• 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 Newmaris 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 Humanout 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
Happy birthday, Russell Todd! (photo: James Franklin)
Some news items you might have missed:
• Belated birthday wishes to my longtime buddy, Russell Todd! I’ve known Russell since the 90s when I first moved to the west coast. Everywhere we’d go fans would remember him as ‘Dr. Jamie Frame’ from Another World, Friday the 13th Part 2, and other movie/TV projects. Totally the best guy, and yes – he is that handsome 🙂
• Traffic on the app Tumblr has dropped by 150 million page views since banning “photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples” on the site from December 17.
• Sadly, Netflix has announced the cancellation of its reboot of the Norman Lear sitcom, One Day at a Time. The new version, featuring a Cuban-American family, was about as good as a TV sitcom can get. The series tackled coming out, homophobia, depression, and many important topics with class and intelligence. If you have Netflix, I recommend you go catch up on the 3 seasons we did get.
• A new documentary, Mack Wrestles, chronicles the story of Mack Beggs, the trans male Texas high school wrestler who won the state’s girls champion despite wanting to wrestle boys. The film just premiered at the 2019 SXSW Conference & Festivals in Austin, Texas.
• Ray Mabus, the former Secretary of the Navy, blasted the Trump/Pence transgender military ban as a “stain on our country” saying the policy “tells our children that merit has no place, while prejudice does.”
.@DeptofDefense implementing this bigoted plan hurts the military & everything it stands for. Evidently it’s not enough to be able to do the job & be a patriot. This is a stain on our country & tells our children that merit has no place, while prejudice does. https://t.co/mCgJcUd9wR
The Department of Defense has issued a memo, signed by Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, that details new rules which will largely limit transgender people serving in the U.S. military.
The policy will go into effect on April 12.
Currently serving trans troop members, and trans recruits who have signed an enlistment contract before April 12, will be allowed to continue with hormone treatment and planned gender transition if they already have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
After April 12, the military will not accept new recruits who have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, or are taking hormones, or are planning to transition.
There are some limited exceptions to the ban.
Trans people with gender dysphoria who enter a contract to enlist before April 12, and are certified by a licensed mental health provider that they have been “stable” in their gender identity for 18 months (no significant distress or impairment in social or occupational areas of functioning), may qualify for exemption. Such exemptions would allow them to be eligible for transition-related care through the military health care system.
Also, individuals with no diagnosis of gender dysphoria and show a willingness to serve in their ‘biological sex’ may be allowed to enlist.
Service secretaries will be able to issue waivers on a case-by-case basis. Chris Johnson, of the Washington Blade, reports waivers “are granted at a discretion of defense officials ‘not infrequently,’ between 7-8% of all service members acceded with some kind of waiver.”
The new rules are a reversal of a Obama era policy (implemented June 30, 2016) that allowed transgender people to serve openly and receive medical treatment to aid transition.
Donald Trump surprised the nation and military leaders when he announced on July 26, 2017, his plan to completely ban trans service members. At the time, he said his decision was based on costs which made trans soldiers “financially burdensome.”
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……
A 2016 RAND Corp. study estimated between 1,320 to 6,630 trans troops are currently on active duty.
The Pentagon’s annual budget for health care is $50 billion, and a report by USA Today shows that, since the ban was lifted in 2016, only $8 million has been spent on psychological and medical treatment to more than 1,500 trans troops.
Last year, all four service chiefs testified before Congress they had seen no issue with transgender troops serving openly.
The Palm Center’s Aaron Belkin estimates 10% of transgender military service members currently serving have received a gender dysphoria diagnosis and will be ‘grandfathered’ in under the new rules.
Belkin added, “The Trump administration is determined to bring back ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ a policy that forced service members to choose between serving their country and telling the truth about who they were.”
The new policy encountered several court challenges along the way resulting in four injunctions blocking implementation of the plan. The last of those injunctions was lifted last week.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi denounced the news.
“The President’s revival of his bigoted, disgusting ban on transgender service members is a stunning attack on the patriots who keep us safe and on the most fundamental ideals of our nation,” she told Reuters.
Speaking for the National Center for Transgender Equality, policy director Harper Jean Tobin called the ban “severe,” and a blow to the U.S. military.
“Throughout our nation’s history, we have seen arbitrary barriers in our military replaced with inclusion and equal standards,” Tobin told BuzzFeed News. “This is the first time in American history such a step forward has been reversed, and it is a severe blow to the military and to the nation’s values.”
