All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
Special request – if you enjoy catching up on LGBTQ news via my podcast, I’d really appreciate it if you would share with your friends on social media 🙂
NBC Newsreports that former FBI Director James Comey has dropped his legal challenge to a Republican congressional subpoena and will agree to closed-door deposition.
However, lawmakers agreed to release a full transcript of his testimony within 24 hours, and he will be free to make all or part of it available to the public.
Comey had been subpoenaed by House Republicans to discuss Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server (again) as well as Russian interference in the 2016 election behind closed doors. Comey opposed the private setting in an effort to make sure the American people would be able to know exactly what was discussed.
Comey’s attorneys argued in their challenge to the subpoena that Republicans had “abused their powers with selective leaks” in the past.
Grateful for a fair hearing from judge. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I don’t believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I’m free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony.
‘Donald Trump’ and company sing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” on SNL
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) gets an update about the Robert Mueller probe from Rudy Giuliani (Kate McKinnon) and Michael Cohen (Ben Stiller) after being comforted by First Lady Melania Trump (Cecily Strong).
Baldwin’s Trump: “I’m sad you’re going to prison, Michael. You were like a son to me.”
Stiller’s Cohen: “Then why’d you make me do so much illegal stuff?”
“Because you were like a son to me,” says Baldwin’s Trump.
Plus, he confronts Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) about his handshake with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (Fred Armisen) at the G20 Summit in Argentina.
“Don’t cry for me Argentina, the truth is I’m very guilty. Some little no-nos and maybe treason. But I kept my promise. Oops, no, I didn’t,” sings the Trumpeter at the end of the skit.
Last night, I shared the news that former President George H.W. Bush had passed away at the age of 94.
I did so because it was news-worthy.
But I do think it’s important to note that while many laud Bush Sr. in death, he was not a great ally to the LGBTQ community during his time in the White House.
Yes, he did sign into law the Hate Crime Statistics Act, which was the first federal bill to put “sexual orientation” under protection of discrimination. And he did advocate for not discriminating against those who became HIV positive.
But in 1992, he told the New York Times in no uncertain terms that he opposed same-sex parenting.
“I can’t accept as normal life style people of the same sex being parents. I’m very sorry. I don’t accept that as normal,” he said.
He would later “mellow” on his stance, saying in 2015, “Personally, I still believe in traditional marriage, but people should be able to do what they want to do, without discrimination. People have a right to be happy. I guess you could say I have mellowed.”
But none of that erases the lives lost during the 1980s and early 1990s to the AIDS epidemic when his silence was deafening.
My friend Tom Viola, who leads Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an organization that has literally saved countless lives since the late 1980s, expresses how many in the LGBTQ community feel today.
I have to say this as I witness so many I work with and admire give George Bush, Sr. a pass on his monstrously cold and negligent response to the thousands of our friends who died horrendous deaths during his thankfully brief 4 years in office.
And most especially today. World AIDS DAY, 2018.
I agree with my friend Jay Blotcher, below. I also appreciate that George Bush, Sr. could be a lovely man, one on one, or when you entered his family’s private circle or when engaged socially or giving him some graceful benefit of the doubt, as he aged and had little politically at stake.
And God knows he, and even his then seemingly dim-witted son, seem decent compared to the naked cowardice and evil of the current asshole in the Oval Office.
But I am having a tough time witnessing so many who support all we do, now with his death completely give the guy a whitewashed pass on the negligent evil of his administration’s response to AIDS. As I am also tired of allowing people, such as Bush, Sr., to be forgiven for allowing the true evil doers behind the scenes, such as Cheney, Helms Atwater and others of those days, to have called the shots.
The true display of all his now lauded personal nice guy/lovely man moral convictions would have been to say “NO, we won’t allow this!” Bush, Sr. did not. He stood firm in negligent homicide. The courage with which he went to world war completely evaded him in the war we were fighting. George Bush, Sr. could have taken a true hero’s stance and be remembered for it with gratitude forever. He did not. It pisses me off.
But like George, I was raised to be nice. So I’ll only say this much.
Instead I would now ask you to go over to THE AIDS MEMORIAL website on Instagram and note how many of those remembered died between 1988 and 1992, the years that George Bush, Sr. didn’t have the or political or moral courage to make a difference. He dove for cover, letting so many die. Yet still he wanted to go backstage and meet the casts, filled with people whose hearts were broken much due to his negligence. Would he had extended his kindness when it mattered.
Tom refers in his Facebook note to a post by Jay Blotcher, who wrote:
A president is dead. And as the eulogies come pouring in, my heart remains cold — as cold as Bush’s heart remained in the face of the hundreds of thousands of AIDS deaths that occurred during his reign.
My ACT UP comrades and I demonstrated relentlessly during his four years, demanding a humane governmental response to the epidemic. We were met with silence or excuses.
On Labor Day weekend of 1991, we marched on his summer compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, to protest his murderous policies. His response? He told media that he had more compassion for the merchants whose holiday weekend business we had disrupted. Let his cruel inaction be his legacy.
Save your tears for the people with AIDS we lost during his time in office.
Out singer/songwriter Kim Petras teams with electronic DJ trio Cheat Codes on her latest single, “Feeling of Falling.”
Totally danceable, the bop’s lyrics explore the fear of falling in love after a difficult breakup.
“‘Feeling of Falling’ is a song about ending up brokenhearted and trying to stay away from love to protect yourself,” Petras shared with PAPER. “I’m the biggest emo, so I really connected to this song. Cheat Codes are amazing, and I’ve had the best time collaborating on this one.”
And Cheat Codes recently told Billboard, “The feeling of falling in love is great but it’s hard not to think about or compare it to past experiences of heartbreak. It puts you in a really vulnerable place. It can be the best thing but also the worst.”
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Donald Trump & Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Donald Trump has signed the newly-updated trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The agreement, much to the chagrin of 38 House Republicans, includes aspirational language encouraging member states to adopt policies against LGBT discrimination in the workforce.
Trump signed the agreement in Buenos Aires alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Section 23 of the USMCA contains a provision against sex discrimination in the workplace, calling on members in the deal to adopt policies against sex-based discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The section also calls for cooperation among the member states “in promotion of equality and elimination of employment discrimination” with regard to numerous characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
The inclusion of the LGBT language in the update to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, is a win for Trudeau, whose government inserted the provisions. The language, however, is aspirational and won’t require a change in law for any member states.
Although the United States has federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of sex and courts are increasingly interpreting them to bar anti-LGBT discrimination, no explicit federal law is in place against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Trump signed the agreement with the LGBT provisions intact even though a group of 38 House Republicans led by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) urged him to seek removal of that language, insisting the agreement “is no place for the adoption of social policy.”
The USMCA must be ratified by Congress with implementing language for the agreement to take effect. It remains to be seen whether House Republicans will now vote against the agreement with the LGBT language, or if the USMCA has enough support for approval in the next Congress when Democrats will have a majority in the U.S. House.
According toPolitico, the LGBT provisions were a Canadian priority championed by Trudeau.
Moments ago at the signing of the new USMCA deal, Trudeau tells Trump that GM closing plants in both countries is another reason why the president should remove steel and aluminum tariffs #USMCA#NAFTA#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/4V92HGzS8C
George Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, who steered the nation through a tumultuous period in world affairs but was denied a second term after support for his presidency collapsed under the weight of an economic downturn and his seeming inattention to domestic affairs, died on Friday night at his home in Houston. He was 94.
His death, which was announced by his office, came less than eight months after that of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush.
Mr. Bush had a form of Parkinson’s disease that forced him to use a wheelchair or motorized scooter in recent years, and he had been in and out of hospitals during that time as his health declined. In April, a day after attending Mrs. Bush’s funeral, he was treated for an infection that had spread to his blood. In 2013, he was in dire enough shape with bronchitis that former President George W. Bush, his son, solicited ideas for a eulogy.
But he proved resilient each time. In 2013 he told well-wishers, through an aide, to “put the harps back in the closet.”
America has lost a patriot and humble servant in George Herbert Walker Bush. While our hearts are heavy today, they are also filled with gratitude. Our thoughts are with the entire Bush family tonight – and all who were inspired by George and Barbara’s example. pic.twitter.com/g9OUPu2pjY
Hillary and I mourn the passing of President George H. W. Bush, and give thanks for his great long life of service, love and friendship. I am grateful for every minute I spent with him and will always hold our friendship as one of my life’s greatest gifts. https://t.co/1CYdrIeKmz
And, most of us tend to take things at face value.
So, Payless Shoes wanted to do a ‘social experiment.’
The longtime value shoe store hired an advertising agency, DCX Growth Accelerator, to take over a boutique in Los Angeles and retool it as a fake luxury brand – “Palessi.”
The store front was designed to look very high-end fashion-forward and filled with Payless shoes that normally retail for $19.99 – $39.99.
The ad company then invited social media fashion influencers to a ‘grand opening’ to get their take on the shoes.
The reaction? The fashion insiders were eager to snap up the kicks paying $300, $400, up to $600 a pair.
Along the way, Payless interviewed the fashionistas who gushed about the quality, design and materials.
Now, to be clear, Payless did refund all the money AND they let the insiders keep the shoes they had ‘purchased.’
The chief creative officer at DCX Growth Accelerator, Doug Cameron, told Good Morning America the idea was “to push the social experiment genre to new extremes, while simultaneously using it to make a cultural statement.”
“Payless customers share a pragmatist point of view, and we thought it would be provocative to use this ideology to challenge today’s image-conscious fashion influencer culture,” he added.
While it’s an interesting episode in marketing, the story stuck with this writer in terms of how social media imaging is being used more and more to create an impression of what folks want us to believe.
Lately, it seems social media isn’t always about sharing an opinion or experience, but creating the illusion of one.
Whether it’s those amazingly hot guys on Instagram we follow for a bit of eye-candy, or the Russian bots that fed folks what they wanted to read about the candidate they either loved or hated during an election cycle.
Or, maybe the cool guys across the gym that look like they have it all going on, but maybe not…?
The reaction to the campaign has been pretty positive across the board. Reading comments on YouTube, you see a lot of “I absolutely LOVE this.”
I don’t know if that’s because viewers revel in seeing folks being fooled?
Or, if there’s comfort in finding out that, for most of us, our every day lives really are just great (without a high sticker price).
A few years ago, my husband and I were furnishing our new house. And while we spent money where we felt we wanted to be sure of long-lasting value, we also mixed in a few pieces from Target that seemed fine and fit right in.
Over the years, and I laugh as I write this, it’s often the Target furniture pieces that visitors note and compliment.
Is there a lesson here?
Maybe we should just pick up that shoe we think we like (or shirt, or car, or politician, or potential new boyfriend/girlfriend), flip it over, see how it feels, and how we feel about it.
A video posted to social media appears to show school officials breaking into a bathroom stall as a transgender high school student is using the bathroom.
According to The Daily Dot, the student originally posted the video to their social media but it has since gone viral. Her name isn’t being used as she’s apparently a minor.
The one-minute video, shot from the student’s perspective inside the stall, shows a crowbar or broomstick being used to reach over the door of the stall and unlatch it.
As this is happening the student says, “I’m using the bathroom, and look at them; I’m using the bathroom and they just violated me!”
“I am so scared and violated right now. They just walked in the bathroom while I was using the bathroom for no reason.”
The video was shared on Twitter by activist Kenidra Woods. Watch below.
A transgender female student @ Osseo Senior High was ostracized by administration, violated, and put out of school for using the Girl’s bathroom.
You know, most of the people who oppose trans folks using a bathroom say their concern is about being harassed in a stall. And here are folks doing exactly that to a trans student…?
