2019 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are here…and very queer! Lil Nas X, Lady Gaga, Halsey, Panic! at the Disco, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and more land big in major categories

www.glaad.org/blog/2019-mtv-video-music-awards-nominations-are-here%E2%80%A6and-very-queer-lil-nas-x-lady-gaga-halsey

WATCH: Jimmy Fowlie tackles open relationship horrors in hilarious new sketch

Last year Jimmy Fowlie introduced the world to Curtis, the perpetually single GBF.

Well, a lot can happen in a year, and you’ll no doubt be delighted to know that in the second installment in the Curtis canon, our gallant protagonist has found himself a boo. It’s all he ever really wanted.

Related: He turned Emma Stone’s one-woman show from “La La Land” into a real, awkward masterpiece

At the risk of spoiling the twists and turns of Curtis navigating his new open relationship, we won’t dare say another word.

Except to say hit play:

www.queerty.com/watch-jimmy-fowlie-tackles-open-relationship-horrors-hilarious-new-sketch-20190723?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

HRC Praises Reintroduction of the GLOBE Act

While the Trump-Pence White House continues to turn its back on human rights, particularly those pertaining to LGBTQ people both at home and abroad, HRC praises members of Congress who continue to demonstrate bold leadership in prioritizing LGBTQ equality around the world.

On Monday, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., introduced the Greater Leadership Overseas for the Benefit of Equality Act, a bill that would address a wide array of policy areas to improve the lives of LGBTQ people around the globe.

Some of the key provisions of the GLOBE Act include: 

• Creating a permanent special envoy for LGBTQ human rights at the U.S. State Department; 
• Establishing an interagency group within the U.S. government tasked with responding to attacks on LGBTQ people outside the U.S.; 
• Authorizing sanctions against those who commit anti-LGBTQ human rights violations abroad and requiring that the U.S. State Department report on those violations in its annual human rights report; 
• Codifying a non-discrimination policy in all U.S. foreign assistance programs to ensure inclusion of LGBTQ people in all U.S. funded programs; and
• Permanently establishing LGBTQ identities as a “social group” for the purposes of claiming asylum in the U.S.

“No person should suffer from discrimination because of who they are or whom they love,” Titus said in introducing the bill. “Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. is failing to protect the rights of LGBTI people at home and abroad. This bill will help restore our role in promoting LGBTI rights around the world and punishing regimes that persecute people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

HRC welcomes the introduction of this vital legislation, led by our coalition partners at the Council for Global Equality and other council members and allied organizations.

“While the Trump-Pence White House refuses to speak out against anti-LGBTQ attacks worldwide, it is essential that the U.S. Congress defend the human rights and protections of all people — including LGBTQ people,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “With the introduction of this legislation, Congress sends an important message that U.S. leaders remain committed to advancing human rights around the globe. We thank Rep. Titus for her leadership and advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ people worldwide.”

The GLOBE Act joins other key pieces of legislation that seek to advance LGBTQ human rights abroad, including the International Human Rights Defense Act and the Global Respect Act.

HRC will continue to work with Congress to champion these and other pieces of critical international legislation to safeguard protections and advance equality for LGBTQ people here at home and around the world.

For more information, visit hrc.org/Global.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-praises-reintroduction-of-the-globe-act?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Nickelodeon’s Michael D. Cohen Says He ‘Never Lived Secretly’

On the LGBTQ&A podcast, the Henry Danger discusses disclosing his identity to the public.

www.advocate.com/television/2019/7/23/nickelodeons-michael-d-cohen-increasing-trans-male-visibility

Ricky Martin marches with pride flag against embattled Puerto Rican governor

Out pop star Ricky Martin has taken to the streets of his native Puerto Rico to protest against governor Ricardo Rosselló.

Though Rosselló has said he will not seek reelection following a leak of more than 900 pages of text messages in which he used homophobic slurs and expressed many other sentiments insulting to Puerto Ricans, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of San Juan on July 22 to show their opposition.

Ricky Martin joined with thousands of other Puerto Ricans to demand Rosselló’s immediate resignation. Images of Martin waving a Pride Flag amid the crowds went viral on Twitter, as did Martin’s own tweets regarding Rosselló.

Qué orgulloso me siento de ser puertorriqueño. Qué fuerza sentí de parte de mi gente. Seguimos en la lucha hasta que @ricardorossello no gobierne mas. #resistencia ?: @worldjunkies , @usamahamid pic.twitter.com/xZLAtL2snV

— Ricky Martin (@ricky_martin) July 23, 2019

“How proud I am to be Puerto Rican. What strength I felt from my people. We continue in the fight until @ricardorossello Don’t rule anymore,” Martin wrote in one tweet.

Related: Ricky Martin hits the street to join protests against Puerto Rico’s homophobic governor

“They mocked our dead, they mocked women, they mocked the LGBT community, they made fun of people with physical and mental disabilities, they made fun of obesity. It’s enough. This cannot be,” Martin said.

The “Telegramgate” scandal has ensnared the highest levels of the Rosselló government. Rosselló’s former finance minister referred to Ricky Martin personally in one message, writing “Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he fucks men because women don’t measure up. Pure patriarchy.”

Rosselló himself also referred to a number of fellow politicians and journalists as “c*cksuckers.”

www.queerty.com/ricky-martin-marches-pride-flag-embattled-puerto-rican-governor-20190723?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

LGBTQ Rights Activist Targeted by ‘Saw’-Inspired ‘Gay Hunting’ Website Found Murdered in Russia

Yelena Grigoryeva, a Russian LGBTQ activist who had been targeted on a ‘gay hunting’ website inspired by the horror film Saw, was murdered in St. Petersburg over the weekend. Grigoryeva’s body was found in bushes near her home.

The Moscow Times reports: ‘The activist had regularly received death threats and reported them to the police, who did nothing to protect her before she was murdered, fellow activist Dinar Idrisov wrote on Facebook on Monday. “A reminder: Yelena was listed on the homophobic ‘Saw’ website which has long threatened LGBT activists across the country,” photojournalist Georgy Markov wrote. Grigoriyeva had been stabbed at least eight times, the St. Petersburg Fontanka.ru news website reported.’

The BBC adds: “Police have not confirmed the reports of death threats and it is not clear if the attack was linked to her activism. A suspect has been detained in connection with her murder, according to Fontanka. Along with campaigning for LGBT rights, Ms Grigoryeva also demonstrated against Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, the ill treatment of prisoners and a number of other human rights causes.”

The NY Daily News reported on the Saw-inspired site, which was shut down last week: ‘Inspired by, and named after, the “Saw’ horror movie franchise, the website directed people to track down and assault people who were believed to be LGBTQ. When it started operating around April, 2018, “Saw” welcomed “gay hunters” in a “game” called “Chechnya’s Comeback.” It asked participants to find their targets, and publish their personal information online. According to GayStarNews.com, the site charged 200 rubles ($3) to go through its database. If someone found their name on the website, they had to pay 1,500 rubles ($23) to be removed. The “game” offered legal protection to “users,” and warned them that they could do anything, except kill the targets.’

‘

The post LGBTQ Rights Activist Targeted by ‘Saw’-Inspired ‘Gay Hunting’ Website Found Murdered in Russia appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

LGBTQ Rights Activist Targeted by ‘Saw’-Inspired ‘Gay Hunting’ Website Found Murdered in Russia

Gay Diplomat Nominated as Ambassador to Conservative Lithuania

Trump nominee Robert Gilchrist previously praised his former bosses, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

www.advocate.com/politics/2019/7/23/gay-diplomat-nominated-ambassador-conservative-lithuania