Category: Uncategorized

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New York Attorney General Looks To Bypass Presidential Pardons

NY Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman (speaking)
Photo: MTA / Patrick Cashin (Flickr)

With talk of Donald Trump possibly considering granting pardons to former associates currently under Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s microscope, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is asking his state’s governor and legislature to allow criminal charges against those who have received a presidential pardon.

From The New York Times:

Under the plan, Mr. Schneiderman, a Democrat, seeks to exempt New York’s double jeopardy law from cases involving presidential pardons, according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The current law and the concept of double jeopardy in general mean that a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice.

Right now, New York state law prevents people from being prosecuted more than once for crimes related to the same act, even if the original prosecution was in federal court. There are already a number of exceptions to the law, and the letter says that Mr. Schneiderman is proposing to add a new one that could be used if federal pardons are issued.

While Mr. Schneiderman’s jurisdiction does not encompass many of the areas being investigated by Mr. Mueller, a president has no authority to commute sentences or pardon offenses at the state level. That leaves convictions obtained by the state attorney general’s office or any other local prosecutor outside the president’s ability to intervene. The proposal would be structured so that it would not affect people who sought clemency after long jail sentences, an aide to Mr. Schneiderman said.

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Out Music: Rosendale “Divine”

Indie singer/songwriter Rosendale recently dropped his latest pop single, “Divine,” which celebrates LGBT love and equality.

Rosendale says the message of the video (featuring hip hop & contemporary choreography danced by two same-sex couples) is that “love, regardless of what form it takes, should always persist in the face of criticism and prejudice.”

According to Rosendale, the choreography (which is terrific) represents the struggles and joys of being in an LGBT relationship as well as the shame that society places on LGBTs.

The lyrics of “Divine” reference aspects of organized religion along the way:

Let every pastor speak
Let every preacher preach
You’ll be my church
And I’ll be your divine

You can follow Rosendale on Facebook here and check out his YouTube channel here where he’s racked up over 8 million views; official website here.

Take a listen below.

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New Campaign Raises Awareness Of Discrimination Against LGBT Americans

Hubby Michael and I getting married in Palm Springs, CA

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled marriage equality to be the law of the land.

But while the rights and privileges of marriage were made available to LGBTs across the nation on that day, the sad fact remains that in 31 states it’s legal to marry the person you love on Saturday and be fired for being gay on Monday.

In an America where most folks support equal treatment, many people erroneously believe LGBT people are protected by federal law against such practices.

At this writing, only 19 states in the U.S. and D.C. fully protect against discrimination in housing, employment, and public places like stores or restaurants based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

Michael and I are fortunate to live in Nevada which is one of the 19 states in that select group of states. As a married couple, we do have full protections regarding public accommodations and employment. But others are not so lucky.

The LGBT Acceptance campaign raises awareness about discrimination against LGBT Americans.

Head over to BeyondIDo.org where you’ll find a state by state examination of protects or lack thereof for LGBT families; personal accounts of discrimination; and social media outreach campaign.

In the video below, Jami and Krista encountered LGBT discrimination head-on when a doctor refused to treat their new baby because the child had two moms.

(h/t TheOUTfront)

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UK Man Receives Life Sentence For Deliberately Infecting Men With HIV

Daryll Rowe of Brighton has been sentenced to life in prison for deliberately infecting men with HIV virus
Daryll Rowe (image via Sussex Police)

Daryll Rowe, a 27-year-old man from Brighton, has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of infecting people with the HIV virus on purpose.

From The Guardian:

After being diagnosed in April 2015 in his home city of Edinburgh, Rowe met men through the gay dating app Grindr. He had sex with eight of them in Brighton, in East Sussex, between October that year and February 2016, before fleeing to north-east England, where he targeted two more men.

His six-week trial heard that he refused treatment and ignored advice from doctors. He insisted on having unprotected sex with the men he met, claiming that he was “clean”. When they refused, he tampered with condoms, tricking them into thinking that he was practising safe sex.

Afterwards, Rowe became aggressive, and taunted some of his victims in text messages. He told one: “I have HIV. Lol. Whoops!” He repeatedly lied to authorities and would use aliases with the people he targeted.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, the judge told him: “Many of those men were young men in their 20s at the time they had the misfortune to meet you. Given the facts of this case and your permissive, predatory behaviour, I cannot see when you would no longer be a danger to gay men. In my judgment, the offences, taken together, are so serious that a life sentence is justified.”

One of his victims, whose parents had died of AIDS, said he did everything to avoid being infected. He told the court, “Daryll Rowe decided to take that right away from me. A part of me died that day when I was diagnosed. The old me is no longer. The new me is constantly sad, thinking about how my life changed. I have been devastated by Rowe’s actions, but I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

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Buzzfeed Does Deep Dive Into Young Men Being Lured Into “Sex For Rent” Agreements


 Buzzfeed reporter Patrick Strudwick has done a deep dive into “sex for rent” arrangements which target young gay men looking to exchange sexual favors for a roof over their head.

Strudwick investigated a Facebook group called “Gay Houseboy’s and those who hire them” which seems to be a clearinghouse for communications between landlords and young men in desperate straits willing to do what they have to for housing.

