Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, and the DNC Stand by LGBT Americans on National Coming Out Day

Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, and the Democratic National Committee marked today’s National Coming Out Day with messages of support.

Clinton tweeted a message this afternoon that read “You have millions of allies who will always have your back. I am one of them.”

She added, in an appended note to her social media followers: “Coming out often takes incredible courage. On#NationalComingOutDay, let’s honor that courage by showing LGBT Americans we’re with them.”

Coming out often takes incredible courage. On #NationalComingOutDay, let’s honor that courage by showing LGBT Americans we’re with them. pic.twitter.com/LBhyK1Ounm

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 11, 2016

The Democratic National Committee also put out a press release. They write:

“Today, on National Coming Out Day, we celebrate one of the most powerful forces in the fight for LGBT equality. When someone decides to come out as member of the LGBT community, it gives their friends, family, loved ones and neighbors a personal reason to support LGBT rights, and it inspires more members and allies of the LGBT community to stand up for what is right, even in the face of discrimination, bigotry and violence. Despite the great strides we’ve made in recent years – marriage equality, the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and more – the sad fact remains that coming out is still a risky, even dangerous thing to do for too many Americans, young and old. But that’s why it’s so important. Together, we can end the discrimination and build a brighter, safer future for all.

“The Democratic Party is proud to stand with the LGBT community, and proud to support candidates for elected office who are fighting for the promise of full equality. If we hope to continue building on the progress of the last eight years, we must elect Hillary Clinton and Democrats up and down the ballot across the country.”

And Clinton running mate Senator Tim Kaine joined ATTN: Editor-In-Chief Matthew Segal to say that leaders must promote acceptance.

From the Clinton campaign:

Amid clips of LGBT kids describing the bullying and hate-speech directed at them, Senator Kaine says that National Coming Out Day is important because we need to let kids know that they should “be proud of who you are. You’re made the way you’re made for a reason…celebrate that and accept it.”

Senator Kaine also said that school districts receiving school safety funding should work to reduce the rate of bullying in their schools. As someone who has been standing up to bullies her whole life, Hillary Clinton, together with Tim Kaine, will continue fighting for the the LGBT community and celebrates National Coming Out Day.

Watch:

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Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine, and the DNC Stand by LGBT Americans on National Coming Out Day

7th Circuit to Reconsider Whether the Civil Rights Act Prohibits Anti-Gay Discrimination 

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider whether existing civil rights law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The court previously found in July that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not prohibit anti-gay discrimination.

BuzzFeed reports:

The issue, raised in Kimberly Hively’s case at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, is whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers from discrimination under its ban on sex discrimination in the workplace.

The question is one that has been percolating in the lower courts in recent years, but this will be the first time a full federal appeals court is due to consider the issue en banc in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality in June 2015.

This summer, a three-judge panel of the court ruled against Hively, extending prior decisions of the appeals court declining to protect gay people under Title VII.

The court’s ruling from July has been vacated by the en banc ruling.

Image via BuzzFeed

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7th Circuit to Reconsider Whether the Civil Rights Act Prohibits Anti-Gay Discrimination 

Embrace Your True Self at Home and Then Work

The founder of Executive Pride says his confidence to be out was learned early, and not from his parents.

www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/10/11/embrace-your-true-self-home-and-then-work

PHOTOS: Atlanta Pride Was All About Love (And Super Cute Guys)

Thought Pride season was over? Think again! Last weekend, the gays took over Atlanta for the 46th annual Pride festival, and it was all about love, cute guys, and some anti-pussy-grabbing advocacy.

Related: PHOTOS: Leather Bears Just Wanna Have Fun In Atlanta

Thousands of people turned out for two days of non-stop celebrations, that included your usual festival and parade, plus events for families, gaymers, dykes on bikes, circuit parties, and a performance by the legendary Jody Watley.

Scroll down for a roundup of photos from the weekend of festivities…

www.queerty.com/photos-atlanta-pride-love-super-cute-guys-20161011?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Texas Judge Quits GOP Just After Performing Same-Sex Wedding

It makes you wonder if there will even be a Republican party left after all the dust settles from this election: a judge in Texas, exasperated over his party’s ludicrous behavior, has switched sides to the Democrats. And the turning point for him was presiding at a gay wedding.

His name is Terry Jennings of the Texas First Court of Appeals, and he’s been mulling the switch for some time. His kids kept needling him about it. And then last year when he presided over his first same-sex wedding, everyone kept telling him that most Republican judges wouldn’t have been so accepting.

“That’s when I started thinking,’Well maybe I’m not in the right party then,’” he told reporters.

Democrats are in short supply on Texas benches — there are only 12 of them in state appellate courts out of 73.

Here’s how he explained his switch:

My values and principles have not changed since 2000, but those of the Republican party have.

Over the years, I have watched this great nation, in all its diversity, grow richer and stronger. In 2008, I was excited when we elected our first black president. Too many Republicans were not. As the father of two daughters, and the son of a woman born before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, I am equally excited that we are about to elect our first woman president.  Too many Republicans are not. I appreciate and embrace that we are a nation of immigrants, of individuals of many different faiths and ethnicities — all one people under our Constitution — all of whom are guaranteed equal protection under the law. Too many Republicans do not.

