#AM_Equality: May 13, 2020

HRC PLANS TO TARGET EQUALITY VOTERS FOR THE UPCOMING NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: Parents like Chelsa Morrison, who has a transgender child, know firsthand how damaging the Trump-Pence administration’s attacks on the LGBTQ community have been. That’s why HRC is working to ensure pro-equality candidates are elected up and down the ballot in November. “Our lives are on the line,” said HRC President Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid). “I’ve been a civil rights advocate for 20 years. I have never seen it as bad as it is now. We have someone who is sitting in the White House who is looking to erase LGBTQ people. He is advancing policy after policy to strip away our protections and to treat us as second-class citizens.” Read the full piece from Nico Lang (@Nico_Lang) at VICE.

HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID RESPONDS TO PASSING OF AIMEE STEPHENS: Yesterday, David responded to the tragic news that Aimee Stephens, plaintiff in R.G. & G.R. HARRIS FUNERAL HOMES v. EEOC and AIMEE STEPHENS, passed away. “Aimee Stephens will be remembered as a trailblazer. All of us in the LGBTQ community owe her immense gratitude for her bravery in standing up for the right of LGBTQ people to live as ourselves at work and in every aspect of our lives,” said David. “After being fired by her employer when she told them she was transgender, she was determined to fight back and took her case all the way to the Supreme Court, where it is pending. Aimee will always be a hero to transgender and non-binary people and to the entire LGBTQ community. We share our deepest condolences with all of her friends and family, and especially her wife, Donna Stephens.” More from HRC, The Advocate and them.

• For reporters covering the transgender community, HRC has a brief Guide to Getting Transgender Coverage Right. The LGBTQ community deserves competent reporting, and the report covers the eight things reporters covering transgender people should know, including avoiding deadnaming. Read the full guide here.

WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY — NEW HRC DATA SHOWS LGBTQ PEOPLE ARE FACING HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT RATES DURING COVID-19: “It is unfortunate, but not surprising, to see how COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations, including the LGBTQ community,” said Senior Adviser for Communications Elizabeth Bibi (@elizlbibi). “Understanding the impact this virus is having on our community is crucial so that we can be best prepared to weather this crisis and work together on how to recover.” Read more from Julie Moreau (@JEMoreau) at NBC News and from The Hill.

HRC IS JOINING COALITION PARTNERS IN A TWITTER CHAT TODAY AT 2 P.M. EDT ABOUT HOW TO DISCUSS MENTAL HEALTH WITH OTHERS: More from HRC.

CDC INCLUDES TRANSGENDER AND NON-BINARY PEOPLE IN DATA TRACKING THE RATE OF HIV INFECTIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME: Read more from the Washington Blade.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

BRAZIL’S SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT BANNING MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN FROM DONATING BLOOD IS UNCONSITUTIONAL: Read more from the Washington Blade.

WASHINGTON BLADE HOSTS CHAT BETWEEN THE BLADE’S MICHAEL LAVERS (@mklavers81) AND YARIEL VALDÉS GONZÁLEZ (@valdes_yariel), A GAY JOURNALIST FROM CUBA: Watch here.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Metro Weekly celebrates the portraits of Photographer & Art Director Todd Franson (@toddfranson); WTKR profiles Queen Mary, a drag queen in Virginia who is making “fabulous face shields” to support non-profits

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!

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Trevor Noah: ‘I Don’t Think Trump Actually Knows What ‘Obamagate’ is Either’ — WATCH

The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah mocked Donald Trump’s Rose Garden press conference at which he wouldn’t say what “Obamagate,” the crime he accused former president Barack Obama of committing, actually way.

“Obamagate,” Trump declared. “It’s been going on for a long time. It’s been going on from before I even got elected. It’s a disgrace that it happened, and if you look at what’s gone on and if you look at now all of the information that is being released and, from what I understand, that’s only the beginning. Some terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again. You’ll be seeing what’s going on over the coming weeks.”

When pressed on it by the reporter, Philip Rucker from the Washington Post, Trump snapped: “You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”

“That’s just weird,” said Noah. “According to Trump, Obama committed the worst political crime in American history. But Trump won’t tell us what the crime is because it’s so obvious that you don’t even need to ask. Even though, everyone needs to ask.”

“Trump is treating Obama less like a criminal, and more like they’re in a relationship and Trump feels like Obama messed up,” Noah added, imitating Trump talking to Obama, “If you don’t know what you did wrong, well I’m not gonna tell you… My friends were right about you, never date a Leo!”

Noah added that it doesn’t even appear that Trump knows what ‘Obamagate’ is.

“I think the only lesson Trump learned from Watergate is that things he doesn’t like should have the word ‘gate’ after it — Obama-gate, Salad-gate, Eric-gate.”

Noah also talked about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s hearing before the Senate, and compared Fauci’s warnings about opening the country to early to a sports injury that one shouldn’t return to the field with.

Explained Noah: “Fauci has said this to Trump a million times. But I bet this time, Trump is way more likely to listen. Because now he’s watching it on TV. Yeah. Normally when you’re talking to him in real life, he’s too distracted by how much he wants to watch it on TV. And you know, I feel bad for Dr. Fauci. It feels like he’s always got to be the responsible adult in the room. That must suck for him. He’s a human being. He’s got other sides.”

“You know, I like doing crazy stuff too,” Noah growled, imitating Fauci. “One time, instead of my elbow, I sneezed into my arm. The CDC was not happy.”

The post Trevor Noah: ‘I Don’t Think Trump Actually Knows What ‘Obamagate’ is Either’ — WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Trevor Noah: ‘I Don’t Think Trump Actually Knows What ‘Obamagate’ is Either’ — WATCH