Posts

Posted on

Democratic Senators Introduce Pro-LGBTQ “Census Equality Act”

Two Democratic Senators – Kamala Harris of California and Tom Carper of Delaware – have introduced new legislation that would require the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure the approximately 10 million LGBTQ Americans are properly counted for and represented in the Census data efforts.

The Census Equality Act would require the Census Bureau to begin the process of adding questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity to the decennial census by 2030 and the American Community Survey (ACS) by 2020.

Via press release:

LGTBQ communities face many challenges related to this undercounting, chief among them underrepresentation, lack of resources, and discrimination. Despite the fact that millions of Americans identify as LGBTQ, only an estimated .1% of elected officials are LGBTQ. LGBTQ undercounting in the Decennial Census and the ACS result in an inadequate distribution of resources and social services including Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“The spirit of the census is that no one should go uncounted and no one should be invisible,” said Senator Harris. “We must expand data collections efforts to ensure the LGBTQ community is not only seen, but fully accounted for in terms of government resources provided. This information can also provide us with better tools to enforce civil rights protections for a community that is too often discriminated against.”

LGBTQ advocates have long argued that federal and local governments can’t help LGBTQ folks if they don’t know we’re out here.

NPR reports “the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the 2020 census questionnaires will include new relationship categories differentiating between ‘same-sex’ and ‘opposite-sex’ couples. That change, some demographers say, could produce the most comprehensive national data yet on same-sex couples.”

The Constitution requires every person living in the U.S. to take part in the census.

The bill has the support of the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU, People for the American Way and many more civil rights organizations.

Posted on

Alaska Airlines Responds To ‘Seat-Gate’

Yesterday, I reported on a gay couple being asked to move to separate seats on a flight from New York City to Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines.

The partner of gay businessman Dave Cooley was asked to move from his premium seat to coach in deference to a straight couple who said they wanted to sit together.

The unfortunate incident ended up with Cooley and his partner departing the plane before it took off and Delta Airlines accommodated the men.

Alaska Airlines reached out to me this morning with the following statement:

“This unfortunate incident was caused by a seating error, compounded by a full flight and a crew seeking an on-time departure and nothing more than that. It’s our policy to keep all families seated together whenever possible; that didn’t happen here and we are deeply sorry for the situation. We’ve reached out to Mr. Cooley to offer our sincere apologies for what happened and we are seeking to make it right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. All of us at Alaska value inclusion for our guests and each other.”

“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of Alaska Airlines. We are an airline for everyone and reflect these values through our work with dozens of nonprofit LGBTQ organizations, Pride Parades along the West Coast and a perfect score in the HRC’s Equality Index. We’ll keep building on this commitment, with our employee-led LGBTQ business resource group.”

Posted on

News Round-Up: July 30, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Now why don’t any of my hikes come across folks like InstaHunk Joel Green? #NatureDoesAGuyGood

• The documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, which chronicles the life of Scotty Bowers who procured “dates” for movie stars back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, scored big at the box office in it’s first weekend.

• Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told the hosts of Fox & Friends that “collusion is not a crime.” #ItsCalledTreason

• Deonton A. Rogers faces several serious charges for the non-fatal shooting of a 29-year-old trans woman in Detroit. Rogers made a lewd remark to her, but when he realized the woman was transgender, he initiated a fight. But the woman fought back; that prompted Rogers to pull out a gun and shoot the woman in the shoulder before fleeing the scene. The victim has since made a full recovery, and lucky for her, the entire incident was caught on security cameras.

• Hundred of mourners showed up for the funeral of Anthony Avalos, the 10-year-old boy who died having endured years of physical abuse and had come out as gay just before he was killed.

• Olympic medal-winning figure skater, Adam Rippon, announced this morning that he will be joining the panel of judges for “Dancing With The Stars: Juniors.” Rippon won season 26 of the reality show with pro partner Jenna Johnson.

Posted on

AT&T’s LoveLoud Festival Raises $1 Million For LGBTQ Youth

Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons (screen capture)
In an impassioned speech, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds spoke directly to LGBTQ youth at the LoveLoud Festival Sunday night at the Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Continue reading “AT&T’s LoveLoud Festival Raises $1 Million For LGBTQ Youth”

Posted on

Attorney General Announces ‘Religious Liberty Task Force” to Promote & Protect Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced a task force to promote and protect so-called 'religious liberty' which includes allowing LGBTQ discrimination in the name of religious beliefs
Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the creation of a ‘Religious Liberty Task Force” in order to help implement a 25-page memo he issued last October regarding the protection and promotion of ‘religious liberty.’

Speaking at the Justice Department today, Sessions told reporters he will chair the new task force.

“A dangerous movement, undetected by many, but real, is now challenging and eroding a great tradition of religious freedom,” said Sessions with a dramatic sense of foreboding. “There can be no doubt it’s no little matter. It must be confronted intellectually and politically and defeated.”

In today’s political climate, it’s clear the subject being discussed includes legal challenges brought by the LGBTQ community regarding discrimination in the public sector. Sessions referenced anti-LGBTQ baker Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple in Colorado.

More from The Hill:

“We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives. We’ve seen U.S. senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma—even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office. We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips,” he said, referring to the Colorado baker who took his case to the Supreme Court after he was found to have violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.

Sessions said the guidance he issued in October lays out 20 fundamental principles for the executive branch to follow, including the principles that free exercise means a right to act — or to abstain from action — and that government shouldn’t impugn people’s motives or beliefs.

“In short, we have not only the freedom to worship—but the right to exercise our faith. The Constitution’s protections don’t end at the parish parking lot nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements,” he said, according to his prepared remarks.

Sessions also shared that he believes the issue of ‘religious liberty’ is one reason why Donald Trump was elected president. “In substance, he said he respected people of faith and he promised to protect them in the free exercise of their faith,” said Sessions. “He declared we would say ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

You can watch the full speech by Sessions below, and you can read a full transcript of his speech here.

Posted on

UPDATED: Alaska Air Asks Gay Couple To Separate So Straight Couple Could Sit Together

Alaska Air asked a gay couple to separate on a flight from NYC to LA so a straight couple could sit together

UPDATE: I personally spoke with Bobbie Egan, External Communications Director for Alaska Airlines, this morning who told me, “I think this is an incident of human error. It was a mistake, and it shouldn’t have happened.”

Ms. Egan also emailed a statement which read:

“We mistakenly booked two people in one seat. We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.”

************************************

After boarding an Alaska Airline flight from New York City’s JFK airport to Los Angeles, a gay businessman and his partner were approached by a flight attendant and his companion was asked to change seats.

It appears a straight couple had been assigned the same seats and the gay couple was being asked to move in deference to the straight couple who wanted to sit together.

The man, David Cooley, is the founder and CEO of the prominent West Hollywood nightclub, The Abbey.

Dave Cooley (image via Facebook)

Dave Cooley shared on Facebook, “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before. I was removed from an Alaska Airlines flight # 1407 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to LAX to give preferential treatment to a straight couple.”

“After my traveling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together.

“I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together,” Cooley continued. “He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane.”

“We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane.

“I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave. We will never be flying Alaska Airlines or their recently purchased Virgin Airlines Group ever again. Thank you to Delta Air Lines for getting us home safe.

“If you are an #LGBT person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta,” concluded the businessman.

According to GayStarNews, Alaska Airlines issued a statement acknowledging the incident:

When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class. We reseated one of the guests from Premium Class in the Main Cabin.

We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right. Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.

Was this a case of placing a straight couple’s ‘couplehood’ over a gay couple?

Was this discrimination?

Folks have wondered if perhaps Cooley’s partner might have been given a free upgrade, and if the straight couple had paid for their seats which might give priority to the straight couple…?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I’ve reached out to both Mr. Cooley and Alaska Airlines for any further details.

In the past, Alaska Air has shown support for the LGBTQ community. In 2015, the airline offered several discounts timed to coincide with Pride events. And, the airline’s official website has a dedicated section for LGBTQ travelers.

