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Republicans Hope To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

Look out for more anti-LGBT action in Congress as the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (CWPIA) has been introduced in both chambers of Congress.

Currently pending in the House as H.R. 1881, and in the Senate as S. 811, the legislation seeks to legalize LGBQ discrimination by allowing adoption providers to use “sincerely held religious beliefs” as a basis for denying gays or lesbians adoption services.

“Prohibits the federal government, and any state or local government that receives federal funding for any program that provides child welfare services under part B (Child and Family Services) or part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct), from discriminating or taking an adverse action against a child welfare service provider that declines to provide, facilitate, or refer for a child welfare service that conflicts with the provider’s sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

The bill would require the Health and Human Services department to withhold 15% of federal funds from state or local governments that take action against folks who would exercise their right to discriminate against LGBTs.

#BadNews

Of course, the haters love the hateful bill:

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Trump To Roll Back Transgender Health Care Protections

Donald Trump is looking to roll back a 2016 Health and Human Services rule put in place during the Obama administration that bars healthcare providers who receive federal funds from discriminating against transgender Americans.

From The New York Times:

The law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in “any health program or activity” that receives federal financial assistance.

The Obama administration said the rule covered “almost all practicing physicians in the United States” because they accept some form of federal remuneration or reimbursement. It applies, for example, to hospitals that accept Medicare and doctors who receive Medicaid payments, as well as to insurers that participate in health insurance marketplaces.

The rule kept insurers from limiting health services like psychotherapy, counseling or hormone treatment as trans patients transitioned from one gender to another.

Some insurers attempted to dodge coverage for these patients saying the treatments were “cosmetic.”

Transgender Americans have been under fire since Donald Trump took office.

In addition to scaling back healthcare regulations, Trump has also proposed banning openly transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

Plus, Trump’s Education Department has repealed protections allowing transgender students access to school bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

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Video: Find Your Way Back

A dear friend of mine shared this today on Facebook, and wow, every single word resonated for me.

Small decisions can lead us to unexpected places. Small decisions can result in huge life choices.

But we can make the decision to undo those events; to choose to change direction.

I know this sounds like a bad Sunday morning cable ad, but its a truth worth repeating.

In my 20s, I fell in love with someone I cared for deeply. But the relationship was not healthy.

Even though we ended things after two years, the effects lingered in my life and behavior for years and years.

But, all these things are thoughts, and you can change a thought by changing your mind.

We are never “over the finish line” until we are over that final finish line.

Gay, straight, black, white, however you identify – the world will treat you as you treat yourself. Set your own best example.

I wrote this in two minutes because the video below spoke to me so hard.

Watch the video below.

Happy Saturday!

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LGBTQ Inclusion Being Considered By Amazon In Search For HQ2

Apparently there’s an unspoken component to Amazon’s current search for a location for it’s highly coveted second headquarters, known at this time as HQ2.

And that’s taking measure of how communities view and treat local LGBTQ folks.

On one recent trip to Dallas/Fort Worth by Amazon, the local team made a point of showing off how inclusive and welcoming the community has been to the Rev. Neil G. Cazares-Thomas, pastor of a predominantly gay megachurch in Dallas, and his 4,000 congregants.

More from The Washington Post:

As Amazon executives recently toured finalist locations to help select what they’ve dubbed HQ2, they asked public officials about what sort of “compatible cultural and community environment” — the wording from the company’s search parameters — each city offers, adding to speculation about whether Amazon will choose a liberal stronghold.

In North Carolina, company representatives asked pointed questions of Gov. Roy Cooper (D) about several state policies such as the “bathroom bill,” which restricted the use of public facilities by transgender people, according to a person in the room. In another city, an Amazon executive groaned at the mention of proposed legislation in Georgia that would restrict funding for same-sex adoption, according to another person who attended the meeting between the company and state and local officials.

Given the publicity and economic impact of the project, including as much as $5 billion in capital expenditures, Amazon’s push on gay and transgender rights may increase pressure on state and local policymakers who have either declined to institute equal-rights rules or passed laws some view as discriminatory.

According to the WaPo, 11 of the 20 finalist cities have anti-LGBTQ laws on the books.

There are those that believe landing HQ2 in a red state might help facilitate positive change towards LGBTQ folks since Amazon would arrive with very pro-LGBTQ policies as a company.

The awarding of the contract for HQ2 will be a huge economic boon for the winner.

Over the past few years Amazon has invested $3.7 billion into the Seattle economy and paid more than $25  billion in salaries.

The new headquarters could mean up to 50,000 new jobs, and $5  billion in capital investments for the city that gets the contract.

Anti-LGBT laws could sink some Amazon HQ2 hopefuls. Amazon will consider LGBT rights in selecting a new headquarters from 20 finalists. 11 finalists are in states that have anti-LGBT laws on the books, according to the advocacy group No Gay No Way.
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News Round-Up: April 20, 2018

(Image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• My totes woofy pal in the South, handsome Joe Woolley (above), is giving you full-on gay rainbow action as he looks to the weekend. Joe and his hubby Jim are big deal LGBTQ activists in Nashville, TN, where we can always use the help.

