Category: Uncategorized

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Trump Immigration Policy Now ‘Get Off My Lawn’

Donald Trump says U.S. immigration policy should be like telling immigrants to get off your lawn
Donald Trump

Donald Trump went on a Twitter rant this morning railing against the concept of due process for immigrants who come to America.

In a series of tweets, the Trumpster demanded that Congress enact new laws that would allow law enforcement at the U.S. border to kick out people entering the country “just as they would if they were standing on your front lawn.”

Along the way, he called current laws “INSANE” and denouncing the process of legal proceedings by judges in immigration cases.

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New Jersey Governor Signs Bills Expanding Transgender Rights

New Jersey took positive steps forward on Tuesday when Gov. Phil Murphy signed new legislation into law providing important rights and protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

New Jersey took positive steps forward on Tuesday when Gov. Phil Murphy signed new legislation into law providing important rights and protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

Murphy campaigned on a promise to protect and expand the rights of the LGBTQ community.

The first bill, SB478, allows transgender residents the ability to change birth and death certificates to reflect their gender identity. According to the new laws, people may choose to identify as male, female or undesignated.

Until now, transgender people had to undergo gender confirmation surgery and provide proof from their physician to amend their birth certificate.

According to Garden State Equality, the LGBTQ organization which helped draft the bill, New Jersey is the 17th state to enact a law dropping the surgery requirement for amending a birth certificate and only the fourth, after California, Oregon and Washington, to allow for a third gender option on the document.

Former Gov. Chris Christie had vetoed the bill twice while in office.

The second bill, SB493, allows a death certificate to reflect a person’s changed gender identity.

The third bill, SB705, provides for the creation of a Transgender Equality Task Force meant to identify barriers for transgender people in areas of housing, health care and criminal justice.

“Allowing vital records to match gender identity is an important step forward that will allow transgender individuals to control the disclosure of their transgender status,” said Gov. Murphy in a statement. “And by creating a Transgender Equality Task Force, New Jersey can ensure that all residents receive the protections they deserve. New Jersey will continue to stand with our LGBTQ residents in the continued pursuit of similar rights nationwide.”

According to a report by the Williams Institute at the University of California, there are approximately 30,100 transgender people living in New Jersey and 1.4 million trans people in the United States.

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InstaHunk Round-Up: July 4, 2018

Let’s check in on the InstaHunks to see how they spend July 4th.

Standing at attention (and keeping ours) is Tory George of the Chippendales.

More from the hunk universe below. Happy 4th of July!

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States Ranked Best (And Worst) For LGBTQs

Move.org, a great resource website for all things moving, has done a deep dive into several important factors LGBTQ folks should consider when moving to a new state to start a family and they’ve ranked all 50 states from best to worst.

Issues like hate crime legislation, same-sex adoption laws, anti-discrimination laws, LGBTQ population density and more were all taken into account

Move.org utilized data from HRC Foundation, the Movement and Advancement Project, and the Williams Institute at UCLA.

“We decided to consider the safety of LGBTQ individuals first and foremost, so we ranked whether the state had hate crime laws in place, whether or not conversion therapy was allowed for minors, and whether anti-discrimination laws were set,” wrote the researchers.

So, which state is best for starting a family?

California came out on top thanks to the Golden State’s comprehensive hate crime laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity, broad anti-discrimination laws, plus so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is banned for minors.

Additionally, the LGBTQ population density is pretty high at 4.9% meaning almost 1.5 million gays live there.

The rest of the top five are:
2. Illinois
3. Hawaii
4. Connecticut
5. Maryland

Jumping to the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia ranked last in terms of LGBTQ criteria.

The Mountain State offers no protections in terms of anti-discrimination or hate crime laws. There’s no law protecting minors from conversion therapy. Although, the state does allow same-sex couple to adopt.

The remaining bottom five are:
49. Virginia
48. Wisconsin
47. South Dakota
46. North Dakota

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t move to these states. It’s important to note that every state has a few cities that are good landing spots for LGBTQ+ families.

Click over to Move.org for a complete list of all 50 states.

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John Cena ‘Diversity, Not Division, Is What Makes America Great’

WWE movie star John Cena explains that patriotism, love of country, is about diversity, not division
John Cena

Happy birthday, America! You look good for 242-years-old.

I know, I know – there are definitely tensions across this land we love. And it can cause some wear and tear on us as Americans.

A new poll from Gallup shows patriotism in the U.S. has dropped to a new low in the 18 years the polling organization has been tracking the question “How proud are you to be an American?”

