WATCH: Hate Group's Hometown Loves 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

Rachel Maddow notes the irony that the film is the hottest ticket in Tupelo, Miss., home base of the virulently antigay American Family Association.

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Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/02/13/watch-hate-groups-hometown-loves-fifty-shades-grey

Fairness and Equality Advance With Jury Verdict in Houston Equal Rights Ordinance Trial

Jury finds evidence of fraud, but it’s yet to be determined if enough valid signatures remain to send HERO to the ballot
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/fairness-and-equality-advance-with-jury-verdict-in-houston-equal-rights-ord?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Beautiful New Video Celebrates First Day of Marriage Equality in Alabama: WATCH

Christian Walters

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/alabama-marriage-montage-courtesy-of-freedom-to-marry-video.html

Army Agrees to Provide Chelsea Manning Transition-Related Care

This is the second time military officials have said Manning could begin treatment deemed ‘medically necessary,’ and follows Manning filing a lawsuit for healthcare access.

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Mitch Kellaway

www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/13/army-agrees-provide-chelsea-manning-transition-related-care

Arkansas House Votes In Favor Of LGBT Discrimination
On Friday, the Arkansas House of Representatives voted 57-20 in favor of a bill that would bar cities and counties from sanctioning LGBT anti-discrimination laws.

Arkansas state Sen. Bart Hester (R), who sponsored the bill, told BuzzFeed News that creating uniform policies across the state will attract businesses and that he was angered by one city’s repeated attempts to expand rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

“There are many things necessary for stability — and civil rights need to not be a volatile situation,” he said.

Hester told BuzzFeed News that it isn’t just LGBT individuals who are singled out for discrimination. “I am singled out as a politician. I am singled out because I am married to one woman … I want everyone in the LGBT community to have the same rights I do. I do not want them to have special rights that I do not have.”

The bill’s stated goal is to improve intrastate commerce by making it illegal for state businesses, organizations or employers to implement or enforce policies outlawing discrimination on grounds not covered in state law. Currently, Arkansas does not have LGBT protections at the state level.

According to Arkansas Online, the small town of Eureka Springs passed an ordinance this week extending discrimination protections to members of the LGBT community.

Nationally, there has been pushback from state legislatures against expanding LGBT rights. It comes as courts have begun to legalize same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court has said it will weigh in on same-sex marriage this year.

Indiana amended non-discrimination rules for state contractors so organizations can hire based on religious preferences. Oklahoma’s House of Representatives heavily supported a bill that would allow clergy members to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. A Florida bill would restrict individuals to using the single-sex public facility, such as a restroom, that matches the gender that person was given at birth, which is a concern for transgender individuals.

But not all local and state governments are working to ban LGBT rights. This week, a five-person town in West Virginia voted in favor of “a new town ordinance extending discrimination prohibitions on employment, housing and public accommodations to LGBT individuals.”

Arkansas would become the second state to authorize such anti-discrimination restrictions if Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signs the bill into law. Tennessee did so in 2011.

Holly Dickson, legal director at the Arkansas American Civil Liberties Union, told BuzzFeed News that people are not happy about the bill.

“As soon as LGBT people get some protections against being evicted or fired just because of who they love, the state is going to absolutely prohibit them from obtaining that sort of protection,” she said.

The bill, which passed on a 24-8 vote in the Arkansas Senate on Monday, is now on its way to Hutchinson’s desk. The Associated Press reports that the governor said Friday that he will allow the bill to go into effect without signing it.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/arkansas-lgbt-discrimination_n_6680802.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Seismic Shift Underway as Increasing Number of Alabama Counties Extend Marriage Rights to Couples

Sixteen more Alabama counties are now issuing marriage certificates for same-sex couples as a result of judge’s order
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/seismic-shift-underway-as-increasing-number-of-alabama-counties-extend-marr?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

‘Eileen Dover’ Poised To Win Funniest Drag Queen Name Survey

With only three voting days left, a national survey on Funniest Drag Queen Names shows Eileen Dover is leading the pack for crack-showing, candy-tucking chuckles. While Dover seems like she’s sprinting ahead in her pumps, the rest of the Top 10 seems up for grabs. The leading contenders:

• Helluva Bottom Carter
• Hedda Lettuce
• Iona Traylor
• Lois Common Denominator
• Ida Dunham
• Annie Depressant
• Lucy Furr
• Shelita Buffet
• Sarabelle Palsy

Voting closes this weekend, but the search for funny names shall never die. Let’s do our own Queerty survey–post your write-in vote for funniest drag queen name in the comment section!

mikealvear

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/LFik6WVFXkk/eileen-dover-poised-to-win-funniest-drag-queen-name-survey-20150213