Kim Davis Hits The Media Circuit, Denies Being Homophobic, Says She Has Gay Friends

Kim Davis is finally hitting the media circuit. (Honestly, we’re surprised it’s taken her this long.) This morning, the thrice-divorced Kentucky clerk spoke with Paula Faris on Good Morning America about the circus freak show that is her life.

Related: Kim Davis Is Getting Her Very Own Armed Militia Security Detail

Davis, who evidently didn’t have time to stop into hair and makeup before sitting down for her first nationally televised interview, said she absolutely, positively will not change her mind on the issue of same-sex marriage. But don’t get the wrong impression. She’s not antigay or anything.

According to Davis, she’s not a homophobe because…wait for it… she claimed, “I have friends who are gay and lesbian.”

“They know where I stand,” she said. “We don’t agree on the issue and we’re okay because we respect each other.”

Related: PHOTOS: Kim Davis Memes Just Keep Getting Better

When asked if she would deny marriage licenses to those alleged gay friends, she replied, “I did.”

Davis also noted that she’s not afraid of martyrdom and is fully prepared go to jail for her beliefs.

“I can’t put my name on a license that doesn’t represent what God ordained marriage to be,” she said.

And as for her own marriages, Davis said she’s been “forgiven” by the Lord Almighty for all those transgressions.

“Washed clean,” she uttered.

Related: PHOTOS: More Hetero Guys Make Out To Show Kim Davis Just How Wrong She Is

Other highlights from the interview included Davis denying that she’s Hitler, claiming that what other people say about her doesn’t define who she is as a person, and questioning why “unhappy” gay people even want to get married in the first place.

“I feel really sad that someone could be so unhappy with themselves as a person that they did not feel dignified as a human being until they got a piece of paper,” she said. “I mean, there’s just so much more to life than that.”

Davis’ next appearance will be with Megyn Kelly at FOX News later this week, which we’re sure will be absolutely riveting. Then she’s very likely off to jail again. LGBTQ Nation reports that Davis is probably going to be summoned back into court for once again defying a federal judge’s orders by altering documents issued to same-sex couples after she promised she wouldn’t.

Watch the full GMA interview below. Or don’t.

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/L31bQXcdVCY/kim-davis-hits-the-media-circuit-denies-being-homophobic-says-she-has-gay-friends-20150922

Azealia Banks Has Violent Tantrum on Plane, Calls Flight Attendant a ‘F–kin Faggot’

Video has emerged of rapper Azealia Banks having a tantrum while trying to depart a Delta flight. In the video, Banks is seen arguing with a flight attendant and a pilot, demanding her bag. She then calls the flight attendant a “f–kin’ faggot”.

TMZ reports:

A passenger sitting next to Banks tells TMZ, when the Delta flight landed just before 1 AM Tuesday, Azealia made a beeline for the front door. She had been sitting in seat 6A but a French couple in the 3rd row was blocking her exit as they pulled their luggage from the overhead bin. The eyewitness says Azealia tried to squeeze by the couple when the French man put his hand out. Azealia, we’re told, went nuts. The eyewitness says she spit in the man’s face, punched him in the face and clawed at his shirt.

At that point we’re told the flight attendant grabbed Azealia’s bag and told her to calm down. She lost her balance, fell to the seat, stood up and then a tug-of-war over the luggage ensued. This is where the video begins.

Watch:

Police reportedly met up with the French couple and Banks at the baggage carousel but the couple didn’t press charges because they didn’t want to ruin their vacation.

Banks has defended her use of the word “faggot” in the past.

The post Azealia Banks Has Violent Tantrum on Plane, Calls Flight Attendant a ‘F–kin Faggot’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Azealia Banks Has Violent Tantrum on Plane, Calls Flight Attendant a ‘F–kin Faggot’

Kim Davis: I Denied My Friends a Marriage License

Renegade county clerk Kim Davis burst into tears recounting how marriage equality supporters have called her a hypocrite, and that her detractors have hurt her feelings by claiming “that my God does not love me or that my God is not happy with me.”

In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, the Kentucky clerk also revealed she denied her gay friends a marriage license, and despite orders from a federal judge, Kentucky’s governor and the Supreme Court, that she remains defiant in her religious objection to same-sex marriage.

Davis told Paula Faris, the ABC News anchor and co-host of The View, that she didn’t expect to become a household name when she decided to refuse to issue marriage licenses. “I’m just a normal person that has been touched by the grace of God, and his mercy,” Davis said.

“I can’t put my name on a license that doesn’t represent what God ordained marriage to be,” Davis told Faris on her Rowan County front porch. She explained her decision to refuse even her same-sex friends a marriage license, but would did not name the couple she considers friends. None of the couples who sued her or applied for licenses has claimed she is a friend.

Davis also took issue with being called a hypocrite for “defending” marriage after she’s been married four times and had a child out of wedlock. “I’m forgiven,” she said. “Washed clean.”

She told Faris the charges of hypocrisy hit her harder than criticism of her civil rights stance and descriptions of her as a homophobe. “What people say about me does not define who I am,” Davis said. “That’s everybody’s opinion and that’s everybody’s right.”

“I’ve been called things and names that I didn’t even say when I was in the world. Those names don’t hurt me,” Davis said. “What probably hurt me the worst is when someone tells me that my God does not love me or that my God is not happy with me, that I am a hypocrite of a Christian.”

The clerk dismissed the rights of gay and lesbian couples in denying the effects of her actions. “I don’t think dignity is guaranteed in the Constitution,” she told Faris. “I think dignity is something that you find within yourself,” Davis said. “I feel really sad that … someone could be so unhappy with themselves as a person that they did not feel dignified as a human being until they got a piece of paper. I mean, there’s just so much more to life than that.”

You can watch ABC News video of the Kim Davis interview with Faris here. More of the interview will be shown on The View. 

Bil Browning

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/9/22/kim-davis-i-denied-my-friends-marriage-license

50-State Food Tour For Equality Shines A Light On Some Of Its Heroes

Note: The following is the tenth post in a series of posts from GET//OUT regarding BLgT USA – the first 50-state food tour for equality. We’ll be sharing updates, photos and more as the BLgT team travels across the country to get people out locally for LGBT equality.

When we set out this summer to connect people across the country in support of LGBT equality through a twist on the classic BLT sandwich, we really had no idea what we were getting into. A 50 state, 55 city food tour in 4 months? We didn’t know how challenging AND rewarding it was going to be to build relationships with local restaurants nationwide. Our partnership process was as much art, as it was science. We weren’t sure who exactly we should be looking for, how and where to find the right partners, and what would seal the deal in the shortest amount of time. Now, we get it. We understand the power of partnering with local, visionary food heroes, who are as crazy as we are.

Who are these heroes? And what is it about this rare breed that makes them so great? These people have a particular allure, because of their community street cred, a team to back them up, and passion for a better world. Most of the partners featured below are part of a bigger restaurant group or small local chain. They have a strong social media following of loyalists. They understand the importance of engaging people online. People trust them and love them, because they visibly support their communities. They are the bedrocks making things happen with a smile…and it makes you come back for more. For today and tomorrow’s posts, we’re diving deep on BLgT USA standouts of the past few weeks. WE <3 YOU, BOOS. 

BLgT USA Local Food Heroes: Part I

• August 9, 2015 // Denver, CO – Masterpiece Deli.
  BLgTs for Denver The GLBT Center of Colorado, supporting LGBTQ programs in Denver and education services. Renowned Chef Justin Brunson and partner Stephen Allee have two locations, and are building out the new Masterpiece Kitchen. “We’re getting married next summer. We’re trying to figure out how Olive is going to carry our rings down the aisle.” -Harbadna, BLgT USA Supporter

• August 15, 2015 // Salt Lake City, UT – Even Stevens Sandwiches.
  BLgTs for Equality Utah, working on policy and programming for LGBT individuals in Utah — Mormon gays are getting it done. Even Stevens is a local Salt Lake chain with a one-for-one model. For every sandwich you buy, they donate one to someone in need through local partners. BIg expansion plans in the works. Watch these epic movers and shakers. They are crushing it in every way. “We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, food connects everyone. People who farm, people who cook, people who eat, and of course, people who love.” -Sara Day, Co-Owner

• August 22, 2015 // Seattle, WA – Tippe and Drague.
  BLgTs  for the Rainbow Center of Tacoma, supporting education, resources, and safe spaces for LGBTQ people and allies in Washington state. Perfect hidden back patio for summer nights. “Seattle is the birthplace of the It Gets Better Project. It started out in our alternative newspaper, The Stranger, with Dan Savage. I grew up with my mother incarcerating my brother for being gay when he was 14. She put him in jail because the law allowed you to do that back then. It was the 60s in the Seattle. If your children were ‘incorrigible’ you could incarcerate them. He was a year older than me. He told me that he was a queer. Which sounded okay to me. Whoever you love and care about, is whoever you love and care about. I didn’t know I was gay at the time. I grew up watching persecution. As I’ve gotten older, I believe that you need to communicate to a younger person that it does get better. It’s the shit of life to be treated like trash because you’re gay. There’s going to be a better day. All of us recovered. There were five kids in my family. Three of us were gay. All five of us banded together to save ourselves. And it got better.“ -Leslie, BLgT USA Supporter

• August 26, 2015 // Portland, OR – Bunk Sandwiches.
  BLgTs for Basic Rights Oregon, working on equal rights for all Oregon citizens. Friends Tommy Habetz, Nick Wood, and Matt Brown have seven sandwich locations, which includes a food truck and a space that moonlights as a indie rock venue. Epic. “The first thing I did when I moved to Portland was join a rugby team. Rugby is family. Here in Portland, everyone can be comfortable and be exactly who they are. Portlanders just live. It’s really thrown off my gaydar, though. [In between bites] This is delicious. Did I mention that the team loves Bunk Sandwiches? So good.” -Steph, BLgT USA Supporter

Today, September 22nd, is the official last day of summer. Our adventure began Memorial Day weekend, 123 days ago on May 23nd in Provincetown, MA. If you’re kicking it in Oahu this week, join us for the final BLgT of the summer at The Nook Neighborhood Bistro in Honolulu, HI. State #50. THE END…of the beginning. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll continue to post team reflections. For delicious photos of our 55 events check out our Facebook Page. For more sandwich stories from the road get after our Instagram. To sign-up for future GET//OUT updates, here ya go. For questions, feedback, and media love: [email protected]

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Alessi releases special edition to aid fight against HIV and AIDS

Joining the league of major global brands partnering with (Product) RED, Italian home and kitchenware company Alessi is one of the latest brands supporting the fight against HIV and AIDS.

A special collection marks the occasion, with four classic pieces being released in a new color in addition to the already existing lines.

‘Our mission as a design company is to create objects which try to satisfy people’s hidden desire for art and poetry,’ said Alberto Alessi, the company’s founder.

To mark the occasion, Emma Silvestris’s Mediterraneo fruit holder is now available in red.

‘Creativity is, therefore, at the base of our daily activity and we think that, at the same time, it puts us in a privileged position which allows us to help other people.

‘Alessi, in fact, has always shown great commitment to values such as solidarity and attention towards others; values that fully reflect our identity.’

Two of the company’s most iconic designs, the corkscrew models named Alessandro M. and Anna G., have also been released in a dedicated special edition.

Wearing smiles on their faces and clad in a red suit and dress, they carry Product Red’s logo, the heart in brackets, on their chest, highlighting their affiliation to the product.

The Anna G. clocks in at £29.95 (€41.41, $46.14), while the Alessandro M. model is priced at £26 (€35.95, $40).

Iconic smiles: the cheery corkscrews carry their heart in the right place.

Other items in the collaboration with (RED) include the Diabolix bottle opener (£11, €15.21, $16.94) and a Parmenide grater with cheese cellar by CSA (£12.95, €17.90, $19.95).

The Piccantino chili scruncher by LPWK (£15.50, €21.43, $23.88) and Emma Silvestris’s Mediterraneo fruit holder (from £43, €66.25, $59.45) complete the collection.

All lines are available directly through Alessi’s online shop or local branches as well as approved stationary and online retailers.

Alessi donates 5-10% of the products’ retail price to (Product) RED; founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver, the project seeks to engage the private sector to raise awareness and funds to help fight HIV and AIDS in Africa.

The post Alessi releases special edition to aid fight against HIV and AIDS appeared first on Gay Star News.

Stefanie Gerdes

www.gaystarnews.com/article/alessi-releases-special-edition-to-aid-fight-against-hiv-and-aids/

LGBT Ally Leaves Catholic School After Coworkers Fired

For Theresa Lienau, leaving Totino Grace was heart-breaking. “I didn’t just lose a job,” she said. “I lost a family.”
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/lgbt-ally-leaves-catholic-school-after-coworkers-fired?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Franklin Graham Blasts Obama’s ‘Sinful Agenda’ Inviting LGBTs to Pope Visit

Franklin Graham, the son of preacher Billy Graham and President of Samaritan’s Purse and Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has weighed in on President Obama’s LGBT-inclusive welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis in typical bigot fashion.

Earlier this week, we told you how the Vatican was reportedly troubled by Obama extending the invitation to openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, Mateo Williamson, is a former co-leader of Dignity USA Transgender Caucus, and Sister Simone Campbell, the pro-choice nun who is executive director of NETWORK, a 44-year-old national social justice lobbying group.

Wrote Graham on Facebook:

It’s wise of the Vatican to question President Obama’s guest list for the Pope’s visit next week—that list should raise a lot of eyebrows! The Wall Street Journal says those invited to the Pope’s welcome celebration include transgender activists, the first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop, and an activist nun whose organization supports abortion. This is disgraceful and obviously inappropriate. Is there no end to the lengths the president will go to in order to push his sinful agenda?

Graham’s comments echo Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue’s outrage, who this past weekend told CNN that Obama was showing “contempt for Catholics” by inviting LGBT guests to the Pope’s welcoming ceremony.

Related, Franklin Graham Throws a Tantrum Over Target’s Gender Neutral Toys

The post Franklin Graham Blasts Obama’s ‘Sinful Agenda’ Inviting LGBTs to Pope Visit appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Franklin Graham Blasts Obama’s ‘Sinful Agenda’ Inviting LGBTs to Pope Visit

DVD: “Saint Laurent,” “Finding Neighbors,” “Prick Up Your Ears,” & More!

Frisky business is the theme of this week’s home entertainment round-up, featuring a trio of films about men — including designer Yves Saint Laurent — who just can’t resist affairs and flings and, well, plain ol’ slutting it up (as in Prick Up Your Ears, above), not to shame anyone or anything.

Now for the details!

Saint Laurent
($34.99 Blu-ray; Sony)

This second 2014 biopic to focus on fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, starring Gaspard Ulliel, is arguably the better one and made without the approval of YSL’s estate and life partner, Pierre Bergé. Gorgeously art directed, in episodic fashion it traces their relationship and YSL’s stardom and tortured genius-fueled delves into drugs and promiscuity.

Prick Up Your Ears
($29.99 Blu-ray, $14.99 DVD; Olive)

Stephen Frears’ 1987 biopic about genius British playwright Joe Orton is essential LGBT cinema, and comes hot on the heels of Criterion’s release of Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette. Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina portray one of the most dysfunctional gay couples ever committed to celluloid — Love Is Strange indeed! — as Orton, who became the toast of London’s West End with cheeky plays like Loot and was even hired to pen a screenplay for The Beatles, and his not-so-talented-wannabe-writer mentor/boyfriend, Kenneth Halliwell, who went bonkers over Orton’s insatiable appetite for cruising and hookups. Comical and tragic, this one’s a must and quite the history lesson to boot.

Finding Neighbors
($24.99 DVD; Strand)

A graphic novelist in midlife crisis starts shifting his attentions from his therapist wife to a gay neighbor in this sleeper dramedy.

ALSO OUT:

I’m a Stripper: Digital Dancer

Pitch Perfect 2

Arrow: Season 3

Modern Family: Season 6

Lawrence Ferber

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/DOsIH8slXl0/dvd-saint-laurent-finding-neighbors-prick-up-your-ears-more-20150922

Unsung Chicago LGBT Heroes

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/pride/2015/9/22/unsung-chicago-lgbt-heroes

How I was locked out of healthcare as a trans immigrant

When I was 13 years old, my family settled in California. Like most teenagers, I was quick to assert my gender identity: A shy Mexican girl who rejected her quinceanera and French tip manicures, I proudly wore my older brother’s hand-me-downs. In a secretly trained, deep bass voice I would whisper to myself, ‘boy’.

I am a female-to-male transgender man. Growing up I experienced gender dysphoria – the condition of experiencing a gender different from the one assigned at birth. I knew I would never experience my teenage years as a young man unless I had access to gender-affirming medical care such as hormone replacement therapy and surgery.

To get transition-related care, you need health coverage. But my family was unable to receive health coverage, because we were undocumented, or unauthorized, immigrants.

Like many undocumented transgender people, I was locked out – unable to get the care transgender people like me need to live happy, healthy lives.

The lack of access extended to all aspects of my health care. For 15 years, I was denied doctor-recommended cervical cancer screenings, blood pressure tests, chlamydia tests, cholesterol tests, and more. I was denied access to the diagnosis and treatment of preventable diseases.

When my mother, a cancer survivor, was first diagnosed with the disease, she had to give up her weekends to work additional hours as a housekeeper so she could afford the out-of-pocket fees.

My personal struggles echo those of hundreds of thousands of Californians. 1.4 million people are excluded from access to health coverage due to their immigration status. A study by the DREAM Resource Center, a program of UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, found that 96% of the uninsured immigrant youth who delay medical care do so due to cost or lack of insurance.

In the words of Covered California: ‘It doesn’t make sense to take the gamble of going without health insurance.’ I agree. Transgender people who are undocumented shouldn’t be denied access to gender-affirming care due to their immigration status. Undocumented Californians shouldn’t be denied access to health coverage.

I was 26 years old when, for the first time, I saw my reflection in the mirror. I had just undergone gender-affirming surgery. My body matched my mind: I saw the reflection of a man in his late 20s.

But the funds required for examination fees, the hospital fees, and other surgery-related costs were not covered by a health insurance plan. It was all paid out-of-pocket with the support of strangers, friends, and family.

Today I’m happy with my body and with my choice to medically transition from female to male, and I’m a healthier person as a result. But, as is the case with any person, my health needs go far beyond a single diagnosis or treatment. I need access to affordable and adequate preventive care.

California needs to give all Californians a fair chance at buying their own health insurance plans, including undocumented Californians.

The State of Massachusetts, where I now reside, understands that expanding health care access to uninsured undocumented immigrants is the only reasonable solution to this public health problem. I’m proud to be a resident of Massachusetts, a state where undocumented immigrants may be eligible for health coverage under certain state programs.

Our health care system works best when everyone participates. We must stand in solidarity with transgender and all other LGBTI immigrants by supporting access to health care for all.

Julián Cancino is the co-founder of FAMILIA: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, the leading national LGBT Latino organization. His projects include developing family acceptance training ​and ​ending the immigration detention of trans people. A first generation student, he is a UC Berkeley graduate. You can find FAMILIA on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

The post How I was locked out of healthcare as a trans immigrant appeared first on Gay Star News.

Julián Cancino

www.gaystarnews.com/article/how-i-was-locked-out-of-healthcare-as-a-trans-immigrant/