LGBTQ news and entertainment
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Ted Cruz has had enough when it comes to Donald Trump…calling the Republican frontrunner a "sniveling coward".Posted by Hardball with Chris Matthews on Thursday, March 24, 2016
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Donald Trump shares this attack spot via his Instagram showing recently supporters Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and Lindsey Graham criticizing him in days gone by.
It’s rather simplistic, but hey, consider Trump’s audience.
@PatMcCroryNC It's now the law for me to share a restroom with your wife. #HB2 #trans #NorthCarolina #shameonNC pic.twitter.com/4b4OdmfmeN— JP Sheffield (@JayShef) March 24, 2016
@JayShef @PatMcCroryNC And it's the law for me to go in the men's room with you, governor. pic.twitter.com/HNdEBC2W4i— Princess Dracat (@DiracDrynx) March 24, 2016
Without a doubt, this is my favorite thing today.
A dancer performs the opening combination of A CHORUS LINE in a T-Rex costume!
Hysterical!
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Yes, this is me in a T- Rex costume dancing A Chorus Line. Hope you enjoy.
Posted by Michael Macilwee on Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The Human Rights Campaign shares these facts you should know about North Carolina’s brand new, virulently anti-LGBT law:
• The law eliminates existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such provisions from being passed by cities in the future. This means that only statewide non-discrimination laws are allowed, and the law passed doesn’t include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.
• The law forces transgender students in public schools to use restrooms and other facilities inconsistent with their gender identity. Additionally, access to facilities in all government agencies must be based on biological sex as well. That includes public universities.
• North Carolina is the first state in the country to enact such a law attacking transgender students, even after several similar proposals were rejected across the country this year.
• Because the law directly contravenes Title IX, North Carolina’s federal funding – at least 4.5 billion dollars- is put at risk.
• The law also prevents cities from regulating in areas like living wage laws, benefits and hour regulations for workers in the city, city contracting, and even child labor regulations.
The Human Rights Campaign has sent a letter on behalf of dozens of entertainment industry leaders who will abandon production in the state of Georgia should Gov. Nathan Deal sign the anti-LGBT H.B. 757 into law.
HB 757 would undermine local non-discrimination ordinances that protect LGBT people, permit hospitals to refuse to provide medically necessary care, or even allow a taxpayer-funded service provider to discriminate by denying a job because of the applicant’s religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Here is the text of the letter in full.
“Dear Governor Deal,
As leaders in the entertainment industry, we have deep concerns about H.B. 757, which would sanction discrimination against LGBT people and others in Georgia.
As you know, Atlanta is often referred to as the Hollywood of the South. During the last fiscal year, at least 248 films and television productions were shot in Georgia, adding at least $1.7 billion in direct spending to the state’s economy. Additionally, the entertainment industry helped to bring more than 100 businesses to Georgia through relocation or expansion in the past fiscal year. Only two states — California and New York — have a larger entertainment industry footprint and both have statewide non-discrimination protections on the books. Unfortunately, Georgia not only lacks such protections, but could soon move from a bad situation to worse with H.B. 757.
We pride ourselves on running inclusive companies, and while we have enjoyed a positive partnership on productions in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere if any legislation sanctioning discrimination is signed into state law.
We urge you to veto H.B. 757 and send a strong message that Georgia will not tolerate discrimination against citizens, employees and visitors to the state.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this urgent issue.”
Ali Adler, Writer and Producer
Greg Berlanti, Writer and Producer
Matt Bomer, Actor & Simon Halls, Publicist
Dustin Lance Black, Screenwriter and Filmmaker
Bradley Bredeweg, Executive Producer and Showrunner
Kristin Chenoweth, Actress and Singer
Diablo Cody, Writer, Producer and Director
Bruce Cohen, Producer
Lee Daniels, Producer and Director
Dana Fox, Writer and Producer
John Goldwyn, Producer
James Gunn, Writer and Director
Anne Hathaway, Actress
Alan Hergott, Entertainment Attorney
Nina Jacobson, Producer
Dan Jinks, Producer
Kathy Kennedy, Producer
Zoe Kravitz, Actress
Bryan Lourd, Talent Agent
Seth MacFarlane, Producer and Filmmaker
Laurence Mark, Producer
Frank Marshall, Producer and Director
Neil Meron, Producer
Julianne Moore, Actress
Ryan Murphy, Producer
Peter Paige, Executive Producer and Showrunner
Rob Reiner, Actor, Director and Producer
Sarah Schechter, Producer
Adam Shankman, Director and Producer
Aaron Sorkin, Screenwriter and Producer
Marisa Tomei, Actress
Gus Van Sant, Producer and Director
Harvey Weinstein, Producer and Film Studio Executive
Craig Zadan, Producer and Director
(via press release)
Veteran sports writer Howard Balzer is reporting that the Los Angeles Rams (then the St. Louis Rams) drafted SEC Defensive Player of the Year as part of a deal to avoid being featured on the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
Many teams avoid the TV exposure on the show due to the intrusive nature of the cameras into every part of team life.
It’s been almost two years since the St. Louis Rams selected defensive end Michael Sam in the seventh round of the 2014 draft. At the time, the Rams were hailed for being progressive and drafting the first openly gay player in the National Football League. It turns out, according to multiple sources, that the league agreed not to ask the Rams to appear that year on HBO’s yearly summer series, HARD KNOCKS, if they drafted Sam.
Shortly after his college career at Missouri ended, Sam came put publicly, acknowledging he is gay. The SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, Sam was considered a fifth-round pick at best. But, as the draft proceeded on the final day, it appeared he might not be drafted at all. It is believed the NFL didn’t want to face questions about that eventuality, and the Rams were viewed as the ideal spot because of St. Louis’ proximity to the Missouri campus in Columbia, 90 miles away, and head coach Jeff Fisher’s ability to deal with whatever distractions there might be.
So it was that the Rams saved the day, selecting Sam with the 249th pick of a 256-player draft.
In other words, the NFL used Sam as a pawn to avoid being painted as anti-gay.
Initially seen as a third or fourth round pick, within hours of coming out his stock dropped to a possible fifth or sixth round. In the end, the Rams drafted Sam at the 249th pick in the seventh round.
Clearly, Sam’s coming out dramatically affected his chances due to rampant homophobia in the NFL.
Sam has since said he wished he’d never been drafted by the Rams.
“If I had my way, I really do wish I went undrafted,” Sam said, according to WCBS. “I could have actually went to a team who really needed pass rush, and needed a defensive end who could pass rush the quarterback. But the Rams, even though I learned a log from Chris Long and [Robert] Quinn, I think that I could have done better being on an active roster right now if I went to a different team.”
Michael Sam has responded to Balzer’s reports thusly:
As Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal comtemplates whether or not to sign into law a divisive bill which formally legalizes anti-gay discrimination, major businesses like Viacom and Disney are saying they will take their businesses elsewhere should the legislation become law.
Additionally, the NFL has categorically told Georgia the law will deeply affect the state’s chances to host the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowls.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney and its Marvel Studios film unit will not shoot future movies in Georgia if a controversial bill that critics contend would legalize anti-gay discrimination is signed by that state’s governor. Viacom as well as the AMC Networks, which films The Walking Dead in the state, has called on Gov. Nathan Deal to veto the legislation.
“Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a company spokesman said Wednesday.
Marvel has filmed such movies as Ant-Man and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in Atlanta, taking advantage of Georgia’s attractive tax incentives. While Disney’s statement specifically mentioned Marvel, other Disney units like ABC Studios and Disney Studios would also take part in the boycott.
The North Carolina Senate voted unanimously, 32-0, to pass a bill approved by the House earlier today which bans all cities in the state from enacting LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances.
It also voids all current LGBT rights ordinances on the books in North Carolina, such as the recently passed measure in Charlotte.
The vote took place after all Democrats had left. All Republicans present voted yes.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s office has announced the governor will sign the bill tonight.
The ACLU issued this statement:
The Charlotte ordinance protected lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents from discrimination in public accommodations including restaurants, hotels, taxis and bathrooms. Among other protections, it allowed transgender men and transgender women to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. HB2, which now goes to Governor Pat McCrory for his signature or veto, removes the ability of any local government to protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and requires all public facilities, including schools, to allow restroom access only on the basis of “biological sex.” It also jeopardizes the more than $4.5 billion in federal funding that North Carolina receives for secondary and post-secondary schools under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination, including discrimination against transgender students.
“Rather than expand nondiscrimination laws to protect all North Carolinians, the General Assembly instead spent $42,000 to rush through an extreme bill that undoes all local nondiscrimination laws and specifically excludes gay and transgender people from legal protections,” said Sarah Preston, acting Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina. “The manner in which legislators passed the most extreme anti-LGBT bill in the nation – voting hours after it was unveiled without adequate public debate – flies in the face of fairness and democracy. Legislators have gone out of their way to stigmatize and marginalize transgender North Carolinians by pushing ugly and fundamentally untrue stereotypes that are based on fear and ignorance and not supported by the experiences of more than 200 cities with these protections. Transgender men are men; transgender women are women. They deserve to use the appropriate restroom in peace, just like everyone else. We urge Governor McCrory to veto this extreme, far reaching and misguided bill.”
More than 200 cities, including Myrtle Beach and Columbia, South Carolina, have adopted nondiscrimination ordinances similar to Charlotte’s without negative consequences.
The Twitterverse has responded quickly:
This governor is so eager to sign the most anti-LGBT bill in the country that he’s going to do it tonight! #HB2 pic.twitter.com/EwjjqxAS0S— Eric Lesh (@EDLesh) March 24, 2016
I assume the governor is acting fast to avert a corporate backlash shitstorm like in Indiana/Georgia — but assumes it can’t be retroactive.— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 24, 2016
By signing the bill banning ALL local LGBT rights ordinances, @PatMcCroryNC will make North Carolina the most anti-LGBT state in the nation.— AndyTowle (@AndyTowle) March 24, 2016
North Carolina’s GOP Just Fast-Tracked the Broadest Anti-LGBT Bill in the Country https://t.co/7CQEC0Iyuc— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 24, 2016
In blocking the will of Charlotte and other cities, #NCGA is trampling on the rights of every taxpayer in North Carolina.— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) March 23, 2016
North Carolina’s legislature just passed one of the nation’s most anti-LGBTQ bills https://t.co/tns4AAA7ju pic.twitter.com/kduGt2CLcf— SPLC (@splcenter) March 23, 2016
Breaking: North Carolina legislature passes bill to allow LGBT discrimination, particularly transgender. Full story: https://t.co/rhQ049l3Eh— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) March 23, 2016
North Carolina, your lawmakers are a bunch of bigoted a-holes. https://t.co/MNAEBUagtD— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) March 23, 2016