‘Snowden’, Andy Cohen, Tom Daley, Faroe Islands, Gay Games, Apple, 98 Degrees: NEWS

MOVIES. First trailer for Oliver Stone’s Snowden arrives.

HISTORY. Gay rights group Mattachine Society sues federal government for details on President Eisenhower’s anti-gay order: “The suit in U.S. District Court accuses the government of conducting an inadequate search for the material and of groundlessly withholding some records on the basis of national security. Executive Order 10450 allowed broad categories of federal workers, including those with criminal records, drug addiction and “sexual perversion,” to be singled out for scrutiny and termination as threats to national security.”

TELEVISION. Andy Cohen has a new show coming your way on Bravo, Then And Now: “Each episode focuses on a defining year in history and dissects the biggest news stories, pop culture moments, and hottest trends to show how these pivotal events from the past affect how we live today.”

So excited that Bravo picked up #ThenAndNow !! Can’t wait to make more! @WorldOfWonder t.co/MymKxn4uF1

— Andy Cohen (@Andy) April 27, 2016

GAY GAMES. Hong Kong wants to host the ‘gay Olympics’ to improve LGBT rights in China: ”Hosting the games in Hong Kong will make change because the guy in Starbucks or the taxi driver will have a completely different awareness of the LGBT people.”

RIO 2016. Tom Daley helps unveil Team GB’s new uniforms for Rio 2016 designed by Stella McCartney.

GAY MARRIAGE. Same-sex marriage bill advances in the Faroe Islands: “After a long debate which included a proposal for a referendum that was later withdrawn, the Faroese Legislature approvedtheir same-sex marriage and adoption bill during its second reading on a vote of 19-14. According to the parliamentary calendary, the final reading is scheduled for Friday.”

POLITICS. Bernie Sanders campaign to cut hundreds of staffers after Tuesday night losses.

APPLE. Body found in conference room at the tech giant’s Cupertino compound: “According to reports, a female employee was involved in an argument and had gotten a head wound, from possibly a gun. Some reports say a body was found in the conference room from a ‘possible suicide.’”

NORTH CAROLINA. 98 Degrees refuses to perform in the Tar Heel state because of anti-LGBT law, HB 2.

pic.twitter.com/o6V7yocF7n

— 98 Degrees (@98official) April 27, 2016

MIDDLE CLASS SQUEEZE. 47% of Americans are unable to come up with $400 in cases of emergency.

ACTUAL CANNIBAL. Some poor guy got punched in the face because he was mistaken for Shia LaBeouf. 

WAYBACK WEDNESDAY. Recall some of Matt Bomer’s hottest moments on White Collar. 

AWKWARD. Prince William and Duchess Kate hurriedly removed a plaque beneath a painting they thought might offend President and Mrs. Obama before their visit to Kensington Palace recently: “The title of the painting is ‘The Negro Page.’”

HUMP DAY HOTTIE. Athlete and trainer Arran Arogundade.

The post ‘Snowden’, Andy Cohen, Tom Daley, Faroe Islands, Gay Games, Apple, 98 Degrees: NEWS appeared first on Towleroad.

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Tenn. Gov. Signs Bill Allowing Psychologists to Turn Away LGBT Patients

Tennessee will allow mental health professionals to deny service to prospective LGBT patients if it conflicts with their religious convictions.

www.advocate.com/health/2016/4/27/tenn-gov-signs-bill-allowing-psychologists-turn-away-lgbt-patients

Anti-LGBTI ‘religious freedom’ bill is effectively dead in Missouri

Missouri won’t be enacting a so-called ‘religious freedom’ law – at least not this year.

Senate Joint Resolution 39, which sought to make it legal for clergy and wedding vendors to decline to participate in a same-sex wedding, was voted down by the House Emerging Issues Committee on Wednesday (27 April).

If the bill had passed both houses of the Missouri legislature, it would have been put on the ballot for voters to decide on.

‘I am deeply disappointed that Missourians will not have the opportunity to vote on protecting religious freedom,’ Senator Bob Onder, who sponsored the proposal, said in a statement.

He pointed out that seven weeks ago the Missouri Senate stood through the longest filibuster in state history and voted 23–7 to advance SJR 39.

