Advocates Worry Malawi Law Could Open Door to LGBT Discrimination
Advocates are concerned aspects of Malawi’s Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Law that will allow for discrimination against LGBTI individuals.
HRC.org
Daily Archives: April 23, 2015
Mel Gibson Thinks Tom Hardy Is Crazier Than He Is, Russell Crowe Sings About Balls In Your Mouth, Nick Jonas Has A Dark Side
Mel Gibson Thinks Tom Hardy Is Crazier Than He Is, Russell Crowe Sings About Balls In Your Mouth, Nick Jonas Has A Dark Side
Credit: Steve Dietl/Fox
Ryan Murphy chatted with EW about his new series Scream Queens starring Nick Jonas and Jamie Lee Curtis and revealed that, “Nick is very funny because he’s completely playing against type. The thing I will say about the Nick character is he’s not who he seems to be. Nick has a dark side, which comes out in the episodes.”
Tom Hardy and his luscious pillow lips will soon be starring in Mad Max: Fury Road, the reboot of Mel Gibson’s ’80s franchise. He was interviewed by Details and revealed that he met with Gibson who wasn’t impressed with the younger star. “He was bored with me,” Hardy shared. “Bless him. I made him a bracelet. And then we talked for a couple of hours about all kinds of stuff. I left, and that was that. And then he called up my agent and said, ‘I think you found someone that’s crazier than I am.’” But did he call him “Sugar Lips?”
Sandra Bernhard was grossed out by that penetrating kiss Madonna planted on Drake and refuses to watch the upcoming Bruce Jenner-Diane Sawyer interview.
Russell Crowe visited with Jimmy Fallon on Earth Day and sang a protest song titled “Balls in Your Mouth.”
Make room Madonna, Adam Lambert also has a new single called “Ghost Town,” with the entertainer describes as an “existential dance goth rave.” Sounds about right.
Ed Sheeran’s management pulled a clip of the singer rapping about “faggots” off of YouTube.
Jeremy Kinser
Owner of OUT NYC Hotel and Fire Island Pines Hosts Intimiate Reception for Ted Cruz
Owner of OUT NYC Hotel and Fire Island Pines Hosts Intimiate Reception for Ted Cruz
If you had to guess where Sen. Ted Cruz was last night, you could be forgiven for not guessing the NYC penthouse of two high-dollar homocons. After all, Cruz is the only 2016 presidential hopeful (so far) who kicked off his campaign by asking voters to imagine an America where gays forever stay second class citizens.
As The New York Times points out, though, Cruz apparently knows the value of having big spenders on your team on the campaign trail, regardless of sexual orientation.
During the gathering, according to two attendees, Mr. Cruz said he would have no problem if one of his daughters was gay. He did not mention his opposition to same-sex marriage, saying only that marriage is an issue that should be left to the states.
The dinner and “fireside chat” for about a dozen people with Mr. Cruz and his wife, Heidi, was at the Central Park South penthouse of Mati Weiderpass (above) and Ian Reisner (right), longtime business partners who were once a couple and who have been pioneers in the gay hospitality industry.
Reisner, the owner of the OUT NYC hotel and nightclub complex near Times Square, recently purchased a commercial strip along the Fire Island Pines. Weiderpass and Reisner’s penthouse apartment made headlines back in October when a 23-year-old Hell’s Kitchen gay bar manager was found dead of a reported drug overdose in its bathtub.
Kyler Geoffroy
WATCH: 'Love Comes First' for Straight Ally Vanessa Hudgens
WATCH: 'Love Comes First' for Straight Ally Vanessa Hudgens
The Broadway star and former High School Musical sweetheart is proud to call herself an ally for the gay community.
Raffy Ermac
www.advocate.com/politics/media/2015/04/23/watch-love-comes-first-straight-ally-vanessa-hudgens
Poignant Video Pinpoints Why We All Should Say #IDo To Marriage Equality
Poignant Video Pinpoints Why We All Should Say #IDo To Marriage Equality
Marriage equality advocates now have a $1 million-reason to elevate their voices between now and June.
Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage expected this summer, activists and partners Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer will match donations, dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million, toward LGBT advocacy group Lambda Legal.
The effort is part of the group’s #IDo fundraising and awareness campaign.
“Even after we achieve marriage equality, our friends and family members can still be fired in 28 states for simply being who they are because their state has not enacted laws that tell employers and landlords that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal,” Dixon, who is a board co-chair for the organization, wrote in a blog for The Huffington Post.
In a press release provided to HuffPost, Dixon pointed out that Lambda Legal hopes to increase efforts “to make sure that if you post your wedding photos on Facebook, you won’t be fired the next day.”
The fundraising campaign also calls on supporters to spread the word on social media using the #IDo hashtag.
(Story continues below.)
Say #IDO for #MarriageEquality because someone else may not get the chance: t.co/yXPnmnclrG @LambdaLegal
— Brendon Ayanbadejo (@brendon310) April 23, 2015
I do, & we did! Say #IDO to join @LambdaLegal in the fight for #LGBT equality: t.co/ZcZb5CxjgX pic.twitter.com/mUNwuH1Ikj
— Eric Lesh (@EDLesh) April 23, 2015
Do you believe in equality? #IDO. Support @LambdaLegal in their fight for LGBT #rights: t.co/9u7zuPlY3A
— Andrew Rasiej (@Rasiej) April 23, 2015
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges — a consolidation of cases considering gay marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee — on April 28.
One of the plaintiffs, Jim Obergefell, hopes to be listed as the surviving spouse on his husband’s death certificate. In 2013, he married his partner of 20 years, John Arthur, on a medical jet. Arthur died in October of the same year.
“The decision to file suit — I know from John’s perspective — it was a way for him to say, ‘Thank you, Jim. You’ve given me 20 years. The past couple of years have been pretty awful with ALS, and this is something I can do to thank you, to protect you and to just let you know once again, how much I love you,'” Obergefell said during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s headquarters. “And I can think of no better reason to be going to the Supreme Court than to remember that and honor that.”
Learn more about the #IDo campaign here.
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www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/i-do-campaign_n_7129282.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices
Madam Secretary Features HRC Global
Madam Secretary Features HRC Global
This Sunday, HRC Global will be featured on the hit CBS series “Madam Secretary.”
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/madam-secretary-features-hrc-global?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Two Stories Of Trans Kids And Their Amazing Families Show The Best Of Parenting
Two Stories Of Trans Kids And Their Amazing Families Show The Best Of Parenting
Parents often imagine rearing their children in their own image — it’s an understandable desire. But at some point every parent realizes they can’t control the multidimensional person their kid will blossom into becoming. For many parents of gay people, that realization comes via a metaphorical ton of bricks when their child chooses to come out.
But for parents of transgender kids, the signs may start to appear much earlier in development, and that can be especially confusing.
NBC Nightly News is running a fantastic series about trans kids, helping to shatter the stereotypes and stigma surrounding the topic.
Here’s a look at two heartwarming examples of parents truly being their for their kids — acting not on their preconceived notion of a ‘perfect family’ (as if there were really such a thing), but on the true interest of their child.
Or as 8-year-old Malisa Honda puts it, “You should just let your child or friends be who they are.”
Watch the segments below, and have the tissues ready:
Dan Tracer
News: Hubble, One Direction, Marco Rubio, Quad Rainbow, Spider-Man
News: Hubble, One Direction, Marco Rubio, Quad Rainbow, Spider-Man
Ted Cruz would reportedly “love them just as much” if one of his daughters came out as gay.
25 mind-bending images from Hubble Space Telescope’s first 25 years in orbit.
Kevin Spacey planning TV show off The Residence, the bestselling book that spilled the tea on all the feuding, cheating gossip from the Clinton White House.
A St. Petersburg court has ruled against a gay music teacher who lost her job after being outed by an anti-gay activist.
Lance Bass claims Harry Styles was going to quit One Direction before Zayn Malik beat him to it.
Preacher Franklin Graham is furious that X-Men superhero Iceman is gay. “This is another attempt to indoctrinate our young people to accept this destructive lifestyle.”
Controversial gay filmmaker Bruce LaBruce gets retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The Olsen Twins were apparently out of the loop on the Fuller House Netflix series plans.
Dr. Phil says Bruce Jenner is “past his prime” for a transition.
Tom Hardy shows off some beefcake for Details magazine.
Avengers stars Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans under fire for calling Black Widow a “slut” and a “whore” in media interview.
Will Marco Rubio get the homocon vote in 2016?
Michael Brown’s parents sue Ferguson over son’s death.
What’s it like growing pot right next door to Congress.
Sony announces new feature-length Spider-Man film.
Marco Rubio says he “would love to earn” the support of the Koch Brothers.
NY woman captures dramatic quadruple rainbow.
Internet goes crazy over Louis Tomlinson penis flop Vine.
WATCH: Robert Downey Jr. walks out of interview when asked about past drug abuse.
Will Uncle Sam kill the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger?
The Atlantic‘s quick guide to the questions about the Clinton Foundation cash sources.
Kyler Geoffroy
Students At UC Berkeley Take A Big Step Toward Improving Mental Health On Campus
Students At UC Berkeley Take A Big Step Toward Improving Mental Health On Campus
University of California-Berkeley students voted this month to increase their own fees to improve mental health services, expand stress management efforts and increase resources available for sexual assault survivors on campus.
Pending final approval, Cal students will have a new $146 wellness fee on their tuition bills starting in the fall 2015 semester. But the cost will replace a $93.50 fee currently allocated towards recreational sports costs that they already pay. The fee increase was approved overwhelmingly through a campus wide referendum vote between April 7 and 9, with 7,308 students voting in favor to 2,950 opposed.
“UC Berkeley, like many other UCs, has a tight budget, and as such, we are unable to adequately support students in their physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being,” said student senator Madison Gordon, the primary sponsor of the referendum in the Associated Students of University of California.
The new fee will expand hours for on-campus counseling services on evening and weekends, help fund classes on nutrition and stress management, expand space for fitness services and create spots for yoga and meditation on campus. The funding will also help develop specific mental health programs for “underserved populations” of LGBTQIA students, veterans, student parents, international students and students with disabilities, and a portion will support work on sexual assault survivor advocacy and gender violence education efforts. One day, the sponsors of the referendum hope to add nap rooms on campus as well.
The referendum was the result of a yearlong collaboration between students and the directors of Recreational Sports and University Health Services, according to Gordon. The fee could bring in nearly $2 million annually.
The university’s budget office is waiting on official notification from the ASUC Judicial Council certifying the votes, said UC Berkeley spokesman Adam M. Ratliff. The proposed fee will then have to be approved by the Cal chancellor and get final approval from the UC Office of the President before it can be assessed.
The overwhelming vote in favor of raising fees is particularly notable at UC Berkeley, a campus known for large scale demonstrations against tuition hikes. Last fall, students staged a massive walkout to protest a 5 percent bump in costs, which was postponed in February. But Gordon explained that a portion of this particular new fee will help offset the school’s financial aid pool.
“We, the students, are already in a dire situation where we can barely afford to attend this university, let alone pay more,” Gordon said. “But I think what made the difference is that one-third of all funds collected will go back to financial aid, providing a safety net for those most in need. Additionally, unlike blanket tuition hikes, the purpose of this increase was clearly laid out so that students know where the money is going.”
The students hope to eventually use the money generated from the fee to hire someone to fundraise specifically for wellness programs so students ultimately don’t bear the brunt of the costs.
Read the full referendum below:
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San Antonio Mayor Issues ‘Sorry How It Made You Feel’ Non-Apology
San Antonio Mayor Issues ‘Sorry How It Made You Feel’ Non-Apology
HRC called on San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor to take action by fully implementing the city’s non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) protecting LGBT people in city employment and contracting, housing, and public accommodations.
HRC.org