This Black Trans Man Is in Prison for Killing His Rapist
Ky Peterson, a black trans man from Georgia, has been imprisoned three years for the ‘involuntary manslaughter’ of his attacker, which he says was in self-defense.
Sunnivie Brydum and Mitch Kellaway
www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/04/08/black-trans-man-prison-killing-his-rapist
It Is Now Illegal For A Federal Contractor To Fire Someone For Being LGBT
WASHINGTON — For the first time, companies that have contracts with the federal government are now prohibited from firing or discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, thanks to an executive order that takes effect Wednesday.
President Barack Obama signed the order in June 2014 banning workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government. The administration took the last six months to provide rules to contractors, and to give companies time to put processes in place. The change affects 24,000 companies employing roughly 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called the change “historic” in a Wednesday tweet.
It is still legal in 29 states to harass someone at work or fire them for being LGBT. Democrats in Congress have tried to remedy that with the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which passed the Senate in 2013 but went nowhere in the House. They are likely to put forward a more comprehensive bill this year, banning LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, federal programs and education.
Obama had been pressing Congress for years to pass legislation addressing LGBT workplace discrimination, but finally took action himself when legislators did nothing. Top administration officials took pride Wednesday, so to speak, in the president’s record on strengthening protections for the LGBT community.
“This will effectively prevent any company that does business with the government from firing an employee based on who they are or who they love,” White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett wrote in an op-ed.
Labor Secretary Tom Perez said the bottom line is that federal contractors receive billions in taxpayer dollars to do government work, so in return, they are held to standards that they may not discriminate in hiring, firing and pay.
“Until today, it was discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability and status as a protected veteran that was prohibited,” Perez wrote in a blog post. “Now, in the first expansion since 1974, LGBT Americans enjoy these same protections.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Making it Real: Moving Beyond Law & Policy
The U.S. Department of Justice recently brought suit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the Regional University System of Oklahoma for discrimination and retaliation against a transgender professor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/making-it-real-moving-beyond-law-policy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
New Report Sheds Light on Cable News' Dismal Coverage of Transgender Issues
Media Matters has published an extensive report showing that cable, broadcast, and Spanish language networks have ignored an epidemic of violence against transgender women in 2015 despite (most of them) devoting coverage to trans issues.
Among the findings in the report, which covered the first two months of 2015.
CNN and MSNBC devoted nearly 108 minutes to transgender stories combined in January and February while FOX News devoted 11 minutes.
CBS devoted 10 minutes while NBC devoted 6 and ABC a paltry 2.
Bruce Jenner, Chelsea Manning, Leelah Alcorn were the most discussed transgender stories.
Only one Sunday show, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, discussed trans issues.
Networks ignored an “epidemic of deadly violence” against transgender women.
National News Networks Largely Ignored The Murders Of Seven Transgender Women Of Color. ABC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, and NBC ignored the murders of seven transgender women of color during the first two months of 2015. CNN’s Don Lemon briefly mentioned the murder of three of the women during a discussion about Bruce Jenner during the February 5 edition of CNN Tonight.
Fox News, ABC, And NBC failed to host transgender guests when discussing trans issues – CNN’s trans guests were white while MSNBC featured trans women of color.
Univision and Telemundo devoted less than 10 minutes to trans issues.
Read the full report here.
Andy Towle
www.towleroad.com/2015/04/new-report-sheds-light-on-cable-news-coverage-of-transgender-issues.html
EDITORIAL: Questioning the Need for an Inclusion Bureaucrat
Cornell intends to hire a Senior Associate Dean for Inclusion, Engagement and Community Support who will oversee many minority advocacy groups across campus. Administrators claim that whoever fills the newly created post will increase collaboration across organizations such as the LGBT Resource Center, the Asian and Asian American Center and […]
Op-ed: Protecting LGBT Workers Means Protecting All Workers
As President Obama’s executive order protecting LGBT workers takes effect today, his senior adviser Valerie Jarrett sees it as a civil rights milestone.
Valerie Jarrett
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/04/08/op-ed-protecting-lgbt-workers-means-protecting-all-workers
Clay Aiken Doesn't Mind If He's The 'Universal Punchline For Everything Gay'
“American Idol” veteran and former North Carolina Democratic House candidate Clay Aiken joked that he’s become the “universal punchline for everything gay” in an interview with HuffPost Live this week.
Pointing to the number of tongue-in-cheek jokes that “Family Guy” and friend Kathy Griffin have had at his expense, Aiken said he let most of the humor roll off his back. Nonetheless, he said he was concerned about its impact on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults who are coming to terms with their sexuality.
“It doesn’t hurt me, it’s not me that is affected by it,” Aiken, 36, said. “I don’t worry about the person who just got picked on, I worry about [LGBT] kids.”
He went on to note, “What does that make that 15-year-old in Indiana feel like?”
Aiken is currently promoting “The Runner-Up,” a four-part documentary series about his congressional campaign, which airs on The Esquire Network.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
HRC Statement on Repeal of LGBT-Inclusive Ordinance in Springfield, MO
Yesterday, residents narrowly voted to repeal the ordinance.
