Sen. Bernie Sanders (L) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R)
A new poll from Emerson shows the ‘Bernie bros’ aren’t quite down on solidarity with the Democrats ‘no matter what.’
Forbes’ analysis of the new survey shows 26% of Bernie supporters say they would vote for Donald Trump over Sen. Elizabeth Warren should she clinch the Democratic nomination.
Similarly, while 100% of Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s supporters say they would vote for Bernie should he prevail as the Democratic nominee, only 79% of Sanders supporters say they would support Buttigieg in a general election against Trump.
The Emerson poll is the first to show Sanders getting more support than former Vice President Joe Biden, who has seen his numbers slip a bit of late.
Sanders got 29% support, followed by Biden at 24% and then Buttigieg at 9%.
Harris and Beto O’Rourke garnered 8% and Warren just 7%.
“While still early in the nominating process, it looks like Mayor Pete is the candidate capturing voters’ imagination; the numbers had him at 0 percent in mid-February, 3 percent in March and now at 9 percent in April,” wrote Director of Emerson Polling Spencer Kimball said of the results.
On last night’s episode of NBC’s Good Girls, Sadie (Isaiah Stannard) told mom Annie (Mae Whitman) that they identify as a boy.
Annie takes in the news in the best way possible. Watch below.
Last season, there were subtle allusions that Sadie was exploring their gender identity.
Isaiah Stannard, who plays Sadie, is an out trans boy and uses he/him pronouns.
Jenna Bans, creator of the show, spoke to Variety last summer about the casting of Isaiah.
“Good Girls” creator Jenna Bans had an eye-opening experience when casting her NBC dramedy. She had originally written Sadie, the tweenage daughter of Mae Whitman’s Annie, as a boy named Ben. When her casting director asked if she’d be interested in seeing a girl for the part of a boy, she was intrigued and hired Izzy Stannard — a young actor who, at the time, seemed to identify with the female gender assigned to him at birth. By the time filming began, Stannard made it clear that he identified as a boy and was using he/him pronouns.
“We realized we had a really great opportunity to tell a story about a character who was gender non-conforming, but at the same time not necessarily have that be what leads the story,” says Bans, who also did her due diligence and consulted GLAAD’s Adams. “What’s most important to the character and the story we’re telling between Sadie and Annie is really about the bond between Sadie and her mom. We liked the idea that the character of Sadie was exploring her gender [expression] in the show, but I think what we responded to more was that the Mae Whitman character just couldn’t care less.”
‘Totally not gay’ former Congressman Aaron Schock (second from left) living his best gay life at Coachella
Two of the gays who posed for photos with ‘totally not gay’ former Congressman Aaron Schock at the Coachella Music Festival last week have posted an apology to the LGBTQ community for not knowing who he is and his impact on the LGBTQ community.
In a post on each of their Instagram accounts, William Rossi and Rob Masi say they had just met Schock on the day of the photo, and had no idea who he is or how horrible he’s been to the LGBTQ community.
“In regards to the picture we took at Coachella, Rob and I have been out since we were 14 and 15, respectively; and living as proud gay men in a loving relationship, who hope to get married one day,” they begin. “We are entirely against Aaron Schock’s values, views, and actions.”
“We had just met Aaron on the day of the photo at Coachella, and before posting it, we were embarrassingly unaware of: who he was, his political views, and the extent of his negative impact on the LGBTQ community which we are proudly a part of,” the couple continued.
The duo say the inclusion of Schock came about out of a desire to be ‘polite’ to a stranger, nothing more.
A post shared by William Rossi (@willrossi3) on Apr 18, 2019 at 3:31pm PDT
“Rob and I wanted to take a photo with our friends at Coachella, to celebrate our last day there,” say the men. “Being polite, we allowed Aaron – who was basically a stranger to us and someone we just met – to include himself in our photo.”
The couple made it clear that “if we had more knowledge of his beliefs and past actions,” they would have never hung with him nor included him in their photo.
“We would not have allowed Aaron to join the photo, nor would we have associated with him if we had more knowledge of his beliefs and past actions,” say the men from San Francisco. “For our own political ignorance, we are deeply sorry.”
They also include a ‘call to action,’ if you will, encouraging Schock to come out.
“We hope Aaron does decide to come out publicly and live the gay life he so freely enjoyed at Coachella, the kind of life so many out and proud LGBTQ individuals have fought for and have made possible for younger gays like to live today,” encouraged the men.
They also say, now that they are aware of his past anti-LGBTQ votes in Congress, that Schock should apologize to the tribe he now seems to want to be a part of.
“And we hope if or when Aaron does decide to come out and own his actions, he apologizes and makes amends with the LGBTQ community, because he certainly owes us one,” they conclude.
Here’s a photo of the two men, sans Schock, at Coachella.
The current U.S. Supreme Court (image via SupremeCourt.gov)
The United States Supreme Court has announced it will weigh in on whether existing civil rights laws prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Currently, federal law bans discrimination in the workplace on the basis of religion, race, color, sex or national origin. While there is no specific federal law that protects LGBTQ individuals at work, advocates for the LGBTQ community say Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964prohibits being fired due to sexual orientation because that is a form of sex discrimination.
Lower courts have been split on the issue.
Of the cases that SCOTUS accepted for review Monday, two appeals courts ruled that the firings of a gay man and a transgender woman were illegal discrimination under Title VII, while a third case court ruled being fired for being gay does not fall under the purview of the civil rights law.
• A New York skydiving instructor, Donald Zarda, said he was fired after telling a female client she didn’t need to worry about being tethered together by confiding he is gay. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found, in that case, that sexual orientation discrimination is a subset of sex discrimination.
• A transgender woman in Michigan, Aimee Stephens, sued her former employer, a funeral home, after she was fired in the aftermath of sharing that she is transgender. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said transgender discrimination is banned due to Title VII.
• A Georgia man, Gerald Bostock, was dismissed by his employer after discovering his participation in a gay softball league (yes, that really happened), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the 1964 civil rights law does not include sexual orientation.
Judge Diane Wood, of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote in a 2017 ruling that “it is actually impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without discriminating on the basis of sex.”
But over in the 11th Circuit, Judge William Pryor pointed to lawmakers in his ruling saying that Congress “has not made sexual orientation a protected class.”
The high court will hear the cases during its next term that begins in October.
JoLynn Markison, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney in its labor and employment practice and an advocate for the LGBTQ community, has been following this issue closely.
“This shift in the Supreme Court’s willingness to rule on the issue of whether Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination extends to gender identity and sexual orientation—which are quintessential expressions of “sex”—has been a long time coming,” Markison says.
Markison points to the newest member of the high court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as a fairly substantial ‘unknown’ in the upcoming deliberations in that he doesn’t have a clear judicial record on LGBTQ issues.
However, we do know his nomination was heavily supported by far-right, conservative groups like the Family Research Council, which has long advocated against LGBTQ equality.
That said, there’s another wild card player to watch here.
“Is there a swing vote on the Supreme Court? Or is this issue already as good as decided? The balance could lie with Chief Justice John Roberts, who notably did not join the conservative dissenters in Pavan v. Smith, in which the Supreme Court held that married same-sex couples are entitled to be listed on their children’s birth certificates the same as married heterosexual couples,” said Markison.
GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, tweeted, “With more than 100 anti-LGBTQ attacks from the Trump Administration, this is exactly why we need to pass the #EqualityActnow and look toward explicitly protecting LGBTQ people with a constitutional amendment.”
With more than 100 anti-LGBTQ attacks from the Trump Administration, this is exactly why we need to pass the #EqualityAct now and look toward explicitly protecting LGBTQ people with a constitutional amendment. https://t.co/9AlJCy6qUz
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, followed that with her own tweet: “With Trump stacking the Supreme Court with anti-LGBTQ judges it’s clear that we need a constitutional amendment that protects LGBTQ people and all marginalized communities.”
With Trump stacking the Supreme Court with anti-LGBTQ judges it’s clear that we need a constitutional amendment that protects LGBTQ people and all marginalized communities. https://t.co/l5r00C97FB
The Washington Postreports that Donald Trump is suing to block Congress – specifically House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings – from accessing his financial records.
The lawsuit seeks a court order to prevent Trump’s accounting firm from complying with what his lawyers say is an improper use of subpoena power by congressional Democrats.
“Democrats are using their new control of congressional committees to investigate every aspect of President Trump’s personal finances, businesses, and even his family,” the filing by Trump claims. “Instead of working with the President to pass bipartisan legislation that would actually benefit Americans, House Democrats are singularly obsessed with finding something they can use to damage the President politically.”
The filing, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, further escalates a clash between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House over congressional oversight.
Last week, Cummings subpoenaed Mazars USA, an accounting firm long used by Trump.
It’s important to note that the House Oversight Committee is specifically charged with oversight of the Executive Branch of government.
Cummings’ committee is seeking 10 years of financial records from Trump.
Trump WH constantly touts how many records were turned over to prove no collision. Why does the president fight so hard to keep anyone from seeing his tax returns, business records, bank loans? https://t.co/KLYIv2VeUd
Roseanne Barr took to her YouTube channel to share some odd musings on the use of the word ‘fag,’ and how she herself put the ‘Q’ in LGBTQ.
The comedienne began in a pensive mood, complaining about the use of the ‘F’ word.
“Man, the word ‘fag’ is a really hateful word, isn’t it?,” begins the comedian while apparently sitting in her car. “Especially when it’s when it’s like one gay calling another gay guy that? Hoo! Have you ever been in the middle of one of them hate marriages? Hoo! It’s like, wait a minute, we’re not supposed to say that word. How come you’resaying that word? What?”
She then complains that while some members of the LGBTQ community use the word, she as a straight woman is not allowed to use the slur.
“Oh, Ijust can’t say that word,” she says. “Well, I can when I’m in the house, but I can’t say it outside the house. Okay, I get your rules.”
“But it is a hateful word and we should get rid of it,” she decides, but then clarifies, “Get rid of it being spoken.”
Ok, so folks should stop saying the word but they can write it? No. Paint it on a wall? No.
The 66-year-old then appears to take partial ownership of the slur by declaring she, herself, is ‘queer.’
“All that LGBTQ stuff, let me just be real, I put the Q in the LGBTQ,” announces the dethroned sitcom queen. “Okay, because I am queer as two motherf**kers.”
Now, we’re off in the underbrush on the way to Poughkeepsie, but we gotta see where this goes, right?
“I’m queer, I’m alien, I don’t belong here with all these people,” she adds although it appears she’s alone, but, you know. “They makes no sense. Theyare very queer.”
“That makes me queer, I guess,” she declares in summation as she starts her car. “But I did put the Q in it. Bye!”
• Mayor Pete Buttigieg continues moving up in the polls among Democratic presidential contenders
• ‘Totally-not-gay’ former congressman Aaron Schock photographed hanging with the gays at Coachella
• Converse offers new Pride sneakers in gay pride rainbow themes and transgender pink/blue/white themes – Click here to check them out
• Three LGBTQ cult classic movies – Jeffrey, Can’t Stop The Music and To Wong Foo – get the Blu-Ray treatment in time for Pride with lots of bonus features
• And Harry’s shave company goes transgender inclusive with its latest ad spot
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.
Once a long-shot, Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of Indiana’s fourth-largest city has been rising in the polls for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, attracting dollars, attention, and name recognition (if not pronunciation).
The Afghanistan War veteran, Rhodes scholar and trained pianist talks with CBS News’ John Dickerson about the importance of narratives, coming out, what youth brings to public office, and reanimating his party’s values for a new era, including a connection with faith.
Main quote – “The presidency is a moral office, it calls this nation to its highest values. And it sets the tone for the story that we tell ourselves. Narrative is a very powerful thing, and we need to make sure that everyone in America understands where they fit in this story.”
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand got a lesson in divadom at a Des Moines gay bar called Blazing Saddles, where she struck touched up her makeup to strike a pose with drag queens
“Vana and the amazing queens at the Blazing Saddle in Des Moines invited me for a visit tonight before their show. I felt underdressed, so I brought a dress I picked up yesterday—turns out it fit me, but it fit Vana even better! Thank you for having me, ladies!”
Vana and the amazing queens at the Blazing Saddle in Des Moines invited me for a visit tonight before their show. I felt underdressed, so I brought a dress I picked up yesterday—turns out it fit me, but it fit Vana even better! Thank you for having me, ladies! pic.twitter.com/l0ISbENSwg
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks. Three people have been arrested and four are being questioned, police said. Three police officers were killed in a raid on a house in Colombo as they attempted to interrogate an individual in the attacks.
Blasts ripped through three churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa at approximately 8:45 a.m. as worshipers were gathering for services, police said. Bombers also struck three hotels and a banquet hall in Colombo, the nation’s capital. An eighth blast occurred at a home under a flyover in the city.
Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s minister for defense, said the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. All of the explosions occurred between 8:45 and 9:30 a.m.
The bombings were the deadliest violence in the country since the end of its civil war in 2009. Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist nation, but is also home to significant Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. Easter is the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
-Multiple explosions tore through Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday -Over 200 people were killed -Hundreds more were injured -Seven suspects have been arrested -Officials describe it as a terrorist attack carried out by religious extremists: https://t.co/0jpst9rZ6V
