Tag: Nevada

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Podcast: Chechnya, Chelsea Manning & Out Short Film “Wonderkid”

In this week’s episode of The Randy Report :

• Gay men in Chechnya are still being rounded up, tortured and killed, and guess what the United States is doing about it?

• Transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning is free after 7 years in prison.

• A Mississippi man is sentenced to 49 years in prison for the murder of his transgender girlfriend.

• Nevada bans so-called “ex-gay” conversion therapy.

• A new study shows facial hair plays a big part in perceived masculinity, sexual attractiveness and even the length of relationships.

• Short film “Wonderkid” tackles homophobia in competitive sports. Watch the full film for free at www.wonderkidfilm.co.uk/watch

I appreciate everyone who follows my podcast.

I’m going to ask a favor here: as podcasts are becoming more and more popular, I’d appreciate it if you would recommend The Randy Report podcast to you friends. It’s intended as an easy and listener-friendly way to catch up on the week’s LGBTQ headlines.

If you like, please consider sharing the link to my podcast on your social media, or just tell your friends.

In just a few months, I’m proud to say The Randy Report is one of the top LGBT podcasts on iTunes.

Listen below.

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Nevada Becomes 9th State To Ban So-Called “Conversion Therapy” For Minors

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval

Today, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed into law Senate Bill 201, legislation which bans the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called “conversion therapy.”

Via the Human Rights Campaign:

“No child should be put through the dangerous and inhumane practice of conversion therapy,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Medical professionals agree this outdated and discredited practice not only doesn’t work, but can also have life-threatening consequences. It is nothing short of child abuse. We thank Governor Sandoval and the Nevada State Legislature for passing these crucially important protections for the state’s LGBTQ youth.”

Nevada becomes the tenth jurisdiction — and the third state so far this year — to enact these crucially important protections. Connecticut, California, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, and New Mexico all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this abusive practice. A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including cities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

“I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate and the Assembly for their bipartisan support of Senate Bill 201,” said Nevada State Senator David Parks, who sponsored the bill. “Conversion therapy is a dangerous, discredited practice that has been shown to cause anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide among LGBTQ youth. By enacting this ban, Nevada will join eight other states and the District of Columbia in taking a strong stand to protect young people from psychological and physical abuse.”

“Conversion therapy,” sometimes referred to as “sexual orientation change efforts” or “reparative therapy,” encompasses a range of practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. These practices are based on the false premise that being LGBTQ is a mental illness that needs to be cured — a theory that has been rejected for decades by every major medical and mental health organization.

Nevada state Sen. David Parks
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Nevada Legislature Takes Steps To Remove State Constitutional Ban On Marriage Equality

The Nevada legislature is taking steps to remove the state’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality just in case the U.S. Supreme Court might reverse it’s 2015 Obergefell ruling.

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

The Nevada Senate on Monday approved a proposed constitutional amendment recognizing same-sex marriage, a preemptive move to protect gay marriage should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its previous ruling.

Assembly Joint Resolution 2 passed 19-2 after it was amended to include an exemption stipulating religious organizations and clergy could not be forced to solemnize gay marriages.

Republican Sens. Joe Hardy of Boulder City and Don Gustavson of Sparks voted no.

It now goes back to the Assembly to concur with the Senate’s amendment. It was approved earlier in the Assembly 27-14, with Republican Lisa Krasner of Reno in support. The resolution would have to be approved by the Legislature again in 2019 before it is sent to voters for ratification in 2020.

Introduced by Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, AJR2 also would repeal a constitutional provision passed by voters in 2002 that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June 2015. But there are concerns about the future legality of gay marriage in the U.S. under Republican President Donald Trump and potential vacancies on the high court under his administration.

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News Round-Up: April 14, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• Woofy Instastud Alex Abramov (above)  is ready for the weekend #TGIF

• “Kill The Gays” Pastor Kevin Swanson ripped the new live-action box office bonanza that is Beauty and the Beast on his radio show recently. Swanson went on a tear ranting that not only is there a gay character, but the flick promotes “inter-species breeding.”  #SRSLY

• Fox News is so excited about the “Mother of All Bombs” dropping on ISIS, they turned it into a music video. I kid you not…

• There are whispers that SCOTUS Justice Anthony Kennedy might be considering retirement soon. That would shift the Supreme Court to a solid 5 conservative judges, and open the door to bad things for LGBTs.

• Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 99 into law this week, extending protections to LGBTQ youth in child welfare and juvenile detention facilities. AB 99 requires foster parents to be trained on working with LGBTQ youth, and requires state and local agencies and facilities to treat a child in accordance with their gender identity.

• Beach weather is coming, which means it’s time to pull it up, kids. For your viewing pleasure, here are some tips for bumping up the booty, courtesy of trainer Mike Espinosa:

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Nevada Leads The U.S. In Job Creation

Hey, hey, hey – my homestate of Nevada has moved from zero to hero in Gallup’s Job Creation Index.

Nevada led the way as the U.S. showed strong job growth in 2016, scoring highest among all states in Gallup’s 2016 Job Creation Index.

The rise to the top spot completed a six-year climb for Nevada, which ranked last among the states in both 2009 and 2010.

Moving in the other direction, Wyoming scored last among the states for 2016 — eight years after topping Gallup’s first Job Creation Index in 2008.

Each night in its Gallup Daily tracking survey, Gallup asks employed Americans to report on hiring activity at their place of work. Gallup’s Job Creation Index is based on the percentage of workers saying their place of employment is increasing the size of its workforce, minus the percentage saying their place of employment is reducing the size of its workforce.

For the nation overall, the Job Creation Index score has grown each year since 2009, from -1 to +32 in 2016 (43% hiring, 11% letting go).

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Nevada: Trump Early Voting Lawsuit Already Dead – Judge Denies Motion

Judge Sturman in Nevada has just ruled against the Trump campaign’s lawsuit about alleged violations in early voting discrepancies.

From CNN:

Judge Gloria Sturman, of the District Court for Clark County Nevada, ruled from the bench, saying County Registrar of Voters Joe P. Gloria was already obligated by state law to maintain the records that the Trump campaign is seeking.

The judge at times expressed frustration with Brian Hardy, a lawyer for the Trump campaign.

“I am not ordering him (Gloria) to preserve anything,” she said, adding, “This is Election Day. He has other things to be doing.”

The registrar’s office said in a statement that the Trump campaign’s request to preserve the records “is required by state law, and so it is something we are already doing.”

Veteran Nevada political reporter Jon Ralston dropped these bon mots after the hearing ended just minutes ago:

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Nevada: Trump Campaign Sues Clark County Registrar Over Early Voting

It looks like the Trumpster is already playing the role of sore loser.

The Donald Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit in Nevada against the Clark County Registrar claiming polls at a Clark County voting location were kept open “2 hours beyond closing time” on the final day of early voting.

The fact is, people were in line before closing, and Nevada state law allows registered voters to cast their ballot if they are in line before closing time.

From CNN:

Dan Kulin, a spokesperson for the county, told CNN that no early voting stations extended their closing times. They did, however, process voters who were in line at closing time to allow as many people to vote as possible. Trump lawyers are asking for an order to have the pertinent early vote ballots not to be “co-mingled or interspersed” with other ballots.

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway recently told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the Trump campiagn had no evidence that there was any wrongdoing at the polling location.

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Democratic Early Voting Turnout Will End Trump’s White House Chances

In a thrilling final day of early voting in Nevada, voters turned out in record numbers – and when I say “voters,” I mean Democrats.

We’ve heard about an “enthusiasm gap” for Hillary Clinton? Not last night. Not in Nevada.

So much enthusiasm was on display last night that at one polling station at a Cardenas Grocery store the line to vote was so long, the polls couldn’t close until after 10PM.

Here’s Nevada political expert Jon Ralston crunching the early vote numbers:

Trump’s path was nearly impossible, as I have been telling you, before what happened in Clark County on Friday. But now he needs a Miracle in Vegas on Election Day — and a Buffalo Bills Super Bowl championship is more likely — to turn this around. The ripple effect down the ticket probably will cost the Republicans Harry Reid’s Senate seat, two GOP House seats and control of the Legislature.

