Via press release: Today, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, announced that Theodore B. Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP will author an amicus brief on behalf of leading businesses in support of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s hateful HB2 law. “HB2 discriminates against fellow citizens because of who they are,” …

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia if he’s elected to the White House. Trump’s picks include Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado and Raymond Gruender of Missouri. Also on …

Fortune reports: Target reported a disappointing set of first-quarter results on Wednesday and warned investors to expect a slight drop in business in the current quarter. The discount retailer pointed to many factors pinching sales, damp and cool weather in parts of the company and skittish consumers, among them. But one thing not hitting sales is the purported boycott of …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: On yesterday’s “Hagee Hotline,” Pastor John Hagee urged Christians to get out and vote and made it abundantly clear that he’ll be casting his vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November. After mangling Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s famous “not to speak is to speak” quote and falsely attributing it to Martin Niemöller, …

Back in February, I launched a twice-monthly column for the website of Britain’s Pride Life magazine, a quarterly LGBT rights and lifestyle magazine. Today’s seventh installment is titled Obama Administration Takes Bold Action On Transgender Rights. Hit the link for my status report on trans rights, Target, hate groups, and the feds. DISCLOSURE: Pride Life is owned by the US …

From a New York Times Magazine profile titled Mr. Trump’s Wild Ride: Then there was his interview the previous week with the MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who asked him whether his pro-life views meant that he also supported criminal penalties for a woman who had an abortion. Trump had replied that yes, there should be “some form of punishment.” Now …

As they did in 2012, tens of thousands of atheists, skeptics, and secularists will rally on the Washington Mall on Saturday June 4th. From the Reason Rally website: The goal of Reason Rally 2016 is to showcase the presence and power of the nonreligious voting bloc, and to demand that reason be put at the forefront of our public and …

Via press release: Joined by leaders from the civil rights, social justice and faith communities, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Congressman Joe Kennedy III (MA-04) today introduced legislation to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Do No Harm Act would clarify that no one can seek religious exemption …

CNN reports: Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager slammed Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Wednesday after she told CNN the Vermont senator did not do enough to condemn his supporters’ behavior at the party’s Nevada convention. “We can have a long conversation about Debbie Wasserman Schultz just about how she’s been throwing shade on the Sanders campaign from the very beginning,” Jeff Weaver …

CBS News reports: The New York Times’ front-page exposé of Donald Trump’s comments and alleged behavior toward women has brought new scrutiny in recent days, but one powerful woman is standing up for him. Speaking both “in the capacity as a daughter and… as an executive who’s worked alongside of him” for over a decade, Ivanka Trump defended her father, …

Rafael Cruz, the batshit crazy father of Ted Cruz, has finally responded publicly to Donald Trump’s claim that he associated with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination of JFK. From World Net Daily: “These accusations are totally unfounded and without merit,” the elder Cruz told WND. In response to Trump’s charge he met and associated with Lee Harvey Oswald, …

From the pro-LGBT site Bondings 2.0: A top cardinal at the Vatican attacked transgender civil rights as “demonic” and compared marriage equality to “poison” during a speech before high-profile U.S. Catholics. Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, keynoted the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast yesterday morning in Washington, D.C. His address about family and religious freedom …

After last night’s results, Hillary Clinton stands just 94 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination. The math, of course, is not as simple as that number would make it seem. The Hill reports: The razor-thin Kentucky margin means that the two candidates will about split the state’s 55 delegates, while Sanders will earn a handful more of Oregon’s 61 …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Donald Trump and his Fox News nemesis Megyn Kelly made peace Tuesday in a prime-time interview that strengthened his ties with the conservative television network whose star anchor has drawn attention to his derogatory remarks about women. In a rare display of contrition, the Republican presidential candidate expressed regret for nasty comments about Kelly that …

Another reboot. The Verge recaps:  Fox just announced its fall and mid-season slates this week, and judging from its explosive first trailer, 24: Legacy might just be the biggest of the bunch. Here, war vet Eric Carter (Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins) is living life in witness protection after spearheading the operation that killed a known terrorist. However, when the …

The Hill reports: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is projected to win the Oregon primary, keeping his slim presidential hopes alive. Sanders will win the majority of the state’s 61 pledged delegates, cutting slightly into Hillary Clinton’s lead. He still needs to win about two-thirds of the remaining unpledged delegates up for grabs between now and the last contest in …

Minutes ago the Kentucky Secretary of State declared Hillary Clinton the apparent winner of that state’s primary. At this writing with over 99% of the votes counted, she leads Bernie Sanders by an an extremely slim margin of about 2000 votes. From NBC News: After the results came in, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said, “Essentially a tie in a …

From the Lexington Herald Leader: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul will face Tuesday’s Democratic primary winner, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, in the November general election. Both won easily Tuesday. Paul, a first-term senator and former presidential hopeful, beat two little-known challengers in the Republican primary in a landslide victory. Gray, a two-term mayor, was able to turn back six challengers in …

Finally. Via the Associated Press: In another historical moment for the Obama administration, the Senate on Tuesday evening confirmed the long-stalled nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary. Fanning thus becomes the first openly gay leader of any U.S. military service. The voice vote came after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., dropped his opposition in a dispute over Obama administration …

Dujour Magazine today published a lengthy profile of Melania Trump. Much of it you may find interesting, but here’s the pull quote that outlets are running: “I do have sympathy. I’m a very compassionate person. But don’t sneak in and stay here without papers. We need to follow the law. If the law needs to be different, we need to …