In a solid red state that Donald Trump won by 30 points in 2016, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) trumped incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R) winning the governor’s mansion. With 99% of the vote in, Beshear has been announced the ‘apparent winner’ by a lead of over 6,000 votes. This is not good news for Donald Trump. #happydance
Trump campaigned for Matt Bevin in Kentucky last night and said to the crowd, "You gotta vote because if you lose, it sends a really bad message. It just sends a bad and they're going to build it up … You can't let that happen to me."
(stock image via Depositphotos) The Kentucky state Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Lexington print shop owner who refused to make LGBTQ Pride t-shirts because of his religious beliefs. Back in 2012, Hands On Originals print shop declined to make t-shirts bearing a design that read, “Lexington Pride Festival.” The owner of the company, Blaine Adamson, told reporters after a hearing before the state Supreme Court he couldn’t produce the shirts because the message “goes against my conscience.” “Because of my Christian beliefs, I can’t promote that,” Adamson told a Human Rights Commission hearing officer at the time. “Specifically, it’s the Lexington Pride Festival, the name and that it’s advocating pride in being gay and being homosexual, and I can’t promote that message. It’s something that goes against my belief system.” But the city of Lexington’s fairness ordinance prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in issues relating to housing, employment, and public accommodation. So, the local Gay and Lesbian Services Organization filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission claiming Adamson unfairly discriminated in declining the t-shirt order. According to the Courier-Journal, the HRC ordered Hands On Originals to print the shirts and attend diversity training classes. The t-shirt Hands On Originals declined to make (image provided) Adamson, represented by the virulently anti-LGBTQ legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, appealed his case and won at both the circuit court and state court of appeals. This past August, his case landed at the state Supreme Court which has now decided in Adamson’s favor – but on a technicality. The state high court dismissed the case ruling that the Lexington Gay and Lesbian Services Organization lacked standing to sue the t-shirt company because the GLSO wasn’t the party denied service by Hands On Originals. The individual who originally placed the order and was turned away would have been the correct party to file suit according to the high court’s ruling. “Without a proper complainant, no determination can be made as to whether the ordinance was violated,” Justice Laurance VanMeter of Lexington wrote for the court’s majority. “While this result is no doubt disappointing to many interested in this case and its potential outcome, the fact that the wrong party filed the complaint makes the discrimination analysis almost impossible to conduct, including issues related to freedom of expression and religion,” VanMeter wrote. And Justice David Buckingham, who wrote a concurring opinion, chastised the Lexington Human Rights League for trying to force Hands On Originals to “engage in expression with which it disagreed.” Buckingham wrote, “When expression is involved, whether a parade organizer, a newspaper or a t-shirt company, a publisher may discriminate on the basis of content, even if that content relates to a protected classification.” Raymond Sexton, executive director for the Human Rights Commission told the press he is reviewing the Supreme Court’s ruling and will discuss any possible further action at the next meeting of the commission. (source: Courier-Journal)
Tyler Valenzia (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Mixing it up today with fitness guy Tyler Valenzia (above). I realized I practically never feature clean-shaven blond guys. Tyler’s ready for a lazy weekend, and I def don’t hate that. #ProblemSolved • Advocate: On a technicality, the Kentucky Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought against a shop that refused to print T-shirts for Lexington’s 2012 Pride Festival. The court didn’t rule on LGBTQ rights or not, but dismissed the case because the party that brought the claim, the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization, lacked standing because it was not the party denied service by the business. • KIT212: Kenneth has the latest on what’s making news in this week’s gay magazine. • BBC: An Indonesian man who worked for an organization that helped draft strict laws making adultery & gay sex punishable by public whipping has been caned after being caught having an affair with a married woman. #karma • Playbill: Tony and Emmy winner Billy Porter (Kinky Boots, Pose) and Tony winner Idina Menzel (Wicked) will perform during the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Also joining the festivities (9 AM ET on NBC on Thanksgiving Day) is Broadway alum and Glee star Lea Michele. • Politico: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has begun closing campaign offices in New Hampshire due to a shortage of funds. The campaign announced the decision was made to go ‘all-in’ in Iowa for the first-in-the-country contest. • New Music: Gryffin & Slander dropped their EDM single, “All You Need To Know” featuring the vocals of Swedish singer/songwriter Calle Lehmann, back in March. The track comes from Gryffin’s full-length debut album, Gravity. I liked it back then, but today they share this acoustic take on the track which reveals a much deeper emotional core to the song. Regular readers of The Randy Report know how I love artists reinventing, and thereby discovering more of, their own art. I like this.
Bad news for homophobic former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis (above). Cue the sad trombone sound…womp womp womp An appeals court has ruled that Davis can be sued as an individual for refusing to issue marriage licenses to two same-sex couples after the historic U.S. Supreme Court Obergefell ruling in 2015. Reuters reports:
The Kentucky county clerk who in 2015 gained widespread attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples may be sued for damages by two of those couples, a federal appeals court ruled late on Friday.
In a 3-0 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said Kim Davis can be sued in her individual capacity, though sovereign immunity shielded her from being sued in her former role as Rowan County Clerk.
Davis claimed that Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, did not apply to her because she stopped issuing licenses to everyone regardless of sexual orientation, and the plaintiffs could have obtained licenses elsewhere.
Davis lost her reelection bid last year. She was represented by the virulently anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel law firm. Mat Staver, the organization’s founder told the press, “She had no hostility to anyone, given that she stopped issuing all marriage licenses.” Liar. In related news, the 6th Circuit Court also ruled that the state of Kentucky is on the hook for $224,000 in legal fees incurred by the couples who sued Davis when she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. According to the Lexington Courier-Journal, Gov. Matt Bevin fought the judgment saying Davis should be responsible for the fees, not the state of Kentucky. He lost. Hate doesn’t pay, kids.
Back in 2015, then-candidate for Kentucky governor Matt Bevin was proud to announce he “absolutely supported” Kim Davis, the infamous county clerk who denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that marriage equality had become the law of the land, Davis refused to issue the licenses citing her deeply-held religious beliefs.
It’s important to note that those ‘deeply-held religious beliefs’ about the sanctity of marriage didn’t stop her from marrying three different men four times, so, there’s that.
At the time, the state required the name of the county clerk to appear on each marriage license, and Davis saw that as tacit endorsement of same-sex marriage. Digging in her heels, she stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether.
Gay and straight couples, now unable to marry, sued Davis with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. The result was a federal judge ordering Davis to issue the licenses, but she still refused.
And so it was that the judge found her in contempt of court, and she was jailed for five days making her the darling of the anti-LGBT crowd.
The eventual solution was the Kentucky legislature changing state law that required county clerks names on marriage licenses. The gay and straight couples were issued marriage licenses, and the lawsuit against Davis was dismissed in that the issue had been resolved.
Davis went on to write a book, campaigned for a failed same-sex marriage ban in Romania, and then, this past November was voted out of office.
But this sad tale isn’t quite done, yet. There is, as they say, the issue of the bill.
In 2017, a district judge ruled that the state of Kentucky had to pay the $222,000 legal costs of the gay and straight couples who had brought the lawsuit against Davis.
According to the Associated Press, lawyers for now-Governor Matt Bevin say state taxpayers “should not have to collectively bear the financial responsibility for Davis’ intransigence.”
“Only Davis refused to comply with the law as was her obligation and as required by the oath of office she took,” Bevin attorney Palmer G. Vance II wrote in a brief filed with the court.
“Her local policy stood in direct conflict with her statutory obligation to issue marriage licenses to qualified Kentucky couples,” continued Vance in the brief. “Davis had an independent and sworn duty to uphold the law as an elected county officer.”
For clarity, both Bevins and Davis believe that the court should not award legal fees saying the gay and straight couples didn’t technically ‘win’ the lawsuit since it was dismissed after the legislative action.
Steve Pitt, an in-house lawyer for the governor, says Bevins “continues to support Ms. Davis’s actions,” but if legal fees are to be awarded, “the taxpayers of Kentucky are not responsible to pay the ACLU’s attorney fees.”
Davis’s lawyer, Mat Staver of the virulently anti-LGBT organization Liberty Counsel, which has been labeled an ‘extremist group’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center, argues that Davis was acting on behalf of the state.
Since Bevins appealed the initial ruling regarding court costs, the two sides will face off Thursday at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati where a three-judge panel will hear arguments on who should pay the legal fees.
• InstaHunk Matthew Camp (above) is giving you ‘polar vortex/winter tones’ on this Hump Day.
• Inspired by the unofficial Gay Days events at Disneyland and Disney World in the US, Disneyland Paris will host its first official Pride event, titled Magical Pride, on June 1.
• Lawyers for Kentucky GOP Gov. Matt Bevin say that former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis must pay the $225,000 in legal fees owed to the gay couples who sued her for refusing to issue marriage licenses.
Kim Davis
• White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network today that she believes God wanted Donald Trump to become president.
• Four middle school kids in North Carolina face felony charges after plans were discovered to attempt a ‘Columbine-style’ attack on fellow students and a teacher.
• I got the most delightful surprise when the fabulous Leslie Ellis called me up just to say ‘hi’ last night.
She and her uber-talented hubby, Casey Kelly, had watched the RENT Live event on Sunday night and it reminded her of her own Broadway days (we did the national company of CATS together in the 80s when she stopped the show every night with her performance of “Memory”).
Long story short: old-friends, chatting, laughs, sharing, long call – it was great 🙂
In any case, it made me long to her her gorgeous voice, so I’m sharing this with you, one of my favorite recordings of hers, “We Came Close.”
Kim Davis, who became famous for refusing to issue marriage licenses to a gay couple after the U.S. Supreme Court declared marriage equality the law of the land, has lost her bid for reelection.
The four-time married adulteress couldn’t pull out another election. Awwww… oh well.
Ding dong the witch is dead!
TOTALS from the Kim Davis race in Rowan County: Davis (R): 3566 Caudill (D): 4210@heraldleader@BGPolitics
Former Judge Tim Nolan, who was Donald Trump’s campaign chair in Campbell County, has plead guilty to 21 counts of human trafficking, giving drugs and alcohol to minors and more.
According to court records, Nolan used drugs, threats of arrest and eviction to coerce women and girls under the age of 18 into sex acts.
In addition to 20 years in prison, Nolan is ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.
At his sentencing, he thanked his attorneys, the judge and a doctor who was involved in his case “who made me realize things.”
Nolan isn’t the first Trump campaign figure to go to prison over sex trafficking charges.
Last year, Oklahoma state Sen. Ralph Shortey, who served as Trump’s campaign chair in his state, was convicted on child prostituion charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
JUST IN: Trump campaign chair in KY pleads guilty to sex trafficking of minors: 21 counts against 19 victims, to get 20 yrs in prison, “felony trafficking of a minor, felony inducing a minor to engage in sex, and a third count of giving alcohol to a minor”https://t.co/jlM9QpCzMSpic.twitter.com/1scCWud33F
former Trump campaign chair Tim Nolan has pleaded guilty and received 20 years in prison for human trafficking
Some of the incidents occurred in the summer of 2016 while Judge Nolan was serving as the chair of the Donald Trump campaign in Campbell County, KY. pic.twitter.com/6muv9GTSTW— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) February 11, 2018
For a second time, a federal judge has ordered the state of Kentucky to pay over $222K to the attorneys who went to bat defending same-sex couples who were declined a marriage license by county clerk Kim Davis.
In July, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Kentucky to pay $222,695 to the attorneys of April Miller and others, after they won a favorable judgment against Davis. Bunning also awarded an additional $2,008 in other costs.
Gov. Matt Bevin and Terry Manuel, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for the Libraries and Archives, appealed the ruling, claiming the fees should be assessed against Davis and the Rowan County Clerk’s Office.
The governor and commissioner, who were third-party defendants in the case, argued that Davis did not represent Kentucky when she acted against the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges because her behavior was not directed or approved by any state official.
Bunning once again found the argument unpersuasive and rejected the appeal on Monday.
“The Commonwealth of Kentucky is liable for plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs because defendant Kim Davis acted on behalf of the Commonwealth when she refused to issue marriage licenses,” the judge wrote in his 14-page decision.
Congratulations, Kentucky! Kim Davis cost you over $222K in her misguided and illegal activism.
A federal judge in Kentucky has ruled a lawsuit against President Trump, brought by three protesters who were violently attacked at a Trump campaign rally, will go forward.
The judge said Trump’s claim of free speech was rejected in the lawsuit that accuses Trump of inciting violence.
Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit by three protesters who say they were roughed up by his supporters at a March 1, 2016 rally in Louisville, Kentucky. They argued that Trump didn’t intend for his supporters to use force.
Two women and a man say they were shoved and punched by audience members at Trump’s command. Much of it was captured on video and widely broadcast during the campaign, showing Trump pointing at the protesters and repeating “get them out.”
Judge David J. Hale in Louisville ruled Friday that the suit against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters can proceed. Hale found ample facts supporting allegations that the protesters’ injuries were a “direct and proximate result” of Trump’s actions, and noted that the Supreme Court has ruled out constitutional protections for speech that incites violence.
It is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ’em out of here’ advocated the use of force,” the judge wrote. “It was an order, an instruction, a command.”
Plaintiffs Kashiya Nwanguma, Molly Shah and Henry Brousseau allege that they were physically attacked by several members of the audience, including Matthew Heimbach, Alvin Bamberger and an unnamed defendant they have yet to be able to identify.
Bamberger later apologized to the Korean War Veterans Association, whose uniform he wore at the rally. He wrote that he “physically pushed a young woman down the aisle toward the exit” after “Trump kept saying ‘get them out, get them out,” according to the lawsuit.
Heimbach, for his part, sought to dismiss the lawsuit’s discussion of his association with a white nationalist group and of statements he made about how Trump could advance the group’s interests. The judge declined, saying such information could be important context when determining punitive damages.
In a solid red state that Donald Trump won by 30 points in 2016, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) trumped incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R) winning the governor’s mansion. With 99% of the vote in, Beshear has been announced the ‘apparent winner’ by a lead of over 6,000 votes. This is not good news for Donald Trump. #happydance 
