Vermont Trans Candidate Christine Hallquist Gets Death Threats
Hallquist, the first out trans person to be a major party’s nominee for governor, has received about a dozen such threats.
www.advocate.com/election/2018/8/22/vermont-trans-candidate-christine-hallquist-gets-death-threats
Netflix one-ups itself in the gay department — oh yes gawd!
**tongue pop**
Amsterdam Pride 2018 (Netherlands)
Meteorry posted a photo:
Prinsengracht 04/08/2018 12h32
Preparing for the 2018 version of the Amsterdam Pride.
Amsterdam Pride
Amsterdam Pride or Amsterdam Gay Pride is a citywide gay-festival held annually at the center of Amsterdam during the first weekend of August. The festival attracts several hundred-thousand visitors each year and is one of the largest publicly held annual events in the Netherlands.
The peak of the festival is during the Canal Parade, a parade of boats of large variety on the first Saturday of August, which usually goes from Oosterdok, Zwanenburgwal and the Oudeschans, Amstel, over the Prinsengracht to Westerdok (clockwise since 2017).
Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors come to this event and is therefore one of the busiest public events in the Netherlands. In the United States, the Amsterdam Gay Pride was voted the best Gay Pride celebration in Europe in 2008 and in 2018 the Amsterdam Pride was voted Best Public Event in the Netherlands.
[ Wikipedia ]
HRC President Chad Griffin Speaks at the SCOTUS Rally
Michael Cohen, Felon, Deletes Hillary Clinton ‘Prison’ Tweet
Trump’s disgraced lawyer appears to regret a 2015 tweet where he foresaw the former secretary of State serving jail time.
www.advocate.com/politics/2018/8/22/michael-cohen-felon-deletes-hillary-clinton-prison-tweet
Broadway Actor Hernando Umana: ‘I am a Proud Gay Man Living with HIV’
Broadway actor Hernando Umana came out as HIV-positive in a moving Instagram post intended to help battle the stigma faced by gay men who are scared to tell people about their status. Umana performed in the original Broadway production and first national touring production of Kinky Boots, and in School of Rock‘s first national tour.
Wrote Umana: “::takes deep breath:: This is by far the most important, scary, liberating post of my life. Here we go- 10 years ago, at a young young age of 20, I was diagnosed with HIV. I’ll never forget the moment they told me. It wasn’t possible- I had only slept with 3 people in my life! This can’t be true. The first words out of my mouth were “how long do I have to live?” That’s how uneducated I was about it.”
He added: “It had been drilled in my head that gay people get HIV because of wrong doings and they deservingly die from it. Well I’m here to shut that sh*t down. There is NOTHING wrong with me and I am healthier than I’ve ever been. In the last 10 years I’ve met countless of HIV positive men. Some of these men are so affected by the stigma that they don’t tell a soul about their status, even go as far as not taking their medication.”
Umana honored the HIV-positive gay men who came before him: “In our extremely privileged community the stigma is more dangerous than the disease. We still have a lot of fighting to do for the people who don’t have the privilege of cost affective medication. So I stand on the shoulders of people like @staleypr who risked his life for us. I stand on the shoulders of the millions of people who had to suffer and die from this disease. I stand on the shoulders of the gay men who were forced out of the closet in such a scary time. These men and woman fought and died to get to where we’re at now- To take a pill at night and never have to worry about dying. To get the disease to a point where it is IMPOSSIBLE to transmit (undetectable). How can I be ashamed of this? I honor their legacy by telling my story.”
He concluded: “So let’s talk about it. Let’s ask questions. Take your prep. Use condoms. Be SAFE. Let’s end this stigma forever and eventually end HIV forever! To those who have questions- don’t feel dumb asking anything about it. It’s not your fault there’s such a lack of education out there. To those who are afraid to talk about their status- you’ve got at least one guy right here 
you are LOVED. You are BEAUTIFUL and there is nothing wrong with you. I, Hernando Umana, am a proud gay man LIVING with HIV. F**k that feels good to say. #actup #fightthestigma #endthestigma #hiv#broadway #bcefa #mytruth”
The post Broadway Actor Hernando Umana: ‘I am a Proud Gay Man Living with HIV’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.
Broadway Actor Hernando Umana: ‘I am a Proud Gay Man Living with HIV’
#AM_Equality Tipsheet: August 22, 2018
“INSIDE HRC’S FIGHT TO STOP BRETT KAVANAUGH”: NewNowNext’s Jeff Taylor (@jefftaylorhuman) details the intensive effort and provides an exclusive look at HRC’s new video detailing just one of the many dangers that await if Kavanaugh is confirmed — the potential dismantling of the Affordable Care Act, which would harm the ability of transgender people to obtain approval for transition related care, and potentially lead to the denial of coverage for people living with HIV. “There is so much at stake for the LGBTQ community,” HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow tells Taylor. “The Affordable Care Act is a critical piece of that, but there are other cases coming down the pike as well. Everything from whether or not our federal civil rights laws do provide protections to LGBTQ people, whether or not trans people can serve openly in our military, whether or not LGBTQ people are entitled to the full protections of family law.” More from NewNowNext.
