President Obama and Donald Trump Trade Trash Talk About Terrorism (Video)

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/14/president-obama-and-donald-trump-trade-trash-talk-about-terrorism-video

Donald Trump: Hillary Clinton Is 'No Friend of LGBT Americans' (Video)

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/14/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-no-friend-lgbt-americans-video

Loretta Lynch: 'This Attack Has Brought Us Together' (Video)

www.advocate.com/crime/2016/6/14/loretta-lynch-attack-has-brought-us-together-video

Orlando Chick-fil-A Ditches Corporate Homophobia for a Day

At least one local restaurant opened on Sunday to offer free food to blood donors.

www.advocate.com/business/2016/6/14/orlando-chick-fil-ditches-corporate-homophobia-day

Orlando Survivor Shares Her Story in Harrowing Poem: ‘The Guilt of Being Alive Is Heavy’ – WATCH

One of the survivors of Sunday’s mass shooting at gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, shared a poem on Tuesday which she says sums up how she feels having lived through the worst terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11.

Only 20 years old, Patience Carter appeared before reporters at a hospital in Florida to describe in vivid detail how she survived the attack at Pulse and witnessed unthinkable carnage. But before she recounted her tale, Carter said, “I want to share a poem that I wrote in the middle of the night last night that really shows everything that I’m feeling right now and it’s a part of my healing process.”

The poem might be called, “The Guilt of Being Alive Is Heavy.”

Carter read, “As the world mourns the victims killed and viciously slain, / I feel guilty about screaming about my legs and pain because I can feel nothing, / Like the other 49 who weren’t so lucky to feel this pain of mine.”

Watch Carter read her heartbreaking poem in full, below.

Text of Carter’s poem, via FOX29, is also provided below:

“The guilt of feeling grateful to be alive is heavy. Wanting to smile about surviving but not sure if the people around you are ready, as the world mourns the victims killed and viciously slain,

I feel guilty about screaming about my legs and pain…

Because I could feel nothing

Like the other 49, who weren’t so lucky to feel this pain of mine. I never thought in a million years that this could happen.

I never thought in a million years that my eyes could witness something so tragic.

Looking at the souls leaving the bodies of individuals.

Looking at the killer’s machine gun throughout my right peripheral.

Looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone’s faces.

Looking at the gunman’s feet under the stall as he paces.

The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy, it’s like the weight of the oceans walls crushing uncontrolled by levies. It’s like being drug through the grass with a shattered leg and thrown in the back of a Chevy.

Being rushed to the hospital and told you’re going to make it, when you laid beside individuals whose lives were brutally taken.

The guilt of being alive is heavy.”

The post Orlando Survivor Shares Her Story in Harrowing Poem: ‘The Guilt of Being Alive Is Heavy’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

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DC Primary, Russia, Greg Rikaart, Sacramento Pastor, Kathryn Knott, Father of the Bride: NEWS

PRIMARY. DC votes today in the last primary of the 2016 election, and Bernie Sanders is sticking to his line that he’s not conceding. More on the primary here.

WE ARE ORLANDO. How the massacre at Pulse has emotionally and psychologically impacted us: “LGBT people aren’t superheroes. What happened in Orlando opened wounds in people thousands of miles away from the gunman. LGBT people are grappling with the fact that there is no such thing as a “safe space,” that we created the idea of a “safe space” to stay sane, but it is an illusion.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME. Sean Penn almost named his son “Steak.”

CYBERWAR. Russia hacked the DNC: “Vladimir Putin’s Russian government illegally hacked into the Democratic National Committee’s computer systems, stealing its entire cache of opposition research against Donald Trump. The extent of the hacking is so severe the Russians even accessed chat messages and emails. The DNC has confirmed the hacking, but says no personal donor or financial information has been accessed.”

VICTIMS’ FUND. Disney donates $1 million to victims of Orlando massacre.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Young and the Restless star Greg Rikaart and husband Robert Sudduth welcome healthy baby boy on the same day as the tragedy in Orlando: “We fight hate, fear, bigotry, homophobia and injustice in the world with love, intellect and enlightenment.”

IGNORAMUS. Scott Brown says Orlando shooter did not target gay people: “I don’t identify the people who were murdered as from a particular class of people. I classify them as Americans, and it was an attack against all Americans, not just one particular class or type of American.”

