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President Obama On The Passing Of Edie Windsor: She Spoke Up For Equal, Not Special, Rights

(image via Facebook)

President Obama issued this statement via Facebook on the passing of LGBT civil rights hero Edie Windsor:

America’s long journey towards equality has been guided by countless small acts of persistence, and fueled by the stubborn willingness of quiet heroes to speak out for what’s right.

Few were as small in stature as Edie Windsor – and few made as big a difference to America.

I had the privilege to speak with Edie a few days ago, and to tell her one more time what a difference she made to this country we love. She was engaged to her partner, Thea, for forty years. After a wedding in Canada, they were married for less than two. But federal law didn’t recognize a marriage like theirs as valid – which meant that they were denied certain federal rights and benefits that other married couples enjoyed. And when Thea passed away, Edie spoke up – not for special treatment, but for equal treatment – so that other legally married same-sex couples could enjoy the same federal rights and benefits as anyone else.

In my second inaugural address, I said that if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. And because people like Edie stood up, my administration stopped defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in the courts. The day that the Supreme Court issued its 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor was a great day for Edie, and a great day for America – a victory for human decency, equality, freedom, and justice. And I called Edie that day to congratulate her.

Two years later, to the day, we took another step forward on our journey as the Supreme Court recognized a Constitutional guarantee of marriage equality. It was a victory for families, and for the principle that all of us should be treated equally, regardless of who we are or who we love.

I thought about Edie that day. I thought about all the millions of quiet heroes across the decades whose countless small acts of courage slowly made an entire country realize that love is love – and who, in the process, made us all more free. They deserve our gratitude. And so does Edie.

Michelle and I offer our condolences to her wife, Judith, and to all who loved and looked up to Edie Windsor.

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Music Video: Youngr “’93”

Check out Youngr’s latest single – ’93 – which is a fun retro look at the way social media has changed the way we all connect (or disconnect) compared to life in the ‘90’s.

The video for ‘93 features current live footage of Youngr on tour mashed up with home footage shot by his mother in the ‘90’s.

Via press release: “I wrote this song about social media and how I try not to let my life depend on it or change who I am! It’s about trying to remember how everyday life was before social media took over. The video is a play on that, it’s home video footage of me as a kid growing up, just having fun and playing music in a much simpler time before facebook and iPhones.”

I like 🙂

Watch the video below.

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Edie Windsor, Who Brought Down Defense Of Marriage Act, Passes Away At 88

Edie Windsor (L) with her lawyer Robbie Kaplan (R)

Edie Windsor’s life story was a lesson in how two people falling in love can change the world.

From the New York Times:

Edith Windsor, the gay-rights activist whose landmark Supreme Court case struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 and granted same-sex married couples federal recognition for the first time and rights to myriad federal benefits, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 88.

Her wife, Judith Kasen-Windsor, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. They were married in 2016.

Four decades after the Stonewall Inn uprising fueled the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in America, Ms. Windsor, the widow of a woman with whom she had lived much of her life, became the lead plaintiff in what is widely regarded as the second most important Supreme Court ruling in the national battle over same-sex marriage rights.

The Windsor decision was limited to 13 states and the District of Columbia. But in 2015, the Supreme Court held that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry anywhere in the nation, with all the protections and privileges of heterosexual couples. Its historic significance was likened to that of Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, which decriminalized gay sex in the United States.

Ms. Windsor had just wanted a tax refund. But for thousands struggling for gender equality, the stakes went far beyond tax advantages available to married heterosexuals, including Social Security, health care and veterans’ benefits; protection in immigration and bankruptcy cases; and keeping a home after a spouse had died, as well as food stamps, green cards and federal aid to the poor, the elderly and children.

Like countless others, Ms. Windsor had been snared by the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which barred same-sex married couples from federal recognition as “spouses,” effectively excluding them from federal benefits available to married heterosexuals — precisely 1,138 benefits, according to a count by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s fiscal watchdog agency.

After living together for 40 years, Ms. Windsor and Thea Spyer, a psychologist, were legally married in Canada in 2007. Dr. Spyer died in 2009, and Ms. Windsor inherited her estate. But the Internal Revenue Service denied her the unlimited spousal exemption from federal estate taxes available to married heterosexuals, and she had to pay taxes of $363,053.

She sued, claiming that the law, by recognizing only marriages between a man and a woman, unconstitutionally singled out same-sex marriage partners for “differential treatment.”

Affirming two lower court rulings, the Supreme Court overturned the law in a 5-4 ruling, citing the Fifth Amendment guarantee that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”

Great sadness. RIP Edie Windsor.