“With Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, a lot of us within the queer community are fearing for their rights.”
Kavanaugh has ruled against the ACA, which allowed many trans people to seek transition-related care for the first time. #StopKavanaugh t.co/G3g5YQDg5d pic.twitter.com/dKzL5sp2RC
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 21, 2018
PA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE SCOTT WAGNER ATTACKS TRANS PEOPLE AT TOWN HALL: “Scott Wagner’s dangerous remarks show an alarming disregard for fundamental human decency. Transgender people should never be singled out for discrimination and forced to use a restroom inconsistent with their gender identity,” said Chris Sgro, HRC Communications Director (@cristoferosgro). “The fair-minded and hardworking people of Pennsylvania deserve better than this from their leaders.” Wagner unconscionable statement comes around the 49-minute mark of this video. More from Gay Star News.
WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY — “I’M A LESBIAN BASKETBALL PLAYER. HATEFUL COMMENTS ARE PUSHING PEOPLE LIKE ME OUT OF SPORTS”: “A new survey from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the University of Connecticut found that only 21 percent of LGBTQ high school seniors play a sport, in contrast with 68 percent of seniors in a national sample,” writes HRC Youth Ambassador Makayla Humphrey. “I understand the reality behind this statistic. Being an openly lesbian athlete has caused a lot of problems for me on and off the court… I don’t just have to be confident in my ball-handling and shooting skills. I have to work up the confidence to be unapologetically me, even when I’m targeted for who I am.” More from USA Today.
HRC MOURNS PRODUCER CRAIG ZADAN: By being out and proud, Craig Zadan helped blaze a path for so many others in Hollywood to follow. More from Hollywood Reporter.
HRC PROMOTES WORKPLACE INCLUSION IN ARGENTINA AT LATIN AMERICA’S LARGEST LGBT BUSINESS AND TOURISM SUMMIT: Deena Fidas, director of HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, delivered opening remarks at the summit, which is supported by the Argentinian LGBT Chamber of Commerce and prominent LGBT-committed corporate partners, and led a panel discussion on the state of LGBT workplace inclusion in the Latin American region. More from HRC.
.@HRC is honored to join @gnetwork360 in Argentina to address the business and economic impact of LGBT-supportive workplace policies and to promote an inclusive corporate culture across Latin America. #HRCinArgentina #Gnetwork360 #InclusiveIBM pic.twitter.com/7LE22Q0Ck3
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 21, 2018
HRC PROMUEVE INCLUSIÓN LGBT EN LA CUMBRE DE NEGOCIOS Y TURISMO LGBT MÁS GRANDE DE AMÉRICA: Deena Fidas, directora del Programa de Equidad Laboral de la Fundación HRC, pronunció discursos de apertura en la conferencia internacional, que cuenta con el apoyo de la Cámara de Comercio Gay Lésbica de Argentina y destacados socios corporativos comprometidos con la comunidad LGBT, y dirigió un panel ejecutivo sobre el estado de la inclusión LGBT en centros de trabajo de la región latinoamericana. Más de HRC.
THE U.S. IS DISENFRANCHISING PEOPLE OF COLOR, OTHER MARGINALIZED VOTERS: The right to vote is sacred, and for many, that right is being attacked. Transgender people are particularly vulnerable to voting discrimination and disenfranchisement due primarily to challenges around valid identification documents. Many transgender people do not have forms of ID that reflect their gender, either because they are in the process of changing their documents or face financial or legal barriers to doing so. In addition, many LGBTQ people face compounded discrimination based on other characteristics, including race, age, disability and economic status. These vulnerabilities weaken our entire community’s voting power. More from The Hill.
.@NAACP‘s Vice President of #CivicEngagement @jamal_1978 says our country’s current voting system discourages participation and prevents many Americans from casting a vote. #Turnout18 t.co/V7Z6RumXAN
— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) August 20, 2018
ACTOR GARRETT CLAYTON COMES OUT IN INSTAGRAM POST: More from Entertainment Tonight.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
RUSSIAN TEEN APPEALS FINE LEVIED UNDER COUNTRY’S ANTI-LGBTQ “PROPAGANDA” LAWS: Maxim Neverov is the first teen to be fined under the law. More from Reuters.
