David Beckham, Craig Zadan, Intersex Surgery, 3-D Guns, Human Rights Campaign, Stormy Daniels, Tyler the Creator: HOT LINKS

UNBLOCKED. Trump unblocks more Twitter followers after court order: “U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday unblocked some additional Twitter users after a federal judge in May said preventing people from following him violated individuals constitutional rights….The 41 blocked users include a film producer, screenwriter, photographer and author who had criticized President Trump or his policies. At least 20 of those individuals said on Twitter that Trump had unblocked them on Tuesday.”

LESS THAN TWO MINUTES. How long Donald Trump lasted, according to Stormy Daniels.

CHRIST AND THE HOMOSEXUAL. Rev. Robert Wood, who urged Christian acceptance of gay people, dies: ‘The Rev. Robert W. Wood, who boldly urged Christian clergymen in a 1960 book to welcome gay men and women to their churches in a time of widespread prejudice against them, and went on to march in early gay-rights protests, died on Aug. 19 at his home in Concord, N.H. He was 95.’

CHARLES KOCH. Conservative group plans $5 million spend on attack ads going live in Wisconsin, Missouri and Tennessee attacking the Democratic Senate candidates: ‘The biggest spend is in Missouri, where AFP will put $2.1 million behind a 30-second ad attacking Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) as a “career politician” who voted for ObamaCare. The ad also highlights government contracts her husband’s company received.’

FLORIDA. Bernie-backed Andrew Gillum wins Democratic primary for governor, is Florida’s first black gubernatorial candidate. ‘Nominating Gillum represents a strategic break for Democrats. For most of the last 20 years, the party has nominated centrist candidates for governor, hoping they could appeal to middle-of-the-road voters and Republicans. It hasn’t worked, and Democrats have lost every governor’s race for the past 20 years. Gillum, 39, urged Democrats to try something different by nominating a progressive — him — to rally the Democratic base in November. Lesbian mom Lauren Baer wins U.S. House primary. ‘Baer beat corporate attorney and former U.S. Navy JAG officer Pam Keith. About 58 percent of St. Lucie and Martin county voters supported Baer. Palm Beach County was still counting election results.’

TYLER THE CREATOR. Rapper changes pronoun to “he” on love song “Sometimes”.

‘UNMITIGATED CHAOS’ North Carolina Republicans freak after court strikes down state’s U.S. House district maps: ‘A three-judge panel on Monday ruled North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts were unconstitutional because they had been drawn with too much consideration of partisanship in order to give Republicans an unfair advantage, in violation of the First Amendment rights of state voters. The panel gave plaintiffs and respondents until Friday to suggest a path forward, one that could lead to new district lines being drawn just days before the state Board of Elections has to print ballots for midterm elections on Nov. 6.’

CALIFORNIA. Resolution passed condemning intersex surgeries on children: ‘The Legislature passed a resolution demanding the medical community halt nonconsensual medical procedures that try to cosmetically “normalize” variations in intersex children’s sex characteristics. The resolution, which calls the practice a human rights violation, is a landmark moment for the intersex community, advocates say. ‘

RUSSIA. First Russian gay married couple who fled to the Netherlands, speak to VICE.



TEXAS. Company begins selling 3-D gun blueprints against court’s order: “This judge’s order stopping us from simply giving things away was only an authorization that we can sell it, that we can mail it, that we can e-mail it, that we can provide it by secure transfer,” Wilson said. “I am doing all of those things,” he added.

MALTA. Gay blood donation policy to be eased.

REAL ESTATE. David and Julia Koch, NYC’s richest couple, buy $40 million mansion on a whim: ‘The seller was real-estate mogul Joseph Chetrit, who bought the property as part of six 19th-century row houses in 2007 for a combined $26 million and turned them into three double-wide mansions — gutting the interiors but keeping the facades intact. The one the Kochs bought was the largest of the three. “They just fell in love with it and felt like they had to have it,” a source said.’

HRC. Eric Holder, Danica Roem and Nelson Araujo to speak at Human Rights Campaign national dinner.

.@HRC is excited to announce that @EricHolder, Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) & @NelsonAraujoNV will speak at @HRC’s 22nd annual #HRCNationalDinner. @StaceyAbrams, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, will also address HRC volunteers earlier that day. t.co/9YMaZB2kvE

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 29, 2018

CRAIG ZADAN. Memorial for prolific producer to be held: “The event, to be held at the Television Academy’s headquarters in North Hollywood, was originally set up to be the ETF’s annual West Coast gala Thespians Go Hollywood, which was to honor Zadan and his producing partner Neil Meron with the group’s first-ever Theatre For Life Award. But after Zadan’s sudden death a week ago at age 69 due to complications from shoulder surgery, the evening will now become the official memorial and celebration of Zadan’s legacy.”

UNCLE BUDDIES. Elton John and a shirtless David Beckham.

HUMP DAY HOTTIE. Luis Urribari.

