"Daddy, Look What You've Gotten Us Into!" Cries A Young Boy As His Father Calls Police On Black Man For 'Trespassing'

Wesly Michel was waiting for a friend at their apartment building in San Francisco on July 4, when he encountered a racist assh*le who decided he needed to call the police because Michel was, basically, 'waiting while black.'

Sadly, the son of the racist was with him at the time, and the son begged his father not to call the police or act out.

"Daddy, look what you've gotten us into. Let's go!"

Michel, a 35-year-old software engineer, told CNN, "Unfortunately this incident mirrors the experience that African Americans endure daily where we are questioned on whether we belong. I videotaped this incident to protect myself and to support my story should police get involved."

During the three-and-a-half-minute recording (which was posted to Michel's Facebook page), the boy can be heard pleading with his father not to call police on Michel, whom the father says is a "trespasser" in his building that he describes as "appears to be African-American."

From CNN:

Michel encountered the father and son on Independence Day as he says he was waiting on a friend at an apartment building in San Francisco. The video begins as the man asks Michel to identify the person he is there to see and to "please call your friend on the call box and have them come down and get you."

"They don't have to do that. You can just walk away," Michel responds.

The man, who appears to be holding open the door to the building during the conversation, tells Michel he's going to call the police.

"Daddy don't!" the child says as the man pulls out his cell phone.

Michel welcomes the call and reminds the man that he is being recorded.

"You're just gonna be the next person on TV, just remember that and you have your son with you," Michel tells the man.

The man calls the police and tells them that Michel is a "trespasser," who "tailgated" into the building, walking in as he was walking out.

As the man talks to police, his son begins pleading with him to leave and to not call police.

"Dad, don't. Please go," the boy says. "Daddy go. It's the better; I agree with him, daddy."

The boy begins to cry as his father describes Michel to police.

"Daddy, I don't like this. Let's go," he says.

"Listen to your son, walk away," Michel says. "I will stop this. I will stop the recording."

Of course, Michel's friend arrives (as the video is still recording) but there's no apology from assh*le man.

As the father smirks, his young son continues to beg his father. "Told you. Let's go now," pleads the young boy. "Daddy, look what you've gotten us into. Let's go!"

The police do not come to the scene. Assh*le man asks Michel to stop recording, but he continues anyway.

"Now you're online forever," says Michel.

My question is: if you truly think the man is trespassing and a danger, why are you continuing to stand within two feet of him with your VERY young son next to you???

Reading the comments on Michel's Facebook page, the vast majority note that the son had the good sense that the father did not. Many also pointed out how traumatized the child was, but assh*le man wouldn't relent even for his child.

Internet sleuths, including the folks at Essence, believe the man to be someone named Christopher Cukor. Several posters found his Linkedin profile as well as his Facebook page before the profile photo was changed.

Ol' Chris tried to delete info from his linkdin, facebook and other accounts, but we got them screen shots tho. pic.twitter.com/H7UdgTYxlu

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) July 7, 2019

The photos of the man do appear to be him, but I'm not out to dox anyone.

There is an interesting twist to the story.

IF the man is someone named Christopher Cukor, several people found an SF Gate news item from 2012 of a man named Peter Cukor, in the same area, who was killed by a black man after calling the police about a "strange man" on his property.

Peter Cukor had a son named Christopher Cukor, who would be about 44-years-old today.

That Christopher Cukor blamed the police for not responding to his father's call and eventually sued the police department. It appears from the police transcript of the call that the elder didn't communicate imminent danger. But when the black man returned, Cukor's wife called saying her husband was being attacked, and the police responded.

According to the SF Gate report, the suspect was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. He mentioned to police he was looking for his fiancée Zoey. The man's father told police his son didn't have a fiancée and Zoey was a figment of his imagination.

The attacker's family told authorities he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia five years earlier and they had asked authorities to remove him from the streets while he was treated, reports SF Gate.

That is a sad story. But, I don't believe that justifies living the rest of your life assuming all black men pose violent danger to you.

Wedding Dinner Reservation Cancelled By Homophobic Restaurant

Kendall Brown (L) and Mindy Rackley (R)

A same-sex couple in Missouri were surprised when the restaurant they had booked for their wedding rehearsal dinner cancelled the reservation upon learning their sexual orientation.