As the Trump administration continues to push for a ban on transgender military service members, new legislation is being introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to allow open service by trans soldiers.
The Washington Post reports that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the bill in the U.S. Senate along with Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Calling out President Trump for the proposed ban, which was unceremoniously tweeted out in July 2017, Gillibrand said in a statement, “President Trump’s ban on transgender service members is discrimination, it undermines our military readiness, and it is an insult to the brave patriotic transgender Americans who choose to serve in our military.”
“We should end this discriminatory ban for good and ensure our transgender service members can continue to do their jobs, serve with dignity and protect our country,” she added.
Gillibrand recently announced she making a run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
The legislation would ban the Pentagon from discharging any currently serving trans soldiers only on the basis of their gender identity. Additionally, new recruits could not be turned away from enlisting based only on their gender identity.
A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by California Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier. Co-sponsoring the bill in the House were Reps. Anthony Brown (D-Md), Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.), Susan Davis (D-Calif.) and John Katko (R-NY).
Last month, the Supreme Court issued a stay of injunction on two lawsuits that blocked the ban. The policy hasn’t gone into effect yet as the last lawsuit is still being appealed in Maryland.
While the House version could very well pass, the Republican majority in the Senate pretty much ensures the legislation will be dead in the water there.
However, even if the bills passed in both chambers, it would land on Donald Trump’s desk where he is sure to veto the legislation.
Both Speier and Gillibrand invited trans soldiers to attend the State of the Union address this week as their guest to highlight the issue.
In related news, one of the highest-ranking officers in the California National Guard announced the state would not discharge trans soldiers from it’s ranks.
New bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate and House today would protect currently serving transgender service members and continue to allow new trans service members to join the military.
The bill, which was also introduced by Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), comes weeks after the Supreme Court paved the way for President Trump to begin implementing a ban on transgender military service.
“President Trump’s ban on transgender service members is discrimination, it undermines our military readiness, and it is an insult to the brave and patriotic transgender Americans who choose to serve in our military,” Gillibrand, an Armed Service Committee member, said in a statement. “We should end this discriminatory ban for good and ensure our transgender service members can continue to do their jobs, serve with dignity, and protect our country.”
In January, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to stay two district court orders that blocked Trump’s policy from taking effect. The ruling allows the administration to temporarily enforce its restrictions on transgender people serving in the military.
The new policy still has not taken effect, though, because of one remaining injunction placed on it by a federal district court in Maryland.
Gillibrand recently announced she is running to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020.
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down orders that allow Donald Trump’s ban of transgender military service members to go into effect immediately while appeals work their way through the lower courts, according to The New York Times. The high court issued a brief, unsigned order this morning saying SCOTUS had lifted the injunctions that, until now, blocked the anti-trans policy. The vote was 5-4 with Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagen dissenting. This morning’s orders stay the injunctions initially issued by Federal District Court judges in Washington State (Trump v. Karnoski) and California (Trump v Stockman), both in the Ninth Circuit. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had previously vacated a third injunction on January 4.
SCOTUS 5-4 grants Trump Administration request to permit Administration’s transgender military service ban to take effect, while appeals are heard in lower courts.
For the time being, current trans soldiers will not be booted out immediately. The policy, as tweaked by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, allows transgender service members who are already serving openly to continue to do so and to receive transition-related care. In July of 2017, President Trump surprised American military leaders and the world when he announced his plan to ban trans military service members after “consultation with my Generals and military experts” due to the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transgender service members. At the time of Trump’s announcement, Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland (pictured above) told Air Force News, “I would like to see them try to kick me out of my military.” “You are not going to deny me my right to serve my country when I am fully qualified and able and willing to give my life,” he added. The American Medical Association (AMA) issued a statement saying there is ‘no medically valid reason’ for banning transgender people from serving in the United States military, but all four service chiefs (Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force) have testified they’ve seen no negative effects from transgender military personnel serving the country they love. According to a 2016 RAND Corporation study, there are an estimated 1,320 to 6,630 transgender individuals out of the 1.3 million service members on active duty. From The New York Times: The policy, announced on Twitter by President Trump and refined by the defense secretary at the time, Jim Mattis, generally prohibits people identifying with a gender different from their biological sex from military service. It makes exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly and for those willing to serve “in their biological sex.”
