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Daily Archives: March 21, 2017
Kentucky’s governor just made it legal for students to discriminate against LGBTQ peers
Kentucky’s governor just made it legal for students to discriminate against LGBTQ peers
After promising 2017 would be the “Year of the Bible,” Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and his Republican henchmen in the state legislature just passed an awful new “religious freedom” bill that allows students to discriminate against their LGBTQ classmates on religious grounds. And it all started after some uppity parents took offense with a Bible verse being cut from a school production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
SB17 was signed into law this week and is specifically designed to protect Christian, er, religious expression in public schools. One of its provisions allows publicly-funded student groups to discriminate against potential members because Jesus is Lord. The bill reads:
No recognized religious or political student organization is hindered or discriminated against in the ordering of its internal affairs, selection of leaders and members, defining of doctrines and principles, and resolving of organizational disputes in the furtherance of its mission, or in its determination that only persons committed to its mission should conduct these activities.
So basically, it’s now legal for any student group in Kentucky to ban gay students from participating in their activities. All they have to do is claim by that student’s mere existence goes against their religious beliefs and they’re legally in the clear.
Naturally, LGBTQ activists aren’t happy about all this.
“Governor Bevin’s shameful decision to sign this discriminatory bill into law jeopardizes non-discrimination policies at public high schools, colleges, and universities,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the LGBTQ advocacy group HRC. “No student should fear being excluded from a school club or participating in a school activity because they are LGBTQ. While of course private groups should have the freedom to express religious viewpoints, they should not be able to unfairly discriminate with taxpayer funds.”
Related: Kentucky Store Bans Gay People. Guns, However, Are Totally Fine
h/t: Vox
Do Democrats Face a ‘Nuclear’ Dilemma on Neil Gorsuch?
Do Democrats Face a ‘Nuclear’ Dilemma on Neil Gorsuch?
During his speech and testimony yesterday, Judge Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump’s nominee to fill Merrick Garland’s, I mean, the late-Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court, didn’t ruffle any feathers.
He talked about his family and his daughters raising chickens for the county fair. He also noted that he has been in the majority on 99% of the cases he’s heard as a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also reminded us that his first decision to go up to the Supreme Court was affirmed 5-4, but with Justices Thomas and Sotomayor on his side and Justice Stevens and Scalia against. Anyone with this record and quaint history couldn’t be the villain liberals make him out to be.
The fact remains that Judge Gorsuch is, as a jurist, as right-wing as they come. As his decision in Hobby Lobby suggests, he support broad religious liberty exemptions that would carve out such big doughnut holes in LGBTQ protections (including marriage equality) as to make those protections meaningless. He appears to doubt the notion that federal agency experts — like scientists and climate policymakers at the EPA — should be given the deference they need to do their work. He has no sympathy for the plight of transgender students.
So what are we to do about it? There are 52 Republicans in the Senate, all of whom are suddenly committed to up-or-down votes on Supreme Court nominees. The Democrats cannot refuse to hold hearings like the Republicans did for Merrick Garland. And not a single Republican has given any indication that he or she would vote against Judge Gorsuch on the Senate floor. The only tool left that could stop the nomination is the filibuster.
Contrary to popular lore, the filibuster was not part of the procedures for the original Senate. In fact, according to Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institute, the Senate and House were meant to run basically the same. Both chambers had a “previous motion” rule that allowed a simple majority to cut off debate on a particular bill.
The House kept its rule. The Senate, on the recommendation of then-Vice President Aaron Burr, who had just been indicted for murdering Alexander Hamilton, told Senators that they should adopt a series of changes to “clean up” their rule book. Getting rid of the simple majority “previous motion” rule was one of those changes.
Even then, no one filibustered. Then came slavery, and civil service reform, and election law, and civil rights, polarizing issues that brought out the divisions within and between the parties and encouraged senators to look for any procedural trick to stop the majority. Then, in 1917, after Republicans used the filibuster to stymie President Woodrow Wilson’s attempt to arm merchant ships before U.S. entry into World War I, Democrats branded Republicans as obstructionists weak on national security and pushed through what is known as a “cloture” rule — a procedure for ending debate — that required a supermajority to pass. As Ms. Binder describes in her book (co-authored with Steven S. Smith), Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the United States Senate, this was the result of hard-nosed bargaining, not a desire to protect minority rights or civility norms in the Senate.
And just as the filibuster came into use, it can just as quickly disappear.
Democrats are in a bind when it comes to Neil Gorsuch. If they filibuster now, on a nomination that would not tip the balance on the Court from when Antonin Scalia was still alive, they run the risk of Senate Republicans getting rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees entirely.
That could be a scary proposition for the next nomination fight, when Kennedy’s, Breyer’s, or Ginsburg’s might be the next seat to fill. Replacing one of the Court’s progressives with a radical conservative would be a disaster.
This argument makes sense on first blush, but it’s not a slam dunk. Republicans could just as easily eliminate the filibuster this time as next time. If we presume the 60-vote threshold is on its way out, why does it matter when it goes?
In other words, if the Democrats do not try to stop Judge Gorsuch now, but do try to stop a potential second nominee from Donald Trump, wouldn’t the Republicans just get rid of the filibuster then? In that terrible scenario, Democrats have both folded on Gorsuch and lost the Court, angering their base and endangering progressivism in the process.
Of course, that counterargument imagines a future world that, thankfully, does not exist yet. Maintaining the filibuster for now might be a good strategy, especially if Democrats can retake the White House in 2020 and protect its members in 2018. Breyer, Kennedy, and Ginsburg show no sign of leaving, although as I mentioned in a previous post, the nomination of Judge Gorsuch may be a nod to Justice Kennedy that he could feel comfortable retiring under Trump. If that happens, the Democrats needs the tools to stop a Trump replacement. The precarious position they are in vis-a-vis the filibuster just shows how they really have no good options.
The post Do Democrats Face a ‘Nuclear’ Dilemma on Neil Gorsuch? appeared first on Towleroad.
Women Who Paved the Way: Dolly Wilde
Women Who Paved the Way: Dolly Wilde
Today’s woman you should know: Oscar Wilde’s lesbian niece.
www.advocate.com/women/2017/3/21/women-who-paved-way-dolly-wilde
Visionary writer/photographer Walter Cessna has died
Visionary writer/photographer Walter Cessna has died
Celebrated New York artist Walt Cessna has died.
In a Queerty profile from 2012, writer John Russell described him as:
a teenage publishing wunderkind, an underage club kid, a zinester, and a designer, stylist and darling of the fashion world. He styled Nine Inch Nails’ Downward Spiral Tour; he dated Mario Testino when he was 18 years old. He was a hustler in San Francisco, a photographer in New York. He’s battled addiction and has been living with HIV for year—facts about which he maintains a gleefully dark sense of humor. He’s been in multiple comas.
Related: PHOTOS: The Marvelous Men Of Walt Cessna
“There’s no denying that [my life] was completely out of control,” Cessna says in the same profile.
But I think I was fascinated by everything that was going on around me. I guess, through that entire period, the reason it never really affected me was because I was pretending it was all like a movie. And then when I was thrust out of it for several years, I was like, “That was demented, actually!”
Fans and friends are busy writing tributes on Cessna’s Facebook page. In a touching remembrance, his friend Trey Speegle writes:
He was brilliant and complicated and like many creatives, his own worst enemy. He was constantly writing and photographing and musing and telling us all what was “correct”, a term he used to describe anything he deemed brilliant and worthy of praise….
The tributes are pouring in on his Facebook, a place where we kept in touch and where he poured out his heart and tended to overshare, but everyone loved him for it. Sad to lose a friend, so relatively young.
Give the devil hell and the angels some styling tips, Walt. You were so correct, in so many ways. I’ll meet you by the back bar at Area –I’ve got drink tickets.
Ivanka Trump, Woody Harrelson, Sharron Angle, Andrew Napolitano, Baywatch, Backstreet Boys: HOT LINKS
Ivanka Trump, Woody Harrelson, Sharron Angle, Andrew Napolitano, Baywatch, Backstreet Boys: HOT LINKS
SINKING. Trump’s net worth has decreased by $1 billion in latest Forbes estimate.
MOVING IN. Ivanka Trump to get West Wing office despite having no official position with the government: “As her role in the White House grows — a role that comes with no playbook — Trump plans to adhere to the same ethics and records retention rules that apply to government employees, Gorelick said, even though she is not technically an employee. But ethics watchdogs immediately questioned whether she is going far enough to eliminate conflicts of interest, especially because she will not be automatically subjected to certain ethics rules while serving as a de facto White House adviser.”
PULLED. Andrew Napolitano pulled from FOX News over wiretapping claims: “Napolitano, a regular face on Fox News, has not appeared on the network since Thursday and will not be a guest in the near future, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press reported Monday, citing anonymous sources. A Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday night.”
NOT HER AGAIN. Sharron Angle announces bid for Congress. “Angle has run for federal office three times before to no avail, including CD2 against then-U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev. She shot to national attention during a 2010 run for U.S. Senate against then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.”
GOOD-BYE, MARY JANE. Woody Harrelson gives up pot after 25 years: “The effect of it is euphoria. But when you’re doing it all the time, it just becomes … Well, you know. I feel like it was keeping me from being emotionally available. I really don’t want this interview to turn into a whole thing about that.”
9/11. Families sue Saudi government: “The legal action, filed in federal court in Manhattan, details a scenario of involvement by Saudi officials who are said to have aided some of the hijackers before the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and three of them had previously worked for the kingdom.”
LET IT SINK IN. One of many unforgivable things about the 2016 election.
ELTON JOHN. Singer calls teen with brain tumor.
ORLANDO BLOOM. His paddle boarding adventure (wearing a swimsuit this time).
BAYWATCH. Poster is a bunch of balls.
CASTING. Colin Farrell to star as Oliver North in Iran-Contra series for Amazon: “Farrell and his “Lobster” director Yorgos Lanthimos are teaming up again on an Amazon show about Oliver North and his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. Farrell will star as the former U.S. marine in the untitled limited series, which will primarily focus on the Iran-Contra scandal, and Lanthimos will direct. According to sources, the project is still in development as Amazon awaits scripts from Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson. Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstock are exec producing for Red Hour Films.
SERENADE. The Backstreet Boys sand “Shape of My Heart” to former boyband rival Lance Bass.
LIFE. This time-lapse of a tadpole cell dividing is mesmerizing.
TOO HOT TUESDAY. Leaon Gordon.
The post Ivanka Trump, Woody Harrelson, Sharron Angle, Andrew Napolitano, Baywatch, Backstreet Boys: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.
A look at U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's anti-LGBTQ legislative “mentor,” Bill Armstrong
A look at U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's anti-LGBTQ legislative “mentor,” Bill Armstrong
The following is a guest post by Jeremy Hooper, special projects consultant at GLAAD and lead researcher on GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project.
Jeff Hunt, the Vice President of Colorado Christian University, is close enough to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch that he was able to speak to him just days before President Trump nominated the forty-nine year old conservative to a lifetime role.
Hunt told The Denver Post:
“Gorsuch’s rulings ‘are very promising from a conservative perspective,’ said Jeff Hunt, the Centennial Institute director at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, who spoke to Gorsuch days before his nomination. ‘He understands the role of the government and the role of the courts.’” [Denver Post]
Keep in mind that Hunt said he spoke to Gorsuch days before the nomination, not after. Meaning, this wasn’t some courtesy call you make following a major political announcement. Speaking prior to the nomination reiterates that a certain closeness exists between the two men.
This same Jeff Hunt recently issued a fundraising email where he spoke glowingly of his seeming pal’s socially conservative bona fides. Hunt writes:
“Judge Gorsuch has proven he’s pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious liberty, which is exactly why the radical Left is rallying against him.
His rulings are very promising from a conservative perspective, which is why it’s critical we rush to his aid immediately and ensure he’s confirmed…
As a native of Colorado and a devoted follower of Christ, we couldn’t be more excited about what Judge Gorsuch will do to help overturn Roe v. Wade, uphold traditional marriage, and protect our religious freedom.
When our past president, Bill Armstrong, was serving in the U.S. Senate, a young Neil Gorsuch even interned for him.
The late Senator Bill Armstrong helped mentor this brilliant conservative legal mind, and now he has the chance to ascend to the nation’s highest court where he will defend our values for decades to come.” [SOURCE]
So Hunt, who seems to know Gorsuch well, seems to think that he will, among other things, “uphold traditional marriage.” And to help make his case, Hunt refers to Gorsuch’s close relationship and past internship with a mutual friend of theirs, the late U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong.
It’s a relationship that should be deeply problematic for LGBTQ people.
While he was serving in the U.S. Senate—and while Neil Gorsuch was serving as his page and intern—Bill Armstrong was a heated opponent of LGBTQ rights. When D.C. passed a pro-LGBTQ bill in 1990, Armstrong presented an amendment that would have allowed organizations to prevent gay people from becoming a “role model, mentor or companion to any minor.” This thankfully was shut down by the entire U.S. Senate.
Also, Senator Armstrong sponsored a controversial amendment that would have allowed Georgetown University to circumvent local law and bar LGBTQ organizations. He not only opposed LGBTQ rights, but he made such opposition a priority. Neil Gorsuch, potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee, chose to work in this office.
But Armstrong really showed his heart after he left the senate. Armstrong went on to head up a number of Colorado based conservative groups. In this capacity, he once warned that LGBTQ civil rights would “force you and me to give our state’s legal blessing to aberrant homosexual behavior and lifestyles.” Armstrong also claimed that removing the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay policies would increase “mental health problems, depression, physical abuse [and] incest,” lead to “reduced life expectancy,” and “behavior regarded as aberrant and immoral.” Then in the last year of his life, Armstrong worked to bar the LGBT Log Cabin Republicans from an annual state conservative conference that he sponsored, insisting that “the homosexual agenda in part is to shut down further discussion.” By the time he died in 2016, opposition to LGBTQ rights was a major part of his legacy.
