#AM_Equality: April 15, 2020

NEW PRRI SURVEY SHOWS AMERICANS BROADLY SUPPORT  LGBTQ EQUALITY, FAVOR NON-DISCRIMINATION LAWS: More from The Advocate.

New data from @PRRIpoll shows that 72% of Americans support non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. It’s time for Trump and his anti-equality allies to catch up with the American public & start representing all of us.t.co/I5qnOyUSGi

— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) April 14, 2020

WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY — ON BLACK ENTERPRISE, HRC’s ALPHONSO DAVID (@AlphonsoDavid) CALLS FOR BETTER SUPPORT FOR THOSE MOST VULNERABLE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: More from Caroline Clarke (@CarolineVClarke) at Black Enterprise. 

The data shows that LGBTQ people are disproportionately at risk to #COVID19 and its impacts. As a nation, it is crucial that we meet the needs of the most vulnerable. t.co/m8XsCuMmAv

— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) April 14, 2020

AMID THE PANDEMIC, DETAINED IMMIGRANTS FACE INHUMANE CONDITIONS AND EXPOSURE TO COVID-19 UNDER ICE DETENTION: “[T]he immigration detention facilities are overcrowded,”said Dr. Chris Beyrer, a professor and epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to The Intercept. “They are too crowded for people to practice social distancing, they are unhygienic, and they do not have the medical facilities to manage intensive care.” Read more from Felipe De La Hoz (@FelipeDLH) at The Intercept. 

• HRC is a longtime supporter of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which would require DHS to pursue alternatives to detention whenever possible. Those alternatives could help to alleviate some of the dangerous conditions that immigrants are facing in ICE facilities during the COVID-19 crisis. 

COVID-19 PANDEMIC UNDERSCORES BARRIERS TO HEALTH CARE FOR TRANSGENDER AND NON-BINARY COMMUNITY: Tori Cooper (@MsToriCooper1), director of community engagement for HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative said, “Out of all the folks under the LGBTQ spectrum, trans folks are going to fare even worse” throughout the pandemic. More from Li Cohen (@WritingLiYakira) at CBS. 

• For more on receiving gender affirming care during the pandemic, including information about surgical delays, read HRC’s blog post by Drs. Carl Streed and Jennifer Siegel at the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Boston Medical Center.  

NEW VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SURVEY SHOWS THAT TRANSGENDER AMERICANS EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC AND HEALTH CHALLENGES: “We found that transgender Americans are about 14 percentage points less likely to have completed college and 14 percentage points more likely to live in poverty,” said Kitt Carpenter, E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics and director of the Program in Public Policy Studies. “From previous research, we know that transgender people have higher rates of stress-associated physical and mental illness and disability, some of which may begin in childhood. We also know that transgender people have a harder time accessing medical care.” More from Vanderbilt University. 

ON HOLLYWOOD CAUCUS PODCAST, HRC’S ALPHONSO DAVID SHARES HIS POWERFUL STORY AND HOW HE’S LEADING THE FIGHT FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY: Listen to the podcast here. 

AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT CHIEF COORDINATOR FIGHTS BACK COVID-19 PANDEMIC, SEWS PROTECTIVE MASKS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY: The masks are made from leftover fabric of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and they are being used at facilities run by Bay Area Community Services. More from Jason Sheeler at People. 

GET CULTURED – Entertainment, arts and sports news!

IN OPRAH MAGAZINE, EMMY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS AND LGBTQ STAR WANDA SYKES REFLECTS ON COMING OUT: “The drive behind me coming out publicly was when it became political,” said Sykes (@iamwandasykes). More from Oprah Magazine. 

POSE’S INDYA MOORE PROVIDES SUPPORT TO THE TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: More from Vogue.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE USING STEPS TO STOP COVID-19 AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPLEMENT ANTI-LGBTQ POLICIES: From Hungary to Uganda to the Philippines, governments around the world are taking extraordinary steps to stop COVID-19, yet a number are using these steps to harm LGBTQ people and other marginalized communities in their country. More from HRC.  

Hungary’s parliament proposed a law to ban transgender people from changing their gender marker on official documents. #Drop33t.co/LBYNcVV0Ew

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 13, 2020

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
WBUR shares photo series offering a front-porch view of queer folks and life during the COVID-19 pandemic

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-april-15-2020?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

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Next In Fashion designer blasts co-host Tan France’s fashion knowledge

One of the contestants on recent Netflix fashion competition Next in Fashion has questioned the style judgments of show co-host, Tan France.

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it’s similar to Project Runway. Debuting at the end of January, it featured 18 established designers competing across ten rounds. France hosted alongside model and designer, Alexa Chung.