• Openly gay teacher Michael Hill began receiving threatening letters after coming out last fall. “You need to be fired and you can take your gay ideas with you. Fags are not welcome in our schools.”

• It looks like GLEE alum Kevin McHale finally came out via a tweet about Ariana Grande’s new single, “No Tears Left To Cry.”

• The Democratic Party has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and the WikiLeaks organization alleging a far-reaching conspiracy to disrupt the 2016 campaign and tilt the election to Donald Trump. #TooLate

• Out journalist Thomas Roberts has announced he is donating $25,000 – his fee for hosting the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Russia – to the Human Rights Campaign.

• The White House has revealed no Democrats or members of the media will be invited to Donald Trump’s first state dinner hosting French President Emmanuel Macron. #NoSoupForYou!

• Where The Bears Are star Ian Parks reminded me of his admittedly “gratuitous” video from a few years ago. I can watch a few times 🙂

Happy Friday!

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Released Comey Memos Backfire On Trump & GOP

Donald Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey’s personal memos detailing his meetings with Donald Trump were released last night to Congress and, of course, are now out for public consumption.

Trump immediately took to Twitter to declare the memos cleared him of any “collusion” or “obstruction,” which is false.

Here on Earth One, nowhere in Comey’s memos does he say that Trump did not collude or obstruct justice. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact site dubbed Trump’s claim “Pants On Fire” lying.

Here’s just a few items from the newly-released memos:

• “The president spoke an overwhelming majority of the time. He never asked me an open-ended question or left it to me to choose a topic of conversation.”

• The pee-pee thing in the Steele dossier really, really bothers Trump.

“I said, the Russians allegedly had tapes involving him and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow from about 2013. He interjected: ‘there were no prostitutes; there were never prostitutes.’ He then said something about him being the kind of guy who didn’t need to ‘go there’ and laughed (which I understood to be communicating that he didn’t need to pay for sex.)”

“He said ‘2013’ to himself as if trying to remember that period of time … He said he always assumed that hotels he stayed in when he travels are wired in some way. I replied that I do as well.”

“He then started talking about all the women who had falsely accused him of grabbing or touching them (with particular mention of a ‘stripper” who said he grabbed her) … “

“The President said ‘the hookers thing’ is nonsense but that Putin had told him ‘we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.'”

“He said he thought maybe he should ask me to investigate the whole thing to prove it was a lie.”

• Comey did, in fact, notate that Trump specifically asked for “loyalty.”

“He [said] that he needed loyalty and expected loyalty. I did not reply, or even nod or change my facial expression, which he noted because we came back to it later.”

• Trump wondered about having journalists arrested:

“The president … [returned] to the issue of finding leakers … I said something about the value of putting a head on a pike as a message. He replied by saying it may involve putting reporters in jail. ‘They spend a couple days in jail, make a new friend, and they are ready to talk.’ I laughed.”

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Teaser: “South Pacific” At San Diego Musical Theatre

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m currently down in San Diego where I’m on musical staging duty for a new production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein hit South Pacific for San Diego Musical Theatre.

The powers that be released this little video preview from rehearsals featuring director Kirsten Chandler (who I’m loving collaborating with), Robert Townsend as “Emile De Beque,” Carolyn Agan as “Nellie Forbush” and our terrific company.

You know the songs – “Some Enchanted Evening,” “There Is Nothing Like A Dame,””Younger Than Springtime,” “Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair” and so many more.

The smart research folks at SDMT share these little known facts about the show:

• South Pacific won 10 Tony Awards including a sweep of all four acting categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Featured Actor, Best Featured Actress) which has never been repeated.

• Juanita Hall, who had played “Bloody Mary” in the original Broadway production, obviously sang her own songs onstage, but was dubbed in the film version at the request of composer Richard Rodgers. Rodgers and musical director Alfred Newman brought in Muriel Smith (who had played Bloody Mary in London).

• Dating back to the development of the stage musical, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were pressured to eliminate the song “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught,” but they resisted. The movie was greeted with objections and even boycotts in certain parts of the country specifically because of the song.

• France Nuyen had not yet learned English when playing the role of “Liat”. Fortunately, she was able to converse in her native language (French) with co-star Rossano Brazzi, who spoke French as well as his native Italian.

• The love scenes between characters “Joe Cable” and “Liat” were considered shocking by the still conservative standards of the late 1950s.

• The film adaptation of “South Pacific” ran for just under 4 years and 6 months at the Dominion Theatre in London. It opened on April 21st, 1958 and closed on September 30th, 1962, for an unbroken, record run that will probably never be equaled.

Watch a bit of the behind-the-scenes action below and check the official website for more info.

We begin performances next Friday and run through May 27.