Screenshot of Jeff Hunt’s Facebook post on the Gorsuch nomination.
But Armstrong’s last role, and one that he held for ten years, was president of Colorado Christian University—bringing it back to the aforementioned Jeff Hunt, the Vice President of CCU who is now vouching for his pal Neil Gorsuch.
Interns don’t always have to agree with their congressional bosses, but in this case Mr. Hunt is directly claiming this relationship as formative to the judge’s conservative philosophy. If Gorsuch subscribes to even a portion of Mr. Armstrong’s legacy, then LGBTQ people can expect horrific rulings from a Justice Gorsuch. That the intimately familiar Hunt seems to think Judge Gorsuch subscribes to most (if not all) of Armstrong’s legacy is nothing short of worrisome.
Which is just one more reason why today’s confirmation hearing must feature a robust questioning of Judge Gorsuch’s views on LGBTQ rights. On the subject, his record is fairly thin, but the open questions are concerning. If U.S. Senators are going to paint a robust portrait of this nominee, then LGBTQ rights must be a part of that painting. And if Senators need more fuel for their questions, then they can look to their fiery former colleague for whom Judge Gorsuch once labored: his “mentor” Bill Armstrong.
March 21, 2017
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Friday Party
Youth prison officer under scrutiny after disturbing footage emerges of him with teenage boys
Youth prison officer under scrutiny after disturbing footage emerges of him with teenage boys
This is pretty unsettling.
“Who wants to suck my d*ck?” former prison officer Conan Zamolo tells the sleeping teenage inmates in the video. “Which one of you boys wanna suck my d*ck?”
Zamolo filmed himself tormenting several male youths then uploaded the footage to Snapchat because… homophobic bullying is funny? Now he’s on trial for misconduct on the job.
Zamolo is, er, was an officer at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, a maximum security juvenile detention center in the Northern Territory, Australia, located in Berrimah, east of Darwin. He was canned back in 2014 after being charged with possession of steroids. During the investigation, police uncovered several videos saved on Zamolo’s phone of himself sexually harassing several different teenage inmates.
In addition to telling the boys to perform oral sex on him, Zamolo filmed himself demanding a kid eat bird feces. “Go, go, go! Eat it! Eat that little bit of sh*t,” he ordered.
In another video, Zamolo sneaks up on a boy using a urinal. He films the youth urinating for a moment before the screen goes black and Zamolo can be heard saying, “Oi! What are you doing you little gay dog?”
In court last week, Zamolo said the harassment was all a “joke.”
“Did it occur to you that any of the boys might not have found it funny at all, but might have felt compelled to go along with it?” prosector Peter Callaghan asked.
To which, Zomolo replied, “I had a good relationship with the kids. That’s how they talk to each other … I wouldn’t have done it if I thought that they would’ve been offended by it. Obviously, I knew them quite well.”
The videos, however, suggest otherwise.
“Come suck my dick you little c*nt!” Zomolo can be heard yelling at a teen. The boy is heard replying, “F*ck off, you prick. Motherf*ck*r!”
When asked specifically about filming the boy using the bathroom, Zomolo said he went to check on the kid because he was “taking too long” and didn’t realize his camera was on.
“It was a new watch that I was playing with, that I’d been playing with all day,” he testified. “I can’t even tell you if I knew it was recording or not. I got no idea. I didn’t even know it was on my phone.”
“Mr Zamolo, what was it about Don Dale that made you think it was OK to let this happen?” Callaghan asked.
Zomolo shrugged and said, “I don’t know, it was just goofing around and that kind of thing happened a lot. They’d look for things to do to pass the time. … I can see now that it was inappropriate.”
The trial continues.
h/t: ABC Australia
Colton Haynes Suggests He’s Knocked Up, Says Kids are Coming ‘Hopefully Really Soon’ – WATCH
Colton Haynes Suggests He’s Knocked Up, Says Kids are Coming ‘Hopefully Really Soon’ – WATCH
Arrow actor Colton Haynes just announced his engagement to florist Jeff Leatham and is already planning for kids according to remarks he made on Instagram and to a paparazzo this week.
RELATED: Colton Haynes is Engaged to Be Married
Haynes was met at the airport by a paparazzo who asked him about his plans for children and marriage.
“Hopefully really soon,” Haynes said about having kids. “Not before we get married.”
Watch:
Haynes also posted a photo to Instagram clutching his six-pack in a pool.
Wrote Haynes: “Covering that layer of pregnancy while I can @jeffleatham lol!!! ?”
The post Colton Haynes Suggests He’s Knocked Up, Says Kids are Coming ‘Hopefully Really Soon’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Colton Haynes Suggests He’s Knocked Up, Says Kids are Coming ‘Hopefully Really Soon’ – WATCH