Meet Trump's Horrifying Evangelical Advisory Board

Donald Trump says he’s a friend of the gays, but he just got in bed with some of our worst enemies.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/23/meet-trumps-horrifying-evangelical-advisory-board

123,000 Same-Sex Couples Said 'I Do' Since Supreme Court Ruling (Video)

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2016/6/23/123000-same-sex-couples-said-i-do-supreme-court-ruling-video

See How These Pride Trailblazers Changed The World Just By Being Themselves

Daniel Radcliffe at 2014 Logo Trailblazers

Logo established the annual Trailblazers Honors three years ago, honoring today’s most prolific LGBTQ advocates of equality. The show quickly established itself as a leading awards gala, and the 2016 version will be bigger and better than ever. As an official event of New York City Pride, VH1 and Logo will simulcast the pride event on Saturday, June 25 at 8pm ET/PT, from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The evening is dedicated to the lives lost to the Orlando massacre.

This year’s honorees are longtime contributors to the cause: playwright Harvey Fierstein, tennis champion Billy Jean King, and The Advocate magazine, which next year celebrates its half century mark. That’s right, the big 5-0.

A star-studded cast will pay homage to this year’s winners, including Emma Stone, who will present an award to Billy Jean King, Lance Bass, presenting to The Advocate. Video tributes by Laverne Cox, Judith Light, Matthew Broderick, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Edie Falco, Joel Grey, Tegan & Sara, Matthew Morrison, Jason Collins, Troye Sivan, and Cheyenne Jackson.

Tune in for a look at our visionary leaders for inspiration in a difficult time:

Harvey Fierstein

photo by Bruce Glikas

Harvey Fierstein has knocked down barriers not just in Broadway but in Hollywood. In 1982, Fierstein wrote and starred in “Torch Song Trilogy,” for which he won his first two of four Tony Awards. The play became a hit movie, starring Fierstein and Matthew Broderick. Fierstein went on to churn out the hits “La Cage aux Folles,” “Kinky Boots,” and “Casa Valentina.”

Fierstein also starred as an actor in multiple movies, including “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Independence Day,” as well in guest appearances on television shows such as “Nurse Jackie.” (Fierstein will reprise his iconic role of Edna Turnblad in NBC’s upcoming television special “Hairspray Live!”) Most recently, Fierstein and his “Kinky Boots” co-writer Cyndi Lauper rewrote the lyrics to the show’s finale song “Just Be” to speak out against anti-LGBT laws in North Carolina and other states. The video for the revised song, “Just Pee,” has been viewed over 8.5M times.

“In prep for this lovely honor, Logo sent me a bio they’d put together of my accomplishments. YIKES! It looks like I’ve done a lot but, truthfully, none of it was done alone,” Fierstein says. “There’s been an unseen army of contemporaries and pioneers who’ve come before me that has made everything I’ve achieved possible. I hope, by accepting this honor from Logo, that I am helping to celebrate our entire community of LGBT warriors.”

Watch Edie Falco’s and Matthew Morrison‘s tributes to Fierstein

Billy Jean King

Watch Chris Evert’s tribute to Billy Jean King

The Advocate

The Advocate launched as a newsletter in 1967, following America’s first known riot protesting harassment at the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles. That year–two and a half years before Stonewall–the broadsheet’s purpose was to inform gay men and lesbians of the dangers of police raids while educating them about their legal recourse. The Advocate quickly blossomed into the periodical of record with a team of experienced journalists doing award winning journalism awards at a time when the mainstream media largely ignored or denigrated all things LGBTQ. During the AIDS pandemic editors worked tirelessly to convince gay and non-gay celebrities to use the magazine as a vehicle to champion a community readership that one former Editor-In-Chief says was, “Choking on the self-hate most straight institutions were spewing at them about AIDS.”

In the early 90s and 2000s, the glossy mag conducted coming out interviews with k.d. lang, George Michael, Chaz Bono and Melissa Etheridge at at time when it was still an act of remarkable courage and sometimes even sacrifice. It also conducted the first live interview with a sitting president, questioning President Clinton on Air Force One.

“We are so excited to accept this award for The Advocate‘s five decades of journalism on behalf of the LGBT community,” says Matthew Breen, editor-in-chief of The Advocate. “It is a profound responsibility to chronicle our triumphs and tragedies, victories and defeats. And we strive to do it with the integrity shown to us by previous generations of brave editors, reporters, photographers, and publishers, who proved to the world that our stories must be told.”

Watch Cheyenne Jackson’s tribute to The Advocate

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Canadian Singer-Songwriter Shawn Mendes: ‘I’m Not Gay’

Canadian singer-songwriter and Vine phenom Shawn Mendes posted several messages to his Snapchat account declaring that he’s not gay after reading YouTube comments suggesting that he gives off a “gay vibe.”

Says Mendes in the messages, which were compiled and posted to YouTube:

So I don’t usually do this or bring up problems but I was on YouTube just watching some of my interviews and I was going down the comments and noticed a lot of people were saying I gave them a “gay vibe”.

First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, it shouldn’t made a difference if I was or if I wasn’t. The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality.

Now I know 99% of you guys aren’t making assumptions like this but this is for the 1% of you that are. I just want you guys before you judge someone on the way they speak or act to think, I want you guys to think ‘hey, maybe I shouldn’t be judging someone’ or ‘wait it actually doesn’t even matter.’ They can do or be or feel however they want to feel.

Now I’m not frustrated because people were saying that I was gay at all, I have no problem with that cause it wouldn’t make a difference to me. I’m frustrated because in this day and age people have the audacity to…write online that I’m gay as if it were a bad thing.That’s all I really have to say about that. I just wish those 1% of people would grow up. I love you guys.

