#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: September 22, 2016

#CHARLOTTE PROTEST: Following the killing of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, who was fatally shot Tuesday by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer, Charlotte saw its second night of unrest. Protesters are responding to distrust and uncertainties that remain around Scott’s death, as well as the fatal shooting Friday night in Tulsa of unarmed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher by a police officer, and an epidemic of Black men and women dying at the hands of law enforcement. While some protests have been peaceful, others have turned violent and a number of individuals have been wounded over the last two nights.

Standing with our brothers & sisters seeking both peace and justice in #Charlotte.

— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) September 22, 2016

WHY CHARLOTTE MUST STAY THE COURSE ON ITS NDO: HRC President Chad Griffin and Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro penned an op-ed in The News & Observer yesterday to discuss the many disastrous effects HB2 has had on North Carolinians, the North Carolina economy, and Governor Pat McCrory’s approval ratings. They write, “If McCrory wants to win back voters and show real leadership, it’s clear he must stop weak attempts to misdirect attention, work with legislative leadership and call a special session to repeal HB2. Only then can he begin to repair the damage he has caused to the state he was elected to lead.”

• After planting his own staff in the audience at a Rotary Club event on Tuesday to ask questions, McCrory went out of his way to lie to his constituents about a meeting between himself, Chad Griffin, Chris Sgro and community advocate Candis Cox. Watch here.

AND WE’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES THINKING IT: Publications from across North Carolina and nationally are fed up with Pat McCrory’s lies. Here’s a roundup of  this week’s editorials and opinion pieces on HB2:

• “Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina has some nerve.” — The New York Times editorial board, “North Carolina pays a price for bigotry”
• “That’s why the guilty were trying so hard to induce the victim to confess to the crime. The victim wasn’t having it, and its response was the right one: There’s a clear way out of this mess, and the job of getting us out belongs to the people who got us stuck there in the first place.” — Charlotte Magazine’s Greg Lacour (@GregLacour), “On ordinance repeal, Charlotte passes”
• “By any objective measure, North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law, HB2, has been a complete disaster for the state.” — The Huffington Post’s Jen Bendery (@JBendery), “Pat McCrory’s utterly absurd excuse for not repealing HB2”
• “Yes, a ‘reset’ has an appealing ring to it. But it would be a step backward, both symbolically and practically. Would Charlotte be any closer to the protections it wants to offer? No. Would it get a football and basketball event back? Maybe. Are those events worth selling out the LGBT community? We believe the answer is no.” — The Charlotte Observer’s editorial board, “City Council shouldn’t sell out Charlotte’s LGBT community”
• “Good for her. Good for Charlotte. And good for the cause of civil rights.” — The News and Observer editorial board, “Charlotte Mayor Roberts is right on HB2”
• “Gov. Pat McCrory and state leaders tell us HB2 has not hurt the North Carolina economy. Did they ask the dozens of communities, hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers in North Carolina that have lost work and tens of millions at the hands of the LGBT bashing legislation what they think? Obviously not.” — WRAL’s editorial board, “NO DEALS: Legislature and McCrory should repeal HB2 – period”

NORTH CAROLINIANS ARE FED UP TOO: Public Policy Polling released data yesterday showing that, by an 11 point margin, voters say McCrory’s handling of HB2 makes them less likely to support him. And The Washington Post shares that 30 percent of those polled think Governor McCrory will be re-elected on November 8.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Check out this infographic from 2011 on President Obama’s accomplishments for the LGBTQ community — highlighting just the first few of a long list of major milestones over the past eight years. Of those mentioned include “signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law,” “banned discrimination in federal workplaces based on gender identity,” “led a United Nations measure to restore ‘sexual orientation’ to the definition of human rights” and “addressed the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner for a second time.” #ThanksObama

FED JUDGE RULES IN TRANS STUDENT DISCRIMINATION CASE: A judge has granted a preliminary injunction in a court case, legally requiring the Kenosha Unified School District to halt its discriminatory practices against a transgender student. The student, Ash Whitaker filed a federal lawsuit against the Kenosha Unified School District for denying Ash access to the facilities consistent with his gender identity, using Ash’s birth name and female pronouns, isolating Ash from his peers on overnight school trips and a proposed policy to require transgender students to wear green wristbands or stickers. More from FOX 6 News.

