#AM_Equality Tipsheet: February 7, 2020

HISTORY — VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE ADVANCES CRITICAL PROTECTIONS TO LGBTQ VIRGINIANS: The bill will grant non-discrimination protections to Virginians on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and several other characteristics. The legislation must now go through a few more procedural votes before heading to the governor’s desk. “Today, history was made in Virginia, and LGBTQ Virginians are one step closer to being protected from discrimination. No one should be discriminated against simply because of who they are or whom they love,” said HRC President Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid). “This day would not have been possible without the years and years of tireless work from advocates across the commonwealth, or the voters in Virginia who filled the halls of the General Assembly with pro-equality champions who fulfilled their promises.” More from HRC, Washington Blade, The Hill, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

• HRC joined its partners and pro-equality lawmakers in Richmond to celebrate this history-making legislation. Watch here.

History made in Virginia as the legislature advances the Virginia Values Act, extending long delayed non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ people and other protected classes. #VALeg t.co/C3pWIudWE9

— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) February 6, 2020

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY — HRC ON THE GROUND IN RICHMOND FOR THIS HISTORIC EVENT:

.@HRC is proud to be on the ground in Richmond to celebrate the passage of the Virginia Values Act through both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly.

After years of legislative stalemates, this bill will finally grant non-discrimination protections to Virginians. pic.twitter.com/gQzjFqt49c

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) February 6, 2020

ADVOCATES PLAN RALLY TO OPPOSE TRANSPHOBIC BILLS IN SOUTH DAKOTA: More from KELO.

MORE THAN 200 ANTI-LGBTQ LAWS INTRODUCED IN STATE LEGISLATURES: Julie Moreau (@JEMoreau) breaks down this onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills, which overwhelmingly attack the most vulnerable LGBTQ Americans — including transgender youth. More from NBC.

ARCHITECT OF OBAMA’S HIV POLICY CALLS OUT TRUMP-PENCE FOR DANGEROUS RECORD ON HIV AND AIDS: Despite a disturbing record on HIV and AIDS, the Trump-Pence administration announced an initiative to end HIV transmission in the United States by 2030 one year ago. Take an inside look at how the administration and its policies are undermining that objective from Greg Millett in The Hill.

TODAY IS NATIONAL BLACK HIV & AIDS AWARENESS DAY: This evening, HRC will host a discussion focusing on HIV and AIDS in the Black community. If you are a member of the press interested in attending, please contact [email protected].  More from HRC.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

COCA-COLA TAKES OUT PRO-EQUALITY ADS IN NEWSPAPERS ACROSS SWITZERLAND: More from PinkNews.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break! 

Metro Weekly reviews artist and HRC staffer Laya Monarez’s (@layamonarez) incredible art exhibit, which opened last week at the DC LGBTQ Center; Pink News interviews a couple from Belfast that plans to make history as one of the first same-sex couples to wed in Northern Ireland; NewNowNext interviews trans actor Scott Turner Schofield (@turnerschofield) about his role on the show ‘Studio City’

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!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-february-7-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Megan Rapinoe, Gus Kenworthy, Ryan Russell star in Abercrombie campaign

Abercrombie & Fitch has unveiled a new ‘Face Your Fierce’ ad campaign, and it notably wants to showcase more diversity than previous images associated with the brand.

Adverts that appeared on social media yesterday to promote the A&F’s ‘Fierce’ family of fragrances feature several LGBTQ faces.

These include Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy, World Cup-winning soccer player Megan Rapinoe, footballer Ryan Russell, plus-size model Michael McCauley (below), British rugby player Keegan Hirst, ballet dancer Harper Watters, comedian Andy Lalwani, and trans activists Laith Ashley and Leyna Bloom.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by America’s Favorite Teddy Bear (@michaelrobertmccauley) on Feb 6, 2020 at 6:42am PST

In total, 24 athletes, performers and activists are included in the campaign. It also includes Paralympian Scout Bassett, and body positivity model Halle Hathaway.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Laith Ashley [De La Cruz] (@laith_ashley) on Feb 6, 2020 at 2:06pm PST

It makes a change from the models typically associated with A&F, which has faced criticism in the past for its rigid beauty aesthetics.