Watch:

The post Canadian Singer-Songwriter Shawn Mendes: ‘I’m Not Gay’ appeared first on Towleroad.

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Roland Emmerich Claims His Whitewashed ‘Stonewall’ Film Was ‘Politically Correct’

¯_(ツ)_/¯

The post Roland Emmerich Claims His Whitewashed ‘Stonewall’ Film Was ‘Politically Correct’ appeared first on ThinkProgress.

thinkprogress.org/culture/2016/06/23/3791979/roland-emmerich-claims-whitewashed-stonewall-film-politically-correct/

Québec Minister and Delegation Visit HRC’s Office, Pay Respects to Orlando Victims

A delegation headed by the Québec Minister of International Relations Christine St-Pierre and the Delegate General of Québec in New York Jean-Claude Lauzon visited HRC’s office in Washington, D.C.,  yesterday to pay their respects to the victims of the Orlando shooting.

Minister St-Pierre and her colleagues laid a bouquet at the memorial HRC unveiled last week in memory of those lost in the horrific Orlando shooting. HRC installed images of all 49 victims of the attack in the front windows of its building, creating an 8-story composite image that carries the message “We Are Orlando.”

“I offer my deepest condolences on behalf of the Government and people of Québec to the families and loved ones of the victims of the tragedy that occurred in Orlando on June 12,” Minister St-Pierre said in a message to HRC. “We strongly condemn these acts of violence and stand in solidarity with our American neighbors and friends as well as with the LGBTQ community. We must remain strong and united in the face of hatred and terror.”

The minister and her delegation met with HRC Chief of Staff Joni Madison, Senior Vice President Mary Beth Maxwell and other staff to convey their condolences.

“It was a honor and a privilege to meet with Minister St-Pierre and the rest of the delegation from Québec,” Madison said. “It was a touching and moving gesture for them to take the time out of their busy trip in D.C. to come pay their respects to the victims in Orlando. The government in Québec has made great efforts to advance a pro-equality agenda, and we hope their time here will be an important step in establishing a friendship and partnership to help the global LGBTQ community.”

In the aftermath of the Orlando massacre, HRC announced calls for common-sense gun violence prevention policies, noting that LGBTQ people have been targeted in bias-motivated attacks for decades and that access to deadly weapons compounds this unacceptable threat.

www.hrc.org/blog/quebec-minister-and-delegation-visit-hrcs-office-pay-respects-to-orlando-vi?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HHS Revises Policy to Include Explicit Provision for Protections of LGBTQ Patients

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published regulations revising the Conditions of Participation for Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals to include explicit provision for protections of LGBTQ patients.   Conditions of Participation (CoPs) set requirements and expectations for hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid.  These standards significantly enhance the quality of care and protect the health and safety of patients.

Last week’s rule includes a new standard within the CoPs explicitly prohibiting discrimination against patients on the basis of sex (including gender identity) and sexual orientation.  These explicit protections will provide meaningful safeguards for patients, and will play a key role in ending the health disparities that continue to plague so many in the LGBTQ community.  In addition to prohibiting discrimination, the proposed regulation also requires hospitals to establish and implement a written nondiscrimination policy and to inform each patient of their rights under this provision and the process for filing a complaint.

Last week’s regulation is not only consistent with the nondiscrimination requirements imposed by the regulation implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex stereotyping, but also provides additional explicit protections for lesbian, gay, and bisexual patients. Last week’s regulation also reflects established and widely accepted existing federal standards of care.  For example, the Joint Commission incorporated inclusive non-discrimination requirements into its standards for all hospitals seeking accreditation in 2011.  HRC has consistently urged HHS to adopt these protections within the CoPs.  In October 2014 HRC directly called on HHS to adopt these and included this recommendation within the two most recent editions of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI).

These recommendations were made because HRC has independently researched hospital policies and in the HEI 2016 found that only 58 percent have patient non-discrimination policies that include both sexual orientation and gender identity. The HEI’s findings demonstrate the patchwork of protections nationwide for LGBTQ patients and their families, as well as LGBTQ healthcare facility employees, underscoring the need for uniform federal non-discrimination protections. LGBTQ Americans are facing a harsh choice between healthcare facilities that have policies that guarantee them equal care, and those that have consistently failed to take steps to ensure all patients receive inclusive, compassionate and respectful care.

Fear of discrimination causes many LGBTQ people to avoid seeking healthcare, and, when they do enter care, studies indicate that LGBTQ people are not consistently treated with the respect that all patients deserve.  In a recent study, 56 percent of LGB people and 70 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming people reported experiencing discrimination by healthcare providers–including refusal of care, harsh language, and physical roughness–because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A startling 27 percent of transgender respondents and 8 percent of LGB respondents reported that they had been denied necessary healthcare because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Delay and avoidance of care due to fear of discrimination compounds the significant health disparities experienced by LGBTQ people as a group. For example, 28 percent of transgender people reported that they postponed or avoided seeking treatment when sick or injured for fear of facing discrimination.

HRC applauds HHS for making this much needed step towards ending LGBTQ health disparities and ensuring that all patients regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity receive the care they need and deserve.

To read the proposed regulation visit: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-06-16/pdf/2016-13925.pdf

www.hrc.org/blog/hhs-revises-policy-to-include-explicit-provision-for-protections-of-lgbtq-p?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The John Lewis Case: Gun Control Only Passes If We Come Together

The famed civil rights leader says, “We must look out for each other.”

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/6/23/john-lewis-case-gun-control-only-passes-if-we-come-together

House Dems End Gun Control Protest As Sit-In Goes Over 24-Hour Mark

House Democrats ended their gun control protest Thursday morning.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/6/23/aide-house-dems-end-gun-control-protest-sit-goes-over-24-hour-mark