How devastating was it, epitomized by thousands of mostly Latino voters keeping Cardenas market open open in Vegas until 10 PM? This cataclysmic:

—-The Democrats won Clark County by more than 11,000 votes Friday (final mail count not posted yet), a record margin on a record-setting turnout day of 57,000 voters. The Dems now have a firewall — approaching 73,000 ballots — greater than 2012 when Barack Obama won the state by nearly 7 points. The 71,000 of 2012 was slightly higher in percentage terms, but raw votes matter. The lead is 14 percentage points — right at registration. You know what else matters? Registration advantages (142,000 in Clark). Reminder: When the Clark votes were counted from early/mail voting in 2012, Obama had a 69,000 vote lead in Clark County. Game over.

—-The statewide lead (some rurals not posted) will be above 45,000 — slightly under the 48,000 of 2012, but still robust. That’s 6 percentage points, or right about at registration. The GOP turnout advantage was under a percent, worse than 2012 when it was 1.1 percent.

—-Total turnout without those rurals: 768,000, or 52.5 percent. If overall turnout ends up being 80 percent, that means two thirds of the vote is in — close to 2012. Republicans would have to not only win Election Day by close to double digits to turn around the lead Hillary Clinton almost surely has in early voting, but they would have to astronomically boost turnout.

As an exclamation point to a historic night in Nevada, in which Clinton essentially locked up the state and Hispanics, insulted all cycle by Trump, streamed into the market, here is what the final Cardenas numbers showed (tallied by an on-the-ground activist):

1,904 voted
1,258: Ds, 66%
165: Rs, 9%
481: NPs, 25%

So Cardenas was responsible for adding 1,000 to the Democratic lead.

Trump has almost no path to the presidency without Nevada. He can say whatever he wants in Reno on Saturday and boost rural turnout a lot, but he made his own bed when he announced his candidacy.

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Jon Ralston: Early Voting Indicates Nevada Is “Solid Lean Clinton”

While the recent polls seem to lean in Donald Trump’s direction, Nevada political expert Jon Ralston sees a rosier future for Hillary Clinton as he sums up the early voting results and how the numbers stack up:

On the presidential (and maybe applies to the U.S. Senate, too), some math still holds:

• Both candidates get 90 percent of base and split indies: Clinton by 4, 29,000 votes

• Both candidates get 90 percent of base, Trump wins indies by 10: Clinton by 2, 17,000 votes

• Both candidates get 90 percent of base, Trump wins indies by 20: Clinton by 3,000 votes

Note: Trump is not going to get 90 percent of the GOP base, and with all of those votes banked even before the Comey letter, it’s almost impossible for him to win indies by 20. (Romney won indies by 7.) You see his challenge.

If Clinton holds her base here (data I have seen shows she is, and minority turnout is going up) and turnout patterns don’t dramatically shift in the last two days of early voting, she can’t lose Nevada. Solid lean Clinton right now.

More than 617,000 have voted in Nevada. That’s 42.2 percent. More than half the vote is in unless Election Day turnout is well above the norm.

The Democrats have a 34,500 voter statewide lead (probably under 34,000 after the rurals are posted). That’s 42-37, or about a point under the registration lead. The GOP turnout edge is 1.2 points.

Bolding is mine.

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Nevada: Democratic Voters Lead In Early Voting By 34K

As of this Halloween morning, registered Democratic voters showing up at the polls lead registered Republicans by 34,186, according to the Nevada Secretary of State website.

Washoe County, considered a bellwether, shows Dems with 2,500 lead, which is almost twice what it was in 2012.

From Nevada political expert Jon Ralston:

Dems are up 15 points in Clark (it was 16 in 2012), which is a point above registration, and that firewall is going to get to 60,000-plus, unless something strange happens. I repeat: Trump appears to have no path here, but the Senate race is not quite over yet.

Statewide turnout is now 31 percent of all voters — Democrats are at 34.6 percent, Republicans at 33.9 percent and others at 23 percent. The Republicans actually have a slight turnout lead in Clark — 34.9 percent to 34.3 percent, showing why that 142,000 Democratic registration lead matters. The Democratic turnout edge in Washoe is nearly 4 points (37-33).