die and that we shouldn’t be allowed to live. People like us shouldn’t exist.”
After two weeks, AD and other gay and bisexual detainees were brought to a hotel conference room, where the authorities had gathered their families to show how “shameful” they were and urge the families to “cleanse” their family name.
“For Chechens, being gay is the worst thing. It is worse than a crime. It is simply unacceptable,” he said.
Per the government’s instructions, many detainees were killed or tortured further by their families upon their release. The officers, however, returned AD to the warehouse to “work on” him some more because he had refused to share any names. To this day, AD does not know why he was released just a short while later.
AD quickly fled to Moscow and then made his way to St. Petersburg, where he stayed with friends in hiding. In searching for a path forward, he learned about Kimahli Powell and Rainbow Railroad.
Powell came to St. Petersburg to meet with AD and other survivors to hear their stories and make plans to get them out of Russia to safety.
“When Kimahli came to Russia, that was the first sign of hope,” he said. “After that things moved quickly, and I came to Canada.”
AD has been living in Canada since June 2017, working on learning English and studying coursework to become a hairdresser in the country.
HRC calls on the U.S. government to listen to stories of survivors like AD, to condemn anti-LGBTQ violence around the world and to support survivors seeking safe haven within its borders.
For more information about the situation in Chechnya, click here or visit HRC’s #EyesOnChechnya webpage. For more information about HRC’s work around the globe, check out hrc.org/Global.
Magenta Miss
Magenta Miss
jessicajane9 posted a photo:
Mini dress in one of my favourite colours, with white heels ♥