TRANS COMMUNITY IN PAKISTAN DEMANDS PROTECTION FOLLOWING HORRIFIC VIOLENCE: More from ABC.
EGYPTIAN ACTOR KHALED ABOL NAGA TWEETS OUT SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ COMMUNITY: More from Gay Star News.
“Ignorance of these facts is what society lacks to understand what homosexuals are suffering.” Thank you @kalnaga for using your platform to advocate for and support Egypt’s #LGBTQ community. ️ t.co/iigQJXPIfb
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 21, 2018
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Crain’s New York Business explores the growing trend of banks expanding development programs for LGBTQ-owned businesses; Fox 9 profiles the Minnesota synchronized swimming team that took home the gold at the Gay Games; Tennessean reports on Kelly Clarkson’s recent clapback after a Twitter user attacked a same-sex couple; KOB4 follows activist and artist Robin Bell as he projects messages of protest around the world
Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC (www.hrc.org) and not authorized by any candidate or committee.
www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-august-22-2018?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Dia do Orgulho LGBT
ferreira.claudia91 posted a photo:
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil;
28-06-2014
Michelle Visage and World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey share how RuPaul’s Drag Race changed the game for reality television
For the second year in a row, iconic LGBTQ series and fan favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race is nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category and this year it could make LGBTQ and TV history. Only three shows have received the Emmy Award in this category since it was introduced in 2003: The Amazing Race, Top Chef, and The Voice. While all of these programs have featured LGBTQ contestants, no television show has featured as many diverse LGBTQ people and has covered LGBTQ issues in quite the same way that Drag Race has. Check out all of the LGBTQ-inclusive nominees for the Primetime Emmy Awards here.
RuPaul’s Drag Race is nominated for an impressive twelve Primetime Emmy Awards including a nomination for RuPaul in the Outstanding Host category, which he has won for the past two years. This year, RuPaul’s Drag Race could become the first program in TV history to receive the Emmy Award for both host and program in the same year.
The show is no stranger to awards shows. It received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2010 and was nominated again this year. Since its premiere nearly a decade ago, RuPaul’s Drag Race has received a MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Reality Series and a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming. RuPaul received a 2107 Critics Choice Television Award for Best Reality Host and the show was nominated multiple times for Best Reality Series – Competition.GLAAD also recently announced that Drag Race judge Ross Mathews would receive the Davidson/Valentini Award at the GLAAD Gala in San Francisco on September 15 for his work to accelerate LGBTQ acceptance.
RuPaul’s Drag Race airs on VH1 and is produced by World of Wonder (WOW), a media company run by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, which has been behind some of the loudest and most groundbreaking LGBTQ content in television, film, and online. WOW’s content includes suchseminal LGBTQ content as Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, Becoming Chaz, TransGeneration, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, School’s Out – the Life of a Gay High School in Texas, Transamerican Love Story, Out of Iraq – all of which have been recognized with at the GLAAD Media Awards. They’ve also produced the Million Dollar Listing franchise for Bravo, Wishful Drinking, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster, Tori & Dean, and many more.
GLAAD asked LGBTQ ally and Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, along with Executive Producer Fenton Bailey, for their reactions to the show’s Emmy nominations in advance of the show possibly sashaying away with multiple gold statues this year.
WHEN HISTORY LOOKS BACK ON THIS MOMENT IN POP CULTURE, WHAT DO YOU THINK RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE’S LEGACY WILL BE?
The legacy will be that it’s the show that broke the mold! We have had many queer-centric and gay television shows over the decades. I thank God for the shows like Soap, Ellen, Will & Grace, Modern Family, Transparent, Queer as Folk, The L Word, Noah’s Arc… I could go on, going back to the Norman Lear days, but I won’t really push it! But, my point is, I feel like RuPaul’s Drag Race has everyone talking. And they’re talking not just about drag, but important topics such as drag culture, queer culture and history, persecution, suicide, rape, racism, eating disorders, conversion therapy, the hate behind religion, bigotry and all of the things that happen everyday that most people turn a blind eye to.
Drag Race doesn’t edit those moments out. They highlight them because those things matter! Drag Race has helped hundreds of thousands of people understand their identity, whether we’re talking gender, sexuality, or even just their place in society. It’s also helped so many heteronormative people understand the beautiful souls around them, like their kids, grandkids, or even gay friends that maybe they wouldn’t have understood before seeing Drag Race.
WHAT’S SURPRISED YOU THE MOST ON THIS JOURNEY BEING A PART OF THE SHOW?
The social impact it’s made, around the world! Listen, I knew it would be a big deal when they asked me to do it for season one. I knew it because I know what drag means to me. I felt it in my gut. But, I had no idea the global impact it would have and that makes me so incredibly happy. Everyone needs Drag Race in their lives!
