Daily Archives: March 2, 2015
WATCH: How Much Wronger Could Texas Be on Marriage?
WATCH: How Much Wronger Could Texas Be on Marriage?
Whether misidentifying judges, misunderstanding laws, or celebrating anniversaries on the wrong day, homophobic Texas lawmakers have been having one long case of the Mondays.
Matt Baume
Transgender Veterans Need To Correct Military Records, And Hope Ashton Carter Can Help
Transgender Veterans Need To Correct Military Records, And Hope Ashton Carter Can Help
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made a splash last week by saying he’s “very open-minded” about transgender people serving in the U.S. military.
But if Carter is serious about revisiting the ban on transgender troops, he also needs to turn his attention to another issue: how the Defense Department responds to transgender veterans who need to update official military records to reflect their new gender.
There are more than 134,000 transgender veterans or retirees from Guard or Reserve service, according to a 2014 Williams Institute report. What’s at stake for each of them is the ability to change their name on the military form known as a DD-214, a lifelong document that military personnel receive when they retire or are discharged. Veterans use it to apply for college, to take a bar exam and to apply for jobs. Retirees use it to provide dependents with medical benefits and access to privileges they had while on active duty, like shopping on military bases.
The problem is that the Defense Department considers the form a historical document, which means it isn’t supposed to be altered. For people who were assigned male at birth and served in the military as male but who now identify as female, for example, the policy poses more than an inconvenience: It has cost them jobs, military benefits and opened them up to discrimination every time they present the form and their name doesn’t match their gender presentation.
Transgender rights groups say that if Carter really wants to show his respect for service members, he needs to issue an across-the-board directive to allow transgender vets to modify their discharge forms. The way it works right now, vets can file a request with the Defense Department to have their records updated, and the department reviews those requests on a case-by-case basis. These requests are not always granted.
“We’re looking at 134,000 transgender vets. 134,000 of them,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association. “Every veteran, one at a time, is getting a board gathered and having them review this. It’s very cumbersome.”
A handful of transgender veterans have found success. Paula Neira, a former U.S. Navy officer and Naval Academy graduate who served in mine warfare combat during Operation Desert Storm, made history in January when she became the first transgender vet to get new discharge paperwork issued by the Navy.
“For me, what’s of pressing importance is when I die, I want my ashes to go to Arlington National Cemetery,” Neira told The Huffington Post. “My parents are at Arlington. I can foresee when I pass, my partner and my friends would have to fight some bureaucrat to get the correct name on my tombstone. Because they could say, ‘Well, that’s not the name on the DD-214.’ That’s what establishes your identity to have your ashes go to Arlington.”
Neira said she loved being in the Navy, where she served for six years. But when it came to choosing between transitioning or staying in the military, she had to go with the former. And the ban on transgender troops meant she could no longer serve.
“We have sacrificed our careers because we couldn’t serve authentically. But when we pass, we should be able to lie at rest authentically,” she said, choking up as she spoke. “Getting the DD-214 changed is a way to ensure that happens.”
Clearly, the ban on transgender troops isn’t working. In addition to the nation’s tens of thousands of transgender veterans, roughly 15,500 transgender people are estimated to be serving currently in the military, in secret, according to a 2014 Palm Center report. An independent commission led by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. surgeon general, last year found no “compelling medical reason” for the ban.
Defense Department spokesman Nate Christensen reiterated that transgender vets can file requests to modify their discharge paperwork. But the department will only do so on a case-by-case basis.
“At this time there are no plans to change the DoD policy on the DD-214,” said Christensen.
The department does have a policy in place for military retirees who want to change their gender in another system called Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS). Retirees can update that system by submitting a letter from a doctor confirming gender reassignment surgery, a court order verifying that person’s legal gender change and two forms of ID.
DEERS doesn’t apply to all veterans, though.
Transgender rights advocates aren’t giving up hope that Carter may revisit the policy. Kemnitz, for one, said Carter’s comments on transgender troops were “a really wonderful statement,” particularly since he was just weeks into his job as Defense secretary.
“All we’re trying to do is save the Pentagon some time, save them some money, and have a win-win solution,” said Kemnitz. “It’s a question of when, not if.”
Bodybuilder Michael Hoffman Accuses Brent Everett Of Stealing His Nude Videos In Bizarre Rant
Bodybuilder Michael Hoffman Accuses Brent Everett Of Stealing His Nude Videos In Bizarre Rant
Hell hath no fury like a teenage bodybuilder whose pseudo-fame derives from consuming his own semen scorned. Or something like that.
Michael Hoffman is once again claiming his image has been wrongfully represented in the media. An image, it has to be noted, that he created all on his own.
When we first heard of him, it was because he was claiming an explicit video of him masturbating on camera had leaked. He posted a video message to let us all know that he’s not gay but he’s definitely humiliated. The guy certainly knows how to clean up a mess.
Well last week the internet saw even more of Hoffman (link very NSFW), and wouldn’t you know it? He’s claiming the videos were stolen, this time fingering (sorry) porn star Brent Everett for the crime.
“It’s hard for me to walk around in the public without people looking at me like, ‘Oh, look, that’s the dude who jerks off. Oh, he’s the guy who ate his cum,” he complains in a nearly unwatchable YouTube rant.
Hoffman claims Everett’s studio never paid him for the footage of him exercising, flexing and masturbating.
Amid lots of rambling, he issues this warning: “Brent Everett does NOT have my permission to be putting my videos out there.”
Except it would seem that Brent has every right to be putting those videos out there, seeing as he paid for them.
Brent’s manager/husband Steven Pena gave The Gaily Grind a detailed account of their side of the story, providing texts and proof of payment. He wrote:
Statement from Brent Everett Media on behalf of BrentEverett.com
Steve Pena, Personnel Manager and Director of Public Relations for the company (and husband of Brent Everett) began discussions with Michael Hoffman in mid-December 2014 regarding possible collaboration with him to produce videos for the company. He made it clear that he was acting on behalf of the company and not as a private individual.
He offered Michael Hoffman $8,000 to $10,000 to act as model/performer in gay adult scenes for BrentEverett.com. Mr. Hoffman declined this offer. Steve Pena then offered to represent Michael Hoffman in order to obtain non-gay, non-adult nightclub appearances for him. Mr. Hoffman declined this offer as well.
Following this, Michael Hoffman offered to sell Steve Pena, acting for the company, 14 high definition videos of himself exercising and masturbating for $250. Steve Pena accepted this offer and the videos were paid for using PayPal. It is our understanding that Mr. Hoffman also offered to sell these videos to others.
Here are the text messages Brent between him and Hoffman:
And here is a screenshot of the PayPal payment referenced:
And last but not least, Hoffman’s rant. Bonus points if you can make it through more than 30 seconds of it:
Dan Tracer
Eric Holder Calls LGBT Equality 'The Defining Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time' In New Op-Ed on Marriage
Eric Holder Calls LGBT Equality 'The Defining Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time' In New Op-Ed on Marriage
Ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the issue later this year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is speaking out on marriage equality in a USA Today op-ed:
Writes the outgoing AG:
This week, the Justice Department will file a brief setting forth our position that state bans on same-sex marriage violate the fundamental constitutional guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” It is clear that the time has come to recognize that gay and lesbian people deserve robust protection from discrimination.
Nothing justifies excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage. Denying them the right to marry serves only to demean them and their children, to degrade the dignity of their families and to deny them the full, free and equal participation in American life to which every citizen is entitled.
Marriage bans inflict concrete harms that touch nearly every aspect of daily life for gay and lesbian couples. The bans intersect with issues as varied as workers’ compensation, taxation and inheritance, posing challenges to basic financial security. Same-sex couples living in states with bans too often face obstacles to adopting and raising children together. And restrictions on medical decision-making and hospital visitation impose devastating burdens during the moments when a partner is needed most.
The mental and emotional injuries are just as acute. A marriage ban written into state law broadcasts the state’s view that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, undeserving of the rights and protections offered to opposite-sex couples. It creates a stigma that pervades society, encouraging individuals to harass or belittle even their loved ones because of pressures brought by their community. And it harms relationships between family members by perpetuating a destructive notion that some individuals — and some children — should be shown less love and support simply because of who they are. That is a view the Department of Justice flatly rejects. And with our brief, we will make clear that the United States stands firmly on the side of equality.
Read the full op-ed HERE.
Watch President Obama highlight Holder’s longstanding support for LGBT equality at a goodbye ceremony last Friday, AFTER THE JUMP…
Kyler Geoffroy
2015 RED (Russia and LGBT groups (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual)
2015 RED (Russia and LGBT groups (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual)
It is hard to believe that people with a different sexual orientation are subjected to persecution and repression in civilized countries. The red color represents oppression, Putin and the…
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Lord Browne: 'We need more role models who are ready to tell their stories'
Lord Browne: 'We need more role models who are ready to tell their stories'
Lord Browne of Madingley writes of his hopes and ambitions in teaming up The Glass Closet and Gay Star Business
davidh
Arkansas Former Attorney General: “Conscience Protection Act” Defies State’s Values
Arkansas Former Attorney General: “Conscience Protection Act” Defies State’s Values
In an op-ed for the Democrat-Gazette published today, former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel made the case against the discriminatory HB 1228, referred to as the “Conscience Protection Act.”
HRC.org
Closeted Gay Teen Finds Homophobic Dad On Grindr
Closeted Gay Teen Finds Homophobic Dad On Grindr
As if being gay and in the throes of puberty weren’t difficult enough, a teenager claims he found his homophobic dad on Grindr.
Reddit user decidinginbetween posted the following thread online:
Found out that my “Homophobe” dad has Grindr on his iPhone when he asked me to go fetch it from the car. I am still closeted (denial/curious) so i know what Grindr is, even though i don’t have it myself. This makes it so much more confusing for me.
The post has received over 100 responses, with other Reddit users offering a wide range of advice.
“My dad was extremely homophobic before I came out to him when I was 18,” atomicpunksf replied. “He ended up doing a total 180 after going to therapy and eventually became the president of our local PFLAG chapter for a while. He later told me that he was bisexual and admitted that his homophobia was due to his own self hatred around being bisexual.”
“A closeted married guy on Grindr might have some intense homophobia going on that he could take out on the queer kid in his care,” jaycatt7 warned. “Tread carefully.”
“Don’t tell your mother until you have had the chance to talk to him,” dipaolo said. “I know that family makes this predicament 10 times more complicated, but outing someone has repercussions.”
Other advice was slightly less helpful.
“You may have to make a fake profile and try to seduce him,” varianlogic said.
“Is your dad hot?” Jota769 asked.
“Don’t hook up with him,” NotAmused1001 advised.
A few weeks later, decidinginbetween posted the following update on the situation:
Hi all, appreciate all the kind words of help and encouragement. I don’t know how to explain it in details though, but TLDR: Dad stood in denial and went on the defensive, even tried to question my own sexuality. Mom still does not know and that pains me. I guess he would still be that closeted homophobe and I that closeted homo who is too shit to do more. Maybe all of this is just in my head. Maybe i am just thinking too much.
Here’s hoping these two find peace in their complicated situation.
Related stories:
Straight Men Whisper Their Secret Gay Desires
Straight Guys Confess To Doing Gay Things When Stoned
Hetero Guys Open Up About Their Gay Porn Fetishes With Each Other
Graham Gremore