Rick Santorum shockingly compares Kim Davis to Columbine shooting victim

Rick Santorum cited the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in defending Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stance against same-sex marriage in a four-candidate debate Wednesday (16 September) among low-polling Republican presidential hopefuls.

Former US Senator compared Davis to one of the 13 people killed in the Colorado mass shooting. Her name was Cassie Bernall and she was widely reported to have refused to deny God in the moments before she was shot.

‘Sixteen years ago this country was tremendously inspired by a young woman who faced a gunman in Columbine, and she refused to deny God,’ Santorum said. ‘We saw her as a hero. Today, someone who refuses to defy a judge’s unconstitutional verdict is ridiculed and criticized, chastised because she is standing up and not denying her God and her faith. That is a huge difference in 16 years.’

Davis has cited religious beliefs in her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She was locked up in a Kentucky jail for five days earlier this month for defying a federal court’s order that she allow the licenses to be issued by her deputies.

‘When we say in America that we have no room, how many bakers, how many florists, pastors, how many clerks are we going to throw in jail because they stand up and say, “I cannot violate what my faith says is against its teachings”?,’ Santorum wondered. ‘Is there not room in America?’

At the second debate among the top 11 polling Republican candidates, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was asked about Davis who he organized a rally for upon her release from jail.

Huckabee believes Davis, an elected official, should be given an accommodation by the courts and not be forced to be involved in the marriage license business.

‘We made accommodations to the Fort Hood shooter, to let him grow a beard. We made accommodations to the detainees at (Guantánamo Bay detention camp),’ he said. ‘I’ve been to Gitmo and I’ve seen the accommodations that we made to the Muslim detainees who killed Americans.

‘You’re telling me that you cannot make an accommodation for an elected Democrat county clerk from Rowan County, Kentucky? What else is it other than the criminalization of her faith and the exaltation of everyone else who might be a Fort Hood shooter or a detainee at Gitmo?’

The post Rick Santorum shockingly compares Kim Davis to Columbine shooting victim appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/rick-santorum-compares-kim-davis-to-columbine-shooting-victim/

USA Rugby Takes Steps Towards LGBT-Inclusion

Last week, USA Rugby signed a “memorandum of understanding” to make the sport a more inclusive and safe space for the LGBT community.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/usa-rugby-takes-steps-towards-lgbt-inclusion?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Apple CEO Tim Cook Tells Stephen Colbert Why He Came Out

To the Late Show With Stephen Colbert writer who came up with the following question for Apple CEO Tim Cook on last night’s show: well done.

“You yourself came out as gay recently,” Stephen begins. “Was that an upgrade or just a feature that had not been turned on before?”

But as we’re coming to expect from Colbert’s Late Show schtick, there’s a serious question behind every cleverly worded joke.

“And the reason I ask,” he continues, “is that experience of growing up in Alabama as a resident outsider because of your sexuality — did that inform in any way your trying to help people who are in hardship around the world?”

“It did, yeah,” replies Cook, who has established Apple’s first ever charitable wing (nice, considering the company is worth a trillion dollars by some estimates).

Related: Corner Office: Six Powerful Out CEOs Who Aren’t Tim Cook

“In all honesty, every day I come to work I have right in front of my desk a photo of Robert Kennedy and a photo of Dr. King. And every day I sort of ask myself — it was Dr. King’s quote that said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?’

“And it became so clear to me that kids are getting bullied in school, kids were getting discriminated agains, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents, and that I needed to do something.

“Where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people, and so I wanted to tell everyone my truth.”

Then Tim tries his own awkward iPhone joke. Leave it to the pro.

Watch below:

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/ghR3s9nCUqc/apple-ceo-tim-cook-tells-stephen-colbert-why-he-came-out-20150917

Rainbow Doritos are the Cheesiest Way to Show Support for LGBT Rights

Rainbow Doritos!

Frito-Lay has partnered with the It Gets Better Project for this first-ever promotion.

The bags of colorful Doritos are available online only and they’ll set you back $10 (or as much more as you choose to donate), but then you get to choose how much of your donation goes to the It Gets Better Project.

The campaign is accompanied by the tagline “There’s nothing bolder than being yourself.”

Frito-Lay is donating 100% of the proceeds.

Said Ram Krishnan, chief marketing officer, Frito-Lay: “Time and again, our consumers have shown us, there really is nothing bolder than being true to yourself and living life to the fullest. With Doritos Rainbows chips, we’re bringing an entirely new product experience to our consumers to show our commitment toward equal rights for the LGBT community and celebrate humanity without exception.”

Brett Peters, communications director, It Gets Better Project, added: “We’re honored to partner with the Doritos brand to celebrate the momentous progress that has been made toward equal rights for the LGBT community in this country. By utilizing the incredible reach that Doritos has throughout the world, we can give hope to the LGBT young people who need it the most. There is so much more work to be done, and together, we will inspire the LGBT community and its allies to continue the fight and embrace who they are by living a #BoldandBetter life.”

Doritos is sponsoring Dallas Pride this year on September 20 for the first time.

The post Rainbow Doritos are the Cheesiest Way to Show Support for LGBT Rights appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Rainbow Doritos are the Cheesiest Way to Show Support for LGBT Rights

Doritos Goes Rainbow in Support of LGBT Youth

There’s nothing bolder than being yourself.

This is the tagline of a new campaign launched by Doritos, in which the company’s boldly colored orange tortilla chips have been dyed rainbow in support of LGBT youth.

Want a bag of rainbow deliciousness? Simply donate at least $10 to the It Gets Better Project, a group founded by gay columnist Dan Savage that helps make the world a better place for LGBT young people.

With each donation, the Pepsico-owned food company Frito-Lay will ship you one bag of Doritos Rainbows chips from its limited supply. Doritos also encourages donors to share how it gets #BoldAndBetter on social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter.

Ram Krishnan, the chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay, stated that the partnership reflected the brand’s commitment toward LGBT equality.

“Time and again, our consumers have shown us, there really is nothing bolder than being true to yourself and living life to the fullest,” he said in a statement. “With Doritos Rainbows chips, we’re bringing an entirely new product experience to our consumers to show our commitment toward equal rights for the LGBT community and celebrate humanity without exception.”

Brett Peters, the communications director It Gets Better Project, praised the snack company for using its international reach to shine a spotlight on this cause.

“By utilizing the incredible reach that the Doritos brand has throughout the world, we can give hope to the LGBT young people who need it the most,” he stated. “There is so much more work to be done, and together, we will inspire the LGBT community and its allies to continue the fight and embrace who they are by living a #BoldandBetter life.”

For more information, visit ItGetsBetter.org.

Daniel Reynolds

www.advocate.com/business/2015/9/17/doritos-goes-rainbow-support-lgbt-youth

'Kisses For Kim' Davis Is The Campaign You Should All Get Behind

Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis made headlines in September when she disregarded the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality and refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds. 

Comedians from The Other Stuff don’t want to send negativity or hate toward Kim Davis, but rather messages of love and tolerance. So they started a campaign where people — straight, gay, bisexual, whatever orientation — plant one on a friend, loved one, consenting stranger, whomever, then post the photos using #KissesForKim.

When it comes to fighting intolerance, this is about killing it with kindness. And some comedy involving heavily bearded dudes.

Also on HuffPost:

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Tom Hardy Addresses Now-Infamous Sexuality Question, Says He Was Put On The Spot And Is Entitled To His Privacy

— Tom Hardy in an interview with The Daily Beast in which he addresses a question about his “ambiguous sexuality” that was awkwardly posed to him by a reporter for Daily Xtra during a press conference last week

Jeremy Kinser

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Matt Baume on How Candidates Handled the Kim Davis Question At the GOP Debate: WATCH

Writer Matt Baume has a new video out that takes a look at how the GOP candidates handled the “Kim Davis question” at both of the presidential debates last night.

As we reported previously, candidate answers varied widely, from “she should have been fired” to “she’s like the Columbine victim who stood up for her faith.”

Mike Huckabee, who stood by Davis at a rally when she was freed from the clink, had this to say:

“We made accommodations to the Fort Hood shooter, to let him grow a beard. We made accommodations to the detainees at Gitmo. I’ve been to Gitmo and I’ve seen the accommodations that we made to the Muslim detainees who killed Americans. You’re telling me that you cannot make an accommodation for an elected Democrat county clerk from Rowan County, Kentucky? What else is it other than the criminalization of her faith and the exaltation of everyone else who might be a Fort Hood shooter or a detainee at Gitmo?”

“Republicans know they can’t get away with the kind of outright animus they used to,” explained Baume. “So now they have to be crafty about signaling their disapproval of homosexuality. Now it’s coded by referring to religious freedom or claiming that Christianity has been criminalized.”

Like Matt Baume’s informative videos? Click HERE and LIKE our page on Facebook. Select “get notifications” in pulldown menu to receive our headlines in your feed.

The post Matt Baume on How Candidates Handled the Kim Davis Question At the GOP Debate: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Matt Baume on How Candidates Handled the Kim Davis Question At the GOP Debate: WATCH

Jeb Bush Agrees With Mike Huckabee: All You Need to Know About GOP Anti-Gay Bigotry for 2016
Last night’s second debate of the top tier GOP candidates — as well as the earlier bottom feeeders’ debate — confirmed something so many pundits claimed would not be the case: Marriage equality and LGBT rights are 2016 campaign issues, and probably will be issues in the GOP for a long time to come.

Jeb Bush agreed with Mike Huckabee that Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to give out marriage licenses, should be provided special “accommodations” so she could opt-out of serving certain members of the public. Bush equated Davis to the florists who’ve refused to serve gay couples for their weddings in states where gays and lesbians are protected against discrimination in public accommodations.

This is extraordinary considering the polling that has shown the vast majority of Americans — 63 percent in a Washington Post/ABC poll — believe Davis should be required to give out licenses. Even some prominent religious conservative thinkers have said Davis is a disaster for their cause. The clerk issue plays out differently than the cases of bakers and florists refusing service because most Americans have less of an understanding about private businesses and anti-discrimination laws while they definitely believe a government employee, paid by taxpayer dollars, should do her job. It’s a clear-cut issue of a state worker and following the rule of law.

Considering this, how laughable is it now thinking back to when some reporters early on — based largely on anonymous sources, too afraid to publicly say Bush is supposedly secretly pro-gay — were telling us that Jeb Bush was going to be 2016’s “gay friendly Republican”?

Among the supposed proof of this was that he hired an openly gay communications director, Tim Miller — as if having a gay spokesman makes the anti-gay rhetoric go down easier. That was back in the beginning of the year, when Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT group, gave a front page interview for the Washington Post, headlined “Has Jeb Bush Shown Republicans a New Way to Talk About Gay Marriage?” in which he slobbered all over Bush, who was once his nice neighbor and an “early mentor.”

Well, last night showed us that Bush, rather than teaching the GOP how to talk about the issue in a new way, has been completely schooled by the Mike Huckabee crowd that you’ve still got to speak about it in the same old bigoted way in the GOP. Huckabee, distorting the Constitution and the role of the Supreme Court while defending Davis, implied that he and Bush had the same position about the Kentucky clerk, and Bush refused to distance himself. While Bush made a gesture to following the law, he said:

“There should be some accommodation for her conscience, just as there should be for florists that don’t want to participate in weddings or bakers,” Bush said. “A great country like us should find a way to have accommodations for people so that we can solve this problem in the right way. This should be solved at the local level.”

And then Bush added, regarding Huckabee, “And so we do agree… If a law needs to be changed in the state of Kentucky, which is what she’s advocating, it should be changed.”

None of this should be surprising, however, since Bush by spring of this year had shown what direction he was going to go — and it was decidedly not “gay friendly,” earlier reports notwithstanding. In the context of marriage equality he spoke of defending “religious liberty” — the new code word for promoting anti-gay positions — and has since said, as he did last night, that florists and other businesses should be exempted from serving gays even where laws protect LGBT people against such discrimination.

In the second-tier debate earlier in the night, both Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal stoked the Kim Davis issue in ridiculous and ugly ways, playing to the base and clearly viewing it as their only hope to get some traction. If the issue were dead, Jeb Bush, one of the GOP establishment’s great hopes, would not be putting himself in bed with these guys but would rather be standing up to their continued bigotry.

From immigration to foreign policy, the GOP, via it’s field of presidential candidates, has shown it is as extreme as ever. And, no matter the pundits’ claims or the hopes of some gay activists, that holds true on LGBT rights as well.

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Fort Lauderdale’s LGBTI marketing spend has risen 2757.14% in 19 years

Greater Fort Lauderdale has increased its LGBTI marketing spend by 2757.14% since 1996, from $35,000 (€30,949, £22,561) to £1m (€1,371,783, £1,551,300), it has emerged.

The figures were revealed in an interview with Richard Gray, the managing director of Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender market, conducted by the New York Times.

Asked how the destination started its efforts to reach out to LGBTI tourists, Gray responds: ‘At first, it was too risky to use the word “gay,” so we used “rainbow.” We started with a budget of $35,000, which has grown to over $1 million. We now welcome 1.3 million L.G.B.T. travelers who spend approximately $1.5 billion in the area.’

This year, the city will host the 25th annual Southern Comfort Conference – the world’s largest gathering of the trans community.

Explaining his commitment to trans tourists, Gray added: ‘It was during a run less than two years ago that I really started to think about the T in L.G.B.T. It’s really the forgotten T. I realized I knew nothing about transgender travelers, and, as a gay man, I knew nothing about the transgender community.’

He added: ‘I researched and saw they had this conference that had been in Atlanta for 24 years, and I contacted their president, Lexi Dee. No one had ever courted them or paid them any attention before. They liked our commitment of raising the bar for trans inclusion.’

Discussing the results of his trans travel study, organized with Community Marketing & Insights, Gray explained: ‘We found that 62 percent of transgender people travel alone, many because they’re “stealth” — often they have a partner who has no idea they’re transgender. The Southern Comfort Conference is mostly male to female and that’s what we’ve looked at. Female to male blend easier; male to female often don’t. By far their biggest concerns were physical and verbal violence and a lack of gender-neutral restrooms. Unlike the gay market, trans travelers are more in line with budget travelers, without a lot of disposable income.’

For more information about the Southern Comfort Conference, click here.

The post Fort Lauderdale’s LGBTI marketing spend has risen 2757.14% in 19 years appeared first on Gay Star News.

Jamie Tabberer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/fort-lauderdales-lgbti-marketing-spend-has-risen-2757-14-in-19-years/