Black, Gay, and Inked
Tattoo artist Kevin Laroy shares his coming-out story on VH1’s Black Ink Crew: New York.
Daily Archives: April 12, 2017
Extraordinary – Book: Free Shipping
Extraordinary – Book: Free Shipping
DifferentWho posted a photo:
differentwho.com/2017/04/12/extraordinary-book-free-shipp… – #Amazon, #Autism, #Communities, #Deals, #Different, #Discounts, #Lgbt, #Sales
Fake ‘radical feminist’ group a paid political front for anti-LGBT organization
Fake ‘radical feminist’ group a paid political front for anti-LGBT organization
NYC Councilman Corey Johnson Has Plan to Force Trump to Release Tax Returns
NYC Councilman Corey Johnson Has Plan to Force Trump to Release Tax Returns
NYC Councilman Corey Johnson plans to introduce legislation requiring Donald Trump to release his tax returns or risk losing his contracts with the City of New York, one of which involves a Trump golf course in the Bronx.
Via press release from Johnson’s office:
The legislation would specifically require certain executives of organizations who are named in the entities holding City concessions – and pay $0 to the City – to disclose their personal income tax returns. This criteria applies to Trump Ferry Point LLC, the company behind Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a golf course on public property in the Bronx.
Every year, the Office of the City Chief of Procurement Officer prepares a report on all concessions that are binding on the City in the reporting year. One of the required reporting categories is “Approximate Gross Revenues Received” for that year, which refers to the amount the concessionaire is paying to the City. For a select few contract (concession) holders, the entry is consistently $0. One of the concession holders is Trump Ferry Point, LLC. This means that the Trump Organization is paying nothing to the City for the privilege of operating a private golf course on public property in the Bronx.
The City Council has the power to require more transparency from the organizations that are receiving such generous terms from the City. This would be achieved by the passage of a Local Law that amends these requirements in the Administrative Code.
Johnson’s bill, which is still being drafted and would likely be introduced next month, is exceedingly narrowly tailored in an effort to avoid having it apply to anyone with city concessions contracts outside the Trump family.
It applies only to non-public benefit organizations that have concessions that generate $0 in “approximate gross revenue received” — a small group of companies that includes Trump Ferry Point LLC, since the company isn’t required to remit licensing fees to the city for the golf course until 2019.
The legislation would require the disclosure “the personal tax returns of any individual named in the entity entering into the concession agreement” — and Trump Ferry Point is the only vendor with an individual name in it.
If passed, the law would mean any one of those individuals — in this case, Donald Trump or his relatives at the company — would have to release their tax returns annually, as long as the company doesn’t provide the city profit, and as part of Vendex questionnaires, filed every three years.
Said Johnson: “If you’re benefiting from lucrative City contracts, you owe the public a high degree of transparency. When you’re profiting from a City contract that doesn’t return a dollar back to the City and your name is branded all over the property, transparency is vital. Donald J. Trump has made millions of dollars off City contracts, yet his finances are a complete mystery. We need to pull back the curtain on Donald Trump’s tax secrets. The choice should be simple: make your returns public or relinquish your contracts with the City of New York.”
The post NYC Councilman Corey Johnson Has Plan to Force Trump to Release Tax Returns appeared first on Towleroad.
NYC Councilman Corey Johnson Has Plan to Force Trump to Release Tax Returns
GLAAD responds to outing of CBS 'Survivor' contestant Zeke Smith
GLAAD responds to outing of CBS 'Survivor' contestant Zeke Smith
Tonight’s episode of CBS’ Survivor was a gut-wrenching 
look at the consequences of outing a transgender person against his will. At Tribal Council, contestant Jeff Varner told his tribemates that fellow contestant Zeke Smith is a transgender man. Zeke Smith played in the previous season “Millennials vs. Gen X” before being brought back immediately for the current season “Game Changers.” During both seasons, Zeke has played as an out gay man, but chose not to disclose his gender history to his tribemates or to the viewing audience.
Nick Adams, Director of GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program, said:
“Zeke Smith, and transgender people like him, are not deceiving anyone by being their authentic selves, and it is dangerous and unacceptable to out a transgender person. It is heartening, however, to see the strong support for Zeke from the other people in his tribe. Moments like this prove that when people from all walks of life get to know a transgender person, they accept us for who we are.”
GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program worked with Zeke Smith and CBS for several months to ensure that when the episode aired Zeke would have the opportunity to speak for himself about his experience.
Read about Zeke’s story in his own words in People and in The Hollywood Reporter. And tune in tomorrow to see Zeke on CBS’ The Talk at 2:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm PT. You can also follow Zeke’s continuing adventures on social media:
Click here to learn more about GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program and how to be an ally to transgender people.
April 12, 2017
Issues:
Tags:
www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-responds-outing-cbs-survivor-contestant-zeke-smith
Mitt Romney's Actual 'Binders Full of Women' Have Been Discovered
Mitt Romney's Actual 'Binders Full of Women' Have Been Discovered
Romney’s ‘binders full of women” gaffe from 2012 is quaint in light of the Trump administration.
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/4/12/mitt-romneys-actual-binders-full-women-have-been-discovered
Hundreds Protest ‘Gay Concentration Camps’ in Chechnya Outside Russian Embassy in London: WATCH
Hundreds Protest ‘Gay Concentration Camps’ in Chechnya Outside Russian Embassy in London: WATCH
Hundreds of people attended a protest on Wednesday outside the Russian embassy in London in reaction to recent reports that more than 100 gay men have been rounded up in ‘concentration camps’, tortured, and some executed in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
Signs and flowers outside Russian Embassy in London. Stop the torture of #LGBT people in #Chechnya!@SadiqKhan t.co/5yNy7Lwr6Y pic.twitter.com/FBvmdiAO2v
— Stefan Ferreira (@stefanf28) April 12, 2017
London’s Evening Standard reported on the protest:
Michael Salter-Church, co-chair of Pride in London, said: “It sends a shudder down the spine to hear about concentration camps in 2017.”
He added: “Russia’s abuses cannot be ignored.”
Peter Scott-Presland, 68, said: “I wanted to show solidarity so they know they’re not alone.
“They are being supported and we send them all of our love.”
Steve Peck, 59, added: “This is happening internationally…it is unacceptable and has to stop.”
Videos of the demonstration have been posted to social media:
VIDEO: Hundreds outside #Russian Embassy in London to protest torture, abuse and murder of gays in #Chechnya pic.twitter.com/R51Fp9TGOo
— Harvey Day (@h94day) April 12, 2017
So proud of my community #loveislove #Chechnya Peaceful show of love & solidarity outside @RussianEmbassy #Humanrights Well done @danophile pic.twitter.com/GdyvIM7wcM
— Linda Mason (@linda_mason4) April 12, 2017
#RussianEmbassy #London #Chechnya pic.twitter.com/IX5SDZA2GU
— Rebecca Gray (@becky_101) April 12, 2017
Pink triangle of flowers outside the @RussianEmbassy now for the #ChechnyaProtest. Thank you to all who came. pic.twitter.com/PqfhNjrSOO
— Steve Taylor (@danophile) April 12, 2017
Numerous petitions have sprung up online urging authorities to take action regarding the situation.
A Change.org petition with more than 75,000 signatures as of this posting calls on the Prosecutor General of Russia to investigate the attacks on gay men.
An Amnesty petition with more than 83,000 signatures as of this posting calls for the Russian and Chechen authorities to investigate these abductions and bring those responsible to justice.
Those wishing to do more can email the Russian embassy in their country and demand answers. The list of Russian embassy contacts is HERE.
The U.S. State Department released a statement on Friday night in response to reports of the secret prisons.
It was the agency’s second statement on the issue:
We are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where there have been numerous credible reports indicating the detention of at least 100 men on the basis of their sexual orientation. Some reports indicate many of those arrested have been tortured, in some cases leading to death. We categorically condemn the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or any other basis.
We are deeply disturbed by recent public statements by Chechen authorities that condone and incite violence against LGBTI persons. We urge Russian federal authorities to speak out against such practices, take steps to ensure the release of anyone wrongfully detained, conduct an independent and credible investigation into these, reports and hold any perpetrators responsible.
ALSO: State Dept Calls for Inquiry into Murders of Gay Men in Chechnya Amid Horrific Reports of ‘Secret Prison’
The first, on April 6, called on the Russian government to investigate.
“We urge the Russian government to conduct an independent and credible investigation into the alleged killings and mass arrests, and hold the perpetrators responsible,” said the State Department statement, provided to media outlets.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Russia today, There is no word on whether or not the situation in Chechnya was discussed, but the Human Rights Campaign called on Tillerson to speak up:
On visit to Moscow, Sec. Tillerson can’t turn blind eye to citizens being tortured, killed on suspicion of being gay t.co/HkLotBh5q1
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) April 11, 2017
And GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis has called on UN Ambassador Nikki Haley to speak out:
I’m calling on @nikkihaley to speak up against the reported #LGBTQ concentration camps in Chechnya. RT to join me. t.co/NM05ag67fA
— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) April 11, 2017
The NYT was the first U.S. news outlet to report on the detentions, in early April:
On Saturday, a leading Russian opposition newspaper confirmed a story already circulating among human rights activists: The Chechen authorities were arresting and killing gay men.
…The men were detained “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such,” the newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, reported, citing Russian federal law enforcement officials, who blamed the local authorities.
By Saturday, the paper reported, and an analyst of the region with her own sources confirmed, that more than 100 gay men had been detained. The newspaper had the names of three murder victims, and suspected many others had died in extrajudicial killings.
RELATED: State Department ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Reports of Detention, Torture, and Murder of Gay Men in Chechnya
“In Chechnya, the command was given for a ‘prophylactic sweep’ and it went as far as real murders,” Novaya Gazeta reported.
The report was denied by the spokesman of the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, who suggested there were no gay people in the Muslim-majority region. Ali Karimov said, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti: “It’s impossible to persecute those who are not in the republic.”
“If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return,” Karimov added.
New unverified reports have emerged recently from alleged survivors of the Russian torture that tell of a secret prison where gay men are kept and tortured, along with disturbing images of physical abuse.
The post Hundreds Protest ‘Gay Concentration Camps’ in Chechnya Outside Russian Embassy in London: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Hundreds Protest ‘Gay Concentration Camps’ in Chechnya Outside Russian Embassy in London: WATCH
Anti-LGBT N.C. Lawmakers Threaten College Sports Conference
Anti-LGBT N.C. Lawmakers Threaten College Sports Conference
A new bill proposes that North Carolina public universities leave the Atlantic Coast Conference if the ACC again boycotts the state.
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/4/12/anti-lgbt-nc-lawmakers-threaten-college-sports-conference
New NC GOP Bill Seeks Revenge on Intercollegiate Sports Conferences That Boycott Over Issues Like HB2
New NC GOP Bill Seeks Revenge on Intercollegiate Sports Conferences That Boycott Over Issues Like HB2
North Carolina Republicans have filed another hateful bill that seeks to punish intercollegiate sports conferences like the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), for boycotting the state over discriminatory legislation, like the ACC did over HB2.
“We’re taking this seriously and we’re not going to sit back idly and let them do whatever they want to North Carolina,” said Rep. Mark Brody, a Republican from Union County.
House Bill 728 says if an intercollegiate athletic association boycotts North Carolina, then the UNC campuses that are a part of that conference are prohibited from extending the grant of media rights to that conference.
The bill also says the UNC campuses would provide written notice to the conference they intend to leave it when those media rights expire.
“This is a payback bill from people who supported House Bill 2,” said Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Orange).
Watch:
The post New NC GOP Bill Seeks Revenge on Intercollegiate Sports Conferences That Boycott Over Issues Like HB2 appeared first on Towleroad.
HRC Volunteers Get to Work in Houston
HRC Volunteers Get to Work in Houston
Post submitted by Andrea Segovia, Houston Field Organizer
Since opening offices across Texas earlier this year, HRC has had the pleasure to get to know some incredible, hard working volunteers. Miguel Gomez, who lives in Houston, has become a frequent volunteer at our Houston office.
I first met Miguel at our Houston office opening and since then he’s been at every rally and community event HRC is involved in. He comes to as many phone banks as possible and is always ready to help with data entry. Miguel has shown time and time again his passion in working towards equality for our LGBTQ community here in Texas. He motivates and creates personal connects with other volunteers and people he’s met while representing HRC.
HRC is on the ground in Texas to battle a slate of anti-LGBTQ bills. SB 6 — dishonestly titled the “Privacy Protection Act” — is a bill expressly intended to discriminate against and block facility access for transgender Texans. The bill would overturn non-discrimination ordinances currently providing critical protections in several major Texas cities; further, it would force state agencies, municipalities, public schools and public universities to discriminate against transgender people. By making it illegal for transgender people in Texas to be afforded access to facilities consistent with their identity, it opens them up to increased discrimination and harassment as they simply live their everyday lives.
Become a volunteer like Miguel and join us.
HRC has opened four offices throughout Texas: Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio. We have a team of five organizers working to mobilize our members and supporters against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Live in Texas and want to get more involved in the fight against discrimination in Texas? Contact HRC Texas Field Manager David Topping for more info.
www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-volunteers-get-to-work-in-houston?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed