LGBTQ news and entertainment
In this week’s podcast:
• The special session of the Texas legislature closed this week without passing a proposed anti-transgender bathroom bill
• A Missouri lawmaker thinks there’s a difference between human beings and the gays
• Kesha penned an open letter to LGBTs explaining the title track to her new album, Rainbow
Those stories and more on this episode of The Randy Report
From NBC News:
A Texas “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people died again late Tuesday along with many of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s summer demands as an already bruising legislative session was derailed by Republican backbiting that could preview an even nastier 2018 primary season.
It is the second time that North Carolina-style bathroom restrictions have failed to pass in Texas, and Abbott gave no indication he would order weary lawmakers to stay in Austin and try again – which would risk a third failure over what has erupted into one of the most high-profile bills in any U.S. legislature.
Corporate heavyweights from Amazon to Exxon Mobil lined up against the measure, as did some top law enforcement agencies, and opponents celebrated the latest failure despite the support from the governor and influential social conservatives who drive GOP politics and primaries in Texas.
“Today’s victory shows what can happen when transgender Americans and their allies stay vigilant and push back against legislation that helps no one and harms many,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, a national LGBT rights group.
JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement which read in part, “We hope that this time, this issue remains settled: Texans don’t want harmful, anti-transgender legislation. First and foremost, these bills were defeated because of the many voices that came out in opposition, saying, ‘don’t discriminate in the Lone Star State.’
With only a few days left in the special session of the Texas legislature called by Gov. Greg Abbott, Senate Bill 6, the anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” hasn’t even had a committee hearing placed on the schedule in the state House.
And according to the chairman of the committee that would handle the bill, a hearing any time soon looks unlikely.
From The Advocate:
Rep. Byron Cook, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, said this week he had no plans to hold a hearing on the bill, which must pass his committee before going to the full House.
“Quite candidly, at this point, I don’t know what a hearing would add when we already had hearings” during the regular session, he told Austin TV station KXAN. In that session, the bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Some supporters are still holding out hope that it could be attached to other legislation, but that seems unlikely as well.
The testimony during the regular session was heavily against SB 6, which would require students, staff, and visitors in public schools to use the restrooms and other single-sex facilities matching the gender on their birth certificate or an ID issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, and would put the same restriction on those using facilities in buildings overseen by local governments. It would also override portions of city ordinances that allow trans people to use the restrooms of their choice.
“Corporate America is stepping forward, speaking loudly about the fact that this will have a chilling effect on business opportunity in this state,” Cook recently told The New York Times. “I’m hearing from many major corporations about this bill and the effect it will have.”
Companies that have stated their opposition include IBM, Amazon, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, Capital One, Ben & Jerry’s, Facebook, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. The overall list of opponents encompasses more than 650 businesses, chambers of commerce, and convention and visitors’ bureaus, according to the Texas Association of Business, which has organized a campaign against the bill with a coalition called Keep Texas Open for Business.
The bill passed the state Senate two weeks ago, but the moderate Republican Speaker of the House Joe Straus is no fan of the legislation, and has indicated he may not even bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
House bathroom bill sponsor sees chance of passage fading: https://t.co/2HwDCYbEtO by @JohnnieMo #txlege #bathroombill— Madlin Mekelburg (@madlinbmek) August 11, 2017
In this mid-week podcast from The Randy Report, two big stories:
• President Trump bans – via tweet – any transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military calling them “a burden.”
• The Texas State Senate has approved it’s hateful, anti-transgender “bathroom bill.”
Listen in as I discuss this week’s LGBTQ headlines including:
• The Texas Legislature is on its way to approving an anti-transgender “bathroom” bill
• Rhode Island becomes the 9th state to ban harmful “ex-gay therapy”
• New Jersey passes required guidance for trans students
• Star Trek Discovery will feature its first gay romantic couple
• We may soon find out if Academy Award winner Moonlight opened the door for more mainstream success for queer-themed cinema
All that and more on this episode of The Randy Report.
For past episodes, or to subscribe to the podcast for free, click here.
And, by the way, please feel free to share The Randy Report podcast with friends. It’s a great way to catch up on the week’s LGBT political, pop culture and entertainment headlines in about 15 minutes 🙂
As the Texas legislature begins debating an anti-transgender “bathroom bill” during a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, Jeff Moseley, CEO of the Texas Association of Business, announces a seven-figure media buy to oppose the hideous bill.
Via press release:
“Today the Texas Association of Business is announcing a seven-figure media buy in opposition to the unnecessary bathroom bill.
“For more than 95 years, TAB has been on the front lines of every issue that impacts Texas businesses; and today we represent more than 2,000,000 employees and $6 Billion in business.
“What affects business in Texas affects ALL Texans: it affects our schools, our roads, our state budget, and our quality of life. When businesses succeed, Texas communities and families succeed.
“The bathroom bill distracts from the real challenges we face and would result in terrible economic consequences—on talent, on tourism, on investment, on growth, and on small businesses. That’s why TAB and the Keep Texas Open for Business coalition are investing heavily in this effort and remain steadfastly opposed to this unnecessary legislation.”
Ashley Smith, a transgender Texas woman, brilliantly trolled Gov. Greg Abbott with this pic posted to Instagram.
Posing with the governor after the announcement of his re-election campaign, Smith shared the photo on Instagram after tagging #BATHROOMBUDDY across the top.
Along with the pic, Smith captioned the post saying, “How will the Potty Police know I’m transgender if the Governor doesn’t?”
The Texas Legislature begins a special session called by the governor where a big focus will be on passing an anti-trans “bathroom bill” which would require trans people to use public restrooms which correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificate.
I should note, however, that even states that actually provide public accommodation protections for trans people can’t ensure they will be treated with respect.
Here in Las Vegas, a transgender woman visiting from San Francisco was recently barred from using the ladies room at the New York-New York Hotel. Nevada state law expressly says gender identity is a protected class against discrimination in the state.
This is why we need The Equality Act passed in Congress which would address LGBT protections on a federal level.
Of course, that’s not going to happen with the current Republican controlled Congress.
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| Facial hair didn’t keep these two from finding gay bliss (via Instagram) |
Some news items you may have missed:
• A religious leader for Russia’s Old Believers is urging Russian men to stop shaving because growing a beard will “protect themselves from homosexuality.” The man has clearly never attended Bear Week.
• A straight man, who was the victim of anti-gay animus for years because his employers perceived him to be gay, has been awarded $17.4 million in a discrimination law suit.
• As the Texas legislature heads back to Austin for a special session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in part to consider an anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” a new poll by the University of Texas/Texas Tribune shows only 44% of Texas voters feel the bill is “important” while 47% do not.
• No Justice No Pride, the group that temporarily disrupted the Capital Pride Parade in Washington, D.C., last week, say they are planning a similar action for the upcoming New York City Pride March this coming Sunday. The group opposes, among other things, allowing police officers to march in Pride parades, increasing the number of black and brown queer and trans on Pride committees and ending corporate sponsorships by companies that have a determined negative impact on the LGBTQ community.
• The New York City Council is considering a proposal that would make it illegal for anyone to charge a fee for therapy that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation.
• MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle highlights the increasing number of anti-LGBTQ bills, noting that more than 100 bills in 29 states have been introduced in statehouses across the country. The majority of these bills target the transgender community, or aim to give taxpayer-funded agencies and employees a ‘license to discriminate’ against the LGBTQ community. Watch below.
100+ new anti-LGBTQ laws on the books in 2017 so far in 29 states. Take a look. #pridemonth #lgbtq https://t.co/bRCYyuUR5e— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) June 16, 2017
The Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has called a special session of the state legislature beginning July 18, and the anti-transgender “bathroom bill” will be on the agenda.
Via the Texas Tribune:
Abbott laid out 19 items that he will then ask legislators to take up. Among those 19 items: a so-called “bathroom bill” that would regulate which restrooms transgender Texans can use.
“We need a law that protects the privacy of our children in public schools,” Abbott said, reiterating his support for a proposal that did not make it to his desk during the regular session, House Bill 2899.
Governor Abbott Says Bathroom Bill Will Be Topic Of Special Session: https://t.co/N1WSqXFQYU pic.twitter.com/SRtxhVpCvQ— KRLD (@KRLD) June 6, 2017
The Dallas Morning News reports on Texas’ anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” which took another step towards passage last night.
The Texas House voted late Sunday on a bill that will keep transgender public school children from using the restroom that matches their gender identity.
The measure, a Republican deal on the “bathroom bill,” passed the GOP-dominated chamber by a vote of 91-50. It needs one more vote to officially pass the House. If the Senate agrees to the measure, and Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t veto it, Texas will become the second state in the nation to pass such legislation.
Debate was emotional and divisive, with Democrats likening it to a Jim Crow-era attack on defenseless kids and Republicans insisting the measure did not single out or target anyone.
“America has long recognized that separate but equal is not equal at all,” said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat who has served in the House since 1972. “What’s wrong with treating kids with equality and not making them feel like they are second-class citizens?”
“Transgender students are God’s business, and you know what, He loves them, too.”
The measure would keep transgender kids from using multi-occupancy school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, unless no one else is present. If other children are around, they’d have to use a different, single-use restroom elsewhere in the school.