Tag: Cory Booker

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Cory Booker Promises To Reverse Trans Military Ban As President

Speaking to a crowd of 300 in Davenport, Iowa, presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) pledged to repeal Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military.
Sen. Cory Booker pledges to repeal the Trump military trans ban

Speaking to a crowd of 300 in Davenport, Iowa, presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) pledged to repeal Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military.

The topic came up as a trans woman asked the senator what he would do to protect LGBTQ rights as president.

“When I am president, right away I will end this ridiculous, insulting, un-American ban on transgender Americans serving in the military,” replied the 49-year-old senator.

According to NBC News, the response was met with cheers from the crowd.Open service in the military by trans people began June 30, 2016, under the Obama administration.

But Donald Trump surprised the world when he tweeted on July 26, 2017, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please advised that the United States government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”

Trump went on to denounce “the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender military would entail.”

But, an analysis by RAND Corporation found that the Pentagon spends only $2.4 to $8.4 million on trans-related healthcare annually, out of an estimated Department of Defense (DoD) defense budget of $49.3 billion (in 2014). That represents an infinitesimal 0.017% of the Department’s total budget.

A day later several media outlets reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not know the announcement was coming.

On August 1, 2017, 56 retired generals and admirals released a letter opposing the proposed ban on transgender military service members.

After multiple court challenges, the Pentagon released its plan last week to implement the new ban beginning April 12.

Other Democratic presidential candidates have called out the Trump/Pence administration’s dismal record on LGBTQ issues, but Booker is the first declared candidate to promise to repeal the trans ban.

Booker also pledged to revisit the Trump tax cuts, and expressed support for legalizing marijuana nationwide including expounging criminal records due to marijuana crimes.

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Sen. Cory Booker Announces 2020 Run For White House

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey announced today that he is throwing his hat in the ring to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey 

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey announced today that he is throwing his hat in the ring to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.

In a video on Twitter, Booker intoned the spirit of the civil rights movement, on this first day of Black History Month, as he shared his vision for a country that will “channel our common pain back into our common purpose.”

“The history of our nation is defined by collective action; by interwoven destinies of slaves and abolitionists; of those born here and those who chose America as home; of those who took up arms to defend our country, and those who linked arms to challenge and change it,” said Booker in the video.

The 49-year-old former mayor joins an already-crowded field of Democrats vying for the 2020 nomination including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

The folks at NJ.com served up this quick video on Booker’s personal history.

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Cory Booker Addresses Gay Rumors (Again)

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey 

During a recent sit-down with the Philadelphia Inquirer, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was asked, once again, about the fact that his status as a bachelor who has never married leads to rumors that he is secretly gay.

So tired.

Booker addressed the issue head-on telling the Inquirer, “I’m heterosexual.”

Rather than a denial that would sound defensive, Booker followed-up with the perfect statement: “Every candidate should run on their authentic self, tell their truth, and more importantly, or mostly importantly, talk about their vision for the country.”

Part of the curiosity lies in the fact that the U.S. has only elected two presidents who were bachelors – James Buchanan in 1857 and Grover Cleveland in 1886.

Cleveland would go on to marry Frances Folsom two years into his term. Buchanan remained a bachelor but asked his niece to serve as hostess of the White House.

In his interview with the Inquirer, Booker noted that societal expectations regarding presidents and their families have evolved over the years.

“Clearly the norms of family relationships have been changed dramatically as you’ve seen people across this country being elected to offices with all different kinds of family situations, including the president who has had three spouses,” Booker said.

“So I think a lot of that conventional thought on that doesn’t apply.”

In this day and age, you’d think folks would have moved on from having to ask if a politician is gay just because he’s single.

This writer has been a fan of Booker for years going back to his time as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.

Throughout his political career, he has shown himself to be tough, fair AND an ally to the LGBTQ community.

For seven years, as mayor, he refused to officiate weddings until the right of marriage was available to all New Jerseyans.

And so, on October 21, 2013, when marriage equality finally came to the Garden State, he was there at the stroke of midnight in city hall officiating nine same-sex weddings.

When he asked the traditional “speak now or forever hold your peace,” a troll yelled “It is unlawful in the eyes of God!”

Without missing a beat, Booker continued the ceremony saying, “Not hearing any substantive and worthy objections, I now will proceed with the vows.”

We will know within the next several months what Booker’s plans are regarding 2020.

But, as he told the Inquirer, “I’m going to run on who I am whether that’s running for reelection (to the U.S. Senate) or running for president.”

“I’ve always trusted the voters enough to evaluate me on the content of my character, quality of my ideas, and my ability to do the job,” he added.

And that’s as it should be.

(h/t Philadelphia Inquirer)

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SCOTUS Nominee Dodges/Evades Questions On Marriage Equality

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Long days of confirmation hearings by the Senate judiciary committee questioning Donald Trump’s latest nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, have yielded no answers on where the candidate stands on marriage equality.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), a former Attorney General of California, attempted to get a straight answer to no avail.

“My question is very specific,” she stated. “Can you comment on your personal opinion on whether Obergefell was correctly decided. It’s a yes or no. Please.”

Rather than address that question, Kavanaugh deflected to the recent SCOTUS decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd, v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

“Justice Kennedy wrote, ‘The days of discriminating against gay and lesbian Americans or treating gay and lesbian Americans as inferior in dignity and worth are over,’” Kavanaugh replied.

The problem is that case wasn’t about same-sex marriage per se, but about LGBT discrimination.

“That is the precedent of the Supreme Court agreed with by…” Kavanaugh began, a response he’s used throughout the proceedings to avoid a direct answer.

Harris wasn’t having it. “Sir, I’m asking your opinion,” she made clear. “You’re the nominee right now so it is probative of your ability to serve on the highest court in our land.”

“So I’m asking you a very specific question – either you’re willing to answer or not,” framing the back and forth. “And if you’re not willing to answer it, we can move on. Do you believe Obergefell was correctly decided?”

“Each of the justices have declined as a matter of judicial independence,” Kavanaugh demurred.

“So you will not answer that question?” Harris declared and moved on to another subject.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) tried in his own way to get clarity on the judge’s position on the legality of same-sex marriage.

“Would it be wrong to fire a gay person?” Booker asked Kavanuagh.

“In my workplace, I hire people because of their talents and abilities,” Kavanaugh said, steering away from any legal perspective.

Booker moved to a different tact asking, “For someone to fire someone just because they’re gay… do they have a legal right to fire someone just because they’re gay in your opinion?”

Kavanaugh declined to answer that question directly citing ongoing litigation that he might have to rule on.

Growing frustrated, Booker stated the concern directly to the nominee: “There are a lot of folks who have concerns that if you get on the court, folks who are married right now really have a fear that they will not be able to continue those marital bonds.

“We still have a country where, if you post your Facebook pictures up of your marriage to someone of the same sex, we still have a majority of the states where if that employer of yours finds out that you’ve got a gay marriage and that you’re gay, in the majority of America states, you can fire somebody because they’re gay,” stated Booker.

And Booker’s right. Currently, there’s no federal law protecting LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination.

Only 20 states plus Washington, D.C. protect gay, lesbian or bisexual workers in public or private employ.

“I guess you’re not willing to tell me whether you personally, morally now, think that that’s right or wrong,” Booker concluded.

Watch Sen. Booker go round and round with Kavanaugh below.

The CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, tweeted this statement deriding Kavanaugh’s vague, non-answers to Harris and Booker on these questions of vital concern to LGBTQ Americans.

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Sen. Cory Booker Is Not Suffering Fools Lightly Today

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey was not about to suffer fools lightly this morning as Donald Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, claimed that she couldn’t remember if Trump called Haiti and African countries “shitholes” in an Oval Office meeting last week.

After listening to earlier testimony bu Nielsen, Booker decided to use his time to address his thoughts saying, in part, “Your silence and your amnesia is complicity.”

Just an excerpt from Booker’s comments:

“I had tears of rage. And for you not to feel that hurt and that pain and to dismiss the questions of my colleagues, with tens of millions Americans hurting right now because they’re worried about what happened in the White House.”

Watch Sen. Booker’s full comments below.

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News Round-Up: January 9, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Check out the Russian/American “cultural” exchange (above) between InstaHunk bfs Alex (Russia) and Brett (U.S.)

• Asked about the now empty Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS after the Trump administration fired the council members, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tossed off a vague “We’ll keep you posted.”

• Superstar Ricky Martin got a bit “cheeky” promoting his latest concert dates in Las Vegas at The Park Theater.

• This is a big deal – Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have been appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Previously, only 1 African American had ever served on this body during its 201-year history.

• LGBT fans of Star Trek: Discovery were left heartbroken after the most recent episode.

• Hunky Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds was recently asked on Twitter which Hollywood “Chris” does he think is the hottest – Pratt, Hemsworth or Evans? Using ice cream as a metaphor, Reynolds got a bit cheeky. He also threw in a Chris Pine shout out as well.

• Uganda’s LGBTQ film festival persevered despite being raided by the police.

• The state of Connecticut have soon have the very first openly gay Chief Justice of any state Supreme Court.

• Big shout out to British gravity racer Zach Leader who recently came out via Instagram. Check out his message below.

So 2018 is finally here and for about 6 months now, this is how I wanted to start the new year. A fresh start. No more hiding, no more lies, no more fannying around! To some of you this won’t be news or anything new but to a lot of you, I imagine it won’t have even crossed your mind. Some of you may have thought about it I imagine 😂 What I’m trying to do is come out and say I’m gay 🏳️‍🌈 I’ve spent a lot more time in paddocks in recent seasons but this issue has never come up, I’ve never known if the paddocks would accept a gay rider. I guess I’ll find out soon! 😂 I’ve always worried that people would look at me differently and so wouldn’t accept me into paddocks. I’ve always worried this would hinder me from getting sponsors and maybe even signed by teams in the future; that team managers wouldn’t want the hassle and so wouldn’t bother, regardless of how good I may be. Obviously I’ll find all this out in good time but I really hope everyone both in general life and racing life accepts me for who I am. This is a purely personal decision to come out but maybe if there are other LGBT racers in British paddocks then it may help them to find themselves and consider coming out too, or find the confidence to talk about it. I’m always happy to talk to anybody about it 😊 Maybe one day we may see more racers happy and confident to come out as a member of the LGBT community! 😊 I’m telling you all now though, I’m a man on a mission. I’m going to be the first openly gay BGBC champion and then one day I’m going to Britain’s one of Britain’s first openly gay national motorcycle champions and the ultimate goal is to be THE FIRST EVER OPENLY GAY BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPION. And mark my words, I’ll get there if it’s the last thing I do! I’m going to be an ambassador in racing for the LGBT community too which I’m going to be incredibly proud to do 😊 Feel free to message about anything guys but I hope you all accept me and continue to show me the love! ❤️ I don’t currently have that special guy in my life to share everything with and to share my journey to glory with at the moment but I’m working on it 😜 Happy new year everyone! #gay #gayteen #lgbt #gayracer #comingout
A post shared by Zack Leader (@zleader77) on Dec 31, 2017 at 5:20pm PST

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Sen. Cory Booker Will Testify Against Jeff Sessions’ Attorney General Nomination

The hearing to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions is currently underway, being broadcast on all cable networks.

CNN has the details regarding Sen. Cory Booker’s historic testimony:

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is set to testify against Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions Wednesday in an unprecedented move during his attorney general confirmation. This would be the first time in Senate history that a sitting senator will testify against another sitting senator for a Cabinet post during a confirmation.

“I do not take lightly the decision to testify against a Senate colleague,” Booker said. “But the immense powers of the attorney general combined with the deeply troubling views of this nominee is a call to conscience.”

Sessions’ confirmation hearings, which begin Tuesday, are expected to raise additional questions on old allegations of racism from his past. When Sessions was a 39-year-old US attorney in Alabama, he was denied a federal judgeship because the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony during hearings in March and May 1986 that Sessions had made racist remarks and called the NAACP and ACLU “un-American.”

Booker called Sessions’ record “concerning in a number of ways,” citing his opposition to bipartisan criminal justice reform and immigration reform, criticism of the Voting Rights Act and his “failure to defend the civil rights of women, minorities, and LGBT Americans.”

You can watch the hearing currently underway at the streaming link below:

Sarah Flores, a spokesperson for Sessions, told CNN this morning that Sessions considers the Obergefell decision, which made same-sex marriage the law of the land, “settled law.”

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Sen. Cory Booker Isn’t Going To Take Donald Trump’s Hate Bait

After Sen. Cory Booker’s electrifying speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention last night, Republican presidential candidate did what he does and attacked Booker via Twitter.

With a mysterious, veiled threat, the Trumpster wrote, “If Cory Booker is the future of the Democratic Party, they have no future! I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.”

But Booker isn’t taking Trump’s hate bait.

Speaking with CNN this morning, Booker said, “I love you, Donald. I pray for you.”

Watching below. This is how you take on a bully.

And, in case you missed it, here’s just the last few minutes of Booker’s roof-raising speech. This really is a must-watch:

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Sen. Cory Booker Speaks from The Floor Of US Senate On The Story Of Jim Obergefell

Today, Senators Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown spoke on the floor of the US Senate sharing the story of SCOTUS plaintiff and longtime HRC Supporter Jim Obergefell.

“Jim and John’s story is moving, heartbreaking, inspiring, and unfortunately, all too common,” Sen. Booker said during his remarks on the Senate floor.

“Their story is about love conquering indifference and equality conquering inequality—but it is also about a larger question: whether our country will live up to the ideal of equality under the law it was founded under, or whether we will allow ourselves to be a land that denies some citizens fundamental rights while granting them to others, so, when we consider the rights of Jim Obergefell and John Arthur, we aren’t just talking about “gay rights.” We are talking about my rights. We are talking about your rights. We are talking about Constitutional rights. We are talking about human rights.”

Booker just rocks.

Sen. Sharron Brow, Jim Obergefell, HRC pres Chad Griffin and Sen. Cory Booker