Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
(screen capture via Idaho Statesman)Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: A progress Pride flag was burned at the home of a gay couple in Boise, Idaho, after one flag had been stolen and another vandalized earlier. Neighbors and others rallied around the couple by flying Pride flags for the first time. Continue reading “Neighbors Rally Around Couple After Pride Flag Burned + More News”
Some news items you might have missed:
• Boy Culture: Tom Hardy (above), easily one of my favorite actors (and eye-candy) celebrates his 44th trip around the sun today. BC has a round-up of some of his more eye-catching moments in film. Continue reading “News Round-Up: September 16, 2021”
Some news items you might have missed:
• Edge Media: A new report published by the Washington Post suggests that President-elect Joe Biden may have won the 2020 election because of higher LGBTQ voter turnout.
• Pew Research: A new poll shows 60% of American adults say they will get vaccinated for the coronavirus, up from 51% in September.
• CNBC: Sidney Powell, who has already been booted from the Trump legal team, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to order Georgia officials to “preserve all data on the Dominion System” and allow “Republican Electors to audit” that system in 10 counties. Finding it has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the 11th Circuit Court sent the Kraken lawsuit back to its cage in the District Court.
Breaking: A federal appellate court has rejected Sidney Powell and Lin Wood’s appeal in the so-called Kraken case filed in Georgia. https://t.co/atqc5WIrNJ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 5, 2020
• Nevada Independent: A Carson City District Court judge rejected a legal request to award the state’s six electoral votes to Donald Trump. Judge James Russell ruled that he found the evidence offered by the Trump campaign to have “little to no value,” and failed to provide under any standard of proof that the campaign’s long list of alleged fraud and vote irregularities could be backed up under any evidentiary standard.
• Detroit Free Press: Team Trump also lost in Michigan today as well. The court chastised the campaign for dragging its feet on the appeal, said the certification of Michigan’s election results by the Board of State Canvassers in the interim had made the lawsuit moot, and said that if the Trump campaign wanted to challenge the results it could have requested a recount, but it did not.
• WXKY Radio: New York Young Republicans hoped to keep the New Jersey location of their annual fundraiser a secret but were outed by folks tweeting from the party. Jersey City chief prosecutor Jake Hudnut responded to a tweet by an attendee taunting New York Gov. Cuomo to “come and get me” by tweeting “Gov. Cuomo may not be able to ‘come and get’ you, but I can.”
Catch us if you can, Commie aCuomo.
The show will always go on for patriots…
Thanks for organizing an amazing America First event! @GavinWax @NYYRC 🇺🇸❤️ pic.twitter.com/Wwr4IzoZ00
— Ashley StClair 🇺🇸 (@stclairashley) December 4, 2020
Pssst…you are in #JerseyCity – not New York.
Gov. Cuomo may not be able to “come and get” you.
But I can.
— Jake Hudnut (@JakeHudnut) December 4, 2020
Today, GLAAD released a new poll of LGBTQ Americans that puts to rest the misinformation from unreliable sources about Donald Trump’s LGBTQ record and where critical LGBTQ voters stand in this election.
The new survey found:
• 76% of likely LGBTQ voters favor Biden over Trump, who received 17%. 5% of LGBTQ likely voters planned to vote for another candidate and 2% remain unsure.
• 88% of respondents report being registered to vote.
• 92% of registered LGBTQ voters said they would definitely or probably vote in the upcoming Presidential election.
• 81% of likely LGBTQ voters are more motivated to vote in 2020 than in recent elections.
The SuperPAC MeidasTouch, founded and funded by three brothers who consider themselves lifelong Democrats, has released its newest political ad video, which targets unregistered LGBTQ+ voters.
The video announces a new partnership with Vote Proud, a voting initiative for the LGBTQ community. The group was founded by Bruce Roberts, Lisa Halliday, and Jake Resnicow with Sharon Stone, Billy Porter, Sean Hayes, Lisa Rinna, Elton John, and David Furnish among the many co-chairs.
It’s no coincidence the disco hit “Enough is Enough,” recorded by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer in 1979, plays in the background of the video as Roberts penned the single for the two divas back in the day.
In a statement, Roberts shared why he’s donating his song for the effort:
“There’s too much at stake for us not to reach and engage with the large part of the community that did not vote in 2016. I wrote Enough is Enough many years ago. Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer recorded it and had a global #1 record, selling millions. And all these years later it has become an anthem for change and equality in America today. I am proud to be working with MeidasTouch on this initiative to spread the message using my song.”
If you think the LGBTQ vote doesn’t matter, check out these stats comparing Donald Trump’s 2016 margin of victory in swing states versus how many LGBTQ Americans didn’t even bother to register and vote.
While all of those unregistered LGBTQ voters wouldn’t have thrown their support to Hillary Clinton, a recent study by the Williams Institute shows half of registered LGBT voters (50%) are Democrats, 22% are Independents, 15% are Republicans, and 13% said they identify with another party or did not know with which party they most identify.
If the Democratic gays along with half of the Independents had shown up for Clinton…
Former Vice President Joe BidenIn an effort to engage with millions of LGBTQ voters ahead of the upcoming presidential election in November, former Vice President Joe Biden will launch a national voter outreach effort to coincide with Pride Month.
CBS News reports the campaign program, titled ‘Out For Biden,’ a national get-out-the-vote effort focusing on the estimated 11 million LGBTQ voters across the nation, with special emphasis on vital battleground states.
A study conducted by the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute found approximately 50 percent of registered LGBTQ voters identify as Democrats, 15 percent are registered Republicans and 22 percent say they are Independents.
A notable factoid that requires attention: the study found about one-fifth of LGBTQs of voting age are not registered to vote.
For perspective regarding possible impact, it’s worth noting that in 2016 Donald Trump won the state of Florida by 112,911 votes and there are approximately 772,000 LGBTQ voters in the Sunshine state.
In Pennsylvania, Trump had a victory margin of 44,292 votes and there are an estimated 416,000 queer voters in the state.
And in Michigan, where there are 311,000 LGBTQ voters, Trump squeaked by with a bare 10,704 votes.
The ‘Out For Biden’ outreach will begin as a virtual effort primarily due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Online conversations will be held on issues of health, race and sports, related to the LGBTQ community.
Additionally, “tool kits” will be available which include voter registration information and messaging to engage with others regarding LGBTQ equality issues.
Campaign officials say the outreach will be led in part by a group of 32 LGBTQ politicians and allies including openly lesbian Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) plus 6 other openly queer congressional members. Transgender elected officials, like Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins, will also have a prominent voice.
As Instinct reported last week, while the White House was silent regarding Pride Month this year, Biden penned a lengthy essay detailing his past efforts as well as his plans to empower the LGBTQ community as president.
Biden, who crossed the delegate threshold to become the Democratic presidential nominee last week, closed his Pride proclamation writing, “I believe in the story of this country and the LGBTQ+ community.”
For more information about ‘Out For Biden,’ visit the official Joe Biden campaign website.
In related news, Biden has jumped to a 14 point lead in the latest CNN/SSRS national poll with Biden garnering 55 percent to Trump’s 41 percent.
But for those inclined to follow politics, national polls may offer a sense of the country’s political temperature, but they aren’t useful in determining the actual state of the presidential race.
As many have noted, the 2020 contest will most likely be determined in a handful of swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona.
You can check in on those battleground states’ recent polls at Real Clear Politics.
Currently, in RCP’s average of polls, Biden leads Trump nationally by 7.8 percent. But more importantly, he holds small leads in each of those above-named swing states.
NEW: @realDonaldTrump job approval drops 7 points to 38% in new CNN national poll. @JoeBiden opens a 14-point lead in the 2020 race. pic.twitter.com/WbMOTc0lb2
— Javi Morgado (@javimorgado) June 8, 2020
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete ButtigiegA new poll conducted by YouGov/Out Magazine shows LGBTQ voters are definitely leaning towards a particular Democratic presidential candidate and it’s Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
I’ll say upfront any polling should be taken with a grain of salt, but this does provide a glimpse into what some folks may be thinking at this time.
Announced as a ‘first of its kind’ survey of likely Democratic primary voters who identify as LGBTQ, the results show Warren easily outpaces her fellow Democrats garnering 31 percent of those polled.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came in second with 18 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden pulled in 16 percent, and out South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 14 percent support.
Everyone else in the field scored in the single-digit range.
31% – Elizabeth Warren
18% – Bernie Sanders
16% – Joe Biden
14% – Pete Buttigieg
6% – Kamala Harris
3% – Cory Booker
2% – Julián Castro
2% – Amy Klobuchar
2% – Andrew Yang
1% – Tulsi Gabbard
1% – Marianne Williamson
All other candidates scored zero support.
The data-crunchers at YouGov surmise Warren resonates so strongly with LGBTQ voters because LGBTQ voters tend to be more liberal than the average Democratic primary voter.
According to Alissa Stollwerk, Vice President of YouGov Blue, “Seventy-seven percent of LGBTQ+ Democratic primary voters identified in our survey as very or somewhat liberal, approximately 20 percentage points higher than the percentage of Democratic primary voters overall who identify as very or somewhat liberal in our surveys.”
For instance, respondents said they overwhelmingly prefer bold structural reforms (68%) versus incremental changes in policy (28%).
Asked who could beat Donald Trump in the general election, 53 percent said Warren could win, 52 percent said Biden would trump Trump, 46 percent indicated Sanders could come out on top, 29 percent gave the nod to Buttigieg, and 26 percent said Harris could beat Trump.
More from the survey:
• 93% disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president; 89% strongly disapprove
• 89% say Trump should be impeached and removed from office
• 73% say the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color is the most critical issue facing the LGBTQ Community today; 60% said complete nondiscrimination protections; 59% indicated LGBTQ youth homelessness
In a statement to Out, Stollwerk notes that such polling “is a snapshot of a group of people at a given time” and should be viewed as such.
But the results do offer insight into “the viewpoints of these Democratic voters, what issues are important to them, and what they want to see in the next Democratic nominee for president.