Charles Blow, David Beckham, Katrina Pierson, Jack Phillips, Ben De La Creme, Austria, Colton Haynes

CHARLES BLOW. Trump’s N-word tape will probably excite his base. “We would be insane if we kept questioning and saying this is a matter of opinion of whether he’s a racist or not. He is. People have cooked that into the books. I think that if you found the tape of him using the N-word, it might actually increase his support. This does nothing to them, they believe wholeheartedly in this approach, and none of these insults to people who look like me hurt them because it is not them. There is not a betrayal of their belief in him, there is not a betrayal in what they want him to do, this is what they want him to do. This is what they accepted. This is what they want.”

VOGUEING. The entire Beckham family.

JOHN BOLTON. Trump national security adviser to meet with Russia next week.

Anti-gay baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop.

JACK PHILLIPS. Bigoted Masterpiece Cakeshop owner sues Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado officials: “Even though Jack serves all customers and simply declines to create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events in violation of his deeply held beliefs, the government is intent on destroying him—something the Supreme Court has already told it not to do. Neither Jack nor any other creative professionals should be targeted by the government for living consistently with their religious beliefs.”

KATRINA PIERSON. Ed Henry gets into it with the Trump supporter who changed her story about the N-word tape. ‘Pierson dealt with the apparent inconsistencies of her story by raising a fog of multiple discussions and multiple recordings. But a remarkably nonplussed Henry was having none of it, ultimately lashing out at his guest, asking her “If that’s the truth, why didn’t you tell me, ‘Ed, you know, I don’t know all the details of this book, I haven’t seen it, but I did say, yes, he used the N-word to move the conversation along?’” before adding ” You didn’t say that last night. You changed the story today.”’

GOP MIDTERM STRATEGY. No red meat to the base: “The Senate will return to work on Wednesday to take up an array of bills with bipartisan support — such as the Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services spending bill, opioids legislation and the Water Resources Development Act. Also on the agenda is the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization and the conference report for the farm bill, as well as conference reports for the seven appropriations bills the Senate passed before taking an abbreviated August recess.

IT’S A CELEBRATION. Queer Eye celebrates their four Emmy nominations with GLSEN.

ORRIN HATCH. “Not comfortable” with Trump calling Omarosa a dog.

Orrin Hatch, an ally of Trump’s and president pro tempore, tells me this of Trump calling Omarosa a “dog:” “No, I’m not comfortable with that. I don’t think words like that should be used — especially by the president. … I think he should rise above that.” pic.twitter.com/skjAqgEfyD

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 15, 2018

ALEX JONES. Twitter finally suspends the InfoWars extremist.

BENDELACREME. Drag Race alum cancels Australian tour: “At this point in time, queens have no unions to protect us, and we have to stick together as advocates for each other. It is important for all performers to stand up for the fair treatment and pay of everyone working in drag, burlesque, cabaret, and all of the many designers and artists that support us.
I cannot in good faith continue to tour with a promoter who is not treating performers without my platform with the same consideration as those who have been on TV. It is my hope that this situation will be rectified very soon. ”

AUSTRIA. Afghan asylum seeker rejected for not being gay enough: ‘An Afghan teenager who said he feared being persecuted in his home country for being gay has had his asylum application rejected by Austria after an official said he did not “walk, act or dress” like a gay man, according to reports. An official in Lower Austria found no grounds for fear of persecution based on the sexual orientation of the 18-year-old, the Falter newspaper reported.’

INDIA. French tourist murdered by lover, chopped up: “The 68-year-old’s body was found packed into three sandbags in Tamil Nadu state’s Thanjavur district on Sunday. A 29-year-old student, who has been arrested, confessed to killing the Frenchman in an altercation after the pair had sex, senior police officer Senthil Kumar told AFP.”

MEAN GIRLS. Taylor Smith may face charges for pushing her friend off a bridge 60-feet above the water.

LYRIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Matt Fishel “Bored of Straight Boys”.

HUMP DAY PHOTOSHOP. Colton Haynes channeling Kim Kardashian.

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Charles Blow, David Beckham, Katrina Pierson, Jack Phillips, Ben De La Creme, Austria, Colton Haynes

HRC Deploys Staff to #TurnOUT Equality Voters Across the Country

HRC’s first staff electoral deployment of 2018 is complete, and a second team has just finished in Milwaukee turning out Equality Voters for yesterday’s primary election in Wisconsin.

The first deployment was to Ohio’s 12th congressional district for a highly competitive special election. Four HRC staff and one HRC intern signed up to help call members and knock on doors to try and flip a congressional district that Donald Trump won by 11 points in 2016.

During our time in Ohio, HRC met and worked with incredible volunteers who have been organizing, calling and knocking doors in their communities for months. On election night, HRC-endorsed candidate Danny O’Connor even recognized the HRC team and thanked them for their work knocking doors over the weekend.

.@HRC is proud to be on the ground to support pro-equality champion @DannyOConnor1. #OH12 pic.twitter.com/GHWEiZeSPb

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 8, 2018

While we won’t know the official results won’t be announced until all provisional and absentee ballots are counted, the fact that O’Connor is within the margin of error is a huge victory and a wake up call to anti-equality candidates everywhere.

With just 83 days until the election, HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in six key states in the 2018 cycle, and has already put staff and resources on the ground. HRC has identified more than 52 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 and gender identity.

If you need inspiration to help turn out Equality Voters, check out what the HRC staff deployed to Ohio had to say about their experience working on the ground:

“Being in DC means that sometimes I feel one step removed from some of our efforts, but getting the chance to go interact with the people, volunteers and voters who are working alongside us to move our mission forward was a really refreshing and encouraging experience.”

“On election night, where the race was too close to call and the result showed less than a percentage point difference in votes between the two main candidates, it was clear that every door knock, phone call and conversation with voters truly mattered.”

“The best part of being deployed was getting to know people in a very real and human way — from spending time with people outside of the office, drinking lemonade made by a fellow volunteer or showing a picture of your dog to someone while canvassing (a real thing that happened). There’s nothing that brings out the importance of connecting with others more than working on a campaign.”

“Working and living in Washington, D.C., I’ve recently found myself feeling disheartened or pessimistic about our political system. I’m so glad that mentors within HRC encouraged me to sign up and even more grateful that I had the opportunity to go out to Ohio and work on a campaign with a great HRC team. I knew that it would be hard work, but I had no idea just how rewarding it would be to knock on doors and meet parents, senior citizens, young people and energetic local organizers who all realize just how important this moment is in our democracy.”

Supporters in any state can text “VOTER” to 30644 to verify their voter registration, find their polling place and receive election reminders. For more information on how to get involved, sign up to volunteer or join an advocacy training, visit HRC’s Equality Voter Action Center.

#TurnOUT 2018, Danny O’Connor, midterms, canvas, HRC Rising” src=”https://assets2.hrc.org/files/images/blog/OhioCanvas1-500×281.jpg”>

#TurnOUT 2018, Danny O’Connor, midterms, canvas, HRC Rising” src=”https://assets2.hrc.org/files/images/blog/OhioSpecialElection2018-500×281.jpg”>

#TurnOUT 2018, Danny O’Connor, midterms, canvas, HRC Rising” src=”https://assets2.hrc.org/files/images/blog/OhioCanvas2-500×281.jpg”>

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