DACA, Minecraft Pride, Arby’s, Kamala Harris, Titan, Jony Ive, Gay Magazines, Snakes on a Windshield: HOT LINKS

CASTLE FABULOUS. Straight teen makes fabulous gay Minecraft castle for gay friend disowned by parents. “My friend that I have played Xbox with for many years recently came out as gay and got a lot of backlash from his family,” he wrote. “To show my support I did this to our castle in Minecraft. Many hours and duplications later it was finished.”

MARROT. Arby’s has introduced a nightmare fuel carrot made of meat.

SCOTUS. Supreme Court agrees to hear DACA cases: “A pair of appeals courts have ruled against Trump officials who sought to end the Obama-era program. The administration urged the court last month to quickly decide whether it would take up a case on the program, but the justices rejected that request. The justices had previously declined to take up the administration’s challenge to a district court ruling that temporarily blocked officials from winding down the program. But Friday’s order puts the Supreme Court back at the heart of yet another controversial Trump policy move.”

KAMALA HARRIS. Her husband wrote her a sweet message before the debate. “Kamala and Douglas met on a blind date in 2013, got engaged in 2014, and then were married a year later. He is a lawyer who has two adult children from a previous relationship.”

MITCH MCCONNELL. I would give a Democratic president’s SCOTUS nominee a hearing and vote: “McConnell noted that two of President Richard Nixon’s Supreme Court nominees failed to pass the Senate and warned the same fate could befall a newly elected Democratic president if he or she nominated someone Republicans considered too far to the left.”

DEAR LEADER. Will Trump suspend the election if he can suspend the census?

MEGAN RAPINOE. I stand by my comments about not going to the White House.

DALLAS. City to install rainbow crosswalks in Oak Lawn: “Ten rainbow crosswalks are set to come to Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood, the historic heart of the city’s LGBTQ scene. The City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the crosswalk project as a small part of $1.4 million in street improvements on Cedar Springs Road between Douglas and Oak Lawn avenues.”

LIVERPOOL. 12-year-arrested for homophobic knife attack on gay couple.

PAUL MANAFORT. Former Trump campaign chair pleads not guilty to new fraud charges. “Manafort walked with a limp as court officers led him down a public hallway to the courtroom. He wore a blue jail uniform.”

TITAN. NASA to explore Saturn’s moon: “The mission — called Dragonfly — received a coveted funding slot from NASA’s New Frontiers program, which funds ambitious missions to explore objects in our Solar System.”

ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines.

JONY IVE. Apple’s design guru is leaving the company: “While Apple will be a client of Ive’s new company, he will also continue to work closely with the tech juggernaut on various projects.”

SNAKES ON A TRUCK. The nope of the day. “Two men were driving in Kansas City, Kansas, this week when a snake appeared outside of the passenger’s side window, video shows. One of the men filmed the encounter on Tuesday, according to Storyful, which reached out to the poster on Twitter.”

FRIDAY FLASH. Geovanny Interiano

View this post on Instagram

My first huge pride event was nothing short of amazing. Being able to be free, love free, and be unapologetically me has been so refreshing and much needed. Here is to more loving myself and everything I come with! Happy Pride season!! #pride #gay #gaytravel #toronto #torontopride #qpoc #gaylove #loveislove #gaybeardedmen #gaylatino #gaytravel #fatgay #fatmentravelling #gaypoc #gayboy #gaybeard #gaybear #bear #beardedgay #gaypride #gaylatinx #growthvscomfort #growth #gaycouplelove #gaycouple #gayboy #gay

A post shared by Geovanny Interiano (@the1nonlygeo) on Jun 26, 2019 at 1:06pm PDT

The post DACA, Minecraft Pride, Arby’s, Kamala Harris, Titan, Jony Ive, Gay Magazines, Snakes on a Windshield: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

DACA, Minecraft Pride, Arby’s, Kamala Harris, Titan, Jony Ive, Gay Magazines, Snakes on a Windshield: HOT LINKS

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: June 28, 2019

FIFTY YEARS AFTER STONEWALL, HRC COMMEMORATES THE RIOTS THAT HELPED SPARK A MOVEMENT: “Fifty years ago, the heroes of Stonewall, led by transgender women of color including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, boldy and bravely fought back against brutality at the hands of law enforcement,” said Jay Brown, HRC’s Senior Vice  President for Programs, Research and Training (@ThisIsJayBrown). “The individual acts of courage by the Stonewall rioters continue to ripple through history, reminding us of the power of protest, pride and solidarity. While the LGBTQ community – and especially transgender women of color – still face significant challenges, the resiliency of the rioters and the change they continue to inspire give us hope that, together, we can achieve dignity and justice for LGBTQ people throughout our country and around the world.” More from HRC. 

1/ Today we mark 50 years since the #Stonewall Riots, a seminal moment in the LGBTQ movement when patrons of the New York City bar rioted against oppression & brutality.

The Stonewall Riots ignited the modern LGBTQ rights movement & harnessed the political power of LGBTQ people. pic.twitter.com/wseUejjdzk

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 28, 2019

BREAKING — U.S. SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR 

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES ON ADDING CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO CENSUS 2020, PARTISAN REDISTRICTING IN MARYLAND & NORTH CAROLINA:

• On the court’s decision in Department of Commerce v. New York rejecting the Trump-Pence administration’s proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census based on an inadequate administrative explanation, HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow (@SarahWarbelow) said: “The Supreme Court’s decision recognizes widespread concern over the administration’s political motivation and stated reasoning behind the addition. Our work is not over — every person in the United States needs to ensure they are counted next year.” More from HRC. 
• On the court’s decision upholding partisan redistricting in two cases out of Maryland (Lamone v. Benisek) and North Carolina (Rucho v. Common Cause), HRC Director of Strategic Initiatives Ben Needham (@needhamb), said: “The right to vote is a central principle and bedrock of our democracy, and today’s Supreme Court decision is an attack on our fundamental rights and liberties.” More from HRC. 

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY — YOU ARE TRANS ENOUGH — TAKING PRIDE IN THE MAGIC OF GENDER: HRC’s Katalina Hadfield (@advokatalina) shares a powerful call to center the lives of trans people who have been at the heart of the LGBTQ movement since its beginning. More from HRC. 

“Gender is a vast, explorative and magical thing. People everywhere have varying and unique levels of masculinity, femininity — and sometimes both or neither.”

This #PrideMonth, @HRC celebrates our transgender and non-binary family. t.co/7lW7fvxcsh

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 26, 2019

RECOGNIZING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY’S POLITICAL POWER, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PUT LGBTQ EQUALITY AT CENTER STAGE DURING FIRST 2020 DEMOCRATIC DEBATES: Read more from The Week. 

BREAK THE CYCLE OF HARM — IT’S TIME TO SUPPORT SEX WORK DECRIMINALIZATION: More from The Washington Blade. 

FOR NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY YESTERDAY, HRC HIGHLIGHTS ADVOCATES WORKING ON THE FRONT LINES TO END THE HIV EPIDEMIC: More from HRC. 

LAS VEGAS FIREFIGHTERS INVESTIGATE ARSON AT LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER IN SOUTHERN NEVADA: More from Advocate. 

PRIDE MONTH ROUNDUP

A STONEWALL VETERAN REMEMBERS — TOMMY LANIGAN-SCHMIDT ON THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY: “Things are fought very hard for, and certain things are gained, but they have to keep being fought for because they can easily be lost,” says Lanigan-Schmidt, sending a  message of resistance, resilience and celebration for activists continuing the fight for LGBTQ. More from HRC. 

USA TODAY — MILLIONS TRAVELING TO NYC FOR WORLD PRIDE, WHY ARE SOME OPTING TO SKIP? “We must remember Pride is not just a celebration but a commemoration of lives lost and powerful vehicle for fighting for our rights, many of which remain under assault all over the world despite recent successes,” said Tarek Zeidan (@tarekzeidan), executive director of LGBT nonprofit Helem. More from USA Today.

CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS ALONG A TOUGH POLITICAL ROAD — LOOKING AT STONEWALL 50: “Changes came when society woke up to injustice and acted,” writes USA Today’s Tom Krattenmaker in an oped. (@TKrattenmaker). More from USA Today.

ORGANIZACIONES LATINX Y HRC HABLAN CON ELDIARIONY SOBRE LA MARCHA DE WORLDPRIDE: HRC, Latino Commission on Aids y Latino Pride Center son algunas de las numerosas organizaciones que serán parte de uno de los eventos LGBTQ más grandes del mundo. “Como la organización de derechos civiles de personas LGBTQ más grande del país, hemos estado participando en el desfile del orgullo de Nueva York por muchos años”, dijo Zach Hasychak, director de membresía y gestión de alcance de HRC. “Nos llena de emoción saber que la ciudad de Nueva York será anfitriona del WorldPride este año, lo cual significa que millones de personas vendrán a Manhattan para celebrar el 50º aniversario de las manifestaciones de Stonewall.” Más de ElDiarioNY. 

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

DISTURBING — TRANSGENDER HATE CRIMES UP BY 81% IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES: More from BBC. 

REPORT REVEALS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LGBTQ COUPLES IN HONG KONG: More from Gay Star News. 

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Today Show shares how coming out stories have changed across generations; HIV Plus Mag spotlights Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown (@KaramoBrown) sharing a message of love for National HIV Testing Day; Trailblazing show One Day at a Time to return for Season 4

Congrats to #ODAAT on being renewed for a fourth season! #OneDayAtATime is a trailblazing show that constantly breaks barriers for #Latinx #LGBTQ visibility.

We’re honored to call @OneDayAtATime’s @Isabella_Gomez, @JustinaMachado & @everythingloria part of the @HRC family. pic.twitter.com/OuVnGYAM0q

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 27, 2019

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-june-28-2019?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Burger King’s new Pride ad features an f-bomb, a burger diamond and 2 super cute hus-bears

Burger King just released a Pride month ad which is the only fast-food commercial where an ultra-burnt burger gets turned into a diamond, there’s a gay wedding and someone drops an f-bomb.

In the ad, Burger King flies Dima and Alvar — a silver bear couple from an unnamed east European country without same-sex marriage — to Germany to get married. But because this is a commercial and they’re not just selling “love,” Burger King first chars the ever-living f*ck out of one of their Whoppers and compresses its carbonized ash into a diamond for the couple’s wedding rings. (We assume the diamond smells like a meat patty and onions.)

It’s actually super adorable to see the couple being all lovey-dovey as they prepare for their special day. At one point, one of the men being fitted for wedding attire actually proposes on camera, reducing his mate to tears. Then, when the wedding officiator asks each one if they take the other as their lawfully wedded hus-bear, the latter answers, “I absolutely f*cking do.”

Related: Burger King serves up only queer Super Bowl ad with obscure reference to Andy Warhol

We imagine dumb hate groups like One Million Moms will now call for a Burger King boycott because this commercial teaches kids to swear and marry bears, but whatever — it’s a pretty cool commercial and we kinda wanna be in a couple like that when we grow up. (Especially if a fast food joint pays for our schmancy destination wedding.)

We also hope Burger King starts selling diamonds made out of their burnt food.

Here’s the Burger King Pride ad:

This isn’t Burger King’s first Pride promo, of course. In 2014, the company briefly sold a Pride Whopper during San Francisco Pride that was (surprise!) just a normal Whopper wrapped in rainbow butcher paper that read, “We are all the same inside.”

That may sound corny, but it reportedly earned the company “over one billion media impressions (worth $21 million of earned media), 7 million video views, 450,000 blog mentions, and became the number one trending topic on Facebook and Twitter.”

That’s a lot of beef for just one burger.

www.queerty.com/burger-kings-new-pride-ad-features-f-bomb-burger-diamond-2-super-cute-hus-bears-20190628?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Burger King Scorched a Whopper into Carbon and Made It into Diamond Wedding Rings for a Gay Couple: WATCH

Burger King Germany had an original way to celebrate Pride. They scorched a Whopper burger until it was carbon and then pressed it into diamonds, creating a wedding ring for Dima and Alvar, an Eastern European couple from a country where gay marriage is illegal.

The Drum reports: ‘Burger King facilitated the wedding, brought them to Germany where gay marriage is legal and thoughtfully (or crassly?) transforms its lead product in a symbol of the couples’ love. The pair dubbed it a “dream come true” in a spot that culminates in the wedding celebration. Tying into the film, Burger King Germany is releasing a rainbow version of its crown in Berlin and is running an influencer campaign for further resonance.’

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Burger King Scorched a Whopper into Carbon and Made It into Diamond Wedding Rings for a Gay Couple: WATCH

Aaron Schock Filmed Putting Cash in Go-Go Boy’s Briefs: WATCH

Disgraced former GOP Congressman Aaron Schock was filmed putting cash in the briefs of a go-go boy in Mexico City last Saturday around midnight.

Schock’s hypocrisy has been talked about much in recent weeks, after photographs were taken of him with a group of gay men at the Coachella Music festival, he was spotted talking up various men at a West Hollywood pool, and after a nude, sexual video turned up on Twitter..

You may recall that Schock recently slid out of corruption charges including filing false tax returns, mail fraud, wire fraud, submitting false reports to the FEC, false statements, and theft of government funds, defrauding the government of more than $100,000.

Aside from the dropped corruption charges, Schock is known for his support of a federal amendment to ban same-sex marriage and his support of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. As well as that Downton Abbey office, and his unforgettable turquoise belt.

Activist James Duke Mason, who took the posted of Schock at Coachella, said at the time: “Normally I wouldn’t comment on something like this, but I am just infuriated by these images of former Republican (and anti-gay) Congressman Aaron Schock partying with a group of gay men at Coachella. The fact that he would think he could show his face in public, particularly when he has NEVER renounced or apologized for his votes against gay marriage, gays in the military and against anti-discrimination laws is astounding. My intention isn’t to out him or target him personally, but simply to point out the hypocrisy. I saw him at a recent gay social event in West Hollywood and shook his hand before I even knew who he was; he should really be ashamed of himself. And the gays who associate with him without calling him out should know better. It really is a disgrace.”

An FEC filing from Schock in early June raised speculation that he was planning another run for office, but Schock has denied that is happening.

The post Aaron Schock Filmed Putting Cash in Go-Go Boy’s Briefs: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Aaron Schock Filmed Putting Cash in Go-Go Boy’s Briefs: WATCH

Fifty Years After Stonewall, HRC Commemorates the Riots That Helped Spark a Movement

Today, HRC marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riots, a seminal moment in the LGBTQ movement when patrons of the New York City bar rioted against oppression and brutality.

“Fifty years ago, the heroes of Stonewall, led by transgender women of color including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, boldy and bravely fought back against brutality at the hands of law enforcement,” said Jay Brown, Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training for the HRC Foundation. “The individual acts of courage by the Stonewall rioters continue to ripple through history, reminding us of the power of protest, pride and solidarity. While the LGBTQ community – and especially transgender women of color – still face significant challenges, the resiliency of the rioters and the change they continue to inspire give us hope that, together, we can achieve dignity and justice for LGBTQ people throughout our country and around the world.”

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Riots began, helping ignite the modern LGBTQ rights movement and harness the political power of LGBTQ people. Harassed by local police simply for congregating, Stonewall’s LGBTQ patrons — most of whom were trans women of color — decided to take a stand and fight back against the brutal intimidation they regularly faced at the hands of police. One year later, the first LGBTQ Pride marches were held, establishing June as Pride Month. During the better part of a decade, other riots and demonstrations took place to demand LGBTQ rights, including at Cooper Do-nuts in 1959, at Compton’s Cafeteria in 1966, and the Black Cat protests in 1967.

In recent years, the LGBTQ community has made great strides toward full equality in the U.S. through legal victories and political change built on decades of grassroots activism. Just last month, after LGBTQ voters helped usher in a pro-equality U.S. House of Representatives, the Equality Act passed through that chamber by a bipartisan vote of 236 to 173. This vote marks the first time in history a chamber of Congress has passed comprehensive LGBTQ non-discrimination protections.

However, even in the last few weeks, the relentless attacks on our community by the Trump-Pence White House have continued, threatening the rights and welfare of millions of LGBTQ Americans. The administration announced its intention to propose a rule that would allow federally-funded homeless shelters to deny transgender people. And earlier this month, it issued a proposal to drastically roll back health care protections for transgender people under the Affordable Care Act. 

Today, in 30 states, LGBTQ people remain at risk of being fired, evicted or denied services because of who they are. LGBTQ youth continue to face elevated levels of bullying and rejection, and many associated physical and mental health challenges. According to FBI hate crimes statistics from 2017, the most recently available data, the bureau reported a surge in hate crimes disproportionately affecting LGBTQ people, Black people and religious minorities, especially those living at the intersection of multiple identities. And at least 100 transgender people — most of whom are transgender women of color — have been the victims of fatal violence in the U.S. since the beginning of 2015. In 2019, at least 11 Black transgender women have been killed — the vast majority as the result of gun violence.

HRC is committed to defending our community from attacks on our rights by the Trump-Pence White House and anti-equality forces in the U.S. and around the world, while pushing for the Equality Act and pursuing other legislative and legal avenues that will ensure full lived equality for all LGBTQ people, everywhere.

As the LGBTQ community celebrates the progress we have made in the 50 years since Stonewall, it has never been more important that we recognize the distance we still have to go to achieve full equality, and the power that this community can harness to achieve that goal, together.

hrc.org/blog/50-years-after-stonewall-hrc-commemorates-the-riots-that-spaked-a-movement?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed