Lucky Seal Makes Incredible Last Second Escape from Pod of Orcas: WATCH

A very fortunate seal barely avoided becoming lunch for a pod of orcas on the Campbell River off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada this week.

Writes Kirk Fraser:

“I was out with my parents and a family friends when we were looking for whales and a pod of 12 transient killer whales where chasing the seal. It ripped towards the boat in a desperate escape and scrambled on the deck. It fell of three times in panic and finally stayed on untill the whales gave up after about 30-45 minutes. Most intense epic experience ever. Love you Nature. What a lucky seal”

Watch:

Nick Templeman, who runs Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions, was leading the group and caught more of the orcas searching for the seal after it had jumped aboard the boat.

“This seal was tossed around a few times and taken under quite a bit before seeking refuge among the boats in the area,” Templeman told the CBC. “He got close enough to see us and beelined for the boat. He was on and off the swim grid [on the boat] two times during the encounter. The orcas kept sounding and coming up right behind the boat, searching. It was an amazing and intense encounter — the seal is the survivor.”

Watch Templeman’s incredible video:

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Pat McCrory Attacks Opponent Roy Cooper with Transgender Bathroom Scare Ad – WATCH

Pat McCrory is again using the transgender bathroom myth to scare North Carolinians, and this time to attack his opponent Roy Cooper.

In a new attack ad, Governor McCrory attacks his Democratic challenger, state AG Roy Cooper, by associating him with opposition to the state’s notorious anti-transgender bathroom bill. While only a minority of North Carolina voters are in favor of HB 2, McCrory is betting that he can once again depict the anti-LGBT bill as being about protecting people from sexual predators.

The ad, posted online on Wednesday, features a woman named Gina Little allegedly exposing ‘the truth about Roy Cooper.’ Says Little,

“At nine, I was molested by a teenager. When I found out that President Obama and Roy Cooper want to force school children to share the same locker room, shower and restroom with someone who claims to be the opposite sex, I was horrified. Governor McCrory knows this is not about discrimination, money or politics. He’s standing up for us under extreme pressure and doing what’s right. Our governor is on our side.”

Said Chis Agro, executive director of Equality NC, “The governor is resorting to scare tactics as he sees himself trailing on this and others issues.”

McCrory seems desperate and willing to do anything to win voters’ support, as Cooper has steadily been gaining on him in the polls. The most recent poll, conducted by NBC/WSJ/Marist has Cooper up 7 points against McCrory. 

Watch the ad, below.

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Rodeo Clown Goes on Sickening Anti-Transgender Rant at Michigan County Fair: WATCH

A rodeo clown went on a sickening anti-transgender rant at an event with children at the Calhoun County Fair in Michigan, telling participants to choose whether they’re a boy or a girl, and adding, “If you’re confused you need help.”

Said ‘Rockin’ Robbie Hodges, the rodeo clown:

“You’re either a boy or a girl, y’all understand? If you’re confused you need help. Here at the rodeo we are not gender friendly. Everybody in here who’s really sure they’re a boy raise your hand. If you can tinkle on a fire you go to the boys’ room, if you can’t, you go to the girls’ room, right?”

A shocked mother who recorded Hodges’ comments gave them to a local TV news station and brought them to county fair organizers.

FOX 17 reports:

The viewer who provided the video told FOX 17  that she and her daughter were enjoying the Lost Nations Rodeo until Hodges made the comments. She said she was shocked on two levels: that such comments were made to a crowd full of children, and that the comments do not reflect the values of Marshall, whose residents, as she put it, believe in equality.

Watch a report from Michigan’s Fox47:

The rodeo company said Hodges was an independent contractor and was fired after the Calhoun County event, and offered an apology:

“Lost Nations Rodeo was unaware that those comments would be made, and were off script. Hodges is a well-decorated entertainer, and while we appreciate his services, we do not share the same views or opinions. We sincerely apologize again to all of our fans and look forward to entertaining you in the future.”

And here’s a lovely photo of Hodges out of clown make-up:

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Russell Wilson and Ciara Moved Wedding from N.C. in Protest of HB 2

The couple are just the latest to boycott the state’s controversial law.

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/8/24/russell-wilson-and-ciara-moved-wedding-nc-protest-hb-2

Jaden Smith Kisses The Ideal ’70s Jock

It teases. It taunts. And a new trailer for the upcoming Netflix series The Get Down definitely aims to pique our interest.

In a new clip from Baz Lurhmann’s belabored series, Jaden Smith plays Marcus Kipling, a young man taking his first tenuous steps in a gay bar.

Related: Radar Calls Will Smith’s Alleged Homosexuality “Humiliating” In Shockingly Homophobic Cover Story

As always happens the first time anyone walks nervously into a gay bar, the ideal ’70s jock — Thor, played by Noah Le Gros — shyly comes up to Jaden, peering seductively through touseled tresses before mustering up the courage to lock tremulous lips with the young man.

The music swells, and, as almost always happens in situations such as these, it’s Christina Aguilera — a new track called “Telepathy.”

Related: PHOTOS: Jaden Smith Rocks A Skirt — Just A Skirt — And We’re All About It

Times have changed at lightning speed: Jaden has managed to one-up his father Will Smith, who confessed to Entertainment Weekly that he had to use a stunt double in order to shoot a fleeting kiss with Anthony Michael Hall in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation:

It was very immature on my part. I was thinking, ‘How are my friends in Philly going to think about this?’ I wasn’t emotionally stable enough to artistically commit to that aspect of the film. In a movie with actors and a director and writer of this caliber, for me to be the one bringing something cheesy to it…. This was a valuable lesson for me. Either you do it or you don’t.”

Related: Radar Calls Will Smith’s Alleged Homosexuality “Humiliating” In Shockingly Homophobic Cover Story

Watch the promo clip here: 

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/qY8i1IpMOP8/jaden-smith-kisses-ideal-70s-jock-20160824

PHOTOS: Meet The Hunks Of ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 23

Veteran Dancing with the Stars hoofer Val Chmerkovkiy stopped by Good Morning America with some big news. The sexy Ukrainian-American dancer revealed the names of the pros that will be teaming up with the celebs on the show’s upcoming 23rd season.

Sharna Burgess, Lindsay Arnold, and Allison Holker will be hitting the floor, but we all know what really makes DWTS such a huge hit with both gay dudes and middle aged ladies: the hunky male dancers. So here they are, the boys who will be shaking their perfectly sculpted groove things and confounding America with their unpronounceable Eastern European surnames on Season 23:

Val Chmerkovskiy

Artem Chigvintsev

Sasha Farber

Gleb Savchenko

Full cast of Dancing with the Stars Season 23 will be revealed on GMA next Tuesday.

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/YRwbF9ftD8A/photos-meet-hunks-dancing-stars-season-23-20160824

Kanye West Begs Radio Stations to Play Frank Ocean’s New Album for the Good of Music

Kanye West took to Twitter last night to beg radio stations to play Frank Ocean’s new album, Blonde. Ocean released the long-awaited album, expected to debut at the top of the Billboard charts, over the weekend in a multimedia blitz which also included a visual album, a music video, and a magazine for sale at special pop-up shops called Boys Don’t Cry.

RELATED: Frank Ocean’s ‘Nikes’ Music Video is a Queer Masterpiece – WATCH

Wrote Kanye on Twitter:

“If anyone at radio really loves music … Come together and pick your favorite Frank Ocean song and play it at least 10 times a day…Every station across the globe. I Heart. Clear Channel local stations. Satellite. Every station. This will make the world better…Me and Drake both listen to Frank. Radio has to support amazing artists…Ask yourself Why did you love music in the first place and what can you do to add to the story…Power to the people. Power to the artist. Empower the artist and create a more inspired world.”

If anyone at radio really loves music … Come together and pick your favorite Frank Ocean song and play it at least 10 times a day.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 23, 2016

Every station across the globe. I Heart. Clear Channel local stations. Satellite. Every station. This will make the world better.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 23, 2016

Me and Drake both listen to Frank. Radio has to support amazing artists.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 23, 2016

Ask yourself Why did you love music in the first place and what can you do to add to the story.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 23, 2016

Power to the people. Power to the artist. Empower the artist and create a more inspired world.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) August 23, 2016

In related news, Ocean looks set to capitalize on his new release in a big way, because he’s no longer signed to Universal Music Group.

ALSO: Frank Ocean’s Poem ‘Boyfriend’ is Just One Element in a Beautiful ‘Blonde’ Experience: READ IT

Hits Daily Double reports:

It seems that his Endless visual album, released just prior to Blonde, satisfied his contractual commitment to UMG; Blonde, credited to the Boys Don’t Cry label (and distributed by Fresh Produce), is Ocean’s free and clear. Meaning he reaps 70% of the revenue from sales and streams, rather than the 20% of 70% (namely 14%) he would be entitled to on a major label.

Some looming questions, among many: How much did Apple pay/advance to Ocean for the exclusive? Given the expected windfall Ocean will realize under this arrangement, how many other superstar acts will follow suit when their contracts with the majors come up for renewal?

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Stephen Colbert Would Like You to Google ‘Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Drag Queen Motorboat’ – WATCH

In a brilliant Late Show monologue last night, Stephen Colbert ripped Rudy Giuliani for fueling rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health by suggesting that people should go online and Google it.

Said Colbert: “I’m not surprised that he was able to diagnose Hillary Clinton so accurately without examining her. After all, Giuliani and Donald Trump are experts on female anatomy. It’s true.”

Colbert then played a clip of Trump motorboating Giuliani in drag, taken from The Inner Circle Show in 2000.

“Now obviously that’s shocking and you’re going to want to verify that video. Just go online and put down “Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Drag Queen Motorboat.”

Colbert then went on to discuss more about Clinton’s health and revealed the real issue Republicans won’t talk about:

“I just want to say this to the Trump people out there. I don’t know why they say things like frail or weak or low energy. You’re just tiptoeing around the medical condition that you’re really upset about. One that she has that no other president in history has ever faced. Hillary Clinton has chronic no-penis.”

Watch:

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Labor Department Ensures Federal Contractors Comply with LGBTQ Non-Discrim Protections

Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations implementing President Obama’s executive order on Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces. Among its provisions, the regulations will help to ensure companies contracting with the federal government comply with non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

HRC released the following statement:

“With these regulations, the Department of Labor is implementing President Obama’s executive order that helps provide crucial non-discrimination protections to employees of companies contracting with the federal government,” said HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “All workers, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve to be able to go to work and make a living free from unfair and unjust discrimination. These regulations will level the playing field for companies that play by the rules and know that equal opportunity and non-discrimination protections are good for business. They will also help ensure taxpayer funds are not used to unlawfully discriminate against LGBTQ people.”

In July 2014, President Obama signed the executive order providing additional protections for workers employed by companies doing business with the federal government. By including new evaluation and enforcement mechanisms for reporting and remedying violations of existing labor requirements, that executive order bolstered the impact of the President’s previous landmark executive order that banned discrimination by federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Companies bidding for federal contracts in excess of $500,000 will be required to publicly report any violations of existing labor laws over the previous three years. Once a company enters into a contract with the federal government, it will also be required to update this public report regarding potential labor law violations every six months for all contracted and subcontracted work. If violations have occurred, the executive order and DOL regulations provide a process for remedial and corrective action.

The regulations also provide additional protections for employees of companies contracting with the federal government. Among these protections, workers can no longer be required to sign arbitration agreements that allow an arbitrator — rather than a judge — to make binding decisions on sexual assault and civil rights complaints.  This requirement preserves the rights of some of the most vulnerable workers and ensures that they will have a right to take formal civil steps to hold companies accountable when they experience these grievances.

While these regulations will help protect employees of companies contracting with the federal government, the existing patchwork of legal protections for LGBTQ people in the United States as a whole leaves millions subject to uncertainty and at risk of discrimination. There is no federal law explicitly protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, and 31 states still lack fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. That’s why HRC is working with advocates and lawmakers to pass the Equality Act in Congress, as well as strong non-discrimination protections at the state and local levels. The Equality Act would finally guarantee explicit protections for LGBTQ people under our nation’s existing civil rights laws. It would provide clear, permanent, and equal protections under federal law for all Americans in vital areas of life, including employment, access to public spaces, housing, credit, education, jury service, and federally funded programs.

www.hrc.org/blog/labor-department-ensures-federal-contractors-comply-with-lgbtq-non-discrim?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

#AM_Equality News: August 24, 2016

NYT EDITORIAL: TX AG KEN PAXTON’S LAWSUIT “BASED ON BIGOTRY”: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a new lawsuit yesterday aimed at denying healthcare to transgender patients. The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who earlier this week ruled against the Departments of Justice and Education’s guidance on schools’ obligations to transgender students. Today, The New York Times editorial board slams Paxton’s calculated “legal assaults on equal protection” as “based on bigotry” — plain and simple.  Paxton specifically sought to bring a lawsuit in the Harrold Independent School District because the case would be assigned to Judge O’Connor, who, in an egregious anti-LGBTQ ruling in 2015, sought to block Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights for legally married same-sex couples despite the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor.

