#21AceStories: Dating (Or Not) While Asexual

Asexuals can run into some difficulties while dating.

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Eliel Cruz

www.advocate.com/pride/2015/07/22/21acestories-dating-or-not-while-asexual

Sweeping LGBTI rights bill to go before Congress this week

Democrats will introduce a sweeping LGBTI rights bill in both chambers of the Republican-controlled Congress on Thursday (23 July).

According to a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter obtained by the Washington Blade, the Equality Act would ban anti-gay discrimination in seven areas: credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, jury service and public accommodations.

‘Every day, millions of LGBT Americans face the danger of real discrimination and sometimes even violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,’ lead sponsor Rep David Cicilline wrote in the letter dated 20 July.

‘In most states, a same-sex couple can get married on Saturday, post pictures on Facebook on Sunday, and then risk being fired from their job or kicked out of their apartment on Monday.’

The Equality Act was named after the first gay rights bill introduced in Congress more than 40 years ago. It would have amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation.

The new legislation comes a week after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that LGBTI people were already protected from workplace discrimination under existing federal law.

However, the Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and last year they blocked the Employment Non-Discrimination Act from coming to a vote – and it is likely they will do so again.

If any LGBTI-related legislation passes this Congress, it would probably be the First Amendment Defense Act which, would allow individuals and businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples.

The post Sweeping LGBTI rights bill to go before Congress this week appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/sweeping-lgbti-rights-bill-to-go-before-congress-this-week/

Watch: Gay baker slams ‘Nazis’ for ‘bullying’ Christians who refuse to make them wedding cakes

A gay baker has said he is ‘disgusted’ by ‘Nazis’ in the LGBTI community who bully and shame Christians for refusing to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples.

Jesse Bartholomew made the comments in a video rant he posted on Facebook earlier this month, days after an Oregon bakery was fined $135,000 for refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

‘I cannot tell you how disgusted I am with my fellow gay and lesbian community, that they would stoop so low as to force someone to bake a cake for them who simply doesn’t agree with them,’ he says in the two-minute clip.

‘Why would you want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a wedding cake and pay that money to someone who doesn’t want to make the cake for you? Are you stupid?’

The video has been watch more than 200,000 times since it was uploaded on 9 July.

‘There’s no other bakers out there?’ Bartholomew asks.

‘It’s plain and simple. You are bullying someone. You are forcing someone. You are being a Nazi and forcing someone to bake a damn wedding cake for you when there are hundreds of other gay and lesbians that would gladly have your business. Shame on you.’

Watch the video below:

The post Watch: Gay baker slams ‘Nazis’ for ‘bullying’ Christians who refuse to make them wedding cakes appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/watch-gay-baker-slams-nazis-for-bullying-christians-who-refuse-to-make-them-wedding-cakes/

Gay Man Denied Communion at Mother's Funeral Receives Apologies

Tim Ardillo says he believes he was denied communion because of his same-sex relationship.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/religion/2015/07/21/gay-man-denied-communion-mothers-funeral-receives-apologies

Daniel Day Lewis Experiences Unforgettable Forbidden Romance In “My Beautiful Launderette”

Stephen Frears’s landmark drama, My Beautiful Launderette was one of the four LGBT films released in 1985 that prompted Film Comment magazine to proclaim the arrival of the “Gay New Wave” (the others were Parting Glances, Desert Hearts and Dona Herlinda and Her Sons). Today marks the arrival of a brand new Blu-ray release of the film from the fabulous folks at the Criterion Collection. The Blu-ray includes a fresh new 2K digital transfer of the film and restored mono soundtrack plus conversations with director Frears and the film’s writer Hanif Kureishi.

Co-starring the hot young actor Daniel Day Lewis (in one if his earliest starring roles) as the white punk skinhead who falls in love with Pakistani laundry owner Gordon Warnecke, My Beautiful Launderette is a true gay classic that takes on homophobia and racism in Thatcher-era England and remains a favorite in the canon of LGBT cinema.

Thankfully Criterion landed on a cover design that incorporates the gay content of the film (Daniel Day Lewis licking Gordon Warnecke’s neck — on the right) as an update to the cheesy ’80s aesthetic of the original poster design (left) to appeal to contemporary audiences who will, hopefully, discover anew this wonderful romantic drama.

Jenni

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/c5ITw3yYb6Y/daniel-day-lewis-experiences-unforgettable-forbidden-romance-in-my-beautiful-launderette-20150721

New York Responds to Critics, Issues Statewide Guidelines for Trans Student Inclusion

Groups that have championed the cause of LGBT students say the new guidelines go a long way toward protecting vulnerable children.

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Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/education/2015/07/21/new-york-responds-critics-issues-statewide-guidelines-trans-student-inclusion

Robbie Rogers and other LGTBI athletes weigh in on the ‘perfect body’

Robbie Rogers is among the LGBTI athletes who have been asked to weigh in on what they consider to be the ‘perfect body.’

‘I think of it in a different way then most people,’ Rogers tells BuzzFeed. ‘Most people would be, “Six-packs and pecs.” I don’t really care what I look like in a bathing suit during the season as long as I’m able to run eight or nine miles a game.’

The LA Galaxy player says he starts to think about his weight – things like body fat and muscle mass – when he is getting set to play a season for his Major League Soccer team.

Julie Shaw, basketball coach at LaVerne University, puts an emphasis on health over appearance.

‘A perfect body is a body that you’re comfortable with, one that is healthy for you,’ she says.

‘Perfection is I think at tomes unattainable – especially when you’re talking about health and your body. I think we all have to own our bodies and know what’s good for us and know what’s healthy for us.’

The post Robbie Rogers and other LGTBI athletes weigh in on the ‘perfect body’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/robbie-rogers-and-other-lgtbi-athletes-weigh-in-on-the-perfect-body/