As Trump Met the Press, Protesters Chanted 'No Trump, no KKK, No Fascist USA' (Video)
Holding signs portraying Donald Trump as Hitler and denouncing fascism, the dozen or so demonstrators stood outside the Fifth Avenue tower the president-elect calls home and made their voices heard.
FOX News Anchor Shep Smith Denounces Trump for ‘Belittling and ‘Delegitimizing’ Journalists: WATCH
If you missed the circus on display at Trump Tower earlier today, here’s a glimpse of one of the ugliest moments. Trump went after CNN’s Jim Acosta and the network for publishing a legitimate story about the circulated intel report about Trump possibly being “compromised” by Russia:
FOX News Shep Smith called out Trump today on his newscast:
“President-elect Trump today told CNN’s Jim Acosta that his organization amounts to fake news. CNN’s exclusive reporting on the Russian matter was separate and distinctly different from the document dump executed by an online news property. Though we at FOX News cannot confirm CNN’s report, it is our observation that its correspondents followed journalistic standards and that neither they nor any other journalists should be subjected to belittling and delegitimizing by the President-elect of the United States.”
Watch:
(h/t jmg)
The post FOX News Anchor Shep Smith Denounces Trump for ‘Belittling and ‘Delegitimizing’ Journalists: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
FOX News Anchor Shep Smith Denounces Trump for ‘Belittling and ‘Delegitimizing’ Journalists: WATCH
In Defense of a President's Tears
Barack Obama cried at his farewell address and throughout his presidency. It is a sign of his greatness, not his weakness.
www.advocate.com/politicians/2017/1/11/defense-presidents-tears
Cyberbully harasses man with creepy notes after being rejected by him on Grindr six years ago
Everyone handles rejection differently. Some people cry and get depressed, others shrug their shoulders and move on more quickly, and then there are those who go absolutely apeshit crazy. This is the story of one of those guys…
A Grindr troll with the screen name “Hung Top” has been endlessly terrorizing men in San Diego whenever they reject his advances, continuing to harass them for weeks, months, and even years.
Ricardo Sousa is one of his victims. Six years ago, he turned down “Hung Top.” Ever since then, he says, he’s been harassed with hateful late night text messages, notes, and even death threats.
Related: Turns Out Grindr Is A Godsend If You’re Gay, Twentysomething, And Disabled
Earlier this week, Sousa posted one of the messages he received in the middle of the night to Facebook:
“This has been going on for six years now,” Sausa wrote in the post. “I have ignored, I have blocked, I gave him warnings and he won’t stop.”
Speaking to San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, he added, “I have reported to Adam 4 Adam and Grindr; he gets deleted but creates another profile with a different email. That’s just how these apps work.”
To make matters even worse, “Hung Top” apparently lives in the same building where Sousa works.
“He put notes on my car,” said Sousa. “Threatening notes. … I’m scared of this guy.”
Related: Grindr wants to become your new “lifestyle brand” while helping refugees and stopping AIDS
Apparently other guys in the area have fallen victim to “Hung Top” as well.
“He sees other profiles in the area and hits them up,” Sausa explained. “If you did not reply he would get upset and send those texts.”
After dealing with this guy for more than half a decade, Sausa finally contacted the San Diego Police Department’s LGBT liaison Sgt. Daniel Meyer for help, but the sergeant was out of town. So he went to the San Diego LGBT Community Center during their bi-weekly free legal advice service. He’s currently putting together a legal case to file a restraining order against the cyberbully.
“I only want letters from people who have been harassed by him and send screenshots, that helps a lot,” he told SDGLN.
So far, Sausa says he has collected four letters from guy who claim they, too, have been dealing with “Hung Top.” He hopes more people will come forward to strengthen the case.
“I don’t want him to hurt anybody,” he said, “but he should be in jail for a while, because this is way over the top. There was a shooting in Florida… we don’t need another one.”
Related: Grindr Has Ruined Absolutely EVERYTHING, Disgruntled Blogger Laments
Trump's Laughable Press Conference, Condensed
The president-elect tried to put out a firestorm and, per usual, failed.
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/11/trumps-laughable-press-conference-condensed
Over 60,000 people have signed George Takei’s “Stand With U.S. Muslims” petition
Sulu would be proud.
Openly gay actor and activist George Takei, best known for playing Sulu on Star Trek and being sassy on the internet, has started a Care2 petition in support of Muslim Americans, and it’a clearly striking a nerve.
Related: George Takei: Star Trek’s Gay Sulu Scene Didn’t Go Far Enough
In Takei’s “Stand Up for Muslims in the U.S.” petition, he uses his family’s history of internment in the United States to illustrate his concern regarding the incoming administration’s xenophobic rhetoric regarding Muslims:
We were prisoners in our own country, held within barbed wire compounds, armed guards pointing guns down at us. It was an egregious violation of our rights under the U.S. Constitution, all in the name of “security.” During that time, fear and racism drove government policy, creating a living hell for over 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans, most of whom were U.S. citizens.
On Trump’s calls for an immigration “ban” he says:
It starts with a registry, with restrictions, with irrationally ascribed guilt, and with fear. But we know well where it might lead.
The fear of a Muslim internment camp or registry isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. A Trump backer appeared on Fox News last fall and argued the Japanese internment set a “precedent” for a potential Muslim registry.
The petition’s goal is 65,000 signatures, but with 62k already signed and counting, it’s well on its way to surpassing that mark.
Related: George Takei gives Trump a reminder of the profound horror of nuclear weapons
Once the goal is met, Takei plans to present the petition in person to government authorities, as well as the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Cory Booker: Jeff Sessions Lacks the ‘Courageous Empathy’ to be U.S. Attorney General – WATCH
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) became the first senator to testify against another sitting senator in a Cabinet confirmation hearing when he testified against Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) nomination as Attorney General.
Said Booker, in part (as prepared):
One of the victories of the Modern Civil Rights movement was the 1957 Civil Rights Act, which in effect made the Attorney General not only the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, but also vested in the office the responsibility to pursue civil rights and equal protections for all in America.
Senator Sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requirement of the job — to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights, and justice for all. In fact, at numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility toward these convictions, and has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals.
If confirmed, Senator Sessions will be required to pursue justice for women, but his record indicates that he won’t.
He will be expected to defend the equal rights of gay and lesbian Americans, but his record indicates that he won’t.
He will be expected to defend voting rights, but his record indicates that he won’t.
He will be expected to defend the rights of immigrants and affirm their human dignity, but his record indicates he won’t.
His record indicates that as Attorney General he would obstruct the growing national bipartisan movement toward criminal justice reform.
His record indicates that we cannot count on him to support state and national efforts toward bringing justice to a justice system that people on both sides of the aisle readily admit is biased against the poor, drug addicted, mentally ill, and people of color.
His record indicates that at a time when even the FBI director is speaking out about implicit racial bias in policing and the need to address it; at a time when the last two Attorneys General have taken steps to fix our broken criminal justice system; and at a time when the Justice Department he would lead has uncovered systemic abuses in police departments all over the United States including Ferguson, including Newark; Senator Sessions would not continue to lead urgently needed change.
The next Attorney General must bring hope and healing to our country, and this demands a more courageous empathy than Senator Sessions’ record demonstrates.
Watch:
The post Cory Booker: Jeff Sessions Lacks the ‘Courageous Empathy’ to be U.S. Attorney General – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Cory Booker: Jeff Sessions Lacks the ‘Courageous Empathy’ to be U.S. Attorney General – WATCH
In Moving Interview, Young Queer Immigrant Shares How His Mother Sacrificed to Ensure His Safety
Javier was just six years old when his mother brought him and his brother to the U.S. from Guatemala. But it wasn’t until he came out a decade later that he found out why she left her professional life and her extended family behind to bring her sons to a new country.
“Right after I came out to my mother, the first thing she told me was that it was the reason we had immigrated to the United States,” Javier says in a new HRC video. “I guess I might’ve just been a very queer kid…and my mother realized it wasn’t something that was going to go away.”
She feared that her son’s safety and well-being could not be assured if they stayed in Guatemala.
In the video, Javier reflects on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric he heard in school growing up before moving to the U.S. and the dangers facing LGBTQ people in Guatemala. And he talked about the apprehension that has been rippling through the Latino community in the U.S. after the election of Donald Trump, whose presidential campaign was marked by virulently anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“I think it is very difficult to be queer in the Latino community. There is violence against LGBTQ people,” he added. “I can’t imagine all the people who are facing deportation now, how they’re going to face that hatred.”
In America, Javier is able to be the “most authentic version” of himself and will be able to get married when the time comes. He is now a U.S. citizen and an advocate for LGBTQ equality.
The LGBTQ community is as diverse as the fabric of our nation. We are African Americans, Latinx, women, immigrants, Christians, Jews and Muslims — and so many more identities — and HRC will continue to stand together against any legislation or Administration, at home and around the globe, that targets our community.
HRC is a proud sponsor of the “We Are Here To Stay” day of action for immigrant rights and refugees on January 14. Learn more here.
