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Only One State Won’t Issue Restraining Order In Cases Of Same-Sex Dating Abuse

(stock photo via Depositphotos)

In the entire United States, there’s only one state that doesn’t allow people in same-sex dating relationships to get a restraining order should the romance turn violent.

Anyone who becomes a victim of domestic violence can go to the police and file criminal charges in North Carolina.

But criminal cases can take time, and when there’s a greater sense of urgency, many opt for a restraining order – also known as a 50(B) protective order.

A restraining order can prohibit the alleged abuser from coming near the victim, force them to give up their guns or lose custody of their children.

Married people, straight or gay, can file for a restraining order. Divorced couples, as well as parents and children, have the legal option as well.

But in the Tar Heel state, when it comes to folks who are living together or just dating, the state law on restraining orders only applies to “persons of the opposite sex.”

According to the NewsObserver, the loophole became news after a Wake County woman attempted to get a protective order against her ex-girlfriend last May.

At the time, the judge denied her request. The woman filed again a month later, and was rebuffed again thanks to the language of the law.

Now, the state Attorney General, Josh Stein, is working through the courts to have the law overturned.

Stein, a Democrat, filed a legal brief earlier this week saying the law is unconstitutional because it singles out LGBTQ people and denies them equal protection and due process under the law.

Gov. Roy Cooper, also a Democrat, agrees and has asked to join Stein’s efforts.

Additionally, LGBTQ advocacy group Equality NC has also filed a brief in support of Stein’s efforts.

In their ‘friend of the court’ filing, Equality NC writes that since “the threat of intimate partner violence does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, neither should the State in protecting individuals from such violence.”

“Otherwise, there is no constitutionally guaranteed ‘equal dignity in the eyes of the law’ for same-sex relationships,” the brief continues.

Stein has support from the ACLU of North Carolina as well as the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police.

The NewsObserver notes there are other legal options available to same-sex victims of abuse.

The woman who originally filed her request in May was eventually granted a 50(C) no-contact order. However, that kind of restraining order doesn’t give a judge the authority to revoke an alleged abuser’s right to own guns.

The woman’s primary concern for protection was predicated on threats of physical violence from her former girlfriend as well as her access to guns.

(h/t The NewsObserver)

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Ocasio-Cortez Tweets Epic Burn After Lieberman Criticism: “New Party, Who Dis?”

On a recent appearance with Fox Business News, former U.S. Senator and 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman criticized rising-star, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying her progressive positions are not where the heart of the Democratic Party lie today.
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

On a recent appearance with Fox Business News, former U.S. Senator and 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman criticized rising-star, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying her progressive positions are not where the heart of the Democratic Party lie today.

“With all respect, I certainly hope she’s not the future and I don’t believe she is,” said the perennially grumpy Lieberman.

“She’s gotten a lot of attention because she’s different. She’s controversial,” Lieberman continued. “But if you look at the majority of new Democrats in the House, they tend to be, I say, center-left, if they are not left-left. And that is because they had to be center-left to win some of those competitive swing districts that they took from Republicans.”

The 29-year-old social media-savvy congresswoman (the youngest woman ever elected to Congress) fired back via Twitter with an epic burn asking, “New party, who dis?”

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News Round-Up: January 10, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• Ok, I can hear you already, “Randy, that hot pic of Gus Kenworthy is just click bait! Why do you do this to us?” But it’s not – see that phone grip that says ‘Be True?’ Proceeds from sales will help Gus raise $1 million for his AIDSLifeCycle campaign. Click here to buy. See? I’m here to help 😉

 • Josh Hutcherson revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he and Hunger Games co-star Liam Hemsworth once stripped naked together at Berlin fetish club. Pics or it didn’t happen…

• Manchester Pride has announced they’ve added a black and brown stripe to their Pride flag to represent Black, Asian and ethnic LGBTQ people. What do you think – do we need a new version of the iconic rainbow flag? I think the original flag already represented everyone…

• Fox and New Regency have announced that they’ll release a karaoke version of box office juggernaut Bohemian Rhapsody in 750 theaters across the US and Canada starting this Friday, January 11.

• Seniors and ‘ultra conservatives’ shared about seven times more ‘fake news’ on social media than younger adults, moderates and super liberals during the 2016 election season.

• It may be the middle of winter, but Aussie singer Troye Sivan has his head in summer sunshine with his new music video for “Lucky Strike.”

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Daily Dance: The Incredible Andrew On UK’s ‘The Greatest Dancer’

I post videos under the ‘Daily Dance’ banner here on The Randy Report because dance has been a huge part of my life for over 40 years.

Early on, dance – the physical expression of every possible human emotion – found a connection deep within me.

As it does for young Andrew here.

The world can be a frustrating, angry place at times. But, not in these few minutes that we get to share with Andrew.

Please – stop and watch.

You have to go to the well, sometimes, to refresh your soul. Thank you, Andrew.

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Florida’s New Governor Excludes LGBTs From New Non-Discrimination Directive

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
(photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr – CC license)

As new governors take office across the nation, many begin their tenures by issuing executive orders banning discrimination in terms of state government.

Both Michigan and Wisconsin saw their respective new governors, both Democrats, issue anti-discrimination orders quickly after being sworn in.

Those orders prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion disability, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity in regard to state employment and state contracting.

But in Florida, it’s a very different situation.

Newly-seated Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis did sign a non-discrimination executive order this week, but the omission of LGBT protections in his directive is glaring.

Equality Florida’s senior political director, Joe Saunders, was quick to call out DeSantis for excluding LGBT Floridian’s in his executive order.

“Equality Florida is deeply disappointed to see that LGBTQ employees and contractors have been left out of the governor’s executive order,” Saunders said.

The lack of LGBT-inclusive protections is a sad continuation of Florida’s previous governor, Republican Rick Scott, who refused to issue an anti-LGBT discrimination executive order, even following the devastating mass-shooting at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, that left 49 LGBTQ people dead.

“As governors across the country establish these critical protections for LGBTQ families, this order draws a stark contrast,” said Saunders.

“We look forward to a dialogue with Gov. DeSantis about why LGBTQ employees have been omitted from this critical policy and how he plans to make sure that all Floridians, regardless of who they are or who they love, can be protected from discrimination,” he added.

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Anti-LGBTQ Law Costs North Carolina New $60 Million Netflix Series

North Carolina just can’t get its act together regarding anti-LGBTQ laws.

And now, according to StarNewsOnline, the state may have just lost $60 million in revenue thanks to the inaction of state lawmakers to repeal those laws.

Streaming giant, Netflix, was looking to shoot a new series, OBX, in the Tar Heel state but balked thanks to HB 142.

The law, enacted in 2017 was meant to be a ‘fix’ on previous legislation HB 2, which marginalized transgender people by requiring them to use public bathrooms that align with the gender on their birth certificates.

HB 142 partially repealed HB 2, but left in place bans on local communities passing their own anti-discrimination laws through 2020.

Ten episodes of the new project have been ordered by Netflix, and Jonas Pate, who created the show, wanted to shoot in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. But the ban on local municipalities enacting their own legislation is a sticking point for Netflix.

“This tiny law is costing this town 70 good, clean, pension-paying jobs and also sending a message to those people who can bring these jobs and more that North Carolina still doesn’t get it,” Pate said.

Pate added that the production is projected to spend in the neighborhood of $60 million in whatever state the series shoots.

Pate, and his brother Josh, have previously created the NBC series Surface, which was shot in Wilmington.

But this past weekend, Pate found himself scouting sections of Charleston, South Carolina, for the new production.

Freshman state Sen. Harper Peterson, a Democrat from Hanover, hopes to see the issue addressed this week as the state Assembly is in session.

“That is a decision the legislature has to make and realize that it is one more opportunity we are losing if we don’t,” Peterson told StarNewsOnline. “We have to get back and be competitive with other states. It just hurts to see a production about North Carolina go to South Carolina.”

OBX is described as a coming-of-age story that follows four teens in the Outer Banks whose lives are changed when a hurricane cuts off all power to the islands.

“When these lifelines for teens like phones and Snapchat are gone, it really reorients the generational divisions,” says Pate.

