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President Trump: My Son’s Meeting With A Russian Lawyer Is “Standard” In Politics

At a press conference in Paris today with French President Emmanuel Macron, President Trump defended his son, Donald Trump Jr., for taking a meeting last June with what he expected to be a “Russian government attorney” who said she had dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government.

President Trump says meetings with foreign nationals who offer to help in a campaign “standard.”

“My son is a wonderful young man. He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer. Not a government lawyer, but a Russian lawyer. It was a short meeting. It was a meeting that went very, very quickly; went very fast. Two other people were in the room. I guess one of them left almost immediately. And the other one was not really focused on the meeting.

“I do think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting. It’s called opposition research, or even research into your opponent. I’ve only been in politics for two years and I’ve had many people call up and say “Oh gee, we have information on this factor or this person. Or, frankly, Hillary. That’s very standard in politics. Politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard where they have the information and you take the information.”

Trump added, “Zero happened from the meeting.”

It’s actually against the law for a campaign to accept anything of value (including information on your political opponent) from a foreign national.

By the way, if you watch below, catch how Trump tries to blame former Attorney General Loretta Lynch for Don Jr’s decision to meet with the Russian goverment lawyer.

In related news, senators from both the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees are asking Don Jr. to testify under oath about the June 9th meeting.

Watch Trump answer the question below.

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Amendment To Deny Transgender Military Service Members & Family Healthcare Voted Down In U.S. House

The U.S. House of Representatives voted down an amendment today that would have ripped away critical health care for transgender service members and military dependents.

Proposed by virulently anti-LGBT Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), the amendment would have barred access to transition-related health care — including critically important care such as hormone therapy — for service members and military family members.

The amendment was defeated by a vote of 214 to 209.

“Congresswoman Hartzler’s attempt to strip healthcare from service members and their families in a time of war was unpatriotic, unconstitutional, and just plain vile, we are pleased to see that the House of Representatives voted down this amendment” said OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Matt Thorn.

Since October 2016, it has been the policy of the Department of Defense to allow transgender members of the armed forces to serve openly and authentically. Estimates show there are more than 15,500 transgender individuals currently serving in the armed services. In addition to these service members, thousands of service members also have members of their families who are transgender.

(via press release)

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ESPN: Kansas State Football Player Scott Frantz Comes Out

Scott Frantz

Sophomore Kansas State offensive tackle Scott Frantz has come out as gay in an interview with ESPN.

“I came out to my teammates, and I’ve never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did that,” Frantz told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Wednesday. “And ever since then it’s been great. I’ve grown so much closer to my teammates since. So it’s been an amazing experience.”

Frantz divulged his sexual orientation to his teammates after his redshirt season in 2015. Wildcats coach Bill Snyder had brought in a motivational speaker who encouraged the players to reveal details about themselves that they had never told anyone else before.

“So the very first time I said those words were in front of, you know, 110, 120 football guys,” Frantz said. “So you can imagine how scared I was, how nervous I was. … This could go either really bad or could go really good. And thankfully my teammates embraced me with open arms, and it was great.”

The sophomore tackle said he knew he was gay in fifth grade but that it took until his junior year of high school to accept it. He said he didn’t tell his family until a week after the locker room announcement and told Rowe he didn’t discuss his sexual orientation with recruiters out of concern it would keep him from getting offers to play in college.

We’ll see if this impacts Frantz’ football career. Last season he started 13 games.

This fall, Frantz and Arizona freshman My-King Johnson will be the first openly gay active college football players in the 2017 season.

Watch Scott speak about his coming out below.

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GLAAD Denounces President Trump’s Interview With Anti-LGBT Activist Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, blasted President Donald Trump’s one-on-one interview with Pat Robertson, a longtime anti-LGBTQ activist and Televangelist.

Robertson is infamous for calling for so-called “religious exemptions” to push a dangerous anti-LGBTQ agenda, accusing LGBTQ people of deliberately spreading HIV and AIDS, supporting so-called “conversion therapy,” and comparing the LGBTQ community to Satanists as well as thieves, rapists, and murders.

“Today’s interview with anti-LGBTQ activist Pat Robertson should be the last straw for anyone leaving hope that President Trump would be an ally to LGBTQ people,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD.

“Trump refused to speak out about LGBTQ Pride Month or against the atrocities facing gay men in Chechnya in favor of today using the office of the President to give credibility to a debunked TV personality with a long history of peddling vile inaccuracies and salacious insults that harm LGBTQ people. As anti-LGBTQ activists like Robertson get the red-carpet treatment at the White House, LGBTQ people must stay visible and fight back against all those seeking to erase our hard-fought progress.”

The CBN anchor also previously defended the widely panned Access Hollywood “Trump Tapes,” where President Trump bragged about committing sexual assault on women. Robertson said Trump was merely trying “to look like he’s macho,” further pushing the dangerous implication that groping women is a positive and normal way for men to elevate their masculinity.

This week’s interview comes at the same time as Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered remarks at a closed-door summit on “religious liberty” hosted by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The ADF is labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is currently representing Jack Phillips in the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, which argues whether someone could use so-called “religious exemptions” to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the case later on this fall.

Hit the link above for several examples of Robertson’s anti-LGBT attacks over the years.

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“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Transparent” Celebrate 2017 Emmy Award Nominations

The 2017 Emmy Award nominations were announced this morning and lots of good news for LGBT programming.

• Outstanding Actress and Actor nods for Transparent’s Judith Light and Jeffrey Tambor

• 8 nominations for RuPaul’s Drag Race, including Outstanding Reality Competition and Reality Competition Host for RuPaul, which he won last year.

• Out actors Kate McKinnon and Tituss Burgess each received nominations in the comedy supporting categories.

• LGBT fave Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Halftime Show can celebrate six nominations.

• Gone but not forgotten, Carrie Fisher received a posthumous Emmy nomination for her work as “Mia” on Catastrophe Season 3.

A short list of the major category nominations are below, you can read the full list of nominees here.

The 69th Primetime Emmys will air Sept. 17 on CBS, hosted by Stephen Colbert.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Kerry Russell, The Americans
Claire Foy, The Crown
Elizabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Robin Wright, House Of Cards
Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld

Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Carrie Coon, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette & Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette & Joan

Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Robert DeNiro, The Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
John Turturro, The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lily Tomlin Grace and Frankie
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Allison Janney, Mom
Pamela Adlon, Better Things

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
William H. Macy, Shameless
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets

Outstanding Comedy Series

Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Master of None
Black-ish
Atlanta

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul
House of Cards
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Crown
This Is Us
Stranger Things
Westworld

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

The Voice
Top Chef
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
American Ninja Warrior
RuPaul’s Drag Race

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late, Late Show With James Corden
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Real Time with Bill Maher

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Donald Trump Jr. Covers TIME Magazine

Not quite the TIME Magazine cover anyone ever dreams of, is it?

From the article:

It all adds up, in the words of a senior Administration official, to a “sh-tstorm” that no White House staffer even tries to deny. The #FakeNews defense won’t work when the Trump family is the one tweeting the potentially incriminating emails. And all of Washington has awakened to the fact that the Russia issue has spiraled beyond anyone’s control. There are too many investigations and too many targets–each with his own interests to protect and his own team of attorneys to protect them–and too many enemies created by Trump’s bull-in-a-china-shop style. It’s not a question anymore of putting them all in a box and shutting the lid. It’s only a question of how bad it will get.

I encourage you to read the full article at the link above.

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House Democrat Files Article Of Impeachment Against President Trump

Accusing President Trump of obstructing justice during the current investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) has filed an article of impeachment against Trump.

Via The Hill:

This is the first time a lawmaker has offered an impeachment article against Trump, and comes as Democrats have debated whether it is politically wise to press the case for impeachment at this time.

A majority vote in the House, currently controlled by Republicans, is required to impeach a president. Republicans have a 46-seat advantage.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed the move.

“I think that is utterly and completely ridiculous and a political game at its worst,” she told reporters Wednesday at an off-camera briefing.

Sherman argues that Trump’s abrupt firing of James Comey as FBI director in May amounts to obstructing justice and “high crimes and misdemeanors” amid the probes of whether Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government to swing the election.

He cites Comey’s allegations that Trump pressured him to drop the FBI’s investigation into ousted former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, as well as Trump’s shifting story on why he fired Comey.

The measure, H.R. 438, was officially introduced on the floor of the House today.

Sherman is an 11 term congressman who represents my old district in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. He’s a good guy.

This will, of course, go nowhere in the GOP-controlled House.

For now.

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Malta Approves Marriage Equality By Vote Of 66-1

The island nation of Malta became the 24th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage today by as lawmakers in Parliament approved the measure 66-1.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who won a second term in office on June 3, campaigned on a promise to make marriage equality the first vote of the new Parliament.

Malta approved civil unions in 2014, and in December became the first country to ban “ex-gay” torture.

The one “no” vote came from a Christian politician who told reporters, “A Christian politician cannot leave his conscience outside the door when he enters parliament.”

A post shared by MarTina Farrugia (@qnb_teena) on Jul 12, 2017 at 12:38pm PDT