#AM_Equality Tip Sheet: September 20, 2016

THANK YOU, MAYOR ROBERTS AND CHARLOTTE CITY COUNCIL, FOR STANDING ON THE SIDE OF EQUALITY: As Governor McCrory and Republican legislative leaders continue to face intense public backlash over the damaging consequences of HB2, Charlotte city leaders rejected pressure to to repeal citywide LGBTQ protections. HRC and ENC were joined by Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, Council member John Autry and other allies yesterday morning to denounce the scheme and called on the North Carolina General Assembly to convene and repeal HB2 once and for all. Dozens of supporters of the LGBTQ non-discrimination ordinance attended last night’s City Council meeting, holding signs thanking leaders for standing firm. More than 135 million Americans — or 42 percent of the country — live in cities with similar protections, including Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, Orlando and Jackson, Mississippi. Notably, the so-called “reset” proposed by Governor McCrory and state lawmakers wouldn’t even fix the problem caused by the vile HB2. Earlier this year, the NCAA renewed its commitment to ensuring that all fans and players, including LGBTQ people, are able to enjoy NCAA events without fear of discrimination. Without Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance in place, North Carolina will not win back games. More from HRC. 

• The News and Observer hailed Mayor Roberts and the City Council’s decision to not take the tainted bait laid out by Governor McCrory, saying “Good for her. Good for Charlotte. And good for the cause of civil rights.”
• Pull out your notebooks, Gov. McCrory and the NC GOP: The Huffington Post’s Jen Bendery (@JBendery) called out the absurdity of the illogical so-called “reset,” taking us back to our middle school civics class to explain how government works, writing “…t is entirely within McCrory’s control to call the legislature into session, if he wants to, and it is entirely within GOP leaders’ control to introduce a bill that repeals HB2. They don’t need Charlotte to take any action.”
• Charlotte Magazine’s Greg Lacour (@GregLacour) applauded the City Council for standing firm, highlighting several important points. Among them: “City officials have never tried to disguise why they wanted to adopt the non-discrimination ordinance. It wasn’t just a matter of doing the right thing. It was an effort to keep pace with the roster of major American cities.” Speaking of…

While @PatMcCroryNC & his allies bully Charlotte, more than 135 million Americans live in cities w/ laws like CLT’s t.co/7tlav4wdcU

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) September 19, 2016

HEY DONNY JR — PEOPLE ARE NOT SKITTLES: Last night, Donald Trump Jr. posted a horrifying image comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles. A representative from the candy company condemned the disgusting meme, saying ‘Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy.” Over the last several years the world has witnessed ISIL systematically torture, maim and execute LGBTQ people across Syria. For hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing ISIL’s terror, including persecuted LGBTQ people, America is a beacon of hope. HRC has signed onto letters, along with other human rights and civil society organizations, opposing efforts to hinder the U.S.’s refugee resettlement program. It is in the DNA of this nation to welcome those escaping war-torn lands and persecution, and we can never allow fear to change our values.

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPEAL OF DON’T ASK DON’T TELL: Today marks the five-year anniversary of the official end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) — the archaic and deeply discriminatory law that barred gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans from serving openly in the military. Read HRC National Press Secretary Stephen Peters’ (@StephenPeters2) op-ed on in The Huffington Post on his personal experience with the discriminatory law, and the stakes for LGBTQ service members in this year’s election. 

TUESDAY TWEET: Executive Director of Equality North Carolina Chris Sgro (@cristoferosgro) blasted the North Carolina GOP for their ridiculous claim that anyone OTHER than North Carolina Pat McCrory and his merry band of anti-LGBTQ friends in the North Carolina General Assembly are to blame for the disastrous HB2. TUESDAY TWEET: Executive Director of Equality North Carolina Chris Sgro (@cristoferosgro) blasted the North Carolina GOP for their ridiculous claim that anyone OTHER than North Carolina Pat McCrory and his merry band of anti-LGBTQ friends in the North Carolina General Assembly are to blame for the disastrous HB2.

.@NCGOP that’s so weird! Don’t remember @RoyCooperNC, @JenRobertsNC signing #HB2. @PatMcCroryNC did that. #repealhb2 pic.twitter.com/TtXQfdHEn5

— Chris Sgro (@cristoferosgro) September 19, 2016

HRC MOURNS THE PASSING OF CRYSTAL EDMONDS: On Friday, Baltimore police announced that 32-year old Crystal Edmonds, a transgender woman, died after being fatally shot early Friday morning. At the time of writing, no arrests have been made and authorities are requesting that anyone with information regarding Crystal’s death call the Baltimore police. Crystal is at least the 19th transgender person — nearly all transgender women of color — to be killed in 2016. More from HRC.

BAN ON LGBTQ CREDIT DISCRIMINATION: Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) established critical credit nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. CFPB’s new guidance prohibits financial institutions like banks, credit card companies, credit unions, and finance companies from engaging in discrimination on the basis of gender‑identity and sexual orientation. More from HRC.

BISEXUAL AWARENESS WEEK: Yesterday marked the start of Bisexual Awareness Week, also known as #BiWeek. The week will culminate on Friday with Bisexuality Day. Stay tuned to HRC’s blog to learn more about Bisexual Awareness Week and check out hrc.org/bisexual for more information about the community and the issues it currently faces.

• Just in time for #BiWeek, Lord Ivar Mountbatten became the first out member of the British Royal Family when he came out as bisexual this weekend. Congratulations, Lord Ivar!

SAFE PLACE TO LEARN: Yesterday, the Department of Education released Safe Place to Learn, an online resource addressing sexual harassment in schools, including complying with Title IX sex discrimination rules, which include discrimination based on gender identity.

ROMANIAN COURT TO RULE IN MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASE: Romania’s Constitutional Court may rule on a case today regarding a same-sex couple who has asked for marriage equality. While a positive ruling is unlikely in the largely Orthodox country, the case marks a historic step toward LGBTQ equality. More from Fox News. 

READING RAINBOW

HRC shares four back-to-school tips for LGBTQ parents and guardians… Gay Star News reports that Sweden is the first country to hit the UNAIDS/World Health Organization’s 90-90-90 goal with regards to HIV… “Genderfluid” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary… Check out these 5 must-watch LGBTQ moments from the Emmys… Mic reviews ‘Strut,’ a new reality show about transgender models… 

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

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tip-sheet-september-20-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#BiWeek: Five Resources on Bisexual Health

As we celebrate Bisexual Awareness Week, we recognize that experiences among bisexual people in healthcare settings remain rarely discussed or understood by community organizers, medical professionals and researchers.

Bisexuals face striking rates of poor health outcomes ranging from cancer and obesity, to sexually transmitted infections to mental health problems. Studies suggest that bisexuals comprise nearly half of all people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, making the bisexual population the single largest group within the LGBTQ community –– yet, as a community, we are doing little to address the needs of bisexual people.

Moreover, transgender people and people of color comprise large portions of the bisexual community –– with more than 40 percent of LGBTQ people of color identifying as bisexual, and about half of transgender people describing their sexual orientation as bisexual or queer –– making these groups vulnerable to further disparities that occur at the intersections of biphobia, racism and transphobia.

Here are five unique resources for the bisexual community:

1. HRC’s “A Resource Guide to Coming Out As Bisexual” features the inspirational words of bisexual people who have come out and found community and fulfillment, as well as advice about the risks and rewards of coming out, and strategies for navigating real life coming out situations – from telling family and friends, to assessing whether a workplace would be supportive and safe.

2. HRC Foundation’s “Supporting and Caring for Our Bisexual Youth” report, based on one of the largest surveys ever of LGBTQ youth and released in partnership with the Bisexual Resource Center, BiNet USA, and the Bisexual Organizing Project, revealed a troubling chasm between the experiences of bisexual youth in America and their non-LGBTQ peers.

3. Bisexual visibility and inclusion continue to be a challenge for many workplaces.  Check out HRC Foundation’s resource on bisexual visibility in the workplace and action steps to improve bisexual inclusion in your workplace here.

4. HRC’s report “Health Disparities Among Bisexual People” found that bisexuals face striking rates of poor health outcomes ranging from cancer and obesity, to sexually transmitted infections to mental health problems. Studies suggest that bisexuals comprise nearly half of all people who identify as LGB, making the bisexual population the single largest group within the LGBTQ community –– yet, as a community, we are doing little to address the needs of bisexual people.

5. What does it mean to be bisexual? How many people are bisexual? What concerns do bisexual people have? Check out these answers to some basic questions about bisexuality.

www.hrc.org/blog/biweek-five-resources-on-bisexual-health?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

PHOTOS: Cute Corona Boys Find Their Beach In The Middle Of San Francisco

www.gaycities.com/photos/321-find-your-beach/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Samantha Bee Destroys NBC for Fawning over ‘Racist, Sexist, Bigot Birther’ Donald Trump: WATCH

Samantha Bee took down the entertainment giants, particularly NBC, for fawning over “sexist bigot” Donald Trump as he spewed his birther theories for years.

“Americans know Trump is a sexist bigot…They just don’t care…Why do so many Americans think playing footsie with fringe hate groups isn’t a disqualifier from polite society, much less the presidency? Maybe that’s because that’s the message they get from entertainment giants like NBC which gladly nurtured Trump’s celebrity through all the years he was running around saying this.”

Bee then played a clip of Trump touting his birther theories.

Clucked Trump in the clip: “The birthers have been so badly labeled they’re afraid to bring it up. Well I brought it up and I’ve reinvigorated that issue and I’m very proud to have done it.”

Answered Bee: “Proud like your kid when he drags you into the bathroom to see his poop. By ignoring that poop NBC tacitly condoned a race-baiting demagogue.”

“You know here’s a thought,” she added. “When Holocaust survivors are telling you, ‘hey this guy gives me deja vu, maybe don’t invite him up into your house to play with your adorable children.”

In Part 2, Bee blasted Trump’s ‘Birther’ announcement and the media’s coverage of it.

Especially Trump’s statement:

Said Bee:

“F–k you. A decade of racist conspiracy mongering brushed up in a 32-word statement that contained two lies, plus one of those lies repeated, and the half-hearted disavowal of the original lie. Even the part where he says ‘you know what I mean’ isn’t really true because nobody knows what the f–k he’s talking about there.”

Watch:

The post Samantha Bee Destroys NBC for Fawning over ‘Racist, Sexist, Bigot Birther’ Donald Trump: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Samantha Bee Destroys NBC for Fawning over ‘Racist, Sexist, Bigot Birther’ Donald Trump: WATCH

‘Passengers’ Trailer Reveals What Spending Years in Space with Chris Pratt Might Be Like: WATCH

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt give up their lives on Earth to hibernate for 120 years aboard a spaceship and wake up in a new century, on a new planet, but as they do in the movies — things went terribly wrong.

Check out the new trailer for Passengers, out this Christmas:

The post ‘Passengers’ Trailer Reveals What Spending Years in Space with Chris Pratt Might Be Like: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

‘Passengers’ Trailer Reveals What Spending Years in Space with Chris Pratt Might Be Like: WATCH

Skittles Corrects Donald Trump Jr After Deplorable Tweet: ‘Skittles are Candy. Refugees are People.’

Skittles began trending on social media last night after Donald Trump Jr. compared the colorful candy to Syrian refugees.

Trump Jr. tweeted a photo of a bowl of Skittles with a caption that read, “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”

He added: “This image says it all. Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first.”

This image says it all. Let’s end the politically correct agenda that doesn’t put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016

The reaction to Trump Jr.s tweet was swift, and brutal:

Thousands of Syrian children just like Omran have been killed in the war. They aren’t Skittles. They’re children. Just like yours. #Skittles pic.twitter.com/3x7TW8hDOV

— N (@_narbie) September 20, 2016

Seth Abramovitch, a writer at The Hollywood Reporter, got a response from Denise Young, VP of Corporate Affairs at Wrigley Americas, the owner of Skittles.

Said the company: “Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.”

A rep for @Skittles gives me their response to @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/OmkJQkIqug

— Seth Abramovitch (@SethAbramovitch) September 20, 2016

But there’s something far more deplorable going on here, as Raw Story notes:

The analogy isn’t new, and has been used for years by white supremacists to overgeneralize about various minority groups.

“It is often deployed as a way to prop up indefensible stereotypes by taking advantage of human ignorance about base rates, risk assessment and criminology,” wrote Emil Karlsson on the blog Debunking Denialism. “In the end, it tries to divert attention from the inherent bigotry in making flawed generalizations.”

…

The analogy, which has been used on message boards and shared as social media memes, originally used M&Ms as the candy in question — but that changed after George Zimmerman gunned down Trayvon Martin while the unarmed black teen was walking home from buying a drink and some Skittles.

A Google image search of “skittles trayvon meme” reveals a horrible bounty of captioned images mocking the slain teenager, whose killer was acquitted after claiming self-defense under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.

But the poisoned candy analogy goes back even further, to an anti-Semitic children’s book published by Julius Streicher, the publisher of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmerwho was executed in 1946 as a war criminal.

The book tells the tale of “the poisonous mushroom,” and was used to indoctrinate children in hate.

“Just as poisonous mushrooms spring up everywhere, so the Jew is found in every country in the world,” the story’s mother explains to her son. “Just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death.”

So Trump’s appalling analogy isn’t just unoriginal and demeaning — it’s actually racist in four different ways.

The post Skittles Corrects Donald Trump Jr After Deplorable Tweet: ‘Skittles are Candy. Refugees are People.’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Skittles Corrects Donald Trump Jr After Deplorable Tweet: ‘Skittles are Candy. Refugees are People.’

Five Years Later: The End of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Is Historic Progress We Must Fight To Keep

This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post. 

Today marks the five-year anniversary of the official end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) — the archaic and deeply discriminatory law that barred gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans from serving openly in the military. The law had a profoundly negative impact on the military, was catastrophic to the lives of service members forced to serve in silence or lose their careers, and devastating to their families.

I speak from experience. My own service in the Marine Corps was cut short when I was forced out under DADT after refusing to continue hiding who I am. Since then, I’ve witnessed firsthand the profound progress toward equality we’ve made as a nation, and in our Armed Forces. It’s progress that would be imperiled under a Trump-Pence administration, underscoring the urgency with which we must fight to elect a President who will ensure the continuation of historic efforts to treat all service members with the dignity, equality, and respect they deserve.

Thanks to the repeal of DADT, and the recent end to outdated policies that prevented transgender people from serving, the LGBTQ community is finally able to openly and proudly serve our nation. The military now can recruit and retain our nation’s best and brightest, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. Anyone who is qualified and willing to serve can do so. It’s a reality that in comparison to only a few short years ago seems like night and day. No longer does a service member have to worry about being seen with their family by the wrong person in public. No longer do some military spouses have to cross the threshold of their home each and every day and go to work pretending as if their family doesn’t exist. No longer do military kids have to go to school and avoid talking about their parents over fear of them losing their job.

The horrific realities these service members and military families faced each and every day under DADT is something I know too well. The tragic events of 9-11 led to my decision to enlist in the Marine Corps after college, and I was proud to honorably serve my country. After re-enlisting for another four years, I found myself at a point where I could no longer go on hiding something as basic as who I am. I wanted to continue to serve, but the law said I was suddenly unfit for duty, simply because I am gay. It was a moment of truth that changed my life forever.

I’m not able to re-enlist now because of my age, and I often wonder where life would have taken me if I was still serving my country on active duty. Thankfully, I’m able to continue my service in other ways, including by supporting my spouse who has served in the military for more than two decades. I’m also able to work each and every day with the Human Rights Campaign and the American Military Partner Association to ensure LGBTQ military families have the support they need and deserve. We must never go back to the dark days of DADT.

I can’t change what happened to me, but I can work to ensure that discrimination of the kind perpetrated by DADT never again finds a way into our nation’s laws. But make no mistake: the progress we’ve made over the last five years is reversible, and the stakes of this presidential election couldn’t be higher.

By surrounding himself with some of the nation’s most anti-LGBTQ activists, Donald Trump has threatened to roll back the LGBTQ equality gains we’ve made both in the military and out.

That’s just one of the reasons why I’m supporting Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. There is no doubt that she will continue building on the equality legacy of President Obama, ensuring that all service members are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. It’s progress worth fighting for.

www.hrc.org/blog/five-years-later-the-end-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-is-historic-progress-we-must?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed