LGBTQ news and entertainment
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
A Warren administration will protect the rights of LGBTQ+, women, Black, and Latinx service members. I’ll reverse Trump’s shameful ban on trans service members on Day One. My administration will protect veterans and family members of serving military personnel from deportation.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 5, 2019
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| Trans airman Logan Ireland |
The House of Representatives has approved amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that would reverse Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military service members.
The measure, known as the ‘Harry Truman’ amendment, passed by a vote of 242-187. Ten Republicans joined the full Democratic caucus in approving the amendment.
The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), said, “Over the last three years, 14,000 transgender service members have served openly and successfully.”
The congresswoman also noted that “all five service chiefs affirmed they do not hamper lethality or cohesion.”
The nickname for the amendment references the 1948 executive order by President Harry Truman which desegregated the military.
The measure would require the military to consider gender-neutral occupational standards as well as military occupational specialty in weighing potential applicants.
However, such consideration “may not include any criteria relating to the race, color, national origin, religion, or sex (including gender identity or sexual orientation) of an individual.”
Additionally, the amendment calls for ensuring “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, and sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation).”
The ban, which took effect in April, was announced in July 2017 via tweet by Donald Trump. According to multiple reports, the announcement took military leaders by surprise.
Last month, the Senate passed its own version of the defense authorization bill, which does not include the ‘Harry Truman’ amendment language.
Once the House finishes its work on the defense bill, members of both chambers will meet in conference to come to final agreement.
Chippendales ‘take a Tebow’
Asked by @AprilDRyan whether he has reconsidered his rash demand for the death penalty for the five teens who had since been exonerated of all charges in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, President Trump sided with Linda Fairstein and fellow denialists. pic.twitter.com/tXYGsRGeWU— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) June 18, 2019
• A new study by Pew Research shows bisexual adults are less likely to come out to important people in their lives than gays or lesbians. • In the middle of Pride month, the U.S. Senate confirmed another anti-LGBTI Trump judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, to a lifetime appointment to the federal bench in the Northern District of Texas with a 52-46 vote. • In a 243-183 vote, the Democratic-controlled House passed an amendment to the $1 trillion Defense spending bill that prohibits Donald Trump’s transgender military ban from being funded. • Check out the new music video from Lucy & La Mer, “Blue Dress,” about discovering one’s bisexuality and the “lightbulb” crush that begins bisexual exploration. I liked the quirky, folky, fun aesthetic. “I wrote the song right after a first date — last year, actually — just reflecting on that initial lightbulb experience about being curious and attracted to another gender than you thought you were,” Lucy told Billboard. “I wanted it to be something that was positive and energetic, not so serious or tortured or anything like that.”
Donald Trump, currently on a three-day state visit to the UK, defended his ban on transgender soldiers in the U.S. military by lying about the ‘massive’ cost of hormone treatment.
Trump sat down with his old pal and former winner of Celebrity Apprentice, Piers Morgan, on iTV’s Good Morning Britainto chat for an hour on a range of subjects.
While mentioning the president’s recent tweet acknowledging Pride Month, Morgan wondered how the same Donald Trump could also support the new military policy that went into effect April 12 that bans anyone who is openly transgender or has transitioned from joining the military.
Only service members who were already enlisted, and diagnosed with gender dysphoria prior to the new policy, may serve in the military openly as their gender identity.
“They take massive amounts of drugs, they have to, and you’re not allowed to take drugs, you’re in the military, you take an aspirin,” defended Trump. “And they have to after the operation, they have to, they have no choice.”
The president, who famously avoided serving in the military himself, went on to claim that taking hormone treatment would “break rules and regulations.”
‘You have to have a standard and you have to stick by that standard.’The POTUS defends his decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military.@piersmorgan | #GMBTrump pic.twitter.com/heBUjhwiUH
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019
He also complained about “massive amounts of people” enlisting and then transitioning during their service in order to get free surgical procedures.
“Massive amounts of people going in and then asking for the operation, and the operation is $200,000, $250,000, and they have to take large amounts of drugs for that for whatever reason, large amounts, and you can’t do that,” explained the president.
However, Trump’s statement about the costs for transgender medical care is patently false.
According to MilitaryTimes, the Pentagon spent $8 million on transgender health care since 2016. That figure represents a tiny fraction of the military’s $50 billion health care budget.
And while Trump finds $8 million for trans soldiers’ healthcare to be untenable, he doesn’t seem to mind the $84.2 million the defense department spent in one year on erectile dysfunction medications.
When Morgan mentioned this fact, the Trumpster claimed he didn’t know that.
“It is what it is,” Trump replied.
Morgan tried to point out that many trans military members have been honored with medals for valor and achievement, but Trump didn’t care.
“I’m proud of them, I think that’s great,” said Trump, brushing the comment aside. “But you have to have a standard, and you have to stick by that standard, and we have a great military and I want to keep it that way.”
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| David Hernandez |
Some news item you might have missed:
• Out singer/songwriter and American Idol alum David Hernandez found my favorite place in Puerto Vallarta – Mantamar Beach Club. If you look behind him in the lower right hand corner, you can see the cabanas hot hubby Michael and I always spend our days in 🙂
• File this under ‘Birds of a feather…’ One of the co-founders of Students For Trump has been arrested for pretending to be a Manhattan lawyer and taking thousands from would-be clients.
• Five states – California, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington – have announced they will refuse to impose Donald Trump’s trans military ban and therefore not remove trans people from their National Guards.
• Donald Trump says his administration is “fighting all the subpoenas” claiming the Democrats are hoping to “luck out” by going after him. If you’re innocent, why hide anything?
“We’re fighting all the subpoenas,” Pres. Trump says, saying Democrats are trying to “luck out” in 2020 by “constantly going after me on nonsense.” https://t.co/WFGygHVmLA pic.twitter.com/IbOTtySbaz— ABC News (@ABC) April 24, 2019
• Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was told not to bring up any concerns about Russian forms of interference in the 2020 election in front of Donald Trump because he “equated any public discussion of malign Russian election activity with questions about the legitimacy of his victory.”
• Fox’s Empire will feature the first black gay wedding on network television; and it may be Jussie Smollett’s last episode.
• Today is True Colors Day – launched by Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors United organization in an effort to raise public awareness about LGBTQ youth homelessness, and to provide supporters with simple ways to make a difference.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth. While many factors contribute to LGBTQ youth homelessness, identity-based family rejection is the most commonly cited reason.
The cast of FX’s Pose sat down to make this video for True Colors Day about how we can change our culture to one of love and acceptance.
Some news items you might have missed:
• I hear MTV Jersey Shore star Vinny Guadagnino, who joins the Chippendales here in Las Vegas as Celebrity Guest Host April 26 through May 26, is selling a LOT of tickets. And yes, men are always welcome at Chippendales.
• A new Rasmussen Reports national survey finds that 59% of likely U.S. voters say they would personally be willing to vote for an openly gay president; 30% would not, 12% are not sure.
• It’s not just adults Donald Trump’s transgender military ban is affecting. This college student lost his 3-year ROTC scholarship because of the new policy.
• A 28-year-old man in Mississippi was beaten so severely – his jaw was shattered in two places – because his assailants thought he was gay.
• 1995 drag classic To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar is being re-released for Pride Month on Blu-Ray with special features including deleted scenes.
• Christian home schooling parents, David and Louise Turpin, who beat, starved and held 12 of their children captive inside their home, were sentenced Friday to life in prison.
• The music and the magic of Elton John’s incredible life comes to the big screen in upcoming musical fantasy biopic, Rocketman.
Watch as the team behind the film discusses Elton John’s journey from prodigy to icon in this special look at Rocketman, in theatres May 31.
