#AM_Equality: March 30, 2020

FOUR MAJOR EMPLOYERS JOIN 40 OTHERS IN OPPOSING STATE-BASED ANTI-TRANSGENDER LEGISLATION: On the eve of Idaho potentially becoming the first state in the nation this year to pass a law specifically targeting transgender people, Chobani, GoDaddy, Hewlett Packard Inc. and Verizon today joined more than 40 major employers in a previously released open letter, calling for lawmakers in states across the country to oppose bills that target LGBTQ people, and transgender children in particular. These business leaders stress the importance of fairness and opportunity for their customers, their employees and their employees’ families. Read more from HRC. 

ALEXANDRA BOLLES (@anorianb) AND LAURA DELLOSTRITTO FROM THE BISEXUAL RESOURCE CENTER (@BRC_Central) TAKE OVER HRC’S TWITTER TO HONOR BI HEALTH MONTH: Read more here. 

10/ At @BRC_Central, we know that bi+ people grow resilience by acknowledging unique hardships’ impact on our well-being, while also recognizing that we grow stronger by building community and working together against anti-bi+ antagonism. #HRCTwitterTakeover #BiHealthMonth

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 27, 2020

MONDAY MUST-READ — HOW THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT IMPACTS LGBTQ PEOPLE: HRC supports many of the provisions in this bill, especially those that will help LGBTQ people, though we recognize the bill is not perfect. We will continue to work with Congress to ensure that further steps are taken to address our country’s needs in this difficult time. Learn more from HRC. 

SAGE CEO MICHAEL ADAMS (@Adams_SAGEUSA) WRITES FOR THE ADVOCATE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING CARE OF LGBTQ ELDERS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS: Read the full op-ed here. 

GET CULTURED – Entertainment, arts and sports news!

SERIES FINALE OF “WILL & GRACE” TO AIR ON THURSDAY, APRIL 23: More from NewNowNext. 

U.K.’S FIRST-EVER LGBTQ-FOCUSED CHANNEL, OUTTV, WILL DEBUT THIS WEDNESDAY: More from PinkNews. 

RAPPER DA BRAT COMES OUT IN INSTAGRAM POST: More from Billboard. 

Congrats to rapper Da Brat on coming out in a beautiful post celebrating her relationship. Welcome to the family! t.co/51CAiAdclo

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 28, 2020

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

LGBTQ ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO COVID-19 HEALTH CRISIS: “What we are seeing at this time, particularly in places where it is hard to be out as LGBTQ or as living with HIV, these folks are particularly vulnerable in this moment when governments are calling for their citizens to quarantine,” said HRC Global Director Jay Gilliam. “If you are in quarantine with family and your family is not a place where it is safe to be out, you are more vulnerable.” Read more from The Bay Area Reporter. 

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-march-30-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Singapore’s court upholds colonial-era law that jails LGBTQ people

www.glaad.org/blog/singapores-court-upholds-colonial-era-law-jails-lgbtq-people

40-year-old Winter Party attendee dies from COVID-19

The first coronavirus-related death in Miami-Dade County has been linked to the Winter Party circuit festival, where many attendees wound up contracting the virus.

40-year-old Israel Carreras had no prior health issues when he and a group of friends visited the festivities, which took place March 4-10.

His partner, Franco Conquista, says Carreras came down with what appeared to me mild symptoms at first. Carreras self-isolated, but his condition got progressively worse.

Conquista took him to the hospital, where he would later succumb to COVID-19.

Related: Gay circuit party in Miami linked to coronavirus cluster

“He started to feel sick after the event,” Conquista told local news. “We went together. I went to his place, taking care of him for two days, and I also had it. He couldn’t breathe, so he wanted to go to the hospital, and then, he was at the hospital for four or five days. Then, they put him to sleep because he was really agitated, and then, he never woke up again.”

“Israel was a very hard-working man,” he added. “He was full of energy, and he was working 13, 14 hours a day, so he could provide for himself and provide for his family back in Cuba.”

Conquista is now at home in isolation, riding out his own infection.

“Just want people to know that this is serious,” he said. “They need to stay at home. It doesn’t just kill old people. This poor boy had only 40 years old. It can kill anybody, so just stay home and think of other people. Try to save other people’s lives. Just because you are not affected directly doesn’t mean that people are not suffering from this.”

As of Sunday, there are 122,653 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, and 2,112 deaths.

www.queerty.com/40-year-old-winter-party-attendee-dies-covid-19-20200330?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump Takes Credit for Cuomo’s COVID-19 Response, Calls Pelosi ‘Sick Puppy,’ Blames Obama for Lack of U.S. Medical Supplies in Hour-long Manic ‘Fox & Friends’ Interview: WATCH

Donald Trump phoned in to FOX & Friends on Monday morning for an hourlong interview (because he’s got nothing better to do?) that at times took the form of an unhinged rant.

Trump blamed the country’s lack of medical supplies on Obama, despite the fact that he’s been president for three years and could have easily stockpiled enough supplies.

“We started out with an empty shelf,” Trump said. “Just like we had no ammunition when the general walked in and said ‘sir, we have no ammunition’ in my first week, we didn’t have very much in terms of medical product either. And we built something really good. Now we have, on store, as we need them, 10,000 ventilators. We have massive planeloads of things coming in.”

Trump also took credit for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s high marks in his handling of the state’s massive outbreak.

Said Trump: “One of the reasons his numbers are high on handling it is because of the federal government. Because we give him ships, and we give him ventilators, and we give him all of the things that we’re giving him, Steve. We’re giving him four hospitals and four medical centers and all of the things that we’ve done. So, I mean, one of the things, and I think he’d admit this, one of the reasons he’s been successful, if I said, ‘No, we’re not giving you four hospitals, and we’re not giving you four medical centers, and we’re not sending you a ship,’ and we didn’t give them thousands of ventilators, by the way, and millions of masks, because we’ve sent them a lot of stuff, well one of the reasons he’s successful is because we’ve helped make him successful.”

Trump also referred to Nancy Pelosi as a “sick puppy” for criticizing his response to COVID-19.

Said Trump: “Well, she’s a sick puppy in my opinion. She really is. She’s got a lot of problems. And that’s a horrible thing to say. You know, I’ve gotten from fair people a lot of accolades, and I don’t want the accolades.”

“Her area where she lives has become like a slum,” he added. “It’s a slum. And she should focus on that … we may get involved and take over that area and clean it up.”

Trump fumed about Germany and wondered why Russia and the U.S. aren’t better allies.

Said Trump: “I’m not saying they are perfect, but you know, they also fought World War II. They lost 50 million people. They were our partner in World War II. Germany was the enemy, and Germany is like this wonderful thing. Well, Germany takes advantage of us on trade for years. They pay far too little in NATO. They are paying 1% but they are supposed to pay 2% and nobody talks about that. It’s sort of interesting. If you look at Russia, Russia lost 50 million people at World War II. 50 million. They were fighting along with us. They were our partner, and now we don’t talk to Russia, we talk to Germany. I mean, look it’s fine. I want to talk to Germany. My father was born, y’know, Germany is in my heritage, it might be in your heritage. I’m not saying anything wrong. I’m just saying how come we talk to some people, we don’t talk to others? Where does it go? So and it is true as you look, take a look at World War II. Take a look at the staggering losses that and they were fighting with us.”

The post Trump Takes Credit for Cuomo’s COVID-19 Response, Calls Pelosi ‘Sick Puppy,’ Blames Obama for Lack of U.S. Medical Supplies in Hour-long Manic ‘Fox & Friends’ Interview: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Trump Takes Credit for Cuomo’s COVID-19 Response, Calls Pelosi ‘Sick Puppy,’ Blames Obama for Lack of U.S. Medical Supplies in Hour-long Manic ‘Fox & Friends’ Interview: WATCH