This Week in The Resistance: Classy Words Meryl, POTUS

“To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.” 
― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/12/week-resistance-classy-words-meryl-potus

Obama Surprises Biden With Presidential Medal of Freedom (Video)

Obama jokes about their “bromance” but says he is “forever bonded” with “brother” Biden.

www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/12/obama-surprises-biden-presidential-medal-freedom-video

Country music artists, industry share their support for Cody Alan

www.glaad.org/blog/country-music-artists-industry-share-their-support-cody-alan

Where is the Former UK Spy Who Wrote that Salacious Trump Dossier? (Video)

The source of the most talked about and totally unverified claim that Russia may have compromised president-elect Donald Trump is a former British spy, who at the moment, no one can find.

www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/12/where-former-uk-spy-who-wrote-salacious-trump-dossier-video

The top 50 successful transgender Americans you should know
Despite personal hardship, many transgender people have done great things with their professional careers. Here are the ones you need to know about.

www.queerty.com/top-50-successful-transgender-americans-know-20170112?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

CIA Director Nominee Mike Pompeo Vows to Treat LGBT Equally Despite Anti-Gay Votes and Views: WATCH

At a confirmation hearing today, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked Trump’s CIA Director nominee Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) to commit to treating LGBT people equally within the CIA despite his public record of opposing gay rights.

Pompeo told Harris that “every employee will be treated in a way that is appropriate and equal.”

Our transcript:

HARRIS: Your voting record and stated position on gay marriage and the importance of having a ‘traditional family structure’ for raising children is pretty clear. I disagree with your position, but, of course, you are entitled to your opinion. I don’t want to that, however, to impact your opinion on that matter—the recruitment or retention of patriotic LGBT women and men in the CIA, some of whom, of course, have taken great risks to their lives for our country. Can you commit to me that your personal views on this issue will remain your personal views and will not impact internal policies that you put in place at the CIA?

POMPEO: Senator Harris, you have my full commitment to that. I would only add that in my life as a private businessman, this same set of issues was out there. I had my views at that time as well, and I treated each and every member of the workforce that I was responsible for at those times with the dignity and respect and demanded of them the same things I demanded of every other person that was working as part of my team.

HARRIS: And do I have your assurance that this equal treatment will include policies related to child care services, family benefits, and accompanied post for dependents?

POMPEO: Uh, without knowing the full set of policies and benefits at the Central Intelligence Agency, I haven’t had a chance to find that out just yet, you have my assurance that every employee will be treated in a way that is appropriate and equal.

HARRIS: And that you will not put in place any policies that would discriminate against any members because of their sexual orientation?

POMPEO: Ma’am, I can’t imagine putting in place any policy that was discriminatory with respect to any employee.

HARRIS: Thank you.

Watch:

The post CIA Director Nominee Mike Pompeo Vows to Treat LGBT Equally Despite Anti-Gay Votes and Views: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

CIA Director Nominee Mike Pompeo Vows to Treat LGBT Equally Despite Anti-Gay Votes and Views: WATCH

HRC’s MacArthur Flournoy to Address ‘We Shall Not Be Moved March’

HRC is proud to join the National Action Network’s “We Shall Not Be Moved March” on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, and encourage you to do the same. Our own Rev. MacArthur Flournoy, Director of Faith Partnerships and Mobilization, will be representing us on stage and we wanted to share his poignant thoughts with you in advance of the march.

The 9 a.m. march along Independence Avenue will culminate in a noon rally at West Potomac Park across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Learn more about the march and how you can participate.

Full text of MacArthur Flournoy’s speech:

Good afternoon, my name is Rev. MacArthur Flournoy and I am the Director of Faith Partnerships and Mobilization for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of nation’s largest LGBTQ equal rights organization.

It is my privilege to stand before you in this sacred assembly, in our nation’s capital. We gather as a pluralistic nation, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and non-Abrahamic faith traditions, immigrants, African Americans, Latinx, Native American, White, Asian and Multiracial people, Millennial and Baby-boomers, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities, people of various gender expressions.

We have come in our diversity to declare with you “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

In the wise words of First Lady, Michelle Obama we also declare that “Our glorious diversity – our diversity of the faiths, and colors and creeds – that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are…”

Representing the Human Rights Campaign, we stand with you determined, to advocate for justice for all. Elected officials may come and go.

However there is a constant that must remain ever before us; whoever you are, whichever community you belong to, there is an unequivocal moral mandate before us this hour, friends, and it is this:

Now, with fierce urgency and courageous solidarity we must forge new partnerships and coalitions to protect civil freedoms and equal protection under the law for everyone – particularly, for those whose voices are seldom heard in the halls of power.

We must all rise to protect voting rights.

We know all too well that what happens at the ballot can have devastating consequences, but our resolve is not based on one election.

Still, we cannot stop at voting rights. We must also call for criminal justice reform where all people are treated equally under the law.

This nation deserves an attorney general who supports the rights of all of our people, regardless of one’s national origin, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability or any of the defining characteristic.

Equally important to us, is the provision of affordable access to healthcare for every American. This is as much a moral issue as it is a justice issue.

We cannot go backwards. So, we stand with you calling to protect the Affordable Care Act from those determined to dismantle it.

Finally, we know that there are those legislators and elected officials who are determined to turn back the clock on many of the gains we have made in recent years on LGBTQ equality.

They want to continue discriminating against LGBTQ people, turning us away from employment, housing, healthcare, schools and business establishments. In too many corners of our country this discrimination remains rampant, and legal. We need to protect our gains and ultimately ensure equal protection is guaranteed under federal law.

They’re going to use the strategy that they have used in the past and it is simply this: divide and conquer.

The intention is to pit members of the LGBTQ community against other communities.

There are those that are depending on us concentrating on our difference rather that what we hold in common. We cannot afford this distraction. We all stand to lose too much if we fall prey to division. We understand that unity does not mean uniformity. It has been said that we all don’t have to have the same mind to mind the same things. So we, as the Human Rights Campaign, stand united with all of you in a quest for freedom and justice.

We shall not be moved.

African American and Latinx – we shall not be moved.

LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ– we shall not be moved.

Christian and Muslim – We shall not be moved.

In the days that lie ahead, we, the Human Rights Campaign, stand firm in our resolve, to work on the critical issues just outlined.

We look forward to standing with you in our diversity, and in the sacred nature of our commonality, working for the collective good of all people.      

www.hrc.org/blog/hrcs-macarthur-flournoy-to-address-we-shall-not-be-moved-march?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Country VJ Cody Alan Comes Out in Heartfelt Letter

“Being gay is like your eye color — it’s just there.”

www.advocate.com/coming-out/2017/1/12/country-vj-cody-alan-comes-out-heartfelt-letter