WATCH Colton Haynes accepting the HRC Visibility Award

.@ColtonLHaynes accepting the @HRC Visibility Award last weekend.https://t.co/Fl4PAQF2Zm

— DCHomos (@DCHomos) August 30, 2016

HRC Releases Statement on Shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

49 Celebrities Honor 49 Victims of Orlando Tragedy in Ryan Murphy-Produced Tribute - WATCH

From the HRC

For too long, a toxic combination of anti-LGBTQ hate and easy access to guns has put LGBTQ people at disproportionate risk of violence and murder. On June 12, forty-nine innocent people -- most of them Latinx -- were killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando simply because of who they were. It's on all of us to keep their memories alive, and to ensure part of their legacy becomes meaningful action to end hate violence. Join the Human Rights Campaign and urge your legislator to support legislation that will ensure LGBTQ people are safe and equal in every community and find out how to support the survivors and families of the Orlando victims. Learn more at:

http://www.hrc.org/StopTheHate

Special thanks to Ryan Murphy, Ned Martel and their colleagues at Ryan Murphy Television for making this project possible and all of our friends in the entertainment community for their support of this project including (in order of appearance) Lady Gaga, Chris Pine, Cuba Gooding Jr., Connie Britton, Matt Bomer, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Lea Michele, Colton Haynes, Sophia Bush, Jane Fonda, Harry Shum Jr., Denis O’Hare, Rob Reiner, Melissa Benoist, Caitlyn Jenner, Édgar Ramírez, Max Greenfield, Chaz Bono, Cheyenne Jackson, Emma Roberts, Kerry Washington, George Lopez, Evan Rachel Wood, Sofia Vergara, Diego Boneta, Nina Jacobson, Demi Lovato, Tyler Oakley, Yeardley Smith, Kid Cudi, Kaitlin Olson, Kevin McHale, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lee Daniels, Chace Crawford, Evan Peters, Gerard Butler, Katey Sagal, John Stamos, Laverne Cox, Jordana Brewster, Wes Bentley, Finn Wittrock, Darren Criss, Kathy Bates, Anna Paquin, Guillermo Díaz and Joe Mantello.

HRC and The National Center for Transgender Equality speak out about Orlando

HRC picks Health Educator Tyrell Manning for an Outstanding Fellowship Program

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced that Tyrell Manning of Williams & Associates, Inc. has been selected as one of 10 young community-based leaders for a fellowship providing high-level training to elevate their work ending HIV. The fellowship is supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

BOOM reports

“We are thrilled to begin working with this highly-committed and talented group of young leaders who are absolutely critical to ending the HIV epidemic,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training. “Their efforts in American communities hardest hit by HIV are already changing and saving lives. The HIV 360° program invests in helping them develop management and strategy skills, as well as make valuable contacts in the advocacy world to elevate their work back home.”


“At the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we know how vitally important it is to support and train the next generation of activists and community leaders as a logical extension of our strategy to support HIV-related work being carried out by and for people most affected by the epidemic within their own communities,” said Scott Campbell, Executive Director of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. “Having diverse backgrounds and points of view represented in this exciting group of future young leaders selected for HRC’s HIV 360° Fellowship Program is absolutely crucial. We are so proud to support this unique program and look forward to the important work these young scholars will accomplish for their communities.”


Manning is a native of St. Louis, and passionate advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. He has been a key driver of change within Williams & Associates, a health education and disease prevention center addressing the health disparities of minorities in the St. Louis Bi-State Region, where he is Regional Integration Specialist and site coordinator of Rustin’s Place. Manning continues to be a positive mentor for young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). He strives to create safe spaces that offer growth and promote healing among young Black MSM in his local community.


“I am truly humbled and honored to have been selected as an inaugural HRC HIV 360° fellow,” said Manning. “This fellowship has already challenged me and motivated me to grow as a leader. I know this program will equip me to combat the HIV epidemic in St. Louis.”

Congrats to you, Tyrell!

The HRC provides Facts on North Carolina's Anti-LGBT Law - VIDEO

Critical Report: HRC is a “White Men’s Club”

According to a fascinating report, the HRC seems to be suffering from the ole WHITE MEN'S GROUP syndrome. Employees of the LGBT organization said the work environment is very one-sided, male heavy and not diverse.

Buzzfeed reporter Chris Geidner laid it all out in article this afternoon. He reports:

HRC acknowledged the report on Tuesday, and provided BuzzFeed News with a four-page response on Wednesday. HRC spokesman Fred Sainz told BuzzFeed News that the group commissioned the report “as part of its own self-reflection and is a concrete sign that HRC is committed to doing better both by our employees and the communities we serve.” Three elements of the report, which was conducted by The Pipeline Project, were provided to BuzzFeed from an anonymous source: a snapshot of the findings, a summary of the findings, and a detailed report from the group.

“Leadership culture is experienced as homogenous — gay, white, male,” the report stated. “Exclusion was broad-based and hit all identity groups within HRC. A judgmental working environment, particularly concerning women and feminine-identified individuals, was highlighted in survey responses.”

The Pipeline Project provided the reports to HRC leadership early this year. The key findings of the report are yet to be shared with staff, as was promised by the organization.

Chad Griffin, HRC’s president, provided BuzzFeed News with a statement about the report, saying, “Like many organizations and companies throughout our country, HRC has embarked on a thoughtful and comprehensive diversity and inclusion effort with the goals of better representing the communities we serve — and hiring, nurturing and retaining a workforce that not only looks like America but feels respected and appreciated for the hard work they do every day.”

HRC provided BuzzFeed News with a list of 18 steps it says it already has taken to improve the working environment at the organization since it received the Pipeline Report and 3 additional steps that are “in the works.”

“As we fully anticipated, the report flagged problem areas that the organization has already begun to tackle aggressively,” Griffin said in his statement. “We’ll continue to address them, one by one, as any serious organization recognizing these challenges would.”

There is so much in this article. To be honest, I'm not surprised. The HRC is very white and at times far behind of the matters at hand. Let's hope they actually take the time to get this right.

New Campaign: Americans for Marriage Equality - VIDEO

President Obama Meets with Caribbean LGBT Advocates

President Obama was visiting Jamaica to meet with Caribbean government leaders. As some of you know, Jamaica isn't the most friendliest place for the LGBT community. They still criminalize our relationships there, but Obama addressed the issue.

HRC acknowledged this in a press release.

President Obama was in Jamaica to meet with Caribbean government leaders. As part of the trip, the President participated in a town hall meeting with “young leaders.” During his opening remarks, he acknowledged Angeline Jackson, the executive director of Quality of Citizenship Jamaica, the only organization in Jamaica dedicated to the needs of lesbian and bisexual women, for her bravery and advocacy. Dane Lewis, the executive director of J-FLAG, a Jamaican LGBT organization, was also in attendance.

Prior to President Obama’s visit, a broad group of US-based human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he meet with Caribbean LGBT advocates while in Jamaica and make clear his support of the human rights of LGBT people in the region. Caribbean LGBT advocates made a similar request in a separate letter.

The letter sent to President Obama by Caribbean LGBT advocates stated that LGBT people "remain at risk in the Caribbean region. Eleven nations criminalize same-sex relationships, including Jamaica. Even in places where laws have been repealed or are not enforced, societal stigma, willful discrimination and bias violence are still major concerns, and hate crime goes prosecuted."

“We commend the President for including LGBT advocates in his meetings in Jamaica,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “By including them in his visit to Jamaica, he honored their brave work and demonstrated our country’s commitment to standing up for the human rights of all people.”

Good, they need to hear and see our President supporting LGBT rights and how it's wrong to still criminalize us. Also as a follow-up, Ambassador Susan Rice tweeted this

Anti-LGBT discrimination and violence is unacceptable everywhere. This is US policy globally, as we discussed here in Jamaica today.
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) April 9, 2015

Here's a clip of Obama speaking with the young leaders

HRC breaks down the 'FIXED' Indiana RFRA

This is what Gov. Pence just signed

HRC Poll: Majority believes Federal Nondiscrimination Bill is Top Priority

The Human Rights Campaign's latest poll reveals that 74% of the LGBT community believes that a comprehensive federal nondiscrimination bill should be a "top priority".

