“For decades, the Supreme Court has recognized the fundamental equality of LGBT people under the law. The Court’s landmark decisions in cases such as Romer, Lawrence, and Obergefell are deeply rooted in the Court’s jurisprudence and have been relied upon by millions of LGBT people and others. Any backtracking on those precedents would be unthinkable.”

“At the same time, the potential for decisions that cause lasting harm to LGBT people and their families is real as new issues and cases come before the Court. We urge the Senate to explore these issues carefully and to ensure that any person who sits on our nation’s highest court understands the realities facing LGBT communities and others for whom our Constitution’s promise of freedom and equality is not yet fully realized. To date, there is nothing in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record to indicate that he understands the real-world impact of discrimination on LGBT people or the importance of construing our nation’s laws to enable them to participate fully and equally in society. The Supreme Court must be a court for all, not just for the privileged few.”

“It is sobering that a president who has shown disregard for many of our nation’s most cherished rights and freedoms has an opportunity to appoint a second justice to the Supreme Court. This moment is a wake-up call to LGBT people and others about the critical importance of elections and the need to vote this November.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org.

The post NCLR: Trump’s Supreme Court nomination a wake up call to LGBT community first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Dear Friend,

Today we are met with the incredulous truth that exactly half of the country – nearly 60 million people – have voted to secure a platform defined by white supremacy, misogyny, racism, classism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. We have just lived through a campaign that rose in direct response to the power, momentum and incredible groundswell of OUR movements––our insistence that we will not sit silently and take death after death, the criminalization of our bodies, or the dispersion of our people. Our successes are being met with vitriol fueled by fear.

Understand, we have been handed an agenda. We’ve been told who will be valued and who will be demonized and scapegoated. The power and momentum we gain by gathering, existing in public outcry, expressing ourselves intellectually, spiritually and artistically, having autonomy over our own bodies, and by choosing with whom we place our bodies––be it on the frontlines, in the bedroom, in solidarity, or in the boardroom––will be forcibly challenged and potentially criminalized.

This demonstration illuminates so many painful truths: that oppression structures this country; that misogyny is deeply held. But the backlash is also testament of our strength and to the power of our movements; that black and brown people, migrants, lesbians, queer women, trans* and gender non-conforming people, gay men, and youth have been rising up, building power and forcing major shifts in our society.

We will not sit idly by. Astraea has always been poised to challenge the white supremacy that cuts a jagged path through our democracy. In 2013, we celebrated the abolition of the Defense of Marriage Act while denouncing the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act in the same 48 hours. Two years later, we extolled the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality while having to condemn the massacre of Black people by a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina. Yesterday’s election is yet another reminder that we are never truly done––to prematurely declare our work “finished” is to suggest complacency with the very violence we passionately oppose.

In the coming weeks, we have an opportunity to ready ourselves to be in the best position possible before our new administration is revealed. Astraea’s philanthropic practice shifts power to change lives. If you woke up this morning and thought what now?, then join us. Do not stand alone. Lean into the Astraea community, purposefully built over generations, insisting, always, that we must stand in solidarity, in action and in purpose. Together we will continue to grow the strongest movements with the greatest reach, ensuring that those pillars of fear and imbalances of power will cease to sacrifice our people, our ideals, or our greatest hopes.

Join us. We’ll be right here where we’ve always been.

In Solidarity,
Astrea Foundation

The post How to protect your pussy from Donald Trump first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Future Vice President Mike Pence has a lot of strong feelings about the LGBT community. Mainly, he feels we should be treated like second class citizens. He has written open letters to employers stating that they shouldn’t hire queer people, he believes in electroshock therapy, he wants religious ‘protections’ so people can refuse service to queer people while simultaneously stripping us of our anti-discrimination protections…and there’s more. Rachel Maddow outlines Pence’s obsessive homophobia in the video below. Please watch and share. And be careful out there. We stand together.

The post Rachel Maddow Outlines Mike Pence’s Anti-Gay History first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Dear Femme,

This isn’t a dating question or anything but I hope you can help. I’ve recently moved to a new city and I fell in with a group of queer women. They have accepted me and I feel so happy to have finally found my people. Lately, a friend of one of my new friends has been coming to everything the group does. Let’s call her Karen. She’s really cool. She’s a singer and her career is taking off. She’s great looking and always the life of party. Whenever we walk into a bar everyone pays attention to us and bartenders treat her like a VIP. She’s so much fun and I enjoy being with her. I thought this was going to be the start of a great friendship. There’s one problem. She’s a Trump supporter.

She’s never mentioned this in front of the friend group. But I noticed that she commented on a celebrity’s Instagram. The celebrity (she’s queer and we both follow her) posted an anti-Trump meme and the comments were mostly people agreeing. But then I saw that Karen had commented. She was disagreeing. She said that Trump’s not racist and that people are putting words in his mouth. Then she argued with people who told her she was wrong, saying that they didn’t know him and had no proof. She came off like a bigoted idiot.

I don’t think I can be friends with someone who supports Trump. I moved away from my small town in order to get away from people like that. I’m disappointed in her and I don’t know what to do. Making the friend group choose between hanging out with her or me is petty and beneath me. And deep down I’m scared that they will choose her over me. I also don’t want to confront her over the issue and I’m not sure that there’s a third option. What should I do?

-Dump Trump

Dear Dump Trump,
What a pickle! I totally get why you wouldn’t want to hang out with this girl. She sounds terrible. It’s always surprising to me when a queer person (or a Latino person or a Muslim person) supports Trump. But they are out there! This election has made everyone go absolutely insane, the stakes are higher than ever and everything feels very personal. This has wrecked havoc on personal relationships. I feel like all advice columnists have had to deal with a “My spouse likes Trump and I hate him” question. However, your question is a little different, because this is a low-stakes friendship and not your life partner. So, yay for that, right?

Moving on- okay so you found out your new lezbro is terrible. I’m sorry, that sucks! If she wasn’t in your friend group, I would say to just pull the “slow fade” on her and just stop reaching out to her to hang out, take a long time to respond to texts and cancel plans, etc. I know that sounds terrible but sometimes it’s the kindest way to end things. I would still recommend doing something similar to this. You guys are acquaintances, so if you
don’t have her number don’t get it. Be polite but never initiate contact. There are plenty of friend groups that have members who orbit around each other. So orbit around her, be nice but standoffish. As long as she doesn’t mention Trump in front of you, don’t ruffle feathers.

That being said, if Karen does mention her support of Trump, I think you should tell her that you find his morals reprehensible, you are disappointed in her for supporting him and you aren’t interested in discussing him with her. Say it in a neutral tone, but firmly. Chances are if Karen is crazy enough to support Trump, there’s no reasonable or sane argument you could make to change her mind. She may also be looking for a fight, Trump supporters can be violent, so be sure not to give her one.

I would also mention the interaction you saw on Instagram to a few of the members of your crew. If they are anti-racist, then this may change the way they think about Karen as well. Don’t ask them to pick between you two, as they become aware of who Karen is underneath the partying and good looks, they might want to ditch her as well.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
Xoxo

The Femme
Have a question for me? Shoot me an email at askafemme@yahoo.com

photo credit: so confused via photopin (license)

The post Ask the Femme: My new friend is a Trump supporter, do I need to dump her? first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Warren’s win in notable as she won in the traditionally conservative state of Florida.

Her opponent, Orlando, told WUFT news, “It’s very very close, and I ran a great campaign. Kept it to the issues. Didn’t get into her personal life and you know that’s what works unfortunately; it’s very sad.”

Warren has been active in her community for decades with Audubon of Florida, serving as president of the Alachua Audubon Society. Additionally, she’s worked for LGBT rights wtih Equality Florida.

She’s also a Realtor with Prudential Trend Realty and is on the task force for Plum Creek’s Envision Alachua planning process.
Now Warren, 60, is making her first run for elected office. She is campaigning for the at-large seat on the Gainesville City Commission up in March’s election.

The post Lesbian wins Florida run-off election first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Following rumors he was planning a run, gay singer and “American Idol” runner up Clay Aiken on Wednesday officially announced his decision to run for Congress.

Aiken, a 35-year-old Raleigh native, declared in a video announcement his intent to run for North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district, which is currently occupied by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.).

In the video, Aiken invokes his childhood, saying his mother had to flee from his abusive father and work long hours to support him growing up.

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

The post Aiken announces Congressional bid first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring

BY The Seattle Lesbian

The Virginia attorney general announced Thursday that his office has concluded Virginia’s bans on marriages for same-sex couples are unconstitutional, and he will no longer defend legal challenges to the bans now pending in federal court.

“We’re pleased to welcome the attorney general and the commonwealth to the right side of history, and we want to be sure that whatever happens next will result in a quick, clear, and final decision affirming the freedom to marry for our clients and for all Virginians,” said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.

Read more at TheSeattleLesbian.com

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

The post Virginia AG won’t defend challenges to same-sex marriage ban first appeared on Lesbian.com.

This quote from President Obama’s second inauguration is an example of his acknowledgement of LGBT Americans.

BY MORGAN WELCH
dot429

A study by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on contemporary US presidents’ use of the word “gay” in public speeches or statements found that current president Barack Obama has said it the most, with 272 instances in the five years since his inauguration in 2009 and has used the widest LGBT vocabulary; the report found that he said “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” and “transgender” 421 times in total.  Second place went to Bill Clinton, who said “gay” 216 times while in office. He said it 46 times in reference to gays in the military and 80 times when discussing hate crime legislation. In 1998, during Clinton’s second term, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was beaten to death for being gay; his murder put anti-gay violence on the national radar and furthered efforts to enact laws against hate crimes.

In contrast, between 2001 and 2009, George W. Bush said “gay” only twice, and one use was to express disapproval of same-sex marriage.

Read more at dot429.com

The post Words matter: How much ‘gay’ does the President say? first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker, right, and new wife Kathy Hubbard, her parnter of 23 years.

BY Huffington Post Gay Voices

Houston Mayor Annise Parker tied the knot with longtime partner Kathy Hubbard in a Jan. 16 ceremony in Palm Springs, Calif. ABC Eyewitness News 13 reports that the couple was married before an intimate group of friends and family, which included Parker’s mother and Hubbard’s sister, on the 23rd anniversary of their relationship. Officiating was Rev. Paul Fromberg of San Francisco’s St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, who is also a family friend,according to media reports.

She also told the Associated Press in a statement, “This is a very happy day for us. We have had to wait a very long time to formalize our commitment to each other. Kathy has been by my side for more than two decades, helping to raise a family, nurture my political career and all of the other ups and downs and life events that come with a committed relationship.”

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Houston Mayor Annise Parker weds longtime partner first appeared on Lesbian.com.

President Obama added to his list of openly gay judicial appointments on Thursday by naming a black lesbian to serve on the federal court.

Obama nominated Staci Michelle Yandle for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Thursday as part of a group of four nominees.

“I am pleased to nominate these distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court bench,” Obama said in a statement. “I am confident they will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

Read more at Washington Blade

Washington Blade is America’s leading gay news source.

The post Obama nominates first black lesbian judge in 20 years first appeared on Lesbian.com.