Massachusetts State Senate Approves Measure Extending Crucial Protections to Transgender Community

Today, HRC hailed the Massachusetts State Senate’s vote extending commonsense non-discrimination protections to the state’s transgender residents and visitors. While Massachusetts state law already prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in housing and employment, the new legislation will extend the same crucial protections to public accommodations.

Following expected approval by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the bill will head to the desk of Republican Governor Charlie Baker who has not indicated whether he will sign the bill. In recent weeks Baker has made positive statements in support non-discrimination laws for the transgender community.

“We commend the Massachusetts Senate under the leadership of Senate President Stan Rosenberg for choosing to lead by embracing acceptance, respect and dignity for all at this pivotal moment for transgender equality in America,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “While North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has legislated hate by signing the vile HB2 into law, governors from Georgia and South Dakota have joined the growing list of fair-minded Republicans standing up for fairness and equality. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans– on both sides of the aisle– know that discriminating against the LGBT community is wholly unacceptable.”  

“We look forward to continued equality momentum in Massachusetts with a positive vote in the House, and we urge Governor Baker to sign this vitally important measure into law when it reaches to his desk,” Winterhof said.

If  Baker signs the bill, Massachusetts will join 18 other states and more than 100 cities that have explicit non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, housing and employment.
The bill has overwhelming support throughout the state and the region. Several New England  professional sports teams and Massachusetts education groups have endorsed it, along with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, and the Boston Globe’s editorial board.

HRC is a proud member of the Freedom Massachusetts campaign, mobilizing our in-state members, as well as donating staff and other resources to the effort over the last year.

Above: MA Senate President and HRC’s Marty Rouse

www.hrc.org/blog/massachusetts-state-senate-approves-measure-extending-crucial-protections-t?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

LGBTQ Progress in the Philippines

In May of 2015, HRC was proud to partner with GenderProud founder Geena Rocero and the Association of Transgender People of the Philippines for a three-city tour to empower local transgender activists to tell their own authentic stories, and become advocates for non-discrimination.

Rocero, a longtime HRC supporter and transgender advocate, saw her dream come to fruition as she returned to her native country to build awareness and destigmatize the lives of transgender people in the Philippines.

“All that work that we’re all doing is for the trans youth,” Rocero said in a video with HRC. “Hoping that their lives will be better than ours, so they can thrive more.”

The tour kicked off with an unprecedented gathering of more than 160 transgender activists and allies who came together for a few days of inspiration, connecting and skill building. The participants were also offered media and storytelling trainings so they are better equipped to share their stories with policymakers, the media and the public.

Rocero and fellow advocates are now seeing the tides slowly shift – earlier this week the Philippines elected Geraldine Roman, a transgender woman and member of the Liberal Party, as the representative for Bataan Second Legislative District. She is the Philippines’ first transgender member of Congress.

“Philippines just elected its FIRST Transgender woman in Congress,” Rocero shared on Facebook. “Huge Congrats Geraldine Roman! So PROUD!”

While the Philippines has one of the highest rates of acceptance of LGBTQ people in Asia, transgender people are often stigmatized. LGBTQ activists are working in this overwhelmingly Catholic country to pass national level legislation to protect or advance the rights of LGBTQ people. Unfortunately, a non-discrimination bill that would protect LGBTQ people has languished in Congress for years.

www.hrc.org/blog/lgbtq-progress-in-the-philippines?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

TAKE THE PLEDGE: #StandWithTarget on June 1 as LGBT Pride Month Begins

www.glaad.org/blog/take-pledge-standwithtarget-june-1-lgbt-pride-month-begins

Samantha Bee Eviscerates 'Potty Prefect' Pat McCrory (Video)

The feminist funny lady launched a Full Frontal assault on North Carolina’s new law that bars trans people from using the public bathrooms that match their gender identity. 

www.advocate.com/comedy/2016/5/12/samantha-bee-eviscerates-potty-prefect-pat-mccrory-video

Why Is North Carolina Governor McCrory Forcing Male Reporters to Use Ladies Room? (Video)

www.advocate.com/media/2016/5/12/why-north-carolina-governor-mccrory-forcing-male-reporters-use-ladies-room-video

Vogue Mini-Doc Takes You Inside New York’s Contemporary Ballroom Scene

It’s been 25 years since Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston’s award-winning 1991 documentary about New York’s drag ball culture, made stars of talents like Willie Ninja and legends of personalities like Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza.

The city’s ball scene is still going strong, thanks to a whole new generation of club kids and performers inspired by the cult classic — and in some instances in spite of it — so we’re long overdue for an update.

Now Thump — Vice Media’s channel devoted to electronic music and club culture — has teamed up with Axe for Night Visions, a look at the contemporary ball scene and its stars.

While Paris Is Burning spotlighted events in Harlem ballrooms, the first episode of this three-part mini doc brings the action downtown. We get a peek at promoter Jack Mizrahi’s Vogue Knights at XL Nightclub — inside Manhattan’s infamous Out Hotel — a kind of weekly workshop for vogue performances that attracted stars like Rihanna and Janelle Monae in its original location at the now-shuttered 39th Street club Esquelita. Meanwhile, the children on the runway at Symba McQueen’s Red Ball basically redefine the word “fierce.”

Watch below:

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Another Antigay Pastor (Allegedly) Caught With His Hand In The Underage Cookie Jar

Meet Dave Reynolds. He’s the recently fired pastor of the Cornerstone Bible Fellowship in Sherwood, Arkansas currently facing 70 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography.

He’s also vehemently antigay.

Related: People Will One Day Look Back And Realize A Promiscuous Homosexual Ruined The World, “Poop Pastor” Predicts

The 40-year-old pastor, who has preached that marriage is between a man and a woman and that all homosexual activity is a sin, was arrested this week after police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a social media account in Sherwood was storing pages and pages (and pages and pages) of images of kiddy porn.

The account allegedly belonged to Reynolds.

In March, Reynolds informed elders at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship that he was under investigation for child porn possession. When they asked if he had engaged in viewing the material, Reynolds told them he had “not knowingly done so.”

Related: Pastor Is Convinced Children’s TV Series Is Turning Kids Into “Hideous” Homosexuals

The elders ultimately decided to relieve Reynolds of his duties and put out a statement saying the church was fully cooperating with police.

“Our present concern is with the people of Cornerstone to whom the Lord has entrusted us as shepherds,” the church said in a statement. “We have been and will continue to pursue all avenues to determine whether any of Cornerstone’s people may have been directly or indirectly affected by any actions Dave may have taken.”

Meanwhile, Reynolds is maintaining his innocence. In a statement released earlier this week, his attorney, Blake Hendrix, said, “Mr. Reynolds has pleaded not guilty and intends to vigorously defend himself against the accusations.”

Reynolds appeared in Sherwood District Court on Wednesday. Bond was set at $250,000.

Related: Pastor Claims Gay People Are Possessed By “Fart Demons” That Can Drive Pigs To Suicide

h/t: KATV

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Azealia Banks’ Twitter Account Suspended Following Homophobic and Racist Tirade Against Zayn Malik

Azealia Banks’ Twitter account has been suspended following a hateful tirade the rapper unleashed against singer and former One Direction band member, Zayn Malik.

Banks lashed out at Malik using homophobic and racist slurs as she blasted him for allegedly copying some of her looks for his new video, “Like I Would.”

The New York Daily News reports: 

The 140-character platform suspends users’ accounts, either temporarily or permanently, if they engage in “abusive tweets or behavior.”

The hot-tempered rapper’s missives certainly fit that bill, as her insults at Malik — who is of English-Pakistani descent — included “the token sand n—a from 1D,” “f—-t” and an offensive slur for Pakistani people.

A Twitter rep on Thursday declined to elaborate on the situation.

“We do not comment on individual accounts, for privacy and security reasons,” the rep told the Daily News.

RELATED – UK Music Festival Rinse FM Drops Azealia Banks: ‘We Celebrate Inclusivity and Equality’

This is not the first time Banks has landed in hot water over her vitriolic language on Twitter, though it does appear to be the first time her account has been suspended.

Banks has previously compared the LGBT community to the KKK, and frequently defended her use of the word “faggot.” 

The post Azealia Banks’ Twitter Account Suspended Following Homophobic and Racist Tirade Against Zayn Malik appeared first on Towleroad.

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WATCH: Trailer for ‘Tickled’, Doc on Tickling Culture That Has a Homoerotic and Dark Twist

Tickled, a new documentary film that played at Sundance last year, has debuted its trailer and, as the title indicates, the movie is all about men who like to get tickled. But as it turns out, there’s a lot more to this fetish sub-culture than meets the eye.

From the film’s description:

After stumbling upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled, [Australian] reporter David Farrier reaches out to request a story from the company. But the reply he receives is shocking—the sender mocks Farrier’s sexual orientation and threatens extreme legal action should he dig any deeper. So, like any good journalist confronted by a bully, he does just the opposite and uncovers a vast empire, known for harassing an[d] harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in these films. The more he investigates, the stranger it gets, discovering secret identities and criminal activity. Discovering the truth becomes Farrier’s obsession, despite increasingly sinister threats. With humor and determination, Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve summon up every resource available to get to the bottom of this tickling wormhole.

Yet even this overview cleans up some of what actually goes down in the trailer and the movie. The threats Ferrier received stemmed from the fact that he is gay. Variety reports:

But upon contacting these events’ producer, Jane O’Brien Media, for an interview, [Ferrier] was surprised to receive virulently homophobic responses (Farrier is an out gay man). This seemed ludicrous, since nothing could be more blatantly homoerotic than videos of mattress-bound youths being straddled and tickled all over by other handsome junior jocks. The long-distance insults rapidly took on a lawsuit-threatening nature. Now Farrier and his (straight) collaborator Reeve were intrigued enough to decide their inquiry might merit a whole documentary, despite (or because of) the intimidation tactics.

Watch the rather mystifying trailer, below.

Tickled opens in theaters on June 17.

The post WATCH: Trailer for ‘Tickled’, Doc on Tickling Culture That Has a Homoerotic and Dark Twist appeared first on Towleroad.

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