Outed Gay Exec Funded Hulk Hogan's $140 Million Lawsuit Against Gawker
An out Silicon Valley billionare is funding Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker.
Mypride_FB Cover
Best of KU: Spring semester 2016
Best of KU: Spring semester 2016
The University of Kansas Official Flickr Site posted a photo:
It is important to Be You at KU.
Through the Student Involvement & Leadership Center, students can celebrate and learn about LGBTQIA+ culture on campus. The Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity provides programming, such as a month of pride events during GAYPRIL, to provide education and promote advocacy on campus.
These students posed with a pride flag to celebrate Be You at KU.
©2016 University of Kansas/Marketing Communications/Meg Kumin
Photo_2016_0389_008.jpg
Photo_2016_0389_008.jpg
JohnsonAtCornell posted a photo:
The 2016 Johnson (JGSM) Out for Business Sage Social.
Gay Cop Awarded $30,000 Settlement In Discrimination Lawsuit, But Does He Deserve It?
Gay Cop Awarded $30,000 Settlement In Discrimination Lawsuit, But Does He Deserve It?
Photo source: Michael Acosta/Facebook
Officer Michael Acosta of the The West New York Police Department is about to see a nice bump in his bank account. The town’s board of commissioners just awarded him a $30,000 payout after he accused his supervisor, Robert Antolos, of discrimination.
Acosta is openly gay. (He also happens to be the son of the town’s controversial former deputy mayor.) In a lawsuit first filed back in 2014, he alleged Antolos denied him overtime shifts, filed baseless internal affairs complaints against him and made constant threats towards him all because of his sexual orientation. He was demanding back and front pay, compensatory and emotional distress damages and reasonable costs plus attorney’s fees and punitive damages.
Related: Nefarious Cop Busted For Exposing His Penis To Unsuspecting Male Motorists
Rather than battle it out in court, which would have cost the town an estimated $70,000-$80,000, the board of commissioners opted to throw Acosta $30,000 and call it a day.
But this isn’t the first time they’ve had trouble with the officer. It appears he has a reputation for causing trouble within the department dating all the way back to 2010.
In 2012, Acosta received a 30-day suspension without pay after admitting to “conduct unbecoming of a public employee, neglect of duty, misuse of public property, including motor vehicles, and violation of the department’s rules and regulations.”
Basically, between March 2010 and July 2010, he ran a total of 16 unwarranted “full-disclosure” checks on innocent citizens. A “full-disclosure” check gives an officer total access to a person’s private information, including where they live and their date of birth.
Related: Cute Cop Admits To Signing Up Tea Party Leader On Gay Dating and Porn Websites
The investigation found that Acosta didn’t have any legitimate “law enforcement purposes” for running the checks and that he was doing so “for personal reasons.” What those “personal reasons” were was never actually determined, and many felt his 30-day suspension was far too lenient of a punishment for the then-deputy mayor’s adult son.
In 2014, Acosta again ran into trouble when he was accused of sexually harassing another man at work.
Christian Amaro, a former town Office of Emergency Management employee, filed a lawsuit against the department accusing Acosta of sexually harassing him on multiple occasions. The board of commissioners ended up paying Amaro a $97,000 settlement with no admission of wrongdoing.
Neither Acosta nor his attorney have released a statement on the $30,000 settlement.
Related: Christopher Kohrs, AKA The Hot Cop Of Castro, Arrested For Hit-And-Run Over Holiday Weekend
h/t: Hudson County View
Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel And Hulk Hogan Reportedly Tag Teamed Gawker
Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel And Hulk Hogan Reportedly Tag Teamed Gawker
Let’s get ready to rumble! In this corner, weighing in at 11.7 million unique monthly global readers and an annual revenue of roughly $45 million, Nick Denton and Gawker Media. And in this corner, weighing in at 322lbs, the Hulkamaniac himself, Hulk Hogan…and billionaire gay libertarian Peter Thiel!
Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker continues to make headlines, most recently for some of the behind-the-scenes machinations. Forbes magazine recently reported that Paypal cofounder Thiel secretly paid all of Hogan’s legal expenses in the former pro-wrestler’s suit again the online media company.
Hogan was awarded $140 million back in March in his suit against Gawker after the site posted video of him having sex with a friend’s wife. But it seem likely that this case is personal for Thiel as well:
“Money may not have been the main motivation in the first place. Thiel, who is gay, has made no secret of his distaste for Gawker, which attempted to out him in late 2007 before he was open about his sexuality. In 2009, Thiel told PEHub that now-defunct Silicon Valley-focused publication Valleywag, which was owned by Gawker, had the ‘psychology of a terrorist.’
‘Valleywag is the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda,’ Thiel said at the time.”
Denton had previously speculated to the New York Times that someone in Silicon Valley was bankrolling Hogan’s suit, and this would seem to confirm his hunch.
Gawker has a history of outing people, not to mention what many would consider invasion of privacy. Last summer, the site was universally criticized by both the gay and mainstream press for a post outing a married Condé Nast exec. Denton eventually removed the post, saying he regretted running it.
Moral of the story: don’t cross a queen with deep pockets!
h/t: New York Times
Texas AG Ken Paxton Will Sue Obama Administration Over Transgender Students
Texas AG Ken Paxton Will Sue Obama Administration Over Transgender Students
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will announce a lawsuit against the federal government on Wednesday over the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender students.
Paxton will make the announcement at a press conference at 2 P.M. local time.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will hold a press conference in Austin Wednesday to discuss what he calls a major lawsuit filed by Texas.
It is believed the state will go to court to challenge the Obama administration over its controversial school bathroom directive. Governor Greg Abbott seemed to confirm that speculation on Twitter.
“Texas will sue to stop Obama’s transgender directive to schools. Thanks @KenPaxtonTX #tcot #txlege #PJNET,” he wrote.
Texas will sue to stop Obama’s transgender directive to schools. Thanks @KenPaxtonTX #tcot #txlege #PJNET t.co/O7GjxvolD2
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 25, 2016
The suit is an attempt to ensure Texas can ignore the federal government’s directive on transgender bathroom policies. The guidance, emailed to schools across the country earlier this month, does not carry the force of law but delivered the message that denying students access to the bathroom that best matches their gender identity could come at the price of losing federal dollars.
The legal challenge follows weeks of consternation in Texas over which bathrooms transgender students and adults should use, including insistence from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick the legislature tackle that issue next legislative session.
North Carolina also announced it would sue the federal government over the administration’s guidance on transgender students, a move which triggered the Department of Justice to countersue the Tar Heel State.
Paxton is currently under indictment on charges of securities fraud.
The post Texas AG Ken Paxton Will Sue Obama Administration Over Transgender Students appeared first on Towleroad.
Anne Hathaway and James Corden Get Shady in Hilarious Rap Battle – WATCH
Anne Hathaway and James Corden Get Shady in Hilarious Rap Battle – WATCH
Anne Hathaway and James Corden faced off for a rap battle on Tuesday night and the tea being served was scalding.
Corden opened with a light offensive: “The only cat woman I acknowledge is Halle Berry.” To which Hathaway retorted, “A ‘cat woman’ diss, gosh, what do I do? I can’t make fun of you, James, ‘cuz no one’s heard of you!” Referencing one of Corden’s late night competitors, Hathaway rapped, “I’m like your wife, I watch Seth Meyers instead.”
Corden came back with a Devil Wears Prada burn: “Call me Meryl Streep, ‘cuz you my assistant. This isn’t just for me it’s for the whole UK, mad at your awful British accent in the movie One Day.”
But Hathaway came through to Hatha-slay: “I was hated and shaded, but now I’ve been liberated. Now you know what it’s like to get Hatha-slayed.”
Watch, below.
The post Anne Hathaway and James Corden Get Shady in Hilarious Rap Battle – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Leading National Groups Call on Legislators to Reject Appalling Attacks on Transgender Children
Leading National Groups Call on Legislators to Reject Appalling Attacks on Transgender Children
As state lawmakers continue to attack transgender children with outrageous and shameful bills, four leading national health, education and child advocacy groups have added their names to HRC’s letter calling on state lawmakers and governors across the nation to reject the discriminatory bills being promoted in state legislatures targeting transgender children and their fundamental rights.
The American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; the Association of Title IX Administrators; and the National Association of Secondary School Principals have signed the open letter, joining the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American Counseling Association; the American School Counselor Association; the Child Welfare League of America; the National Association of School Psychologists; the National Association of Social Workers; and the National Education Association. The letter expresses grave concerns about and objections to the flurry of bills attacking one of our nation’s most vulnerable youth populations.
“In cities and states across our country, transgender youth are being targeted and attacked by lawmakers who were elected to serve and protect,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Rather than legislating hate and discrimination, elected officials should listen to this broad chorus of nonpartisan experts speaking out against dangerous bills that only exacerbate the violence, bullying and harassment the most vulnerable of our society already experience on a daily basis.”
The 11 groups represent nearly five million members across the country.
Since state legislatures began meeting this year, more than thirty bills have been introduced seeking to deny transgender students access to appropriate restrooms and locker rooms, and preventing them from playing on sports teams that are consistent with their gender identity. This type of needless and mean-spirited legislation would put school districts directly at odds with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, which have asserted for years that, under Title IX, school districts cannot discriminate against students based on their gender identity, including in access to sex-segregated facilities and activities. That position was confirmed by the guidance released recently from both departments in response to questions from educators seeking more information about best practices from around the country. This type of needless and mean-spirited legislation places school districts at risk of losing federal funding and opens up school districts to lawsuits and other liability for infringing on these students’ federally protected civil rights.
A survey by the HRC Foundation found that three-quarters of transgender students feel unsafe in school settings. This startling number will only rise if discriminatory bills continue to target these young people.
Vermont Joins Growing Number of Jurisdictions Protecting LGBTQ Kids from “Conversion Therapy”
Vermont Joins Growing Number of Jurisdictions Protecting LGBTQ Kids from “Conversion Therapy”
Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed Senate Bill 132 into law, making Vermont the eighth jurisdiction—behind California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Washington D.C., and Cincinnati—to protect LGBTQ youth from the dangers of “conversion therapy.”
Senate Bill 132, which protects LGBTQ youth from mental health providers attempting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through practices that are linked to substance abuse, extreme depression, and suicide, was approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives in April. The law will go into effect July 1, 2016.
“We are thrilled that Vermont has joined the rapidly growing number of states leading the way to protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy,” said the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Youth Policy Counsel Carolyn Reyes. “Vermont families can now have confidence that the mental health professional they turn to in times of uncertainty may not use their state license to profit from their children’s pain. Most importantly, Vermont children can now rest easy in the knowledge that they cannot be forced or coerced to undergo dangerous and discredited treatments to try to change who they are. Today brings us one step closer to the day when all LGBTQ youth know they were born perfect.”
Said HRC President Chad Griffin: “No young person should be subjected to this extremely harmful and discredited practice, which medical professionals agree not only doesn’t work, but can also have life-threatening consequences. It is nothing short of child abuse. We thank Governor Shumlin and the Vermont State Legislature for prioritizing the well-being and safety of our nation’s youth, and remain committed to working with our partners to ensure that this quackery is banned from coast to coast.”
NCLR, HRC, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Pride Center Vermont, and Outright Vermont played a key role in organizing the coalition behind the bill. A broad range of groups supported Senate Bill 132, including national LGBTQ organizations and civil rights organizations.
NCLR and HRC are at the forefront of efforts to protect youth and their families from “conversion therapy,” and work closely with legislators and state leaders across the country to introduce bills protecting youth from these dangerous practices.
In February, NCLR, HRC, and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a historic federal consumer fraud complaint against a major provider of “conversion therapy,” urging the Federal Trade Commission to take enforcement action against the organization and all practitioners engaging in similar fraudulent advertising and business practices.
For more information about the dangers of “conversion therapy” and NCLR’s #BornPerfect campaign visit www.NCLRights.org/BornPerfect or HRC’s resource page
