Rashida Tlaib Apologizes for Encouraging Bernie Rally to Boo Hillary Clinton: WATCH

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) apologized on Saturday after going viral for encouraging the crowd at a Bernie Sanders rally to boo Hillary Clinton.

At a certain point during a panel led by Des Moines school board member Dionna Langford which included Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal, Clinton’s name was mentioned and the crowd booed. Langford asked the crowd not to boo, but Tlaib egged them on.

“Well, I’ll boo,” she said. “Boo! You all know, I can’t be quiet, no, we’re going to boo. That’s all right, the haters will shut up on Monday when we win.”

Tlaib later apologized: “I am so incredibly in love with the movement that our campaign of #NotMeUs has created. This makes me protective over it and frustrated by attempts to dismiss the strength and diversity of our movement. However, I know what is at stake if we don’t unify over one candidate to beat Trump and I intend to do everything possible to ensure that Trump does not win in 2020. In this instance, I allowed my disappointment with Secretary Clinton’s latest comments about Senator Sanders and his supporters get the best of me. You all, my sisters-in-service on stage, and our movement deserve better. I will continue to strive to come from a place of love and not react in the same way of those who are against what we are building in this country. This is about building a just and equitable future for my two boys, children across the country, and future generations.”

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Rashida Tlaib Apologizes for Encouraging Bernie Rally to Boo Hillary Clinton: WATCH

How Ex-NFL Star Ryan O’Callaghan Found the Courage to Come Out

The former football player opens up about being gay in the NFL, why he hid his sexual orientation, and how addiction treatment saved his life.

www.advocate.com/sports/2020/2/01/how-ex-nfl-star-ryan-ocallaghan-found-courage-come-out

Chicago trainer Sam Cushing on the power of a backwards hat at the gym

This post is part of a series of Queerty conversations with models, trainers, dancers, and, well, people who inspire us to stay in shape–or just sit on the couch ogling them instead.

Name: Sam Cushing, 27

City: Chicago

www.queerty.com/chicago-trainer-sam-cushing-power-backwards-hat-gym-20200201?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

U.S. Bans Tanzanian Official Who Launched Surveillance Squad to Hunt Down Gays

The State Department has banned Paul Makonda, regional commissioner for Dar es Salaam, the most populous city in Tanzania, from visiting the U.S..

Said the State Department: “These actions against Paul Christian Makonda underscore our concern with human rights violations and abuses in Tanzania, as well as our support for accountability for those who engage in such violations and abuses.  We call on the Tanzanian government to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression, association, and the right of peaceful assembly.”

In November 2018, Makonda  launched a crackdown on gay people, announcing a surveillance squad to identify them on social media so they can be arrested. He has also appealed to the public.

The Guardian reported on the crackdown: “By Tuesday, he said he had already received 5,763 messages from the public, with more than 100 names. A 17-member committee will also be established to identify gay people on social media and arrest them. Many LGBT activists, who fear violent attacks from police and members of the public, have either fled their area or remain shut in their homes.”

ALSO: LGBTQ World News Digest: 12 Stories from Around the Globe You Should Know About

Said Makonda to reporters: “I have information about the presence of many homosexuals in our province. These homosexuals boast on social networks. Give me their names. My ad hoc team will begin to get their hands on them next Monday.”

Asked about criticism from outsiders, Makonda said “I prefer to anger those countries [instead of] angering God. [Homosexuality] tramples on the moral values of Tanzanians and our two Christian and Muslim religions”.

Said Geofry Mashala, a Tanzanian LGBT activist now living in California, to the Guardian: “Every gay person is living in fear. Even the parents of gay children are also living in great fear.”

Same-sex acts are punishable by life in prison.

In 2017, twenty people attending a training seminar for HIV/AIDS relief work were arrested in Zanzibar.

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U.S. Bans Tanzanian Official Who Launched Surveillance Squad to Hunt Down Gays