Right Wing Watch has the quote: “The fact is we know sexual assaults occur,” he said, “they are going to occur with or without these laws, there’s no question about that. People commit sexual assaults, they commit them in buildings, they commit them in restrooms; but what you have now done, knowing that sexual assaults occur, knowing that they occur …

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is speaking to the press about the anti-trans lawsuit he filed this morning against the federal government. UPDATE: The live stream has concluded. Below is a recording of the press conference.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday that if Donald Trump wants him to step down as a co-chairman of the GOP convention, he will respect his wishes. “He’s the nominee. I’ll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention,” Ryan said when asked about that scenario in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. …

Quick reaction from the feds! Via Talking Points Memo: U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is slated to announce law enforcement action related to North Carolina Monday at 3:30 p.m. E.T., according to a Justice Department statement. The press conference comes after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory announced a lawsuit against the federal government in response to a Justice Department letter …

CNN reports: North Carolina’s lawsuit, filed by McCrory and state Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry, calls the Justice Department’s position a “radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.” Title VII, among other things, outlaws discrimination in federally assisted programs and authorizes Lynch to file lawsuits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities. North Carolina attacks …

Earlier today I reported that Bernie Sanders canceled his meeting with HIV/AIDS activists, despite his denouncement of Hillary Clinton’s ahistorical recounting of Nancy Reagan’s role in the early years of the pandemic. Clinton will meet with activists later this week. Yesterday activist Michael Rajner appeared on MSNBC to explain what they are hoping to hear from both candidates. Watch this.

Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit to challenge an anti-LGBT law passed this spring that allows public officials and businesses to refuse to serve gay and transgender individuals. The lawsuit, which targets the registrar of vital records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is going to court in a fight for a state law that limits protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. McCrory is leading a lawsuit filed Monday seeking to keep in place the law the U.S. Justice Department said last week violated the civil rights of transgender people. The Justice …

Via Mashable: The storm that tore through Wray, Colorado on Saturday left at least five people injured and left several buildings and homes damaged or destroyed. But it also provided this jaw-dropping video of an encounter with the tornado, filmed by well-known storm chaser Reed Timmer. The five minute video begins with a small funnel cloud stretching out to make …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Bernie Sanders has cancelled a meeting with HIV advocates his campaign affirmed days before the crucial New York Democratic primary he would attend, according to the activists who sought to arrange the meeting. The 30-minute meeting between Sanders and HIV advocates was set for May 13 in Indianapolis. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also …

Donald Trump called into CNN’s New Day this morning, where he immediately dodged a question about his attacks on Hillary Clinton by whining that host Chris Cuomo didn’t begin the interview by congratulating him on being the presumptive GOP nominee. From Mediaite: Cuomo started off by asking Trump about a line of rhetoric that has emerged from the campaign trail …

The Irish Times reports: Christian bakers found guilty of discrimination for refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan could not commit a sin by going against their deeply held consciences, their lawyer has told an appeal hearing. The McArthur family, who run Ashers Baking Company in Belfast, are seeking to overturn a judgment which found they acted …

Today is the federal deadline for North Carolina to repeal or rescind the anti-trans portion of its anti-LGBT hate law. This morning state Rep. Don Bishop, one of the law’s co-sponsors, appeared on CNN where he told host Chris Cuomo that HB2 is a “very common sense and reasonable law.” Bishop did allow for the possibility of “tweaking” the law, …

Yesterday Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore appeared on Face The Nation, where he denounced the Trump campaign as part of the “reality television moral sewage” seeping into American culture. That quote must have given Donald Trump a sleepless night, hence the 3AM response seen above. And yet Trump continues to claim that evangelicals love him.

Let’s see Tony Perkins spin THIS: Americans broadly oppose laws that would require transgender people to use facilities that correspond with their gender at birth rather than their gender identity, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, and three-quarters favor laws guaranteeing equal protection for transgender individuals. Overall, 57% say they oppose laws requiring transgender individuals to use facilities that do …

Yahoo recaps: On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver debunked scientific studies that make outrageous claims. Oliver pointed to an example of an all too familiar subject of studies: Coffee. “In just the last few months, we’ve seen studies about coffee that claim it may reverse the effects of liver damage, help prevent colon cancer, decrease the risk of endometrial …

To his credit, host Chris Wallace points out that there are no cases of trans people assaulting people in restrooms. Fox News reports: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said Sunday that he will comply with the Justice Department’s Monday deadline to either scrap its transgender bathroom law or face legal action and risk losing federal funds. “I’ll make a decision …

The American Family Association has denied reports from the “lying liberal media” that they are sending protesters into Target stores to “test” the retailer’s pro-trans restroom policy, but the protests are continuing. Watch below as street preachers invade several Target locations to scream insults and damnation at startled shoppers and staffers.

Via Mediaite: Sarah Palin tore into Paul Ryan on CNN this morning for saying he’s not quite ready to get behind Donald Trump. She declared to Jake Tapper that “Paul Ryan is soon to be Cantored” (referring to House GOP leader Eric Cantor‘s surprise midterm primary defeat), and said that Ryan’s “political career is over, but for a miracle, because …

The Hill reports: The chair of this summer’s Democratic National Convention said that supporters of candidate Bernie Sanders have to “behave themselves” when the Vermont senator loses the nomination. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Ed Rendell, a former Pennsylvania governor and Democratic National Committee chairman, laid out his vision for how the convention would play out. “I think …