‘House members caved to pressure from special interests and killed the religious freedom amendment,’ he stated. ‘It is wrong that Missouri voters will be denied a voice in the decision-making process.’

But House Minority Leader Jacob Hummel applauded the House committee.

‘The ultimate issue here is whether our state constitution protects all Missourians or grants special rights to some to detriment of others,’ he stated.

‘In the years to come, I am confident today’s action will be remembered as being on the right side of history.’

H/T: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The post Anti-LGBTI ‘religious freedom’ bill is effectively dead in Missouri appeared first on Gay Star News.

www.gaystarnews.com/article/anti-lgbti-religious-freedom-bill-killed-missouri/

Tom Daley Models Nearly Nonexistent New Speedo For The Olympics

With just under 100 days to go until the Olympics kick off in Rio, team Great Britain has released the looks for their athletes’ various states of dress, all designed by Stella McCartney in association with Adidas.

Or, in Tom Daley‘s case, undress.

The 21-year-old diver looked to be the chilliest participant on stage as he stood proudly in his Team GB speedo.

Related: Tom Daley Pumps Iron Half-Naked And Soaking Wet In Brand New 2015 Calendar

Track star Jessica Ennis-Hill said of the outfits, “It’s an amazing design and I think it will give British athletes a massive sense of pride and give us an edge in Rio.”

We’re not sure Tom’s speedo will give him any sort of competitive edge — it looks like the piece of fabric used for it was no bigger than a dinner napkin — but there’s no arguing whether or not he’s doing his country proud just by existing in it.

Also, if someone could please tell us who is standing on the left in the above photo we’d be much obliged.

Here a short video from the unveiling event:

Team GB and ParalympicsGB kit for Rio pic.twitter.com/Xcuxrd9PeT

— Matt McGeehan (@mattmcgeehan) April 27, 2016

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/4mpJPvjx4jQ/tom-daley-models-nearly-nonexistent-new-speedo-for-the-olympics-20160427

Six Yale Athletes Come Out Together To Change The Game For Homophobia In Sports

Out Yale rugby player Luc Ryan-Schreiber

We often commend the bravery of college athletes choosing to come out publicly, noting that the spotlight they sometimes-awkwardly receive does wonders for their fellow students as well as the next generation of athletes, gay and straight.

So with the news that six athletes at Yale have decided to come out together and form a support group for LGBTQ athletes on campus, those commendations go double.

According to Outsports, in addition to two athletes who are not fully out to their families (but are to their peers), the four founding members of the group are:

• Timothy Cox, running, ’17
• Jake Leffew, golf, ’19
• Luc Ryan-Schreiber, rugby, ’17
• Wayne Zhang, diving, ’18

Ryan-Schreiber has previously said that while he encountered support from his teammates, his freshman season coach regularly used homophobic language with the team. That coach is no longer active at the school.

Related: College Swimmer Parker Camp Told Everyone He’s Gay. The Reaction He Got Will Inspire You

“Flash forward to my junior year and I have a great new rugby coach, the team is awesome,” Ryan-Schreiber told Outsports. “When I got connected with Jake, who was struggling with the identity of a gay athlete, we talked it out and afterwards I realized there was no resource around currently.

“So I met with the athletic department to discuss this. After my first meeting with [senior associate athletic director] Brian Tompkins, he asked if I knew any other gay athletes. So I went to find them and we started the group with the hope of improving the reality for LGBT athletes here at Yale.”

We absolutely love the idea. Not only does the collective coming out strategy take the focus off any one individual athlete (NFL — are you listening?), but by forming an official group to help others, the focus becomes the system and what can be done moving forward.

Related: College Baseball Star Matt Kaplan Comes Out To The Fury Of…Nobody

“Our end goal is to create an infrastructure and a social and institutional culture where any athlete feels comfortable coming out and being a queer athlete at Yale,” diver Wayne Zhang told Yale Daily News.

These students have created the opportunity to meaningfully impact their campus, and that could reverberate to other campuses once the idea takes root. Congrats to them all!

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/8MfDDUMQvwM/six-yale-athletes-come-out-together-to-change-the-game-for-homophobia-in-sports-20160427

Tennessee Gov. Signs Law Allowing Therapists to Turn Away Clients for Being Gay

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has signed an anti-LGBT bill that will allow counselors and therapists in the state to turn away clients based on “sincerely held principles.”

The bill is yet another piece of legislation targeting LGBT citizens under the guise of so-called ‘religious freedom.’

The AP reports: 

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he signed the bill after talking to numerous counselors, including those who were in favor and those opposed.

The American Counseling Association called the legislation an “unprecedented attack” on the counseling profession and said Tennessee was the only state to ever pass such a law.

NBC4i adds: 

Senator Jack Johnson, who sponsored the bill, previously told News 2 “it’s not anti-anybody, it’s not anti-anything; it’s just pro-religious liberty.”

Via BuzzFeed: 

After the Tennessee legislature passed the bill earlier this month, LGBT groups pressured Haslam to block it. However, their efforts were minimal compared to the crush of corporate lobbying faced by governors of Mississippi and Georgia, where legislatures this year passed broad religious freedom bills that critics said allowed services and products to be denied to LGBT people. […]

House Bill 1840 provides counselors and therapists immunity from liability if they turn away a client whose goals, outcomes, or behaviors conflict with their beliefs. Counselors who decline clients would need to refer them to a provider who will see them.

It was originally introduced to protect sincerely held religious beliefs, but lawmakers widened it slightly. As passed, it would instead protect counselors acting on “sincerely held principles.”

BREAKING: Tennessee gov signs bill allowing counselors to refuse treatment based on religious beliefs.

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 27, 2016

The post Tennessee Gov. Signs Law Allowing Therapists to Turn Away Clients for Being Gay appeared first on Towleroad.

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The Backlash Against HB2 Hasn’t Convinced North Carolina’s Lawmakers To Change It

The Republicans responsible for HB2 see the backlash against their discriminatory law — and don’t care.

The post The Backlash Against HB2 Hasn’t Convinced North Carolina’s Lawmakers To Change It appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/27/3773242/north-carolina-republicans-double-down/

Teachable Moment: Turing Should Listen to Pharma Company, Reverse Price Hikes on Daraprim

Today HRC released the following statement after the CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals indicated in testimony before the Senate Aging Committee that its strategy to hike drug prices was a mistake.

“Today’s testimony is a reminder that too many people living with HIV still face far too many barriers when it comes to accessing the care they need,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “Today, the CEO of Valeant said what Martin Shkreli refused to — that massive overnight price hikes for vulnerable patients are completely indefensible. Because when companies like Turing jack up the price of drugs, it means reduced access and higher costs for patients and taxpayers. Turing needs to restore the price of Daraprim across the board for all patients and other pharmaceutical companies should take note”

NPR News reported earlier this year how executives inside Turing celebrated their decision to hike the price of Daraprim — which is used by pregnant women and people living with HIV. NPR reported that, “Company officials went into celebration mode,” according to emails uncovered by congressional investigators. The emails also show how Turing plotted to cynically pit insurance companies against HIV/AIDS patients in order to maintain the 5000 percent cost increase.

HRC has called for Turing to restore the price for all patients to the previous price of $13.50. At HRC’s urging, the the New York attorney general began investigating whether Turing Pharmaceuticals may have violated antitrust laws by limiting distribution of a drug that is essential to the lives of medically vulnerable people.

In addition, HRC sent letters to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, seeking an investigation into the actions of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which increased the price of Daraprim overnight from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.

The letters also called for an inquiry into Turing’s acquisition of Daraprim, the pricing strategy for the drug, investments made to bring the drug to market, the impact of that strategy on patient access, and the increased cost to federally-funded health programs. And they requested a hearing on formulary and tiering structure for prescription medications offered through health exchanges.

www.hrc.org/blog/teachable-moment-turing-should-listen-to-pharma-company-reverse-price-hikes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Tennessee governor signs bill allowing refusal of mental health care for LGBT people

www.glaad.org/blog/tennessee-governor-signs-bill-allowing-refusal-mental-health-care-lgbt-people

TCM Film Fest: Divas, Closets, and Politics

A conversation with Faye Dunaway, glimpses of a closeted era, and strangely prescient films about politics and media are among the highlights of this year’s fest.

www.advocate.com/film/2016/4/27/tcm-film-fest-divas-closets-and-politics