Tag Archives: North Carolina

Why We Should All Watch Attorney General’s Incredible Speech On Trans Rights

Attorney General Loretta Lynch – the first black woman to hold the job – has just elevated the profile of the Justice Department with the potentially epic clash with North Carolina over its new bathroom law.

In suing the state (where she was born and raised) for discriminating against transgender people, Lynch invoked the defining civil rights struggles of the last century and made clear that the federal government sees its dispute with North Carolina as about far more than bathrooms and showers.

At a news conference this week, she announced the lawsuit, and said directly addressed North Carolina residents

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, friends and colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past. Let us reflect on the obvious but neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good and never works in hindsight.”

Her remarks, in unusually forceful and personal language, came as North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory refused to back down over a law that requires transgender people to use the public restroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.

The Justice Department says the measure violates civil rights laws and is seeking a court order to block it.

Daily Juice: North Carolina’s Governor Sues The Feds. The Feds Sued Back. Ruby Rose New Love Interest

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and the federal government are suing each other in a growing battle over the state’s anti-LGBTQ law.

Hollywood Gossip has concluded that Ruby Rose and Nina Dobrev (currently filming xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) are dating.

Going as far as to say

Nina Dobrev is reportedly taking a break from penis and found her soul mate in Ruby Rose”

Classy

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To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth the BBC are delivering a queer take on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

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The Daily Life is asking “Why would you bother ‘coming out’ as queer while in a heterosexual relationship?”

And Stockholm’s traffic lights now sing Eurovision songs at you – Brilliant

‘Funny Or Die’ Is Back To Totally Mock North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT ‘Bathroom Bill’ (Video)

The folks at Funny or Die are back, this time mocking North Carolina’s HB2 with an “official” bathroom cop training video.

Officer Tammy Cox of the Bathroom Police shares with people the dos and don’ts when it comes to ensuring the safety of public restrooms (a.k.a. “porcelain sanctuaries”) everywhere.

She asks how to tell if someone is “harbouring any suspicious genitals on their person”.

While the concept of checking someone’s genitals in a public restroom is absurd enough to be the basis of a comedy skit, it isn’t so far from the truth in various recent incidents.

https://www.facebook.com/funnyordie/videos/10154115769373851/

Rain Dove Proves North Carolina’s House Bill 2 Hurts More Than The Trans Community

A wide range of people – from musicians to politicians – are taking a stand against North Carolina’s House Bill 2.

Thankfully, one of the most outspoken is activist Rain Dove.

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The androgynous supermodel has released a short video on Facebook about discriminatory new laws.

With almost half a million views in one day, an essay that dismantles the bill accompanies the video.

Dove begins the essay by writing

DISCOVERY! HB2 IS NO LONGER VALID OR ENFORCEABLE! As of TODAY this minute-this very second that you read this the discriminatory ‘bathroom’ part of the bill can’t be upheld! Here’s why North Carolina’s HB2 Law is NOT VALID.”


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Dove goes onto explain that North Carolina does not have a statute requiring an individual to give their ID when approached by police.

The only circumstance that would allow for an officer to be able to take your birth certificate or ID force fully (whether you like it or not) would be if you are driving a vehicle or REASONABLY SUSPICIOUS of committing a crime.”

The essay highlights how law enforcement officers, as well as the general public, cannot decide if someone is of the “right sex” to use the restroom. Dove states that doing so is “called PROFILING” and also notes that

In 2014 Eric Holder BANNED Racial, Religious, and Gender profiling in the United States for Federal Officers as a technique to determine ‘potential guilt’. It’s called ‘Gender’ Profiling and not “Sex” Profiling because Sex refers to your sexual organs and/or birth certificate status. Gender refers to ‘the state of being’ aka your energy, aesthetics, clothing, voice, hair style – the you that is you.”

Watch the video below:

https://www.facebook.com/raindovemodel/videos/1798127703749354/

Another Queer Woman Harassed For Using The Women’s Restroom

With all of the hysteria surrounding bathroom bills, it was only a matter of time until citizens started taking the matter into their own hands.

On Thursday, Jessica Rush was at the Baylor Medical Center to get her two broken fingers examined. While she was waiting to be seen, she decided to use the restroom – a decision which turned into a dramatic encounter when a man in the waiting room followed her to bathroom, believing she was a man.

Rush posted on Facebook that the man came into the bathroom at Baylor Medical Center at Frisco, after her because he thought she was a man.

Rush was able to record the tail end of the encounter on her phone.

“You didn’t look like a girl when I saw you enter so I thought you was—” the man said in the video.

“A boy?” Rush said.

“Yeah, and I was kind of confused. It’s difficult, you’re dressed like a man.”

https://www.facebook.com/l7weenie/videos/10205678617554807/

Talking to Mashable, Rush said

I was panicked. Any woman’s first instincts of a guy walking straight into a bathroom are it could be anything, getting robbed, attacked or raped.”

Rush, who said she was wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts at the time, was able to film some of the interaction to show to her wife in the waiting room, and eventually posted it to Facebook.

The man then walked away, but later in the lobby of the hospital, where Rush was waiting to have her broken fingers fitted with a cast, he explained he followed Rush because his elderly mother needed to use the women’s bathroom and he was concerned about her safety.

I was confused when I see someone entering the woman bathroom looking like a man. I was going to make sure she was going to the right place.”

https://www.facebook.com/l7weenie/videos/10205678820639884/

Rush said this incident is nothing new for her, and in fact happens “all the time,” but said this is the first instance she’s been able to document.

She said she understands the safety concerns of parents who oppose bathroom bills that allow trans individuals to use the bathrooms of their choice (Rush is not transgender nor is she transitioning), but she said a woman being followed into the restroom by a man is also a matter of safety.

There should be safety all around, not just for one side. We’re all humans, we all have to use the restroom and in the end this is insane that it’s coming down to this.”

Rush said the incident has opened her eyes to the challenges faced by trans people. She said she isn’t angry about what happened, but instead hopes her experience will bring attention to the issue.

I’m trying to raise awareness in a positive way. Even if it was an honest mistake, one way or another we can all learn from this.”

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Lesbian Forcibly Removed From Women’s Bathroom By Poilce

A video has been posted on Facebook of a gay woman being harassed and forced to leave a public restroom because the police insist she’s a man.

In the video, the woman is asked by police to leave the women’s restroom. She points out she’s a woman, and not going anywhere.

The police ask for her ID. She says she doesn’t have one.

“Then out!” says the cop. “You got no ID, then get out!”

Police forcibly remove her from the bathroom, while her female companions curse them.

The posted states

Is this what “Make America Great Again” means? This makes me very sad and I want no part of this irrational fear. I mean, you can’t think of a 1000 ways these laws will be used as an excuse to harass, humiliate, and arrest people? SMDH

Watch below;

https://www.facebook.com/RealBlackHair/videos/1041393762599408/

Rihanna Supports Gay Fan To Come Out, Plus Cara Delevingne Rocks Superhero-Inspired Gown To CinemaCon

For the past month Rihanna has been helping one of her navy come out of the closet. The singer took the time to give heartfelt advice on Twitter to the fan who had been struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.

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Cara Delevingne was getting into the spirit of things as she helped promote the DC Comics Suicide Squad at the Warner Bros. presentation during CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week. The supermodel-turned-actress was rocking a superhero inspired look.

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Great news. Vietnam’s lesbian themed film ‘White Valentine’ is set to be screened in US – according to reports, screening starting April 15 at five AMC Theatres in the US.

 

Porn site bans North Carolina users over anti-LGBT laws,

However now the North Carolina Governor has issued an order attempting to water down the state’s new laws(… but don’t expect a miracle).

And the White House declined to rule out federal funds being cut off in states with anti-LGBT laws.

Also 95 Mississippi authors condemn anti-LGBT law

The Fight Goes On: Hillary Clinton Condemns ‘Outrageous’ Anti-LGBT Laws In New Campaign Video

The US presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton, has criticised LGBT discrimination laws (and views) that still exists in certain parts of the US.

The fight goes onEvery American deserves to live free from discrimination—no matter who they are or who they love.

Posted by Hillary Clinton on Sunday, 10 April 2016


In a response to the recent anti-LGBT law changes in Mississippi and North Carolina, Clinton’s new video pulls together her comments on LGBT rights and the bigotry often faced by the community.

I’ll fight to end discrimination wherever it occurs. It is outrageous that in 2015 you can still be fired for being gay, you can still lose your home for being gay, you can even be denied a wedding cake for being gay, and this kind of discrimination goes against everything we stand for as a country.”

The video also quotes from her famous 2011 speech to the UN, during which she proclaimed that “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”

She also reminds voters that it was she who made it possible for trans Americans to change the gender on their passports during her time as Secretary of State.

Bernie Sanders, last week promised to overturn the laws if elected President.

Talking The View, he said

As president of the United States, I would do everything I can do to overturn those outrageous decisions by Mississippi and North Carolina. We have gone too far as a nation. God knows we have seen so much discrimination in our history.

What we are trying to do is say, ‘You have your political views. That’s fine,’… But I hope we remember what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told us. You judge people on their character, not on the colour of their skin. And I would add to that not on their gender or sexual orientation.”


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Rachel Maddow Warns That Mississippi New Anti-LGBT Law Could Cost The State Billions

Out TV host, Rachel Maddow, broke the news at the end of last week that Mississippi faces the threat of losing federal funding for transport, housing and urban development, because of the state’s new new anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ law.

On her show, she said the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Transportation were both “evaluating” their position on Mississippi’s new law.

If these agencies find that Mississippi is in violation of federal non-discrimination policies, then Mississippi, too, like North Carolina, they could use billions of federal dollars, which North Carolina cannot afford, but which Mississippi desperately cannot afford.”

While the process is expected to take some months, the state could effectively lose aid if it is found that it goes against federal protections.

It is also been reported that North Carolina could face a similar fate.

Daily Juice: Sadly Women In Lesbian Relationships Aren’t Having (More) Sex, & ‘The Voice’ Fans Tear Into New Coach Miley Cyrus

All the latest celebrity and lesbian news, gossip, photos and videos.


The Autostraddle team have found 13 reasons why women in lesbian relationships aren’t having (more) sex.


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Legendary actress and LGBT ally Patty Duke has passed away aged 69. Patty acted as an out lesbian in the 1982 film By Design, and alongside Meredith Baxter in Glee.

Miley Cyrus is set to join the judging panel of The Voice next season, but fans of the NBC singing competition show are not happy with this decision.

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Cyrus, who is currently serving as an adviser on the show’s 10th season, will join Season 11 as a full-time coach alongside Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and fellow newcomer Alicia Keys. She and Keys replace current judges Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani.

Pop singer Iggy Azalea, has opened up about rumours she’s heard about herself since becoming famous – including one that said she was trans.

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Hit US TV show Shameless is delving into polyamory relationship with Svetlana (Isidora Goreshter) becoming Veronica (Shanola Hampton) and Kevin’s (Steve Howey) third.

Queer and trans* people of colour are challenging North Carolina’s repressive HB2 bill

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And so are the ‘The View’ panellists, who also sparred over the issues this week.

Brandi Carlile has announced she will spend spring and summer on a co-headlining tour with Old Crow Medicine Show.

And finally, Maxim model Gabi Grecko has declared she has fallen in love with an “older woman”, after splitting with her boyfriend last week.

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I’m in love, we want to keep it low for now about who she is to see if it works out but I really like her. She’s in her forties but she looks 25.”

Be sure to also read…


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North Carolina Governor Signs Bill Banning LGBT Protections

In a shocking move, North Carolina’s state Legislature has passed a law blocking local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules to grant protections to gay and transgender people.

The law comes a month after the city of Charlotte passed a measure protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from being discriminated against by businesses.

Sarah Preston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a statement.

Legislators have gone out of their way to stigmatize and marginalize transgender North Carolinians by pushing ugly and fundamentally untrue stereotypes that are based on fear and ignorance and not supported by the experiences of more than 200 cities with these protections.”

The new law establishes a statewide nondiscrimination ordinance that explicitly supersedes any local nondiscrimination measures. The statewide protections cover race, religion, colour, national origin and biological sex — but not sexual orientation or gender identity.

Those who were against the bill mainly opposed the idea of transgender people being allowed to use their preferred bathroom.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory vowed to overturn it, claiming it creates “major public safety issues.”

Others argued that the ordinance would put women at risk because male predators will be able to enter women’s bathrooms with ease.

The Human Rights Campaign’s national press secretary Stephen Peters criticized HB 2 in a statement.

Thousands of LGBT veterans have fought to secure our freedom, only to have the rug pulled out from under them by the North Carolina legislature’s willingness to wipe protections for local veterans off the books. Gov. McCrory must take a stand for fairness and equality for all and veto any bill that would increase the risk of discrimination.”

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper also criticized the bill.

North Carolina is better than this. Discrimination is wrong, period. That North Carolina is making discrimination part of the law is shameful.”

North Carolina’s Support for Same-Sex Marriage Increases, Issue Could Go to Vote

It’s been well documented on this site that support for same-sex marriage in the United States is on the up. Is it an unfortunate thing that there were people who didn’t support same-sex couples’ basic human rights in the first place? Absolutely. Is it wonderful that people have finally corrected their mistakes and done a tolerant 180?

Again, it is and it’s having a huge impact on the state of the USA. Also noted, the United States Supreme Court is preparing to hear a number of same-sex marriage lawsuits that will force the issue into legality whether voters like it or not but, according to stats out of North Carolina, the state’s residents don’t want the issue to go to court but with increased popularity for same-sex marriage they are prepared to take it to a vote.

Not that the sources are 100% reliable though. One survey institution, Elon University noted that 45% of voters are in favour of marriage equality in the state while 43% are against. However, their stats have seen significant, somewhat questionable movement as in March, 2014 they put support between 40 and 51 percent. That’s a pretty quick time during which to narrow the statistics down (they even said those for same-sex marriage were at 41-46% as recently as June of this year) leading to some questionable reliability, but at least the results are consistently above the 40% mark.

Meanwhile, research group American Insights further clued us in on North Carolina citizens’ feelings on marriage equality, stating that “North Carolina registered voters … believe that they, not courts, should decide the issue” and just 26% would like the issue pushed through to the courts. It’s important to note that AI are led by GOP (the conservative wing of US politics) and so there’s a clear anti same-sex marriage bias there – they even refer to marriage equality as “redefining marriage” and call opposite sex couples “traditional marriages” which is telling. But nonetheless, it is again clear that those in North Carolina want some sort of ruling.

This all comes after the state’s Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that he wouldn’t uphold the same-sex marriage ban that was overwhelmingly voted into law (61% against same-sex marriage and 38% for) back in 2012. The American Civil Liberties Union even sued the state calling the ban ‘unconstitutional’. Big movements, big words and big decisions are all on hand here, so we’ll keep you updated on what’s going on.

Together 48 Years, Lesbian Couple Fights North Carolina Same-Sex Marriage Ban

On the summer night Ellen Gerber and Pearl Berlin committed to spending their lives together, the No. 1 song was “When A Man Loves A Woman.”

Lyndon B. Johnson was president. NASA had just landed the first unmanned probe on the moon.

“We’re still in love, after 48 years. We still can’t begin the day without a good cuddle.”

Ellen Gerber

June 2, 1966, is engraved in Roman numerals on the identical gold bands the women exchanged during a religious wedding at their Greensboro synagogue last year on the anniversary of that long-ago night. They followed three months later with a civil ceremony in Maine.

But under North Carolina law, they might as well be strangers.

That’s why Gerber and Berlin are the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the state’s voter-approved constitutional amendment banning legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

“They can see that in us, that being gay or lesbian is just the same as being straight. You just love somebody of your own sex. Otherwise, there’s no difference. … We want to be recognized for what we are – a married couple.”

Ellen Gerber

Last month, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – with jurisdiction over five states, including North Carolina – struck down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban. On Wednesday, the appellate panel refused to delay its ruling, possibly clearing the way for gay marriages to begin next week in the Old Dominion.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has said it would be “futile” to continue defending his state’s similar law. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP legislative leaders urged Cooper, a Democrat, to continue the fight, but gave no indication they will defend the ban themselves.

There are real-world worries that come with being gay and growing older. And time is not on the High Point couple’s side.

Berlin, 89, fell down some stairs before Christmas, hitting her head, breaking three ribs and enduring her third hospital stay in two years.

Gerber, a 78-year-old retired lawyer, long ago drafted Berlin’s health-care power of attorney. But a piece of paper is no guarantee hospital staff would immediately afford her the same spousal rights that would be automatic if she were married to a man.

“It’s very scary, that something could happen to Pearl and I could be kept from her. They might not let me in the emergency room with her. They might not let me help make decisions. … It would be just horrendous if I wasn’t able to be there with her, holding her hand. I would die if I couldn’t do that.”

Ellen Gerber

Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year, same-sex marriage proponents around the country won nearly two dozen legal victories. Such marriages are now allowed in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Legal experts predict North Carolina’s first same-sex marriage licenses could be issued within months, depending on the legal process.

But Gerber and Berlin worry they might not have much time. Their lawyers plan to file a brief asking a federal judge in Greensboro to grant immediate recognition to same-sex marriages.

“Marriage is a statement that you make in front of your family, your friends, your community. It has a meaning that tells the world who you are. It’s a very fundamental part of someone’s identity,”

Ellen Gerber

The walls of the home they built in High Point are covered with art and photos from their adventures. They visited all seven continents, even mingling with penguins on an Antarctic ice shelf.

Berlin is a perfectionist. Gerber admits she’s something of a slob.

They met in 1964, when Gerber visited a friend in Detroit who invited Berlin for brunch. Berlin taught at Wayne State University. Gerber was headed to graduate school at the University of Southern California.

It wasn’t love at first sight, but they had a lot in common. They both taught physical education. They were both “nice Jewish girls from Brooklyn.” They’d never had much interest in boys.

“I had a crush on every female camp counselor I ever had. On every Girl Scout leader. On a couple of my teachers. I came home from my first summer where I was at camp for a month, and I wrote, `I love Sandy,’ on every page of my diary.”

Ellen Gerber

Over the next two years, with frequent calls and visits, their friendship evolved into love. Gerber landed a job at Berlin’s college.

On the long drive moving Gerber to Michigan, they stopped at a motel. Conversation turned to where Gerber would live. That night, they decided to move in together.

They didn’t tell their families they were a couple, but didn’t hide it. They lived in a one-bedroom apartment. Gerber’s mother offered to buy a second bed. They declined. She started buying Berlin pajamas.

“She said, `We will never condone this,’ But she got to the point where she could laugh when I said, `But Mother. You always said all you cared about was that I marry a Jew, and I did.'”

Ellen Gerber

Berlin had inadvertently outed herself years earlier, mistakenly sending her mother a love letter she had written to a woman. Her mother called.

“And she says, `Pearl, I just want to tell you something. I just finished reading today’s mail, and I just read your letter to Marian. It was very well written. I know you did not intend it for me. I want you to know your father will never see it and never hear a word about it.'”

Eventually, even Berlin’s father accepted their relationship, telling Gerber: `’Lennie. If you were a man, this would all be perfect,” Gerber recounted.

Berlin moved to a college in Massachusetts, and Gerber got work there too. Then, in 1971, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro asked Berlin to run a new doctoral program.

Gerber said school administrators made it clear they would never hire her. “They said we were `too open,'” Gerber said. “You were supposed to pretend.”

So Gerber went to law school and became a legal aid lawyer. Later, she helped gay and lesbian couples draft wills, powers of attorney and fill out tax returns.

Still, no legal document can provide the same protections as a marriage certificate. Gerber recounts cases where relatives fought deceased people’s gay partners over their estates, or excluded them from funerals.

While that isn’t a concern for Gerber, she worries Berlin’s death certificate will list her marital status as single.

“I think anybody who had lost a spouse would be devastated if somebody said, `Eh, this isn’t your spouse.'”

Ellen Gerber

Berlin chuckles at talk of her demise. She already has picked the font for invitations to their golden anniversary party – on June 2, 2016.