Senator Casey Endorses the Equality Act

Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that he will co-sponsor the Equality Act. Senator Casey will become the 42nd senator to cosponsor the legislation, in addition to 175 members of the House.

The bipartisan Equality Act would provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs and jury service.

Our nation’s civil rights laws protect people on the basis of race, color and national origin and in most cases, sex, disability and religion.  However, federal law does not provide consistent non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  The need for the Equality Act is clear—nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ Americans report having experienced discrimination in their personal lives. 

“Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of marriage equality in June of 2015, it’s still legal under federal law and in many states, including Pennsylvania, to fire someone, or deny them access to public accommodations because they’re gay or transgender,” Casey said in a press release announcing his support for the Equality Act. “Just recently states like North Carolina and Mississippi have enacted laws that are nothing more than state sponsored discrimination. Much of the discussion around these laws has centered on public restrooms. These laws are about much more that: they are a license to discriminate in all aspects of our society like the workplace and in housing. These laws are contrary the values of our nation and make clear the need for the Equality Act.”

Senator Casey, who defeated the notoriously anti-LGBTQ Rick Santorum, has been a strong proponent of LGBTQ rights in the Senate. He is the lead sponsor of the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA), which would require school districts to adopt codes of conduct prohibiting bullying and harassment, including explicitly on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion.

Everyone should have a fair chance to earn a living and provide a home for their families without fear of constant harassment or discrimination. HRC applauds Senator Casey’s leadership and will continue to work with Members of Congress to increase support for commonsense, explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

www.hrc.org/blog/senator-casey-endorses-the-equality-act?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HRC & EqualityNC Grateful for Dead & Company’s $100,000 Commitment to Repeal HB2

Today, Chad Griffin, President of HRC, and Chris Sgro, Executive Director of Equality NC, released the following statements in response to Dead & Company’s announcement that it will donate $100,000 to the organizations for  on-the-ground efforts to repeal the state’s discriminatory, anti-LGBT law known as HB2:

“We are grateful to the members of Dead & Company for standing with HRC and Equality North Carolina in fighting this hateful law,” said Griffin. “They join a growing list of artists and entertainers who have publicly committed their time and resources to repealing HB2.”

“Their generous support will help us repeal this draconian law and get us one step closer to ensuring that all North Carolinians can live their lives free from discrimination, ” Griffin said.

Said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro: “Equality NC is so grateful for this generous support, which continues to buoy our efforts to defeat HB2 – the worst anti-LGBT law in the nation. North Carolina is a welcoming and wonderful state. HB2 is not indicative of who we are, and this gift will help us return to a state of equality.”

Members of Dead & Company join a growing list of artists and entertainers, including Cyndi Lauper, Jackson Browne and members of Pearl Jam, who have publicly committed their time and resources to repealing HB2. During Dead & Company’s June 10 concert in Charlotte, the band says it will host a social action area featuring organizations fighting discrimination, registering voters, and protecting the planet. Fans will have an opportunity to learn about HB2, the band says, to take meaningful action against it, and to register to vote.

Here is the full text of Dead & Company’s statement on HB2:

This March, when North Carolina lawmakers passed HB2 and Governor Pat McCrory signed it into law, we categorically objected to it. We had hoped that by now this abhorrent law would have been repealed. Sadly, it has not.

After much thought, consideration and conversation, we feel the most effective way to move forward is to perform as scheduled in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 10 and to donate $100,000.00 to organizations engaged in this battle for justice – the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina.

Additionally, we will assemble a “Participation Row” social action area, where we’ll host local organizations fighting discrimination and national organizations dedicated to voter registration and protecting the planet. Every fan in attendance will have an opportunity to learn about the true ramifications of the HB2 law, and take meaningful action by registering to vote; to that end we are working on an online community registration site that will assist the HeadCount organization in promoting and simplifying voter registration.

Dead shows have always been a safe place for all of our audience to come together through music no matter how they appear or self-identify. History shows these values of openness and inclusiveness have served us – and the world around us – well.

We’ve never been a band that’s spoken many words when we’re on stage. But we hope that our actions, and the actions of our fans, will ring louder than ever before.

With Love and Respect,

Dead & Company    

[Band members: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, and Bob Weir, with Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti.]

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-equalitync-grateful-for-dead-companys-100000-commitment-to-repeal-hb2?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

GLAAD partners with MTV to launch Elect This

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-partners-mtv-launch-elect

President Obama: Fighting for Trans Rights Requires Changing Hearts, Not Laws (Video)

Struggling to understand what bathroom transgender people should use? President Obama has a simple test: Imagine your child was trans and needed to go potty at school. 

www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/6/02/president-obama-fighting-trans-rights-requires-changing-hearts-not-laws-video

Internet Totally Loses It Over Images Of ‘Big, Fat’ Gay Hindu Wedding

In 2016, being gay is still illegal in India, and, as far as traditional Indian families are concerned, homosexuality remains a highly taboo subject.

That’s why these widely circulated images of a sumptuous gay Hindu wedding are proving to be such an inspiration to Indian families everywhere.

Related: This Indian Trans Band’s Cover Of Pharrell’s “Happy” Will Make You Smile

The photographs feature Rishi Agarwal and Daniel Langdon getting hitched in a traditional ceremony.

Agarwal was raised in a Hindu household,  and his parents always dreamed of throwing him a seriously epic wedding.

(The family left India in the ’70s in order to move to Canada.)

Agarwal was initially apprehensive to come out to his parents, particularly after the suicide of a gay Sikh student he knew, whose parents simply wouldn’t accept his homosexuality.

Nevertheless, he came out in 2011 and admits his mom and dad were at first “stunned” at the news. He feared his hopes of a dream wedding with friends and family was quashed for good.

But no.

Related: PHOTOS: Here’s What Goes On Inside The All-Male “Akharas” Of India

Agarwal’s parents ultimately wound up accepting him. In fact, they spent three entire days learning everything they could about LGBTQ issues, even starting a chapter of PFLAG based in Peel.

“You’re still our son and we love you,” they said when he asked if they wanted him to leave their household.

“This is strictly our baggage, what we bring from India,” said his mom, blaming their own ignorance for any hesitation he may have sensed from them.

Rishi and Dan got married, going through all the elaborate traditions of a “big fat Hindu wedding.”

Talking to local media, Rishi confessed, “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could have the wedding that I wanted with the person I loved and with all my family and my friends.”

Related: Meddling Mom Bucks Law, Posts India’s First Gay Personal Ad For Son

Now, the couple are sharing their story to demonstrate how important acceptance is, and to show how families need to stay together and celebrate same-sex relationships the way they would any other couple.

In Rishi’s words: “In order to run a lot of those ceremonies, you really need everyone, the community’s involvement, otherwise it doesn’t really work.”

“Unfortunately, others have not had that support in their lives.”

Check out images from the wedding ceremony below:

h/t: Pink News

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PHOTOS: Andy Cohen Is 48 Today And Looking DILFier Than Ever

On this day in 1968, Andrew Joseph Cohen was born in St. Louis Missouri. That’s right, the silver fox turns the big 4-8 today, and the whole Internet is celebrating.

Related: Sorry, Fellas, It Appears Total Top Andy Cohen Is Off The Market

Everyone from the HRC to NBC to Andy’s own BFF Anderson Cooper have wished him a happy b-day on Twitter. We thought we’d join the chorus by compiling some of our favorite Instagram shots of the sexy quadragenarian.

Scroll down for pictures of Daddy Cohen looking DILFier than ever, and please join us in wishing him a very happy birthday…

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President Obama: Openly Gay and Lesbian Soldiers Make America Stronger – WATCH

Delivering the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Thursday, President Obama said allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to openly serve in the military has strengthened America.

President Obama’s remarks came in the last year of his presidency and just five years after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy which expelled gay and lesbian service members.

Via Politico: 

“…America has to stand for rule of law. We live our values when our military, like America itself, truly welcomes the talents of all people. We are stronger when our gay and lesbian cadets and troops can serve their country, a country they love, without hiding who they love.”

[Obama added] The U.S. is stronger when Muslim-American cadets “know that we celebrate their service as proud, patriotic, Muslim Americans who are also serving our armed forces.”

“We’re stronger when our gay and lesbian cadets and troops can serve the country they love without hiding who they love.” —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 2, 2016

RELATED – Army Secretary Eric Fanning Never Expected to Have Military Career as a Gay Man: WATCH

President Obama also warned against the dangers of isolationism during his speech, as USA Today reports: 

“We cannot turn inward,” Obama told the Air Force cadets. “We cannot give in to isolationism.”

While he did not specifically mention Trump or the political campaign, the president did respond to Republican critics who have questioned American commitments to alliances like NATO and opposed international agreements like the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Protesting the Republican-run Senate’s refusal to approve that latter treaty, Obama said that “it’s time for the Senate to do its job and help us advance American leadership, rather than undermine it.”

Watch Obama’s comments on lesbian and gay cadets, below.

You can watch his full address, here.

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Rachel Maddow Profiles Hillary Clinton’s Shirtless Pranksters – WATCH

Last night on The Rachel Maddow Show, Maddow took a deep dive into the politically satyric actions of two pranksters who have been trolling presidential candidates this election cycle.

We first told you about these pranksters, who have been identified as Davram Stiefler and John Nelson, last week when they decided to troll Hillary Clinton at a rally in Orange County, California. The guys appeared shirtless and caught Clinton’s attention just in time to keep from being kicked out.

Despite reports indicating that these guys were not actually supporters of Clinton (including our own), Clinton’s campaign included them in a new Instagram video.

The two men were previously seen at a Hillary rally wearing “Settle for Hillary” shirts, and were also heard saying they were excited to ‘settle for Hillary’ after meeting the candidate on the rope line at the Orange County rally.

Shirtless Hillary guys look like the same 2 that have trolled Clinton & Trump events before t.co/e55Hul50VL pic.twitter.com/IeIry4qXUP

— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) May 25, 2016

Watch as Maddow digs into the pranksters’ storied history of targeting just about everyone with the exception of Bernie Sanders, below.

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Mormon Church Moves Fight Against Gay Marriage to Mexico: VIDEO

Mormon church leaders have issued a directive that members in Mexico should oppose a new initiative to legalize same-sex marriage.

The call comes after Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (right) last month announced his support for nationwide marriage equality. Peña Nieto proposed amending federal law to ban same-sex marriage on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, disability, social condition, religion, gender, or sexual preference.

“The Mexican State should impede discrimination in any form and assure equal rights for everyone,” he said.

RELATED: 32 LGBT Mormon Youths Have Killed Themselves Since LDS Church Unveiled Horrific Anti-Gay Policy: VIDEO

However, last week Mormon Mexican area authority Elder Benjamin DeHoyos (above) encouraged “members of the Church to unite our voices with those of other citizens in exercising our rights, as they are listed in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which establish and honor religious liberty, expression of beliefs and thoughts, both in public and private.”

Por un @Mexico incluyente que reconoce en la diversidad, una de sus mayores fortalezas #SinHomofobia. pic.twitter.com/6ooZGuPEsD

— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) May 17, 2016

According to KUTV.com, church officials have also requested that bishops read DeHoyos’ remarks to congregations in the form of a statement which reads in part:

“Due to the Federal Government’s recent announcement of the initiative to legalize marriage between people of the same sex in the entire country, we emphasize the Church’s position on this topic as it is described in ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the Word.’ We reaffirm that ‘The family is ordained of God’, and ‘marriage between a man and a woman is essential for [God’s] eternal plan’.”

Same-sex marriage is already legal in some Mexican states and in Mexico City. Currently, gay couples who live in states that do not recognize same-sex marriage must sue to obtain a marriage license. Peña Nieto’s proposal will require a two-thirds majority vote from the Mexican congress.

Watch Peña Nieto propose the legalization of same-sex marriage below.

(Peña Nieto image via Wikipedia)

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New Research Finds Same-Sex Experiences are Rising in America

A new study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that more Americans are engaging in same-sex sexual relationships, including an increasing number of adults who say they’ve had both male and female partners. The study also found that an overwhelming percentage of Americans say they are accepting of and open to this trend.

“A team of social scientists found that the percentage of men reporting male sexual partners had nearly doubled from 1990 to 2014, and the percentage of women reporting same-sex experiences had more than doubled during the same period,” The Washington Post reported. “Between 1973 and 1990, the percentage of adults who believed ‘sexual relations between two adults of the same sex [was] not wrong at all’ only rose from 11 percent to 13 percent. But by 2014, 49 percent of all adults and 63 percent of millennials expressed tolerance of these relationships.”

The Post reports that the percentage of survey respondents who had all same-sex partners didn’t increase significantly between 1990 and 2014, but the percentage of adults with both male and female partners increased from 3.1 percent to 7.7 percent.

Recent surveys have shown that bisexual people are the largest group within the LGBT community: half of people who identify as LGB identify as bisexual. However, bisexuals are far less likely than their gay and lesbian peers to be out, citing stereotypes, skepticism and pressure to “choose” one sexual orientation as reasons for staying in the closet.

HRC Foundation, in partnership with BiNet USA, the Bisexual Organizing Project, and the Bisexual Resource Center, released “A Resource Guide to Coming Out As Bisexual” earlier this year to help bisexual people of all ages who are contemplating the important step of coming out. The guide features the inspirational words of bisexual people who have come out and found community and fulfillment, as well as advice about the risks and rewards of coming out, and strategies for navigating real life coming out situations – from telling family and friends, to assessing whether a workplace would be supportive and safe.

Read more about the study here and for more resources for bisexual people, including HRC Foundation’s Supporting and Caring for Our Bisexual Youth report and Health Disparities Among Bisexual People, click here.

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