The group describes itself thusly:

This group is for gay men seeking gay boys to work for them as houseboys, and for gay houseboys seeking employment. No Nude pics, no “hookup” posts, no spam!

From Buzzfeed:

“Looking for a white male 18-25 to come and join our household for a live in position,” reads one post on the Facebook group. “General duties will include cleaning, walking dog, shopping, cooking and general house projects… This position would ideally include sex and lots of affection from our boy.”

Another is simply a photograph of a young naked man, with his penis exposed, standing by a Christmas tree with the words: “ISO [in search of] True HouseBoy 18-25 White Slim Clean.”

“Live in the heart of Hollywood” is the promise in a further post, from a landlord seeking a “houseboy/personal assistant”. The landlord boasts, “My company deals with a lot of high profile clientele”, asks that respondents send photographs, and specifies, “Prefer young (but legal age) and very uninhibited types. Boy-next-door but with a wild side.”

Others insist on respondents replying with “face and body photos”, or have strict age limits, seek houseboys “with benefits”, or are suggestive of controlling dynamics. “Married couple here 40 and 46 seeking our forever boy for total and complete ownership,” says one.

Buzzfeed reached out to several of the advertisers undercover. One explained why he posted his ad: “I just want to stop having to go online all the time for sex.”

In speaking with several of the young men who had become involved in these arrangements, Strudwick reports many found themselves “raped, beaten, drugged, infected with HIV and treated as domestic slaves.”

When approached by BuzzFeed to respond to issues relating to this group, Facebook initially replied promising that a representative would comment but Buzzfeed reports no response ever materialized.

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Let’s Go To The Video Tape: Trump Contradicts Himself On Comey Firing

Before arriving at the White House, I’m certain Donald Trump was not accustomed to having folks follow, track and hold him to his word about most issues.

He was the boss of the Trump Organization, and if you wanted to work there, you just let the boss be the boss.

But as president, the Trumpster is finding out that, yes, folks are paying attention and we keep a record of everything you say.

So there wasn’t any difficulty involved when the Donald tweeted this morning that former FBI Director James Comey “was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation” to jump back a year when he told Lester Holt of NBC News that he specifically fired Comey over the “Russia thing.”

#Liar

By the way, this is why Donald doesn’t give press conferences any more. He would most certainly be asked about his self-inflicted contradictions.

I know he was able to correctly pick out pictures of animals on a test, but there are days I’m not so sure about his mental competence.

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News Round-Up: April 17, 2018

Christian Olivo

Some news items you might have missed:

• Actor, model and man-in-motion Christian Olivo (above) already had my “abs-olute” attention but then sealed the deal with an 80s caption – “Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?” Photography by David Wagner

• A gay music teacher in Burlington, Illinois, was reprimanded after his husband sent him flowers on Valentine’s Day. Now, if it had been his wife, do you think anyone would have said anything?

• Last of a dying breed, moderate Republican Congressman Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania surprised many today with his announcement that he will retire in a matter of weeks. Back in December, Dent had shared he planned to leave office after the November mid-terms this fall. I’m not sure what happened that led him to depart early.

• JoeMyGod notes that not one anti-LGBT bill has passed in state legislatures this year. But Joe rightfully points out the looming SCOTUS ruling on the anti-gay Masterpiece Bakery ruling which could have a huge impact on LGBT rights.

• A new video series, “No Longer Alone,” highlights queer voices from the Middle East and North Africa.

• A 23-year-old man in the UK says the painkiller Lyrica turned him gay.

Hello, Walmart, I’d like to order a case of Lyrica to be delivered to Chris Pratt…

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Trump Celebrates The One Poll That Puts His Approval Over 50%

Donald Trump

Donald Trump loves to criticize approval polls.

Well, not all of them. He loves the folks at Rasmussen polling because they consistently show him with a higher approval rating than other polling firms. Higher to the tune of an average of 5 points.

Today, the Trumpster took to Twitter to boast of his 50% approval rating:

But it’s important to note that there are reasons why Rasmussen shows a higher Trump approval result.

According to The Washington Post, Rasmussen’s methodology involves only polling likely voters instead of registered voters. That one aspect contributes to a “right lean” of the results since, generally speaking, Republicans tend to be more likely to vote than Democrats.

Also, Rasmussen only polls via landlines. In the past ten years, a lot of younger people have switched to life with only a cell phone. So, those folks never get contacted by Rasmussen.

Younger people tend to be more liberal and older tend to be more conservative. The math isn’t hard here.

Looking at that “right lean” effect, as The Washington Post notes, during Obama’s administration Rasmussen averaged 3.9 points below other polling organizations in terms of approval numbers. And, during Trump’s time in office they have averaged 4.9 points higher than others.

If you want to get a better sense of where Trump’s true approval numbers are, it makes sense to look at the Real Clear Politics average of polls tracking Trump’s approval rating:

Click image to enlarge

As you can see, Rasmussen is by far the highest rating Trump gets among polls. But the average shows him at 42.1% approval which right in the range he’s been since taking office.

But knock yourself out, Donnie. If you wanna happy dance around your one decent poll, go for it.

This Washington Post article is insightful to understand how some polling firms differ in how they measure approval ratings.