Orlando, Simone Biles, Larry Wilmore, Adele, Gigi Gorgeous, WWE: HOT LINKS

ORLANDO. Equality Florida holds #ForThe49 rally outside anti-LGBT religious conference where Trump and Rubio are speaking.

Pastors & activists frm @equalityfl rallied re: summit of 700 faith leaders, who they say have anti-#LGBTQ agenda. pic.twitter.com/Ox086SYGQb

— Julie Gargotta (@juliegargotta) August 11, 2016

A PICTURE’S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. Time magazine on Trump’s ‘meltdown.’

SPILL THE TEA. Vin Diesel threatens to tell all about The Rock as ongoing spat continues.

ON NEWSSTANDS. Zayn Malik smolders in GQ.

EGYPT. Gay and transgender community goes underground: “Since the 2013 military intervention that established former Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the country’s ruler, at least 250 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have been arrested in a quiet crackdown that has shattered what had been an increasingly vibrant and visible community.”

TRUMPISMS. The Donald isn’t backing down from his blatantly false assertion that President Obama is the founder of ISIS.

READING ROOM. Larry Wilmore has had enough of Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson.

OLYMPICS SPOILER ALERT. (DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH OLYMPIC COVERAGE TONIGHT) –> Team USA gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman win gold and silver all-around medal, respectively.

GOPANIC. Dozens of Republicans beg RNC to abandon the Trump campaign now before it’s too late: “More than 70 Republicans have signed an open letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus urging him to stop spending any money to help Donald Trump win in November and shift those contributions to Senate and House races.”

YAS QUEEN. Adele may be attending a gay wedding in Montana.

WWE. The wrestling organization is going to be getting more diverse: “According to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, LGBT characters could soon become a part of WWE storylines and programming in the future. McMahon confirmed plans during an event hosted by Beyond Sport at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.”

GIGI GORGEOUS. Transgender model detained in Dubai and not allowed entry into Qatar because she is transgender: “Yesterday was one of the scariest moments of my entire life and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. How you can be denied entry somewhere just because of who you are is seriously disgusting and also very scary. This further proves the need for CHANGE.”

THURSDAY THIRST. Brazilian swimmer Matheus Santana.

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Two Months After Pulse, Antigay Evangelicals Descend on Orlando

The LGBT community is fuming that the American Renewal Project is hosting its gathering — with Trump and Rubio in attendance — in the same city where 49 people were murdered at a gay nightclub weeks earlier. 

www.advocate.com/religion/2016/8/11/two-months-after-pulse-antigay-evangelicals-descend-orlando

PHOTO: Instagram Pic of Tom Daley And Greg Louganis Oddly Moving

In this life, there are mysteries; phenomena we’ll never be able to fully grasp or understand. For example, we don’t know quite what it is we find so endearing about this photograph of Greg Louganis and Tom Daley.

Related: Tom Daley Unwittingly Steals Spotlight From Equally Adept, Equally Speedoed Daniel Goodfellow

Perhaps it’s something to do with the affectionate gaze in each other’s eyes, or maybe there’s something oddly ineffable in the subtext — one generation handing the proverbial Olympic torch down to another; something like that.

Related: PHOTO: Greg Louganis Goes Fully Nude For ESPN Magazine — At Age 56

Anyway, once you take a look, and after you’re finished gutturally sobbing, perhaps you can explain why this image has somehow succeeded in awakening our craven brittle hearts, and made us feel something we suspect is akin to natural human emotion.

Quick pic with @tomdaley1994 and I at the #RioOlympics IBC #GregLouganis #TomDaley #rio2016 #Diving

A photo posted by Greg Louganis (@greglouganis) on Aug 10, 2016 at 11:10am PDT

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Trans Model Stands Tall In Dress Made Of Flags From Countries Where Being LGBTQ Is Illegal

Transgender model Valentijn de Hingh wears a dress featuring flags where being LGBTQ is illegal. Via screenshot.

Talk about a fashion statement!

A team of Dutch designers has created a dress made with the flags of 72 countries where being LGBTQ is still illegal, and in some cases could get you killed.

Related: Where Love Is Illegal: Powerful Queer Stories From Antigay Parts Of The World

Fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen and spatial designer Oeri van Woezik collaborated on the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress, along with LGBTQ rights group COC Amsterdam, and in conjunction with EuroPride festivities. It was unveiled at the COC Shakespeare Club in the Amsterdam Museum on Friday.

Unfurling the dress. Via screenshot.

The bodice of the dress, worn by transgender model Valentijn de Hingh, is made from the Amsterdam flag. Amsterdam is known as an overall welcoming place for LGBTQ people. They became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, in 2001. The Equal Rights Law, enacted in 1993, banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, public accommodations and more. Transgender individuals are allowed to legally change their gender, although protections on the basis of gender identity and expression have not yet been enacted countrywide.

