Anti-Conversion Therapy Bills Advance in Three States

Oregon, Iowa, and Colorado have all seen one legislative chamber approve such a bill; the chance of further progress appears best in Oregon.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/ex-gay-therapy/2015/03/20/anti-conversion-therapy-bills-advance-three-states

Mary Lambert: I Thought Singing 'Same Love' Might Get Me Killed
Mary Lambert isn’t just open about being a lesbian. One spin of plucky single “Secrets” lays bare the singer/songwriter’s struggles with weight, bipolar disorder, a dysfunctional family and much, much more. Says Lambert with a laugh, “I’m severely out!”

“There was a time in my life when I was starting out that I realized the people at my shows knew far more about me than my close coworkers did,” shared Lambert during a recent telephone interview. “I realized that was unique.”

Intimately confessional writing marks Lambert’s 2014 album Heart on My Sleeve. From past sexual trauma to bouts of self-harm, nothing was off-limits when writing the pop album, she said, because “it’s second nature to include pieces of [personal] history in my music.”

That much is clear. The singer’s lyrical honesty first gained mainstream attention on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ critically-acclaimed hit “Same Love.” There, Lambert provides the song’s yearning chorus, later extended into the even more autobiographical breakthrough solo single “She Keeps Me Warm.”

“I never thought I would hear a song like [‘Same Love’] on the radio,” admits the 25-year-old, who came out eight years ago. “I think that’s what was so emotional about the whole thing. I knew the implications of what we were going to do.”

Lambert relished Mackelemore & Ryan Lewis’ offer to honestly tell her story of being “hugely affected [growing up] as a Christian lesbian” — experiences she continues to process through in solo work. Still, in addition to being painfully aware of the potential impact “Same Love” might have upon release, she also knew its possible consequences.

“I’d never been anywhere, never been outside the metropolitan scene of Seattle, and didn’t know anything outside of it,” said Lambert. That meant she had no idea how others might respond to a song about same-sex relationships. As the time came to begin promoting it, she braced for the worst.

“The feeling of peace I got was knowing I was doing it right,” she said of accepting the possibility “Same Love” might evoke deadly backlash. “Knowing I was ok with that let me know I was doing exactly what I needed to be doing.”

According to Lambert, what happened next shocked her.

Not only did she not receive death threats, “Same Love” shot to No. 1 in countries around the world. With more than 136 million views-to-date on YouTube, the 2013 ode to same-sex marriage rose to No. 11 on U.S. pop charts and thrust Lambert into the international spotlight.

A “Song of the Year” Grammy nomination followed. Macklemore, Lewis and Lambert performed “Same Love” with Madonna at that year’s awards ceremony as Queen Latifah married 33 same-sex couples live on television.

“I thought I was going to be murdered,” Lambert half-joked, “But instead I got nominated for a Grammy!”

Her astonishment didn’t stop there, Lambert says. Performing “Same Love” live on Macklemore & Lewis’ sold-out, global stadium tour changed her life. The artist was overwhelmed with love each time she stepped onstage.

“They were cheering and crying…10,000 people chanting my name,” she recalled. “I had kids in rainbow shirts in front, looking at me… I couldn’t believe I was part of this thing that meant so much to so many people.

“All I wanted to do was make sure I was honoring it correctly and being a good representation,” said Lambert of the song.

“I couldn’t believe this was my life, especially after the shit show I’d been through,” she concluded, “It was really, really gratifying.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/pollo-del-mar/mary-lambert-i-thought-si_b_6908370.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Court Rules That Affordable Care Act Bans Gender Identity Discrimination

LGBT advocates are cheering a court ruling this week that has important implications for transgender people seeking competent and appropriate healthcare.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/court-rules-that-affordable-care-act-bans-gender-identity-discrimination?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Henry Cavill Is Too Huge For His Clothes — And For Speedos

Henry Cavill has built a career on his rather broad shoulders, as is duly noted in a recent interview the Man of Steel did with ShortList. Cavill is discussing his wardrobe and sense of style when talk turns to his celebrated physique as well as his oft-ignored peen of steel.

Have your muscles ever ripped anything you’ve owned?
[laughs] Yes. Yes they have. Who wrote that question?

This is from our online editor.
Is that a he or a she?

He.
Yes, actually, at the end of Man of Steel, I had a suit tailored for the Immortals premiere. At that stage, I was at my very leanest. It was just after shooting my shirtless scenes. At the very end of the movie, I put that suit on again for a photoshoot we were doing and I ripped the seams, the inside seams, just because my thighs were that much bigger.

Budgie smugglers or swimming shorts?
[laughs] Definitely, definitely swimming shorts. More like a parrot smugglers. A Macaw or something. Perhaps a large bird of prey. Bald eagle. There you go.

And here we are. A budgie, for those of you who are not Australian or ornithological enthusiasts, is a small, adorable, harmless little parrot. That bird may fly for Clark Kent but it should only make sense that Superman is smuggling a bald eagle in his tights.

Cavill clearly knows who his audience is — see how he knowingly asks if said online editor is a man or a woman — so he made sure to include this warning about his next caped crusade: “I’m buying new clothes every year. I’m bigger than I was in the first Superman film, so I don’t fit the same clothes I did then.”

For kicks, let’s just remember where we started with the first Superman film.

I think I see a bald eagle peekin’ out.

Les Fabian Brathwaite, noted bald eagle scout.

Les Fabian Brathwaite

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/qh8gLZvJs3E/henry-cavill-is-too-huge-for-his-clothes-and-for-speedos-20150320

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1710

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/towleroad-guide-to-the-tube–4.html

Pope Francis to Meet With Gay, Transgender Prisoners

Inmates from a unit for gay, transgender, and HIV-positive people will be among those Francis meets with in Naples Saturday.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2015/03/20/pope-francis-meet-gay-transgender-prisoners

A Look At The 10 U.S. Metro Areas With The Highest LGBT Populations
The West Coast has a significantly higher number of cities with burgeoning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations, a new Gallup Poll has revealed.

The San Francisco metro area came in on top of the new survey, with 6.2 percent of its population identifying as LGBT, followed by Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas at 5.4 and 5.3 percent, respectively. Also making an appearance in the top 10 are Seattle (4.8 percent) and Los Angeles (4.6 percent).

Collectively, the list includes metro areas from every region of the U.S. with the exception of the Midwest. Also noticeably absent from the list was New York, although 4 percent of its population does identify as LGBT.

As Time pointed out, the Gallup analysis is based on a survey of 374,325 adults, and was conducted between June 2012 and December 2014.

Read more about the Gallup poll here, or check out the top 10 cities with the highest LGBT populations in the slideshow below.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/20/metro-areas-lgbt-population-_n_6911232.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices