HRC & NWLC Target Kavanaugh in Full-Page Ads Across Four Key States

HRC & NWLC Target Kavanaugh in Full-Page Ads Across Four Key States

This weekend, HRC and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) launched full-page newspaper and digital ads in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada and Maine spotlighting the grave threat that Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination presents to LGBTQ equality, reproductive rights and affordable health care. The ads, included below, urge Senators to vote no on his nomination — and urges voters across these states to make their voices heard.

The ads, appearing in the Denver Post, Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Weekly, Maine Sunday Telegram, Reno-Gazette Journal, Anchorage Daily News and Bangor Daily News, will reach millions of voters in key states from coast to coast — and bolster efforts by HRC, NWLC and civil rights organizations to emphasize the danger and enduring consequences of a Kavanaugh appointment to the Supreme Court.

“In nominating Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump followed through on his threat to put forward a justice who will undermine LGBTQ equality, reproductive rights and affordable health care. This ad campaign will help expose Brett Kavanaugh’s record and urge voters to contact their Senators to reject his nomination, ” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Kavanaugh was hand-picked by anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice groups in an explicit effort to undermine equality. If confirmed, Kavanaugh’s record makes clear that he would erode our nation’s civil rights laws, prevent brave transgender troops from serving this nation, and allow a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people.”

“We’re urging voters to contact their Senators in these critical states because all of our health and lives are on the line with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh,” said Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of NWLC. “We believe Trump’s promises that anyone he nominates will overturn the right to safe, legal abortion, and repeal the Affordable Care Act. This nomination will dramatically shift the balance of the Supreme Court – we can’t afford to sit this one out.”

The full-page ads will appear in the Bangor Daily News on Saturday, and on Sunday in the Maine Sunday Telegram, the Anchorage Daily News, the Denver Post and the Reno Gazette Journal. Digital ads will begin running Sunday in the Las Vegas Sun. And on Thursday, print ads will run in Las Vegas Weekly.

HRC was an early opponent of Kavanaugh’s nomination. As a federal judge, Kavanaugh ruled that an employer’s religious beliefs should be allowed to override their workers’ access to birth control — the same argument anti-LGBTQ extremists use to advocate for a license discriminate against LGBTQ people. If Kavanaugh votes to gut the Affordable Care Act as Donald Trump has promised he will, LGBTQ Americans will be severely impacted — in fact, transgender Americans and people living with HIV and AIDS could once again be denied health insurance for “pre-existing conditions.” Kavanaugh has also suggested Roe v. Wade was incorrectly decided, said that banning assault weapons as a category would be unconstitutional and claimed a president can refuse to enforce a statute even if a court has ruled that the statute is constitutional.

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Whoopi Goldberg on Yesterday’s Blow-Up: Jeanine Pirro ‘Called Everybody at the Table a Name I Cannot Repeat on TV’ – WATCH

Whoopi Goldberg on Yesterday’s Blow-Up: Jeanine Pirro ‘Called Everybody at the Table a Name I Cannot Repeat on TV’ – WATCH
Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg returned to yesterday’s Jeanine Pirro blow-up on today’s episode of The View, laying out the facts which Pirro has been trying to spin in her favor over on State TV.

Explained Goldberg: “She seemed to leave some key points out. She left a lot of pertinent stuff out…There’s a lot of spinning she’s doing and I can’t do anything about that but I can tell you what went on. She was upset when she got here because Ana Navarro was here instead of Joy [Behar]. After the segment, which ended up when it was supposed to, she then called everybody at the table a name I cannot repeat on TV and said it in front of the audience.”

Whoopi went on: “When I came offstage…I was a little hot. She came off. She could have just passed me. She didn’t need to stop but she stopped and put her finger in my face and yelled ‘I’ve done more for victims than you ever will.’ Then I said to her some few choice words that I cannot repeat. But I did not spit on her. I did not intimidate her. No one chased her out. But she did leave her cursing at the people who book the show, she cursed at the guys who do the security for the show…None of us were chasing her because we still had another segment to do.”

The post Whoopi Goldberg on Yesterday’s Blow-Up: Jeanine Pirro ‘Called Everybody at the Table a Name I Cannot Repeat on TV’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


Whoopi Goldberg on Yesterday’s Blow-Up: Jeanine Pirro ‘Called Everybody at the Table a Name I Cannot Repeat on TV’ – WATCH

HRC Responds to MI AG’s Opinion That LGBTQ People Are Not Protected Under State’s Civil Rights Law

HRC Responds to MI AG’s Opinion That LGBTQ People Are Not Protected Under State’s Civil Rights Law

HRC responded to Michigan Attorney General — and candidate for Governor — Bill Schuette’s formal opinion asserting that under the state’s Elliott Larson Civil Rights Act LGBTQ residents are not protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The opinion conflicts with a Michigan Civil Rights Commission vote in May affirming the act covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Bill Schuette is unfit to serve as Attorney General, and this latest outrageous act proves once again that he cannot represent all Michiganders equally and fairly,” said HRC Michigan State Director Amritha Venkataraman. “AG Schuette has chosen to ignore legal precedent and leave thousands of LGBTQ Michganders at risk of discrimination. Numerous federal courts have determined that discrimination against an individual based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is fundamentally a form of sex discrimination — which is prohibited both under federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Michigan’s Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act. HRC is on the ground working hard to elect pro-equality champions who support commonsense protections for  LGBTQ Michganders and ensure that Schuette never makes it to the governor’s mansion.”

Earlier this year, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission became the first commission of its kind in the nation to determine that laws prohibiting sex discrimination also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Other legal bodies — including the the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in  Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) — have similarly found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Numerous federal courts have also determined that sexual orientation and gender identity are forms of sex discrimination. The Sixth Circuit, which covers Michigan, recently determined for the fourth time that federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination also prohibit gender identity discrimination in EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes. Neighboring circuits have determined that sex also includes sexual orientation.

In Michigan, HRC has identified more than 1.1 million “Equality Voters”— voters who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies including marriage equality, equitable family law, and laws that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in Michigan in the 2018 cycle, and has already put staff and resources on the ground in the state. Last year, HRC announced a coast-to-coast campaign called HRC Rising, which represents the largest grassroots expansion in the organization’s 38-year history.

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