HRC.org
Alejandro Granados Has A Beach Body Made For Swimwear
Thanks to their narrow cuts, the underwear and swimwear that comes out of Australian brand teamm8 falls under the category of athletic-meets-sexy. They give the wearer more room to move and any passersby more skin to see. It’s the best thing about this photoshoot by Adrian C. Martin. Making fitness model Alejandro Granados his muse, you get to see teamm8 in action.
At just 23 years old, Alejandro has a stunning physique with the muscular legs (and butt) to flaunt teamm8’s designs perfectly. Both the Dash Swim Trunk and Swim Brief are modeled. With cuts that leave most of your hips exposed, the swim briefs form around the back for a flattering, bubble-butt look.
Alejandro also wears the teamm8 Racer Brief in the Blue Radiance style. The Underwear Expert loved the light blue/pink contrasts from the beginning. But now that we see them during the spring, on Alejandro and by the beach, we have a newfound appreciation for teamm8’s attractive simplicity in their swim briefs collection.
You can see more if this photo shoot on The Underwear Expert.
Photo Credit: Adrian C. Martin
Underwear Expert
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/0_ormh_jrhA/beach-bodies-made-better-made-teamm8-20150408
Possessed Puppet Comedy 'Hand to God' Opens on Broadway: REVIEW
BY NAVEEN KUMAR
The titular appendage in Hand to God, playwright Robert Askins’ wickedly hysterical play that opened on Broadway last night at the Booth Theatre, goes by the name of Tyrone. He delivers some of the most apt criticism of western religion you’re ever likely to hear, and has zero tolerance for B.S.—including from the hand that wears him. A sharp-tongued (and awesomely foul-mouthed) sock puppet, Tyrone may or may not in fact be possessed by the devil. Forget everything you know about puppet shows: On the hand of a preternaturally masterful Stephen Boyer, this puppet is unlike any other you’ve seen before.
Askin’s play, which transfers to Broadway after a critically acclaimed run Off Broadway at MCC last spring, is set in a small Texas town, where a few teenage kids meet at the local ministry to rehearse a puppet pageant and stay out of trouble. Jason and his mother Margery (who leads the puppet group) are both reeling from the recent loss of his father to a heart attack. For Marge, running the group seems like a much-needed distraction; for Jason and his puppet Tyrone, it’s a lot more than just that.
Aside from his recent loss, Jason is a shy, quiet type, and giving voice to his puppet helps raise the volume on his own. Tyrone starts out like the devil on Jason’s shoulder, a wisecracking voice for thoughts the boy might not otherwise say himself. It’s how he first connects with Jessica (a wonderfully droll Sarah Stiles) the girl he likes in class, and later how he lashes back at Timothy, his cocky, oversexed rival (a perfectly bro-ey Michael Oberholtzer).
But it quickly becomes clear that Tyrone has a mind of his own, or at least a will separate from Jason’s, who can’t just take him off as he pleases. By the play’s second act, blood is drawn, puppet sex is had, and it seems an exorcism may be in order. Yet still, his puppet’s violent temper and wild libido are qualities Jason could use himself in moderation—courage to stand up for himself and the nerve to get the girl.
Boyer reprises his mind-boggling, virtuosic performance as Jason (and Tyrone), spending much of the play in conversation with his own left hand—from acting out an Abbot-and-Costello routine to impress Jessica, to full-on hand-to-sock combat. Jason and Tyrone are so distinct in personality and their two-way dialogue is so convincing, at times it’s astonishing to step back and realize you’re watching a single performance.
Joining the others from the Off-Broadway cast, Geneva Carr is equally warm and maniacal as Marge, who doesn’t get along with the other church mothers, and who attracts equally ardent attention from Pastor Greg (an ever charming Marc Kudisch), and hormonal Timothy, making her the apex of a twisted (and surprisingly athletic) love triangle.
Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel scales up the production from its downtown digs, keeping the action moving swiftly around its rotating set and amping up the laughs for a larger crowd, while also firmly grounding the play’s human (non-puppet) drama. The stellar company reprises its expert performances with assurance, fueled by the uproarious energy of a Broadway audience.
Often shockingly funny, the play’s disarming humor makes its dark conclusions all the more startling. We’re accustomed to puppets who have something to teach us, like the difference between good and evil. Tyrone’s lesson that the two go inextricably hand-in-hand is likely to stick in your mind longer than most.
Recent theatre features…
Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy Open in ‘Skylight’ on Broadway: REVIEW
Elisabeth Moss and Jason Biggs Open on Broadway in ‘The Heidi Chronicles’: REVIEW
Helen Mirren Reigns on Broadway in ‘The Audience’: REVIEW
John Cameron Mitchell on Returning to ‘Hedwig’: INTERVIEW
Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar (photos: joan marcus)
Naveen Kumar
www.towleroad.com/2015/04/possessed-puppet-comedy-hand-to-god-opens-on-broadway-review.html
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