Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Makes History by Attending LGBT Rally at Capitol: WATCH

Democrat Andy Beshear became the first sitting Kentucky governor to attend an annual statewide LGBTQ rights rally on Wednesday.

Back in November, Beshear defeated anti-LGBT Republican incumbent Matt Bevin, who famously backed Rowan county clerk Kim Davis after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Speaking at the rally staged by the Fairness Campaign in the Capitol Rotunda, Beshear expressed support for bills that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people and ban conversion therapy, both of which face uphill battles in the Republican-dominated Legislature, according to the Associated Press.

“Diversity and inclusion, they aren’t buzz words,” Beshear said. “They are values. And they are keys to making Kentucky stronger. Kentucky cannot reach its full potential if all of our people don’t feel supported to be themselves.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Beshear dismissed a question about whether his appearance would have political implications.

“I think it took too long,” Beshear said about being the first governor to speak at the rally. “Under this administration, every single Kentuckian counts.”

Watch Beshear’s speech below.

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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Makes History by Attending LGBT Rally at Capitol: WATCH

HRC Endorses U.S. Rep. Angie Craig for Reelection

Today, HRC announced the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Angie Craig for re-election.

Rep. Angie Craig, as one of seven openly LGBTQ members of the U.S. House and the first openly lesbian mother to be elected to Congress, has been one of the community’s most impactful and vocal supporters of the Equality Act — crucial bipartisan legislation that would finally provide clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people nationwide. Over the next year, HRC will devote significant resources to turning out the 658,000 Equality Voters across the state of Minnesota to ensure pro-equality, LGBTQ leaders like Rep. Craig remain in, or are elected to office.

“The voters of Minnesota’s 2nd district made a wise choice in electing Angie Craig to Congress in 2018. She’s hit the ground running as a champion for civil rights, for good paying jobs, and for accessible and affordable health care,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Angie Craig’s success in Congress has helped show LGBTQ children and youth that they can aspire to any job in America regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Human Rights Campaign is proud to endorse Congresswoman Craig’s bid for reelection and we look forward to continuing to fight alongside her for full equality.”

“I’m honored to have the support of HRC. As the first LGBTQ mother in Congress, I know that having more voices represented only makes our nation stronger,” said Angie Craig, U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. “We need all kinds of experiences and voices to be represented in order to move important policies, like the Equality Act, forward. It is my privilege to work with you to usher in a better future for the next generation.”

In the 2018 midterms, HRC helped register more than 32,000 voters and recruited more than 4,200 volunteers, who worked over 8,500 shifts and clocked more than 30,000 volunteer hours. In the critical final four days of the campaign, HRC staff and volunteers in get-out-the-vote efforts alone knocked on more than 80,000 doors, and held 36,400 conversations with voters at their doors and by phone on behalf of our endorsed candidates. HRC’s unprecedented grassroots mobilization represented an investment of approximately $26 million to recruit volunteers, mobilize constituents, register voters and grow the organization’s grassroots army in an all-out effort to pull the emergency brake on the hateful anti-LGBTQ agenda of the Trump-Pence administration and elect a Congress that would hold them accountable.

www.hrc.org/blog/endorses-u.s.-rep.-angie-craig-for-reelection?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

America’s First Openly Gay Cabinet Secretary is a Disgrace to the LGBT Community: VIDEO

President Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed Richard Grenell, the current U.S. ambassador to Germany, as acting director of national intelligence.

Grenell, who will be the nation’s first openly gay presidential cabinet secretary, is a far-right Trump loyalist and “Twitter troll” who has never worked for an intelligence agency.

Mediaite reports: A former Fox News contributor, [Grenell] is known to be a fierce online warrior, who has been unafraid to parrot the Trump line and lecture his host country, so much so that they called on the White House to recall him from his ambassador post in Berlin. News of Grenell’s appointment to a critical, nonpartisan cabinet post unleashed a fierce backlash online, as many critics criticized his notable lack of national security experience as well as his unapologetically brash partisan attacks.

More from the Associated Press: The move drew immediate criticism from Democrats who said the job should be held by someone with deep intelligence experience. It also puts a Trump loyalist in charge of an intelligence community that the president has routinely disparaged and ignored, notably in the context of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Grenell, who prefers the nickname “Ric,” served for two years as the top U.S. envoy to Germany and before that as the spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations during most of President George W. Bush’s eight years in office. But immediately before taking the ambassador’s post in Berlin, Grenell was known mainly as an online media critic and conservative Fox News foreign policy analyst.

CNN adds: One source close to Trump told CNN they were surprised by the pick, noting Grenell has zero intelligence-related experience. And another Trump adviser described Grenell as “out of his league” for the acting DNI job, adding that some in the administration are “embarrassed by his behavior.” Previous holders of the DNI job have served in the intelligence community, the US Senate and senior levels of the military. Grenell, on the other hand, does not boast a resume with similar credentials despite his stint as the US ambassador to Germany. “Everybody came into (the DNI job) with a relevant understanding, of which this guy has none,” said Bob Litt, former ODNI general counsel, who called the move “extremely dangerous.”

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America’s First Openly Gay Cabinet Secretary is a Disgrace to the LGBT Community: VIDEO