Tag: Texas

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High School Wrestling Champ Mack Beggs On Challenges Of Being Transgender

Mack Beggs, a 17-year-old transgender high school wrestler in Texas who is transitioning to male, talks with ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” about the challenges he has faced in his controversial run to a girls’ wrestling state title.

For all the folks who have accused Beggs of “cheating” because he is on testosterone, the high schooler acknowledges he told his doctor he only wants to take the smallest dose he can and still transition. By staying under a 6 to 1 ratio with his testosterone, the state of Texas technically doesn’t view his medications as “steroids.”

Beggs also shares some of his darker moments like in 7th grade when he was referred to as “fag” or “it” in school.

I think Beggs is terrifically mature and thoughtful here. Very good interview for folks to see when it comes to the realities of trans youth.

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Podcast: Jeb Havens, Barronelle Stutzman, Texas’ “Bathroom Bill,” Finland Ready For Marriage Equality

Click play below as I recap this week’s top headlines from politics, pop culture and entertainment of interest to the LGBT community:

• Anti-LGBT florist Barronelle Stutzman loses again – this time in the Washington state supreme court over refusing to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding

• Texas gets pushback from the NBA and major stars on it’s proposed anti-transgender “bathroom bill”

• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper shares his plan to repeal his state’s anti-LGBT law, HB2

• Finland’s Parliament kills a last ditch attempt to block same-sex marriage

• Out singer/songwriter Jeb Havens dropped his uber-romantical, world-traveler music video just in time for Valentine’s Day – “Pushy Little Compass Heart” from his album, Home Base

Hit play below – and share the link to share The Randy Report podcast!

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Podcast: Troye Sivan, Anti-LGBT Legislation In Wyoming & Texas, Trump Inauguration And LGBTs Scrubbed From White House Website

Take a listen to the latest The Randy Report podcast, including these stories and more:

• Minutes after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, all information regarding LGBTs disappeared from the White House website. Hmm….

• Attendance at Donald Trump’s inaugural was dwarfed by the Women’s March on Washington the next day as hundreds of thousands marched in support for not only women’s rights but LGBT rights, civil rights, voting rights and more. And the Trumpster was not happy.

• The Texas state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an anti-LGBT hate group’s challenge to spousal benefits for same-sex couples.

• New legislation introduced in Wyoming (“The Equality State”) would legalize discrimination against same-sex couples and transgender people, and would make it impossible for any branch or part of the government to enact or enforce local non-discrimination ordinances and federal protections for the LGBT community.

• Out Music: Troye Sivan released his video for “Heaven,” from his Blue Neighbourhood album – a sensual black & white vision featuring intimate shots of Sivan along side clips of important moments in the LGBTQ rights movement.

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News Round-Up: September 21, 2016

Finding Prince Charming‘s Robert Sepulveda Jr.

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Finding Prince Charming bachelor Robert Sepulveda Jr. warns he will SUE you if you shame him, call him out or just plain be mean to him on social media.

• The school district in McKinney, Texas, is about to get a $70 million high school football stadium. Everything in Texas IS bigger!

• The man who violently smashed a wooden chair over the heads of a gay couple after a fight at Dallas BBQ in NYC has been sentenced to 9 years in prison.

• President George H.W. Bush has told those in his close circle he plans to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton in this year’s presidential election.

• OUT Magazine is catching hell for “profiling” right-wing nut-job and professional asshole Milo Yiannopoulos.

• Charlotte, North Carolina, erupts in racial tension as another black man is shot dead by police.

• Homeowners in Seattle are now being sued for $1.6 million in fines and damages for cutting down more than 150 trees on public property to improve the view from their homes.

• On the 4th anniversary of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney releasing his tax returns last election cycle, Hillary Clinton hits Donald Trump with this little valentine.

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: Dallas Protesters Are “Hypocrites” For Running From Shooter

At a time when the city of Dallas, in fact the entire country, is working to unite and come together, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick chose to divide his constituents by calling the peaceful protesters last night “hypocrites” during a Fox News interview

From Dallas News:

“All those protesters last night, they turned around and ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to protect them. What hypocrites!” an audibly emotional Patrick said.

