PHOTOS: Double Dipping Sex Appeal
This Russell Fleming photoshoot took place on the Gold Coast in Australia. Models Joshua Kristenson and Matt Miller strike poses and show off their cut bodies in Marcuse swimwear.
Photo Credit: Russel Fleming for Marcuse
Underwear Expert
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/VVA_PpXdb34/photos-double-dipping-sex-appeal-20150904
20 Southern Decadence Dos and Don'ts
The biggest gay party in the South is here. Read this before you hit Bourbon Street.
Kristen Becker
www.advocate.com/travel/2015/09/04/20-southern-decadence-dos-and-donts
Hometown of anti-gay Indiana governor unanimously passes LGBTI protections
The hometown of the Indiana governor who tried to legalize anti-gay discrimination has passed LGBTI protections.
Columbus councilmen voted unanimously Tuesday (1 September) to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s human rights ordinance. The council could take a final vote on the ordinance change on 15 September.
‘When we look at Columbus in 20 years, this will seem like a no-brainer,’ councilman Frank Jerome told AP.
Indiana’s Republican governor, Mike Pence, grew up in the city of 44,061 people. In March, he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into state law, allowing businesses to turn away LGBTI customers on religious grounds.
But after a national backlash, he quickly ‘fixed’ the law.
Indianapolis, South Bend and Evansville all have local ordinances that include sexual orientation, but Democrat lawmakers are now pushing for statewide protections.
Pence has said he does not tolerate discrimination against anyone, but he has always opposed against civil rights protections for LGBTI people.
‘The governor is listening to people on all sides of the issue in order to determine how best to move forward,’ a spokesperson for the governor said on Wednesday.
The post Hometown of anti-gay Indiana governor unanimously passes LGBTI protections appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
Italy to approve civil unions by year end, says PM
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Wednesday (2 September) parliament will pass a bill legalizing civil unions nationwide by the end of the year.
The pledge comes after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy was discriminating against LGBTI people by not recognizing same-sex relationships – the only major country left in Western Europe that does not allow either civil unions or gay marriage.
‘But a lot will depend on how the debate in the Senate goes,’ Renzi was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying.
‘We must speed constitutional reforms by the end of September and then wrap up civil unions within the first weeks of October.’
A Senate committee is studying the bill, to which opponents have proposed 1,500 amendments in an attempt to block the legislation.
Several major Italian cities and regions have already established civil union registries, but they only have symbolic value and are not legally binding.
The post Italy to approve civil unions by year end, says PM appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/italy-to-approve-civil-unions-by-year-end-says-pm/
Mike Huckabee: Kim Davis in Custody ‘Removes All Doubt’ of Christianity’s ‘Criminalization’
Mike Huckabee issued a strongly worded reaction to Kim Davis being found in contempt of court and taken into custody by federal marshal earlier today.
Wrote the 2016 GOP candidate on Facebook:
Having Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubt of the criminalization of Christianity in our country. We must defend religious liberty and never surrender to judicial tyranny. Five, unelected Supreme Court lawyers did not and cannot make law. They can only make rulings. The Supreme Court is not the Supreme branch and it’s certainly not the Supreme Being.
I am proud of Kim for standing strong for her beliefs. Who will be next? Pastors? Photographers? Caterers? Florists? This is a reckless, appalling, out-of-control decision that undermines the Constitution of the United States and our fundamental right to religious liberty.
On Wednesday, Huckabee called Davis to offer his prayers and support for her “not abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for religious liberty.”
In related news, The Washington Post‘s Janell Ross has a great article on why Davis’s anti-gay crusade shows we’ve reached the “George Wallace stage” of the fight over same-sex marriage.
The post Mike Huckabee: Kim Davis in Custody ‘Removes All Doubt’ of Christianity’s ‘Criminalization’ appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
Mike Huckabee: Kim Davis in Custody ‘Removes All Doubt’ of Christianity’s ‘Criminalization’
Republicans Use Kim Davis to Score Points for President
The Kentucky clerk is becoming the symbol of religious freedom that Republicans had been looking for.
Lucas Grindley
www.advocate.com/politics/election/2015/09/03/republicans-use-kim-davis-score-points-president
Federal rules proposed in US to help end health insurance discrimination against trans people
The US Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday (3 September) released proposed rules aimed at eliminating discrimination against transgender people in the US health care system.
The proposed Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule would make it illegal for healthcare plans to not cover services for transgender people if they offer those services to non-transgender people.
The rules seek to eliminate the common practice of excluding all gender transition-related health care from coverage – something that is common with private health insurance plans, state Medicaid and other programs.
The rules are designed to implement the Affordable Care Act’s non-discrimination provision, Section 1557. The Affordable Care Act is commonly known as ObamaCare.
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund calling this a ‘monumental step’ towards ensuring that transgender Americans get fair treatment within the health care system.
‘It is vital for transgender people to have access to medically necessary care, to be covered by insurance for that care, and to be treated with dignity and respect in medical settings,’ said TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman.
‘Transgender people continue to face tremendous barriers to accessing care which causes great harm to their health and well being,’ Silverman added. ‘The purpose of the Affordable Care Act was to ensure that all Americans had access to safe, affordable care. Under these new rules, transgender people will finally be able to reap the benefits of our nation’s health care law.’
The proposal would apply to all health insurance plans sold on the state and federal exchanges. It would also apply to any plan sold by a company with a federal contract or that is receiving federal funds.
It may not cover some private health insurance plans that do not receive any type of federal financial assistance or federal government contracts. It would also be up to non-Health and Human Services federal health programs to apply the rules to their programs.
The Department of Health and Human Services will hear comments on the proposed rule until 7 before taking final action on the proposal.
The post Federal rules proposed in US to help end health insurance discrimination against trans people appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Judge Denies Divorce, Blames Marriage Equality
In a case of sour grapes, a Kentucky judge says Obergefell v. Hodges was partially to blame for his refusal to let a straight couple split.
Daniel Reynolds
www.advocate.com/law/2015/09/03/judge-denies-divorce-blames-marriage-equality
Here's What's Next For Kim Davis Now That She's Been Thrown In Jail For Contempt
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the indefinite detention of a renegade Kentucky clerk for contempt of court after she refused to follow an order he gave last month to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Rowan County clerk Kim Davis has resisted multiple orders to begin issuing the marriage licenses, saying it would violate her religious beliefs. On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to intervene in her case.
Since U.S. District Judge David Bunning’s original Aug. 12 order only applied to the couples who sued Davis, he also extended it to include “other individuals who are legally eligible to marry in Kentucky.”
“Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense,” Bunning said in open court, according to The Chicago Tribune. “I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs … but I took an oath.”
The issuance of marriage licenses — at a standstill in Rowan County since the Supreme Court decided in June that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry — is expected to resume on Friday.
“Mrs. Davis took an oath,” said Bunning, a George W. Bush appointee. “Oaths mean things.”
Joe Dunman, a civil rights lawyer who represents the same-sex couples in this case, told The Huffington Post that it was never his or his clients’ desire that Davis be incarcerated.
“We didn’t ask for it,” he said. “We didn’t want for her to be put in jail.”
But Bunning ordered her detained anyway. According to the Courier-Journal, he said he could not “condone willful disobedience.”
“If you give people opportunity to choose what orders they follow, that is what potentially causes problems,” he said.
Congress vested federal courts with incredible power to “punish by fine or imprisonment, or both” any individual who disobeys or resists their dictates. This is what’s known as courts’ civil contempt power, and may include orders, judgments, instructions to appear, or other rules.
Now that Davis is behind bars, the judge theoretically could hold a special hearing on Friday or sometime next week to check in on Davis and find out if she is still unwilling to comply, in which case he could keep her detained until further notice.
As the Supreme Court pointed out in 2011 in Turner v. Rogers, Davis’ path to liberty in a case like hers is clear-cut: “Once a civil contemnor complies with the underlying order, he is purged of the contempt and is free.”
Of course, since Davis has contended it is “factually impossible” for her to comply, even in her official capacity, it is hard to tell how long her defiance will last.
Since the prospect of impeachment is a long shot, the path of least resistance, and the end of sorrows for her and many others in Rowan County, would be for her to simply resign.
— 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.
ABC Family and Fox get highest grades for LGBTI representation on TV
When GLAAD began grading the television networks on the the quantity, quality, and diversity of LGBT representation on television nine years ago, Fox got a failing grade.
But in the latest GLAAD Network Responsibility Index (NRI) released on Thursday (3 September), Fox was the only one of the five broadcast networks to earn a grade of excellent. This marks the first time a broadcast network has ever ranked that well.
‘This milestone highlights real change across the media landscape – especially considering that the network received a “Failing” grade in the NRI‘s first two editions,’ said GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis.
Fox has a prominent gay character on its new hit drama Empire played by out actor Jussie Smollett and had several gay and lesbian characters on Glee.
ABC Family was the only cable network of the 10 ranked to be graded excellent for its original programming – the third time the cable network was given the highest ranking.
Its shows include the drama The Fosters which centers on a lesbian couple raising a large brood of birth, adopted and foster children including a teenage son who is gay. The show also has a transgender character. The cable network also has lesbian or bisexual characters on Pretty Little Liars and Chasing Life.
The networks were judged by programming which aired between June 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015.
Receiving a grade of ‘Good’ were ABC, The CW, FX, HBO, MTV and Showtime while CBS, NBC, TLC, TNT and USA received grades of ‘adequate.’
The grade of ‘Failing’ was given to A&E and The History Channel.
GLAAD announced that this is the final edition of its NRI. The organization will now turn its focus to its annual Where We Are On TV Report which analyzes the diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks.
The post ABC Family and Fox get highest grades for LGBTI representation on TV appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/abc-family-and-fox-get-highest-grades-for-lgbti-representation-on-tv/
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