Some news items you might have missed: • Even though his iPhone didn’t recognize his newly-32-year-old face this morning, I’m thinking Alex Abramov (above) will find a way to soldier on… • Rugby Australia has declared its intention to terminate Israel Folau’s contract over his anti-LGBTQ social media posts. • Donald Trump’s transgender military ban went into effect today. Nearly 15,000 Americans who signed up to put their lives on the line for the US could be impacted (read that ‘discharged’) by the new policy. • A Trump-supporting Oklahoma woman has been arrested after confessing to a spree of racist vandalism that targeted black, transgender and Jewish residents in two towns. • Two male dancers have joined the New England Patriots cheerleading team. • Check out the latest single from P!nk, “Can We Pretend,” from her upcoming album Hurts 2B Human out April 26. P!nk makes me feel good. I like her music, I like her musical perspective on life. If you’ve never seen her in concert (and I’m not a concert kinda guy) you have to go. It’s a totally feel-good experience. And I love that a lyric in this song is “Can we pretend that we both like the president?”
By a vote of 238-185, the U.S. House approved a non-binding resolution Thursday morning rebuking Donald Trump’s plan to ban transgender military service members.
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass), the measure was supported by the entire Democratic caucus and was joined by five Republicans after a one-hour debate, according to the Washington Post.
Calling the misguided policy “targeted discrimination,” Kennedy said the message being sent by the House vote was to tell trans people “that they cannot be banned from military service because of who they are.”
House Resolution 124 begins with the simple statement, “Expressing opposition to banning service in the Armed Forces by openly transgender individuals.”
The resolution notes that trans service members “have served openly since 2016, bravely defending our Nation with distinction while preserving unit cohesion and contributing to military readiness,” and that thousands of trans Americans are actively serving in every branch of the Armed Forces and Reserves.
HR 124 also underscores the public testimony of all five military Chiefs of Staff who say the existing policy “has had no adverse effect on military readiness.”
The resolution comes as the Pentagon prepares to begin enforcing the trans ban on April 12 after the last of four injunctions blocking the policy from being implemented was lifted last week by a three-judge panel in the D.C. circuit.
The policy will prohibit people who have undergone gender transition from enlisting.
Current trans military service members will be required to serve as their biological gender unless they have begun gender transition before the new policy begins on April 12.
Some news items you might have missed:
• DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco (above) is living for the west coast sunshine – “Sun’s out, guns out!”
• The Alabama senate unanimously voted for a bill this week that would eliminate marriage licenses because some judges in the state don’t want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
• The organizers of Houston’s Drag Queen Story Time project are calling it quits after harassment and death threats by so-called Christians.
• The House will vote next week on a measure rejecting President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the military.
• Thanks to a lawsuit by the ACLU, state-funded faith-based adoption agencies in Michigan can no longer discriminate against LGBTI people.
• Sofi Tukker invite you into their new music video, “Fantasy.”
The track has been a fan favorite at concerts thanks to its intimate, introspective lyrics and vocal delivery.
The video is a sneak peek into what’s to come from the duo ahead of their world tour which will take them across five continents.
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| Sen. Cory Booker pledges to repeal the Trump military trans ban |
Speaking to a crowd of 300 in Davenport, Iowa, presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) pledged to repeal Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military.
The topic came up as a trans woman asked the senator what he would do to protect LGBTQ rights as president.
“When I am president, right away I will end this ridiculous, insulting, un-American ban on transgender Americans serving in the military,” replied the 49-year-old senator.
According to NBC News, the response was met with cheers from the crowd.Open service in the military by trans people began June 30, 2016, under the Obama administration.
But Donald Trump surprised the world when he tweeted on July 26, 2017, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please advised that the United States government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
Trump went on to denounce “the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender military would entail.”
But, an analysis by RAND Corporation found that the Pentagon spends only $2.4 to $8.4 million on trans-related healthcare annually, out of an estimated Department of Defense (DoD) defense budget of $49.3 billion (in 2014). That represents an infinitesimal 0.017% of the Department’s total budget.
A day later several media outlets reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not know the announcement was coming.
On August 1, 2017, 56 retired generals and admirals released a letter opposing the proposed ban on transgender military service members.
After multiple court challenges, the Pentagon released its plan last week to implement the new ban beginning April 12.
Other Democratic presidential candidates have called out the Trump/Pence administration’s dismal record on LGBTQ issues, but Booker is the first declared candidate to promise to repeal the trans ban.
Booker also pledged to revisit the Trump tax cuts, and expressed support for legalizing marijuana nationwide including expounging criminal records due to marijuana crimes.