HRC ANNOUNCES HBCU ADVISORY COUNCIL: Yesterday, HRC announced the inaugural members of a National Advisory Council that will work with HRC’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Project. In conjunction with the announcement, HRC’s HBCU Project is also launching a new partnership with The Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania to establish national benchmarks and best practices for HBCUs on LGBTQ inclusion. More from HRC.

WEDDING BELLS IN GUERNSEY: The States of Guernsey voted yesterday to bring marriage equality to the Channel Island. North Ireland is now the only part of the British Isles that does not have marriage equality. More from BuzzFeed.

• Meanwhile, about 1,700 miles (or about 2,700 km) to the west… Romania’s Constitutional Court again postponed a ruling on a petition to recognize same-sex marriage. More from The Washington Post.

READING RAINBOW
Indy Week takes a look at North Carolina’s transgender Latina community… DC Comics is releasing a comic book to honor the victims of the Orlando shooting, proceeds to benefit Equality Florida… 

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to A.M. Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tip-sheet-september-22-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The Bi Writers Association to host Bi Visibility Open Mic in NYC this Friday

www.glaad.org/blog/bi-writers-association-host-bi-visibility-open-mic-nyc-friday

Russia Blocks Its Most Popular Gay Site

www.advocate.com/world/2016/9/22/russia-blocks-its-most-popular-gay-site

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against North Carolina's Same-Sex Marriage Opt-Out Law (Video)

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2016/9/22/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-north-carolinas-same-sex-marriage-opt

ACLU Wants Kim Davis To Pay Up. Big Time.

You probably thought you’d seen the last of her. No such luck. The ACLU isn’t done with Kim Davis yet.

The latest plot twist in Kim’s sordid tale is a filing by the ACLU, requesting over a quarter million dollars in recouped legal fees. They spent a ton of money defending the right of same-sex couples to marry, and now the law entitles them to recover those expenses.

Civil rights cases are special in that the winner can recoup what they spent from the loser. It’s a measure intended to discourage rights violations by government officials.

Kim would not personally be on the hook for the payout — it’s unclear who would be, but it’s likely to be the county that she works for. Maybe something for voters to keep in mind next time they go to the polls. Put a homophobic person who violates the law in office, and you could be on the hook for all the pointless litigation they cause.

There’s a lot of procedural legal back-and-forth that will need to follow this filing. Questions of who has to pay and who doesn’t depend on the way in which the case was dismissed, and the parties’ changing relationships with each other. It’ll likely be many months before we get a ruling, and even longer before the ACLU gets any money — if any.

Ultimately, of course, the law was changed in Kentucky and Kim Davis could no longer make a fuss about being forced to violate whatever conscience she has. At that point, she was no longer useful to the right-wing politicians who were using her to support their own careers, and she’s been largely ignored — as she should be. Would it be funny if her lasting impact was a big payout to the ACLU.

www.queerty.com/aclu-wants-kim-davis-pay-big-time-20160922?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Nyle Dimarco Explains Why He’s Voting For Hillary

“If you’re still listening to my voice, please know that there are a lot of people out there without one. Among the 50 million Americans living with disabilities, many don’t have the ability to work, to travel, or to do countless other things you might take for granted.”

Related: “America’s Next Top Model” Hottie Comes Out As “Sexually Fluid”

That’s Dancing With the Stars winner Nyle DiMarco in a powerful new ad for Hillary Clinton, which finds the ever-charming 27-year-old deaf model discussing the presidential candidate’s commitment to helping the millions of Americans with disabilities.

Watch:

www.queerty.com/nyle-dimarco-explains-hes-voting-hillary-20160922?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Protests Over Police Shootings Rock Charlotte for Second Night

A second night of protests in Charlotte over the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott turned violent on Wednesday night as a man was shot near a hotel when demonstrators tried to follow riot police into a hotel lobby, the Washington Post reports:

The man, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital with injuries that medics said were “life-threatening.” Officials announced on Twitter that the man had died, then later tweeted that he was on “life support.” No other information was given.

