Tag Archives: Congress

57+ LGBT Candidates Are Running For Congress

57+ LGBT Candidates Are Running For Congress

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Via AXIOS

A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for all levels of office this year, motivated in part by red states passing scores of laws targeting LGBTQ people. LGBTQ voters are among the fastest-growing parts of the electorate, and also have higher turnout than other voters. Yet there are only 11 out LGBTQ lawmakers serving in Congress. At least 104 LGBTQ candidates have mounted campaigns for House or Senate seats this year. Some of those campaigns have already ended, but as of last week, 57 candidates are still actively running, according to data provided to Axios by the Victory Fund, which supports and tracks LGBTQ leaders.

It’s a very safe bet that most f these are ‘blue’ in affiliation as the GOP doesn’t recognize GAY. BUT Bisexual Krysten Sinema has proved that wrong in the past. So just to be safe. RESEARCH BEFORE YOU VOTE.

FMaxine Waters Puts Jim Jordan In His Place: "You need to respect the Chair and shut your mouth!

Auntie Maxine Waters Puts Jim Jordan In His Place: “You need to respect the Chair and shut your mouth!” – VIDEO

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Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and the nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci got into a heated exchange Thursday over the country’s Covid-19 mitigation measures, which ended with Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters telling the over=the-top “Gym Jordan” to “shut your mouth.”

The scandal riddled Jordan, asked Fauci when the nation can begin relaxing physical distancing measures and mask-wearing — posing it as a question as to when Americans will regain their “freedom and liberties”.

“We had 15 days of ‘slow the spread’ turn into one year of lost liberty,” Jordan said. “What metrics, what measures, what has to happen before Americans get more freedoms back?”

“You’re indicating liberty and freedom. I look at it as a public health measure to prevent people from dying and going to the hospital,” Fauci countered. “This will end, for sure, when we get the level of infection very low. It is now at such a high level, there is a threat again of major surges.”

This back and forth went on for almost 10 minutes. Jordan demanding an exact date COVID restrictions would be lifted and Fauci telling Jordan “You’re making this a personal thing and it isn’t.” “It’s not a personal thing,” Jordan fired back. “No, you are,” Fauci said, sounding exasperated. “That is exactly what you’re doing.”

When Jordan tried to continue questioning after being told multiple times that his time had expired Maxine Waters interjected from across the room. “You need to respect the chair and shut your mouth,” she told Jordan. Later in the hearing, when Jordan asked Fauci the same questions and griped whether Americans would be wearing masks two years from now, Fauci told the congressman he was “ranting.”

That Jim Jordan is a real loud mouth. That is unless you go to Ohio State University and are a wrester and tell him that the team Doctor is molesting them. Then Jim Jordan won’t say a word.

Former Trump HomoCON Richard Grenell Throws Shade At New Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete

Former Trump HomoCON Richard Grenell Throws Shade At New Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete. Twitter Was Not Having It.

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Richard Grenell the former appointed acting director of national intelligence (DNI) by Donald Trump took to Twitter yesterday to show the world what a petty stupid queen she is when she attempted to throw shade at Mayor Pete Buttigieg the first openly gay man to receive Congressional approval for his appointment to his new position of Secretary of Transportation.

Needless to say LGBT and straight ally Twitter was not having any of it.

Self-loathing "Ex-Gays" To Lobby Congress Against The Equality Act

Self-loathing “Ex-Gays” To Lobby Congress Against The Equality Act

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Via a press release from the very un-christian, Christian Newswire::

“Formers” (those who no longer identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning) representing every state in the Union have selected 15 Former LGBTQ people to travel to Washington, D.C. October 28 – November 1 to address concerns about LGBTQ-focused legislation such as bill H.R. 5, which passed in the House in May.

Although dubbed “The Equality Act,” Formers understand the bill is an unnecessary concession to the false idea that members of the gay community are marginalized. In fact, LGBTQ-identifying people have always had options in how they participate in broader culture. Nothing constrains them from participating in culture on a normal level.

Unlike with the African American community, who have centuries of culturally driven abuse and forced destabilization, those who identify as LGBTQ have been empowered in our modern society as scientists, literary giants, and even politicians when they have chosen not to prioritize their sexual mores.

America does not need anti-discrimination laws or bans against treatment for those seeking to live out their faith biblically; we need a renewed belief in the dignity and beauty of all of humanity in its diversity. America CAN model for the world what it looks like to value one another despite our differences without government intrusion or enforcement.

For Formers, bills like H.R. 5 block our rights to follow our own convictions. It enforces the false belief that one cannot change and that one has no choice but to embrace LGBTQ identity and behaviors.

So 15 Former LGBTQ people will travel to Washington, D.C. October 28 – November 1.

We’ll be sure to check GRINDR and SCRUFF for their arrival.

19 Attorney Generals Petition Congress To Protect Transgender Military Personnel

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The top legal officers in 18 states and the District of Columbia have asked Congress to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender service members. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin sent the letter dated Thursday in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement, via Twitter a day earlier, that he would ban transgender people in the military.

The letter asks the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees to reaffirm in legislation that transgender people may not be banned from serving in the military. It urges lawmakers to include transgender protections in the National Defense Authorization Act. Eighteen other attorneys general, who like Chin are all Democrats, also signed the document.

The president’s position would put in place a policy that “violates fundamental constitutional and American values,” the attorneys general said. “The new ban harms our states’ transgender residents and marginalizes an entire group of people based solely on gender identity,” the letter said.

Attorneys general from the following joined Hawaii in signing the letter: California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. –  via The AP

 

“All the Attorney General’s who signed were Democrats.”  Anyone shocked by this?

 

Chechnya Ramps Up Gay Concentration Camp Pogram, 100 Detained and 3 Dead

Congress Finally Passes Resolution Condemning Gay Purge and Torture In Chechnya – [TEXT]

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The United States Congress passed a bipartisan resolution on Tuesday condemning anti-gay persecution and violence in Chechnya.

House resolution 351 was introduced on May 23 by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who has an out transgender son and is a frequent advocate for LGBT rights. Ros-Lehtinen is also a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus.

The resolution calls on the Russian Federation to investigate and halt the reported state violence against gay men in Chechnya and asks the United States government to “demand the release of individuals wrongly detained.”

After the resolution passed, Ros-Lehtinen had strong words for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We will continue to stand united with the LGBT community and shine a bright light on these atrocities, which are encouraged by the evil Putin regime in Russia, in order to help ensure that those who are responsible for these crimes are held to account for their despicable actions,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

Men who escaped the reported anti-gay persecution campaign in Chechnya fled to Russia, telling reporters and human rights organizations the harrowing details of the abuses they’d faced at the hands of what they believed were police and the military.

“They dragged me out of the car, started to beat me, humiliate me,” said a Chechen man named Ilya in an interview with French news agency Agence-France Presse (AFP). “They were saying that I was a faggot, a gay person and that such people shouldn’t exist in Chechnya.

“It is now up to President Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson, and our United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley to follow through on the consensus of the House,” LGBT Equality Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Alan Lowenthal said, “and bring as much domestic and international political pressure as possible on the Russian government to rein in these deplorable human rights violations.”

 

 

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. RES. 351

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 23, 2017

 (for herself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Issa, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Royce of California, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. Norton, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Takano, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Titus, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Dent, Ms. Brownley of California, Ms. Speier, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. MacArthur, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Cook, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Sires, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. Donovan, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Coffman, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Deutch, and Mr. Schneider) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION:

Condemning the violence and persecution in Chechnya.

Whereas, on April 1, 2017, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that authorities in Chechnya, a republic of the Russian Federation, had abducted, detained, and tortured over 100 men due to their actual or suspected sexual orientation;

Whereas multiple independent and first-hand accounts have subsequently corroborated the Novaya Gazeta report, and describe a campaign of persecution by Chechen officials against men due to their actual or suspected sexual orientation;

Whereas, as a result of this persecution, at least three deaths have been reported and many individuals have been forced to flee Chechnya;

Whereas Chechen officials have denied the existence of such persecution, including through a statement by the spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that You cannot arrest or repress people who don’t exist in the republic.;

Whereas the same spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov has also stated that If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return, and credible reports indicate that Chechen authorities have encouraged families to carry out so-called honor killings of relatives due to their actual or suspected sexual orientation;

Whereas Chechnya is a constituent republic of the Russian Federation and subject to its laws, and Ramzan Kadyrov was installed as the leader of Chechnya by Russian President Vladimir Putin;

Whereas Chechen authorities have a long history of violating the fundamental human rights of their citizens, including through extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, and torture of government critics;

Whereas Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports of persecution in Chechnya and termed them phantom complaints;

Whereas Russia’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Tatyana Moskalkova, has also claimed that such reports should not be believed because formal complaints have not been registered with the appropriate authorities;

Whereas the Russian Federation is a participating State of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and thus has agreed to guarantee the fundamental human rights of all of its citizens;

Whereas, on April 7, 2017, the United States Department of State issued a statement saying We categorically condemn the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation and urging the Government of the Russian Federation to take steps to ensure the release of all those wrongfully detained in Chechnya, and to conduct a credible investigation of the reports; and

Whereas, on April 17, 2017, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued a statement saying Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations, hold anyone involved accountable, and take steps to prevent future abuses. We are against all forms of discrimination, including against people based on sexual orientation. When left unchecked, discrimination and human rights abuses can lead to destabilization and conflict.: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives—

(1) condemns the violence and persecution in Chechnya and calls on Chechen officials to immediately cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses;
(2) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to protect the human rights of all its citizens, condemn the violence and persecution, investigate these crimes in Chechnya, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses;
(3) calls on the United States Government to continue to condemn the violence and persecution in Chechnya and demand the release of individuals wrongfully detained; and
(4) affirms that the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression and freedom from extrajudicial detention and violence are universal human rights that apply to all persons, and that countries that fail to respect these rights jeopardize the security and prosperity of all their citizens.

Apple Corp, Dow Chemical, and Levi Strauss Come Out In Support of The Equality Act

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Gay USA

Earlier this week we posted about Democrats Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Cory Booker of New Jersey who will be introducing legislation in Congress today to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal laws to protect LGBT Americans from discrimination.

The Equality Act would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include employment protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Religious beliefs, race, sex, color, and national origin are already protected classes. The bill would not change existing religious exemptions for religious corporations, schools, and associations to make hiring decisions based on religious beliefs if the employee will be performing work connected with their religious activities.

Today three of America’s largest businesses came out in support for the upcoming legislation:

STATEMENT BY APPLE – “At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. We fully support the expansion of legal protections as a matter of basic human dignity.”

STATEMENT BY THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY – “Dow applauds the introduction of the Equality Act and continues to support a comprehensive federal framework that ensures fairness and opportunity for everyone. Full inclusion of our LGBT colleagues and citizens is quite simply the right thing to do – for business and for society.”

STATEMENT BY LEVI STRAUSS & CO. – “Levi Strauss & Co. is proud to support the Equality Act. We have a long history of supporting LGBT equality, and the time has come in this country for full, federal equality for the LGBT community. Ensuring fairness in our workplaces and communities is both the right thing to do and simply good business.”

Like ENDA, (The Employment Non-Discrimination Act) the Equality Act will see little traction in either GOP-dominated chamber and is on track for passage in 6 – 10 years.

 

Former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s Sexual Abuse Victim Identified

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Hastert

ABC News reports:

In Steve Reinboldt’s 1970 high school yearbook, wrestling coach Dennis Hastert wrote that Steve was his “great, right hand man” as the student equipment manager of the Yorkville, Illinois wrestling team. But Steve was also a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Hastert, Steve’s sister said today in an interview with ABC News. It is the first time an alleged Hastert victim has been identified by name since his indictment for lying to the FBI and violating federal banking laws to cover-up past misconduct. Hastert, due in court next week, has not responded to the allegations. In an emotional interview, Steve Reinboldt’s sister Jolene said she first learned of her late brother’s purported years-long sexual abuse at the hands of the future Speaker of the House back in 1979 when her older brother revealed to her that he was gay and had been out of high school for eight years. “I asked him, when was your first same sex experience. He looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert,’” Jolene said. “I was stunned.

Steve Reinboldt passed away from AIDS in 1995.

Sadly, justice will never happen, which is a true tragedy.

Congressional Democrats To Introduce Federal LGBT Rights Bill

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Hell Freezing over.

 

Congressional Democrats said Monda said that they will push and introduce federal legislation to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians in states that lack broad non-discrimination laws.

Via USA Today:

It’s time for Congress to weigh in on what is happening across the country,” said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. “The recent examples of legislation in Indiana and Arkansas are not where we are as a country. It’s not who we are as Americans. And Congress needs to lead on this.” .” “In the wake of the backlash of Indiana’s misguided law, it is clear that the vast majority of Americans oppose this type of discrimination,” Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana said Monday. Carson plans to introduce a nonbinding resolution this week expressing lawmakers’ view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, businesses, schools and elsewhere.

Carson plans to introduce a nonbinding resolution this week expressing lawmakers’ view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, businesses, schools and elsewhere.

The resolution is intended as a prelude to legislation to be introduced later this spring by Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island.

 “Most Americans would be surprised to learn that, in most states, a gay couple can be married on Saturday, post photos of their wedding on Sunday and then be fired on Monday for no reason other than the fact that they are gay,” said Cicilline

The bill Cicilline plans to introduce will be a broad civil rights measure, fashioned after the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would protect the LGBT community from discrimination in housing, public spaces, schools, the workplace and other areas. So far there has been no mention of any religious exemptions and how exactly the Democrats plan to pass such an pro=lgbt legislation in the Republican controlled House and Senate.

Ever notice how the Democrats never introduce legislation like this when they are in control of Congress?

Feel good Dem Legislature that has no chance in hell of passing.  Good PR for the upcoming 2016 elections though.

#JustSaying

Republican Human Rights Subcommittee Chair: “Gay Rights Are Not Human Rights.”

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chris smith

 

Republican Congressman Chris Smith  the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights this week shocked and outraged many when he loudly announced that gay rights are not human rights during a hearing he chaired on Nigeria.

. “I am a strong believer in traditional marriage and I do not construe homosexual rights as human rights,” Smith said. He also suggested that the Obama administration’s “views on LGBT rights affected or hindered our support for Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram.”

New Jersey LGBT activist Jay Lassiter who is a constituent of Smith’s framed the anti-gay Congressman’s comments, noting that in “Chris Smith’s world we don’t construe gays rights with human rights, but we do conflate supporting gays with somehow enabling terrorism.”

Smith recently  accepted $10,000 in donations from the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council in 2014.

Source:  The New Civil Rights Movement