Despite weak assertions to the contrary, Donald Trump is no friend of the LGBTQ community.
And the Human Rights Campaign has released this video using his own words to make that clear.
In this week alone, the Trump administration proposed banning all transgender service members from the U.S. military; and, the Justice Department filed a “friend of the court” brief arguing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 offers no protections for LGBTQ folks.
But during the 2016 campaign, Trump attempted to underscore his “friendship” to us.
• A new study shows hiv+ men who take antiretroviral medication on a regular basis have pretty much zero chance of spreading the infection to others
• President Trump gets plenty of pushback on his proposed transgender military service ban
• Out singer/songwriter Wrabel releases powerful anthem of personal empowerment and community, “The Village,” in response to Trump’s trans military ban
• Convicted Philly gay basher Kathryn Knott now says she was acting in self-defense when she shattered the jaw of a gay man in 2014
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.
Way-cute commercial spot from Procter & Gamble’s Luvs Diapers featuring two anxious gay dads standing guard through their kid’s first haircut.
Procter & Gamble has previously featured LGBTs in ads for Downey Wrinkle Releaser and Tide Detergent, as well as showing support via this tweet the day marriage equality became the law of the land.
Results of a new large-scale study of gay men presented this week at the 9th International AIDS Conference on HIV Science in Paris shows HIV+ people taking regular antiretroviral medication have “pretty much” a zero chance of infecting others during either gay or straight sex.
In the largest-ever trial on HIV transmission risk among gay men, Australian researchers explored the sex lives and HIV rates of more than 350 homosexual couples where one person is HIV positive. The couples were from Brazil, Thailand and Australia, CNN reports.
Each couple reported their sexual activity when visiting clinics involved in the trial and HIV-negative partners were regularly tested to diagnose any new infections, CNN reports. The couples participating reported having sex almost 17,000 times without condoms between them over four years, and none of those times resulted in new infections.
”There was not a single linked HIV infection in these couples,” said Andrew Grulich, professor of epidemiology at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who led the study. “Nobody became infected from their partner,” CNN quoted him as having said.
Responding to press reports his wife filed for divorce citing his “naked political ambition,” White House Communications Director Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci took to Twitter to school the media for reporting the news.
Tweets the Mooch, “Family does not need to be drawn into this. Soon we will learn who in the media has class and who doesn’t. No further comments on this.”
Family does not need to be drawn into this. Soon we will learn who in the media has class and who doesn’t. No further comments on this.
• Fitness trainer Ben Zerbst (above) is concerned about his “t-shirt tan,” which gives you just one more reason to keep staring, as if you need one 🙂
• Kathryn Knott, convicted Philadelphia gay-basher, is now claiming self-defense in a civil lawsuit from the couple she helped attack. One of her victims had his jaw wired shut for 8 months due to injuries.
• Stephen Colbert slammed Donald Trump’s tweets announcing a new ban on transgender military service members: “I began my day today as I often begin my days, by checking Donald Trump’s Twitter feed. Just to see how far the crazy has spread. And today, I really think he’s off his meds, as he’s gone from crazy to cruel.”
• The GOP-controlled House has approved $1.6 billion for President Donald Trump’s long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump promised at nearly every rally and campaign event that Mexico would pay for the wall.
According to the PageSix.com, the wife of newly-installed White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci has filed for divorce citing his “naked ambition” and desire to get close to Donald Trump.
Deidre Ball, who worked as a vice president in investor relations for SkyBridge Capital, the firm he founded in 2005 and sold to ascend to the White House, has filed for divorce from “The Mooch” after three years of marriage after getting fed up with his ruthless quest to get close to President Trump, whom she despises.
One source told Page Six, “Deidre has left him and has filed for divorce. She liked the nice Wall Street life and their home on Long Island, not the insane world of D.C. She is tired of his naked ambition, which is so enormous that it left her at her wits’ end. She has left him even though they have two children together.”
Scaramucci and Ball, 38, began dating in 2011 and are believed to have married in 2014.
Scaramucci appeared to be confirming the rumor tweeting this in the last hour:
Leave civilians out of this. I can take the hits, but I would ask that you would put my family in your thoughts and prayers & nothing more.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Armed Services Committee, has penned an open letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis asking him to reconsider Donald Trump’s surprise ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military.
The letter, signed by 44 other senators, urges the Pentagon to at least let the Department of Defense finish a review on the issue before bringing in the new policy.
Gillibrand is joined by 42 Democratic senators as well as Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
“We strongly oppose this policy change and urge you to advise the President against it,” Gillibrand and the senators wrote.
A new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released today shows 58% of Americans agree transgender military members should be allowed to serve.
Only 27% said definitively “no.”
Here’s the full text of the letter and signees:
Dear Secretary Mattis,
We are writing regarding the President’s announcement via Twitter yesterday that transgender Americans can no longer serve in the military. We strongly oppose this policy change, and urge you to advise the President against it. This announcement contradicts existing Defense Department policies, undermines our military readiness, and puts our transgender service members as well as their commanders in an impossible situation. We appreciate General Dunford’s message that no policy changes should be made until implementation guidelines have been issued. We further write to request that, at a minimum, you do not separate any service member due to the person’s gender identity until you have completed the assessment that you announced on June 30, have reported back to Congress about any challenges that you foresee in the accession and retention of transgender troops, and determined the Department is unable to mitigate these challenges.
Transgender Americans who serve in our military put their lives on the line to protect America. They make up a small percentage of the military population, but are reportedly twice as likely to serve in the military as other Americans. Transgender service members have been serving openly since the policy was changed in June 2016 and in that time no service has reported any issues associated with their service.
Forcing these brave Americans out of our military would be cruel and discriminatory. It would harm our readiness by denying the military of these service members’ capabilities and requiring the military to replace them at a time when the recruiting pool for the services continues to shrink. It will harm morale in the military as service members see their brothers and sisters in arms — some of whom are currently forward deployed — thrown out simply because of their identity. And the uncertainty associated with making policy this way is already harming our military readiness and morale, as transgender service members and their superiors struggle to make sense of the policy and what it means for them today and tomorrow.
Any American who wants to serve and meets the standards should be allowed to serve our country. Transgender service members are serving with honor and distinction today and we ask that you, as our Secretary of Defense, assure them that their service will not be ended simply because of who they are.
Sincerely,
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.), Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D- Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin T. Heinrich (D-N.M.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.), Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary C. Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernard Sanders (I- Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D- N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
From this point on, you should take stock in the rumors you hear coming out of the White House.
We heard two months ago that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was close to being fired.
Gone.
Just a week later, following the rumors we’ve all seen, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has resigned.
The new Chief of Staff will be current Homeland Security Secretary, General John F. Kelly.
“I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration.”
I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….
Note the use of the words “true star.” Trump just got off Air Force One where he referred to Reince as a “good man;” that was followed by his called Kelly “a great, great man.”
Priebus had developed a relationship with Trump during the presidential campaign having served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
When Trump won, which I honestly believe surprised Trump, even he was aware he knew nothing of Washington protocol and procedures.
I think Trump turned to the most “inside” political person he knew: Priebus.
But over time, we’ve seen Trump only admires folks who utilize the same approach as Trump. And that’s not Priebus.
As we saw in Anthony Scaramucci’s expletive-laden rant to New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza yesterday, Scaramucci’s “street approach” is much more to Trump’s liking.
One more thing – Back in 2012, Donald Trump criticized President Obama for having 3 Chiefs of Staff over 3 years. Trump is on his second in only six months:
3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can’t manage to pass his agenda.