The post David Beckham, Craig Zadan, Intersex Surgery, 3-D Guns, Human Rights Campaign, Stormy Daniels, Tyler the Creator: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

David Beckham, Craig Zadan, Intersex Surgery, 3-D Guns, Human Rights Campaign, Stormy Daniels, Tyler the Creator: HOT LINKS

HRC Endorses Senator Tom Carper and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester for Re-Election

HRC announced its endorsement of Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) for re-election to the U.S. Senate and U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We are proud to endorse two pro-equality Delaware leaders, Senator Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, for re-election,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “Every time they take the train down to Washington, Senator Carper and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester carry with them the hopes of all Delawareans. With the LGBTQ community under attack by the Trump-Pence administration, Senator Carper and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester have tirelessly fought to defend our progress and advance equality for LGBTQ people both in Delaware and around the nation. Now more than ever, we need elected officials who can help pull the emergency brake on the Trump-Pence administration, and in Senator Carper and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, Delawareans have those leaders.”

“All Americans—regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identify—deserve equal protection under the law,” said Senator Tom Carper (D-DE). “We made incredible strides toward LGBT equality during the Obama-Biden Administration, but that progress is under attack by the Trump-Pence Administration. I am honored to receive the endorsement from Human Rights Campaign, and I will continue to fight for equal rights and federal protections for LGBT Americans in the Senate.”

“I’m so incredibly proud to receive the Human Rights Campaign’s endorsement,” said Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). “I have always believed in the inspiring and empowering effect of love. It’s why I have always fought to ensure that no one is denied their basic rights for who they are or who they love. The setbacks we’ve experienced are frustrating, but I’m motivated and energized by ordinary citizens standing up and fighting for what is right. It is a fight I will not run away from, and I look forward to working with HRC to support our LGBTQ community and to ensure that love always conquers hate.”

HRC has worked closely with Senator Carper and Representative Blunt Rochester during their time in Congress. Senator Carper earned perfect scores on the HRC Congressional Scorecard in both the 114th and 113th Congress — a key tool measuring their support for LGBTQ equality. Since taking office more recently in January of 2017, Representative Blunt Rochester has been a staunch ally to the LGBTQ community, co-sponsoring critical pro-equality legislation.

Both Senator Carper and Representative Blunt Rochester are co-sponsors of the Equality Act, a comprehensive LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill. Earlier this month, Senator Carper and U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the Census Equality Act, a bill that would ensure that the LGBTQ community is represented fairly in the U.S. Census.

Last summer, HRC announced a bold, proactive grassroots expansion with the launch of HRC Rising — a campaign to accelerate progress in states from coast-to-coast, resist the politics of hate, fight anti-LGBTQ legislation, and fuel pro-equality candidates and initiatives. The expansion is the biggest strategic investment in the organization’s 37-year history. Throughout the next several months, HRC will be mobilizing Delaware’s “Equality Voters,” meaning they are strong supporters of progressive LGBTQ policies including marriage equality, adoption by LGBTQ people, and laws that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
 

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-endorses-senator-tom-carper-and-representative-lisa-blunt-rochester?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

TOMORROW—Leah Vukmir Aligns with Trump-Pence Administration to Bring Anti-LGBTQ Attacks to WI

HRC is exposing the record of Vice President Mike Pence, who is scheduled to raise money for Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir in Milwaukee. Pence and Vukmir both oppose laws that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing, employment, and in public spaces, both oppose protections for LGBTQ youth facing bullying and harassment, and both have long crusaded against marriage equality. 
 
“Mike Pence and Leah Vukmir have pushed anti-LGBTQ policies that are not only wrong, they are politically toxic in a state with more than 560,000 thousand Equality Voters,” said HRC State Director Wendy Strout. “Throughout her almost two decades in public office, Vukmir has repeatedly taken extreme positions far outside the mainstream — derailing efforts to pass commonsense protections for Wisconsin’s LGBTQ community and even LGBTQ youth in schools. She has close ties to some of the nation’s most virulently anti-LGBTQ organizations, such as the Family Research Council. By aligning herself with the Trump-Pence administration, Vukmir continues to place herself on the wrong side of history.”
 
Vukmir has also pushed for a license to discriminate in the health care system that would prioritize physicians’ beliefs over life-saving patient care. In addition to her attacks on the LGBTQ community, Vukmir’s extremist agenda also includes attacks on voting rights; health care, including ending protections for people with pre-existing conditions and stripping women of their reproductive rights; education; and the environment.
 
As Pence and Vukmir campaign together and push their extreme, anti-equality agendas, HRC is on the ground mobilizing our members and supporters and nearly 560,000 Equality Voters in Wisconsin to reject the politics of discrimination and re-elect Senator Tammy Baldwin.
 
HRC’s comprehensive “The Real Mike Pence” campaign includes a report, microsite and series of videos that shine a spotlight on Pence’s decades-long crusade against LGBTQ equality, and inside-the-White House efforts leading the Trump-Pence administration’s attacks on LGBTQ people, including those who bravely serve our nation in the military. It lays out his long record of support for the abusive practice of so-called “conversion therapy;” his relentless pursuit of a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people; his attempts to block hate crime legislation and funding for HIV and AIDS prevention; and his efforts to undermine access to health and reproductive care essential to LGBTQ people. He also keeps busy with his extremist agenda by working to undermine science, health, transparency, education, justice and public safety.
 
In Wisconsin, HRC has identified more than 560,000 “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 Wisconsin in the 2018 cycle, and has 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.
 
To schedule an interview with HRC State Director Wendy Strout, contact [email protected]. 

www.hrc.org/blog/tomorrow-leah-vukmir-aligns-with-trump-pence-administration-to-bring-anti-l?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed