LGBTQ news and entertainment
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Monmouth poll: Buttigieg, Biden, Sanders and Warren in tight race for New Hampshire primaryhttps://t.co/W1x5IXEpmD
— 7News Boston WHDH (@7News) January 10, 2020
Via WMUR:
Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surged to the head of the Democratic presidential field in first-in-nation primary state New Hampshire, according to a new poll of likely primary voters released Tuesday.
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll of 255 likely Democratic primary voters shows that Buttigieg, supported by 25 percent, now holds a 10 percentage point lead over former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who are tied for second at 15 percent. Buttigieg is substantially ahead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is in fourth place at 9 percent.
Rounding out the top 10 were Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 6 percent; billionaire activist Tom Steyer of California at 5 percent; U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey at 3 percent each; entrepreneur Andrew Yang of New York at 2 percent and California Sen. Kamala Harris at 1 percent. Thirteen percent of those polled said they were undecided.
Respondents were also asked who was the strongest candidate to go head to head against Donald Trump in the general election, and Biden leads in that lane by a mile. 
The latest New Hampshire primary poll conducted by Saint Anselm College shows Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) moving into second place while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) drops to fifth place.
• Former Vice President Joe Biden 21% (-2)
• Sen. Kamala Harris 18% (+11)
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren 17% (+8)
• Mayor Pete Buttigieg 12% (+1)
• Sen. Bernie Sanders 10% (-6)
• Entrepreneur Andrew Yang 5%
• Se. Amy Klobuchar 3% (+1)
• Author Marianne Williamson 2% (new)
• Sen. Cory Booker 1%
• Rep. Tulsi Gabbard 1%
• Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand 1%
The survey did not include other candidates: former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro, former U.S. Rep. John Delaney, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan, Sen. Michael Bennet, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.
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| New Hampshire lawmaker Steve Negron |
New Hampshire state lawmaker and Republican candidate for Congress, Steve Negron, defended his decision to vote for allowing gay kids to be tortured through so-called “conversion therapy” during an interview with local station WMUR last month.
“I did not vote for that. I believe that’s something that, when you look at these young children that are trying to make a decision, and I remember when I was 15-16 I was confused, I had a lot of options in my life,” he said during a late August Facebook Live interview with WMUR, the state’s largest TV station.
“I think we need to be able to help them understand what it is, give them the right information, and let them get the treatment that they need to understand what the situation is,” Negron continued. “And I think the parents have a huge role in that as well.”
As I’ve reported over and over here on The Randy Report, major medical groups – including the American Psychological Association – have condemned the practice as extremely harmful saying it can lead to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, hurt self-esteem and lead to substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors.
New Hampshire’s LGBT advocates celebrated GOP Gov. Chris Sununu for signing into law a new bill which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
The transgender rights bill passed the New Hampshire House by 195-129 votes, and in the Senate with all Democrats in favor and enough Republicans in support to pass it, 14-10.
“Discrimination – in any form – is unacceptable and runs contrary to New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Spirit,” Sununu said in a statement after signing House Bill 1319.
But wait – Sununu wasn’t done.
He also signed on Friday legislation banning so-called conversion therapy for gay minors.
Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii and now New Hampshire all have laws or regulations protecting youth from this abusive practice.
A growing number of municipalities have also enacted similar protections, including cities and counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Wisconsin.
There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people such as depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness, and even suicidal behavior. The harmful practice is condemned by every major medical and mental health organization, including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association and American Medical Association.
Good on you, New Hampshire!
The New Hampshire state Senate, by a 14-10 vote margin, has approved a bill that will add gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination law.
New Hampshire is the only state in the New England area without transgender protections in its non-discrimination law.
Notable – both chambers of the state legislature are controlled by Republicans.
Openly gay state Rep. Ed Butler (D) introduced the measure in the House as HB 1319, which was approved in March by a vote of 195-129, with 51 Republican votes.
Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has indicated he will sign the bill into law.
BREAKING: In bipartisan vote, #NewHampshire Senate passes H.B. 1319, extending nondiscrimination protections to #transgender Granite Staters. The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Sununu's desk. Congrats to @FreedomNH_! pic.twitter.com/Bvzs7oL9fl— Trans Equality (@TransEquality) May 2, 2018
BREAKING: NH Senate votes to pass #HB1319 #TransBillNH 14-10 that would update anti-discrimination protections to include transgender folks across the state!! On to the @GovChrisSununu's desk for signing. #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/XvxUhKgYkY— ACLU_New Hampshire (@ACLU_NH) May 2, 2018
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| (image via Facebook) |
An 8-year-old bi-racial boy was hung from a tree by a 14-year-old boy in Claremont, New Hampshire.
Via RawStory:
According to the victim’s grandmother Lorrie Slattery, he was playing with a group of children and teens when they began to taunt him with racist epithets and throw sticks and rocks at him.
Someone stood on a picnic table and the group wrapped a rope from a nearby tire swing around the boy’s throat, then kicked him off the table.
The victim swung back and forth three times before he was able to free himself. None of the teens came to his aid.
NH1.com said Chief Chase refused to state whether the crime was racially motivated.
The incident, which took place on August 28, has locals up in arms as the police have appeared to be more interested in protecting the alleged perpetrator than finding justice for the victim.
Claremont Police Chief Mark Chase refused to comment on the case saying his department is still investigating. He also noted that those involved are juveniles and that they should be “protected.”
“Mistakes they make as a young child should not have to follow them for the rest of their life,” Chase said.
As the boy was being flown to medical treatment, his mother took to Facebook denouncing the attack, “So my son is being flown to Dartmouth after a 14-year-old kid decided to hang him from a tree. I don’t care if this was a so called accident or not. My son almost died because of some little sh*t teenage kids.”
Since Donald Trump’s election, the U.S. has seen a spike in hate crimes.
He. Just. Can’t. Let. It. Go.
President Trump apparently went back into “voter fraud” mode yesterday during a bipartisan meeting of U.S. Senators meant to shore up support for Trump’s nominee for SCOTUS, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Reporters were allowed in the room, but it was after the journalists were escorted out that Trump went on another rant saying he’d have won the popular vote in the presidential election if not for fraud.
Via Politico:
As soon as the door closed and the reporters allowed to observe for a few minutes had been ushered out, Trump began to talk about the election, participants said, triggered by the presence of former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who lost her reelection bid in November and is now working for Trump as a Capitol Hill liaison, or “Sherpa,” on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch.
The president claimed that he and Ayotte both would have been victorious in the Granite State if not for the “thousands” of people who were “brought in on buses” from neighboring Massachusetts to “illegally” vote in New Hampshire.
According to one participant who described the meeting, “an uncomfortable silence” momentarily overtook the room.
Trump also teased Ayotte by saying, “You’d have won if you’d been on my train.”
Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton gets more good news in the polls from two swing states, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
Among likely voters in Pennsylvania, Hillary tops Donald Trump by 11 points 49%/38% according to the latest Franklin and Marshall poll.
Most pundits on both sides of the political spectrum say Trump really needs the Keystone State to win the presidency.
In New Hampshire, the new WBUR poll gives the former Secretary of State a whopping 17 point lead on the Trumpster – 51% to 34%.
The Democratic Rapid Response team was ready for Donald Trump’s big night last night in New Hampshire with this clip which depicts Donald Trump as THE GODFATHER’s “Vito Corleone” – “the candidate nobody can refuse” who will “do anything to win” and to whom “all must pay their respects.”