Boomerang’s Lena Waithe Shares the Secret to Her Success

The out writer and producer capitalized on her history-making Emmy win to launch numerous other projects focusing on the black experience.

www.advocate.com/television/2019/1/21/boomerangs-lena-waithe-shares-secret-her-success

Brian Sims Responds To Facebook Ban After Being Called The F-Word and Sharing It: EXCLUSIVE

Towleroad caught up with gay Pennsylvania lawmaker Brian Sims after he made headlines for being banned from the social media platform after sharing a hateful message he had received.

As many media outlets reported last week, Sims was banned from Facebook for sharing a screenshot of a comment wherein a woman named Jill Freb said, “You get out f——.”

Sims said the worst thing about being blocked on social media and then seeing a story like this explode everywhere was not being able to respond directly on Facebook, although he could still express his views on Twitter.

After discovering he’d been banned from Facebook, Sims shared the message on Twitter, writing: “Facebook just banned ME for this.”

Sims noted that the homophobic message came from a user who had prominently advertised their religion on their profile, and said on Twitter: “The Venn Diagram of people who call me a f—–, and people who self identify as ‘Christian,’ is just a single circle. Christians, why is that?”

His Facebook account was subsequently reinstated although Sims still hasn’t heard why he was banned in the first place.

So I guess the advantage of knowing a few people at Facebook, some journalists who saw this post, and a whole lot of organizations that interact with Facebook is that my account was reactivated. THANKS! No explanation. No response yet from @facebook. What. About. Everyone. Else? pic.twitter.com/mZd3YwrBL1

— Brian Sims (@BrianSimsPA) January 16, 2019

For Sims it was a frustrating but teachable experience.

He told Towleroad that he he was particularly moved to hear comments from women of color who expressed frustration over the algorithm to determine what gets you banned or blocked and the in ability to get a response from the company, “The important take away here has clearly been that what happened to me is happening not just to other LGBTQ people but to women and people of color especially. Targeted harassment and pointed slurs seem to be surviving whatever review process Facebook says they are using, while the recipients and reporters of the harassment seem to be systematically experiencing either no responses or negative reactions.” 

Sims’ experience has led him to conclude that,  “Ultimately, what I think we all want is for Facebook to be transparent and proactive, to step up their game. It feels too much like we’re getting an “aww shucks” response from a dot.com startup than a substantive response from a multi-billion dollar, multi-national tech/comms behemoth.”

The post Brian Sims Responds To Facebook Ban After Being Called The F-Word and Sharing It: EXCLUSIVE appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Brian Sims Responds To Facebook Ban After Being Called The F-Word and Sharing It: EXCLUSIVE

Dear white guys: Here are 10 things you shouldn’t be afraid to say to a black guy
Just because something can be misconstrued as racist or tone deaf doesn’t mean I object.

www.queerty.com/dear-white-guys-10-things-shouldnt-afraid-say-black-guy-20190121?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Kentucky’s Catholic Diocese of Covington Banned Gay Valedictorian’s Speech in 2018: WATCH

The same Catholic Diocese that oversees Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, home to the students that harassed Native American Nathan Phillips over the weekend, also banned openly gay valedictorian Christian Bales’ speech at the High School of the Holy Cross last May, according to the New York Times.

The Diocese who issued an apology to Mr. Phillips said of Bales back in May that, “School officials and representatives of the Diocese of Covington reserve the right to review and approve all student speeches to be presented in public at high school graduations.”

“I have been on their radar as a rather non-gender conforming individual,” Bale, who is openly gay, told the Cincinnati Inquirer. “I have worn makeup and bobby pins in my hair to school before. So it seems too much of a coincidence for my critical thinking to think this was just about the speech itself. But I wasn’t going to go up there and give my speech in full drag.”

Bales made headlines for reading his speech via a bullhorn his father bought him after his speech was banned. Mr. Bales delivered his speech after the ceremony.

Bales speech concluded with a call-to-action to his fellow classmates, “We must take what we’ve learned in this community and apply it to the world we are about to encounter.”

USA Today reported that “Bales’ speech did not refer to his sexuality but instead referenced the ongoing gun-control protests by the students of Parkland High School in Florida, the scene of a school shooting earlier this year.”

Watch Bales deliver his speech below.

The post Kentucky’s Catholic Diocese of Covington Banned Gay Valedictorian’s Speech in 2018: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Kentucky’s Catholic Diocese of Covington Banned Gay Valedictorian’s Speech in 2018: WATCH

Bayard Rustin’s Life and Civil Rights Legacy in Photos

www.advocate.com/slideshow/2019/1/21/bayard-rustins-life-and-civil-rights-legacy-photos