Civil Rights

DNC Clip Shows Prominent Right Wing Commentators Wondering What The Trans Fuss Is About [VIDEO]

From the Democratic National Committee: “As Republican legislators and governors continue their assault on LGBT Americans through Right to Discriminate laws, even many prominent conservatives think they’ve gone too far. Watch what they and others have to say.”

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GOP North Carolina Attorney General Nominee Tells Haters: Fight Hard To Keep Our State Straight [VIDEO]

From the Huffington Post: If state Sen. Buck Newton (R) has his way, North Carolina will be known as the “straight” state. “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight,” Newton said at a rally Monday, according to video posted …

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OHIO: Wingnut Lawmaker Floats “Bathroom Bill”

Notorious crackpot Ohio state Rep. John Becker wants a North Carolina-style anti-trans “bathroom law” in his own state. Cincinnati.com reports: Becker, R-Union Township, is floating a proposal that he says would protect Ohioans from sexual predators posing as transgender people to gain access to women’s bathrooms, possibly by requiring transgender people to use unisex or single-stall bathrooms. He cited a …

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Target Stands Firm Despite Christian Boycott

More than half a million people have already signed the American Family Association’s boycott petition against Target. Despite the still-growing furor, Target is standing firm. From USA Today: “We certainly respect that there are a wide variety of perspectives and opinions,” says Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder. “As a company that firmly stands behind what it means to offer our team …

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MAINE: Portland City Council Votes Unanimously To Ban Travel To North Carolina And Mississippi

And the list just keeps getting longer. From Portland’s NBC affiliate: The Portland City Council voted unanimously in favor of restricting travel by city employees to states with laws that discriminate against the LGBT community. All eight councilors had already publicly backed Mayor Ethan Strimling’s proposal before Monday night’s meeting. They don’t want the city spending money for city employees …

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Haters: Boycott Target, Buycott Walmart

From the anti-LGBT group Faith Driven Consumer: Today, amidst growing consumer backlash over Target’s (Faith Equality Index Score 39/100) announcement that it will allow men in women’s bathrooms and changing rooms, Faith Driven Consumer is calling on its community of 41 million who spend $2 trillion annually to engage in a national #BUYcottWalmart effort by choosing Target’s archrival Walmart (FEI …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Activists Arrested At Assembly Building In Sit-In Protest Of Anti-LGBT Law [VIDEO]

National Center for Transgender Equality head Mara Keisling and at least several other activists have just been arrested at a sit-in at the North Carolina General Assembly building. I’ve posted several short videos of current reporting via Twitter. See below. The protests were organized by several local and national groups, including the North Carolina NAACP, whose head Rev. William Barber …

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Nick Jonas & Demi Lovato Go Springsteen On North Carolina, Cancel Shows In Charlotte And Raleigh

GLAAD has their statement: After much thought and deliberation, Nick and I have decided to cancel our shows in Raleigh and Charlotte. One of our goals for the Honda Civic Tour: Future Now has always been to create an atmosphere where every single attendee feels equal, included, and accepted for who they are. North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law is extremely …

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Cleveland Cops To Family Of Tamir Rice: Use That $6M Settlement To Teach Kids How Not To Get Shot By Us

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: The head of the Cleveland rank-and-file police union says the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice should use money from a $6 million settlement to educate children about the use of look-alike firearms. Steve Loomis, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association association, was criticized on a national scale for statements he made to the …

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CALIFORNIA: American Family Association Runs Full-Page Ad In PayPal’s Hometown Newspaper

From the American Family Association: North Carolina isn’t the first state that has experienced corporate bullying by companies like PayPal. Indiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and many others have all experienced corporate bullying in the last year or so. When states attempt to protect religious liberty via legislation, Fortune 500 companies threaten and bully states into submission. Sadly, these companies blindly …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Hundreds Of Haters Counter-Protest As State Assembly Gets HB2 Repeal Bill [VIDEO]

At this writing a growing crowd of about 1000 are protesting in support of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT hate law as Democrats introduce a repeal bill in the state Assembly. LGBT activists led by Equality North Carolina and the Human Rights Campaign started the day by delivering petitions calling for the law’s repeal. Local news video reports are below. Thousands gather …

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COLORADO: State Supreme Court Rejects Appeal By Bakery That Refused To Serve Same-Sex Couple

Yet another loss for Alliance Defending Freedom. Via press release from the ACLU: The Colorado State Supreme Court decided today to let stand an appellate court ruling that Masterpiece Cakeshop violated Colorado’s anti-discrimination law when it refused to sell a same-sex couple a cake for their wedding reception. “The highest court in Colorado today affirmed that no one should be …

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LIVE VIDEO: HB2 Protests Begin In North Carolina

Today’s “Moral Monday” protests against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT HB2 have begun outside the state capitol building. Anti-LGBT groups have vowed to bus in thousands to counter-protest. Watch live at this link.

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Target Boycott Petition Nears 500,000 Names

It hasn’t yet been a week and already nearly half a million have allegedly signed the American Family Association’s boycott petition against Target. RedState is thrilled: Target may have misjudged the size of the audience they were choosing to make uncomfortable. The press continues to frame this as an “LGBTQ-friendly” policy or a “trans” policy, but of course nobody is …

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Ted Cruz: If Donald Trump Dresses Up Like Hillary Clinton He Still Can’t Use The Girls’ Bathroom [VIDEO]

The Hill reports: Ted Cruz is not backing down from criticizing rival Donald Trump for his comments about North Carolina’s controversial bathroom bill. The Texas senator sought to further condemn the real estate mogul at an event Sunday for his opposition to a law that segregates bathrooms by biological sex. “If Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he still …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Anti-LGBT Groups To Face Off Against NAACP In “Moral Monday” HB2 Protests

Video below. From Raleigh’s CBS affiliate: Hundreds of people against and for House Bill 2 will descend on downtown Raleigh to make their voices heard as the General Assembly begins a new session Monday. When lawmakers file into the legislative building they’ll be met with plenty of opposition, but they won’t have to look far to find support. “We’re expecting …

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NORTH CAROLINA: HB2 Repeal Bill To Be Intro’d Today

From Wilmington’s NBC affiliate: On Monday morning, Representatives Darren Jackson, Graig Meyer, Susi Hamilton, and Grier Martin will file a bill to repeal House Bill 2 (Public Facilities Privacy Act) in its entirety. As part of this effort, the four Representatives will hold a joint press conference on Monday at 11:00 am in the NCGA pressroom to further explain beginning …

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Funny Or Die: Ted Cruz Is A Poo-Poo Head [VIDEO]

JMG reader Sashine points us to the latest clip from Funny Or Die, which remakes Ted Cruz’s latest anti-trans ad with new title cards, one of which notes that there are zero cases of trans people committing assaults in public restrooms. As for wide-stanced GOP legislators, you know THAT story. Watch below.

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Frank Bruni On Ted Cruz And Potty Pandemonium

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni rips Ted Cruz for this week’s anti-trans ads: “I’m guessing that Cruz hasn’t met or read much about transgender people. ‘Grown adult men’ is precisely how many transgender men appear — with beards, muscles, pants — and exactly how they’d look to little girls in the women’s rooms that the North Carolina law would …

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BRITAIN: Obama Tells Emotional Trans Student He Can’t Overturn Laws With Current Congress [VIDEO]

During an appearance today in London, President Obama encouraged an emotional transgender student, saying that he is “incredibly proud” of her work for social reform, but that it’s not possible to overturn laws like North Carolina’s with the current Congress. From the Daily Mail: Maria Munir, a University of York student who is running for a council seat in Watford, …

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