Laverne Cox stars as a powerful defense attorney in new CBS drama 'Doubt'

www.glaad.org/blog/laverne-cox-stars-powerful-defense-attorney-new-cbs-drama-doubt

Something we don’t see often enough: New music vid celebrates seniors in long-term relationships

There isn’t exactly an abundance of music videos celebrating senior citizens in long-term same-sex relationships. Examples can be counted on no hands.

That changed Tuesday morning, when LA-based songwriter Tom Goss released his new video for “More Than Temporary,” a reverb-drenched ballad that abandons subtly in favor of unabashed sentimentality.

Related: The Classic ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’ Gets A Surprising Gay Twist In This Powerful New Music Video

Featuring cameos by legendary Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin and Christopher Turner, the video’s director, the 5-minute film features footage of real-life couples celebrating their enduring love for one another.

It’s a release that makes it difficult to be completely cynical about Valentine’s Day, hard as we might try.

Watch:

www.queerty.com/something-dont-see-often-enough-new-music-vid-celebrates-seniors-long-term-relationships-20170214?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Watch LIVE: House Democrats Call for Investigation of Flynn’s Russia Ties

Also, the Washington Post reports:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) filed a “resolution of inquiry” Thursday, a relatively obscure parliamentary tactic used to force presidents and executive-branch agencies to share records with Congress. Under House practice, such a resolution must be debated and acted upon in committee or else it can be discharged to the House floor for consideration.

Nadler’s resolution asks Attorney General Jeff Sessions to provide “copies of any document, record, memo, correspondence, or other communication of the Department of Justice” that pertains to any “criminal or counterintelligence investigation” into Trump, his White House team or certain campaign associates; any investment made by a foreign power or agent thereof in Trump’s businesses; Trump’s plans to distance himself from his business empire; and any Trump-related examination of federal conflict of interest laws or the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

The post Watch LIVE: House Democrats Call for Investigation of Flynn’s Russia Ties appeared first on Towleroad.

Watch LIVE: House Democrats Call for Investigation of Flynn’s Russia Ties

Kellyanne’s latest humiliating interview will almost make you feel bad for her. Almost.

“Kellyanne, that’s makes no sense!”

That’s not the title of a Johnny Cash deep cut; it’s how Matt Lauer capped his interview with Kellyanne Conway on The Today Show this morning.

As Lauer attempted to eke out a coherent timeline regarding Michael Flynn’s fallout with Trump, Conway kept iterating that Flynn had Trump’s full support.

Lauer prods her:

So had he not resigned the president would have continued with him as National Security Advisor even though he misled the Vice President and the administration about the contents of that call?

Conway’s vague reply: “That fact is what became unsustainable…I think misleading the Vice President really was the key here.”

Related: Hilarious Kellyanne Conway “buy Ivanka’s stuff” memes are blowing up the Internet

So Lauer backs her into a corner:

So wait a minute – you’re saying that was the straw that broke the camel’s back but the White House knew about that last month when the Justice Department warned the White House that Mr. Flynn…had not been completely honest in characterizing that conversation with the Russian Ambassador. They even went further to say as a result of that dishonesty, he was at risk of blackmailing by the Russians.

Conway responds:

 That’s one characterization, but the fact is that General Flynn continued in that position and was in the presidential daily briefings, was part of the leader calls, as recently as yesterday.

Bringing us back to the mantra:

“Kellyanne, that makes no sense!”

Watch:

“That makes no sense.” @MLauer to @KellyannePolls while discussing Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn pic.twitter.com/94SaFlQJxo

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 14, 2017

h/t: Occupy Democrats

www.queerty.com/kellyannes-latest-humiliating-interview-will-almost-make-feel-bad-almost-20170214?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

The Trump White House is Still Figuring out its Policy for North Korea

North Korea says it conducted a test launch of a Pukguksong-2 guided missile on Feb. 12 and that the test was a “complete success.” This undated photo was released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on Feb. 13, 2017. Credit: KCNA

It’s pretty clear to most experts what the North Koreans are up to.

They conducted another missile test over the weekend, because — eventually — they want to be able to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear-equipped, long-range missile.

Pyongyang has a way to go to before it reaches that goal. But Sunday’s test might have marked some progress on a few different fronts.

The oft-asked question remains: How close is North Korea to being able to place a small-enough nuclear device on a long-range missile, one that can fly over the entire Pacific and reach the US West Coast?

“I’ve seen estimates that they might be ready by 2020 or so,” says Jeffrey Bader, who served on the National Security Council as President Barack Obama’s top adviser on US policy for Asia.

“I don’t think we really know, but certainly they are moving in that direction. And that’s what the [Trump] administration needs to focus on,” Bader says.

President Donald Trump mentioned North Korea during his appearance at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

Trump said he would deal with North Korea “very strongly.”

But at this stage, it’s far from clear what Trump means by that.

“I don’t think there is a policy yet” for North Korea, Bader says.

And there are several quite understandable reasons why that’s the case.

Trump’s pick to run the State Department, Rex Tillerson, was just approved by Congress. And James Mattis, the new defense secretary, has only been in place at the Defense Department for a few weeks.

In addition, most of the lower-level officials who will support Tillerson and Mattis are not there yet. “And they’re important, too,” Bader says.

He adds that the members of Trump’s national security team also “have a national security adviser who’s under investigation at the moment,” referring to Michael Flynn, who faces allegations of improper contact with Russian officials prior to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

“You don’t devise a North Korea policy sitting around a table one day in response to a [missile] test,” Bader says. “You need a series of meetings of the National Security Council at the level of the secretaries, and I don’t think they’ve done that yet.”

Another key factor in all this is the political situation in South Korea, where President Park Geun-hye is facing impeachment proceedings. Any US policy for North Korea needs to be closely coordinated with Seoul, Bader says.

But that won’t be possible until the current political scandal is resolved, a process that might not be complete until South Korea holds another national election.

Trump appears to be taking a more cautious approach toward North Korea than he’s done with at least one other country.

Iran carried out a medium-range missile test last month, and soon after that, Flynn made an announcement that the Trump administration was officially putting the Islamic Republic “on notice.”

Bader says it’s not clear what Trump’s national security adviser meant by that statement “except that it was meant to be scary to the Iranians.”

It’s easier to be more rhetorically forceful with Iran compared to North Korea, Bader says, because North Korea has nuclear weapons. Iran does not.

Trump’s first public response to the North Korean missile launch was to express US support for its Japanese allies. That was another way of kicking the can down the road, Bader says.

But again, there are good reasons why US presidents have been careful about how they deal with North Korea’s nuclear activities.

“This is a near-impossible problem. A succession of administrations have been dealing with this,” Bader says. The key factor that has remained unchanged for decades, he adds, is that the South Korean capital sits well within North Korean artillery range.

“Any kind of a strong or militarized [US] response towards North Korea comes with great risks for South Korea,” Bader says. What is changing, however, is the fact that the North is getting closer to its goal of developing longer-range nuclear weapons.

Bader says that puts more pressure on the Trump team, which will “have to come up with some new ideas on a problem that hasn’t seen many new ideas for 20 years.”

This article first appeared on PRI The World.

The post The Trump White House is Still Figuring out its Policy for North Korea appeared first on Towleroad.

The Trump White House is Still Figuring out its Policy for North Korea

NC Governor Cooper Proposes Yet Another HB2 Repeal Deal: Will NCGA Ever Follow Through?

Today, HRC and Equality NC responded to a new proposal announced today by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper that would fully repeal the state’s deeply discriminatory HB2 law and introduce additional unnecessary legislation. After the North Carolina General Assembly failed to follow through on their end of a bargain the Governor brokered in December, this new proposal would fully repeal HB2 while requiring a 30-day public comment period for cities considering non-discrimination laws, as well as strengthening punishments for sexual predators. The Charlotte City Council went through a two-year process to pass its ordinance, and there is zero evidence that sexual predator penalties are insufficient, which HRC and ENC say makes the new proposed language pointless at best.

“Back in December, Governor Cooper tried to engage HB2 backers in a repeal agreement, and the General Assembly completely failed to follow through with their end of that bargain,” said HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. “Tim Moore and Phil Berger continue to leave the people of North Carolina in harm’s way with their consistent failure to act. Today’s proposal is yet another chance to fix this mess, but it adds unnecessary language addressing problems that simply do not exist. LGBTQ people are the ones at risk every day HB2 remains on the books, and transgender people especially continue to bear the brunt of this shameful politicking.  North Carolinians deserve a full, clean repeal of HB2. When that happens, it will only be the beginning of steps needed to restore the state’s deeply tarnished reputation and economy. It’s far past time to move North Carolina forward.”

“Today’s proposal was unnecessary. Charlotte and other cities have in the past carefully considered protecting LGBTQ citizens against discrimination. We all know that transgender people do not pose a public safety risk and should be protected from discrimination, not made the targets of it as HB2 does. Let us be very clear about what’s going on. Tim Moore and Phil Berger are acting against the best interest of our state and the LGBTQ community,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro. “They are treating our economy like a political football and trying to cast blame on everyone else for their failure to actually repeal HB2 in December. At this point, we all know what the answer is — full repeal of HB2. Only a full repeal of HB2 will fix our state, allow businesses to come back and allow for the safety of LGBTQ North Carolinians. Every day that Berger and Moore play politics with our state, is a day LGBTQ North Carolinians live in danger and one that our state cannot prosper.”

In a letter sent to state lawmakers last week, the North Carolina Sports Association warned that the NCAA will pull all of the state’s championship game bids through 2022 if HB2 is not immediately repealed. In the letter, the association warned lawmakers that the NCAA decision will cost the state at least another half a billion dollars in economic activity when other organizations follow the NCAA’s lead by pulling events from the state.

In December, the NC GOP doubled down on discrimination by pulling out of a deal brokered by Governor Cooper for full and total repeal of HB2. At the last minute, GOP leadership in the General Assembly blew up the governor’s deal when they sought to keep hateful, anti-LGBTQ provisions that would have maintained, potentially indefinitely, HB2’s prohibition on cities protecting their own LGBTQ residents from discrimination. These very same commonsense non-discrimination protections exist in 19 states and more than 100 cities across the country, including Jackson, MS, Louisville, KY, Orlando, FL, and Minneapolis, MN — a city which has had these protections in place since 1975.

Following passage in March of 2016, HB2 triggered a national outcry of opposition and a broad range of voices continue to speak out demanding its full and complete repeal. The economic fallout — including hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business — continues to grow as companies concerned with protecting their consumers and employees move conventions, trainings, operations, productions, and other events out of state. In November, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory became the only incumbent governor from either party to lose on election day specifically because he championed and signed HB2 into law.

North Carolina polling released by HRC and Equality NC found that HB2 was the number one issue leading to Governor Pat McCrory’s defeat — the only incumbent governor from either party to lose on election day. The HRC and Equality NC survey found that 62 percent of voters opposed HB2, while only 30 percent supported the law. HB2 was also listed as the leading reason to vote against McCrory — with 57 percent citing the bill, 17 points above any other issue.

www.hrc.org/blog/nc-governor-cooper-proposes-yet-another-hb2-repeal-deal-will-ncga-ever-foll?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

More than 140 leading entertainers speak out against anti-LGBTQ bills, support #TXtogether

www.glaad.org/blog/more-140-leading-entertainers-speak-out-against-anti-lgbtq-bills-support-txtogether

For Lesbian Artist Shura, Pulse Changed Everything

Tegan and Sara’s mentorship challenged Shura to think consciously about her role as a queer artist.

www.advocate.com/music/2017/2/14/lesbian-artist-shura-pulse-changed-everything