(h/t StarNewsOnline)

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Donald Trump Once To Students: ‘Go Through A Concrete Wall’ And ‘Never Give Up’
The Daily Show found video footage of Donald Trump telling graduates back in 2004 to ‘never give up,’ even if there’s a ‘concrete wall in front of you.’

“Never, ever give up. Don’t give up. Don’t allow it to happen. If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it, go over it, go around it. But get to the other side of that wall.”

Hmmm…

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Study Shows Increase In School Bullying In Trump Country

Researchers have found increased reports of bullying in the 2017 responses in areas where Donald Trump won more votes over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. In the areas where voters favored Trump, middle school children reported bullying rates 18% higher than in areas where Clinton had been favored. Those same students were found to be 9% more likely to report teasing or name-calling based on ethnicity or race.
(photo via Depositphotos)

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, teachers reported an increase in bullying and name-calling in classrooms across the country.

A new study in Virginia, published by the American Educational Research Association, now shows data that supports those stories.

Using data from a school climate survey involving over 150,000 students across Virginia, Francis Huang of the University of Missouri and Dewey Cornell of the University of Virginia compared responses from 2015 and 2017.

The researchers found increased reports of bullying in the 2017 responses in areas where Donald Trump won more votes over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

In the areas where voters favored Trump, middle school children reported bullying rates 18% higher than in areas where Clinton had been favored.

Those same students were found to be 9% more likely to report teasing or name-calling based on ethnicity or race.

Looking back at the 2015 responses, before the presidential election, the data showed “no meaningful difference.”

A psychology professor at the University of Florida, Dorothy Espelage, whose work focuses on school safety and bullying in middle and high schools, wasn’t surprised by the study’s findings.

“Anybody that’s in the schools is picking up on this,” Espelage told NPR. “You don’t have to be a psychologist or a sociologist to understand that if these conversations are happening on the TV and at the dinner table that these kids will take this perspective and they’re going to play out in the schools.”

Last September, non-profit group Youth Truth released a report that showed 33% of students say they had been bullied in the past year. That represented an increase from two years earlier when only one in four students reported being bullied.

That survey included over 160,000 students across 27 states.

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Trump: “I Never Said” Mexico Would Pay For The Wall

Donald Trump

Donald Trump told reporters today that he “never said” Mexico would pay for his beloved border wall.

“When during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for it, obviously I never said this, and I never meant they’re going to write out a check,” said the Trumpster. “I said they’re going to pay for it – they are.”

Show of hands, please, does anyone recall Trump repeating over and over again, “Who’s gonna pay for the wall? Mexico! It’ll be so easy…”

From Trump’s campaign website, August 2016: “It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion…”

Trump now says Mexico is “paying for the wall indirectly many, many times over by the really great trade deal we just made.”

Note: The USMCA has not been ratified by Congress, and so, it’s not currently in force.

Plus, any economic gains from the USMCA would go to private individuals and companies, not the U.S. Treasury.

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News Round-Up: January 9, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• I’m not sure if I should caption this photo (above) from InstaHunk Joel Green in Bali “Strike a pose” (Joel) or “What are you looking at?”(his scene partner).

• Just as Colorado has sworn in Jared Polis as the first openly gay governor of a state, the Denver city council voted unanimously on Monday to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for minors.

• Actor Timothée Chalamet has added to his growing reputation as an LGBTQ fan favorite by giving $1,000 to New York’s LGBT Community Center live on the Golden Globes red carpet.

• Thanks to the Trump shutdown, the FDA has stopped most food safety inspections. Feel safer?

• The Coast Guard Support Program has issued a five-page tip sheet on how to financially cope with a long U.S. government shutdown. The suggestions include: consider holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a “mystery shopper.”

• North Carolina just lost more revenue thanks to its anti-LGBTQ laws. Netflix has nixed the idea of shooting a new series, titled OBX, in the state. The production is expected to spend $60 million in whatever state Netflix eventually chooses.

• It may be hump day, but chill a bit with the latest single from VanJess, “Another Lover.”

I like the ebb and flow of the song, as well as the video’s visual change-ups from choreography to minimalist trance vibe.