Kendall Brown and Mindy Rackley are getting married on June 15, and had planned on holding their rehearsal dinner on June 13 at Madison’s Café.

Newsweek reports that the couple chose the restaurant because it had been Rackley’s father’s favorite place to dine before he passed away two-and-a-half years ago. Holding the dinner there prior to their union was meant as a way to honor his memory.

Brown’s mother made the reservation on Monday evening, but the next day Brown received a call from the cafe asking for more information.

“Her first question was, ‘what is your groom’s name?’” explained Brown. “I said, ‘I’m marrying a woman actually and her name is Mindy.’”

From the other end of the call came the question: “Your spouse is another woman?”

Brown told the woman ‘yes.’

And with that, the woman at the restaurant told Brown, “We’re gonna have to refer you to someone else for your dinner because we don’t condone that kind of relationship.”

“Out of love for you, we’re going to have to decline your business because we believe you’re in an unhealthy relationship,” added the woman.

Brown immediately called her fiancée in tears.

Rackley told Newsweek the conversation “saddened” her.

"I just can't believe that this is still happening and that we get treated differently because of who we love," she said. "Who we love doesn't change who we are and, I don't know, it just saddens me."

Note: Missouri does not prohibit discrimination in public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It's legal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the Show Me state.

Local news station KMOV reached out to Madison’s Café for their side of the story.

According to the news station, “A woman at the restaurant acknowledged the couple’s situation but did not want to comment.”

KMOV reports in front of Madison's Cafe (screen capture)

After their story went viral on social media, several local restaurants reached out, and the couple has booked another establishment for their dinner.

Brown told Newsweek she understands that the owner’s of Madison’s Café are entitled to their beliefs, but they shared their story on social media because they want other people to be “aware so that they don’t have to feel the way we felt.”

“In this day and age, this is just not okay,” she added.

Pennsylvania Wedding Venue Refuses To Host Same-Sex Weddings

(image via Depositphotos)

Another day, another wedding vendor refusing to serve same-sex couples.

This time, it's Star Barn Village, located near Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Steven Dinnocenti, a retired educator who has attended Star Barn events in the past, recently shared on his social mediahis outrage upon discovering the venue has a ‘no same-gender weddings’ policy.

“Never again will I step on (their) grounds,” wrote the openly gay married man.

“What one does not know is the blatant discrimination they have towards the LGBTQ community and other individuals that they have written in their Core Values statement,” added Dinnocenti.

He also posted a link to Star Barn’s ‘Core Values’ statement which reads, in part, “We provide marriage-related services as ordained by God’s Word, the Holy Bible, that are consistent with the written truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

At this writing, Dinnocenti’s Facebook post has been shared over 360 times and garnered over 560 comments.

PennLive spoke with the owner of the venue, David Abel, who says he “does not tolerate discrimination against anyone, not in his business or in a public setting.”

“No persons will be discriminated against,” he insisted to PennLive. “However, we ask people to respect that we have core tenants in our faith and our beliefs and we cannot participate in any event that would be in contradiction to those core tenants - one of them being marriage, which has been biblically based for thousands of years as being between a man and a woman.”

He also asserts that religious freedoms are one of the principles under which the United States was founded. “It was also founded as one nation under God not over God,” he said.

(photo via Depositphotos)

But Dinnocenti told PennLive he flips that script. “The bottom line is go back to the Constitution,” he says. “The Bible should not be dictating the rule of the land.”

It’s important to note that Pennsylvania does not have any LGBTQ protections on the books. So, it would seem Mr. Abel is legally allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples.

This highlights, yet again, the need for The Equality Act to be passed in Congress and signed into law. The federal legislation would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and erase any confusion about refusing services to people based only on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

For now, however, PennLive does point out that another wedding venue, Riverdale Manor and Thyme and Seasons Catering in nearby Lancaster, has seen its same-sex wedding business thrive since marriage equality became the law of the land in 2015.

Maureen Raezer, owner and president of the venue, told PennLive she subscribes to “the principles of inclusive economics.”

In fact, Raezer says she’s stopped doing business with vendors who don’t appreciate her inclusive wedding industry approach.