“I’m not personally in touch with the student, but in her video, she asked for people to share it far and wide,” Woods told the Daily Dot. “So, I made it my priority to share it because it infuriated me to my core. No one should be treated in the manner she was treated.”
While it’s possible there’s more to the story, it is difficult to believe that prying open a bathroom stall door on a student is the best possible approach to this situation. The officials or hall monitors couldn’t wait until the student exited the stall?
The issue of bathroom use by transgender students has been in the news frequently in recent years, especially since the Trump administration reversed an Obama-era policies that recommended transgender students be allowed to use the bathroom that aligned with their gender identity.
The student apparently posted follow-up videos to Facebook which appeared to identify the school as Osseo Senior High School in Osseo, Minnesota.
According to The Daily Dot, school officials have not commented on the video.
The story becomes more complicated as LGBTQNation reports someone who claims to be the sister of the student took to her Facebook to criticize the trans student’s actions.
In the sister’s post, misgendering the trans student throughout, the sister says the trans student has “a bathroom of [their] own to use whenever [they] wants to use it because [they] doesn’t feel comfortable using a men’s bathroom[…] because other girls won’t feel comfortable.” She also says her sibling had been in the bathroom for “like, an hour.”
The sister later posted a message from their mother consistently referring to the trans student with male pronouns while claiming to fully support the student being transgender.
The mother goes on to write that the trans student “doesn’t realize is that [she’s] not the only one who has been effected by all [she] has done in the last 24hrs and the rollercoaster [she] brought us on.”
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at World AIDS Day event at White House
In advance of the 30th observance of World AIDS Day (December 1), Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a White House event where he boasted of the current administration’s ‘accomplishments’ on HIV/AIDS.
Since 1988, December 1 has been acknowledged as a day dedicated to raising aware of the AIDS pandemic that has claimed more than 35 million lives worldwide.
Pence’s speech was filled with wild inaccuracies as he attempted to credit Donald Trump with bringing “a renewed energy and focus” to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
That statement alone represents the height of hypocrisy.
Celebrating the 15th anniversary of PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), Pence told the audience at the event that the president plans on signing a bill soon that will reauthorize the program.
What he didn’t mention is that Trump’s own budget proposal called for a 17% reduction in funding for the program, in addition to $425 million to be cut from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Hailing the success of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, which provides health coverage for low-income people with HIV/AIDS, the Vice President failed to tell the crowd that the administration diverted funds from the program this year to help pay for separating families at the Mexican border.
Additionally, the president fired the remaining 16 members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS after 6 prominent members resigned over his indifference to the issue.
In the nearly two years since Trump took office, no one has been appointed to lead the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. How do you take credit for ‘renewed energy and focus’ when you haven’t even asked someone to lead the charge against the disease?
Then there’s the “Deploy or Get Out” policy which could mean the discharge of HIV+ U.S. military service members. The policy, announced in February of this year, directed the Pentagon to remove any military personnel who are considered undeployable to serve outside of the U.S. for 12 consecutive months “for any reason.”
And, for the second year in a row, at no time did Pence, nor any other White House official, acknowledge the disproportionate impact HIV/AIDS has had on the LGBTQ community.
Even going back to before Pence’s time in the current administration, there was his woeful record as a congressman and governor of Indiana on the issue of HIV.
Running for congress in 2000, his campaign website stated that funds from the Ryan White program should be “directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.”
As Governor of Indiana, Pence opposed a needle exchange program which would have slowed HIV infections in rural counties in his state. It was only after 200 people became infected in just one county that he allowed the program to be implemented.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, tweeted his criticism of the speech, calling out Pence’s hypocrisy and misinformation:
.@mike_pence marking #WorldAIDSDay right now is truly the height of hypocrisy. From spreading misinformation about condom use, to contributing to a major outbreak of HIV & AIDS in his home state, Pence has put ideology before the health & lives of countless people. #RealMikePence