Related: Trailer for Tan France’s new fashion show released

One of those to compete was Los Angeles-based Ashton Hirota, founder of his own Ashton Michael brand.

In a new interview with Loverboy, Hirota talked about his experiences on the show. He says he, “felt the judges sort of hated me the whole time.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ASHTON MICHAEL (@ashtonmichael) on Feb 14, 2020 at 1:09am PST

Hirota founded Ashton Michael in 2005. His brand has been very much influenced by fetishwear and streetwear, leading some judges to label his designs “costumey.”

Hirota was not particularly impressed by some of the comments from France of Queer Eye fame. He says that rival Amazon show, Making The Cut, which featured his friend Jonny Cota, had better judges.

“Making The Cut judges were exponentially more credible than mine. I had Tan France who thinks that a French tuck is the answer to every fashion crisis, where Jonny got Naomi [Campbell] and Carine Roitfeld. Come on, need I say more?

“In what world is Tan France going to tell me or any of these wildly talented designers, who, what or how is next in fashion?! You really need to sit down and untuck your shirt, sir.”

He also didn’t hold back about celebrity stylist, Elizabeth Stuart.

“If you were doing a pedestrian, safe, Julia Roberts red carpet look challenge, bring [Stewart] in, she will deliver the most valid critique,” said Hirota. “But if you are doing a streetwear challenge please tell her to stay in the green room. She’s not going to know what the hell she’s talking about. She has no validity in that subculture, so it’s hard to take a critique from someone who’s never been in it.”

Related: Queer Eye renewed for season six at Netflix

This may sound a little like sour grapes, but Hirota is far from being an unknown designer. Among his many celebrity clients, he designed the Superbowl half-time outfits for both Lady Gaga and Beyonce.

Also, although admitting he was worried about how he might have been edited by the show’s producers, Hirota says he was pretty satisfied with how he came across in the final cut.

“I kind of struggled being on the show and was thinking, ‘What the fuck did this show do for me, other than stress me the fuck out and make me look like I’m a dirty pig bottom? All I did was apparently talk about buttholes!’

“But going on that show showed people my sensibility, and no matter how filthy my mouth was, my heart was equally as large. It allowed me an opportunity to shed light on a sense of humanity that I think can often be overlooked in fashion and the entertainment side of fashion especially.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Our satisfied faces when you tell us you’ve finished @nextinfashion already

A post shared by T A N . F R A N C E (@tanfrance) on Feb 11, 2020 at 3:21pm PST

Hirota also says that he’s seen a huge surge in interest in his work since the show aired, leading to him creating his first diffusion range for those who want to buy some Ashton Michael fashion at a more affordable price.

Sadly, like so many others, Ashton Michael has taken a hit in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Hirota’s had to send his employees home. Instead, he’s been focussed on making face masks until the pandemic passes.

“I started making masks for the elderly gay community in care homes – most of them don’t have offspring to help them and a lot of their peers are dead. Also making these masks, just doing the same pattern over and over again, it was therapeutic for me too! I had Stevie Nicks on and was twirling around my studio.”

He has since put a free face mask pattern online and started sending out fabric to those unable to get hold of any material.

“It was a no-brainer. I felt like this is what I was supposed to be doing. We even have the cops coming by now, asking for masks which is hilarious, so I made specific ones for them out of black fabric because I couldn’t have them walking down the street like a fucking rainbow!”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

SAFETY FIRST … tomorrow morning I will be chatting with @ktla5news at 9:45 AM PST about why I started making masks 2 weeks ago, why I offered the pattern to the everyone and what we can all do in this pandemic . . . For this who missed my previous post . Go to www.ashtonmichael.com . The mask pattern FREE . Stay safe and check in with your loved ones

A post shared by ASHTON MICHAEL (@ashtonmichael) on Mar 31, 2020 at 7:27pm PDT

www.queerty.com/next-fashion-designer-blasts-co-host-tan-frances-fashion-knowledge-20200415?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden: WATCH

Former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren endorsed Joe Biden for president on Wednesday morning in a video posted to social media.

Said Warren: “Empathy matters. And, in this moment of crisis, it’s more important than ever that the next president restores Americans’ faith in good, effective government. Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service. He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.”

Warren’s endorsement means that all the major candidates Biden faced in the primary have now endorsed him, as Pete Buttigieg noted in a tweet.

The post Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden: WATCH

Out Sen. Tammy Baldwin Endorses Biden: He’ll ‘Fight for the People’

Baldwin is the latest of many prominent LGBTQ pols to endorse Biden, and she’s one from a key swing state, Wisconsin.

www.advocate.com/election/2020/4/15/out-sen-tammy-baldwin-endorses-biden-hell-fight-people