As Gov. Greg Abbott issued on open letter calling on Texans to calmly unite and come together, Patrick took a more combative tone. He blamed Black Lives Matter protesters for the violence against police and said people “with big mouths are creating situations like we saw last night.”

“We have to have their back,” Patrick said of police. “And I’m sick and tired of those who are protesting our police and putting their lives in danger.”

It’s important to note the Black Lives Matter march in downtown Dallas last night was a peaceful protest bringing attention to the recent deaths of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota this week.

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules 5-3 Against Texas’ Abortion Restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of abortion for the first time in nearly a decade, and it’s good news for pro-choice supporters.

Via CNN:

In a dramatic ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday threw out a Texas abortion access law in a victory to supporters of abortion rights who argued it would have shuttered all but a handful of clinics in the state.

The 5-3 ruling is the most significant decision from the Supreme Court on abortion in two decades and could serve to deter other states from passing so-called “clinic shutdown” laws.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, which was joined in full by Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered the swing vote on the abortion issue.

“There was no significant health-related problem that the new law helped to cure,” Breyer wrote. “We agree with the District Court that the surgical-center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an “undue burden” on their constitutional right to do so.”

There were two provisions of the law at issue. The first said that doctors have to have local admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, the second says that the clinics have to upgrade their facilities to hospital-like standards.

Donald Trump has previously stated that women should be “punished” for having abortions if it were to become illegal.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton immediately praised the ruling:

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Megyn Kelly Asks Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick About Transgender Bathroom Rights: “Is This A Problem?”

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly interviewed virulently anti-LGBT Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick last night regarding his opposition to newly issued guidance on transgender students rights in public schools by the Education & Justice Departments.

Kelly attempted to move Patrick past his talking points towards answering her questions, rather than give him airtime for spouting dangerous lies and myths about alleged “transgender bathroom predators.” But Patrick continued to diminish the value of trans students by saying they make up a tiny part of the population.

At one point, Patrick mentioned his role in defeating Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance last year, saying the legislation would have “allowed men in ladies’ rooms”, but Kelly was quick to challenge him. “Allow men in ladies’ rooms or allow trans women in ladies’ rooms?” she asked.

Patrick quickly deflected, saying, “Megyn, you’re missing this.” But Megyn wasn’t having it. “I don’t think I’m missing anything,” she replied.

Watch below.

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Texas: Newly-Elected Travis County Republican Chairman Goes Wild On Twitter

Just when you think politics can’t get any stranger, along comes the story of Texas Republican Robert Morrow.

Morrow was elected chairman of the Travis County Republican Party with 54 percent of the vote.

His vice-chair – GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak – tweeted shortly after Morrow’s win that he was “exploring” options to remove him before he takes over that position in June:

Why? Because Morrow is apparently a wild man on the Twitter.

Check out some of these tweets from just the past 24 hours about the Clintons, the Bush family and more:

Oh – and then there was this a few months ago. He’s a classy dude, no?

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Dallas Morning News Endorses Hillary Clinton

The Dallas Morning News has endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Texas Democratic primary:

Democrats should vote for her March 1. She’s a better choice than another long-shot liberal senator, her surging rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

A better choice not because he’s too liberal to win in November, though he is. She’s better because over her lifetime, Clinton has learned to temper her idealism without losing it.

She’s learned to advance her agenda even when it means letting others advance too. She’s cultivated allies.

Read the rest of the editorial here.

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Congressman Louie Gohmert: Put Gay Couples On An Island To See If They Die Out

While speaking at Liberty University last week, anti-LGBT Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert repeated his call to test his theory that same-sex relationships are “unnatural.”

“Let’s just take a totally secular approach to this. Congress is good about having studies; how about if we take four heterosexual couples and put them on an island where they have everything they need to live and exist and we take four couples of just men and put them on an island where they have all they need to survive and then let’s take four couples of just women and put them on an island and then lets come back in 100 years and see which one nature favors.”

Of course, the same could be said about infertile couples or seniors who are past the age of reproduction.

But logic never gets in the way of Mr. Gohmert.

Watch below.