Related: Abercrombie & Fitch tweets that “Pride is for straight people, too.” Internet goes berserk

Seven years ago it was slammed when it was revealed the brand didn’t carry women’s XL or XXL sizes. Before this, in 2007, its then CEO, Mike Jeffries, told Salon, “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla.”

Going on its new campaign, A&F has done a 180-degree u-turn.

In a statement, Abercrombie said, “Throughout the year-long campaign, cast members will share their experiences of body positivity, self-empowerment, determination, LGBTQ+ equality, gender equality, overcoming obstacles, and more, all to inspire customers to explore the unexpected and emotional aspects of inner strength.”

Rapinoe told People magazine she had been delighted to be asked to take part.

“I jumped at it right away. I mean, what a cool opportunity to be part of a big brand and a big national campaign with the lineup that they have,” she said. “My high school self is like, ‘Oh my God, this is insane.’”

“Fierce to me means just being who you are and feeling confident in being that person,” she said. “And I feel very lucky to have people around me in the family who really support me and make me feel it’s good to be that way.”

Ryan Russell, who came out as bisexual in 2019, said in an Instagram posting, “This past year being Fierce for me was about being honest. Honest about who I was and who I wanted to be.”

Keegan Hirst also posted to his Instagram, saying, “It’s a privilege to be part of a campaign that includes so many people who are fierce in so many different ways.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Keegan Hirst (@keeganhirst) on Feb 6, 2020 at 6:24am PST

Body positivity model Michael McCauley said, “When I started modeling a little over a year ago I never would have believed you if you’d said I’d become an Abercrombie and Fitch model!

“People want to see REAL people in the clothes they’re buying and I think most people can relate to guys like me. This isn’t a fashion statement. Beefy dudes are here to stay!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Abercrombie & Fitch (@abercrombie) on Feb 6, 2020 at 6:08am PST

Related: Colton Haynes’ new Abercrombie photos aren’t half as hot as his others

www.queerty.com/megan-rapinoe-gus-kenworthy-ryan-russell-star-abercrombie-campaign-20200207?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump Hotels Bill Taxpayers $650 Per Night for Secret Service Agents: ‘Emoluments be Damned!’

Donald Trump’s private company is making big bucks off American taxpayers when the president stays at his own properties, which he has visited on 342 days since he took office.

According to a new analysis from the Washington Post‘s David Farenthold, Trump’s company is charging $650 per night for Secret Service agents to stay at Mar-a-Lago, and $17,000 per month for a cottage at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.

WaPo reports: The only glimpses of this spending have come out via Secret Service records, released after public records requests. But these documents are often cryptic, giving few details. Last November, in response to a public records request from the group Property of the People, the Secret Service released a list of 56 payments it had made to Trump’s companies. All were from 2017. But the list was cryptic. It didn’t say what the Secret Service had been charged for. In some cases, it didn’t even say which Trump property had been paid. The Post tried to decode this list. One surprise: at least 20 of the payments to “Trump National Golf Club” — worth $63,700 — weren’t to a golf club at all. Other documents, already released, showed they were payments to Mar-a-Lago. The Post learned that many of them were hotel bills for $650 per night — a rate far higher than the usual limits on federal hotel spending. There is no legal limit on what the Secret Service may spend on hotel rooms while its agents are protecting the president.

Farenthold noted on Twitter (above) that the analysis directly contradicts something Trump’s son, Eric, said last year.

“If my father travels, they stay at our properties for free,” Eric Trump said. “So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50,” he added.

Several commenters noted that the arrangement appears to violate the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause, which provides: “The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.” 

The post Trump Hotels Bill Taxpayers $650 Per Night for Secret Service Agents: ‘Emoluments be Damned!’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Trump Hotels Bill Taxpayers $650 Per Night for Secret Service Agents: ‘Emoluments be Damned!’