• Russian singer Emin recently trolled the world with his new music video which utilizes lookalikes for Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un, Hillary Clinton, Stormy Daniels, Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
You may recall it was Emin’s music publicist, Rob Goldstone, who set up the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian government attorney and Donald Trump Jr.
You do the math.
The Russian calls his video “a satire on the news of the past 12 months.” It looks to me like the Russians are laughing at the U.S.
On Friday, the first day of Pride Month 2018, the state of California announced that there will be no state-funded travel to yet another state thanks to recently passed anti-LGBT legislation.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has issued a statement that his state will ban state-sponsored travel to Oklahoma thanks to the Sooner State’s latest anti-LGBT legislation.
Under a 2017 California law, the state’s attorney general is required by to keep a list of all states subject to a travel ban because of “laws that authorize or require discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”
California Secretary of State Xavier Becerra
Last month, Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law anti-LGBT legislation that allows adoption and foster care agencies to reject same-sex couples on the grounds of religious beliefs.
“California taxpayers are taking a stand against bigotry and in support of those who would be harmed by this prejudiced policy,” said Becerra.
#Oklahoma will be added to the list of restricted states for state-funded travel based on the discriminatory law that would allow private adoption agencies to refuse services to #LGBTQ parents & foster children based on religious/moral grounds. #PrideMonthhttps://t.co/FIL1YfsLxn
Michael McNutt, a spokesperson for Fallin, slapped back at Becerra in a statement which read in part, “With our state’s economy being as strong as it is, we won’t miss a few Californians traveling on state business showing up in our state.”
Oklahoma becomes the ninth state to fall under California’s 2017 travel ban law.
Kansas enacted similar legislation the same week as Oklahoma, but the Sunflower State was already on California’s banned list (along with Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and South Dakota) due to a 2016 law that allows campus religious groups to exclude LGBT students.
June 22 is the date California’s ban on Oklahoma travel goes into effect.
RuPaul endorses Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor of California
RuPaul appears in a PSA for California’s upcoming primary on June 5 urging folks to not only vote, but vote for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor.
“Today, I want to tell the world that I’ll be casting my vote for you, Gavin,” says the Super Model of the World.
Newsom gained headlines in the LGBTQ world when he began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples back in 2004 (before same-sex marriage was the law of the land) during his tenure as mayor of San Francisco.
Many, including Mama Ru, credit Newsom’s actions with jump starting the marriage equality movement.
So there you have it, Californians. As Ru says, “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain. So – YOU BETTA VOTE!”
While engaged in one of the most competitive primaries of his political career, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California has informed a key National Realtor group that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their property to LGBTs.
Rohrabacher told an Orange County Association of Realtors meeting on May 16 in Washington, D.C., “Every homeowner should be able to make a decision not to sell their home to someone (if) they don’t agree with their lifestyle.”
The congressman doubled down on that sentiment telling reporters on Thursday that homeowners should have the right to “choose who they do business with.”
“We’ve drawn a line on racism, but I don’t think we should extend that line,” Rohrabacher said. “A homeowner should not be required to be in business with someone they think is doing something that is immoral.”
Rohrabacher’s comments came during a mid-year lobbying conference in Washington with the real estate professionals who asked him to support H.R. 1447, among other issues.
The legislation would expand the 1968 Fair Housing Act to include anti-discrimination protections based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity. The existing law already bans home sellers, landlords and lenders from discrimination based on a person’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Jeff Berger, a Florida Realtor and founder of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals wrote to the president of the National Association of Realtors asking Rohrbacher’s support be rescinded.
“When a supposed champion of the Realtor Party outright states that housing discrimination should be lawful, I hope you agree there should be cause for concern,” wrote Berger. “Ignoring the congressman’s comments belies the decades of serious work and progress NAR has made in the area of fair housing.”
This one hits home: If Dana Rohrabacher wants to deny same-sex couples a home, we need to kick him out of the House. https://t.co/tm1rchrVrI
Although Rohrabacher had previously been designated as a “Realtor Champion” by the NAR, the trade group has now withdrawn its recommendation that members support Rohrabacher based on his recent statements.
Equality California’s Executive Director Rick Zbur agrees: “Californians decided years ago that we don’t support housing discrimination — not based on race, not based on religion and not based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“And while Dana Rohrabacher may think it’s okay to discriminate against people because of who they are or whom they love, Orange County families don’t.” added Zbur.
Harley Rouda, a Democrat who was recently endorsed by Equality California in the race and is the son of a former Realtor association president, called Rohrabacher’s statements “outlandish and unacceptable,” saying everyone should have the same rights to buy and sell a home.”
In the face of a losing battle Dana has decided to attack those vulnerable among us.
Rohrabacher’s ideas do not reflect who we are as constituents in #CA48
Jazmina Saavedra (L) harassed an unidentified trans woman
A transgender woman using the restroom at a Los Angeles Denny’s restaurant found herself being harassed by a wanna-be Republican Congressional candidate who broadcast the encounter on Facebook Live.
Jazmina Saavedra, a Republican running to represent California’s 44th Congressional district, clearly thought she was going to make some kind of a name for herself in Trump Land by attacking transgender people.
Armed with a selfie stick to make sure her face was clearly seen and proudly sporting her Trump sweatshirt, Saavedra barged into the bathroom attacking the unidentified woman. As she enters the restroom, the restaurant manager is already inside the ladies’ restroom, outside the stall where the trans woman is trying to do her business in peace.
“Why are you using the ladies’ room?” Saavedra demands to know. The trans woman in the stall shouts back, “You guys are harassing me…you’re invading my privacy,”
“You’re invading my privacy because I’m a woman!” Saavedra responds.
As the manager removed Saavedra from the restroom, the would-be politician candidate yells, “You violated my rights! You’re sick. Stupid, sick!”
“This is so stupid in California. You let people say, ‘I’m a lady.’ He’s a man,” Saavedra ranted as she made her way back into the restaurant, still broadcasting on Facebook. “This is so stupid in California. This is what the politicians, the sick politicians, approve. They put us in danger, a woman like me.”
The great irony here is it is the trans woman who is in danger; it is the trans woman’s privacy being invaded; and it’s the trans woman who merely wants to answer nature’s call and go about her life.
Trans woman trying to leave restaurant after being harassed
As the transgender woman was exiting the restaurant she addressed Saavedra asking, “Excuse me, I was using the toilet, how was I invading your privacy? Why are you singling me out, lady? And I’ve seen you yesterday following me.”
“Next time use the men’s room,” Saavedra hissed back. “Or nobody’s room. A transgender room.”
The Democratic congresswoman Saavedra is attempting to unseat is Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan, who denounced Saavedra’s actions in a statement: “I was appalled by the treatment that this woman received for simply trying to use the restroom. Everyone has the right to their own identity, and the right not to be discriminated against for who they are.”
Behavior like this from a Trump supporter isn’t news to those who have watched the Trump/Pence administration attack and dismantle rights and protections for transgender individuals. This includes:
• Rolling back guidance that directed schools to recognize a student’s gender identity
• Proposing a ban on transgender military service members
• Revoking regulations that protect trans people from health care discrimination
• Making changes to prison guidelines on where to house trans prisoners
The Advocate contacted Saavedra who held tight to her declaration that she felt she was in danger.
“I was feeling afraid of being inside the bathroom with a man,” she told The Advocate. “I didn’t know he was gay, I just heard the voice was a man. Another customer approached me and said that they were scared to go into the restroom because there was a voice of a man inside, and so I told the manager.”
Watching the video below, Saavedra doesn’t look very “scared.”
As has been widely covered by the press, there has never been a reported incident of a transgender person attacking or harassing anyone in a bathroom anywhere in the country. Ever.
Even in this recorded video, it is Saavedra who is stalking the trans woman.
WTOP in Sacramento reports that openly lesbian California state Sen. Toni Atkins will make history Wednesday when she becomes the first woman and first LGBT to hold the State Senate’s top job.
A former Assembly speaker, Atkins is taking over the post of Senate president pro tem from fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon as the chamber gears up for election season and faces a number of thorny challenges, including a reckoning over sexual misconduct, a loss of the Democratic supermajority and an icy relationship with the state Assembly.
De Leon took control of the Senate in 2014. He’s barred by term limits from seeking re-election and is challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
If she can keep the support of her fellow Democrats, Atkins will have an unusually long run in the Senate’s top job; she isn’t term-limited until 2024.
Atkins, who has advanced groundbreaking legislation on health care, LGBT rights and housing, is described by her colleagues as kind, measured and compassionate but steadfast in her commitment to fighting for people and ideas she believes in.
It’s been said before but bears repeating that real change happens on the state and local level of politics. That’s what makes this step forward important.
Atkins is one of eight members of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus.
She married her wife Jennifer LeSar in 2008.
Equality California issued this statement:
Senator Toni Atkins is one of the LGBTQ community’s most respected and effective leaders and her upcoming election as the Senate President Pro Tem breaks multiple glass ceilings. Not only will she be the first woman to serve as leader of the California Senate, but Senator Atkins will also be the first LGBTQ person to serve in that role. This follows on her historic career in the Assembly where she became the first lesbian Speaker.
Electing role models like Senator Atkins is important to the LGBTQ community because it sends a clear message to our community across the country, particularly LGBTQ youth, that LGBTQ people can achieve anything. By having a seat at the table, LGBTQ elected officials can speak with their colleagues with authenticity and first-hand experience on issues that affect our community.
• InstaHunk Bernardo Belmar (above) reminds us why winter living is luscious on the left coast.
• Speaking of the left coast, California lawmakers have proposed legislation that would declare so-called “conversion therapy” an “unlawful practice” and fraud.
• In March of 2017, WikiLeaks tweeted it never had direct contact with long-time Trump friend/adviser Roger Stone. The Atlantic has obtained private Twitter messages between the two showing the denial was a lie.
• Donald Trump son-in-law and presidential adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded.
• Trans actress Laverne Cox dropped her first single “Beat for the Gods” this week, and the music video gives glory to voguing, drag and club dance with some Fosse references thrown in for good measure.
Basing his decision on the distinction between selling a product or creating an artistic expression, Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe has ruled that baker Cathy Miller of Bakersfield can continue to refuse to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples.
The case began last August when Miller, a conservative Christian, refused to make a wedding cake for Mireya and Eileen Rodriguez-Del Rio.
Miller claimed it violated her deeply held Christian beliefs.
The Rodriguez-Del Rioses filed a complaint to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging Miller had violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits public businesses from denying service to anyone on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.
Note: This ruling is a motion regarding a preliminary injunction. The case has not been tried yet.
“A retail tire shop may not refuse to sell a tire because the owner does not want to sell tires to same sex couples. There is nothing sacred or expressive about a tire. No artist, having placed their work for public sale, may refuse to sell for an unlawful discriminatory purpose. No baker may place their wares in a public display case, open their shop, and then refuse to sell because of race, religion, gender, or gender identification,” Lampe wrote.
His distinction, he said, is between the act of selling a product to a same-sex couple and creating a product for the same couple.
“The difference here is that the cake in question is not yet baked,” Lampe wrote. “The State is not petitioning the court to order defendants to sell a cake. The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids. For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment.”
The ruling doesn’t end the case. It just allows Miller to continue denying same-sex couples wedding cakes until the trial is resolved sometime this summer.
• Thanks to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the spire of One World Trade Center and the Kosciuszko Bridge to be lit with the colors of the transgender flag for Trans Day of Action today, June 23rd. The same landmarks will be illuminated in the colors of the Pride flag on Saturday and Sunday for NYC Pride celebrations.
• Also for NYC Pride – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared June 22nd officially “Laverne Cox Day” as the actress made an appearance at his official residence, Gracie Mansion.
Said Cox, “Can you believe that a black transgender woman from Mobile, Alabama, raised by a single mother has a day in New York City named after her?”
In all she does, she enlightens and uplifts. I was honored to proclaim Thursday, June 22nd, 2017 Laverne Cox Day in New York City. pic.twitter.com/u0ZGhLKyLQ
• July 1st was the date that qualified transgender people were supposed to be able to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, but military heads are asking for a six month delay.
• Speaking of lights for Pride, the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago was lit up in rainbow colors, apparently in celebration of Chicago Pride this weekend. But the lights only lasted one night, and when asked the hotel responded with, “We’ve been told not to say anything until the PR person puts out a statement.” Of course, as we all know, President Trump ended the tradition of recognizing Pride Month after eight straight years of proclamations from President Obama.