WHEN RU WAS FIRST NOMINATED, HE SAID THAT HE WAS GLAD THE INDUSTRY WAS TAKING NOTICE, BUT THAT’S NOT WHY HE DOES ANYTHING THAT HE CHOOSES TO DO. AND THIS YEAR, THE SHOW HAS A COMBINED 12 NOMINATIONS. HOW HAS EMMY RECOGNITION MADE A DIFFERENCE?
Ru has always, 100%, marched to the beat of his own drum. So, when he says that, you can bank on it. He was told for many years he wasn’t good enough, black enough, straight enough, white enough, or man enough, so after years of hearing that, one takes matters into one’s own hands. And thank the gay Gods he did! With that said, we are so honored at these nominations! Can you imagine? Our little gay TV show making all the big boys quake in their stiletto boots?! What an honor! You hear the “it is an honor just to be nominated,” but, no joke, it really is!
THE SHOW OFTEN RAISES IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES INCLUDING RACE – WHAT’S BEEN YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM ALL OF THAT?
My takeaway is, it needs to be heard! These are real life stories being played out in a real life setting, not a scripted TV show. These stories come from the heart and we need to hear these people. I am not privy to the stories until they air for the most part, unless it’s a confession like Roxxxy’s, Blair’s, or Monica’s, which happen on the main stage, and my heart breaks along with the rest of the world. I also look at these queens with such love and admiration for living and airing out their truths. This is when the real healing begins.
WHAT DIRECTION WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE SHOW HEADING IN, IN THE COMING YEARS?
There really is no end in site! Drag is everything is everywhere. I would love to see us keep expanding and growing along with the art of drag. Contrary to popular belief, I am here for all of it! I am honored to judge such talent.
WHAT WERE CONVERSATIONS LIKE WHEN YOU FIRST CONCEPTUALIZED THE IDEA BEHIND RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE?
From concept to production everything about this show has an infectious joy. That said, it took ten years to find a home for the show because everyone – even within our own community – saw Drag as niche, as marginal. Randy and I had almost given up but when Tom Campbell joined World of Wonder he pushed really hard and one of the many amazing things about Tom is just how persuasive he is.
DID YOU EVER ENVISION A DAY WHEN IT WOULD HAVE THIS MUCH OF A CULTURAL IMPACT?
It’s not possible to calculate or control how an audience receives any piece of work. If only it were! While we are so thrilled that the show and it’s message have been embraced worldwide, we daren’t take our eye off making the best possible show.
WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE TO QUEENS WHO DREAM OF BEING ON THE SHOW?
Apply! All we are looking for are queens with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.
WHAT HAVE ALL OF THESE EMMY NOMINATIONS MEANT FOR THE SHOW? – THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF IT ALL?
It’s all good and an incredible honor to receive twelve nominations almost ten years in. It shows how audiences and our peers are recognizing drag as the incredible art form it is. Forget a triple threat, drag queens are sextuple threats… they sing, they dance, they sew, they do beauty / hair / make-up, they act, and handle their own social media without breaking a sweat. Also it shows how Chris McCarthy and Pam Post have nurtured the show at Logo and now VH1, finding ways to help it grow without ever hindering the creative passion of the time!
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE SHOW’S FUTURE?
“You’re born naked and the rest is drag” is something that Ru has always said. It’s completely true. The fact that each and every one of us is born naked, and the fact that everything that follows is part of creating an identity makes drag an idea we can all relate to – after all, we’ve all been doing it all our lives! Sometimes we are asked if we are worried that it might become too mainstream. But what could be wrong with that?! If those in the White House lip-synced for their lives – sashay away! – the world could be a much happier place.
WORLD OF WONDER IS BEHIND SO MANY SHOWS AND FILMS THAT HAVE RECEIVED GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING LGBTQ CONTENT INCLUDING BIG FREEDIA: QUEEN OF BOUNCE, TRANSAMERICAN LOVE STORY, BECOMING CHAZ, AND OF COURSE RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE. WHY IS LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING SO IMPORTANT TO WOW AND WHAT IMPACT DO YOU HOPE IT HAS? HOW HAS IT EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?
We’ve always been drawn to people who live their lives out loud. Each and every one of us is unique. Trying to fit in, to be like everyone else, to be normal, is not why we are here. Gay or straight we are all a little bit queer. People who embrace that queerness and give the finger to this oppressive and false idea of normality are the ones who inspire us to tell their stories. Because they bring joy and inclusiveness to the party which is critically important at a time when divisiveness, hate, and persecution are the values of the current regime.
You must be 18 years old or older to chat
