Congress Members Call for Release of LGBTQ Immigrants

In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued guidance on the detention of transgender non-citizens.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/congress-members-call-for-release-of-lgbtq-immigrants?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS

In a new interview with Jonathan Groff posted today on FourTwoNine, author Kevin Sessums talked with the actor about his love life, that time Madonna texted during his hot new show Hamilton, the cancellation of HBO’s Looking, and how coming out has impacted his career.

Of the perils of dating while in the closet, Groff remarks that he and his former boyfriend (who was also closeted) “were living in a double closet.” After coming out he dated actor Gavin Creel. Creel took him to the march on Washington and his love life “became more public.”

Groff then dated actor Zachary Quinto and told Sessums that dating actors isn’t necessarily easier than dating civilians:

“I feel like in dating actors the nice thing about it is they understand the schedules involved or having to leave for three months to shoot something and all of that. But when I was dating Gavin and dating Zach, it was more about the people they were instead of the actors they were, which is the same about the people who aren’t actors that I’ve dated. It’s about them as people and not about any careers or jobs they have.”

On how coming out has impacted his career, Groff says:

“When I came out, I understood that maybe I wouldn’t be the male romantic lead in a Nicholas Sparks movie. And I’m okay with that. I love theater. I came to New York to be a theater actor. There are a lot of out gay theater actors. When I came out, I made peace with the fact that maybe I wouldn’t be a huge movie star or a huge TV star. But I’d rather be a working actor and not hiding anything in my personal life. Weirdly, after I came out, I began to get a lot more film and television work. That’s all a way of saying that the reason I don’t mind talking about it over and over is because that is the way acceptance happens, and that’s the way you break down those walls. It’s what Harvey Milk said about coming out to all your friends. It’s important. And the more we talk about it, then the less we’ll finally have to talk about it. And for me personally, it feels liberating. I enjoy talking about it because I felt I couldn’t talk about it for so long.”

On his family’s reaction to him coming out:

“They were shocked when I told them. It took them a while. They just couldn’t understand it. They didn’t shun me or anything like that. They’ve met my boyfriends. I took one of my boyfriends home for Christmas a couple of years ago, and they bought him a present. My dad did tell me that he started to feel really bad because he used to make fun of guys in high school for being sissies, and now he has a son who’s gay.”

As for the cancellation of HBO’s Looking, which will wrap with a TV movie meant to tie up loose ends, Groff told Sessums,

For me, the sadness was more based on our having found our stride in the second season and expanded our world. There were so many more stories to tell. San Francisco, where the series was set, is full of so many stories because it is so diverse and fascinating, and there were so many places yet to go.

And what about that time Madonna came to see his new play Hamilton and was texting through the performance? Sessums asks, “Were you disappointed the night Madonna was there but was barred from coming back afterward by [Hamilton scribe] Lin-Manuel [Miranda]?

No. Because that bitch was on her phone. You couldn’t miss it from the stage. It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly lit by the light of her iPad through three-quarters of the show. What was funny about it was that she was there that Saturday night, but at that Saturday matinee Michelle Obama was there. We were collecting for Broadway Cares after the show, and Mrs. Obama stayed in the audience while the Broadway Cares speech happened, and Lin called her out and the audience applauded for her. Then she came backstage and hugged every crew member—the wig girl, all the costume people, every cast member. She said to us—and this is a direct quote—“This is the greatest piece of art I’ve ever seen.”

You can read the full interview with Groff, complete with more pictures of the actor looking hunky HERE.

(Photo credit: Damon Baker)

The post Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS appeared first on Towleroad.

Sean Mandell

Jonathan Groff Dishes on Dating Zachary Quinto and Being Gay in Hollywood: PHOTOS

Kenyan gay couple evicted, told by landlord to ‘wait for your Obama’

A gay couple in Kenya have been made homeless over the visit to the country by US President Barack Obama.

Peter, 26 and John, 29, who we will not give their last names to protect their identities, were evicted by their landlord as the surrounding debate and anger over LGBTI rights heightens.

They were living in an apartment estate in Kabete, a county on the outskirts of Nairobi for the last two years.

The landlord, and some of the neighbors, had suspected they were a gay couple. They had told them they were friends living together as a way of saving money.

But with the media and lawmakers claiming that Obama is coming to Kenya in order to ‘promote same-sex marriage’, the epitome of the ‘evil Western values’ being imposed on Africa, Peter and John were the ones to suffer.

On Friday (3 July), the landlord evicted the couple and told them to ‘go wait for your Obama’.

This meant that one of them was forced to go home to live with their homophobic parents while the other was forced to go to poverty-stricken accommodation until he gets back on his feet.

Speaking to Gay Star News, Kenyan LGBTI rights activist Denis Nzioka said: ‘This is the real world of living in a homophobic society. The anti-LGBT crusade is still very much here.

‘There have been more beatings, evictions and attacks when public discourse focuses on the community. It gets heightened, and it will only increase momentum as Obama’s visit gets closer.’

Lawmakers have threatened to tell Obama to ‘shut up and go home’ if he mentions the ‘gay agenda’, and the Kikuyu Council of Elders has said they will throw ‘rotten eggs’ at the president.

When questioned about what Obama will speak about during his visit, White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said he was confident the president will ‘make clear that the protection of basic fundamental human rights in Kenya is also a priority and consistent that we hold dear here in the United States of America’.

‘Obama is not coming here to propose same-sex marriage,’ Nzioka added to GSN. ‘From his White House statement, I expect he’ll speak on broader issues of human rights and in that might come respect for sexual orientation. How he frames that is Obama’s job. He won’t promote same-sex marriage, I’m sure.

‘If he does get very specific about LGBTI human rights issues, people would be very angry that he’s coming here to promote gays. They’ll say they need US aid, not gays.

‘If he mentions it, it is good to speak about LGBTI human rights issues. But if he doesn’t mention it at all, then the haters will have egg on their face. We will have to see what happens next.

‘Whatever happens, I hope there is no risk to the lives of LGBTI Kenyans by adding fuel to the fire.’

The post Kenyan gay couple evicted, told by landlord to ‘wait for your Obama’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Joe Morgan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-kenyans-evicted-wait-for-your-obama/

PHOTOS: Anything Glows At This Seedy Glow-In-The-Dark Underwear Party

Bullet Bar, the hottest leather bar in North Hollywood, recently hosted Glow Me, a glow-in-the-dark underwear party. Complete with black lights, florescent body paint, and UV reflective clothing, tatted-up leather daddies and their doting pups stripped down and competed for grab bags that included Spunk lube and Andrew Christian underwear. The next Glow Me party will happen on July 10.

Scroll down to see a few photos from Glow Me, and check out the complete gallery over at GayCities…

Photos by: Matthew Mullins, Motorboot Photography

Graham Gremore

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/otY5sCw75To/photos-anything-glows-at-this-seedy-glow-in-the-dark-underwear-party-20150708

Number Crunch: Transgender

The transgender experience is neither a modern nor Western invention. From mythology to legal acknowledgement to military and political service, trans is a global phenomenon.

read more

Advocate.com Editors

www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2015/07/08/number-crunch-transgender

LGBTI: The other ‘invisible minority’ in the workplace

The other ‘invisible minority’. Though generally used in reference to Native Americans, the term could just as easily be applied to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community – especially when it comes to measuring their numbers in the workplace.

Though only 3.5% of workers identify as LGBT, members of the LGBT community are typically high achievers within the US labor force. So, while a small fraction of this segment of the population is ‘out’ in the workplace, still more remain ‘closeted’ at work for a number of reasons – discrimination being chief among them.

Barriers to acceptance and advancement

Despite local, state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex in the workplace, LGBT workers generally report that they face high rates of employment discrimination and unfair and unequal conditions.

In 2013, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received more than 27,000 complaints of sex-based discrimination in the workplace. In the 2008 General Social Survey conducted by NORC (National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago, lesbian, gay and bisexual workers reported high rates of discrimination on the job and 35% reported being harassed at work. Sixteen percent indicated that they had lost a job due to their sexual orientation.

• Surveys of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) LGBT workers uncovered shockingly high rates of sexual orientation discrimination. Seventy-five percent to 82% of API LGBT workers reported that they had been discriminated against at work because of their sexual orientation.

• Surveys of Black LGBT workers indicate that 4 in 10 have experienced employment discrimination.

• Transgender workers of color reported higher rates of job loss and employment discrimination compared to white transgender workers.

• Transgender women further report higher rates of employment discrimination compared to transgender men.

• 26% of transgender workers report losing a job because of their gender identity or expression, with transgender women reporting even higher rates of 36%.

• More than half of transgender women indicated they had been denied a job because they were transgender; and 29% had been denied a promotion.

Two recent events may change all of that

The US Supreme Court

A landmark ruling

With the June 26, 2015 US Supreme Court ruling upholding marriage equality for all – specifically same-sex couples – a sea of rainbow-colored pride swept across the nation.

After years of political debate and decades of waiting, members of the LGBT community seized what many consider a ‘civil rights’ victory – adding to the fervor of nationwide celebrations marking Pride Month.

In the days that followed, same-sex couples rushed to the altar, full of pride over the court ruling and happy to finally be able to enjoy the legal benefits of being officially recognized as a couple by the legal system: employer-sponsored insurance coverage nationwide as well as tax benefits afforded to married couples.

Tim Cook

Coming out in corporate America

Openly gay CEOs are a rarity in the American business world, even though more companies are publicly expressing their support for gay rights and inclusive workplaces. The majority of LGBT workers in the country hide their sexual identity at work and more than a third feel compelled to lie about their personal lives while at the office.

Tim Cook stepped into the role of Apple CEO in August 2011. Three years later, he publicly acknowledged that he was gay – making him the only CEO of a Fortune 500 company to announce his homosexuality while at the helm of a major company.

‘I don’t consider myself an activist,’ he said in a Bloomberg Businessweek column, ‘but I realize how much I’ve benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.’

Cook’s bold and courageous move opened the door for more LGBT workers to be their true selves in the workplace, and should encourage more corporations and businesses to embrace diversity and inclusion.

LGBT in the workplace

Despite the challenges of accurately counting LGBT members in the workforce, estimates and statistics offer positive news about their employment.

• The unemployment rate for the LGBT community stands at 4.9%, which is largely attributable to their high level of educational attainment.

• 46% of LGBT workers have a bachelor’s degree or higher, in comparison to 32% of the overall labor force.

• LGBT workers are generally employed in sectors that reflect their educational attainment: Professional and Business Services, Information Technology and Education.

• The geographic dispersion of LGBT workers is much broader than stereotypes imply. While it is generally assumed that LGBT workers are concentrated in larger metropolitan areas of liberal leaning states, the data show that the LGBT community comprise at least 3% of the population in 34 states in the US.

With the United States Supreme Court holding that same-sex marriage should be afforded the same protections as heterosexual marriage and more workplace protections in place to address discrimination, more workers may proudly ‘come out’ in corporations and businesses across the country.

This article first appeared in the July 2015 issue of Diversity Job Index and Report – published by Professional Diversity Network, Inc.

The post LGBTI: The other ‘invisible minority’ in the workplace appeared first on Gay Star News.

GSN Contributor

www.gaystarnews.com/article/lgbti-the-other-invisible-minority-in-the-workplace/

Hey guys! I know I haven’t been on in forever 🙁 I”m sorry! My life has gone crazy in these last few weeks! After I got my new tattoo my parents went insane on me telling me that I had too many (not their life really). But that wasn’t even the worst of it! My other job finally pushed me to my limit and after about 14 Days of 12 hour shifts I finally manned up and walk out on them! That just means that I get more time to spend with you guys! Hopefully I’ll be able to keep a good schedule! So after all that crazy stuff I had to take a little me time vacation! So that’s where I’ve been! So if you guys are ready to share the love I really need it XD Love ya!

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