• EDUCATION OFFICIALS FIGHT BACK FOR TRANS KIDS: The Wall Street Journal’s Tawnell D. Hobbs and Ian Lovett report that school districts are grappling with uncertainty in the wake of Judge O’Connor’s ruling. His decision compromises the safety and well-being of thousands of schoolchildren, but hats off to compassionate leaders like Superintendent Damaris Lau in Lancaster, Penn., for committing to protecting transgender students. “We really want to ensure that all of our kids feel safe,” she said. The ruling does not prohibit schools from voluntarily implementing the guidance. More from The Wall Street Journal.

• WILL HE OR WON’T HE: PAXTON PROMISES TO MEET TRANSGENDER CHILD: After Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, two of the Lone Star State’s most notorious anti-LGBTQ officials, admitted they’d never met a transgender person, one remarkable Texas mom took matters into her own hands. Amber Briggle invited both to dinner with her family, including her 8-year-old transgender son. When asked by a reporter at NBCDFW.com about the invite, Paxton said that he’d be “happy to do that.” More in the Dallas Morning News.

Amber and her son, MG

NO NORTH CAROLINA WEDDING BELLS FOR CIARA AND NFL’s RUSSELL WILSON: Sports Illustrated reports that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and singer/actress Ciara moved their wedding from North Carolina to London because of HB2. They’re not alone in taking their special event out of state. In addition to the risks HB2 poses to the safety and wellbeing of countless LGBTQ participants, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area reports an estimated $1.2 million in losses from event planners going elsewhere. More from The Daily Tar Heel and The News and Observer.

NEW COMPREHENSIVE TRANSGENDER SEXUAL HEALTH GUIDE: Check out this first-of-its-kind resource from HRC and Whitman-Walker Health: Safer Sex for Trans Bodies, a comprehensive sexual health guide for transgender and gender expansive people and their partners. The guide fills a significant gap in inclusive, publicly-available sexual health resources for transgender and gender expansive people. The resource was made in consultation with Casa Ruby, Trans United Fund, and TransLatin@ Coalition. It was made possible with support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. More from HRC.

• Today: Experts from the HRC Foundation and Whitman-Walker Health will participate in a 1:15 p.m. Facebook live conversation about the new guide and more. Tune in at hrc.im/fblive.

A.M. MUST READ: In this The Huffington Post piece, HRC’s Mary Beth Maxwell writes about the struggles of LGBTQ students on their way back to school.

LAWSUIT PROCEEDS AGAINST NJ CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOR FIRING EMPLOYEE IN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: A New Jersey Superior Court judge has denied a motion by Paramus Catholic High School to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit brought by an employee fired for being in a same-sex marriage. Attorneys for Kate Drumgoole, the school’s former dean of guidance and basketball coach, say her job did not include religious instruction, arguing that the firing over marital status violated the state’s anti-discrimination law. More than 3,000 alumni and others have signed a letter protesting the firing. Read more about the case at NJ.com.

UNJUST: HOW THE BROKEN JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS  FAIL LGBTQ YOUTH: A comprehensive new report explores how the U.S. juvenile and criminal justice systems endanger the lives and life chances of LGBTQ young people. Among the report’s most alarming findings: the percentage of LGBTQ youth in juvenile detention is double that of LGBTQ youth in the general population — 20 percent of youth in juvenile justice facilities identify as LGBTQ or gender nonconforming, compared with 7 to 9 percent of youth in the general population. The report comes from a coalition of partners including HRC. More from the Center for American Progress.

MOMENT OF AWW! After someone swiped a same-sex couple’s rainbow flag and egged their house, their Natick, Mass., neighbors responded by festooning the home with rainbow flags to show their support. More from The Boston Globe.

JAPANESE PARENTS OVERWHELMINGLY ACCEPTING OF LGBTQ CHILDREN: A new survey of parents in Japan found that nearly 90 percent of respondents would accept their children if they came out as LGBTQ. More from Japan Times.

READING RAINBOW

New Republic details Donald Trump’s pathetic pitch to minority groups… The Beijinger takes a look at China’s Rainbow Hotline, a program the LGBTQ community in China can use to obtain legal help… San Diego LGBT Weekly reports that the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation has raised $30,000 for local LGBTQ seniors… AllAfrica looks at a Zambian campaign to give prisoners better access to HIV services… NPR explores the gender clinic at Duke University’s Hospital, the only one of its kind in the South for teens… The Concord Monitor releases the first of it’s five-part series on trans lives

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-news-august-24-2016?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed