Brian Kemp reiterated his support of anti-LGBTQ “religious freedom” legislation just as a gay Republican group endorsed the newly-named GOP gubernatorial nominee. Kemp signed a pledge to support “religious freedom” legislation last year. He stood by it at a Republican “unity rally” on Thursday after trouncing Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the GOP runoff for governor. “My position on RFRA is not going to change. I’m not going to change,” Kemp told the AJC.
Former House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who faces Kemp in the November general election, strongly opposes the legislation. As Kemp won the runoff on Tuesday, Georgia Log Cabin Republicans endorsed him – the first candidate for governor the group has endorsed in its 23-year history.
“We would like to congratulate Brian Kemp on his hard-fought win tonight,” the group wrote in a press release. “We offer him our full endorsement and look forward to working hard to help him win in November against radical liberal Stacey Abrams.”
Kemp has said that if he is elected governor, he would sign a “religious freedom and restoration bill” similar to the ones Gov. Nathan Deal has twice vetoed if came before him.
A homophobic Russian election video posted on Facebook his making many in the LGBT community irate because of the presence a gay man included the the video that shows the parade of terrors caused by not voting.
The video, watched more than 3 million times on Facebook, is set on the night before Russia’s March 18 election, in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be reelected easily.
A Russian husband dismisses his his wife’s desire to vote in the election, and says that her vote does not matter before he falls asleep and begins to dream.
The waking nightmare he finds himself in the next morning because of his apathy includes walking to the kitchen to find a “gay on a homestay,” part of a program where Russian families are forced to support LGBT people who don’t have partners.
The gay man, seen eating a banana, later appears in bed next to the clip’s middle aged protagonist before he wakes up.
Other “evils” pointed out by Russia viewers included military conscription for those up to 60 years old, a black man in the military, reminders of a Soviet youth program, massive inflation and rationed time to use the toilet.
Ksenia Sobchak, the daughter of Putin’s mentor and television personality who is running for president, condemned the video as an “incitement and humiliation of those in the minority. My opinion is that it’s possible to joke about everyone. About Hitler, and about gays. But to show LGBT as a threat in a homophobic country. It is no longer a joke.”
Sobchak also added that she believed the video, widely watched on the page of political analyst Alexander Kazakov, was financed by the Putin campaign.
On February 16, the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Mueller issued an indictment against 13 Russian nationals, along with the Russian entity the Internet Research Agency (IRA), charging them with defrauding the United States and interfering in the 2016 presidential election campaign. The indictment notes, according to CNN, “The defendants allegedly posed as US persons, created false US personas, and operated social media pages and groups designed to attract US audiences.”
In particular, the indictment says that “defendants and their co-conspirators also began to promote allegations of voter fraud by the Democratic Party through” those “fictitious” accounts. According to the indictment, one of those Twitter accounts, @TEN_GOP, had tweeted on November 2, 2016: “#VoterFraud by counting tens of thousands of ineligible mail in Hillary votes being reported in Broward County, Florida.”
That same day, The Gateway Pundit, a far-right, pro-Trump blog known for repeatedly pushing misinformation, published an article that prominently featured that tweet and hyped its allegation. Thanks to The Gateway Pundit’s article, @TEN_GOP’s tweet was indirectly shared on multiple conservative and pro-Trump Facebook groups (including at least one supposedly based in Florida), along with a Facebook page of a South Carolina talk radio station.
This is not the only instance in which The Gateway Pundit cited an IRA-linked account. The site also regularly cited another Russian account post-2016 election to support and defend President Donald Trump and criticize Democrats.
A special message from us at Back2Stonewall to Lucian Wintrich and the Gateway Pundit.
se·di·tion səˈdiSH(ə)n/ conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.
18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall eachbe fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army private who was convicted of passing sensitive government documents to Wikileaks, has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, according to federal election filings.
Manning, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, would be challenging Democrat Ben Cardin, who has served two terms in the Senate and is up for re-election in November. Cardin is Maryland’s senior senator and is considered an overwhelming favorite to win a third term.
Manning, 30, who is formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Last year, then President Obama commuted Manning’s sentence to time served and she was released from a military prison in Kansas.
Manning’s filing was received January 11, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Donald Trump slammed Manning’s release statement on Twitter and described her as an “ungrateful TRAITOR” who “never should have been released from prison.”
With Republican Piyush “Bobby” Jindal term limiting out of his job as Louisiana Governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards won the runoff election for Louisiana governor last night, defeating , Republican “Diaper” David Vitter, and handing the Democrats their first statewide victory since 2008.
Each runoff contender sought to tie his opponent to an unpopular figure in Louisiana: Edwards claimed Vitter would represent a “Jindal third term,” while Vitter tagged Edwards as an “Obama liberal.”
But the rabidly anti-gay Vitter was also hit with repeated attacks for a 2007 prostitution scandal in which he apologized for a “serious sin” after he was linked through phone records to Washington’s “D.C. Madam.” Also Vitter had been conducting a lengthy affair with a New Orleans prostitute. (It was later revealed by one of his call girls that Vitter liked to be dressed in diapers during his sessions. (See diaper story here). In typical hypocritical Republican “Family Values” fashion however, Vitter failed to resign his seat after having called upon to do so.) Vitter also had trouble uniting Republicans after a blistering primary competition in which Vitter trashed two GOP rivals and received heavy criticism for his scorched-earth political style. And his campaign was accused of ethical improprieties after allegations it secretly recorded political opponents.
Edwards’ win offered a rare pick-up of a governor’s seat for Democrats in the conservative Deep South. After his loss, Vitter immediately announced that he wouldn’t seek re-election to the U.S. Senate next year, creating a new competition for what had been a safe GOP seat.
Vitter also announced he will began looking for a Nanny.
The guys of Full Frontal Freedom understand the importance of motivating the LGBT community to vote in midterm elections, so they asked all of the hottest gay YouTubers to come tell us how much they love to vote!
GET OUT AND VOTE!
Special thanks to all the boys who made the video.
Colby Melvin on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/ColbyJ88 or on twitter and Instagram @colbymelvin
Openly gay Massachusetts state Representative Carl Sciortino has announced that he will be running for the US Fifth Congressional House of Representatives seat currently held by Rep. Edward Markety, who is running for US Senate in a special election to replace Sen. John Kerry, who was recently appointed Secretary of State by President Barack Obama.
Here is Sciortino’s full announcement:
MEDFORD, MA – Today, Massachusetts State Representative Carl Sciortino (D – 34th Middlesex) announced his candidacy for the Commonwealth’s Fifth Congressional District.
“I am running to continue the strong progressive leadership that the families of the Fifth District have always counted on,” said Sciortino. “I look forward to bringing my record of accomplishment to Washington to fight for our progressive values.”
The Fifth Congressional District is currently represented by Rep. Edward Markey of Malden, the frontrunner in the special election to replace Sen. John Kerry, who was recently appointed Secretary of State by President Barack Obama.
“I am proud to call Ed Markey my Congressman and I am dedicated to helping elect him as our next U.S. Senator,” said Rep. Sciortino. “His record on behalf of Massachusetts families – fighting for jobs, consumers’ rights, and a healthier environment— is the kind of leadership Massachusetts needs in the Senate and it is a record I look forward to continuing in Congress.”
A leading progressive voice, Rep. Sciortino was first elected in 2004, upsetting a 14-year incumbent at age 25. One of the Commonwealth’s seven openly-gay legislators, Sciortino is the leading voice for LGBT rights on Beacon Hill, championing the fight for marriage equality and co-authoring the 2011 Transgender Equal Rights Bill. In 2007, Sciortino co-authored the bill which created the 35-foot buffer zone that protects the entrances to women’s reproductive health centers. He has led the fight to close corporate tax loopholes and make the state’s minimum wage the highest in the nation.
Rep. Sciortino, a graduate of Tufts University, represents the 34th Middlesex District, including parts of Medford and Somerville. He resides in Medford with his fiancé. To learn more or get involved, visit www.carlforcongress.com.
Sciortino a progressive Democrat has been an advocate for a range of issues related to social and economic justice, including raising the minimum wage, closing corporate tax loopholes, passing Massachusetts’ landmark universal healthcare law, pushing for improvements in education & testing policies, and increasing access to public transportation. He has received numerous distinctions for his work including being awarded as the “Best of the New” by Boston Globe Magazine and “Legislator of the Year” by the National Association of Social Workers and the Mass Association of School Psychologists.
Sciortino has also served as Massachusetts State Director of the Young Elected Officials Network for two terms, and has been active in the Network since its inception in 2006. Prior to serving in the legislature, Carl worked in the public health field in the area of HIV/AIDS research management.
Back2Stonewall endorses Carl Sciortino for Congress
But bear in mind though. These are the same people who predicted an all -inclusive ENDA in 2010 and that DOMA would have been overturned in Obama’s first term. (Also please note how they left out the T-rans Community altogether in the below info)
Total Americans voting 120,871,984
Total LGB voters (5% of electorate) 6,043,599
President Obama’s national popular vote (51% of all voters) 62,088,847
President Obama’s national popular vote margin over Mitt Romney 3,305,710
LGB votes for President Obama (76% of total LGB votes) 4,593,136
President Obama’s LGB votes if the demographic group only voted for him at the national average of 51% 3,082,235
Additional LGB votes President Obama received above the 51% national average 1,510,901
Percent of President Obama’s national popular vote margin due to LGB voters 45.7%
Other than the fact that there is really no possible way to get exact information on this it is totally disingenuous of HRC to imply that the LGB community did it all by themselves. Not to mention that Gay Inc. has once again insulted and left out the Transgender Community.
THIS has been a major problem with HRC since its inception that it lives in a rich white gay vacuum and has absolutely no concept or intention of working together with other groups progressive coalitions to win Equality.
The election poll of 6,625 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) United States citizens was administered November 2-4, 2012 and responses were received from all 50 states. LGBTs represent an estimated 5% of United States voters and an overwhelming majority supported the coalition that produced Barack Obama’s victory. 90% support for Obama was seen in all Battleground States and the percentage was similar to the level that Obama received from the African-American community.
Final data indicated that 90% supported Barack Obama, 6% for Mitt Romney and 4% a third-party candidate.
Previously both GOProud and Log Cabin Republicans have stated that at least 25-30% of the LGBT population vote a Republican ticket.