PUCKER UP. Alexander Skarsgard says Ryan Kwanten is a better kisser than Margot Robbie: “He’s very tender. You wouldn’t think it because he’s kind of a tough guy but very soft, gentle, tender touch.”

SOCIAL MEDIA. YouTube pulls video posted by Sacramento pastor praising Orlando killings: “The pastor, however, defended his comments Tuesday in response to the expressions of outrage. The videotaped sermon by Pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church  touched off a firestorm of controversy shortly after it was posted on Sunday. In it, Jimenez said that when he learned the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history had occurred at a gay club, he wasn’t sad. In fact, he felt quite the contrary.”

FRANK BRUNI. Don’t erase LGBT people from the Orlando mass shooting: “So Majority Leader McConnell, pick your rally. Speaker Ryan, accompany him. Governor Scott, attend the funerals of gay victims. Other Republicans and Democrats, recognize L.G.B.T. Americans with both your words and your presence at gay pride celebrations. You want to show our enemies what America stands for? Then stand with us.”

BIG BROTHER. Net neutrality has victory in U.S. Appeals court: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit delivered a slam-dunk victory to the Federal Communications Commission as it rejected the petition filed by telecom, cable and wireless industry associations alongside AT&T, CenturyLink and several smaller providers.”

DONALD TRUMP. Bill Maher wishes the presumptive Republican nominee a Happy Birthday.

REAL ESTATE. The ‘Father of the Bride’ house is up for sale in L.A. for $1.9 million. 

KATHRYN KNOTT. Philly gay-basher wants to get out of jail early for good behavior: “In the motion, [attorney William] Brennan argues that while Knott’s minimum release date based on the sentence is July 8th, she would have become eligible for early release on June 6th, because inmates can get credit for good behavior while in jail. According to the motion, Knott hasn’t had any behavioral issues while at Riverside, and she completed a court-ordered anger management class in April.”

LORETTA LYNCH. US AG speaks out on the attack at Pulse in Orlando.

The post DC Primary, Russia, Greg Rikaart, Sacramento Pastor, Kathryn Knott, Father of the Bride: NEWS appeared first on Towleroad.

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Jackson City Council Approves Landmark LGBTQ-Inclusive Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Today, HRC Mississippi hailed the Jackson, Mississippi City Council for voting to advance city-wide non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. Passed by a 7-0 vote, the measure also expands the city’s hate crimes statute to include tougher penalties for perpetrators who commit crimes motivated by the victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

“As the LGBTQ community grapples with the horrific massacre in Orlando, it is truly encouraging to see the Jackson City Council taking decisive action to protect and affirm the rights of all their citizens,” said HRC Mississippi State Director Rob Hill. “Discrimination and hate have no place in Jackson, and everyone, regardless of who they are, should have the legal right to feel safe in their community. We thank Councilman Tyrone Hendrix for his continued leadership on issues of equality, and are confident that the Council’s actions will serve as an example to communities across the country.”

Today’s vote comes just days after a tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, claimed the lives of 49 people and injured more than 50 others. While that crime has not yet been labeled a hate crime, according to the most recent FBI statistics available, more than 20 percent of hate crimes reported nationally in 2014 targeted people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. As a recent investigation by the Associated Press uncovered, this reporting dramatically undercounts LGBTQ data, as it is based on local, non-mandatory reporting. Strong, fully-inclusive hate crimes legislation at the local level plays an important role in improving data collection and ultimately saving lives.

Mississippi is one of 20 states that do not have hate crimes laws explicitly protecting sexual orientation and gender identity, and one of 32 without fully-inclusive LGBTQ non-discrimination protections.

Jackson his been leading on the issue of LGBTQ equality. Earlier this year, the Jackson Public School District’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend fully-inclusive sexual orientation and gender identity workplace protections to their employees. With almost 30,000 students, the district is the second largest in the state and one of the first in the Mississippi Public School system to grant employment protections to LGBTQ staff members.

In 2014, HRC launched Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. HRC Mississippi continues to work to advance equality for LGBT Mississippians who have no state level protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations. Through HRC Mississippi, we are working toward a future of fairness every day—changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.

www.hrc.org/blog/jackson-city-council-approves-landmark-lgbtq-inclusive-non-discrimination-o?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

How Late Night Comedy Handled the Orlando Tragedy

From Samantha Bee to Stephen Colbert, late night royalty made their feelings on guns and extremists known.

www.advocate.com/comedy/2016/6/14/how-late-night-comedy-handled-orlando-tragedy