Rufus Wainwright, Buffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Tailpipe Sex, Kangaroo, James Mattis, Brendan Dassey, Lady Gaga: HOT LINKS

ON THE OUTS. Trump no longer listens to Defense Secretary James Mattis: ‘In recent months, however, the president has cooled on Mattis, in part because he’s come to believe his defense secretary looks down on him and slow-walks his policy directives, according to current and former administration officials. The dynamic was exacerbated with Trump’s announcement in March that he had chosen John Bolton as national security adviser, a move Mattis opposed, and Mike Pompeo’s confirmation as secretary of state soon after.’

CYNTHIA NIXON. SATC actress and NY gubernatorial candidate reveals her oldest child is transgender.

ROBERT MUELLER. Putting the squeeze on Blackwater founder Erik Prince: “As Mr. Prince told the Daily Beast he has spoken voluntarily with Congress and also cooperated completely with the Special Counsel’s investigation, including by providing them total access to his phones and computer,” the spokesperson said. “Mr. Prince has a lot of opinions about the various investigations, but there is no question that they are important and serious, and so Mr. Prince will keep his opinions to himself for now and to let the investigators do their work.”

MARK POCAN. Congressman introduces bill to abolish ICE: “From conducting raids at garden centers, and meatpacking plants, to breaking up families at churches and schools, ICE is tearing apart families and ripping the moral fabric of our nation. Unfortunately, President Trump and his team of white nationalists, including Stephen Miller, have so misused ICE that the agency can no longer accomplish its goals effectively.”

MATT BOMER. Celebrating Pride with his three sons.

CHUCK SCHUMER. My lesbian daughter is engaged.

Marching in the #NYCPride Parade has special meaning this year as I am marching with my daughter Alison and her wonderful fiancée Biz! #HappyPride pic.twitter.com/xYj8ENi80N

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 24, 2018

MAKING A MURDERER. Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of Brendan Dassey: ‘In 2007, Dassey was convicted as a teenager, along with his uncle Steven Avery, of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier before burning her body. He was sentenced to life in prison. In 2015, his story rose to the national spotlight when his interrogation was shown as part of the Netflix series, “Making a Murderer,” which raised questions about the case. Dassey’s attorneys argued that their client is borderline intellectually disabled and was coerced into a false confession. They wanted his confession thrown out and were requesting a new trial.’

THE UNDERGROUND. Longtime Buffalo gay bar gets a new one-year lease on life: “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which expelled the bar from its longtime home in a HUD-funded apartment building on Delaware Avenue last month after citing noise complaints from residents, has reversed its decision after an internal review and a rash of bad press.”

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT. On sleep, food, and music: “I can swig maple syrup from the bottle.”

KANSAS. Man charged for having sex with car tailpipe: ‘Ryan Malek, 23, was named in a Municipal Court complaint accusing him of exposing himself with the intent of arousing or gratifying “sexual desires.” Malek has been summoned to appear in court on July 19 to answer the criminal charge.

TIRED OLD QUEEN AT THE MOVIES. The Boys in the Band.

SURPRISE APPEARANCE OF THE DAY. Lady Gaga at NYC Pride.

#Pride Dance for your life. #equality pic.twitter.com/8WZIHGUuMf

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) June 24, 2018

EMPLOYEE OF THE DAY. Man paddleboards across Hudson River in business attire: “Jersey City resident Scott Holt was running behind schedule, and decided to hop onto his paddle board in his full suit and dress shoes in the hope that it would help get him there fast enough.”

FIELD INVASION OF THE DAY. This kangaroo.

MONDAY MUSCLE. Kike Alba.

The post Rufus Wainwright, Buffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Tailpipe Sex, Kangaroo, James Mattis, Brendan Dassey, Lady Gaga: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

Rufus Wainwright, Buffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Tailpipe Sex, Kangaroo, James Mattis, Brendan Dassey, Lady Gaga: HOT LINKS

HRC REPORT: Startling Data Reveals Half of LGBTQ Employees in the U.S. Remain Closeted at Work

The HRC Foundation released the results of a survey of employees across the nation, revealing the persistent daily challenges that have led nearly half of LGBTQ people to remain closeted at their workplaces — a rate largely unchanged over the past decade. A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide, HRC’s third national workplace study over the past decade, shines a light on the often-intangible, nuanced issues in the workplace that keep LGBTQ workers “separate,” leaving many feeling distracted, exhausted or depressed, and believing they have nowhere to turn for help.

The survey of both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ workers reveals that, despite significant progress in recent years — including the Supreme Court of the United State’s decision embracing marriage equality in 2015, as well as corporate policies and practices that increasing embrace LGBTQ inclusion, substantial barriers to full inclusion. Many of these barriers exist within interpersonal workplace connections, including non-work conversations or outings among coworkers.

“While LGBTQ-inclusive corporate policies are becoming the norm, LGBTQ workers too often face a climate of bias in their workplace,” said Deena Fidas, director of HRC’s Workplace Equality Program. “LGBTQ employees are still avoiding making personal and professional connections at work because they fear coming out — and that hurts not only that employee, but the company as a whole. Even the best-of-the-best private sector employers with top-rated policies and practices must do more to nurture a climate of inclusion for all.”

The HRC Foundation survey found that:

• Forty-six percent of LGBTQ workers say they are closeted at work, compared to 50 percent in HRC’s groundbreaking 2008 Degrees of Equality report;
• One in five LGBTQ workers report having been told or had coworkers imply that they should dress in a more feminine or masculine manner;
• Fifty-three percent of LGBTQ workers report hearing jokes about lesbian or gay people at least once in a while;
• Thirty-one percent of LGBTQ workers say they have felt unhappy or depressed at work;
• And the top reason LGBTQ workers don’t report negative comments they hear about LGBTQ people to a supervisor or human resources? They don’t think anything would be done about it — and they don’t want to hurt their relationships with coworkers

These survey results come at a time when the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index which measures LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies and practices at Fortune 500 companies and top law firms, reported this year that a record-breaking 609 businesses earned a top score of 100 — up from 517 last year. This set a new high water mark for corporate leadership over the 16-year history of the CEI. However, despite these explicit protections across the nation’s top companies, fifty-nine percent of non-LGBTQ workers surveyed by the HRC Foundation in a range of workplace sectors say they think it’s unprofessional to talk about sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, even though by their own self-reporting they regularly talk about these subjects through everyday conversations about spouses, families and life outside of work. The double standard LGBTQ workers are held to remains a persistent barrier to full inclusion on the job.

The results highlight the challenges facing LGBTQ workers, particularly transgender workers and people of color, who have experienced ongoing efforts by the Trump-Pence administration to undermine their rights. In October, Trump-Pence administration issued a discriminatory memo, arguing that anti-discrimination protections under Title VII do not apply to transgender people. The Department of Justice instructed all U.S. attorneys to adopt this dangerous position in all pending and future matters. The Department of Justice has also filed an amicus brief previewing this dangerous change of course by arguing that federal non-discrimination protections do not protect LGB people on the basis of sex.

The Human Rights Campaign’s top federal legislative priority is to win passage of the Equality Act, a bipartisan bill that would add comprehensive protections for LGBTQ people into our nation’s existing civil rights laws. More than 246 bipartisan cosponsors in Congress and 111 leading American companies have endorsed the bill and are continuing to build momentum for its passage in order to secure full federal equality for LGBTQ people.

The full report, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide, can be found here.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-report-startling-data-reveals-half-of-lgbtq-employees-in-us-remain-clos?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: June 25, 2018

SHOCKING — THIRD TRANSGENDER WOMAN KILLED THIS YEAR IN JACKSONVILLE (FLA.): Police are investigating the shooting death Sunday of a transgender woman in her 20s — the third trans woman killed and the fourth shot this year in the Florida city. The victim has not yet been identified. Reports indicate that shooting occurred at the Quality Inn in the Baymeadows area of the Southside. HRC joins local activists in calling on police to aggressively investigate these horrifying attacks and bring the killers to justice. Antash’a English and Celine Walker, both Black transgender women, were also killed in Jacksonville this year. This latest is the 13th murder of a transgender or nonbinary person in the U.S. this year — most of the victims were trans women of color who died by gunshot. Watch the report from First Coast News.

HRC RESPONDS TO SCOTUS’ DECISION SENDING ARLENE’S FLOWERS CASE BACK TO LOWER COURT: “The Supreme Court has simply asked the lower court to take another look at this case in light of their recent decision in Masterpiece, but they did not indicate there was anything wrong with the ruling,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “In Masterpiece, the Supreme Court found that the state of Colorado’s enforcement of its civil rights law was flawed due to perceived bias in the process, however, there is no indication that there were flaws in the application of civil rights law in Arlene’s Flowers. We view this decision as encouraging news that justice will prevail and the Washington State Supreme Court will again uphold the state’s non-discrimination laws ensuring LGBTQ people cannot be turned away from a business open to the public.” In the case, filed by the ACLU, the Washington State Supreme Court had found that Arlene’s Flowers clearly violated the state’s non-discrimination law when refusing to provide floral arrangements to a same-sex couple because of the owner’s personal religious beliefs. More from HRC.

OVER WEEKEND, ADVOCATES AND MEDIA CALL OUT HYPOCRISY OF TRUMP-PENCE ADMINISTRATION OVER RED HEN INCIDENT : Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Administration’s chief spokesperson, took to her official Twitter account complaining that she was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant by staff who cited her complicity in the Administration’s dangerous agenda. Critics called out Sanders’ hypocrisy, as Trump, Pence, and their appointees have spent the last two years advancing ‘license to discriminate’ policies targeting LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities. Sarah Sanders has been a vocal proponent of such discriminatory measures. One hopes Sanders’ experience this past weekend might open this administration’s eyes to the injustice of their efforts to license discrimination of any sort — and to the indignities LGBTQ people and others face daily in the absence of comprehensive federal civil rights protections.

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD DISTRICT AFFIRMS THAT TRANS STUDENTS ACCESSING FACILITIES ALIGNED WITH THEIR GENDER IDENTITY DOES NOT VIOLATE CONSTITUTION OR TITLE IX: The court rejected arguments by anti-equality activists who sued the Boyertown Area School District, claiming their trans-inclusive policies violated other student’s “right to privacy.” More from National Law Review and Slate.

MUST WATCH MONDAY — “HERE I AM”: QUEER CHINESE ARTIST COMES OUT TO HER PARENTS VIA THE INTERNET: Mengwen Cao, a New York-based photographer, created a powerful video to show her parents while coming out as queer. She recorded her parents’ reaction and shared it with The New York Times.

SENATOR TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI) DRINKS WISCONSIN BEER WITH SETH MEYERS, TALKS ABOUT FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE OF HER STATE: HRC-endorsed Senator Baldwin is the first openly gay U.S. senator, the first woman elected to the chamber from Wisconsin and a champion for LGBTQ equality. Watch here.

MUST-READ FROM HRC’S CHARLOTTE CLYMER (@CMCLYMER) ON BEING HARASSED FOR USING THE WOMEN’S RESTROOM AT A DC RESTAURANT, AND THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS FOR LGBTQ PEOPLE: Read Charlotte’s full thread here.

I could not have asked for a more professional and affirming experience from @DCPoliceDept. The responding officers–all cisgender men–were patient and kind in their communication, assured me I was right on the law, and radioed for their LGBTQ liaison unit to respond.

— Charlotte Clymer��️‍�� (@cmclymer) June 23, 2018

HRC MOURNS LGBTQ RIGHTS ACTIVIST DICK LEITSCH: Leitsch helped organize “sip-ins” to protest New York City bars that refused to serve LGBTQ people. More from Advocate.

ESPN’S ‘THE BODY’ ISSUE FEATURES LGBTQ ATHLETES: WNBA point guard Sue Bird (@S10Bird), USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) and Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) will appear in the upcoming issue. More from ESPN.

ARRESTS MADE IN SUSPECTED LAS VEGAS HATE CRIME: Five men were arrested after up to 12 people who were yelling gay slurs attacked a gay man. The victim was hospitalized. More from Las Vegas Sun.

GAY MEN’S CHORUS EVENT IN LOS ANGELES CANCELLED AFTER BOMB THREAT CLEARS CONCERT HALL: More from KTLA.

BI THE WAY — BISEXUAL+ PEOPLE MAKE UP MAJORITY OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY: Yet, bisexual+ people still face stigma in LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ spaces, leading to bi+ people being less likely to be out, and experiencing increased health problems and struggles with mental health. More from Bustle.

PRIDE MONTH ROUNDUP

MORNING MUST READ — “MONTGOMERY (ALA.) PRIDE: ‘WE’RE HERE, AND WE’RE HERE TO STAY’” Said Montgomery Pride United Vice President Daniel Johnson: “We’re growing. We understand that everyone is at their own different walk in life. Their own comfort level. Just know that even though Montgomery may be evolving, there may be some areas that are a little slower coming than others. But we are here for you. There’s a place for you and we accept you.” More from the Montgomery Advertiser.

• The New York Times publishes an amazing, moving Pride 2018 special section, Divided Together, including stories on the people behind Starkville, Mississippi’s first Pride parade and the global fight for equality. Read it at NYT.

• Gay Apple CEO Tim Cook marched in San Francisco’s Pride Parade this weekend. More from Apple Insider.
• HRC was on the ground as Prides across the country this weekend, including New York City, St. Louis, Montgomery, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

.@HRC is celebrating #Pride2018 this weekend at #NYCPride! Join us and thousands more here in The Big Apple and across the country as we celebrate and protect #LGBTQ progress! ❤️���������� pic.twitter.com/kzFeKGOt0S

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 24, 2018

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

CZECH GOVERNMENT LENDS SUPPORT TO MARRIAGE EQUALITY BILL: The bill would need a simple majority in both houses of the legislature and the president’s approval to become law. More from Reuters.

ARREST MADE IN MURDER OF MEXICAN LGBTQ ACTIVISTS: Mexican authorities detained a person allegedly involved in the murder of three LGBTQ rights activists, who were found dead on June 17 in the state of Guerrero. More from Segundo Enfoque.

ARRESTAN A IMPLICADO EN ASESINATO DE ACTIVISTAS LGBTQ MEXICANOS: Las autoridades mexicanas detuvieron a un sujeto que presuntamente participó en el asesinato de tres activistas de derechos LGBTQ, a quienes encontraron muertos el pasado domingo 17 de junio en el estado de Guerrero. Más de SegundoEnfoque.

NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS CHALLENGES FACED BY LGBTQ WORKERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: More from HR Drive.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

The New York Times looks at the ways travel companies are offering experiences specific to LGBTQ customers; GQ interviews bisexual actress Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz); Bloomberg examines LGBTQ equality in Chile; The Associated Press reviews an exhibit by Latinx LGBTQ artists; Pink News talks to gay South Korean pop star Holland; GQ reviews vacation spots for LGBTQ travelers; The New York Times asks LGBTQ couples about the first time they held hands in public; Donna Minkowitz (@Minkowitz) apologizes in The Village Voice for her reporting on Brandon Teena’s murder; St. Louis Post-Dispatch sits down with trans actress Angelica Ross, grand marshal of the local Pride Parade; MLB marches in NYC Pride (and check out the comments for some grand-slam clapbacks)

#Pride2018 pic.twitter.com/3cSwsNvq02

— MLB (@MLB) June 24, 2018

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-june-25-2018?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

How to add and manage contacts in Skype

With Skype now available across all your devices, you will want to have a robust group of contacts to make it easy to stay in touch and manage hectic schedules. Skype helps you quickly build and organize your contacts.

Build a robust contact list

Start by adding all your friends, family, and colleagues as contacts by either searching the Skype directory or by directly saving phone numbers to Skype. To search the Skype directory, in the Search box, enter the name or email of the person you want to add and click Search Skype. When the contact is displayed, select, click Add to Contacts, and then send a message to your contact to accept the request. Once they accept, you can start a chat.

You can also add a contact using their phone number. However, you will need a little Skype Credit (for pay-as-you-go calls and sending SMS) or a subscription before you can call to a landline or mobile or send text messages.

Once you have a subscription or Skype Credit, under the Contacts menu, select Add Contact and then Save a Phone Number. Add the contact’s name and phone number and then click Add number. The contact appears in your contact list and you have the option to call the contact, start a video call, or add them to a group.

Learn more about calling mobiles and landlines and sending text messages.

Organize contacts to manage your chats

Once you have added all your contacts, you can organize them into lists and groups to help manage your chats. Begin by adding people you need to chat with the most to Favorites—so they are always displayed at the top of the Contacts tab. To make a contact a favorite, right-click the contact name and select Add to Favorites. If you want, you can also change the name of the contact to a familiar nickname. Simply right-click the contact, select Rename…, and then enter the name you want to display in the Contacts tab.

Another way to organize and display your contacts is with Contact Lists. For example, if you want all your family members grouped in the Contacts tab, you can create a Contact List called “Family” and then add all family members to it. To create a Contact List, just right-click the Contacts tab, select Create New List..., and then name the list. Next, right-click a contact, select Add to List, and then add to the list. Note, a contact can only be a member of one list at a time.

For those times you need to send a message to a group of contacts, Skype group chat will get your message out quickly to as many contacts as needed. To create a group chat, from under the Contacts menu, select Create New Group, select all the contacts to include in your group, and then click Add. When the conversation is set up, click Rename Conversation and then enter a name for your chat. Finally, add the group chat to your Favorites so it’s displayed at the top of the Contacts tab; just click the Recent tab where the new group chat is displayed and select Add to Favorites. Click the Contacts tab and you will see the group chat at the top of the pane.

To learn how to create a group chat on a mobile device, read our support article.

Back up contacts

With Skype, your contacts are stored centrally on our servers—so you don’t need to worry about backing up your contact list. However, if you decide you want to create a backup of your contacts from under the Contacts menu, select Advanced, and then select Backup Contacts to File. Choose a destination and click Save. If needed, you can restore your contact list by selecting Restore Contacts from File under the Advanced menu.

Visit Skype contacts to learn more and let us know what you think by clicking your profile picture and selecting Give feedback on desktop, or Help and feedback on mobile. And as always, please join us in the Skype Community.

The post How to add and manage contacts in Skype appeared first on Skype Blogs.

blogs.skype.com/tips/2018/06/25/how-to-add-and-manage-contacts-in-skype/

Madonna Honors ‘Fierceness of the LGBT Community’ and ‘Every Gay Boy That Taught Me How to Slay’

Madonna, her face whiskered in a cat filter, shared a Pride message on Instagram on Sunday while mouthing Demi Lovato and Clean Bandit’s new track “Solo”.

Said Madge: “Until I can Share MY music……. I’m sending Love from Lisbon! missing NY and the fierceness of the LGBT community that gave me life from the moment I landed there!! For Me, Pride Month is every month! This Bows down to every Gay Boy that taught me a. New dance, how to dress, how to drag, how to slay, To stand tall in the face of adversity, to not give up hope, to own my inner bitch and to love my flaws!  #loveislove #gratitude #pride ”

The post Madonna Honors ‘Fierceness of the LGBT Community’ and ‘Every Gay Boy That Taught Me How to Slay’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Madonna Honors ‘Fierceness of the LGBT Community’ and ‘Every Gay Boy That Taught Me How to Slay’