HRC responded to the mass shooting at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, where at least 15 were killed and more than two dozen wounded.
“We are heartbroken over the innocent lives taken today. The horrific violence in El Paso has become all too common in our country,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “After Newtown, our nation called for action. After Tucson, Virginia Tech, Aurora, San Bernardino, Charleston, and Alexandria, we called for action. After the shooting at Pulse Nightclub more than two years ago, we called for action. After Parkland and Las Vegas, we called for action. It’s time for those who are inactive in Congress and the White House to act. We need leadership now, not more victim-blaming and divisive rhetoric that could result in more senseless deaths. We must continue to demand action until our lawmakers either hear us — or we have new lawmakers.”
This tragedy comes more than three years since 49 lives — most of them Latinx — were taken in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
HRC backs common-sense gun violence prevention policy measures and policies aimed at addressing the epidemic of hate that has fueled anti-LGBTQ-motivated murder, assault, and discrimination. For decades, LGBTQ people have been a target for bias-motivated violence, and easy access to deadly weapons has compounded this threat. Common-sense gun violence prevention measures endorsed by HRC include banning access to assault-style rifles, expanding background checks, and limiting the ability for suspected terrorists and those with a history of domestic abuse to access guns.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, more than 33,000 gun deaths happen every year.
Post Game Locker room PARTY!
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4bidden Jay Gym Tank
Hey boys!! New event for the Aesthetic body! fits: Aestetic (ofcourse) jake Gianni & legacy bodies.
item comes in 10 colors and you can edit to tint the edges if you like manually. we have 9 cute textures on the front. Event: TAXI:
MAN-POCALYPSE maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pride%20Isles/18/201/1004
4BIDDEN Main Store: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spurt%20Beach/216/184/23
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Credits:
4BIDDEN – jay gym tank
Noche – Ultimate cushion sock
Stealthic – Narcotic
Motive8 – s-14 pose
[Focus Poses] –
Locker room backdrop
At Least 18 Dead in Mass Shooting at El Paso Walmart
At least 18 people have been killed in a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. The 21-year-old gunman is in custody, according to police. He has been identified as Patrick Crusius.
Terrible shootings in ElPaso, Texas. Reports are very bad, many killed. Working with State and Local authorities, and Law Enforcement. Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government. God be with you all!
ABC News reports: “A spokesperson for El Paso’s Del Sol Medical Center said that 11 victims ranging in age from 35 to 82 were being treated at the facility. Unversity Medical Center of El Paso received an additional 13 victims — two of whom were children, ages 2 and 9, who were stabilized and transferred to El Paso Children’s Hospital, according to officials.”
The El Paso Times reports: ‘A Facebook account apparently belonging to the suspect appeared to have been deleted Saturday afternoon. The account shows a young man in wire-frame glasses, with a pained expression in his profile photo. The account showed three friends, including a possible twin sister. A Twitter account in the suspect’s name included several tweets supporting President Donald Trump, although the account has been inactive for the past two years. A January 2017 tweet said, “#BuildTheWall is the best way that @POTUS has worked to secure our country so far!” The El Paso Times was unable to immediately confirm whether the handle belonged to the suspect.’
A manifesto allegedly written by the shooter and posted to 8chan called the attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” The authenticity of that manifesto has not been confirmed.
VIDEO: Wal-Mart employee Leslie Diaz talks about the moments the shooting began at the store located near Cielo Vista Mall. pic.twitter.com/IgEgOVviKp
Yogi Johnson Chong on how meditation helped him through trauma
Photo by Chad Wagner
This post is part of a series of Queerty conversations with models, trainers, dancers, and, well, people who inspire us to stay in shape–0r just sit on the couch ogling them instead.
City: Singapore. I was born and grew up in New York City.
Occupation: I just call myself a self-mastery guide. I integrate yoga, pilates, meditation, reiki in my work. I also do something called “inner guidance.” It’s a deeply emotional, visceral experience. I just integrate a variety of experiences to help people find their own truth.
Favorite Gym: At our studio, Sagehouse, we’re fully equipped with pilates equipment and I do calisthenics.
Favorite Work Out Song: I like to listen to motivational music. Trevor Hall, Anima…all conscious songwriters. They have a folk-indieness to them. I tend to have playlists filled up with their kind of music. It’s consciousness-based.
Recommended Work-Out Foods: It depends. Everyone has a different physical constitution. I generally refer clients to a nutritionist. I’m more concerned with emotional well-being.
Best Workout Outfit: Dry-fit clothing. I like Lulu Lemon stuff. I need breathable clothes. It needs to be loose. Any sporting brand that has breathable clothing. It’s really hot in Singapore, and it’s really humid here. So I tend to wear dry-fit clothing.
How do you balance staying in shape and having fun? Make things into a game and spend quality time outdoors with people. Go hiking, climbing or whatnot. I love nature and going outside. Spend time with friends. There are a bunch of guys in Singapore that just go to the gym six days a week. That’s a bit excessive. Go live life. If you spend all your time in the gym, and you’re not socializing with friends, who are you looking good for?
When did you discover the power of meditation and yoga? I was 19. By the time I was 21, I was really coming to terms with my identity as a gay person. I lived a very repressed life growing up. Meditation really helped me to remove myself from my story for a moment and it helped me to get perspective. It really helped me to look at my life. It helped me come to terms with who I am.
One thing you’re very forthright about is your own abusive childhood, and how you carried that pain and trauma with you. What is it about staying active through yoga and meditation that helped you deal with and release that trauma?
At first, I did yoga as part of my acting training. The spiritual stuff came later on. What really surprised me about yoga was that it allowed my body to release its story. At the end of yoga class, my body would start going through these emotional experiences. It’s not like I was thinking about my abusive childhood. My body was crying. All these emotions were coming up. I don’t have that experience anymore, because it’s all out of my system.
For our readers, exactly what’s the theory behind that?
In yogic philosophy, there are five layers of kosas. The first three are the physical, mental and emotional. All three of those are connected. Everything is experienced through the body. If we have a thought, if we feel sad, there’s a physical sensation. Everything gets stored in the body. I like to think of it like a tree: if you cut a tree open, the rings will tell you if there was a drought or a lot of rain. Our bodies do that…they record trauma. In acting class, my teacher cued to lengthen my neck and loosen my jaw. I had this whole flashback to my tutor who used to take a ruler and beat me across the neck. I started tensing and wheezing and crying. That was just from someone touching my neck to soften it. The body remembered pain because it was trying to defend itself. It’s very philosophical. There is a science of mapping energy and chakras.
How does doing yoga prepare you psychologically and emotionally?
As a regular routine, yoga is really helpful for clearing out the garbage in your body. If you think of chicken in the supermarket, there’s that thin film over it, fascia. In younger chicken, it’s thinner. In older chicken, it’s thicker. It’s the same in human beings. Our fascia gets tighter. Physically we start to bunch up. So yoga is all about creating space in the fascia and in the joints so that blood can flow. If you have blood flowing, you have energy flowing better. You make thoughts from a place of clarity rather than confusion.
So many of us—particularly gaymen—feel a lot of pressure to maintain a certain gym build, or to avoid carrying extra weight. Can yoga be a substitute for the gym?
There needs to be a balance. The gym is a different energy. Yoga is softer. A lot of people who go to the gym only work concentrically with their body. They’re always contracting it. In doing that, you make your tissues tight. You do that, circulation isn’t going to be so good. Your energy doesn’t flow so much. The same is true for people who obsessively do yoga. They’re overly flexible and need muscle tone. That’s why I love Pilates. It’s a great blend.
In your writings and your lectures, you talk a lot about finding purpose in life. What role does that play in finding a healthy life?
It’s empowering. You have to go with what impassions you.
What do you keep on your nightstand?
I have plants, they purify the room. I have a Himalayan salt lamp. I have a dreamcatcher, and I have crystals and stones. I love having natural elements in my room.
Carissa Pinkston, a model who posed for Savage X Fenty, is facing Internet scorn after admitting she lied about being transgender. She initially “came out” on July 22 after transphobic Facebook posts of hers surfaced online, as HuffPost reports.
The 20-year-old has since deleted the posts, but she was nonetheless fired by Elite Models, according to Paper.
Then, on July 22, Pinkston claimed to be transgender: “I wasn’t ready to come out about it yet but today I got fired and I’ve been receiving hate mail and death threats ever since so I’m being forced to tell the truth,” she wrote. “I’m transgender. I transitioned at a very young age and I’ve lived my life as a female ever since.”
Five days later, she backtracked. “I panicked and I thought if I came out as trans that I could somehow make things better for myself but it appears I’ve only made things worse,” she wrote a follow-up post. “I’m truly sorry. I’m only 20 and I’m human. I make mistakes but I refuse to let them define me.”
imagine being a model who got exposed for being a raging transphobe/saying extremely transphobic shit in the past and then resorting to LYING ABOUT BEING TRANSGENDER ONLINE FOR CLOUT IN ATTEMPT TO SAVE YOUR CAREER…? i know this person irl and she is SO CISGENDER?? Y’ALL I-? pic.twitter.com/GtB55p8Cr5
Afterward, the model told BuzzFeed News that she is “taking full responsibility” for her words and that she is “definitely not transphobic.”
“The only reason I had lied was because of the death threats,” Pinkston explained to the site. “And I was scared, so I thought they would accept me only if I said I was trans. … I got an experience of what a transgender person goes through.”
Gay Son of ‘Straight Pride’ Event Organizer Speaks Out Against It: WATCH
Matthew Mason, the gay son of Mylinda Mason, the co-organizer of a Straight Pride event planned for late August in Modesto, California is speaking out in hopes of getting the event shut down.
Organizers have reportedly filed an application to use the city’s Mancini Bowl for a rally and may also be planning a parade around the August 24 event.
The Modesto Bee reports: “Mason still will address the City Council. He said he supports the right to free speech and peaceful assembly but believes the city should not allow this event because it has the potential for violence. One of the organizers has said the local chapter of the Proud Boys accepted his invitation to attend. The New York Times has reported that Proud Boy members attended the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in which one of the rally participants drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one of them.”
According to the Bee, the other co-organizer has a long history of hate: ‘Don Grundmann, 67, founded the National Straight Pride Coalition and its California chapter about four months ago, the latest in a series of groups he has formed over the years, including Citizens Against Perversion. … According to its website, the coalition is protecting traditional gender roles, Christianity, heterosexuality, Western Civilization, and the contributions of whites to Western Civilization from the malevolence of the homosexual movement. …Grundmann said in a July 27 interview that he hopes the coalition grows nationwide and influences the 2020 election. “We’re going to change the cultural tide and make it, such things as gender fluidity and transgender, we’re going to associate them with what they are: sick and evil ideas, and also infanticide and abortion. We going to go the whole gamut. It’s OK to be a man. It’s OK to be a woman.”‘
