News Round-Up: February 23, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• The Twitterverse lost its mind over this (above) pic of Candadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's backside. Let's take a moment, shall we?

• File this under irony - Congressman Louie Gohmert, the man who authored legislation making it legal for people with mental health issues to buy guns, now won't do town hall meetings because he's afraid he'll be killed. Later in the day, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot while in office, issued a statement telling Gohmert to "have some courage."

• Grace Slick, of Jefferson Starship fame, is licensing the band's song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to anti-LGBT company Chick-Fil-A for use in a commercial because she's donating all the royalties to Lambda Legal. "I decided to spend the cash in direct opposition to 'Check'-fil-A’s causes — and to make a public example of them, too. We’re going to take some of their money, and pay it back."

• The Arkansas state Supreme Court has struck down a city ordinance banning discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Because banning discrimination is a bad thing???

• White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway was reportedly yanked off TV appearances for a week after she went "off message" telling the media that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had the "complete confidence of the president" just hours before being sacked.

• In light of the Trump-Pence Administation rescinding important protections for trans students in schools, dozens of LGBT rights and progressive groups will be leading a protest rally (cosponsored by the New York City Council, GLSEN, GLAAD, and Lambda Legal) this afternoon outside the Stonewall Inn in downtown Manhattan. The event begins at 5:30PM. More info at the event's Facebook page here.