And another recent poll indicates 55% of Americans feel our president has “emboldened” racists.

But I’m going to throwback to a terrific PSA made by hunky John Cena celebrating America.

In this powerful message, via the Ad Council, Cena celebrates the birth of the United States and what makes us great.

Delivering a body slam to the bigots in America who look to dividing us as a way of expressing their pride, Cena points out that diversity is our core, is our strength.

Just a sample of Cena’s message in the video:

Patriotism. It inspires passionate debate, and it’s worn like a badge of honor for good reason: because it means love and devotion for ones country. Love.

But what really makes up this country of ours? What is it we love? It’s the people.

Almost half the country belongs to minority groups: People who are lesbian, African-American, and bi- and trans-gender, and Native American, and proud of it.

After all, what’s more American than freedom to celebrate the things that make us us?

This year, patriotism shouldn’t just be about pride of country. It should be about love — love beyond age, disability, sexuality, race, religion, and any other labels.

Because the second any of us judge people based on those labels, we’re not really being patriotic, are we?

Because love has no labels.

As Cena walks and talks, the video is timed so he passes all kinds of folks – gay, straight, older, younger. All the gorgeous shapes, colors, sizes and flavors that make this the United States.

This is what patriotism really means. It’s diversity, not division, that makes us strong.

So go out and get your American pride on today. Because, as the woofy Mr. Cena says, “Love has no labels.”

Check out the video below.

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New York Daily News: ‘The Clown Who Plays King’

From the editorial board of the New York Daily News:

On the occasion of the 242nd birthday of the United States of America, again recall the words of our foundational creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Enter the current occupant of the White House, who devotes this nation’s potent energies to barricading the borders, to separating refuge-seeking mothers from children, to ordering parents to leave the country with or without their kids now that a court has ordered their reunion.

The Declaration of Independence spoke to such arbitrary cruelty, against an arrogant monarch who “has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither…”

The President who plays king won’t conquer the bedrock values this nation was founded on.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Happy, Happy Birthday Betty Buckley

It’s the 3rd of July and I have to give a ‘Happy birthday’ shoutout to my dear, beautiful friend (and Tony Award winner), the luminous Betty Buckley.

Easily one of the most compelling artists of any medium I’ve encountered, she is powerful, demure, complex, sophisticated, and earthy at the same time. In many ways, deliciously impossible to define.

With Betty Buckley and hubby Michael after another triumphant performance

In 1992, Betty was (as she recounts) a replacement for the legendary Stephen Sondheim celebration at Carnegie Hall singing “Our Time/Children Will Listen” with the Harlem Boys Choir.

Since she had little time to learn the arrangement, as the story goes, she worried she would be the evening’s disappointment.

It is no surprise that she was THE highlight of the evening.

I interviewed Betty some years ago, and by a wonderful twist of fate, we’ve become good friends.

Over the past few years I’ve seen Betty in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, NYC and London reveling in her limitless talent.

In any case, please enjoy her heart-stopping performance of “Children Will Listen” below and join me in celebrating another trip around the sun by my dear Betty Buckley.

The performance is particularly moving to me. I began my performing career in the acclaimed Texas Boys Choir in Fort Worth, Texas, where both Betty and I hail from.

Also, “Children Will Listen” is a song was fortunate to perform many times as “Jack” in Into The Woods.

Betty’s gentle grace coupled with effortless power is a joy. Trust and believe, I’ve enjoyed this clip many, many times 🙂

One last thing – Betty will be starring in the upcoming national tour of the Tony Award winning revival of Hello, Dolly! this fall.

Do. Not. Miss. It.

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News Round-Up: July 3, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• Chippendales’ Okewa (above) celebrates his 30th trip around the sun today. I’d say ‘woof’ but we can settle for a ‘meow’ given the pic 🙂

• A 19-year-old man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly beat up and trapped a 50-year-old gay man in a basement apartment.

• The vice mayor of a small California town is facing recall after penning an op-ed sarcastically calling for a ‘Straight Pride’ month.

• In an interview with Andrew Denton on the Australian talk show Interview, actor Guy Pearce was asked his thoughts on working with Kevin Spacey. The actor replied: “Yeah … yeah. Tough one to talk about at the moment. Amazing actor; incredible actor. Mmm. Slightly difficult time with Kevin. He’s a handsy guy.”

• After appearing in the 2003 film School of Rock with Jack Black, then-child actor Brian Falduto was severely bullied for playing a character perceived to be gay.

• The rising cost of PrEP is keeping it out of reach for many.

• Mexico’s newly-elected president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, name checked LGBTs in his victory speech.