Justin Tranter and the Transgender Chorus of LA call for more LGBTQ visibility in the music business in a powerful new film for Trans Awareness Week

www.glaad.org/blog/justin-tranter-and-transgender-chorus-la-call-more-lgbtq-visibility-music-business-powerful-new

Monster convicted of torturing 8-year-old to death because he thought the child was gay
The prosecutor broke down in tears at a press conference after the verdict was announced.

www.queerty.com/monster-convicted-torturing-8-year-old-death-thought-child-gay-20171116?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump to UCLA Basketball Players: Now Thank the Chinese President

After getting his requested “thank you” from the UCLA basketball players released from custody in China, Donald Trump on Thursday demanded they make another apology to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Tweeted Trump:

“To the three UCLA basketball players I say: You’re welcome, go out and give a big Thank You to President Xi Jinping of China who made………your release possible and, HAVE A GREAT LIFE! Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!

To the three UCLA basketball players I say: You’re welcome, go out and give a big Thank You to President Xi Jinping of China who made…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2017

….your release possible and, HAVE A GREAT LIFE! Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2017

Trump later tweeted that the Chinese were sending a delegation to North Korea:

China is sending an Envoy and Delegation to North Korea – A big move, we’ll see what happens!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2017

The post Trump to UCLA Basketball Players: Now Thank the Chinese President appeared first on Towleroad.

Trump to UCLA Basketball Players: Now Thank the Chinese President

Gaia Pope: Police Investigating Disappearance Find Women’s Clothing In Field

Police investigating the disappearance of 19-year-old Gaia Pope have discovered “items of women’s clothing” in a field near Swanage, Dorset Police said.

The 19-year-old, from Langton Matravers, was staying at an address in Swanage when she disappeared on the afternoon of 7 November.

woman and a 19-year-old man on suspicion of her murder. Both have been released under investigation. 

The family of the missing epileptic teenager have released a statement through police saying: “We will find you darling girl. The thought of seeing the sunshine of your smile again soon keeps us all going and hoping.” 

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/gaia-pope-police-investigating-disappearance-find-womens-clothing-in-field_uk_5a0da7d7e4b0b17e5e14717f

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: November 16, 2017

WORST OF THE WORST — HRC HONES IN ON FIVE OF MOST DANGEROUS OF TRUMP-PENCE’S ANTI-LGBTQ JUDICIAL NOMINEES (AND THAT’S SAYING SOMETHING): Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz could seriously threaten the future of LGBTQ equality in America. “In their crusade against the LGBTQ community, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are doing everything they can to stack our federal courts and all agencies of the government with anti-LGBTQ nominees and appointments,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the progress we’ve made and weave discrimination into every part of our government. There are scores of under-qualified nominees with terrible anti-equality records, and Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz are among the worst of the worst. The Senate must reject their nominations to lifetime appointments to the federal bench.” More from HRC, The Daily Beast, LGBTQ Nation and Metro Weekly.

HRC RELEASES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND GUIDE ON ENGAGING PROSPECTIVE TRANSGENDER AND NON-BINARY FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE PARENTS: The groundbreaking guide, Promising Practices for Serving Transgender & Non-Binary Foster & Adoptive Parents, is designed to help foster care and adoption agencies recruit, certify and support qualified transgender and non-binary adults to become resource parents for young people who need safe, welcoming homes.   “With more than 100,000 young people awaiting adoption across the country, it is urgent for all prospective foster and adoptive parents, including trans and non-binary adults, to feel safe and welcomed in our nation’s foster care system,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Programs, Research, and Training. “All parents, no matter their gender identity, deserve the same opportunities to welcome youth into their families, and this detailed resource provides agencies with the information and tools they need to make that a reality.” More from HRC.

THANKFUL THURSDAY — MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE SPEAK OUT DURING #TRANSWEEK: To mark Transgender Awareness Week (#TransWeek), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) spoke out in support of the transgender community, calling for non-discrimination protections and condemning Trump’s dangerous ban on transgender service members.

On @HouseFloor in honor of #Transgender Awareness Week: we must seek to be more inclusive + protect all individuals pic.twitter.com/EANapQY1P0

— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) November 14, 2017

SLEAZY SENATE GOP TAX “REFORM” PLAN IS BAD FOR LGBTQ PEOPLE: Senate Republican leadership says they will add repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate to their tax “reform” bill, which would strip health insurance away from MILLIONS — including countless LGBTQ people — while providing BILLIONS in tax cuts to the top one percent.

The #GOPTaxPlan aims to repeal #ACA‘s individual mandate, resulting in:
Insurers fleeing the markets.��
13 MILLION Americans losing health care.��
Premiums skyrocketing. ��
All to help pay for tax cuts for our nation’s millionaires & corporations.��
Let that sink in.

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 15, 2017

ACA OPEN ENROLLMENT: Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues until December 15. Check out some frequently asked questions about enrolling at HRC.

• Health care and the bisexual community: Check out this article, “7+ Reasons Why Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, And Queer People Need to Sign Up For Health Insurance This Month,” from HuffPost.

It’s time to sign up for coverage through the #ACA. Still have questions? Learn more here before you #GetCovered: t.co/zfTjBxglM3

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 16, 2017

WEST VIRGINIA LGBTQ ADVOCATES CALL ON CITY COUNCIL TO PASS INCLUSIVE NON-DISCRIM ORDINANCE: Wearing shirts referencing Parkersburg’s low score on HRC’s Municipal Equality Index, a group of advocates demanded the city council pass a nondiscrimination ordinance that includes gender identity and sexual orientation. More from The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

CHILDREN’S MAG HIGHLIGHTS TO (FINALLY) INCLUDE LGBTQ FAMILIES: The magazine, criticized for not showcasing diverse families, will now feature imagines of LGBTQ families. More from Advocate.

THIS IS TORTURE — HORRIFYING STORIES OF LGBTQ PEOPLE IN CHINA SUBJECTED TO SO-CALLED “CONVERSION THERAPY”: Many LGBTQ Chinese have been subjected to electroshock, harassment, involuntary confinement and forced medication. More from CBS.

DAY AFTER AUSTRALIA POSTAL SURVEY, SENATOR STARTS MARRIAGE EQUALITY DEBATE: Dean Smith, a gay Australian senator, introduced a bill to limit who could refuse to serve a same-sex couple seeking marriage, in order to safeguard a future marriage equality bill. More from ABC.

PRINCE HARRY HONORS ENGLAND’S HIV TESTING WEEK: The Prince attended the launch of a pop-up shop in London to help hand out free HIV self-testing kits. More from People.

READING RAINBOW

Refinery29 imagines a world without gendered award shows

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-november-16-2017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Two-Spirit Changes Face of Drag-Pop

VIZIN has wit and a five-octave range.

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/11/16/two-spirit-changes-face-drag-pop

#2: How To Behave At A Funeral
As funerals go, it was probably one of the loveliest. Mum (with her Alzheimer’s and all) couldn’t be bothered with the usual stiff protocol of hushed whispers, soldier stances and polite smiles. She was dancing, singing and “yoopeedoing” all over the shop and I do believe my Aunty Rita, Mum’s sister, wouldn’t haven’t wanted it any other way. Indeed one of mine and my brother’s fondest memories of our dear aunt is that of her own arrival at that very same Middlesbrough crematorium, for Nana Jessie’s funeral a few years earlier. As we waited in expectant silence, prepped to receive grandma’s coffin from the back of the hearse, we suddenly found ourselves battling asphyxiating laughter upon clocking Aunty Rita’s entrance. Fashionably late, we watched mesmerised as she trotted across the car park, dressed in a fantastically ferocious funeral outfit with bright sunlight shining through her recently coiffed beehive, highlighting a definite purple glow to her new black updo. The stark contrast of the desperately sombre occasion combined with Aunty Rita’s fabulously non-conformist energy set us off in fits of giggles. Of course, we as adults knew how we should behave at a funeral, but the more we tried to hold those giggles in, the more intensely they poured out of us. And at the time, we felt terrible about it.

I’ve been doing a great deal of self reflection and introspection of late, common I suppose with so much death around and trying to make sense of these messy, complicated lives we lead. In doing so, I have discovered what psychoanalyst Carl Jung called, my Shadow Self. Jung theorised that our unconscious minds are fragmented into different “selves” in an attempt to organise how we experience different events in life, in this case, a funeral. Two of these “selves” he named The Persona and The Shadow Self. The Persona, derived from the Latin word meaning “mask”, defines how we believe we should act and how we wish to be seen by the world. Conversely, the Shadow Self forms part of the unconscious mind and is often described as the darker side of the psyche, representing wildness, chaos and the unknown. This Shadow Self is composed of repressed ideas, instincts, impulses, weaknesses, desires, perversions and embarrassing fears. Jung believed that these untapped dispositions are present in all of us, in many instances forming a strong source of creative energy – in my funeral situation, fits of nervous laughter – and the more we try to deny and repress them, the more strongly they attach within us.

My experience of Aunty Rita’s funeral last week was thus very different to that of our dear Nana’s a few years earlier. Indeed as Mum stood in front of her own sister’s coffin having a tug of war with my father as she attempted to eat the freshly cut yellow rose meant for the top, many more giggles arose within all of us. In fact we spent the whole day laughing and singing with Mum, even throughout the most serious parts of the ceremony. But this time we didn’t try so hard to suppress these seemingly inappropriate emotions. We weren’t laughing at Mum’s incapacity to recognise a rose or indeed the significance of the day. Simply the entire situation was so mad, death so painfully permanent and Alzheimer’s so bloody cruel, we have learned to accept and even welcome a little light heartedness to the seriousness of life. We spent Aunty Rita’s funeral in tears of both laughter and pain, love and loss, and it’s one of the most honest, beautiful, connecting funerals I have attended. No pretending. No rules. Just allowing ourselves to feel exactly how we felt, appropriate or otherwise, led by our beautiful mother’s example and happily accepted by Aunty Rita’s warm hearted step-family. No longer ashamed of her shadow self, Mum gave us all permission to laugh, cry, sing, weep, dance and yooopeeedooo without any fear of how we should behave at a funeral. As a family, Mum’s illness has led us all a little closer to our shadow selves, enabling us to feel more whole in our crazy, messy humanness. And that alone, shows there are some small positives to be taken from the crappy disease that is Alzheimer’s.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/leanne-davis/2-how-to-behave-at-a-fune_b_18561148.html

85 Different Types of Sexy From Austin Wondo

www.advocate.com/photography/2017/11/16/85-different-types-sexy-austin-wondo