Tag: The Equality Act

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Podcast: Miami Beach Gay-Bashing; Matt Bomer In Upcoming “Anything;” Diver Tom Daley Speaks Out On LGBT Rights At Commonwealth Games

In this week’s podcast:

• Miami Beach Pride gay bashing

• Sen. Cory Booker calls out Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo on LGBT rights

• Newly-elected Alabama Sen. Doug Jones became the latest co-sponsor of The Equality Act citing his son Carson’s coming out as affecting his view on LGBTQ rights

• Out UK diverTom Daley speaks out against Commonwealth anti-gay laws

• Matt Bomer’s casting in upcoming film trans-oriented ANYTHING gets boos from transgender community

• And the latest political parody from Randy Rainbow – “You Can’t Stop His Tweets”

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Bare Majority Of Americans Believe Stronger LGBT Civil Rights Laws Are Needed

From Gallup:

Americans are about evenly divided on whether new civil rights laws are needed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults say such laws are needed, while 46% say they are not.

These data, from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll conducted May 3-7, come as Democratic members of Congress plan to reintroduce a bill that would provide protections for LGBT people from housing, employment and other forms of discrimination. The bill’s potential for passage is unclear, as few in the majority Republican caucus have given their support.

Gallup is being generous with that last line. The Equality Act currently has no chance in hell in passing with both the House and Senate in Republican control.

And certainly President Babyhands isn’t going to go to bat for us.

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Podcast: Season 2 Of Netflix’s Sense8 , Trump & Religious Liberty, Anti-LGBT Army Secretary Nominee Withdraws & More

On this week’s  The Randy Report podcast:

• A Mississippi funeral home refuses to cremate a gay man

• The Equality Act reintroduced in Congress

• Donald Trump signed his Religious Liberty executive order without specific LGBT animus, but don’t exhale just yet

• Trump’s anti-LGBT Army Secretary nominee withdrew from consideration due to his past homophobic, transphobic and Islamophobic comments

• Netflix releases Season 2 of the LGBT inclusive sci-fi series, SENSE8 – #LoveIt

Listen below. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Randy Report podcast on iTunes here.

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Congressional Democrats To Re-Introduce The Equality Act Tomorrow

Via press release:

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 2 at 11AM ET, members of the U.S. Congress will gather in the Capitol’s Rayburn Room with advocacy leaders and LGBT Americans who have suffered discrimination to announce the re-introduction of historic legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT individuals in federal law.

The Equality Act would outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas of law where discrimination is already prohibited for other protected classes.

In most states, this discrimination – including being fired, refused an apartment or mortgage, or refused service at a restaurant based on LGBT status – is not explicitly outlawed. The Equality Act would make clear that LGBT Americans are fully protected from discrimination under federal law.

WHO:
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley
Rep. David Cicilline
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer
Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Cory Booker
Chad Griffin, President, Human Rights Campaign
Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Emily Martin, General Counsel and Vice President, National Women’s Law Center

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Obama Administration Announces Support For Equality Act

On the same day that President Obama was announced “Ally of the Year” by OUT Magazine, his administration has officially endorsed The Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTs from discrimination.

From the Washington Post:

Speaking to reporters, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration has been reviewing the bill “for several weeks.” “

Upon that review it is now clear that the administration strongly supports the Equality Act,” he said. “That bill is historic legislation that would advance the cause of equality for millions of Americans.”

“We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that the legislative process produces a result that balances both the bedrock principles of civil rights, like those I’ve just described, with the religious liberty that we hold dear in this country,” Earnest added.

Although there is little chance that this Congress will approve the legislation — which was introduced in July by Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), and Rep. David N. Cicilline (R.I.) — President Obama’s support elevates to greater prominence the question of whether lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans need greater legal safeguards. Last week, Houston residents rejected an ordinance that would have barred discrimination against gay and transgender people after opponents said it would allow men disguised as women to enter women’s restrooms.

With the GOP-led Senate and House of Representatives, the legislation will not be passed in the near future.

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Hillary Clinton Says Passing The Equality Act Will Be Her “Highest Priority”

At a campaign stop at Keene State College in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton was asked about how she sees her support for the LGBT community versus her competitors, and about her “evolution” on supporting same-sex marriage.

“Yes my views did evolve, and I think most people my age would say the same thing — there might be some exceptions.

 “But largely because of my strong opposition to discrimination of any sort and my personal relationships with a lot of people over the years, I certainly concluded that marriage equality should be the law of the land, and I was thrilled when the Supreme Court made it the law of the land.”


Pointing out she was the first First Lady to march in a Gay Pride parade, she also spoke of  her relationship with The Human Rights Campaign (“they count on me”), and also mentioned that passage of The Equality Act saying it would be her “highest priority.”

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White House Not Ready To Endorse The Equality Act

White House press secretary Josh Earnest

The Obama Administration is not yet ready to endorse The Equality Act, which would expand civil rights protections to the LGBT community.

Chris Johnson from The Washington Blade reports:

“I’m not prepared to say that yet,” Earnest said. “This is a piece of legislation that the White House does continue to review. There’s significant consequences to this bill going into effect. It has an impact on housing law and a variety of other policies in the federal government, so it’s something that’s still being carefully reviewed by the administration.”

But Earnest said even without explicit support for the bill, Obama believes “we must ensure all Americans are treated equally under federal law” and is still behind the idea of enshrining comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people.

“The president believes the passage of comprehensive legislation that protects LGBT Americans from discrimination would mark an important step toward that outcome,” Earnest added. “So, we would applaud the efforts of members of Congress to try to advance that goal, but when it comes to this specific piece of legislation, it’s something that is still under review by the administration.”

Both Hillary Clinton and Vice-President Joe Biden have signaled they support the legislation.

That being said, I would put the idea that the bill would move substantially in the current GOP controlled Congress pretty close to zero.