Author: Randy Slovacek

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CNN To Air Democratic LGBTQ Town Hall

Democratic White House candidates will take part in a presidential town hall focusing entirely on LGBTQ issues on October 10 at The Novo in Los Angeles. Hosted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the televised event will air live on CNN and CNN en Español, across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android. Organizers expect to draw the largest-ever audience for an LGBTQ Democratic town hall. Plus, the event will be the first-ever LGBTQ presidential event aired by a major cable news network. The historic town hall event, titled Power of Our Pride, is scheduled to take place the night before the 31st National Coming Out Day. Since 1988, NCOD has celebrated the power, and empowerment, of coming out. The HRC says all candidates who qualify for the October round of Democratic primary debates will be allowed to participate. The list of Democratic candidates (so far) who have confirmed their attendance include former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Secretary Julian Castro, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Expect to hear much from the candidates on the catastrophic effects the Trump/Pence administration has had on the LGBTQ community like banning transgender Americans from serving in the military, rolling back Obama-era nondiscrimination protections, prohibiting embassies from flying rainbow flags during Pride Month and more. All of the current Democratic contenders have announced their support for The Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing civil rights laws. `“For nearly 40 years, the Human Rights Campaign has fought to realize a world in which LGBTQ people are safe, equal and free in every aspect of our lives,” said HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement. “Today, at a time when our most basic civil rights and democratic values are under attack, our work has never been more urgent.” “We are eager to hear from this field of Democratic presidential candidates about how they plan to win full federal equality, defend the fundamental equality of LGBTQ people, and protect the most vulnerable among us — both here in the United States and around the globe — from stigma, institutional inequality, discrimination, and violence,” he added. For more information, click over to the HRC here. In related news, GLAAD has partnered with One Iowa, The Gazette and The Advocate for an upcoming presidential candidate forum on LGBTQ issues to take place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on September 20. That event will be live-streamed through GLAAD’s social media and digital channels. Confirmed participating candidates include Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, former Pennsylvania representative Joe Sestak, author Marianne Williamson and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).

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Buttigieg On #SharpieGate: “I Feel Sorry For The President”

Democratic White House hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked about Donald Trump’s #SharpieGate incident where he had appeared to have drawn a circle on a National Weather Services map to include the state of Alabama as a possible Hurrican Dorian target. “I feel sorry for the president, and that is not the way we should feel about the most powerful figure in this country,” said Buttigieg. “Somebody on whose wisdom and judgment our lives literally depend. I don’t know who felt it necessary to pull out a sharpie and change the map. “I don’t know if it was one of his aides believed they had to do that to protect his ego. No matter how you cut it, this is unbelievably sad state of affairs for our country. If our presidency is not in good shape, then our country is not in good shape. “On one level it’s laughable, on another it is exactly why we’ve got to do something different.”

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World’s Chillest Man Sips Beer During Armed Robbery

St. Louis resident Tony Tovar is being called the “World’s Chillest Man” after video footage of him calming sitting through a bar robbery went viral. According to NBC News, Tovar was having a beer at Behrmann’s Tavern on August 28 when an armed robber entered the establishment demanding the patrons get down on the ground and hand over their valuables. Tovar, however, sat on his barstool and calmly sipped his beer while the gunman moved around the watering hole. In surveillance footage, you can see the robber press his gun into Tovar’s arm. But the “World’s Chillest Man” just lits up a cigarette. Tovar later said, “I just had a really good feeling he wasn’t out to harm anybody.” Watch the Chill One in the report below.

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News Round-Up: September 4, 2019

Some news items you might have missed: • Instagram: That time you fly across the world and wind up (surprise!) at Bear Week in Sitges, Spain, by happy accident with old friends. #goodtimes • CNN: The Supreme Court of the Philippines dismissed a request to legalize same-sex marriage in the country. The high court said in a statement it booted the case due to plaintiffs’ “lack of standing” and for “failing to raise an actual, justiciable controversy.” The high court acknowledged that the 1987 Constitution “does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” but urged Congress to address the recognition of same-sex unions. • Bloomberg: The Trump Energy Department has reversed an Obama-era regulation requiring that light bulbs commonly used in recessed lighting and track lighting meet the same energy efficiency standards that effectively phased out the traditional incandescent bulb. The Energy Department said the change “does not prevent consumers from buying the lamps they desire.” The standards would have applied to roughly half of the six billion light bulbs in use today and would have saved consumers billions in energy costs and avoid millions of tons in carbon dioxide emissions.

• Fox KTVU: Following the mass shooting in Gilroy, California, the city of San Francisco has formally adopted a resolution calling the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization. The resolution calls on other cities and government entities to make similar declarations. The resolution itself has no legal weight. • Associated Press: Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved the use of $3.6 billion in funding from military construction projects to build 175 miles (282 kilometers) of Donald Trump’s wall along the Mexican border. Pentagon officials would not say which 127 projects will be affected. • Washington Post: Michigan has become the first state in the nation to ban flavored e-cigarettes, a step Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said was needed to protect young people from the potentially harmful effects of vaping. She complained that e-cigarette companies are using sweet flavors, such as bubble gum and “fruit loops,” to hook young people on nicotine, with potentially long-term harmful consequences. • Reuters: U.S. grocery giant Kroger has announced they are joining Walmart in “respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers.” • Twitter: Twitter had a field day after homocon White House spokesman Judd Deere tweeted Vice President Pence couldn’t be “anti-gay” because he had lunch with the openly gay leader of Ireland. As we all know, the former governor of Indiana signed a religious freedom law that was criticized as a pathway to legal anti-LGBTQ discrimination. He also endorsed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage. Deere’s tweet was ridiculed by thousands, including Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Democratic White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg, who criticized the suggestion that dining with Varadkar meant Pence was not anti-LGBT.

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Biden Still Leads In Latest Poll, But Warren Jumps 5 Points

The Hill reports former Vice President Joe Biden leads the posse of Democratic presidential contenders by double-digits in the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. Biden garnered 32 percent support with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) coming in second with half that – 16 percent. Those results show a slight decline for both men since the last survey by the polling outfit. However, the new data shows Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) getting 13 percent support, a 5-point jump since the last Harvard CAPS/Harris poll was conducted in July after the last set of debates. Warren is the only candidate to show a notable increase in support. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) pegged fourth place with 7 percent support; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) tied for fifth place with 4 percent support. I realize we’re 14 months from the general election, but the first Democratic test comes in Iowa in January.

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Merrill Lynch: Fewer Trump Twitter Rants Means Better Economy For US

According to cable business network CNBC, data indicates Donald Trump would help his reelection chances by pulling back on the Twitter rants. Bank of America Merrill Lynch issued a statement on Tuesday based on analyzing Trump’s Twitter activity since 2016. Savita Subramanian, the brokerage’s chief equity strategist, wrote that “days with more than 35 tweets (90 percentile) by Trump have seen negative returns (-9bp), whereas days with less than 5 tweets (10 percentile) have seen positive returns (+5bp) — statistically significant.” A basis point is 0.01 percent. “Trade talk, political campaigning, and tweets have contributed to volatility, from China to Fed policy to tax policy,” Subramanian added. “And new tariffs announced in August indicate downside risk to our 2019/20 EPS growth forecasts of +2%/+7%, where indirect impacts from hits to corporate or consumer confidence could be significant.” Many inside Team Trump have said off the record that Trump is well aware his main calling card for reelection has been the relative strength of the stock market and low unemployment. It seems less Twitter storms = better economy.

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Mississippi: Bigots Now Turning Away ‘Mixed-Race’ Marriages

Well, gee, no one saw this coming, did they? Now bigots in Mississippi feel empowered to turn away ‘mixed-race’ weddings. LaKambria Welch was doing research for her brother, who is black, and his fiancée, who is white, looking for locations to host their upcoming wedding. But after reaching out to Boone’s Camp Event Hall in Booneville, Miss., the couple was turned away based on the owner’s personal religious beliefs. After being turned away, Welch visited the property to get clarity on the refusal. She filmed her conversation with the employee she spoke with. The video, no surprise, quickly went viral. “We don’t do gay weddings or mixed race, because of our Christian race,” said the employee. Probably realizing she had shown her self by saying ‘Christian race’ – there’s no such thing – she quickly amended her statement saying, “I mean our Christian belief.” Uh-huh.

Folks, when people reveal themselves to you, believe them the first time. When Ms. Welch explained that she, too, is Christian but asked where in the Bible it’s taught that mixed-race marriages were forbidden, the employee replied, “I don’t want to argue my faith, we just don’t participate.” Shaken by the episode, Welch told the media, “It really broke my heart to actually hear her say those things.” According to reports, after the video launched hundreds of outraged social media posts, the owner of the event hall, Donna Russell, clearly sensing a lawsuit of epic size (federal law prohibits race-based discrimination in public accommodation), privately apologized to Welch and her family. The owners said in a statement that they had previously been taught (by who?) to believe that “interracial marriage was against the teachings of the Bible.” The owners say they consulted with their pastor and realized they were ‘wrong.’ More from the Washington Post:

In her apology, the event hall’s owner attempted to explain why she believed the Bible supported her views on interracial marriages, describing how she only recently discovered that wasn’t the case. She began by writing that as “a child growing up in Mississippi” it was an unspoken understanding that people stayed “with your own race.”

But then on Saturday, when her husband asked her to point to relevant sections of the Bible, she couldn’t. After spending hours scouring the text and sitting down with her pastor, the owner wrote that she finally concluded that the reasoning behind her decision to turn away Welch’s brother and his fiancee was “incorrect.”

“Boone’s Camp is sorry for the pain and inconvenience they have caused this couple and have invited them to use the facility,” the statement said. The United States Supreme Court overturned bans against interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.  In 2016, Mississippi passed a law that affords special protections to opponents of same-sex marriage, which the Supreme Court had ruled was a constitutional right the previous year. The law protects individuals and organizations who claim they act in accordance with their “sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions” from potential government actions. The law allows them sway in turning away possible customers in regards to hiring, real estate, wedding services, and foster care.  The 2016 law clearly does not mention race. The venue owners did not mention any change of position on same-sex marriages. Folks, first it’s the gays, now ‘mixed race’ marriages. Don’t think you’re not next. All they have to do is find you to be ‘different.’ #StandUp (source: New York Times)

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Another Former Leader Of ‘Ex-Gay’ Movement Comes Out, Apologizes For Harm Caused

Yet another former leader of the so-called ‘ex-gay movement’ has come out as gay, and issued a public apology for his part in advocating for the harmful practice of ‘conversion therapy.’ In a post on his Facebook page, McKrae Game apologized for his part in founding Hope for Wholeness, which promised to aid those who “struggle with homosexuality find the freedom to live in sexual and relational wholeness.” From OUT:

Game, who ran the organization for two decades, said its stance that LGBTQ+ people can be cured of their identities is “wrong.”

“I know that creating the organization … was in a large way causing harm,” he wrote. “Creating a catchy slogan that put out a very misleading idea of ‘Freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ’ was definitely harmful.”

Game also asked for forgiveness for telling LGBTQ+ that their feelings are “wrong, bad, sinful, [and] evil.”

“It’s all in my past, but way too many continue believing that there is something wrong with themselves and wrong with people that choose to live their lives honestly and open as gay, lesbian, trans, etc.,” he wrote. “Learn to love yourself and others.”

All of the nation’s major mental health and medical associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have denounced conversion therapy as not only ineffective but dangerous. The harmful practice has been linked to anxiety, depressions and suicide. To date, 18 states have banned the practice on LGBTQ youth. According to the Williams Institute, nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. are survivors of the treatment. Game, married to a woman before coming out as gay earlier this year, is just the latest in a long line of former conversion therapy advocates who have reversed their position on ‘ex-gay’ therapy. Nine ex-gay leaders who left the movement have called for the treatment to be banned. Game recently sat down with the Post & Courier regarding his newfound revelations:

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Newark Airport Chaos As Flight Attendant Yells ‘Evacuate!’

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant becomes suspicious of two travelers waiting to board a flight, then suddenly yells ‘evacuate!’ The next thing you know there’s total chaos and pandemonium. The event occurred at a Newark International Airport terminal on Monday night. According to local news station PIX11, Police say the flight attendant had been speaking with the men at Gate 30 around 8:30 p.m. Something caught the attendant’s attention, who hit an alarm button and told people to evacuate. One passenger texted this to local news station PIX11:

“Imagine you’re starting to board and a frazzled flight attendant comes off the plane, stops the process, asks someone to call the police, then starts yelling (with increasing loudness) ‘evacuate!’ I ran with the crowds, hid under some seats, looked for an exit, headed out to the tarmac,” the passenger added.

“Sounded like gunshots but after seeing the damage in this terminal, it’s more likely it was glass being shattered from people jumping. Terrifying.”

“The two men who concerned the flight attendant were identified and questioned by the Port Authority Police Department,” added PIX11. “They were released and no charges were filed. Police also questioned the flight attendant.”

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Trump Has ‘Never Heard Of Cat 5 Hurricanes; Four Have Hit US During His Presidency

Donald Trump, during a briefing on Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, shared this word salad of epic proportions:

“All we know is that it’s possibly the biggest. I’m not sure I’ve even heard of a category 5, I knew it existed. And I’ve seen some category 4s. I don’t even think I’ve heard the term other than I know it it’s there and it’s the ultimate and that’s what we have, unfortunately.”

This is at least the fourth time Trump has said he’s never heard of category 5 hurricanes, most recently in May of this year. This is the fourth Category 5 hurricane to strike the United States during his presidency: Irma, Maria, Michael, Dorian.