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‘Bachelorette’ Alum: Teaching LGBTQ History To Kids Is ‘Waste’ Of Tax Dollars

James McCoy Taylor (screen captures via Twitter)

A former reality-TV personality took to Twitter recently to explain why he opposes teaching the accomplishments of LGBTQ people in schools.

James McCoy Taylor, who apparently came in 5th in the 12th season of The Bachelorette (2016), recently told his Twitter followers that he finds the idea to be a “waste” of tax dollars.

This was apparently sparked by a new law in Illinois that will require public schools to include the accomplishments of LGBTQ people in history classes beginning with the 2020-21 school year. The legislation was supported by over 40 education and civil rights groups in the state.

Illinois joins California, New Jersey, and Colorado in adding LGBTQ accomplishments to U.S. history studies in public schools.

Contrast that with the six states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas – which have laws prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality.” Often known as “no pro homo” laws, they prohibit schools from teaching LGBTQ topics in a positive light, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Taylor began with a tweet saying instead of history classes being taught about LGBTQ contributions, instructions in stock market investments would be a better use of tax-payer dollars.

And, of course, he prefaced it all by saying his comment wasn’t “from any kind of hate standpoint.”

I’m sure he has black friends, too…

Taylor clapped back at openly gay Walking Dead actor Daniel Newman trying to laugh off the whole thing saying the ‘love is love’ crowd turns into haters when they have a different viewpoint.

What’s funny here is, after saying teaching students about the contributions of LGBTQ people is a “waste of tax dollars” and getting push back, he posted an ‘aw shucks’ video saying, “Twitter, you cannot take my smile…”

Is this where I should mention Taylor is a big Trump supporter? Quel surprise…

Mr. Taylor – if you’re going to put your opinions out in the public square, man up and be open to possibly learning something. Disagreement doesn’t make someone a ‘troll.’

But, Taylor wasn’t done with the stupid just yet. He had to come back a few days later with this:

By this flawed logic, with the Jewish population of the U.S. being estimated at between 1.4-1.8%, does that mean we shouldn’t teach kids about the Holocaust?

But put that aside.

As TONS of people pointed on on Twitter, the LGBTQ community intersects with all these demographics: women, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans. Race and sex are not sexual orientation. #duh

Also – Taylor says he’s ‘in Texas.’ I don’t know if he lives there or visiting…but here’s the thing.

I was born and raised in Texas. I graduated from the public school system there in 1981.

In high school, I learned about the fight for women’s rights, suffragettes, Seneca Falls, and the 19th Amendment.

I learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil War, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Jim Crow laws.

I learned how Latinos helped Texas win independence, who Sylvia Mendez was, and how Puerto Rico became part of the U.S.

I learned about Japanese internment camps during WWII.

So, when Taylor talks about “waiting in line,” does he not know this history has been a part of public schools for decades? I wasn’t only taught about what men contributed to society.

And what exactly is this “line” he talks about? Can we not teach about women’s, African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American and LGBTQ American contributions at the same time?

In Illinois, there are 176 days in a given school year. Even if you went by Taylor’s ill-thought ‘5 percent’ math of the LGBTQ population, is it unthinkable to imagine spending less than 9 history classes out of 176 on LGBTQ history?

As a nascent gay growing up in Texas, I’ll tell you what I did NOT learn about in school: how a brave group of LGBTQ people stood up for themselves at the Stonewall riots.

I did not learn that an openly gay man named Harvey Milk was elected to public office in 1977.

Nor did I learn about the persecution of gays by the Nazis during World War II.

There’s a LOT that could have been included in my history curriculum back then.

In any case, I’m not the only one who found Taylor to be out of his depth.

I’ll note that, until these recent LGBTQ-themed tweets, a quick scan of Taylor’s posts on Twitter (when not chiming in on ‘Bachelor/Bachelorette’ episodes) have averaged about 5-10 responses. These tweets received thousands of comments.

I think the hashtag #DeleteYourAccount was created for just this kind of moment.

Just a sample from the Twitterverse:

And then there’s my favorite response:

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Billy Porter On Shooting POSE: “I Was Set Free”

Speaking with POSE creator/producer Ryan Murphy at an event in support of the Emmy-nominated series, Billy Porter says he felt "set free" shooting the acclaimed FX series.