Related: Hari Nef Talks To Vogue About What It’s Like Being A Transgender Model

The rest of the 52-foot long dress is made up of the flags from the 72 countries where being LGBTQ is illegal, including ten countries that have the death penalty for homosexuality, such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.

Modeling the dress. Via screenshot.

Photographer Pieter Henket documented Hingh wearing the dress in the Rijksmuseum.

After Amsterdam’s annual Pride parade, Arnout van Krimpen and Jochem Kaan of COC Amsterdam reached out to Bergen and Woezik to see if they could do something interesting with Amsterdam flags, Upworthy reports.

Bergen and Woezik working on the dress. Via Facebook.

If a country should change its laws, legalizing homosexuality, then they will update the dress by adding a rainbow flag in the place of that country’s flag, reports COC Amsterdam.

Related: Pat Robinson On Gays And Muslims: Let Them Kill Themselves

“Historically, Amsterdam has always been a safe haven for those who were not safe because of their ideas or because of who they were,” Chairman of COC Amsterdam Peter de Ruijter told The Huffington Post. “We wanted, however, to give an activating message, that this role as a safe haven is not automatic. It needs to be supported and upheld by the Amsterdam citizens from a shared understanding of equality for all…Given the current influx of refugees from the Middle East and Africa the dress signals to the Amsterdam citizens: contribute, involve yourselves, connect.”

Watch video of the dress being modeled and photographed below.

Hingh also gave a TED Talk several years ago about the gender dichotomy and her decision to have gender reassignment surgery. Hingh was the subject of a television documentary, Valentijn, following her life as a transgender child, from the ages of 8 to 17.

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Rio Olympics Show More Same-Sex Love, LGBT Acceptance

If team LGBTI were a country, it’d be tied with Poland and Chinese Taipei in 21st place for the total medal count: one gold medal for Brazil’s newest hero Rafaela Silva in Judo, one bronze medal for diver Tom Daley of Great Britain, and another bronze for Jen Kish of Canada in Rugby.

The 2016 Olympics already started out with a record number of out LGBTI athletes. On Friday, when the games officially started we reported that there were a record 44 out LGBTI athletes in this year’s Olympics, as well as three coaches, according to a list compiled by outsports.com. In comparison, only 23 athletes were out four years ago in London.

Today that number is already 49, including a gold medal winner (Rafaela Silva) who publicly came out as a lesbian during an interview, when she talked about her girlfriend of three years Thamara Cezar.

Brazilian news portal Globo Esporte highlighted the trend Monday in a piece entitled ‘Rio Olympics gets the gold medal for acceptance and love without discrimination.’ 

When Brazilian transgender supermodel Lea T led the host nation’s delegation into the Maracanã Stadium, Globo Esporte noted that the games were off to a good start.

Then, with athletes like Rafaela Silva going public about her three-year relationship with Thamara Cezar, and a very public marriage proposal, of Marjorie Enya to girlfriend Izzy Cerullo at the end of the Rugby tournament, Globo Esporte noted that such demonstrations of affection between same-sex athletes are becoming increasingly more common.

There is also high-profile power couple Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black; WNBA superstar Elena Delle Donne, who revealed in an interview with Vogue that she is engaged to Amanda Clifton; and one married couple, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Kate Richardson-Walsh, British field hockey players.

Cerullo, the lucky girl who said yes to now-fiancée Enya said that her phone didn’t stop ringing after the proposal, and that in two days she’d received over 700 friend requests on social media.

“I couldn’t read all of the Facebook messages. And my cell phone is almost exploding [from so many messages]. People are leaving words of love and affection, and they say that they were very touched with our story. We are really touched, ourselves. There are a lot of messages, and believe me, none of them were homophobic,” she said.

Carlos Tufvesson, Rio de Janeiro’s Secretary of Sexual Diversity, noticed the shift. He remembers when Michael do Santos, a volleyball player for Vôlei Futuro who had just come out of the closet and suffered intense homophobia when thousands of fans of the opposing team shouted anti-gay slurs at him during a match, a case which drew national attention.

The US Women’s soccer team has also complained about anti-gay slurs directed at them during their first matches in Brazil. And a recent New York Times article talked about an epidemic of anti-gay violence in the country.

But the fact that two same-sex couples at the games have received support on social media for showing their love is reason to celebrate.”I see a lot of facts that have contributed to this. First, it’s post-Sochi. Second, this all happened after Orlando’s horrifying attack, which made people start to think. Something needs to be done to fight this homophobia,” said Tufvesson.

Top photo credit: dibradoras/Twitter

Tom Daley photo: Dustin Lance Black/Twitter

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Apologize for Persecution of Gay Canadians – REPORT

According to a new report, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will offer a formal apology on behalf of the government and all citizens to any Canadian who has ever been fired, persecuted or imprisoned because of their sexuality.

Trudeau has thus far been the most pro-LGBT prime minister in Canada’s history. He has also been one of the most social justice-conscious.

RELATED: Justin Trudeau to Grant Posthumous Pardon to Man Imprisoned for Being Gay

While Trudeau’s staff have not confirmed that the apology will in fact take place, The Globe and Mail reports that the announcement could come as early as this fall:

That apology is a key element in a broad range of reforms that will collectively represent one of the greatest advances for sexual minorities in Canada’s history. […]

Cameron Ahmad, press secretary to Mr. Trudeau, issued the following statement: “We have committed to working with Egale and other groups on an ongoing basis to bring an end to discrimination and further guarantee equality for all citizens. We are currently carefully reviewing the recommendations in their report, and will have more to say in the near future.”

These reforms stem from a series of Globe stories that examined the cases of people who were imprisoned or who were persecuted within the public service and the military because of their sexuality.

Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was responsible for legislation that decriminalized same-sex acts during his tenure as PM.

[Top photo via Twitter]

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Indie Drama ‘Moonlight’ Looks at What It’s Like to Grow Up Black and Gay in America – TRAILER

The first trailer for the highly-anticipated indie film Moonlight, a story about a young gay black man coming to terms with his sexuality in 80s America, has just debuted. And it’s mesmerizing.

The film is set to show at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

IndieWire reports: 

Based on the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the film tells the life story of a young man named Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) via three defining chapters of his life. Set in the 1980’s Miami during the height of Reagan’s War on Drugs, “Moonlight” follows Chiron as he comes of age, falls in love and discovers his own sexuality, all while learning to embrace his own vision of masculinity as characters float in and out of his life. The ensemble cast includes Naomie Harris (“Spectre”), André Holland (“The Knick”), Mahershala Ali (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), Edson Jean (“War Dogs”), and soul/R&B singer Janelle Monaé in her debut film performance.

Moonlight breaks Chiron’s story into three chapters, perhaps inspiring this key art from studio A24.

The LA Times adds: 

“Moonlight” is the long-awaited second feature from Jenkins, whose his first film was 2008’s “Medicine For Melancholy,” which went on to receive three Independent Spirit Award nominations.

With Brad Pitt on board as executive producer and Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner producing, “Moonlight” comes with an impressive team behind it.

Watch the trailer, below.

The post Indie Drama ‘Moonlight’ Looks at What It’s Like to Grow Up Black and Gay in America – TRAILER appeared first on Towleroad.

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HRC Mourns Erykah Tijerina, Trans Woman Found Dead in El Paso

HRC is saddened to learn that Erykah Tijerina, a transgender woman, was found dead on Monday in her El Paso apartment. KFOX14 reports that police observed “obvious signs of foul play.”

Tijerina was 36. In an interview with KFOX14, her sisters described her as “funny, giving and unapologetic about the person she was.” Friends in El Paso’s transgender community expressed shock and sorrow over Tijerina’s death.

Tijerina is at least the 16th transgender person murdered in the U.S. since January. Over 80 percent of those killed have been women and about 20 percent, including Tijerina, have been Latinas.

Addressing Anti-Transgender Violence, released in 2015 by HRC and the Trans People of Color Coalition, calls on policymakers, advocates and allies to address the crisis of violence against transgender people.

A Saturday night vigil for Tijerina is planned at El Paso’s EDGE nightclub. HRC expresses our sincere condolences to Ms. Tijerina’s family and friends.

To learn more about HRC’s work to address the safety and well-being of transgender people, visit www.hrc.org/transgender.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-mourns-erykah-tijerina-trans-woman-found-dead-in-el-paso?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Roy Moore Puts Politics Above Law

This post originally appeared on MontgomeryAdvertiser.com

Post submitted by HRC Alabama State Manager Eva Kendrick

We elected Roy Moore to be a Supreme Court justice, not a pastor. Yet, since 2001, when he was first elected to the Alabama Supreme Court bench, Moore has aggressively and consistently used his position of power to push his own personal religious beliefs. Now, after his year-plus, unethical crusade against the LGBTQ community, it is time for him to be removed from office.

Moore’s ethical troubles began more than a decade ago, when he secretively erected a monument of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Supreme Court in 2003, leading to subsequent ethics charges and his removal from the bench – not to mention national, negative media attention for our state. Now, after being re-elected to serve on the Supreme Court, he has found himself in another ethical firestorm in which he put his own politics above the law.

Since January 2015 when Judge Callie Granade struck down Alabama’s marriage ban, Chief Justice Moore has used his position on the state Supreme Court to block marriage equality in Alabama at every possible juncture. Following the ruling that found Alabama’s marriage ban unlawful, Moore wrote a letter to Governor Bentley requesting that the ruling be ignored as non-binding “judicial tyranny,” and informing the state’s probate judges that they could ignore the ruling. Since then, Moore has faced ethics charges for his behavior, all stemming from his actions taken against marriage equality for more than a year.

Moore was suspended from the Supreme Court in May 2016 when the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) leveled judicial ethics charges against him. Now, the Court of the Judiciary (COJ) have the final say on whether to make his suspension permanent. He had a hearing on Aug. 8, and another is scheduled for late September to decide Moore’s fate.

Chief Justice Moore is being represented by Mat Staver, of the Liberty Counsel – an organization that has been designated an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Most recently, the Liberty Counsel represented Kim Davis, the infamous Kentucky County Clerk who flouted the law by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The group also supports anti-LGBTQ efforts around the country.

Moore has been blatantly anti-LGBTQ at every turn of this ordeal: from his flagrant obstruction of marriage equality in Alabama to the counsel he sought out to appeal the charges leveled against him. And, again, he turned the glare of the national spotlight on our state.

For these reasons, the Human Rights Campaign purchased a billboard in Montgomery to call for the removal of Moore from office. We hope it serves as a reminder for Alabamians in Montgomery that Moore is unfit for office, and that his hateful rhetoric and dangerous behavior has no place in a court of law. Moore’s negative rhetoric only serves to empower those who wish harm upon the LGBTQ community, and he should not be allowed that platform.

It’s important to note that Moore’s actions don’t just go against the law; they go against a foundational principle of America. A key function of the judiciary is protecting the rights of the minority. When our founders envisioned an independent third branch of the government that would serve as a check on the power of a voting majority, they imagined judges who would serve as a check on political actions that would infringe upon the rights of citizens. Moore, as the highest judicial authority in Alabama, should take his role seriously as a protector of the rights of all – including LGBTQ Alabamians.

Moore was elected to enforce the law and protect the rights of all Alabamians; he swore to follow the laws and constitutions of Alabama and the United States – the latter of which expressly prevents state recognition of religion. Instead, he has chosen to use obstructionist legal tactics and discriminate against LGBTQ people from his position of power. Moore’s behavior goes directly against the ethical and legal requirements of his position, and it is time, once and for all, for him to be removed from our state’s high court.

www.hrc.org/blog/roy-moore-puts-politics-above-law?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Openly Transgender Athletes Notably Absent from Olympic Roster

While there are many talented and successful transgender athletes around the globe, there are no openly transgender athletes competing in the Olympic Games in Rio.

It was only earlier this year that the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decided to allow transgender athletes to compete without gender affirming surgery. Previously, transgender athletes were required to undergo surgery and wait two years after before competing.

While the IOC decision was a step forward, there are still competition conditions on transgender women. According to The Guardian, while transgender men can compete “without restriction,” transgender women are required to demonstrate that their testosterone levels have been below a certain threshold for at least a year.

Though there are no openly transgender Olympians in Rio, Rolling Stone reports that there are two athletes competing at the Olympics who are transgender.

“The new IOC regulations opened the 2016 Summer Games to transgender athletes, and according to IOC meeting records, two closeted transgender athletes will be competing in August,” Rolling Stone said. “The nationalities of the transgender athletes were not revealed.”

Though qualified transgender athletes exist and are even competing, there is a discouraging lack of visibility. However, Nike, in a groundbreaking ad aired during the Olympics, is featuring Chris Mosier, a transgender man and world class duathlete. The ad ended with two powerful words: Unlimited Courage. While Mosier made Team USA for the World Championships, the duatholon is currently not an Olympic sport, so Mosier is not competing in the Olympic Games.

“So when I made that decision to be out, to be public, it was very much in the idea that I didn’t see any other guys competing at a high level after a medical transition. I thought people should see that,” Mosier told ESPN. “And by people seeing me, that will impact their ability or their confidence to continue to play sports.”

The future for transgender athletes is promising.  Chloe Psyche Anderson will play women’s volleyball at a D-III school in the NCAA in the fall. Schuyler Bailar is a transgender swimmer at Harvard. These transgender athletes inspire younger trans athletes, like Matt Dawkins, a high school runner in New Jersey.

www.hrc.org/blog/openly-transgender-athletes-notably-absent-from-olympic-roster?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed