I’m sure this is the last thing Congressional Republicans want right before the mid-term elections – their leader threatening a dogvernment shutdown.
Donald Trump tweeted, “I don’t care what the political ramifications are, our immigration laws and border security have been a complete and total disaster for decades, and there is no way that the Democrats will allow it to be fixed without a Government Shutdown…Border Security is National Security, and National Security is the long-term viability of our Country. A Government Shutdown is a very small price to pay for a safe and Prosperous America!”
Popular, you’re gonna me pop-u-u-lar.
I don’t care what the political ramifications are, our immigration laws and border security have been a complete and total disaster for decades, and there is no way that the Democrats will allow it to be fixed without a Government Shutdown…
…Border Security is National Security, and National Security is the long-term viability of our Country. A Government Shutdown is a very small price to pay for a safe and Prosperous America!
Readers – special thanks to my Instinct Magazine colleague, David Lopez, for this guest post.
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High about the land in lush greenery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are the Sugarloaf cable cars, an attraction that takes visitors to the popular destination through a picturesque viewing of Brazil and possibly one of the most iconic figures in the world, Christ the Redeemer.
The attraction moves between Praia Vermelha and the Sugarloaf Mountain, reaching a summit of 1,299 feet.
Visitors who take the cable cars, can have their photos taken in the waiting area’s Fotográfica to commemorate their trip to Rio.
Sample photos of people from around the world adorn the photo area, but recently one particular photo has been the topic of controversy as it includes a gay couple kissing at the attraction.
The Interceptreports that the photo exists because of 29-year-old manager Pedro Lotti, who asked the couple if it were okay to display it for all to see.
Lotti, who is not gay, is inclusive of everyone who visits the attraction and often asks people if they are a couple. If they responds “yes” he encourages them to kiss or embrace, inviting them to be themselves. When the couple in the photo in question decided to kiss, Lotti asked them for permission to display it—and he chose to put it front and center for all visitors to see.
Lotti shared with The Intercept:
“I did it specifically because roughly 70 percent of our employees here are gay, and they experience serious problems here because of this. It actually took a while to be able to have a photo of a gay couples kissing because most are afraid to do it. Always, at the entrance, I noticed that same-sex couples were cautious or scared to touch, hold hands, or kiss for their photos and they would walk to the photo area, and then walk away, and return various times, obviously afraid of how people would react.”
Pedro Lotti
Lotti shares that since the photo has been on display, there have been floods of complaints as to why it is there.
“Unfortunately, the large majority of people who react to the photo do so quite poorly,” said Lotti. “We get complaints every day. They typically complain, specifically, that the photo is in the line of vision for children, and are angry that their kids specifically have seen the photo.”
Lotti refuses to remove the photo despite public opposition. Instead, he sees the photo as a teachable moment among parents and their children. He takes great satisfaction in the moments when parents use the photo to describe that love comes in all different forms.
Most of the complaints that come from parents use children as the excuse for wanting to censor, but according to Lotti, the children never demonstrate a negative reaction. It is the parents who bring up the issue because of their intolerance.
In a densely-Catholic country like Brazil, which has conservative ideologies, Lotti’s stance on the issue is making strides toward the inclusion and acceptance of the LGBTQ community.
Grammy Award-winning Culture Club has dropped its first new single in nearly 20 years in advance of a new album, Life, due for release October 26. Boy George announced the news via Facebook this morning.
The new track, “Let Somebody Love You,” written by singer Boy George, guitarist Roy Hay, bassist Mikey Craig and drummer Jon Moss, has been popular at the band’s recent live concerts. This is the first time its available as a studio track. The song continues the band’s tradition of embracing a classic reggae-infused sound.
“Love is revolution / War and famine too / If you’ve the hunger in your heart / Let somebody love you”
The last single released by the band was all the way back in 1999 with “Cold Shoulder.”
Boy George
Culture Club had planned to release new music in 2015, but the album was eventually shelved with no explanation.
Known for huge hits in the 1980s like “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon,” Culture Club has racked up sales of over 150 million albums worldwide despite having released only 5 albums.
The band’s frontman, Boy George, gained worldwide attention for his asexual/androgynous appearance coupled with his gift with a quick quip. In addition to a successful solo career, George has also released successful albums as a DJ.
Listen to the new single, “Let Somebody Love You,” below.
Two Democratic Senators – Kamala Harris of California and Tom Carper of Delaware – have introduced new legislation that would require the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure the approximately 10 million LGBTQ Americans are properly counted for and represented in the Census data efforts.
The Census Equality Act would require the Census Bureau to begin the process of adding questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity to the decennial census by 2030 and the American Community Survey (ACS) by 2020.
Via press release:
LGTBQ communities face many challenges related to this undercounting, chief among them underrepresentation, lack of resources, and discrimination. Despite the fact that millions of Americans identify as LGBTQ, only an estimated .1% of elected officials are LGBTQ. LGBTQ undercounting in the Decennial Census and the ACS result in an inadequate distribution of resources and social services including Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“The spirit of the census is that no one should go uncounted and no one should be invisible,” said Senator Harris. “We must expand data collections efforts to ensure the LGBTQ community is not only seen, but fully accounted for in terms of government resources provided. This information can also provide us with better tools to enforce civil rights protections for a community that is too often discriminated against.”
LGBTQ advocates have long argued that federal and local governments can’t help LGBTQ folks if they don’t know we’re out here.
NPR reports “the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the 2020 census questionnaires will include new relationship categories differentiating between ‘same-sex’ and ‘opposite-sex’ couples. That change, some demographers say, could produce the most comprehensive national data yet on same-sex couples.”
The Constitution requires every person living in the U.S. to take part in the census.
The bill has the support of the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU, People for the American Way and many more civil rights organizations.
Yesterday, I reported on a gay couple being asked to move to separate seats on a flight from New York City to Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines.
The partner of gay businessman Dave Cooley was asked to move from his premium seat to coach in deference to a straight couple who said they wanted to sit together.
The unfortunate incident ended up with Cooley and his partner departing the plane before it took off and Delta Airlines accommodated the men.
Alaska Airlines reached out to me this morning with the following statement:
“This unfortunate incident was caused by a seating error, compounded by a full flight and a crew seeking an on-time departure and nothing more than that. It’s our policy to keep all families seated together whenever possible; that didn’t happen here and we are deeply sorry for the situation. We’ve reached out to Mr. Cooley to offer our sincere apologies for what happened and we are seeking to make it right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. All of us at Alaska value inclusion for our guests and each other.”
“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of Alaska Airlines. We are an airline for everyone and reflect these values through our work with dozens of nonprofit LGBTQ organizations, Pride Parades along the West Coast and a perfect score in the HRC’s Equality Index. We’ll keep building on this commitment, with our employee-led LGBTQ business resource group.”
• Now why don’t any of my hikes come across folks like InstaHunk Joel Green? #NatureDoesAGuyGood
• The documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, which chronicles the life of Scotty Bowers who procured “dates” for movie stars back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, scored big at the box office in it’s first weekend.
• Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told the hosts of Fox & Friends that “collusion is not a crime.” #ItsCalledTreason
• Deonton A. Rogers faces several serious charges for the non-fatal shooting of a 29-year-old trans woman in Detroit. Rogers made a lewd remark to her, but when he realized the woman was transgender, he initiated a fight. But the woman fought back; that prompted Rogers to pull out a gun and shoot the woman in the shoulder before fleeing the scene. The victim has since made a full recovery, and lucky for her, the entire incident was caught on security cameras.
• Hundred of mourners showed up for the funeral of Anthony Avalos, the 10-year-old boy who died having endured years of physical abuse and had come out as gay just before he was killed.
• Olympic medal-winning figure skater, Adam Rippon, announced this morning that he will be joining the panel of judges for “Dancing With The Stars: Juniors.” Rippon won season 26 of the reality show with pro partner Jenna Johnson.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the creation of a ‘Religious Liberty Task Force” in order to help implement a 25-page memo he issued last October regarding the protection and promotion of ‘religious liberty.’
Speaking at the Justice Department today, Sessions told reporters he will chair the new task force.
“A dangerous movement, undetected by many, but real, is now challenging and eroding a great tradition of religious freedom,” said Sessions with a dramatic sense of foreboding. “There can be no doubt it’s no little matter. It must be confronted intellectually and politically and defeated.”
1/ This morning Jeff Sessions announced a “Religious Liberty Task Force” as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with anti-#LGBTQ activists. pic.twitter.com/9IRiGhulfD
In today’s political climate, it’s clear the subject being discussed includes legal challenges brought by the LGBTQ community regarding discrimination in the public sector. Sessions referenced anti-LGBTQ baker Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple in Colorado.
“We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives. We’ve seen U.S. senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma—even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office. We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips,” he said, referring to the Colorado baker who took his case to the Supreme Court after he was found to have violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Sessions said the guidance he issued in October lays out 20 fundamental principles for the executive branch to follow, including the principles that free exercise means a right to act — or to abstain from action — and that government shouldn’t impugn people’s motives or beliefs.
“In short, we have not only the freedom to worship—but the right to exercise our faith. The Constitution’s protections don’t end at the parish parking lot nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements,” he said, according to his prepared remarks.
Sessions also shared that he believes the issue of ‘religious liberty’ is one reason why Donald Trump was elected president. “In substance, he said he respected people of faith and he promised to protect them in the free exercise of their faith,” said Sessions. “He declared we would say ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”
UPDATE: I personally spoke with Bobbie Egan, External Communications Director for Alaska Airlines, this morning who told me, “I think this is an incident of human error. It was a mistake, and it shouldn’t have happened.”
Ms. Egan also emailed a statement which read:
“We mistakenly booked two people in one seat. We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.”
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After boarding an Alaska Airline flight from New York City’s JFK airport to Los Angeles, a gay businessman and his partner were approached by a flight attendant and his companion was asked to change seats.
It appears a straight couple had been assigned the same seats and the gay couple was being asked to move in deference to the straight couple who wanted to sit together.
The man, David Cooley, is the founder and CEO of the prominent West Hollywood nightclub, The Abbey.
Dave Cooley (image via Facebook)
Dave Cooley shared on Facebook, “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before. I was removed from an Alaska Airlines flight # 1407 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to LAX to give preferential treatment to a straight couple.”
“After my traveling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together.
“I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together,” Cooley continued. “He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane.”
“We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane.
“I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave. We will never be flying Alaska Airlines or their recently purchased Virgin Airlines Group ever again. Thank you to Delta Air Lines for getting us home safe.
“If you are an #LGBT person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta,” concluded the businessman.
According to GayStarNews, Alaska Airlines issued a statement acknowledging the incident:
When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class. We reseated one of the guests from Premium Class in the Main Cabin.
We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.
Was this a case of placing a straight couple’s ‘couplehood’ over a gay couple?
Was this discrimination?
Folks have wondered if perhaps Cooley’s partner might have been given a free upgrade, and if the straight couple had paid for their seats which might give priority to the straight couple…?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I’ve reached out to both Mr. Cooley and Alaska Airlines for any further details.