The Scott shooting was the second fatal shooting of a black man by law enforcement this week. In Tulsa, Terence Crutcher was shot, unarmed, as he was pulled over by police.

Officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowd:

The WaPo adds:

To date, law enforcement officials have fatally shot 706 people this year, 163 of them black men, according to a Washington Post database tracking fatal police shootings. A growing divide in public rhetoric over that toll has been stoked by a summer of high-profile deaths captured on social media and the deadly assaults on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. The latest encounters come as the presidential race has tightened, and both candidates have offered positions and solutions.

At a news conference Wednesday, Charlotte police insisted that Scott had a gun and was posing an “imminent deadly threat” when officers shot him outside an apartment complex near the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Scott’s family, however, said he was unarmed when he was killed and was instead reading a book in his car while waiting to pick up his child from school — a detail that quickly went viral on social media and was seized upon by protesters here.

Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard.

More regional response unit vehicles just arrived @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/FVPPzIMPlu

— Blake Hanson (@BlakeWSOC9) September 22, 2016

Donald Trump, in a shift from his typical support of law enforcement, questioned the shooting of Crutcher in Tulsa earlier in the week, but the comments appeared to be a politically motivated attempt to reach black voters, The Hill reports:

The comments were startling coming from Trump, who has often professed vigorous support for law enforcement while portraying himself as the “law and order” candidate in the presidential race. He received the endorsement of a major police union last week.

But his remarks also came amid an apparent effort by the Republican nominee to improve his standing with black voters….

…

Referring to the killing of Crutcher, Trump commented: “I watched the shooting, in part, in Tulsa, and that man was hands up. That man went to the car, hands up, put his hands on the car.

“To me, it looked like he did everything you’re supposed to do,” Trump added. “The young officer — I don’t know what she was thinking. But I’m very, very troubled by that.”

Referring to the female police officer who shot Crutcher, Trump added: “Did she get scared? Was she choking? What happened? People that do that — maybe they can’t be doing what they’re doing.”

The post Protests Over Police Shootings Rock Charlotte for Second Night appeared first on Towleroad.

Protests Over Police Shootings Rock Charlotte for Second Night

British Govt Says It Is ‘Committed’ to Pardoning 49,000+ Gay Men Convicted of Gross Indecency

The British government says it is “committed” to an ‘Alan Turing law’ that would pardon at least 49,000 gay men who were convicted under gross indecency crimes before homosexuality was decriminalized in 1967.

The BBC reports:

World War Two code-breaker Turing was pardoned in 2013, decades after he was convicted of gross indecency in 1952. A government spokesman said it was “committed” to the proposal.

“This government is committed to introducing posthumous pardons for people with certain historical sexual offence convictions who would be innocent of any crime now,” the spokesman said.

“We will bring forward our proposals in due course.”

Efforts to pardon gay men convicted under the laws gained steam after the release of recent movies about Turing like The Imitation Game.

The Independent reports:

Speaking to The Independent, Rachel Barnes, Mr Turing’s great-niece said she had been “disappointed that there had been no progress” since she and others had originally launched a petition in 2015 to extend her great-uncle’s pardon to all men convicted under the historic laws. “I will give my backing towards any progress,” she added.

“It’s something the family of Alan Turing have always, always backed and we really do want justice for everybody who was affected by the anti-gay laws. I am very pleased to hear the current administration will give it their backing.”

Following a screening of The Imitation Game in London last year, actor Stephen Fry told The Hollywood Reporter that Turing’s pardon was only the start of what should be done to honor Turing.

“Should Alan Turing have been pardoned just because he was a genius, when somewhere between 50 to 70 thousand other men were imprisoned, chemically castrated, had their lives ruined or indeed committed suicide because of the laws under which Turing suffered? There is a general feeling that perhaps if he should be pardoned, then perhaps so should all of those men, whose names were ruined in their lifetime, but who still have families.” He continued, “It was a nasty, malicious and horrific law and one that allowed so much blackmail and so much misery and so much distress. Turing stands as a figure symbolic to his own age in the way that Oscar Wilde was, who suffered under a more but similar one.”

