Category: Uncategorized

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IL GOP Atty General Candidate Told Pageant Officials She’d Place Foster Children With Child Abusers Before Loving Gays

Erika Harold, a former Miss America and currently the frontrunner in the GOP nomination for Illinois Attorney General, once told Miss Illinois pageant officials that she would choose to place a foster child in the home of a child abuser rather than in the home of a loving gay couple.

It will not surprise you to learn Ms. Harold has no recollection of the “alleged exchange.”

From the local NBC affiliate:

NBC 5 has spoken to three people, who all played a role in that Miss Illinois pageant, with direct knowledge of the exchange. They were present when Harold responded to the question.

One of the pageant officials said: “I remember it because it was so shocking. She took some time to answer it. And that drew people in. It stopped the room.”

That pageant official said: “It said a lot about her, she spoke about reading the Bible daily and said her beliefs could not subject a child to the gay lifestyle.”

Harold’s spokesman originally told NBC 5 Harold did not recall this interview since it was nearly 20 years ago. In a second phone call, the spokesman said, “I have a real problem with this story, less than two weeks before the election, unnamed sources are going to say this?”

Another source who was also present for the interview said, “I remember it like it was yesterday. It was shocking.”

Harold’s campaign released a statement to NBC 5 after repeated requests:

“Voters should first know that NBC Chicago has chosen to air an unverified story from anonymous sources twelve days before an election about an alleged event that supposedly occurred nearly two decades ago when Erika was 20 years old. Erika does not recall the alleged exchange, but Erika certainly support[s] same-sex adoption and foster care placement.”

One of the Miss Illinois pageant officials from the 2000 contest who spoke to NBC 5 said, “I find it literally impossible she does not remember, because it cost her the pageant, she did not even make the top 10 that year. There’s no way she does not remember.”

Current Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, also a Republican, has endorsed Harold and donated $350,000 to her campaign.

(h/t Towleroad)

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Pastor Robert Jeffress On Trump: We Knew We Weren’t Voting For An Alter Boy

Pastor Robert Jeffress (L) and Stormy Daniels (R)

During an appearance on Fox News last night, Pastor Robert Jeffress explained that evangelicals don’t care about Donald Trump’s Stormy Daniels scandal because “they knew they weren’t voting for an alter boy.”

Via Mediaite:

Jeffress, a Fox News contributor and die-hard Trump supporter, defended evangelicals supportive of the president against charges of hypocrisy in light of recent news about the porn star tryst. “Let’s be clear, evangelicals still believe in the commandment: thou shalt not have sex with a porn star,” Jeffress said.

“However, whether this president violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him,” he continued. “Evangelicals knew they weren’t voting for an altar boy when they voted for Donald Trump. We supported him because of his policies and his strong leadership.”

So, I can wrap my head around evangelicals didn’t expect Trump to be squeaky clean in the marital morals department.

But, it doesn’t bother them that he LIES about sexual escapades and other issues?

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Donald Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation To Discuss Denuclearization

Breaking news: In a stunning announcement, South Korea’s national security adviser just announced that President Trump has accepted Kim Jung Un’s invitation to meet by May and discuss denuclearization.

Back in October of 2017, Trump tweeted he thought negotiating with North Korea was a waste of time:

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6th Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules “Religious Freedom” Doesn’t Allow For Trans Discrimination

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) doesn’t allow for transgender discrimination in the workplace.

In a 49-page opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote that R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Michigan “engaged in unlawful discrimination” against transgender employee Aimee Stephens under Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964.

From The Washington Blade:

In essence, the Sixth Circuit establishes two milestones with the decision.

First, it explicitly concludes discrimination against transgender workers is sex discrimination, and unlawful under Title VII.

Second, it makes clear religious freedom as outlined under RFRA doesn’t supersede Title VII’s prohibition on employment discrimination.

The case, EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes, began in 2013 when Harris Funeral Homes fired Stephens, who has worked there for six years, after she announced that she would transition. The basis for the termination was that by dressing as a women, Stephens would violate the dress code for the business and that would place a substantial burden on the religious beliefs of the funeral home’s owner, Thomas Rost.

