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Andy Cohen On Being The Only Openly Gay Late Night Talk Show Host

Andy Cohen (pic via Instagram)

In an interview with Mic, Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen is asked about his experience with LGBT media. Apparently, Andy reads the Comments sections…

I think they’ve been fine. Any time there’s ever been an article about me on any gay sites the comments are always just the meanest you can imagine… but that might be par for the course. I’m proud to be the only openly gay late-night talk show host.

I’m now going into my eighth year of this so whether gay people like that or they don’t like it, I do know that there are young gay men across the country who maybe come to my book signings or have dinner with my mom and say “it’s touched me that I’ve been able to see a gay guy in late night.” So ultimately I can’t get too invested in what the comments say or what the gay media says because if there can be kids watching and thinking “oh wow, look, that guy is gay and he has this show and everything seems okay with him” then that should be the important thing.

Cohen also defended the diversity (or lack thereof) in Logo’s upcoming Fire Island reality TV show:

If it were the only show about gay people on television then maybe that would be a topic of conversation, but we live in 2017, and there are gay people of every shape and size on many different shows. Have you ever been to Fire Island? It’s pretty white and chiseled. That’s what it largely looks like there. If we went somewhere else, it would probably look different. I think we should be happy with having another representation of ourselves on television. Maybe people should look at the how before they start protesting it.

Check out the full interview over at Mic.

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Pulse Nightclub Shooting Victims To Receive $8.5 Million In Federal Support

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that victims of the June 2016 shooting massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, will receive nearly $8.5 million for emotional and financial support for victims’ families, those wounded in the attack and responders.

From Reuters:

In a statement, the department’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) said the funds would be granted on Wednesday and distributed by officials in Florida, where 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Shooter Omar Mateen was killed in a shootout with police after he took hostages during a three-hour standoff inside the Pulse nightclub. He also wounded dozens more people in the June 12, 2016 attack.

“This award will reimburse victim services costs for operation of the Family Assistance Center in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and ensure that victims, witnesses and first responders receive necessary services to help them adjust in the aftermath of violence, begin the healing process and cope with probable re-traumatization,” Marilyn McCoy Roberts, the office’s acting director, said in a statement.

Victims of the San Bernardino and Charleston shootings received similar federal support.

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New Mexico Poised To Become 7th State To Ban “Ex-Gay” Therapy For Minors

New Mexico appears set to become the seventh state in the U.S. to pass legislation that bans health care workers from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors.

According to Buzzfeed News, House Speaker Brian Egolf feels confident the measure will pass in his chamber.

This would be welcome news as religious conservatives across the country have blocked the passage of LGBT nondiscrimination protections in recent years.

Senate Bill 121 would ban licensed health care professionals from any “treatment that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including any effort to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward persons of the same sex.”

Mental health professionals have widely denounced so-called “ex-gay” or “conversion” therapy as dangerous and harmful to minors. And, it doesn’t work.

The bill passed the New Mexico senate on a 32-6 vote last month, and the House Judiciary Committee advanced the bill on a vote of 5-2 last Wednesday.

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has not signaled whether she would sign the bill into law or not.

New Jersey, California, Oregon, Illinois, New York, and Vermont have all passed similar legislation.

In related news, Nevada Democrats have filed Senate Bill 201 which would ban licensed medical professionals from practicing “conversion therapy.”

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Former NC Gov. Pat McCrory: I Can’t Get A Job Because People Think I’m A Bigot!

Pat McCrory

Excuse me if I can’t find any crocodile tears for former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who says his support for anti-LGBT HB2 last year is now making employers reluctant to hire him.

The former governor complained to Christian podcast WORLD that even though he’s left office, HB2 “has impacted me to this day, even after I left office. People are reluctant to hire me, because, ‘oh my gosh, he’s a bigot’ – which is the last thing I am.”

As folks know, HB2 struck down local nondiscrimination ordinances and requires transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate while they are in schools and other government facilities. The legislation has cost North Carolina millions and millions in lost revenue through cancelled conventions, business, sporting and music events.

He then went on to blame his current situation on liberal advocacy groups: “If you disagree with the politically correct thought police on this new definition of gender, you’re a bigot, you’re the worst of evil,” he said. “It’s almost as if I broke a law.”

Along the way, he took a swipe at transgender people saying, “You ask the doctor if it’s a boy or a girl; you don’t ask the baby.”

The North Carolina Democratic Party has no pity for the pious McCrory, either, issuing this statement:

“North Carolina has already lost hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs as a direct result of House Bill 2, but I guess we can start adding Gov. McCrory’s career to the total as well.”

(source)

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News Round-Up: March 13, 2017

Some news items you might have missed:

• Joe Manganiello (above) hopes you had a great Monday 🙂

• A new tell-all book reveals Dick Clark worked to keep “American Bandstand” dancers in the closet.

• A Texas lawmaker has proposed legislation that w before they could get a prescription for Viagra to make a satirical point about the obstacles that Texas women face every day.

• Congressional Democrats will reintroduce The Equality Act, which would amend existing civil rights laws to add protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in workplaces, housing, and public spaces.

• Sorority Alpha Chi Omega announces transgender women will be welcomed into the sorority effective immediately.

• Stargate, the production team behind Katy Perry’s “Firework”, Rihanna’s “Rude Boy”, and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” team up with Sia & Pink for their latest track, “Waterfall.”

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TrumpCare Falls Far Short Of Promised “Insurance For Everybody”

According to the CBO, the American Health Care Act would increase the number of Americans without health coverage by 24 million and reduce the federal budget deficit by $337 billion by 2026.

This doesn’t quite jive with Trump’s oft-repeated promises that the GOP replacement would provide “insurance for everybody” and be “much less expensive and much better.”

Time travel time: Donald Trump in September 2015 on CBS’ 60 Minutes talking healthcare:

“I am going to take care of everyone. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not.”

Oh, and the American Health Care Act includes $880 billion in Medicaid cuts.

Let’s take another trip in the way back machine:

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Fox News On Kellyanne Conway: “We Don’t Quote (Conway) Much Anymore Because, Well, History…”

At the top of his newscast today, Fox News’ Shep Smith had this to say about White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway:

”Kellyanne Conway, whom we really don’t quote much anymore because, well, history…”

That was in reference to Conway’s claim yesterday that microwave ovens turn into cameras and that’s “just a fact of modern life:”

Smith followed with:

“Counselor Kellyanne Conway, who’s previous words have been, well, up for debate…”

“Microwaves do not turn into cameras. Fox News can now confirm microwaves heat food. Cameras take pictures. Microphones don’t have cameras. And microphones can’t turn into cameras. Fox News now confirms.”

Watch below:

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Congressional Budget Office: 14 Million Could Lose Healthcare Coverage In 2018

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (currently run by a Republican) has issued it’s findings on the American Health Care Act which has been proposed to replace Obamacare.

In short, instead of covering more people, fewer folks will have healthcare.

From CNN:

Fourteen million more Americans would be uninsured under the House Republican health care bill than under Obamacare in 2018, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday.

The long-anticipated score immediately puts the writers and supporters of the GOP Obamacare bill on the defensive. It is also certain to complicate the party’s already troubled efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Republican bill, titled the American Health Care Act, would reduce the federal deficits by $337 billion over 10 years, the CBO said.

The legislation, introduced last Monday, has sparked deep concern among Republican lawmakers in both the House and the Senate. The sources of unease are wide-ranging.

Prominnent conservatives on Capitol Hill, for example, have argued that the bill doesn’t go far enough, labeling it “Obamacare Lite.” One element of the legislation that has drawn fierce scorn is the refundable tax credits, which conservative Republicans say amounts to an entitlement program.

As proposed Medicaid changes go into effect, the CBO projects this could rise to 24 million by 2026.

President Trump has endorsed the plan.

You may recall President Trump, on January 25, said, “We’re gonna come up with a new plan that’s going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost.”

“I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

Bolding is mine.