(h/t GayStarNews)

Posted on

Podcast: Homeless Gay Teen Survives & Thrives To Become Valedictorian; ‘Riverdale’ Gets A Gay Romance

In this week's podcast: • A homeless gay teen becomes valedictorian of his class. Head to www.gofundme.com/hoyaseth to contribute to his college fund. • Puerto Rico now allows transgender folks to change the gender on their birth certificates. • The hit TV series Riverdale is getting a gay romance. • The CW's Supergirl will debut television's first transgender super-hero. • Ryan Reynolds wants to see more sexuality in his Deadpool movies All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

In this week’s podcast:

• A homeless gay teen becomes valedictorian of his class. Head to www.gofundme.com/hoyaseth to contribute to his college fund.

• Puerto Rico now allows transgender folks to change the gender on their birth certificates.

• The hit TV series Riverdale is getting a gay romance.

• The CW’s Supergirl will debut television’s first transgender super-hero.

• Ryan Reynolds wants to see more sexuality in his Deadpool movies

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

Posted on

Music Video: Woofy Raph Solo Shares His “Broken Heart”

With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.
Raph Solo (all photos – Michele Martinoli)

London-based recording artist Raph Solo recently dropped the sexy music video for his song, “Broken Hearts,” which is the second single from his Word Of Love album.

Raph describes his current musical style as “POPTECSOL,” a new sound that combines pop, tech, and R&B soul.

With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.

“I wrote the song a few years ago at around the time I met my partner,” he said. “We were both newly out of major relationships that had left us broken and bruised. While the love making was hot, the baggage I carried from my past caused a lot of friction and undue fear in our relationship.”

“Broken hearts heal with time,” he sings on the fantastic track. Raph should know. Before meeting his partner, he experienced 7.5 breakups in nine years (one of the splits only scored a 0.5 on his pain-o-meter).

His hardest failed relationship was with a man he regarded as a father figure. “It crushed me. It changed my perception of love,” he admitted. “Though I still believe in love, I don’t view it through rose colored glasses anymore.”

Born to Lebanese/Chilean parents on the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria, West Africa, the singer, songwriter and music producer has released four full-length albums: Finally/The Album, Am I Too Much?, The Anonymous Icon, which features the hit singles “Star” and “Good Morning London,” and Word of Love, which features his 2017 summer hit from last summer, “Love Lives.”

Though fantasy, the video depicts the song in the way Raph’s love life truly unfolded. “It’s all shamelessly romantic and heroic,” Raph laughs, “but that’s me.”

The shackles he wears in the video are meant to symbolize the emotional baggage most people carry from failed relationships. Says Raph, “If you can free yourself from the shackles, you will one day reign over love.”

“Broken Hearts is about letting go of past loves, embracing what is new, and working to extend that love into tomorrow and beyond.”

For more information, visit raphsolo.com.

Posted on

Air Force Football Player Receives Standing Ovation Coming Out To Teammates

Air Force football player Bradley Kim

Air Force football player Bradley Kim took a big step out of the closet this week and says its as much for other young people as it is for himself.

“The biggest reason I want to share this is to be able to reach people who are in similar situations struggling with the same things I have struggled with,” he told Outsports this week. “I want to be that example for kids that you can be gay, you can pursue your dreams, and you can have an athletic career.

“My dreams got me to a D1 football program. I want to be there for people who don’t feel like they have anyone there for them, because I was that kid growing up in high school.”

And so it was that on Friday morning, Kim shared his coming out on Instagram, beginning with a Bible verse and that “God made me this way for a reason:”

While he had quietly told a few teammates over the past year, before sharing with the world, the Air Force Falcons safety came out to the other defensive backs on the team.

The reaction? A standing ovation. According to Outsports, the entire team, including head coach Troy Calhoun, had a reaction of full-fledged support.

“They tell me they appreciate the fact that I felt confident enough, and they meant enough, for me to tell them,” he said.

It was that unwavering support that steeled Kim as he posted his message on Instagram.

‘’I’ve spent too many years worrying what other people will think and letting it affect what I do in my daily life. And I’m kind of done with that. It doesn’t affect my ability to play football. It doesn’t affect my ability to serve my country. No one cares here. We all go through the same thing, we all go through basic training. What we go through going through the Academy goes way deeper than worrying about what someone will think.”

(h/t Outsports)