He concluded that he’ll be voting for Hillary in the election.

www.queerty.com/texas-judge-quits-gop-just-performing-sex-wedding-20161011?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Scorched Earth: Donald Trump Attacks John McCain, Paul Ryan, and the Rest of the GOP in Latest Tweet Storm

Well that didn’t take long.

Donald Trump went on a Twitter rant on Tuesday attacking Republican leaders and the Republican party itself after many top members either un-endorsed Trump or severely criticized him in the wake of ‘P—y’-gate.  On Friday, a video leaked showing Trump bragging to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women.

Trump’s latest tweet storm is yet another indicator that he has decided to enact a scorched earth policy for the remainder of his campaign.

Trump began by blaming Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for his declining support, saying “it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and other give zero support!” Trump also erroneously claimed to have won the second debate in every poll (major polls all have Clinton as the winner).

Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

Trump went on to call Ryan “disloyal” and a “weak and ineffective leader.”

Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

On Monday, Ryan told fellow Republicans that he can no longer defend or campaign with Trump. However, he refused to un-endorse him.

CBS News reports on Ryan’s conference call to GOP members:

In the wake of [Trump’s ‘grab them by the p—y’] remarks, House Speaker Paul Ryan held a conference call on Monday in which he said he won’t defend or campaign for Trump, but instead will devote the final weeks before the election to ensuring the House retains a Republican majority. He encouraged his fellow party members to make their own decisions about supporting Trump.

“You all need to do what’s best for you in your district,” Ryan told his members. He did not say that he was rescinding his endorsement of Trump.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) also held an emergency conference call on Monday evening led by its chairman, Reince Priebus. He reassured that the committee is in full coordination with the Trump campaign, and that nothing has changed in terms of supporting the top of the ticket, the audio recordings revealed.

ABC News reports on Paul Ryan’s response: 

Asked to respond to Trump’s criticism, a representative from Ryan’s office told ABC News, “Paul Ryan is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same.”

Trump claims that his “shackles have been taken off” and he can now campaign the way he wants to.

It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

He then attacked the Republican party itself for being ‘disloyal’ while praising Democrats for being faithful to their nominee. Of course, he managed to get in a jab about how the Democratic primary was allegedly rigged against Bernie Sanders.

With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

Trump even went so far as to say that “disloyal” Republicans “are far more difficult” to deal with than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Disloyal R’s are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary. They come at you from all sides. They don’t know how to win – I will teach them!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

Trump’s most recent tweet went after Senator John McCain for un-endorsing him.

There are no excuses for Donald Trump’s offensive behavior. Cindy & I will not vote for him. My full stmt: t.co/MOw0rx4LSI

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) October 8, 2016

Said Trump, “The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks!”

The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

Watch McCain explain why he un-endorsed Trump during his Senatorial debate on Monday night, below.

The post Scorched Earth: Donald Trump Attacks John McCain, Paul Ryan, and the Rest of the GOP in Latest Tweet Storm appeared first on Towleroad.

Scorched Earth: Donald Trump Attacks John McCain, Paul Ryan, and the Rest of the GOP in Latest Tweet Storm

Samantha Bee Goes in on Trump, Billy Bush, Paul Ryan and the Rest of the GOP ‘Like a B*tch’ – WATCH

Samantha Bee was in fine form on Monday night, going in on Donald Trump for bragging about sexually assaulting women and then taking the GOP to task for their tepid response to Trump’s disgusting remarks.

First addressing Trump’s comments themselves, Bee delivered an actual “vagina monologue.”

Bee then attacked Republicans who went on about how offended they were by Trump’s remarks ‘as a father, a son, and a brother’ of women.

Said Bee,“Trump’s comments are not wrong because you have female relatives. Guess what? A surprising number of Americans have at least one female relative. Trump’s comments were wrong because women are human.”

As for Paul Ryan’s spineless refusal to un-endorse Trump despite rebuking the things he says and does, Bee said of the House Speaker,

“You don’t have the courage of a single one of your convictions. But you were smart to disinvite Trump from your Fall fest, he wouldn’t have been able to resist grabbing a pussy like you.”

As for the real GOP champion of women, that title belongs to Republican strategist Ana Navarro.

In case ‘p—y-gate’ wasn’t bad enough. We all had to endure the second presidential debate–which included Donald Trump trotting out Bill Clinton’s accusers from the 90s.

Bee joked, “God damn it Bill Clinton! Why can’t we just lock him and Donald Trump in a closet to grope each other to death?”

The point is, however, that “None of this is Hillary’s fault and none of this erases what Donald did.”

And it also isn’t a smart strategy for Trump to try and win America over by attacking a wronged wife. “We love wronged wives,” Bee said. “This is the same America that is still obsessed with Jennifer Aniston. Her ex-husband has split up with the woman he cheated on her with and we still want to know if she’s okay!”

Bee also read Trump to filth for his repeated attempt to dismiss his remarks as nothing more than ‘locker room talk.’ “You weren’t in a locker room you sleazy pair of sweat socks, you were at work,” Bee said.

As for the press conference Donald held before the debate with Bill’s accusers, Bee had the perfect response:

“You didn’t grab these women out of Bill Clinton’s hot tub time machine because you care that they were hurt you just want to use them to hurt another woman. And you’ll drop them like an over 35-year-old p—y as soon as they’ve served your purpose.”

She added,

“All you’re doing by brining up Bill Clinton is reminding us how much we don’t want another groper-in-chief. And if you think you’re going to drag us back to that Maxim magazine decade of cum-stained dresses and pubic hairs on coke and pussy-grabbing man-babies then you must be on crack. Sorry I meant coke.”

The post Samantha Bee Goes in on Trump, Billy Bush, Paul Ryan and the Rest of the GOP ‘Like a B*tch’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Samantha Bee Goes in on Trump, Billy Bush, Paul Ryan and the Rest of the GOP ‘Like a B*tch’ – WATCH

National Coming Out Day, Galaxy Note 7, Billy Bush, Austin, Depeche Mode, Tyler Oakley: HOT LINKS

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY. It’s that day again: “28 years ago, on the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, we first observed National Coming Out Day as a reminder that one of our most basic tools is the power of coming out. One out of every two Americans has someone close to them who is gay or lesbian. For transgender people, that number is only one in 10. Coming out – whether it is as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or allied – STILL MATTERS. When people know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far more likely to support equality under the law. Beyond that, our stories can be powerful to each other.”

GLOBAL ALLY. Logo censoring all LGBTI content: “On National Coming Out Day, Logo will be flipping the script and symbolically censoring all of its #LGBTI content during a marathon of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 in a show of solidarity with LGBTI people living in countries where such images are blocked entirely and where coming out is not safe or legal. Catch the #DayofDisruption tomorrow, October 11th, starting at 6:00am ET/PT.”

SAMSUNG. Company officially kills the Galaxy Note 7 after being unable to deal with fire issues: “The demise of the Galaxy Note 7 is a major setback for Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones. The premium device — with a 5.7-inch screen, curved contours and comparatively high price — won praise from consumers and reviewers, and was the company’s most ambitious effort yet to take on Apple for the high-end market.”

WATCH: Samsung scraps its flagship Galaxy Note 7 – less than two months after launch. t.co/711LVRCVNL pic.twitter.com/Xj90tlwiFP

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 11, 2016

SEATTLE. Judge dismisses case against gay Lynwood man arrested for indecent exposure in police sting: “It is tantamount to a “pardon with less fanfare,” said Antonson’s Bellevue attorney, John Tymczyszyn. Tymczyszyn, in last year’s story, called the arrest of Antonson in a Lynnwood park a ‘pretty clear case’ of entrapment.”

AUSTIN. Man found not guilty in murder case that began with gay slur: “According to the arrest affidavit, Juarez approached Burton with a gun after Burton greeted him with a gay slur. A witness told officers the two men got into a struggle and the victim knocked the weapon out of Juarez’s hands. Juarez got the gun back and the two continued to struggle. That’s when gunshots rang out. Juarez told the 911 operator, ‘I accidentally shot someone, I’m so sorry… He attacked me, I shot him in self-defense.’ During the investigation, the witness told officers that the slur the victim used was his typical, playful way of greeting people.”

MASSACHUSETTS. Hyannis senior fights for gay student athletes, like him.

LAVERNE COX. Trans actress signs with ICM Partners: “The Orange Is The New Black standout had been in play for agency representation since April, when her longtime agent Paul Hilepo closed the Hartig Hilepo Agency to launch a management company. He was joined by several clients, including Cox, who retained him as manager.”

MUSIC. Depeche Mode announces new album, world tour. “Depeche Mode announce the Global Spirit Tour and upcoming album ‘Spirit’, live from Teatro dell’Arte at La Triennale di Milano.”

DEVASTATED. Billy Bush worried that he “won’t recover” from Trump tape, and NBC was planning on editing him out: “They could have released the tape and edited him out,” the source says of the individual that leaked the footage. “That was the plan — they were trying to approve it and then someone leaked it.  That’s what Access Hollywoodeventually did and they played it … but it was already out,” the source says and adds, “If they wanted to protect him, they could have edited it out which they did on the final Access piece that aired on Friday, but they left it in when it was leaked.”

TYLER OAKLEY. Teaching Tim Kaine to say “Yaaass”.

DRAG QUEENS REACT. I’m With Her. “Watch talented queens (and king) lip-sync to the most ridiculous of Donald Trump’s speeches through the 2016 election season; Tempest DuJour, Landon Cider, Alaska Thunderfuck,Naysha Lopez, Mariah Balenciaga, Alyssa Edwards, Ginger Minj, Jaidynn Diore Fierce, and Chad Michaels as Cher join forces to shade Trump in this compilation”

TOO HOT FOR TUESDAY. Ethan Michael.

The post National Coming Out Day, Galaxy Note 7, Billy Bush, Austin, Depeche Mode, Tyler Oakley: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

National Coming Out Day, Galaxy Note 7, Billy Bush, Austin, Depeche Mode, Tyler Oakley: HOT LINKS