Texas High School Teacher Resigns After Comparing Black Student's Gay Slur to N-Word: VIDEO

John Wright

www.towleroad.com/2015/05/teacher-resigns-after-admonishing-student-for-anti-gay-slur-by-comparing-it-to-n-word-video.html

Michael Sam Signed to Montreal Alouettes

The 25-year-old defensive end will suit up for a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes starting next month.

read more

Sunnivie Brydum

www.advocate.com/sports/2015/05/22/michael-sam-signed-montreal-alouettes

Louisiana State Senator Slams Bobby Jindal For Pushing Religious Freedom Measure
Louisiana state Sen. Karen Peterson (D) slammed Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) for issuing an executive order “to accomplish the intent” of a religious freedom bill that died in the Louisiana House.

Jindal vowed Tuesday to take action on the issue. Peterson criticized Jindal earlier this week for prioritizing the religious freedom legislation over others dealing with the state budget, and said his action seems to be an attempt to “destroy Louisiana’s business climate.”

“It’s a cynical attempt to deflect from the failures of what should be the top legislative priority, what we’re dealing with every day, which is a broken state budget,” Peterson said.

Peterson went on to blast Jindal for running ads in Iowa rather than talking with Louisiana lawmakers:

Today it’s okay to just ignore the House and the clear rejection of something that’s just not good for our state. He didn’t even have the courage to testify before the House, but he wants to roll out a press release saying what he’s going to do through executive action. But guess what he did have time to do? To start running a commercial, not here in New Orleans, or Baton Rouge, or Monroe — he ran a commercial on religious freedom in Iowa. Are you kidding me? Why don’t you roll some commercials out on how to fix this nightmare that you’ve created right here in Louisiana? This is ridiculous. Iowa?

Peterson also called Jindal out for criticizing executive orders at the federal level. Her criticism mirrored remarks state Rep. John Bel Edwards (D) made earlier this week.

“We’ve heard Gov. Jindal complain about with respect to President Obama that he uses executive orders to do things that he can’t get Congress to do … I would suggest to you that the governor Jindal has done exactly the same thing here,” Edwards said.

Jindal responded to that criticism Thursday.

“If he’s issuing executive orders consistent with law and constitution, I’ve got no problem with that,” Jindal said, according to The Times-Picayune. “That’s part of his prerogative.

“My problem with the president’s executive orders is [when] they violate the constitution,” Jindal added. “I’m issuing an executive order to uphold the constitution. It’s a reaffirmation of our First Amendment liberty rights.”

Watch Peterson give her remarks on the Louisiana senate floor above.

H/T Towleroad

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/22/karen-peterson-bobby-jindal_n_7422200.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

9 stunning Irish landscapes in support of gay marriage

Ireland, we love you – vote yes!

read more

jamiet

www.gaystarnews.com/article/9-stunning-irish-landscapes-support-gay-marriage220515

Senators Take Stand Against “Conversion” Therapy

With the introduction of a resolution to draw attention to dangerous “conversion” therapy” practices, two U.S. Senators are taking a stand for the LGBT community.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/senators-take-stand-against-conversion-therapy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

POLL: Americans Think This Country Is Lousy With Gays

Americans think more than one in five people are gay, and while that’s a great thought, it’s far from the truth, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll reveals that Americans “greatly overestimate” the number of gays in the U.S. Though latest estimates put the LGBT population at about 3.8%, Americans on average put that number at 23%.

According to Gallup Daily tracking — an ongoing study since 2012 — 3.8% of 50,000 adults interviewed during the first four months of 2015 identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Since 2002, however, Americans have believed that at least 21% of the population is LGBT.

While their opinions on the number of gays have more or less stayed the same, Americans’ acceptance has increased dramatically:

Whereas 38% of Americans said gay and lesbian relations were morally acceptable in 2002, that number has risen to 63% today. And while 35% of Americans favored legalized same-sex marriage in 1999, 60% favor it today.

That’s cute and all, but it kind of begs the question, if Americans think there are so many gays hanging around, why would they be satisfied with denying such a large percentage of the population equal rights? I mean, call me crazy, but 23% — while a speculative number — is a really large chunk, especially when you consider that 13.8% of Americans are black and 17.7% are Hispanic or Latino.

Of course, numbers shouldn’t matter when it comes to fair protection under the law, so maybe America just has really shitty gaydar and we’ll just leave it at that.

Take a look at some of the numbers from Gallup’s poll below:

Les Fabian Brathwaite — lousy with gay since 1985.

Les Fabian Brathwaite

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/-4atLiwN8Ro/poll-americans-think-this-country-is-lousy-with-gays-20150522

Creating a Trans TV Show? Here Are 4 Rules to Follow

Transparent creator Jill Soloway gives advice to Hollywood on creating projects that humanize rather than sensationalize transgender characters.

read more

Daniel Reynolds

www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/05/22/creating-trans-tv-show-here-are-4-rules-follow

Underwear Company Features Double Mastectomy Breast Cancer Survivors In Empowering Photo Campaign
Each October, popular culture becomes awash in pink ribbons, pink balloons and pink shirts for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The publicity of breast cancer research, treatment and survival through the pink campaign may the most well-known way to raise money and awareness, but it isn’t inclusive of everyone.

Campaigns like “No Bra Day” have come under fire for being too “pinkwashed.” The result isn’t just glib, it also represents only one gender expression. That’s why gender-inclusive underwear company Play Out is shedding light on the more complicated nuances of the disease through a stunning photo series. The empowering images feature women with double mastectomies who opted out of reconstruction and are bilaterally flat chested.

Models Emily Jenson (left) and Jodi Jaecks (right).

Emily Jenson, Jodi Jaecks and Melanie Testa, three breast cancer survivors who underwent double mastectomies, modeled for the campaign, which also features androgynous model Rain Dove. Jaecks says she hopes it explains more about the reality of the disease.

“This takes the conversation outside the realm of basic breast cancer awareness. Breast cancer is a fact of the human experience and it is vitally important to place survivorship in the context of empowerment,” she told The Huffington Post in an email. “I think that my natural androgyny and sexual preference have given me the advantage of self-acceptance far outside of cultural gender identification or definitive norms. This self-assurance informed not only my choice to have the double mastectomy, but the certainty that my choice would serve my self-confidence and strength moving forward in my life.”

The Play Out photo series was created in collaboration with FlatTopper Pride, a cancer survivors support group for LGBTQ individuals who chose not to undergo reconstruction. Testa says the photos importantly call out a underrepresented group of people who may be stigmatized in the dominant culture.

“Living in a society that does not reflect the image of my body [type] — breast-less, scarred, affected by cancer — has great consequence and influence to those who are newly diagnosed,” she told HuffPost. “Not all women choose reconstruction or feel that it will make them whole again; some feel quite whole without breasts and without the need to wear breast forms. I choose to embrace my body as is and blithely proceed with grace and dignity. My hope is that other women will see these images in their time of need and that they will feel empowered and informed about flat reconstruction as one option among many.”

Models Rain Dove (left) and Melanie Testa (right).

Ultimately, Jaecks wants the body-positive images and her personal story to inspire strength in others who may be experiencing similar challenges with breast cancer.

“This is a disease, not just a woman’s disease. Therefore, it [shouldn’t] be an assault on a woman’s gender identity, sexuality, femininity, body acceptance or self-confidence,” she said. “Most people do not realize that over half of post-mastectomy women do not have reconstruction. If we can extend the comfort zones of women who make this choice — who long to live openly and freely — without prosthetics, we will evolve well beyond the cancer shame of the past.”

To see more photos from the campaign, check out the slideshow below:

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/22/play-out-double-mastectomy-campaign_n_7354038.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

HRC Applauds Girl Scouts for Transgender Inclusion

While the Girls Scouts’ policy of including transgender girls isn’t anything new, recent criticism from anti-LGBT groups, have brought the Girl Scouts’ policy back into the limelight.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-applauds-girl-scouts-for-transgender-inclusion?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed