Oops! Rick Perry to Drop Out of 2016 GOP Presidential Race

Rick Perry is bowing out of the 2016 Republican Party presidential race, according to two sources who spoke to The Associated Press today.

Perry will make the announcement tonight in St. Louis at a gathering of conservative activists. The gaffe-prone, longest-serving governor in Texas history struggled to rise above the crowded GOP pack this election cycle and was relegated to the less prestigious “kid’s table” during the first debate last month. Perry was scheduled to appear at the second-tier CNN debate next week alongside long-shots Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Rick Santorum.

Related, Rick Perry: Boy Scouts ‘Would Be Better Off’ Without Gay Adult Leaders

Towleroad’s John Wright has written extensively on Perry’s political career, including his longstanding opposition to gay rights:

Perry championed the state’s 2005 marriage amendment, before holding a ceremonial signing of the legislation at an evangelical church in Fort Worth. When asked what he’d say to gay military veterans who protested outside the signing ceremony, Perry said: “Texans made a decision about marriage and if there’s a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that’s a better place for them to live.”

Years before, Perry had called Texas’ sodomy ban “appropriate” before it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas — but by 2011 he had apparently forgotten what the case was even about.

He has also repeatedly compared homosexuality to alcoholism, including as part of his staunch defense of the Boy Scouts’ ban on gays — a crusade which he once likened to opposing slavery.

Perry ran a decidedly homophobic presidential campaign in 2012, which he kicked off with a rally hosted by the American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group.

The post Oops! Rick Perry to Drop Out of 2016 GOP Presidential Race appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Oops! Rick Perry to Drop Out of 2016 GOP Presidential Race

Gender-Neutral Bathroom Bill Gives Philly Trans Folk Hope

Single-occupant public restrooms in Philadelphia would have to be designated gender-neutral if a bill introduced Thursday before Philadelphia’s City Council becomes law, reports the city’s Daily News. 

The proposed legislation reflects the views of top public officials like Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, who championed trans-inclusive accommodations in an April commentary penned for The Advocate the same month that the White House created its first gender-neutral bathroom.

Philadelphia’s bill is an effort to make good on promises set down in the LGBT equal rights law that Mayor Michael Nutter (pictured above) signed two years ago to fulfill his stated goal “for Philadelphia to be one of, if not the most, LGBT-friendly cities in the world and a leader on equality issues,” according to a report in The Advocate. The newly introduced legislation does not apply to multiple-occupancy public bathrooms in the city.

Council member Anthony Squilla introduced the bill on behalf of the Nutter administration, the Daily News reports. “It’s making it comfortable for everyone, whether you’re a transgender person, whether you’re a straight person or a gay person,” Squilla said.

“Using a public bathroom can be a highly stressful, rising to even dangerous experience for certain individuals. It basically comes down to people policing other people’s gender,” Helen “Nellie” L. Fitzpatrick, director of Mayor Nutter’s Office of LGBT Affairs, told another Philly paper, The Inquirer, in an article published yesterday. Fitzpatrick is helping to shepherd the bill through the legislative process.

The hashtag #WeJustNeedToPee went viral over the summer on social media as trans women and men posted selfies of themselves in restrooms of the gender they were assigned at birth, adding signs to highlight how ill-fitting their presence was in bathrooms that do not comport with their gender identity. 

The news from Philadelphia comes on the heels of reports of probelms surrounding bathroom access for transgender people, including trans high school students Lila Perry and Gavin Grimm, as well as legislation like Florida’s failed transphobic bathroom bill. Florida’s bill was part of a movement by right-wing lawmakers in several states, such as Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nevada, to police transgender and gender-nonconforming people’s attempts to use the bathroom safely privately, and efficiently without mistreatment.

As for claims that cisgender or heterosexual people would be attacked by transgender people using restrooms commensurate with their gender identity, The Advocate has pointed out that there are no reported cases of attacks by trans individuals in bathrooms. On the contrary, it is transgender individuals like Chrissy Lee Polis who are most in danger as they seek to peacefully relieve themselves. Polis was attacked for being a trans woman at a McDonald’s in Baltimore in 2011, as The Advocate documented.

Problems with inclusive bathroom access have even spilled over into the Brooklyn Supreme Court, where where the judge who oversees the court’s efforts to create a gender-neutral restroom has been stymied by persons who take down the sign that designates the facility as gender-neutral, as the ABA Journal detailed this week. Justice Lawrence Knipel decried the shenanigans in his court, and he put up a sign himself, saying that the sign thieves would be caught and the consequences would be severe: If they are employees, they may be fired, and if they are lawyers they may be disbarred.

Cleis Abeni

www.advocate.com/2015/9/11/gender-neutral-bathroom-bill-gives-philly-trans-folk-hope

The Kim Davis Story Has Little To Do With Same-Sex Marriage
By James Owens and Rich Weissman

Who cares about this woman? She’s uneducated, simple-minded and provincial. She certainly doesn’t like gays or lesbians. She’s been married four times, had two children out-of-wedlock, and goodness knows what else is in her past. She managed to get her cozy government job because her mother handed it down to her, and now Ms. Davis is doing the same for her son. And she claims to talk with God. Such hypocrisy, such nepotism, such nonsense.

Yet, she is front page news. The likes of Huckabee visit and console her as she fights the fight, claiming that Christianity (specifically her brand) is under attack and being made illegal in America. Claiming she is a martyr for the religious world.

Huh? No one is attacking Christianity or any other religion. Lawlessness is being attacked. Theocracy is being attacked. We are attacking those who want to be able to place their religious beliefs above the U.S. Constitution, judicial system and the law.

But Ms. Davis and her supporters say otherwise. They say they have the right to disobey laws and court orders, and the right to refuse to carry out their job duties as government officials because of personal religious belief. Really? Well, for the moment let’s see where this would go. Imagine these headlines …

Government official refuses to certify any pork product in his jurisdiction because his religion forbids the consumption of pigs. Pork production and pork product sales have come to a halt.

Government official will not issue gun registrations or hunting licenses in her jurisdiction because her religion forbids killing of any animal. Gun sales and hunting have essentially been banned.

Government official halts the transfer of all real property to any woman in his jurisdiction because his religious beliefs forbid women from property ownership. Women will not be able to purchase real estate in this jurisdiction.

Government official rescinds all lending authority to all financial institutions in her jurisdiction because her religion forbids the payment of interest. All mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, credit cards and business lending will be terminated.

And even on the marriage front …

Government official denies marriage licenses to divorced people or people who have committed adultery based on religious beliefs that divorce and adultery are sins against God.

Government official denies marriage licenses to all inter-faith couples based on religious beliefs that people should only marry within their faith.

This list could go on and on. Pretty scary. The point is that the issue at hand is not about same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is the law of the land now, and is accepted by the majority of Americans. All but a few counties throughout the nation are issuing same-sex marriage licenses, quietly, respectfully and without fanfare. So why is Ms. Davis getting attention? She’s the renegade. She’s the one out-of-step and in defiance of court orders. She even appealed to the Supreme Court (the very court she refuses to follow) and her appeal was rejected. So why the attention to this silly woman who has violated the law and refuses to do her job as a county clerk?

Because she represents something dangerous. She represents a small but vocal group of Americans who think the United States is a theocracy and think that their personal religious beliefs allow them to act in ways that are against the law. Ms. Davis does not understand that in a constitutional democracy, her personal religious beliefs are of no interest to anyone other than herself. Within her home and church she is free to believe and practice whatever religion she prefers. But in a secular and free society, she is not free to impose those on others, and she has to follow the laws of the land. Make no mistake, she is not the victim. She is the bully, insisting that everyone in her county adhere to her personal religious beliefs. Such hubris! Indeed, Ms. Davis and others like her could very well take the next steps and start introducing policies the likes of which are quoted above as potential headlines. That’s why she is a danger to freedom and democracy. Religious freedom is not about forcing others to adhere to one’s personal beliefs. Religious freedom is about practicing one’s own religion personally, and keeping it out of government policy, positions and administration. In our homes and churches/synagogues/temples/mosques we are free to voice our beliefs. But in government, industry and commerce, we adhere to the laws of our nation. Period.

Fundamentally, I believe religious freedom is a good thing. And for that reason, I believe that everyone has to the right to their own religious beliefs as long as they keep it to themselves.

So what happens to Ms. Davis? Well, like most people who engage in illegal activities, she sat in jail for disobeying the laws and the courts of this wonderful nation. She’s not a good American. She’s actually quite anti-American as she scoffs at the very judicial system on which this nation is founded and on which our freedom and rights are upheld. In the end, she’s just a criminal. But her cause is one that is dangerous, because it isn’t really about gays and lesbians getting married. It’s about people who think they are above the law and who use their religion to justify breaking the law. It’s about people who think that their personal religious beliefs are more “special” than everyone else’s and supersede the laws of the land. And that’s not what America is about.

— 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.

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Republican who made up fake story about having sex with gay rentboy resigns

Todd Courser, the Republican lawmaker who falsely claimed he was caught having sex with a gay rentboy in order to hide an alleged affair with a female politician, resigned from office on Friday (11 September).

He had allegedly been involved with Cindy Gamrat who was also a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and a fellow social conservative. Gambit was expelled on a 91-12 vote by her colleagues.

Courser resigned following two unsuccessful votes to expel him as well.

‘I felt is was the appropriate thing to do. I put everybody through a whole bunch, my family, constituents and the people in this room,’ Courser told the Detroit Free Press. ‘You go 14-15 hours later, they would have been doing a third vote. I felt they were just going to go until they got their answer.

‘It’s an unfortunate chapter where we’re at, but it’s time to turn a page and go in a different direction and obviously heal, in my own house and in this body as well,’ he also said. ‘It’s been hell.’

The two first-term legislators, both married to other people and raising several children, had invoked their Christian faith on such issues as same-sex marriage and abortion.

Courser thought spreading a fabricated story via email about him having sex with a male prostitute would pale in comparison to the real scandal.

He allegedly fired an aide who refused to go along with his cover-up plan. The aide had recorded a meeting during which Causer detailed his plan to send an email to supporters with the rentboy story.

Despite many people calling for him to resign, he had refused.

Courser and Gamrat had an unusual arrangement in that they have joint House office operations and share some staff members. They had run together unsuccessfully in 2013 as chairman and vice chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party.

The post Republican who made up fake story about having sex with gay rentboy resigns appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/republican-who-made-up-fake-story-about-having-sex-with-gay-rentboy-resigns/

Transgender Mississippians Take Part in National Transgender Survey

In late August, HRC Mississippi Director Rob Hill traveled throughout the state of Mississippi to help Mississippians engage in the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey (USTS).
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/transgender-mississippians-take-part-in-national-transgender-survey?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Kim Davis Has Filed Motion Claiming She Has Sustained “Irreparable Injury”

While the world waits to see what Rowan County clerk Jim Crow Kim Davis will do when she returns to work Monday morning, she’s gone ahead with plans to sue the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, claiming his orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates her First Amendment rights.

The Governor has already petitioned the 6th Circuit and requested they promptly dismiss the case, and Kim Davis’ lawyers have filed a motion in opposition to that request.

The New Civil Rights Movement reports that Davis is suggesting that the District Judge’s insistence that she give marriage licenses to all couples has resulted in “immediate and irreparable injury to her individual religious liberty and free speech rights” and that she’s now “facing immediate and substantial harm and consequences for exercising her individual constitutional and statutory rights.”

Davis’ lawyers have previously said claimed Judge Bunning’s request to comply with his order to hand out marriage licenses is “factually impossible.”

H/t: LGBTQNation

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/kwwKPRktzKU/kim-davis-has-filed-motion-claiming-she-has-sustained-irreparable-injury-20150911

She'd Better Work: The Best 'Do Your Job, Kim Davis' Memes

What do Wonder Woman, Carla from Cheers, Velma from Scooby-Doo, Dana Scully from The X-Files, Queen Amidala from the Star Wars franchise, and even Fabio have in common? 

According to dozens of creative Internet memes, they’re not anything like Kim Davis: no matter what, they do their job. 

Attorneys for Davis say Monday is the day the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who went to jail last week rather than abide by orders from judges, Kentucky’s governor, and the U.S. Supreme Court returns to her job at the courthouse.

A federal judge released Davis Tuesday on the condition that she not interfere with her deputy clerks who have been complying with his order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Her lawyers have refused to say whether she will comply; noncompliance puts her at risk of another contempt of court charge and a return to jail. 

So we wait and do our own jobs, while she sits at home reading fan mail, possibly drawing a salary despite not being at work. Maybe she’s also reading The Advocate. 

Our first meme, by San Francisco-based graphic designer Shaun Osburn, is fast becoming the most popular Kim Davis entry. Even actress Gillian Anderson, who played FBI agent Dana Scully in The X-Files, retweeted his meme, with the comment “Brilliant!”

“As soon as I saw the notification from her on my phone I started crying. I was and still am a huge sci-fi and horror geek,” Osburn told Vocativ. “I had to run to the restroom at work to read it, because I knew I would cry. Even just a one-word response from her meant everything to my inner 12-year-old faggot nerd self.”

Another blast from the past meme popped up on Reddit and Imagur, featuring the reluctant Saint Nick substitute played by Tim Allen in the 1994 film The Santa Clause. 

The meme makers reached even further back to include Velma, the bespectacled lady who is the brains behind those “meddling kids” and their dog, Scooby-Doo:

Speaking of cartoons, here’s a far more esoteric meme featuring Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most popular and influential Japanese artists and animators, who is frequently misquoted as saying anime was a mistake. 

Even everyone’s favorite liberatarian TV character, Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, does his job — while eating red meat. 

Maggie Smith plays Hogwarts stalwart Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, who she does her job to help Harry Potter from the beginning of his tale to the very end. 

The woman who redefined the role of M in the James Bond movies, Dame Judi Dench, has played her character as someone who can be relied upon to do her job or die trying. 

Could anyone blame Carla, played famously on TV’s Cheers by Rhea Perlman, for not doing her job? After all, she hates her customers almost as much as she hates her job, but she does it. 

Queen Amidala, later to be known as senator of Naboo and mother to Luke and Leia, made some very questionable choices in headgear, hairstyle, makeup, and matrimony, but the character, played by Natalie Portman, still did her job. 

Take it from that Amazonian of the superhero comic book world, Wonder Woman: Her plane may be invisible, but her work ethic is easy to see. Lynda Carter, we love you!

Speaking of men and heroes, do they work any harder than Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford? After all, he did the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, which is … nonsensical. But whatever, he worked! 

And when it comes to doing a job, nobody appreciates getting paid more than the Ghostbusters. They ain’t afraid of no gays!

Finally, can you think of anyone who you’d rather work with or watch work than Fabio? Oh, that mane of his! It’s like buttah!

Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/media/2015/9/11/shed-better-work-best-do-your-job-kim-davis-memes

Kate Geis and John Tomlinson Talk "Paul Taylor: Creative Domain" (AUDIO)

This week I talked with Filmmaker Kate Geis about her documentary Paul Taylor: Creative Domain and John Tomlinson, Executive Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation. Paul Taylor is one of the dance world’s most elusive and admired choreographers. For 60 years he has given only glimpses into his creative process but in this fabulous documentary for his 133rd dance performance Three Dubious Memories, the audience is allowed into his studio for an in-depth exploration of how Mr. Taylor creates a single work. In 1998 director Matthew Diamond released the Oscar nominated film Dancemaker about the story of the then 69-year-old choreographer’s life, his company and his dances. Creative Domain is the next chapter in the creative life of Mr. Taylor. Through the intimate lens of award-winning cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, we witness Taylor’s verbal and non-verbal communication with his dancers. I talked to Kate Geis and John Tomlinson about this must-see documentary Paul Taylor: Creative Domain and their spin on our LGBT issues.
LISTEN:

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Tomlinson stated:

Well I happen to be a gay man and I have a husband and we are thank God legally married finally and very proud of that. I’ve been with my husband almost 20 years and we’ve been married for four years now. I will also say just in general I’ve always been thrilled to work in an industry where LGBT issues are basically non-issues. We don’t have issues with that. We understand that the work we do has nothing to do with the sexual orientation of the people doing it. I think part of me was drawn to this part of the world because of that because I wanted to work freely in an environment where it wasn’t an issue of what my sexual orientation was. I also think it’s important to celebrate that fact that we always were on the frontlines in that. On top of which, I work for an artist who is so broadminded and sees the world in so many ways and explores all those issues on the stage and gives you a sense of great equality throughout his work.

Filmmaker Kate Geis is an Emmy winning documentary producer who began her career at Saturday Night Live and went on to produce documentary programming for WNET, Channel Thirteen, History Channel, A&E and Metro TV. John Tomlinson, Executive Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation has been working with dance companies for more than 30 years including some of the greatest names in modern dance. The film’s Executive Producer Robert Aberlin has co-produced two award winning documentaries both of which appeared on WNET the New York PBS affiliate and he also serves on the board of The Paul Taylor Dance Foundation. Paul Taylor: Creative Domain opens in New York City at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center on September 11th with Filmmaker Kate Geis, Executive Producer Robert Aberlin, dance luminaries and dancers featured in the film attending a Q & A following the film. Paul Taylor: Creative Domain will be released theatrically in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and other key cities throughout September giving a rare glimpse of the process and creator of The Paul Taylor Dance Company.
For More Info: paultaylorcreativedomain.com

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The company that bought NYC’s Next magazine last spring just snapped up LA’s Frontiers too

Multimedia Platforms (MMP) has become one of the largest LGBT Media Companies in the US with the acquisition this week of Frontiers Media Holdings – publishers of the West Coast magazine, Frontiers.

MMP was founded in 2009, and went public in January (OTCQB: MMPW). The acquisition continues MMP’s rapid expansion since it made its stock market debut.

Earlier this year, the Fort Lauderdale-based company purchased the 33-year-old Columbia Funmap, Inc – which distributes LGBTI neighborhood ‘FunMaps’ to scene venues across the US.

In April, it announced that it was buying New York gay magazine, Next.

At the time, it’s CEO, Bobby Blair, told the Middle Market that the move was part of MMP’s plan to further increase its foothold of the LGBT media market.

‘What MMP is doing is crisscrossing the country. We’re negotiating with a prominent southern California brand that will hopefully give us a presence in that market.’

It now seems that the West Coast brand he was referring to was Frontiers Media Holdings. The acquisition gives MMP a presence across the US, but a particularly strong foothold in the lucrative East Coast and West Coast markets.

The US’s other major LGBTI media company is Here Media (The Advocate, OUT, Pride, Gay.Com, SheWired).

The Observer reports that Frontiers will expand to the East Coast and that Next will become available on the West Coast.

Michael Turner, owner of Frontiers Media and publisher of Frontiers, will become President of Digital Media for Multimedia Platforms. In a statement on MMP’s purchase of Frontiers, he said, ‘There are many exciting changes on the horizon, but I assure you that the award-winning content of Frontiers and its distinctive editorial voice will stay the same.

‘Soon Frontiers will go national, Next will come to California, and in the fall we will launch a next-generation online media hub that will include unique and aggregated news, lifestyle and entertainment stories, social blogs and premium video, all curated specifically for the global LGBT community.’

In a statement, MMP’s CEO Blair said, ‘We now lead in the three most populous states in the country – California, New York and Florida – and offer advertisers both national and international audiences. Our combined resources allow us to double print circulation and grow our web traffic exponentially in 2016.’

‘Anytime we see investment in LGBT media, that’s a good thing,’ said Cathy Renna, managing partner at LGBT marketing group Target Cue told the Observer.

‘LGBT media continues to be very under resourced and not as successful as it could be, because investments in that kind of niche media has been decreasing. But the community media is still vitally important.’

Ian Johnson, of Out Now Consulting, said the deal had potential pros and cons.

‘If the larger media company increases diversity of voices and opinions in content to the benefit of LGBT people then that is a good thing.

‘There is also a potential business benefit to a larger media company in offering cross-media packages to advertisers – although an aggregation of media can lead to less competition and choice for advertisers

‘Employees at combined media companies can sometimes face rationalization with resulting job losses as many larger media companies choose to combine back-office functions.

‘That said, it’s a tough media market out there, so if a larger company allows much-loved LGBT mastheads and media sites to sustain themselves profitably into the future, that is most definitely a strong positive outcome.’

The post The company that bought NYC’s Next magazine last spring just snapped up LA’s Frontiers too appeared first on Gay Star News.

David Hudson

www.gaystarnews.com/article/the-company-that-bought-nycs-next-magazine-last-spring-just-snapped-up-las-frontiers-too/

HRC Continues Work to Pass Non-Discrimination Law in Nebraska

Recently, HRC Regional Field Director Hope Wisneski and Associate Regional Field Director Trevor Chandler spent a few days talking with our partners, staff, volunteers and legislators in Nebraska.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-continues-work-to-pass-non-discrimination-law-in-nebraska?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed