Daily Archives: February 26, 2020



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#AM_Equality Tipsheet: February 26, 2020

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: February 26, 2020

HRC PROUDLY ENDORSES SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (@SpeakerPelosi): “Speaker Pelosi has always been there for the LGBTQ community in our lowest lows and highest highs,” said HRC President Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid). “At each and every moment when our community has needed her, Speaker Pelosi has been there for us asking how to help. Without her commitment to progress and dedication to equality, our movement would be years if not decades behind where we proudly stand today. HRC is proud and privileged to endorse Speaker Pelosi for re-election.” More from HRC and The Advocate. 

In Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as Speaker of the House, the LGBTQ community has seen more legislative progress than under any previous speaker, including the historic passage of the Equality Act.@HRC is proud to endorse her for reelection. @TeamPelosi t.co/Gli1fXU1fu

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) February 26, 2020

HRC TO HONOR “POSE” STAR RYAN JAMAAL SWAIN AT THE 2020 HRC SAN ANTONIO DINNER: Swain (@RyanJamaal) will be honored with the HRC Visibility Award this Saturday, Feb. 29. He is best known for his role as Damon Richards-Evangelista, an ambitious, aspiring gay dancer on the critically acclaimed and Golden Globe nominated FX television series “Pose”. As a young activist, Swain lends his name as a Stonewall Ambassador to It Gets Better both in the U.S. and abroad. More from HRC. 

NEW BILL THAT WOULD OFFER “X” AS A GENDER MARKER OPTION ON U.S. PASSPORTS TO BE INTRODUCED IN U.S. HOUSE BY REP. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.): Said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy (@david_stacy) of the change: “We believe that visibility helps, visibility creates change… We want to create a legal system that supports those choices.” Read more from The Washington Post. 

WHAT WE’RE READING THIS ASH WEDNESDAY — HRC MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN SEASON OF LENT: Lent is a time of reflection and contemplation, a time when many Christians think about ways that they can become closer to God and to each other. To mark the season this year, HRC Religion & Faith Program Director Michael Vazquez (@mvsebastian) sat down with Jesuit Priest and Editor-at-Large of America Media, Father James Martin (@JamesMartinSJ). Read excerpts from their conversation here. 

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF NURSING PUBLISHES CASE STUDY ON THE NEEDS OF TRANSGENDER ELDERS: More from CBS 19. 

  • The HRC Foundation and SAGE are joining forces to launch the Long-Term Care Equality Index (LEI) to promote equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ older people in residential long-term care communities. Learn more here. 

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LGBTQ DEMOGRAPHICS IN NEW JERSEY AND WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE COLLECTING MORE LGBTQ DATA: More from NJ.com. 

NEW STUDY SHOWS BLACK LGBTQ YOUTH FACE DISPROPORTIONATE LEVELS OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, BUT RECEIVE LESS PROFESSIONAL CARE: More from NBC. 

IN THE STATES

BILL THAT WOULD BAR TRANSGENDER WOMEN FROM COMPETING ON WOMEN’S SPORTS TEAMS PASSES ARIZONA HOUSE COMMITTEE: More from Metro Weekly. 

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

OPENLY TRANSGENDER DANCER CAMILA PRINS BREAKS BARRIERS WITH PERFORMANCE IN SÃO PAULO CARNIVAL PARADE: More from Associated Press. 

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

NPR speaks with out singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt (@KPmusik) about her debut album “Expectations”; #BisexualMenExist trends nationally on Twitter 

This summer, NFL free agent @RKRelentless came out as bisexual, providing much-needed LGBTQ representation in professional sports and visibility for bisexual men everywhere. #BisexualMenExist pic.twitter.com/ELkGSL7HEm

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) February 25, 2020

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-26-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

NEWS

If Grenell’s global campaign is working, someone forgot to tell LGBTQ Ugandans

If Grenell’s global campaign is working, someone forgot to tell LGBTQ Ugandans

Much has been written lately regarding Ric Grenell, the out gay conservative who the Trump administration has tapped as the acting Director of National Intelligence. The thrust of most reporting has focused on Grenell’s lack of experience in the intelligence sector, something that even fellow Republican senators have pointed out. Most see this pick as being a payback for undying loyalty that Grenell (who also serves as Ambassador to Germany) has shown to President Trump rather than a carefully considered choice.

Although for LGBTQ Americans, there’s another focal point of flailing (if not outright failure) that hasn’t earned the scrutiny it deserves. Namely, Grenell’s supposed effort to decriminalize and destigmatize homosexuality worldwide. When that campaign was announced last year, the supposedly bold effort earned much attention in the press, with Grenell positioning himself as a poster child for the Trump administration’s allegedly hidden well of LGBTQ support. Only problem? Here a year in, there doesn’t seem to be much to show for it. In fact, in certain parts of the world, things seem as dire as they’ve ever been, but Grenell and company seem to be showing far less attention to the problem than the Obama administration did before them. 

Take Uganda. Over the past decade, reports of cruel and deeply dangerous homophobia and transphobia have been commonplace in the African nation. Most infamously encompassed by the “Kill the Gays” bill that cropped up around 2010, Uganda has been a global focal point for the dire work that the international LGBTQ community still needs to do in order to keep our people safe from bodily harm, as just a starting point. If anyone were to engage in a global effort on behalf of such safety, one would think that Uganda would be a starting point.

Sadly, the state of affairs in Uganda seems as bad as ever. Just this month, two prominent Ugandan newspapers, Trumpet News and Red Pepper, published salacious reports of a same-sex marriage that was supposedly performed at The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries Uganda, a pro-LGBTQ church. Because of these media reports, members of the church are now in hiding, living in fear for their lives.

They have every reason to be fearful. Just last year, Ugandan politicians resurrected the so-called “Kill The Gays” bill, a version that some say is even worse (even. worse!) than earlier versions. Around the time of its 2019 introduction, a prominent young LGBTQ activist was attacked and murdered — the fourth to occur in Uganda in just a four month period! It’s impossible to see the two reports as unconnected.

Yet despite the outsized problem, there has been no outsized attention from the Trump administration. In fact, ever since the headlines at launch time, there hasn’t been much capital at all expended on Grenell’s global effort. David Pressman, an expert who worked on international LGBTQ policy for the Obama administration (where the global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality actually started, as even the Trump State Department accurately noted), told Mother Jones that Grenell’s efforts have “not translated into any meaningful, coordinated, strategic effort.” Most people now see it for what I predicted it was at launch time: a cheap way to score “LGBTQ supportive” political points for an administration with an aggressively anti-LGBTQ record.

And it’s not just Grenell’s campaign that is failing to combat the problem, either. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, both of whom have years of outspoken anti-LGBTQ advocacy on their records (Pompeo’s here; Brownback’s here), have made lots of promises regarding freedom of religion around the world, taking on the plight of persecuted Christians and religious minorities worldwide. Yet here we have a pro-LGBTQ church targeted for their own religious freedom. Will we hear a peep? I’m hopeful, but not holding my breath. With the Trump administration, religious freedom seems to apply far more to the anti-LGBTQ evangelicals who support him, the cake bakers who don’t want to serve same-sex weddings, and the companies that wish to fire LGBTQ workers without penalty.

To be fair, I have no doubt that Mr. Grenell (who I’ve never met beyond sparring on Twitter) is personally committed to such a campaign, and to LGBTQ betterment in general. However, the fact of the matter is that he’s working for an administration that does not prioritize LGBTQ people, something made obvious from virtually day one of taking office. Grenell’s heart very well might be in the right place, but his team is not playing the same game. In fact, it would seem he is the one who is being played here.

February 26, 2020

www.glaad.org/blog/if-grenells-global-campaign-working-someone-forgot-tell-lgbtq-ugandans

NEWS

Lady Gaga’s “new” single is out Friday and gay Twitter has a field day

Lady Gaga’s “new” single is out Friday and gay Twitter has a field day

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on

Lady Gaga has confirmed what all her Little Monsters already suspected: her new single is “Stupid Love” – the track that leaked on the internet last month.

She took to social media yesterday to reveal it will be released on Friday (at midnight ET). A big billboard also went up on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#stupidlove #lg6 @ladygaga 💘

A post shared by Nicola Formichetti (@nicolaformichetti) on

It’s been speculated the track will be a slightly different version to the one that leaked last month.

Naturally, diehard followers have pledged they will support the track. Others have obliquely referred to the leak.

Related: Lady Gaga’s new single “Stupid Love” leaked and people are losing their minds

“Alright f*gs. We are not gonna fuck this up. We’re gonna stream this song like we’ve never heard it before in our lives,” quipped Ben Yahr on Twitter. The tweet has had 20k likes and over 3k retweets.

Alright f*gs. We are not gonna fuck this up. We’re gonna stream this song like we’ve never heard it before in our lives. t.co/W2xwe60tWY

— Ben Yahr (@benyahr) February 25, 2020

The official Grindr account got in on the joke, too, tweeting: “omg i wonder what it sounds like 😳”

omg i wonder what it sounds like 😳t.co/eVcfSQ7JD3

— Grindr (@Grindr) February 25, 2020

Many others riffed on the same point.

I can’t wait! I’ve never heard this song before! I hope it’s good !

— just a pole (@sloppyfemtop) February 25, 2020

But overall, the general reaction from fans was just excitement and relief.

pic.twitter.com/pueljl11wy

— Lee Dawson (@LeeDawsonPT) February 25, 2020

“Stupid Love” will be the first track from Lady Gaga’s sixth album (or #LG6 as she and fans have referenced it). It’s her first single in three years.

Related: A college found this Lady Gaga quote so dangerous the library had to take it down

Her last studio album was 2018’s soundtrack to A Star Is Born. This was preceded by 2016’s Joanne, which served up a more country-pop, Nashville feel in comparison to Gaga’s earlier work. For dancefloor bangers, one has to go back to 2013’s Art Pop. Many fans are hoping “Stupid Love” – whatever it may, um, sound like – indicates #LG6 will offer more of the same.

PERIOD, LUV

— #GobiernoDeMentiras (@_coco_mango) February 25, 2020

www.queerty.com/lady-gagas-new-single-friday-gay-twitter-field-day-20200226?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

NEWS

‘The Daily Show’ Asks LGBTQ Voters if They’ll Vote for Pete Buttigieg: WATCH

‘The Daily Show’ Asks LGBTQ Voters if They’ll Vote for Pete Buttigieg: WATCH

The Daily Show‘s Jaboukie Young-White spoke to LGBTQ voters in New York City about Pete Buttigieg, asking them if they would vote for the gay South Bend mayor for president.

Said one voter who’s voting for Pete: “Our community has a bit of a shameful history in the sense that gay white men have historically marginalized the contributions of trans women and trans men and people of color.”

Said another: “I’m trans and knowing that there is going to be a cis gay presidential candidate doesn’t make my life any safer as a trans woman.”

Shown the TIME magazine cover of Buttigieg and Chasten, the same voter said, “I see it as a disappointingly sanitized version of what it means to be gay.”

“If that’s not gay enough for the people of this country,” added the Pete voter, “I don’t know what would be.”

Said White, “So it sounds like the takeaway of this conversation should be, ‘if Buttigieg does not eat his husband’s ass on live TV, he’s not gay enough for me.’”

Added the trans voter: “I think the takeaway should be that the LGBT community is not a monolith and the first gay presidential candidate means very different things to different people in our community.”

The post ‘The Daily Show’ Asks LGBTQ Voters if They’ll Vote for Pete Buttigieg: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.


‘The Daily Show’ Asks LGBTQ Voters if They’ll Vote for Pete Buttigieg: WATCH

NEWS

HRC Proudly Endorses Speaker Nancy Pelosi

HRC Proudly Endorses Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Today, HRC enthusiastically announced its endorsement of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for re-election.

In her tenure as Speaker, the LGBTQ community has seen more legislative progress than under any previous Speaker. In 2019, the Pelosi-led House passed the Equality Act for the first time in history — giving the bill a top 10 number indicating its high priority for both her and her caucus. In addition to the Equality Act, Pelosi led the fight for the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Pelosi has prioritized the LGBTQ community throughout her entire career. Even before many Americans supported marriage equality, Pelosi stood in vocal opposition to anti-equality initiatives like the Defense of Marriage Act and California Proposition 8. In her first speech on the House floor in 1987, then-freshman Congresswoman Pelosi called for action from President Reagan to mitigate the ongoing HIV & AIDS epidemic. While others, even some in her own party, showed a willingness to ignore the ongoing crisis, Pelosi refused to allow them helping secure the permits for the AIDS Memorial Quilt to appear at the National Mall for the first time. 

“Speaker Pelosi has always been there for the LGBTQ community in our lowest lows and highest highs,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “At each and every moment when our community has needed her, Speaker Pelosi has been there for us asking how to help. Without her commitment to progress and dedication to equality, our movement would be years if not decades behind where we proudly stand today. HRC is proud and privileged to endorse Speaker Pelosi for re-election. Our community needs her, and we will do whatever it takes to ensure that happens.”

“Our great city of San Francisco is blessed with a vibrant LGBTQ community and a history of advocacy for equal rights for all. Under my leadership, we have repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, secured passage of legislation to protect communities against violence, and passed the Equality Act,” said Speaker Pelosi. “It is an honor to receive the support of Human Rights Campaign as we fight to end discrimination and achieve full equality under the law once and for all.”

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.

 Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC (www.hrc.org) and authorized by NANCY PELOSI FOR CONGRESS

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-proudly-endorses-speaker-nancy-pelosi?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

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