LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items you might have missed:
• George Michael made secret donations to Project Angel Food in Los Angeles totaling more than $650,000 after the death of his partner to HIV-related causes in 1993.
• The state of Florida will offer HIV prevention treatment PrEP for free statewide by the end of 2018. Continue reading “News Round-Up: January 16, 2018”
The Broward County Commission voted unanimously today to ban conversion therapy (also known as ex-gay torture), becoming the 16th and largest Florida municipality to outlaw the harmful practice.
Other municipalities in the Sunshine State with similar bans include Palm Beach County, Boca Raton, Miami, Tampa, Wilton Manors, Key West, and Oakland Park.
To date, nine states have banned the abusive practice as well as several major cities including Philadelphia, Washington DC, Seattle, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton, and many more.
Broward County Commissioner @MichaelUdine on banning gay conversion therapy. Well said, brother! #BrowardCounty #browardcommission pic.twitter.com/19s1WNcA9c— Ryan Ross (@RyanRossFL) January 9, 2018
So much pain for Florida locals who suffered massive losses thanks to Hurricane Irma over the weekend.
Every now and then, folks could use a momentary distraction just to lighten the moment, and I think hottie Gainesville police officers might fill the bill.
Officers Normand, Hamill, and Rengering of the Gainesville Police Department briefly stopped the internet this week with this quick selfie they snapped as they started their duties this week.
So much so that fans clamored for a “hot Gainesville cops” calendar, and now there are promises to produce and sell said calendar with funds going to recovery efforts.
The one small snag in all this woofy hotness – apparently Officer Michael Hamill (pictured above center) might have shared some anti-Semite opinions per his Facebook page, making him not so ‘hot.’.
From the Gainesville Sun:
One screen shot is of an April 2013 post, in which Hamill writes: “Who knew that reading jewish jokes before I go to bed would not only make me feel better about myself but also help me to sleep better as well. Here is one for everybody, “What’s the difference between boy scouts and jews?” Anybody know? Well it is because “Boy scouts come back from their camps.”
One person replied to that Facebook post, calling it “messed up.” Hamill replied, “u don’t like it? don’t read it then.”
In another screen shot from a 2011 post, Hamill writes: “so I find it funny that people will talk about how our government needs to do something about our economy and in reality it’s YOU who needs to stop taking advantage of our system and get a life and do something with your life. Gotta love reality when it hits you in the face. Stupid people annoy me. Put them in an oven and deal with them the Hitler way. Haha.”
James Schneider, an openly gay man currently running for city council in Cape Coral, recently received a threatening note that appears to be from a local division of the Ku Klux Klan.
The note was apparently left on the front door of Schneider’s home last weekend.
The text of the note reads, “We know where you live, faggot… We are going to win… Quit now. When you girls least expect it, we will be here for a nice visit.”
Schneider admits the threat scared him, but he has no intention of quitting the race.
“I was spooked by it immediately. It really shakes you to the core,” said Schneider.
Posting the image to his Facebook page, he wrote, “They got their opportunity to scare us, but not quitting this election. I am the qualified candidate, not the popular one.”
Schneider told his Facebook followers he “almost quit” after the threats but will now “stay in the campaign.”
“We are shaken but not beaten,” the post reads. “Thank you so much for those who have huddled around us at this time. We live in a messed up country.”
At the end of a five year battle, the city council of Jacksonville, Florida, has finally passed LGBT protections by a vote of 12-6.
Mayor Lenny Curry announced he would allow the law to go into effect without his signature.
The legislation, which bans discrimination against gay and transgender folks, faced a few obstacles on the way to the historic vote.
One councilman, Bill Gulliford, attempted to block or water down the legislation by proposing a citywide vote on the issue, and then tried to strip transgender protections out.
Councilman Danny Becton proposed exempting any privately owned business from the law.
All three amendments were voted down.
Jacksonville is the most populous city in the state of Florida, and the 12th most populous in the country.
Equality Florida issued this statement:
Yesterday, after years of hard work and courageous advocacy from the local LGBTQ residents, businesses owners, faith voices and community leaders, the Jacksonville City Council has voted to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression by a 12 to 6 vote.
This update modernizes the existing city ordinance which previously banned discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations (such as restaurants and stores) based solely on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status or familial status.
“After years of hard work and courageous advocacy, Jacksonville has sent a clear message to Florida and the entire country that discrimination of any kind is wrong and that LGBTQ people are welcomed and accepted,” said Amber Paoloemilio, Field Director of Equality Florida.
Over the last five years, because of the personal stories from LGBTQ people, business owners, and faith leaders, Jacksonville public opinion has transformed. Based on a 2015 poll conducted by the University of North Florida, over 62% of voters support this important update to the Human Rights Ordinance.
Another hate crime, this time in Florida, since the election of President-elect Donald Trump.
A Sarasota man, Chuck Redding, tells the local ABC News affiliate that he was pulled from his car and beaten for being gay.
The 75 year old senior says the alleged attacker told him the election of President-elect Trump meant he had permission to “kill all you faggots now.”
From ABC News:
“He yanked the door open, dragged me out, ripped my shirt. I was on the pavement,” said Redding.
His arm is now badly bruised, his hand cut and swollen to twice its normal size, his knee scraped, and part of his toe ripped. Redding says the driver had clearly taken note of his marriage equality and rainbow bumper stickers.
“He kept saying, ‘You know my new president says we can kill all you faggots now,'” Redding said.
Redding is openly gay, but says he’s never been attacked like this. He’s now part of the spike in attacks against minorities nationwide..
“It’s absolutely horrendous,” he said.
Redding’s now taking action to protect himself. He and several friends are applying for conceal carry permits and encouraging others to do the same.
A new TargetSmart/William & Mary survey finds that 28% of early Republican voters in Florida are voting for Hillary Clinton.
Among early voters (who were asked which candidate they had voted for), Clinton outpaced Trump by a 17-point margin, 55% to 38%.
Likely voters in Florida give Democrat Hillary Clinton a 4 point lead (46% – 42%) over Donald Trump in the latest Mason-Dixon Poll.
These are the first Sunshine State polling results since the first presidential debate, which Clinton was widely credited with winning.
RealClearPolitics polling average for Florida now shows Clinton ahead by 1.2% in the important swing state, and trending upwards.
More good news for Hillary Clinton from Monmouth University:
Hillary Clinton holds a 5 point lead over Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Florida. This is slightly less than the 9 point lead she held in a Monmouth University Poll of Sunshine State voters taken last month.
Among Florida voters likely to participate in November’s presidential election, 46% currently support Clinton and 41% back Trump. Another 6% intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 1% support Green Party candidate Jill Stein, with 5% who are undecided. This compares to Monmouth’s August poll which had Clinton at 48%, Trump 39%, Johnson 6%, and Stein 1%.
Clinton has an overwhelming advantage among Hispanic, black and Asian voters who make up about one-third of the electorate, garnering 69% of this group’s vote to 16% for Trump. Her lead among non-white voters was a similar 69% to 19% last month. Trump’s 53% to 35% advantage among white voters is also about where it was last month (51% to 37%).
“Although Clinton’s lead is smaller than in our last poll, she is maintaining her advantage in Florida given the ominous state of her poll standing last week,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. He added, “Florida has become less of a crucial battleground now that the campaigns’ attention has turned to the Rust Belt. However, a win here would make the path to 270 electoral votes that much easier for the victor and difficult for the loser.”
Donald Trump doesn’t believe you need voter data and field offices to win a presidential election.
For instance, in Florida Trump currently has one field office.
One.
By comparison, back in 2012, Mitt Romney had 24 offices in Florida by June 2012.
It’s worth mentioning, however, that the Trump campaign says they do have three RVs working as “mobile field offices” on the move in the state helping to organize Trump voters.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has 51 field offices in the Sunshine State. Thirty-two were opened in the last month alone.
As many political pundits have noted, Trump’s path to victory in the electoral college has to include Florida. It’s pretty much a “do or die” state for him. Currently, Clinton leads Trump in Florida by about 3 points according to the Real Clear Politics poll average.
Also worth noting that there are 259,000 more registered Democratic voters than Republican. So, Donald is going to need every Republican vote he can get. And that’s where field offices show their value in terms of GOTV efforts.