Speaking with POSE creator/producer Ryan Murphy at an event in support of the Emmy-nominated series, Billy Porter says he felt “set free” shooting the acclaimed FX series.

Via Deadline:

For Porter, who spent decades struggling as an openly gay black artist, shooting Pose was cathartic.

“The first ball day sticks out really clearly to me because I was doing what I thought my television performance should be. I was trying to play Pray Tell and be smaller, be still, don’t be so crazy.

“[Murphy] walks in and is like, ‘Are you going to give me the sh*t? I need the sh*t. I need you. I need whatever you do,’” he recalled. “I had never said anything to him about it, but he knew instinctively. I was set free on that day, and I never turned back.”

Later in the chat, Porter added he made a conscious decision years ago to choose himself – his “sanity” and “authenticity” – over fame.

“20 years ago, I looked at the landscape, I looked at my life, I looked at what my choices were, and I made the choice to choose myself, choose my sanity over my fame, choose my authenticity over all else, and took every hit that comes with that,” Porter said. “Never did I imagine that I could and would be a first.”

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House Committee To Consider 3 Gun Control Measures

(stock image via Unsplash)

Members of the House Judiciary Committee plan to return from their summer break early to consider three gun control bills in response to the latest rash of mass shootings.

Via Roll Call:

The committee announced Friday it will mark up a bill to outlaw large capacity magazines and other ammunition feeding devices, along with a bill that would prevent people who have been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from owning a weapon.

And the committee also will consider a bill that would establish a grant program to encourage states to adopt laws that allow courts to take firearms away from people suspected of being a danger to the public, so-called red flag laws. That bill also would incorporate provisions from a similar bill that would allow federal courts to issue such protective orders.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., announced the panel also would hold a hearing on “military-style assault weapons” on September 25.

Even if the gun bills make it out of the House, don’t expect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring any of the measures to the floor of the Senate any time soon without Trump’s clear support.

Although the Donald has indicated he might get behind “red flag” laws in the aftermath of recent gun violence.

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Warren Surges Past Sanders In Latest Fox News Poll

(Images via Fox News)

The results of the latest Fox News poll shows Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has surged to the number two spot behind former Vice President Joe Biden.

The new poll shows Biden still leads the pack of Democratic hopefuls with the support of 31 percent of Democratic primary voters.

Warren comes in at 20 percent, and Sanders at 10 percent.

California Sen. Kamala Harris garnered 8 percent.

All of the other candidates received 3 percent or less.

More from Fox News:

Warren’s gains come at Sanders’ expense, as she’s now the favorite among primary voters under age 45 as well as those who identify as “very” liberal. Since last month, Warren is up 12 points among the under 45 crowd, while Sanders lost 10. And her support increased 18 points among very liberal voters, as backing for Sanders dropped 16.

Biden leads Warren among both men (+11 points) and women (+11), and has a 22-point advantage among voters over age 45. Plus, among non-whites, Biden is up by 17 points over Sanders and by 19 over Warren.

By a wide 60-36 percent margin, Democratic primary voters prefer a nominee who will “restore the country and get American politics back to normalcy” over one who will “fundamentally change” how Washington works.

Overall, the survey indicates Biden would beat Trump by the widest margin if the election were held today, 50% – 38%.

Sanders would win by 9 points over Trump, while Warren would take the race by 7 points.

And the election is 14 months away…

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Trump Administration Argues Firing People For Being Transgender Is Legal

The Trump administration has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a Michigan funeral home that fired a longtime employee for coming out as transgender and beginning her transition.

The Trump administration has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a Michigan funeral home that fired a longtime employee for coming out as transgender and beginning her transition.

Aimee Stephens worked for Harris Funeral Homes for five years before she began to transition in 2012.

Saying she was “violating God’s commands,” fired Stephens two weeks later.

Stephens is suing the funeral home saying she experienced sex discrimination the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It is the Trump administration’s position that transgender people can be fired just for being trans.

More from Dominic Holden at Buzzfeed News:

The Justice Department’s brief on Friday contends the word refers to a person’s “biological sex” and, further, that transgender discrimination isn’t addressed by a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that found Title VII bans sex stereotyping.

“Title VII does not prohibit discrimination against transgender persons based on their transgender status,” says a filing by the Justice Department, adding, “It simply does not speak to discrimination because of an individual’s gender identity or a disconnect between an individual’s gender identity and the individual’s sex.”

The counterargument from LGBTQ advocates and several lower courts, however, is that the intent of lawmakers does not limit a law’s reach, but rather its meaning is defined by the statute’s plain text. They say anti-transgender discrimination can result from a person defying traditional sex stereotypes or because the person transitioned from one sex to another — and thus, it is inherently a type of sex discrimination.

The case at issue is one of three currently before the court about the rights of LGBTQ workers under Title VII — and the only one concerning a transgender worker.

The Trump administration maintains that when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was authored, the idea of transgender people wasn’t present in the “ordinary public meaning of ‘sex'” as biological sex.

But here’s the double-standard: if you can only apply laws as what people knew or understood at the time the were written, that would mean military assault-style weapons would not be protected under the 2nd Amendment because the Founding Fathers didn’t know such weapons would ever exist. And that’s just the beginning.

Stephens’ legal team maintains the plain text of Title VII addresses “sex” discrimination. And it’s impossible to consider her being transgender without taking into account the concept of her sex.

SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in the case on Oct. 8, along with two additional cases that address whether sexual orientation discrimination is protected by Title VII.

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News Round-Up: August 16, 2019

Nick Sandell (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Hunky fitness model Nick Sandell is ‘catching some rays’ in my native Texas.

• FreeMovement: An immigration judge in the UK has rejected an asylum seeker because the man did not have a gay “demeanor” and did not “look around the room in an effeminate manner.” I kid you not.

• NY Times: The official cause of death for accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was suicide by hanging according to the coroner’s autopsy. The report indicates he tied a bedsheet to the top of a set of bunk beds, then knelt toward the floor with enough force that he broke several bones in his neck.

• Boy Culture: Serious props to Adam Price for this romantic oceanside marriage proposal to his bf, former X Factor contestant Naisa Lasalosi.

• Deseret News: Ed Smart, the father of kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, shared in a Facebook message with family and friends Thursday that he is gay, divorcing his wife and doesn’t see a place for himself in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• OUT: Disney has announced the leads for its upcoming spin-off of the successful coming-out film, Love, Simon, and neither of the two lead actors are openly gay.

• New Music: Randy Report favorite Mika drops his latest, “Tiny Love,” from his upcoming album My Name Is Michael Holbrook.

“The most important thing in the world is the love we have for those around us, the love others offer us and the love we have for ourselves,” says Mika about the track. “That love can feel so massive and yet at the same time it’s so tiny and imperceivable to others. This song is a conscious decision to provoke that emotion.”

Musically, I like the track – fun melody and the production is rich and sophisticated.

But, every now and then, this happens: I like the song, but in this instance, the music video gets in the way for me. I’m just not vibing with the video.

That said, it’s a fun track. Let me know what you think in the comments.

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Academy Award Nominee Peter Fonda Dead At 79

Peter Fonda (image via screen capture)

Peter Fonda, son of acting legend Henry Fonda, the younger brother of Jane Fonda and the father of Bridget Fonda, has passed away at the age of 79 at his home in Los Angeles.

The cause of death was respiratory failure due to lung cancer.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Fonda received an Academy Award nomination as a screenwriter for Easy Rider, which he shared with Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern.

Fonda and Hopper dreamed up the idea of two motorcyclists who hit it big with a drug deal and take off across the country, ostensibly to attend Mardi Gras. Their trek was “in search of America,” emblematic of the ’60s zeitgeist of rebellion and drug experimentation.

Featuring Jack Nicholson as their alcoholic, back rider/lawyer, the film was a low-budget, colossal hit.

Nearly 30 years after Easy Rider, Fonda’s performance in Ulee’s Gold (1997) as a beekeeper and sullen Vietnam War veteran whose family had nearly fallen apart earned him a best actor Oscar nom.

The family statement concluded: “In honor of Peter, please raise a glass to freedom.”

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Log Cabin Republicans Endorse (No Surprise) Trump For Reelection

Despite the Trump administration's numerous attacks on the LGBTQ community, the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative political group, has endorsed the Donald for reelection.
You can just hear him now…”Suckers…”

Despite the Trump administration’s numerous attacks on the LGBTQ community, the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative political group, has endorsed the Donald for reelection.

Apparently, seeing gay billionaire Peter Thiel onstage at the 2016 Republican National Convention was a wet dream come true for the gay conservatives.

The only other grounds for their support they can note to are promises to end the HIV epidemic and promote LGBTQ rights abroad as reasons to support the man who kicked HIV+ and transgender soldiers out of the U.S. military.

But the op-ed penned by the group for the Washington Post eventually gets to the real reason for endorsing – and yes, it has to do with money:

It is not merely policies specific to LGBTQ people that have been good for our community.

The president’s tax cuts have benefited LGBTQ families and helped put food on their tables. His opportunity zones have helped create new LGBTQ-founded small businesses. The administration’s aggressive negotiations on trade deals have preserved LGBTQ jobs. His hard-line on foreign policy has protected LGBTQ lives.

What benefits all Americans benefits the LGBTQ community, as we cross every racial, socioeconomic, religious and cultural divide.

The group did not endorse the Trumpster in 2016.

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Faye Dunaway Sued By Former Assistant For Homophobic Abuse

Faye Dunaway (screen capture via YouTube)

In the aftermath of being fired from the Broadway-bound play, Tea At Five, earlier this month, the New York Post’s Page Six reports Faye Dunaway is now being sued for homophobic abuse by her former assistant.

Actress Faye Dunaway relentlessly berated her gay personal assistant on the play “Tea at Five,” calling him “a little homosexual boy” before he was fired for complaining, a new lawsuit alleges.

Michael Rocha says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that he began working for the Broadway-bound production — from which Dunaway was eventually fired — on April 5 and was tasked with shopping, helping the actress take her meds, arranging her schedule and getting her to and from rehearsals.

Rocha — who worked at the Oscar-winning star’s East 57th Street apartment and was paid $1,500 per week — alleges that Dunaway “regularly and relentlessly subjected plaintiff to abusive demeaning tirades” and used his sexual orientation as a gay man to “demean and humiliate him at work,” the court papers charge.

The Post reported the Oscar winner was dismissed from the production last month just minutes before a performance after she allegedly slapped a crew member.

One source told the newspaper they were “fearful for their safety.”

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Rocker Kisses Male Fan During Dubai Concert Defying Anti-LGBTQ Laws

Matt Healy, lead singer for The 1975 (photo: Alex Liscio Photos/Flickr – CC License)

Matt Healy, lead singer for the UK band The 1975, responded to a male fan’s request to “marry me” by heading into the crowd and laying some lip-lock on the fan during the band’s first-ever concert in Dubai.

Billboard reports the moment happened during the performance of the band’s song, “Loving Someone.”

As he returned to the stage amid loud cheers from the crowd, Healy said, “I love you, bro – we’re all human, right?”

The kiss was noteworthy not only for the artist/fan interaction but also due to the severe anti-homosexuality laws in the United Arab Emirates where being gay is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Even so, the crowd was thrilled.

At another moment during the concert, Healy stopped to speak directly to the adversity LGBTQ people face in the Arab country and acknowledged the risk he faced even addressing the subject.

“I just want us to identify as humans and not as groups of individual different people,” he told the crowd. “I’m sorry, I know it seems indulgent for me to cry but I do this every night and it’s the same thing, I see so much passion and pain, and I know what you guys are going through and I know you’re not representative of your governments.”

And the crowd goes wild!

The band, which won Best Album and Best Group at this year’s Brit Awards, has seen all three of their studio albums hit number one on the UK charts.

The 1975 has a history of LGBTQ support. Last year, the band kicked in £50,000 to help fund London’s new LGBTQ center.

At the time, Healy told The Observer, “You might wonder why it is needed, and even ask yourself what exactly is everyone still scared of, but sadly, I think stigma still exists even in London and we still have some way to go.”

After the Dubai concert, Healy took to Twitter to say he “wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”

While many applauded the display of support, some on social media expressed concern that the public same-sex kiss could put the fan in jeopardy under the laws of his country.

Earlier this month, I reported a shared kiss between bandmates of the heavy metal group Rammstein during a concert in Russia. That kiss was also seen as a protest of the anti-LGBTQ ‘propaganda’ laws there.

(source: Billboard– cropped image via CC License/Flickr)