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New Hampshire: 8-Year-Old Biracial Boy “Lynched” By Teenagers

(image via Facebook)

An 8-year-old bi-racial boy was hung from a tree by a 14-year-old boy in Claremont, New Hampshire.

Via RawStory:

According to the victim’s grandmother Lorrie Slattery, he was playing with a group of children and teens when they began to taunt him with racist epithets and throw sticks and rocks at him.

Someone stood on a picnic table and the group wrapped a rope from a nearby tire swing around the boy’s throat, then kicked him off the table.

The victim swung back and forth three times before he was able to free himself. None of the teens came to his aid.

NH1.com said Chief Chase refused to state whether the crime was racially motivated.

The incident, which took place on August 28, has locals up in arms as the police have appeared to be more interested in protecting the alleged perpetrator than finding justice for the victim.

Claremont Police Chief Mark Chase refused to comment on the case saying his department is still investigating. He also noted that those involved are juveniles and that they should be “protected.”

“Mistakes they make as a young child should not have to follow them for the rest of their life,” Chase said.

As the boy was being flown to medical treatment, his mother took to Facebook denouncing the attack, “So my son is being flown to Dartmouth after a 14-year-old kid decided to hang him from a tree. I don’t care if this was a so called accident or not. My son almost died because of some little sh*t teenage kids.”

Since Donald Trump’s election, the U.S. has seen a spike in hate crimes.

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When The Inclusive Message Of “Y’all Means All” Is Deemed Too “Political”

Charlottesville’s Pride event is just around the corner and the organizers want to make sure that the annual LGBT event is meant to include everyone.

So much so that this year’s theme is “Y’all Means All.”

But apparently that message of inclusion was deemed too “political” for one t-shirt company.

Charlottesville is about to celebrate pride, but the planning hit an unexpected problem proving exactly why we still need these events.

The usual vendor for Charlottesville Pride, Red Star, outsourced the organization’s t-shirt order to Pennsylvania-based Legacy Athletics.

But Legacy Athletics declined to fulfill the order on the grounds that the Pride message was too “political.”

Here’s the response sent to Red Star:

I am sorry for the delay, this is a design that we would not be able to produce.

While Legacy does offer custom logos, we also carefully nurture and protect our brand. One of the ways we keep a positive connotation to the brand, is by avoiding doing any products with custom logos that might be deemed as controversial, political, offensive, etc. This does not in any way mean that we either support or do not support the organization making the request, but the reality is that in light of recent events in Charlottesville as well as the fact Gay Pride events are political activism; we respectfully decline this order. Again, I hope you can understand our position.

Now, companies can certainly decline an order from an organization like Charlottesville Pride because political groups are not protected classes.

But you have to admit “Y’all Means All” is a tough message to oppose.

Charlottesville Pride organizers used the episode as a teaching moment explaining this is exactly why we need Pride celebrations:

And to those of you who thought we were past this kind of discrimination, please know that while this explicit expression of homophobia is indeed shocking, it’s only the fact that what usually seethes beneath the surface has come up for air that’s new. We live with implicit and inferred bias and constant threat of legal recrimination everyday.

In this world of Trump, where open bias and supremacy against all kinds of marginalized communities has become applauded and encouraged, we, the LGBTQ community, need you – our allies, our would-be friends – to stand up for us, to stand up with us, to have our back.

If you’re in the area, Charlottesville Pride is this Saturday, September 16, at the Sprint Pavilion, 700 E. Main St.

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Bipartisan Push In Senate To Block Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (L) and Susan Collins (R)

A bipartisan amendment from Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has been introduced that would effectively stop President Donald Trump from implementing his proposed ban on transgender military service members.

The senators have attached the amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that funds the military. Even though the NDAA is a “must-pass” bill, there’s no guarantee the amendment will get a vote.

The amendment would ban the military from booting transgender soldiers purely for the reason they are transgender.

Senator Gillibrand, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, said in a joint statement: “Any individual who wants to join our military and meets the standards should be allowed to serve, period. Gender identity should have nothing to do with it. I am proud to work with Senator Collins to introduce our bipartisan amendment to protect transgender members of our Armed Forces, and I will always fight for our brave transgender troops who put their lives on the line to protect our country.”

Senator Collins added: “Our armed forces should welcome the service of any qualified individual who is willing and capable of serving our country. If individuals are willing to put on the uniform of our country, be deployed in war zones, and risk their lives for our freedoms, then we should be expressing our gratitude to them, not trying to exclude them from military service.”

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Good Times: Ted Cruz Likes A Porn Tweet

The Twitterverse is all “atwitter” about Republican Sen. Ted Cruz this morning as several intrepid readers noticed that the junior senator from Texas “Liked” a pornographic tweet.

While Cruz’s communications director issued a statement saying the “Like” had been deleted, there was no explanation as to why it appeared in the first place.

Let’s face it – the simple reason would be that Cruz saw the tweet and actually did like it.

It’s all quite funny especially in light of Cruz’s holier than thou religious statements in the past, as well as his involvement in a 2007 court case in Texas about banning the use of sex toys.

Acting as solicitor general for the state of Texas, he defended the state ban on so-called “marital aids” writing, “There is no substantive due process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.”

That statement struck a lot of folks’ funny bones, particularly his former college roommate who apparently remembers Cruz enjoying some personal “stimulation” back in the day.

In any case, we all now await the certain denial from Cruz that he actually had anything to do with the porno post today. Of course he’ll say he was hacked.

In the meantime, the Twitterverse had fun:

UPDATE – Sen. Ted Cruz told addressed the issue with reporters on Capitol Hill this morning:

“This is not how I envisioned waking up this morning. There are a number of people on the team that have access to the account and it appears that someone inadvertently hit the like button. And when we discovered the post, which I was I guess an hour or two later, we pulled it down. We’re dealing with it internally, but it was a mistake, it was not malicious conduct.”

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Steve Bannon: Firing FBI Director Was “Biggest Mistake In Modern Political History”

During last night’s 60 Minutes interview with Charlie Rose on CBS, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called the firing of FBI Director “the biggest mistake in modern political history.”

If you missed the interview, you can watch the full interview at CBS.com here.

Well worth the watching.

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Armie Hammer Slaps Back At James Woods Over “Decency” Tweet Regarding Romantic Gay Film “Call Me By My Name”

James Woods (L) and Armie Hammer (R)

Armie Hammer, who stars in the highly anticipated film Call Me By Your Name, slapped back at actor James Woods who dissed the gay romance flick on Twitter and in doing so connected the movie to a group who believes pedophilia should be legal.

The movie features Hammer as a 24-year old American academic who attracts the attention of a 17-year-old Jewish-American boy played by Timothee Chalamet. The flick was a darling at the Sundance Film Festival garnering Oscar buzz for both leading men.

Woods quoted a tweet criticizing the age gap between Hammer’s 24-year-old character and his 17-year-old love interest (played by Timothée Chalamet) and bemoaning the lack of decency.

“As they quietly chip away the last barriers of decency,” Woods tweeted, adding the hashtag for the North American Man/Boy Love Association.

Hammer didn’t miss a beat, calling out Woods for dating 19-year-old Ashley Madison when Woods was 59 for more than six years.

“Didn’t you date a 19 year old when you were 60…?”

BOOM!

And then there was this reply that gets right to the heart of the matter:

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News Round-Up: September 11, 2017

(image via Pinterest)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Welcome to a brand new fresh week! Today is just about as fresh and ready for you as, well, this guy (above).

• Former 90210 star Brian Austin Green’s 4-year-old son Noah has been seen out in public occasionally wearing dresses, and Green has no problem with that. “I feel like at 4, at 5, that’s a time when he should be having fun,” the actor continues. “He’s not harming anyone wearing a dress. So if he wants to wear a dress, awesome. Good on him, you know?”

• In just the past week, 3 GOP Congressmen have announced they will not be seeking reelection in 2018. This potentially opens up more possibilities for the Democrats to regain control of the House. Cook Political Report analyst Dave Wasserman moved his rating of one of the races from “likely Republican” to “toss up.”

• InfoWars idiot Alex Jones says Donald Trump behaves erratically because White House insiders are slowly drugging his Diet Cokes. #NoLie

 • A transgender man in New Jersey, who was wrongly accused on shoplifting, is bringing legal action after being forced to show his vagina and prosthetic penis to a female grocery store employee. A security guard apparently mistook the bulge in the man’s pants for stolen goods.

• One of the new characters being written into the upcoming 8 episode reboot of Roseanne will be the 4-year-old “gender-creative” son of “Darlene” played by Sara Gilbert. The young son’s name will be “Mark” who is described as “Sensitive and bright, Mark occasionally likes to wear girls’ clothing.”

• Folks are a little worried “down under” as recent polling shows 58.4% say they would back a “yes” vote on marriage equality, down 6 points from two weeks earlier; support for a “no” vote rose two points to 31.4%. In a world of Brexit votes and Donald Trumps becoming president, folks don’t want to take anything for granted. Make sure your Aussie friends vote!