[Benedict] Cumberbatch, who played Turing in The Imitation Game, agreed with Fry: “Alan Turing was not only prosecuted, but quite arguably persuaded to end his own life early, by a society who called him a criminal for simply seeking out the love he deserved, as all human beings do. 60 years later, that same government claimed to ‘forgive’ him by pardoning him. I find this deplorable, because Turing’s actions did not warrant forgiveness — theirs did — and the 49,000 other prosecuted men deserve the same.”

Turing’s family brought a petition for the pardons to the British government last year.

The post British Govt Says It Is ‘Committed’ to Pardoning 49,000+ Gay Men Convicted of Gross Indecency appeared first on Towleroad.

British Govt Says It Is ‘Committed’ to Pardoning 49,000+ Gay Men Convicted of Gross Indecency

Gay Grad Lance Sanderson Sues High School for Being Refused Permission to Bring a Boy To Prom

Lance Sanderson, 19, is suing his former Tennessee high school for being refused permission last year to bring another male to his homecoming dance.

Lance Sanderson is suing Christian Brothers High School (CBHS) in Memphis, Tennessee, arguing that the school unlawfully discriminated against him on the basis of his sexual orientation.

In a Change.org petition last September, Sanderson wrote:

I’ve been out since my freshman year of high school, and I’ve been a great student as well as a photographer for most of my school’s events. When I first started to float the idea of bringing a same-sex date to homecoming, I was told that my school doesn’t discriminate by a school official.

But when that school official left over the summer, I was met with harsh opposition by my school. One administrator told me that even though some people interpreted Pope Francis’s teachings on the issue as meaning they should support same-sex couples, these people are, “not the authority to which Christian Brothers High School is accountable.” And now my school is making daily announcements across the whole school, saying that students can’t bring same-sex dates from other schools…

I just want to bring a date of my choice to homecoming like the rest of my friends and classmates. I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m just asking for respect, and the chance to make my last homecoming a truly memorable experience.

RELATED: Christian Town Official Attacks Gay Teen Denied Homecoming Date: WATCH

Despite the petition having close to 28,000 signatures to date, Sanderson skipped the dance. Days later he was sent home from school for a “cooling off” period. When he returned, he was called derogatory names by other students and eventually opted to complete his senior year at home.

Sanderson is seeking up to $1 million from CBHS citing breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent training and a violation under Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, NBC reports.

Proud to stand by Lance Sanderson and his family in pursuit of justice and equality. t.co/9t93xa1Vsm

— Howard Manis (@ManisLawFirm) September 21, 2016

Howard Manis, one of Sanderson’s lawyers, said that because the school receives federal funding and also potentially state funding, it is “responsible for following the letter of the law under Title IX.”

He added:

“As a private school, CBHS held itself out to be nondiscriminatory with regard to sexual orientation. In our eyes, it seems very clear those were hollow words. They were not interested in treating [Sanderson] the same as other students.”

Now a college freshman at DePaul University, Sanderson said “I hope they don’t do this to anyone else in the future and that other schools that try to abide by similar philosophies don’t do this to their students. I really don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through this year.”

Watch a FOX report from last year below.

(Image via Twitter)

Sanderson sent the following letter to the school’s administration after being suspended last year:

Dear CBHS Administration,

Today I arrived at school around 6:30am. I sat down to complete my assignments for the classes I planned on attending today. At 7:30am, I was speaking to a teacher when an administrator walked into the room and told me to gather my books and come to the office.

When I arrived at the office I was told that the administration “had 890 other students to worry about” and could not deal with me. I was told to go home for the week. I said goodbye to a few teachers and students, then drove home.

I am hurt by this exclusion. It goes against the Lasallian value of brotherhood that the school is supposed to stand for. You won’t let me dance with my date and you won’t let me go to class now either. I had hoped that today would be one for positive conversation going forward. Instead, I was sent home.

I haven’t done anything wrong and haven’t hurt anybody. I want to be welcomed back to the school building today and I want this mean-spirited semi-suspension ended, so that I can do my classwork like anybody else.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote from a Birmingham jail cell: “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Sincerely,
Lance Sanderson

The post Gay Grad Lance Sanderson Sues High School for Being Refused Permission to Bring a Boy To Prom appeared first on Towleroad.

Gay Grad Lance Sanderson Sues High School for Being Refused Permission to Bring a Boy To Prom