Category: News

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50+ Ambassadors To Poland: ‘Human Rights Are Universal – Including LGBTI People’

Poland lawmakers continue to work on a bill that would ban Pride events in the European country

A sticker promoting ‘LGBT free’ zones in Poland
An open letter signed by ambassadors from 50 countries calls out Poland for hostility towards LGBTQ people and denouncing towns that declare themselves free of ‘LGBT ideology.’ The letter, which was coordinated by Belgium’s embassy in Warsaw according to the BBC, expresses the group’s support for “the efforts to raise public awareness of issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community and other communities in Poland facing similar challenges.” Among the many diplomats who signed the letter are representatives from the U.S., Australia, India, Israel, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, Spain, the U.K., New Zealand and Japan. Noting that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls for affirming “the inherent dignity of each individual,” the open letter urges Poland to respect and protect its LGBTQ community which has faced backlash from the country’s right-wing government. “Respect for these fundamental rights…obliges governments to protect all citizens from violence and discrimination and to ensure they enjoy equal opportunities,” writes the group of diplomats. “Human rights are universal and everyone, including LGBTI persons, are entitled to their full enjoyment,” the letter reads in closing before adding, “This is something that everyone should support.” The BBC reports that nearly 100 towns across Poland have approved local ordinances denouncing “LGBT ideology.” The resolutions carry no penalties but they serve to further divide the country amid the country’s culture wars. Georgett Mosbacher, U.S. Ambassador to Poland, tweeted a link to the open letter with the message, “Human Rights are not an ideology – they are universal. 50 Ambassadors and Representatives agree.”

But Polish leaders clapped back saying LGBT people in his country are not “deprived” of respect. “To the dear ambassadors, I can only say that tolerance belongs to Polish DNA,” announced Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a press conference. “Nobody needs to teach us tolerance, because we are a nation that has learned such tolerance for centuries and we have given many testimonies to the history of such tolerance.” That said, the Associated Press reports that conservative leaders in the predominantly Catholic nation see the modern fight for LGBTQ civil rights as “a threat to traditional families.” And ILGA Europe has ranked Poland as the worst country in the European Union for LGBTQ people.
(image via Vice News)
President Andrzej Duda won his second term in office after campaigning against equality for queer people and calling “LGBT rights an ‘ideology’ more dangerous than communism.” Poland has no legal recognition of same-sex marriage or civil unions, and same-sex couples have no legal right to adopt children. During the campaign this summer, Duda called for banning all adoptions by same-sex couples. VICE News did an in-depth report into the scare tactics and challenges LGBTQ people face in Poland this summer.

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Trump Nominates Ultra-Conservative Amy Coney Barrett To SCOTUS

Judge Amy Coney Barrett (photo: Rachel Malehorn/Wikimedia Commons)
Today, Donald Trump announced the nomination of ultra-conservative Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ginsburg, just days after Justice Ginsburg’s death and before her burial at Arlington National Cemetery next week. From the New York Times:

While other justices have been approved in presidential election years, none has been voted on after July. Four years ago, Senate Republicans refused to even consider President Barack Obama’s nomination to replace Justice Scalia with Judge Merrick B. Garland, announced 237 days before Election Day, on the grounds that it should be left to whoever was chosen as the next president.

In picking Judge Barrett, a conservative and a hero to the anti-abortion movement, Mr. Trump could hardly have found a more polar opposite to Justice Ginsburg, a pioneering champion of women’s rights and leader of the liberal wing of the court.

And the Human Rights Campaign notes just some of Coney Barrett’s low-lights regarding LGBTQ rights:

Coney Barrett defended the Supreme Court’s dissenters on the landmark marriage equality case of Obergefell v. Hodges, questioning the role of the court in deciding the case:

[Chief Justice Roberts, in his dissent,] said, those who want same-sex marriage, you have every right to lobby in state legislatures to make that happen, but the dissent’s view was that it wasn’t for the court to decide…So I think Obergefell, and what we’re talking about for the future of the court, it’s really a who decides question.” – Coney Barrett

Coney Barrett says Title IX protections do not extend to transgender Americans, claiming it’s a “strain on the text” to reach that interpretation:

“When Title IX was enacted, it’s pretty clear that no one, including the Congress that enacted that statute, would have dreamed of that result, at that time. Maybe things have changed so that we should change Title IX, maybe those arguing in favor of this kind of transgender bathroom access are right. That’s a public policy debate to have. But it does seem to strain the text of the statute to say that Title IX demands it.” – Coney Barrett

Coney Barrett misgendered transgender people, referring to a transgender women as “physiological males,” while casting doubt on transgender rights:

“People will feel passionately on either side about whether physiological males who identify as females should be permitted in bathrooms, especially where there are young girls present.” – Coney Barrett

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 57 percent of Americans say the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year. Only 38 percent feel the confirmation should happen in the next weeks. The same poll shows: • 54 percent of respondents oppose increasing the number of Supreme Court justices versus 32 percent who support the idea • 50 percent said they trust Joe Biden more to handle the next SCOTUS nomination versus 42 percent who trust Donald Trump more to make the choice

(graphic via ABC News/Washington Post poll)

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News Round-Up: September 25, 2020

Tom Goss in ‘Amsterdam’ (photo: Mark Nickels)
Some news items you might have missed: • JoeMyGod: In a money-beg email, virulently anti-LGBTQ Brian Brown solicits donations for his woeful National Organization for Marriage declaring conservatives should support Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court because “It will mean that religious liberty will be restored to its rightful place as a foundational constitutional right, and that the fake “rights” that are constantly demanded by the left – including special rules for homosexuals and the so-called transgendered – will no longer see the light of day.” Oh no, no hate there… • Out Music: The sensual music video for Tom Goss’s “Amsterdam,” is a beautifully shot wet and sexy romp. He wrote the song four years ago while in Holland, when he had a transformative sexual experience that still reverberates to this day. “It started in the shower,” recalls Goss. “We were kissing and holding each other tightly, with water pouring down over us. I had this overwhelming feeling of peace and acceptance of who I am, like I was being baptized in a whole new way.”

• Reuters:A federal appeals court ruled in favor of allowing the House of Representatives’ lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s diversion of funds to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to proceed. • KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like MetroWeekly featuring Ritchie Torres, who will likely become the first gay Afro-Latino elected to Congress. • AP: In the Midwest, the virus is now landing squarely in places where there is strong resistance to masks and governors have been reluctant to require face coverings. Oklahoma and Missouri are regularly recording 1,000 new cases a day, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson [photo], a staunch opponent of mask rules, tested positive this week. Kansas and Iowa are also witnessing a spike in cases. And South Dakota and Idaho are seeing sky-high rates of tests coming back positive.

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Florida: Governor Lifts All Coronavirus Restrictions

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
From the Miami Herald:

Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in Florida on Friday, and banned local fines against people who refuse to wear masks as he seeks to reopen the state’s economy despite the spread of the coronavirus.

The Republican governor’s order unleashed fresh debate in the politically divided state, where pandemic responses have become intertwined with the upcoming presidential election.

DeSantis, a major ally of President Donald Trump, acknowledged that the pandemic is far from over, but he said the threat has eased and the time has come to reopen for business.

Florida added 2,847 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, pushing the statewide total since March 1 to 695,887. The state also announced 120 new virus deaths, pushing its total to 14,038. Hospitalizations declined by 34 to 2,137 people.

While local jurisdictions can still impose some restrictions they are not allowed to limit restaurants to reopen at less than 50% capacity. Local regulators will also have to justify limiting any restaurants to less than 100 percent. Today’s order from DeSantis also blocks cities and counties from collecting fines on people who don’t wear face masks, basically nullifying local mask ordinances. Broward County Mayor Dale Holness announced today that restaurants in his county are now allowed to reopen bar counters. BUT alcohol may not be allowed to be served in those areas, customers need to social distance 6-feet apart and plexiglass barriers would need to installed.

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Trump Greeted By Boos And Chants Of ‘Vote Him Out’ At SCOTUS

Donald Trump (screen capture)
I doubt Donald Trump is accustomed to being this close to his opposition. Arriving at the United States Supreme Court to pay respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Donald was greeted with boos and a chorus of “vote him out!” Quite the visceral moment…

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Seattle Police Officer Rides Over Protesters Head

To all the many, many good cops out there – this doesn’t help anything. From the New York Post:

A Seattle cop was filmed rolling his bicycle over a man’s helmeted head as he lay down on the street during violent Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the decision not to charge cops for Breonna Taylor’s death.

The dungaree-wearing protester — called “trumpet man” by others in the crowd — was shown prone on the ground more than once as groups of bike cops pushed the mob back after declaring the march an unlawful protest.

As the officers advanced another time, one appeared to have had enough — and steered his bike’s wheels over the protester’s white safety helmet, according to a CJTV Media live stream. The officer — who was walking the bike at the time — then appeared to use it to hit another man to stop him getting too close.

Seattle police said it was “aware” of the video.

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Former Louisville Detective Charged But Not For Killing Breonna Taylor

Deceased ER tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use)
A former Louisville police detective has been indicted by a grand jury in connection with the late-night police shooting which led to the death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. But the officer wasn’t charged with killing Taylor. From the New York Times:

A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective on Wednesday for endangering Breonna Taylor’s neighbors by recklessly firing his gun during a raid on her apartment in March. No officer was charged with killing Ms. Taylor.

Grand jurors indicted Brett Hankison, the former detective, on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” saying he had threatened three people’s lives by firing bullets that traveled through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and into theirs. A pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child were asleep in that apartment, and the bullets shattered a glass door but did not harm the couple and their child.

Mr. Hankison had fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment building, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight.

He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

The Times notes that several legal experts had theorized the officers wouldn’t be indicted for Taylor’s death since it was her boyfriend who fired his gun first when the cops entered the apartment without apparently announcing who they were under a ‘no-knock’ warrant. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour countywide curfew beginning at 9 pm in anticipation of protests. Taylor’s family agreed to a $12 million settlement last week.

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News Round-Up: September 22, 2020

Ellen Degeneres (screen capture)
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: Viewers were left with no explanation when Noah Purvis, a contestant on CBS’s straight matchmaking show Love Island, quietly disappeared from the show. It’s since been revealed that Purvis has a not-so-secret gay porn past, and according to some reports, executives at the network didn’t like it. • The Advocate: Writer Trudy Ring breaks down why the LGBTQ community is justified in its concern about Supreme Court front-runner Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Here’s a couple of hints: she wasn’t jake about the 2015 SCOTUS marriage equality ruling and she questions the recent transgender discrimination = sex discrimination decision. #DangerWillRobinson • Bloomberg News: Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg is reportedly role-playing as fellow Hoosier Vice President Mike Pence in debate prep sessions with Sen. Kamala Harris in advance of the upcoming October 7 veep face-off in Salt Lake City. • Axios: A 2018 state constitutional amendment in Florida allows for felons who have completed their prison sentences to regain their right to vote — but there’s a catch: they have to pay back any outstanding fines, fees or restitution. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has raised over $16 million to pay off obligations for 32,000 felons who were already registered to vote in Florida just before Election Day. • NPR: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidelines on how to celebrate Halloween safely. No big surprise: Classic door-to-door trick-or-treating and indoor haunted houses (where people will be crowded and screaming, which could send infectious particles flying) are on the no-no list. Better: outdoor ‘haunted forests’ and individually wrapped gift bags at the end of a driveway or yard while still preserving social distance. • NewNowNext: When The Ellen DeGeneres Show premiered its 18th season on Monday, Ellen (above) began the episode by addressing allegations of a toxic work environment that came to light this summer via reporting by Buzzfeed News. After rumors of demeaning treatment of staffers ran rampant, three executive producers were gone by August. Watch Ellen’s full monologue below.

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It’s National Voter Registration Day, So Get Ready To Flex Your Vote

(image via celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz/Instagram)
Today is National Voter Registration Day, so just in case…here’s some info you might want to use. So many people believe their one vote may not matter in elections, but they do. How do I know? Check this out. Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin  – all three – with less than one percent of the vote. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT. He won Florida by less than 2 points. But, check out how many LGBTQ voters there were that not only didn’t vote but didn’t even REGISTER to vote.
(graphic via VoteProud.org)
Clearly the LGBTQ vote could – and should – make a difference. VoteProud.org is a non-partisan movement to inspire the LGBTQ+ community to register and vote. Working to combat voter apathy among all marginalized Americans, their movement demands all citizens are treated equally. ​ The group has partnered with When We All Vote, a non-partisan voting effort co-chaired by Michelle Obama and several other influential voices who are changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted approach to increase participation in elections.

If you click over to VoteProud, you can easily check your voter registration or – if you’re not registered already – do it right there.

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We are weeks away from the single most important thing we can do this decade. If we cannot mobilize every single person we know to vote, we will suffer unprecedented oppression and hatred for the next 4 years and beyond. The earth will be stripped of its resources leaving the next generation with nothing. We will all be stripped of our rights as minorities, LGBTQ people, women and pretty much everyone else whose net worth is less than $20 million. If we can each inspire 1 person to vote, we can say that we did something. Doing nothing is no longer an option. PLEASE REQUEST YOUR MAIL IN BALLOT AT WWW.VOTE.ORG TODAY! I will personally shout out every single person who DMs me a pic of their Absentee ballot application form. I long for a time when we aren’t motivated by hatred and divisiveness. We can have it but ONLY OF WE TAKE IT! Rest In Peace #ruthbaderginsburg #VOTE #MIKERUIZ #absenteeballot #mailinballot #votebymail #LOVE

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News Round-Up: September 21, 2020

Me and the Snoop
Some news items you might have missed: • Snoop Watch: Taking a ride with Snoopy (above). He’s soooo good in the car… #BeagleLife • Law And Crime: A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled on Monday that absentee ballots postmarked as mailed on Nov. 3—namely, Election Day—shall be counted up to six days later. • The Advocate: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denounced Poland’s so-called ‘LGBT-free zones’ as “having no place in the European Union or anywhere in the world.” Biden has pledged to make LGBTQ+ rights around the world a priority of his administration.

• Flip-Flop: In a letter to his Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues, Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s reversed on confirming a Supreme Court Justice so close to a presidential election because he thinks Democrats were mean to Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings. • Tennessean: Former Nashville Councilman Tony Tenpenny died of complications due to COVID-19 on Sunday after several weeks in the hospital. In the months before his death, the conservative Republican shared several social media posts expressing doubts about the coronavirus pandemic including a post calling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) “pure lying asses.” • Reuters: Spain has recorded 31,428 more coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 671,468, health ministry data showed on Monday. Spain has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in western Europe and regional authorities have ordered a partial lockdown from Monday in some Madrid neighborhoods where cases are rising fast. • ETonline: I thought the Television Academy did a terrific job presenting its virtual Emmy Awards last night, although some of the attempts at comedy fell a bit flat without a live audience’s reaction. For instance, having lost earlier in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series category (for the 4th time), a stunning Laverne Cox presented the award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and did a funny bit about missing out on the award. But the tone of her voice – plus no live audience to laugh along with her – made for an awkward moment, and ABC censored part of her remarks.