In her reasoning for the decision, Moore first establishes anti-transgender discrimination is sex discrimination. Although the Sixth Circuit in the 2004 ruling of Smith v. City of Salem determined sex-stereotyping amounts to sex discrimination, the court had never before ruled anti-trans discrimination is unlawful.

The decision sends the case back to the lower court that ruled the funeral home did have the right to terminate Stephens under RFRA,.

The ruling also represents a loss for Attorney Jeff Sessions. Although the federal government wasn’t a party to the case, Sessions issued a memo asserting transgender people aren’t covered under Title VII despite legal precedent.

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Trump Furious At WH Spokesperson For Giving Stormy Daniels Story “Steroids”

According to CNN sources, Donald Trump was apparently furious at White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for addressing a question about porn star Stormy Daniels at a White House press briefing.

CNN’s John Acosta shared with his colleagues: “A source close to White House says Trump is upset with @PressSec Sarah Sanders over her handling of Stormy Daniels questions yesterday. “POTUS is very unhappy,” the source said. “Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday,” the source added.

During Wednesday’s press briefing, Sanders was asked by reporter Jeff Zeleny if Trump approved the payment made in October 2016 by his lawyer Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels 11 days before the election.

Sanders answered, “This case has already been won in arbitration, and anything beyond that, I would refer you to the president’s outside counsel.”

Another reporter followed up with, “You said that there’s arbitration that’s already been won — by whom and when?”

“By the president’s personal attorneys, and for details on that I’d refer you to them. I can share that the arbitration was won in the president’s favor,” Sanders replied.

As many news outlets quickly pointed out, by acknowledging Trump winning some arbitration against Daniels, we have tacit confirmation that there’s some sort of agreement between Daniels and Trump.

If there were no agreement, there wouldn’t be anything to arbitrate.

Oops.

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HRC To Honor Adam Rippon With 2018 Visibility Award

Today the Human Rights Campaign announced this year’s Visibility Award with honor out gay Olympian Adam Rippon at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner this Saturday, March 10, 2018.

“One word best describes Adam Rippon — fierce,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “By being out and proud, Adam is bringing LGBTQ visibility to a whole new level while capturing the hearts of millions around the world with his incredible talent and personality. He isn’t afraid to use his global platform to speak out for equality, and we are proud to honor him with the HRC Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner.”

Adam Rippon made history as the first openly gay U.S. American male figure skater to compete in the Olympic games. Rippon publicly sparred with Mike Pence in the press and on social media, bringing a new focus on Pence’s long anti-LGBTQ record. Rippon publicly voiced his concern over Pence leading the diverse U.S. delegation to the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview with HRC, Rippon said, “At first, I had a few hesitations to come out, because I was afraid of repercussions that it might have. But at the end of the day, I felt like it was important, and it was an opportunity to shine a light on a subject that was bigger than me. I know when I was coming out I drew strength from learning about other people’s stories and hopefully my story will do the same for others.”

The HRC Los Angeles Dinner brings together more than 1,000 of HRC’s most active members and supporters in the greater Los Angeles area to raise crucial funds in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Fellow out Olympian Gus Kenworthy will also be in attendance. Kenworthy was honored by the HRC with the same award last year.

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Trans Pioneer & Stonewall Activist Marsha P. Johnson Finally Gets NYTimes Obituary

Marsha P. Johnson

Twenty-six years after her death, Marsha P. Johnson, transgender pioneer & Stonewall activist is finally being recognized by The New York Times.

Noting that obituaries in the Times have long been dominated by white men, the new series Overlooked includes a lengthy paean to Johnson honoring her groundbreaking activism on behalf of the LGBT community.

Marsha P. Johnson was an activist, a prostitute, a drag performer and, for nearly three decades, a fixture of street life in Greenwich Village. She was a central figure in a gay liberation movement energized by the 1969 police raid on the Stonewall Inn. She was a model for Andy Warhol. She battled severe mental illness. She was usually destitute and, for much of her life, effectively homeless.

When she died at 46, under murky circumstances, in summer 1992, Johnson was mourned by her many friends, but her death did not attract much notice in the mainstream press.

In the years since, however, interest in her legacy has soared. She has been praised for her insistent calls for social and economic justice; for working on behalf of homeless street youth ostracized by their families for being gay or otherwise not conforming to traditional ideas about gender; and, later, for her advocacy on behalf of AIDS patients. Some have called her a saint.

Although the term transgender wasn’t in wide use during her lifetime, Johnson identified by a rotating list of labels from gay, transvestite or simply “queen.”

In a 1992 interview, Johnson declared, “I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen.”

In a life long riddled with strife and conflict, Johnson was known to live her joyful exuberance even as she worked for LGBT acceptance.

“As long as gay people don’t have their rights all across America,” she once said, “there’s no reason for celebration.”

Read the full, well-deserved profile at The New York Times.

(h/t The OUTfront)

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Music Video: Michael Blume “Blunder”

NYC-based indie/soul artist Michael Blume has released a new music video for his single “Blunder.”

The video reminds us all that we can overcome negativity and self-doubt to go from being our own harshest critic to our biggest ally.

See, I’ve been holding on
to the things they said about me
But I gotta move on
’cause this time I’ll let myself be free

I know that I’m worthy
I know I’m deserving
I feel it coming in the air
I’ve got to try it
No more hiding
How you gonna find me if I’m not there?

“We all make mistakes by allowing the outside world’s ideas of who we should be to infiltrate our own psyches and concepts of self. We all sit in different places on the bus that is life struggling with our own demons,” explains Blume.

“This video speaks to the ways in which this place of struggle connects us. I believe that empathy is a big part of community growth and I hope the video highlights how alike we all are even when we feel alone with our pain.”

In the video, Blume shares a bus ride with a group of strangers who come to find that empathy through unity, if only for a brief moment.

The song is available now and is from Michael’s forthcoming EP due out later this year.

“Blunder” is an ode to feeling good about yourself, and not letting the feelings of self-doubt take over.”- Nylon

“The through-line across his growing catalogue is music that harnesses and reflects on the power of individuality and self-knowledge, a message he matches in his bold fashion, exuberance in live performance and advocacy for equal rights… ” – Time

I’ve previously written about Blume here.

Watch Michael Blume’s “Blunder” below.

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Running Back Derrius Guice Was Asked If He “Liked Men” At NFL Combine

Derrius Guice

USA Today is reporting that former LSU running back Derrius Guice was asked by one team at the NFL Scouting Combine about his sexuality, and another actually suggested his mother was a prostitute.

‘’It was pretty crazy,” Guice said in an interview on the SiriusXM NFL show Late Hits. “Some people are really trying to get in your head and test your reaction. … I go in one room, and a team will ask me do I like men, just to see my reaction. I go in another room, they’ll try to bring up one of my family members or something and tell me, ‘Hey, I heard your mom sells herself. How do you feel about that?’ “

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in an email to USA TODAY Sports Thursday that the league is “looking into the matter.”

“A question such as that is completely inappropriate and wholly contrary to league workplace policies,” McCarthy said. “The NFL and its clubs are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees in a manner that is consistent with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, state and federal laws and the CBA.

Guice is predicted to be a first round draft pick.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at the NFL Combine. In 2016, a coach from the Atlanta Falcons asked cornerback Eli Apple a similar question.

NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in an interview he has the solution to this problem.

“Find out what team did it and ban them from the Combine,” Smith said. “The question is inappropriate. Questions along these lines are always inappropriate.”

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Los Angeles: “Big Bang Theory” Star Jim Parsons To Be Honored With GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award

GLAAD has announced Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will be honored with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.

Via press release:

GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award is presented to an LGBTQ media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting LGBTQ acceptance. Previous recipients include Laverne Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Wanda Sykes, Ruby Rose, Troye Sivan, Chaz Bono and Sir Ian McKellen.

Jim Parsons is a four-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner who has become a fan favorite for his role as Sheldon Cooper in the long-running sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Parsons will next appear on Broadway in the revival of the iconic comic drama The Boys in the Band which opens on May 31, 2018. The landmark 1968 play was a theatrical game-changer with its focus on a group of gay men in New York City who gather for a friend’s birthday party. Parsons co-stars with Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Robin de Jesús, and, Michael Benjamin Washington in the highly anticipated production.

The awards will be held at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, April 12, 2018. Details and ticket information here.