“I think they see it as they are somehow condoning gay marriage by participating in it,” Raezer said. “I‘m not sure how selling somebody a wedding cake does that. If I sold cookies to someone, why would I care what their sexual orientation was?”

She also believes that diversity is the future of economics. For her, a business model of excluding people “financially makes no sense.”

(h/t PennLive)

Alaska: Organization Sues To Deny Shelter To Trans Women In Freezing Temperatues

(image via Depositphotos)

Virulently anti-LGBTQ legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, is representing a ‘Christian’ women’s shelter that is suing to deny transgender women shelter from the freezing winter cold.

The conservative law firm, which represented Colorado baker Jack Phillips in his fight to deny services to gay people, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ironically named Downtown Hope Center against the city of Anchorage, Alaska, to deny services to transgender women.

The issue arises from an incident that occurred in January 2018, when a transgender woman was turned away from the shelter, according to local news station KTUU.

Downtown Hope Center says the woman, identified in court papers as “Jessie Doe,” was denied shelter because she was allegedly inebriated. The shelter claims she was put into a taxi and sent to a hospital for treatment for a cut on her forehead.

But the same woman showed up the next day and again was turned away.

The average temperature in Anchorage at night during January is 9 degrees.

In September 2015, the Anchorage Assembly passed AO-09, a city ordinance which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

The ordinance added protections to Anchorage’s equal rights laws for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people in housing, employment and public accommodations and includes exemptions for religious groups and those with ministerial duties.

In a press release, ADF asserts the ordinance exempts homeless shelters like the Hope Center. ADF attorney Ryan Tucker told U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason that the homeless women in the shelter would “rather sleep in the woods” than spend a night in a shelter with a transgender woman.

In a further slap to trans women, the ADF also says that because many of the women at the shelter have been battered or sexually abused by men, they shouldn’t have to sleep in proximity to ‘men.’ ADF calls the idea of trans women sleeping in the shelter ‘dangerous.’

But the Southern Poverty Law Center disagrees.

“There is simply no evidence that transgender people are more of a threat to anyone whether that be in bathrooms, locker rooms or homeless shelters,” David Dinielli, Deputy Legal Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told KTUU. “In fact we know transgender people are among the most, if not the most likely to be targeted for abuse, sexual abuse and physical abuse."

It’s worth noting that the Hope Center receives some of its operating funds from public tax payer monies via a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The ADF, which has represented so-called ‘religious freedoms’ lawsuits in more than a dozen states, has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group which works to push trans people “back into the shadows.”

Gay Widower Being Denied Survivor Benefits By Social Security Administration

Michael Ely and James Taylor (image via Metro Weekly)

James Taylor and Michael Ely of Arizona were together as a loving couple for 43 years having met in 1971 when Taylor was 20-years-old and Ely was 18-years-old.

In 1994, they moved to Tucson, Arizona. Taylor was the primary wage earner, while Ely managed their household.

In 2007, the couple celebrated their relationship with a commitment ceremony.

And they married as soon as they could when a court struck down Arizona’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2014.

Sadly, six months later, Taylor passed away of cancer.

But when Ely filed for Taylor’s Social Security benefits (which Taylor paid into his whole life), he was denied.

It turns out the Social Security Administration requires couples to be married for a minimum of 9 months before a survivor can access benefits.

It’s worth noting that the couple would have married sooner but were barred from doing because of Arizona’s marriage ban.

It would seem logical that a well-documented relationship of 43 years would somehow be able to overcome this legal snafu.

“Even though we’d been together for 43 years, I’m barred from receiving the same benefits as other widowers,” says Ely. “Even though my husband had worked hard for 40-plus years and paid into the social security system with every paycheck.”

Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Social Security Administration saying the nine-month marriage requirement for social security survivor’s benefits is unconstitutional where same-sex couples were not able to be married for nine months because of discriminatory marriage laws.

“The federal government is requiring surviving same-sex spouses like Michael to pass an impossible test to access benefits earned through a lifetime of work,” said Peter Renn of Lambda Legal. “Michael and his husband got married as soon as they could, less than three weeks after Arizona ended its exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, but they were only able to be married for six months before Michael’s husband died of cancer.”

"Now, the Social Security Administration is allowing the heartbreak of discriminatory marriage bans to persist by holding same-sex couples to a standard that many could not meet, insisting that they have been married for nine months even where it was legally impossible for them to do so.”

“These benefits are as essential to the financial security of surviving same-sex spouses in their retirement years as they are to heterosexual surviving spouses,” says Renn. “But the government is holding their benefits hostage and imposing impossible-to-satisfy terms for their release.”

Lambda Legal filed a similar lawsuit in September against the Social Security Administration on behalf of a 63-year-old lesbian in Washington state who was unable to marry her partner of 27 years due to the ban on same-sex marriage in that state.


(h/t Lambda Legal)

Trump Administration Proposes Defining Transgender People Out Of Existence

The Trump/Pence administration continues it's assault on the LGBTQ community as the Department of Health and Human Services proposes a new, extremely narrow definition of 'sex' that would virtually erase the existence of 1.4 million transgender Americans.

The move would exclude transgender people from federal non-discrimination protections.

From The New York Times:

The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government-wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.

A series of decisions by the Obama administration loosened the legal concept of gender in federal programs, including in education and health care, recognizing gender largely as an individual’s choice and not determined by the sex assigned at birth. Conservatives, especially evangelical Christians, were incensed.

Now the Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading an effort to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive government financial assistance, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times. The agency’s proposed definition would define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with, according to a draft reviewed by The Times.

According to reports, the HHS Department is also trying to persuade the Departments of Education, Justice and Labor to adopt the policy in an effort to provide a more unified front in the certain-to-be-filed lawsuits.

The Human Rights Campaign quickly issued a statement denouncing the proposal.

“Setting a destructive precedent, the Trump-Pence administration intends to erase LGBTQ people from federal civil rights protections and eviscerate enforcement of non-discrimination laws,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.

“Defining ‘sex’ in this narrow language tailored to the talking points of anti-equality extremists is part of a deliberate strategy to eliminate federal protections for LGBTQ people,” added Griffin. “This is a direct attack on the fundamental equality of LGBTQ people and, if this administration refuses to reverse course, Congress must immediately take action by advancing the Equality Act to ensure that LGBTQ people are explicitly protected by our nation’s civil rights laws.”

The HRC suggests the administration’s policy change could have drastic consequences for LGBTQ people across the federal government. For example:

• Same-sex couples and their families could be turned away from emergency shelters
• A transgender person could have their insurance deny them coverage for transition related care
• A gay man could be harassed about being gay at a job skills training
• An elderly same-sex couple could be denied in home meal service
• A transgender woman could be turned away from a hospital for a broken ankle

The answer to all of this would be the passage of The Equality Act which adds clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people to our nation’s civil rights laws.

The legislation has 246 cosponsors in Congress, and 117 major corporations have announced their support.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who could become the Speaker of the House after the midterm elections, has publicly stated she feels the passage of The Equality Act would be a high priority and one that is very personal to her.

LGBTQ discrimination is a real and persistent problem in the U.S.

Polling by the Human Rights Campaign has found that nearly two-thirds of self-identified LGBTQ Americans report experiencing discrimination.

This decision by HHS to attempt to erase transgender people disregards and flouts the overwhelming case law that protects transgender people under federal law, as well as the vast consensus of medical authority.

— Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) October 21, 2018

It isn’t subtle. With two weeks left, @realDonaldTrump is madly pushing every culturally divisive button he can to try and spur his voters to the polls. https://t.co/jxpIpjfJ8S

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) October 21, 2018

Trump Administration Eyes Defining Transgender Out of Existence via @NYTimes
Fk These Ppl.Will MY SON Be Sent To INTERNMENT CAMP 2 Live with LATINO Children,& Be Kept In Cages in Places where🇺🇸Cant See Them.THIS IS”HIS CODE”4,..MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR #MBS https://t.co/UrXYSo5vK5

— Cher (@cher) October 21, 2018

Poll: Trump Voters Say Straight Men Face Most Discrimination

Donald Trump

If you ever needed more evidence how reality skews for folks on opposite sides of the political spectrum, look no further.

A new poll by You.gov/The Economist shows among Trump voters believe straight men face more discrimination than any other demographic in the U.S. today.

Participants were asked “How much discrimination do the following people face in America today?”

They were then given a list of demographics and a choice of responses: “none at all,” “not much,” “a fair amount,” and “a great deal.”

A combined 49% of Trump voters said men face significant discrimination (18% “a great deal,” 31% “a fair amount”).

When asked about LGBTQ folks, 41% of Trump voters feel the gays face discrimination (9% “a great deal,” 32% “a fair amount”).

A combined 42% said Mexican-Americans face “a great deal” (9%) or “a fair amount” (33%) of discrimination.

A combined 38% said African-Americans face “a great deal” (8%) or “a fair amount” (30%) of discrimination.

A combined 27% said Asian-Americans face “a great deal” (6%) or “a fair amount” (21%) of discrimination.

Not surprisingly, only 30% of Trump voters feel women face “a great deal” (7%) or “a fair amount” (23%) of discrimination.

This all seems to correlate with recent public statements by Republicans, including Donald Trump, who during the recent hearings to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the press it’s a “very scary” time for men in America.

Back in August, a poll by Public Religion Research Institute found Republicans believe discrimination has lessened substantially over the past few years for LGBTQ people, women, Jewish people and Muslim people.

And there you have it...

Video: Dating While Asian

An actor and friend of mine shared this video on Facebook and it really struck me.

First of al,l because my friend and the man in the video, model Kevin Kreider, are both really good looking.

Kreider is straight, my friend is gay, but both encountered the same bias and discrimination in online dating - "No Asians."

And this isn't new. From early dating websites to hook up apps today, gay and straight, this is something folks see all the time.

No Asians. No Blacks. No fats. No femmes.

That's what folks put in their online profiles.

Now, some might say, "Well, that's their preference."

But look at what you're missing out on by putting that out there, up front. You're missing a great guy whose hot like Kevin Kreider.

It's important to note, as well, the sinister, negative effects these messages have over time on people.

"I remember growing up wanting to be white. I didn't want to be Asian. But after all this, I realized I didn't actually want to be white, I wanted to be treated like I was white."

Imagine the toll that would take on your psyche over a lifetime.

As Kreider says, he began to abuse alcohol and drugs to cope with slow-growing depression over being constantly dismissed.

It's a short video, but definitely worth a watch.

Starbucks Apologizes After Two Black Men Arrested/Released With No Charges Filed

Six police officers arrest two men at a Philadelphia Starbucks
for asking to use the restroom

The arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks has gained national attention as cellphone video footage has gone viral showing six officers handcuffing the men whose only crime seems to have been asking to use the bathroom while waiting for a friend.

According to reports a white female manager called the police.

A chagrined Starbucks CEO has now issued an apology to the men saying company training "led to a bad outcome."

From the Washington Post:

In a statement to Starbucks customers and employees Saturday, CEO Kevin Johnson acknowledged “a disheartening situation in one of our Philadelphia-area stores this past Thursday, that led to a reprehensible outcome.”

Cellphone videos captured the tense moment Thursday afternoon when at least six Philadelphia Police Department officers stood over two seated black men, asking them to leave. A man named Andrew Yaffe arrives to tell police that the two men were waiting for him. The officer says that they were not complying and were being arrested for trespassing.

Lauren Wimmer, the attorney for the two men, told The Washington Post that her clients told a Starbucks employee that they were waiting for Yaffe. Shortly after, a white female employee called the police, Wimmer said.

The two men, whom she declined to identify, were taken to a police station, fingerprinted and photographed. One officer suggested that they faced charges for “defiant trespassing,” Wimmer said. They were held for nearly nine hours before they were released, she said, after prosecutors said they would not pursue charges.

Benjamin Waxman, a spokesman for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, said the office decided that there “wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge [the men] with a crime.”

In his statement, Johnson said the video was hard to watch and that he hopes to meet the two men to offer “a face-to-face” apology, adding that the company’s practices and training “led to a bad outcome — the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong.”

“Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have escalated as it did,” Johnson said.

An official at Starbucks told the WaPo that there is no official company-wide policy on asking member of the public to leave. Apparently store managers are left to make such decisions.

Why this store manager decided to let this incident escalate to such a degree is not clear.

The official went on to say the handling of this matter was not how most store managers would have handled the situation.

As a white male, I've spent hours and hours in Starbucks all over the world. I've never been asked to leave.

@Starbucks The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing. pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci

— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018

From Kevin Johnson, CEO of Starbucks:

First, to once again express our deepest apologies to the two men who were arrested with a goal of doing whatever we can to make things right. Second, to let you know of our plans to investigate the pertinent facts and make any necessary changes to our practices that would help prevent such an occurrence from ever happening again. And third, to reassure you that Starbucks stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling.

In the coming days, I will be joining our regional vice president, Camille Hymes—who is on the ground in Philadelphia—to speak with partners, customers and community leaders as well as law enforcement. Most importantly, I hope to meet personally with the two men who were arrested to offer a face-to-face apology.

We have immediately begun a thorough investigation of our practices. In addition to our own review, we will work with outside experts and community leaders to understand and adopt best practices. The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values.

Creating an environment that is both safe and welcoming for everyone is paramount for every store. Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome—the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong. Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have escalated as it did.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued a statement which read, in part:

“I am heartbroken to see Philadelphia in the headlines for an incident that — at least based on what we know at this point — appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018. For many, Starbucks is not just a place to buy a cup of coffee, but a place to meet up with friends or family members, or to get some work done. Like all retail establishments in our city, Starbucks should be a place where everyone is treated the same, no matter the color of their skin.

Most interesting line from @Starbucks CEO "Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested..". Would be interesting to hear what he/she thought would happen once police were called on 2 black men. https://t.co/YkUuykIK46

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 15, 2018

Note to Starbucks CEO: I spend $10+ on my Grande Frap and select sandwich almost daily and I find it hard to find a seat sometimes because of people on their mac books for hours using free WiFi not buying anything and I don't see them arrested. Can you guess race?

— RobNADR Music™ (@ElyteFaeva) April 15, 2018

AG Jeff Sessions: I'm Not Sure If Federal Workers Can Discriminate Against LGBTs

Attorney General Jeff Sessions

According to testimony before U.S. Senate Oversight Committee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions isn't sure if federal workers can or cannot blatantly discriminate against LGBT people.

From Dominic Holden at ThinkProgress:

During Wednesday’s Justice Department Oversight Hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the Department of Justice’s new “religious freedom” guidance. In particular, Durbin was concerned about how the guidance might enable anti-LGBTQ discrimination, asking Sessions to respond to several hypotheticals.

“Could a social security administration employee refuse to accept or process spousal or survivor benefits paperwork for a surviving same-sex spouse?” Durbin asked.

There was a long pause. “That’s something I never thought would arise, but I would have to give you a written answer to that, if you don’t mind.” Sessions responded.

Durbin countered, “I’d like to have that,” then launched right into another hypothetical. “Could a federal contractor refuse to provide services to LGBTQ people, including in emergencies, without risk of losing federal contracts?”

“Likewise, but I would say to you — are you citing Title VII for this? Or the guidance? I’m not sure that’s covered by it, but I’ll look.”

Sessions is famously anti-LGBT on just about every issue.

Watch the exchange below.

Durbin: Does religious liberty guidance let fed workers & contractors refuse LGBT people?

Sessions: [4 second pause] I'll get back to you. pic.twitter.com/E67XzDxh9e

— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) October 18, 2017

Out Short Film: "No Place Like Home"

I encourage you to stop for just a few minutes and watch the captivating 7 minute short film, No Place Like Home by David Velduque, starring Marius Praniauskas.

The official synopsis:

No Place Like Home is the story of Niko, a guy who enjoys his life and his sexuality at it's full potential.

Suddenly he will have to go back home to his country in eastern Europe to take care of his ill mother.

Nothing is what it seems and soon he will realize what is really going on.

A breathtaking roadtrip about the discrimination and violence against the LGTBIQ community around the world.

As World Pride begins in Madrid, Spain, it's important to remember LGBTs around the world face terrible violence and discrimination.

5th Circuit Court Of Appeals Gives Thumbs Up To Mississippi's Anti-LGBT Discrimination Law

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the ruling by a federal judge who found Mississippi's anti-LGBT discrimination law unconstitutional.

The law allows merchants and government employees to deny services to LGBTs based on religious beliefs.

Via Lambda Legal:

Today, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction against Mississippi House Bill 1523, the discriminatory anti-LGBT legislation challenged in Barber v. Bryant, the federal lawsuit brought by Mississippi civil rights attorney Robert McDuff, the Mississippi Center for Justice and Lambda Legal. The advocates will continue to fight this discriminatory law.

Overruling the lower court decision, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit denied that LGBT Mississippians are subject to imminent discrimination by HB 1523 and ordered the block to the law lifted because the plaintiffs—a group of ministers, LGBT residents, community leaders and activists—lack standing since they cannot claim a specific harm caused by the law that has yet to go into effect.

“We had to put guards in front of our church after the bill initially passed because there was a truck with a swastika parked across the street and just this week the Christian Knights of the KKK distributed flyers throughout the Hattiesburg area. Today’s ruling leaves us more exposed, so we will have to be more vigilant than ever before to protect our church, our families and our dignity,” said Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, Barber plaintiff.

More from Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

The law prohibits the state from taking action against religious organizations that decline employment, housing or services to same-sex couples; families who’ve adopted a foster child and wish to act in opposition to same-sex marriage; and individuals who offer wedding services and decline to facilitate a same-sex wedding.

Additionally, the bill allows individuals working in medical services to decline to afford a transgender person gender reassignment surgery. The bill also allows state government employees who facilitate marriages the option to opt out of issuing licenses to same-sex couples, but the person must issue prior written notice to the state government and a clerk’s office must not delay in the issuing of licenses.

Lawsuit: Detroit Woman Kicked Out Of Restaurant Bathroom For Looking 'Like A Man'

Cortney Bogorad, while having dinner at restaurant chain Fishbone's Rhythm City Cafe in Detroit, was making use of the bathroom facilities when she heard yelling outside the door. A voice, that turned out to be a security guard, was demanding that "whatever man is in the restroom needs to come out now." Being a woman, Bogorad ignored him.

And that's where things escalated.

From The Advocate:

The guard allegedly entered the bathroom yelling, "This is a woman's bathroom, if you are a man, come out!" and pulled Bogorad by the arms out of the stall when she opened its door. She said he then pushed her up against the wall, saying "boys aren't allowed in this restroom," according to the Detroit Free Press.

"He was much bigger than me, at least three times my size," Bogorad told WXYZ. In her lawsuit, she explained that she and a friend informed the man repeatedly that she was a woman, and offered to show her legal identification stating that she was female, but the guard refused to see it, instead shouting inches from her face, "Get out of the women's restroom!"

According to Bogorad, the guard then pushed her out of the bathroom where she saw a person she thought might be a restaurant manager. When Bogorad tried to explain to the man that she was a woman and show him her ID, she said he, too, ignored her efforts to prove her identity.

The guard allegedly then took his security badge, and holding it just inches from Bogorad's face, yelled that he was a security guard.

When Bogorad pushed the badge away, that's when she said the guard picked her up "against my will" by the shirt and bra. He then "aggressively" pushed her to the restaurant's front door, exposing her "upper torso" to other customers, and threw her out of the resturant onto the street outside, causing physical injuries, Bogorad said.

Her lawsuit, filed at Wayne County Circuit Court on June 10, is seeking $25,000 for physical and emotional damages, battery, and gross negligence.

"This could have happened to anybody," Bogorad told WXYZ. "There's lots of females out there who look like boys, but at the end of the day we're not." She added that she is suing in hopes that the same humiliating experience never happens again to another customer at a Fishbone's.

Fishbone's has declined to publicly comment on Bogorad's allegations.

Many states have attempted to pass "bathroom bills" that could lead to many more situations just like this in an attempt to police gender specific bathrooms.

NCAA Final Four Coaches Issue Statement On Indiana's "Religious Freedom Act" Debacle

The four coaches of the NCAA Final Four teams have issued a joint statement addressing the ongoing  issue of Indiana's RFRA law as the basketball world focuses on Indianapolis this weekend:

"We are aware of the recent actions in Indiana and have made a point to talk about this sensitive and important issue among ourselves and with our teams.

"Each of us strongly supports the positions of the NCAA and our respective institutions on this matter - that discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated.

"As a part of America's higher education system, college basketball plays an important role in diversity, equality, fairness and inclusion, and will continue to do so in the future."

Religious Concerns

He dropped a letter from his name, and job offers flowed in

From Jose to Joe - and after months of applying for dozens of jobs a day, the offers finally started rolling in.

What do you think? Comment below.

(via Buzzfeed)

Maryland state Senate approves ban on transgender discrimination

By a vote of 32-15, the Maryland state Senate has approved a bill that would put in ban discrimination of transgender people in the state.

From the Washington Blade:

“I just hope people realize this is a fairness issue,” said state Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Howard County).

“It is not our job to discriminate,” added state Sen. Delores Kelly (D-Balitmore County) before the vote. “The bill is carefully crafted. The definitions are clear”

State Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), who introduced SB 212, applauded its passage.

“Today marks a historic milestone in the continued fight to advance equal rights for all Marylanders,” he said in a statement. “The Senate’s passage of the Fairness for All Marylanders Act sends a reaffirming message throughout our state that regardless of whom you are, prejudice and discrimination will no longer be tolerated or exempted from law. With these new anti-discrimination protections for transgender persons one step closer to full passage.”

The bill now moves to the Maryland House of Delegates which approved similar legislation in 2011.

Oregon Family Council files ballot initiative to legalize discrimination

The Portland Tribune is reporting that anti-gay group Oregon Family Council has filed a ballot initiative to make it legal for those who oppose marriage equality to discriminate based on "religious freedoms:"

The East Portland group filed a state ballot initiative Thursday, Nov. 21, that would guarantee the right of people and businesses to refrain from participating in or supporting ceremonies for same-sex civil unions, domestic partnerships or marriages, if those violate their religious beliefs.

The group calls the measure the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative.

The measure is a response to public penalties and lawsuits brought against bakers, florists and photographers in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and New Mexico who refused to play roles in same-sex ceremonies for civil unions, domestic partnerships or marriages, says Teresa Harke communications director for Oregon Family Council.

Harke says the Council's focus is moving more towards protecting "religious freedoms" versus opposing marriage equality as recent events show the advances for legalizing same-sex marriage across the country show the direction the country is taking on the issue.

In Oregon, recent polls show 53% support marriage equality.

Texas: Trans student not allowed in yearbook wearing a tuxedo

Why would anyone care what someone wears in their high school yearbook photo?

Officials at the Texas school want to stop Jeydon Loredo, a male student, from being featured in the yearbook wearing his tuxedo like every other boy, simply because he’s transgender.

This kind of discrimination isn't just wrong - it's in direct violation of federal law and the school's very own policies.
 
The issue has been appealed to the school board with the help of our partners in this effort, the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jeydon’s family has asked equality supporters like you to help ensure that Jeydon can appear in the school’s yearbook wearing his tuxedo.

Send a message to the La Feria School Board that this is wrong by clicking here.

South Carolina: Restaurant denies service to party of 25 African-Americans when white person felt "threatened"

A group of customers at a Wild Wing restaurant in Charleston, SC were forced to wait two hours for their table and then were ultimately denied service on the basis of their race. According to Charleston’s WNEW Channel 5, the group of 25 African-Americans were asked to leave because a white customer felt “threatened.”

Michael Brown and a group composed of family and friends were gathered in July at the North Charleston Wild Wing Café to say farewell to a cousin who was moving away. The party waited for two hours for a table only to be told by a manager that there was “a situation.”

“She said there’s a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we’re sitting there peaceably for two hours,” Brown told Channel 5. “Obviously, if we were causing any conflict, we would have been ejected out of the place hours before.”

A member of the party began to film the discussion between Brown and the restaurant manager with a camera phone.

“I asked her I want to be clear with you,” Brown recounted. “I said so you’re telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you’re asking me to leave because you’re upset because he was recording you, after we’ve waited for two hours, and after you’ve already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered yes.”

Brown took the issue to Facebook on Friday after several unsuccessful calls to the company’s corporate office.

I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us. This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT… PLEASE SHARE THIS POST… We need your help.

That got Wild Wings’ corporate office’s attention.

“We got alerted through social media, so we always encourage our customers to respond to us or to comment on our social media pages,” Debra Stokes, chief marketing officer for Wild Wing Cafe, told Channel 5.

“We had a conversation,” says Stokes. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn’t receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”

(via Raw Story)

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