Marriage was a close second.

HuffPo reports:

According to the HRC survey, which was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, 63 percent of LGBT Americans surveyed say they've experienced discrimination. Forty-seven percent have faced discrimination in the workplace, 19 percent in accessing public spaces, 14 percent in housing and 8 percent in the education system.

In 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development conducted the first-ever study examining housing discrimination against same-sex couples at the national level. It found that they were "significantly less likely than heterosexual couples to get favorable responses to e-mail inquiries about electronically advertised rental housing." In fact, heterosexual couples were favored over gay male couples in 15.9 percent of the tests, and over lesbian couples in 15.6 percent.

"This data again demonstrates that most Americans are shocked to discover that many LGBT Americans can be denied a job, a room in a hotel, a seat at a restaurant, a place in school, equal access to credit, or housing because they still lack explicit federal protections from discrimination -- and that once people learn that, they overwhelmingly support the basic idea that LGBT Americans should be judged only on their merits, just like everyone else. It's time to act," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Nice to know that their life after marriage.

HRC puts TLC on Blast for The Duggars

The HRC is going after the Duggars for attacking LGBT rights. They wrote, well, somewhat blasted TLC about their support of the hateful TV stars:

Last night, LGBT equality took a step backward in Arkansas following a Fayetteville vote to repeal a citywide non-discrimination ordinance that included protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a vicious, months-long campaign, anti-LGBT activists painted Ordinance 119 -- a non-discrimination law -- as something that would allow "sexual predators ... to enter gender-private areas." This is legally wrong and has never been reported by officials in 12 states with non-discrimination laws on the books from as far back as 1993.

At the helm of the repulsive campaign against LGBT Arkansans was none other than the Duggar clan, best known from the TLC series "19 and Counting.” The family donated $10,000 dollars of its own money to the election campaigns of three of the staunchest opponents of the non-discrimination ordinance -- John La Tour, Joshua Crawford and Paul Phaenuef. And since August, the hate-fueled campaign has been airing transphobic robo-calls like this one from Mother Michelle to push forward its discriminatory mission.

It’s not the first time the Duggar clan has used their celebrity to advocate against equality. In October 2013, the Duggars went on the road with the Family Research Council for a “Values Bus Tour” across Virginia in support of a radically anti-LGBT gubernatorial ticket. Last month, Josh Duggar led a rally against marriage equality in Little Rock, Arkansas last minute. 

It is time for the TLC celebrities to end their nationwide campaign to walk back the rights of LGBT Americans.

Help to spread the word about how the Duggars are exploiting their fame to attack trans people.

TLC, handle your business.

source 

Terry Bean takes leaves of absence from HRC board

Terry Bean will take a leave of absence from the Human Rights Campaign's board, until further notice.

HRC spokesperson, Fred Sainz released this statement:

"Terry Bean has taken a voluntary leave of absence from the HRC board until his issues are resolved. Bean is just one of 80 board members, none of whom have daily oversight or responsibility for any of our programs."

Again, Terry Bean was arrested and charged with third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sexual abuse. He and his ex-boyfriend, Kiah L. Lawson were accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy that the two had met through Grindr.

Terry, also released a statement:

"To all my friends, please be assured that I am innocent of all these charges. My lawyers have insisted that the facts come out in the courtroom and not in the press, but I am eager to share the truth, and I am grateful for all of your support you have shown me during this time. Thanks, Terry"

Terry is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 3.

source

HRC releases a Statement on the Grand Jury's Decision on the Michael Brown Case

HRC released the following statement from HRC President Chad Griffin:

“Michael Brown’s family and the American people deserve to have this case fully adjudicated in a public trial. Today’s deeply disappointing decision by the grand jury denies them that opportunity. Until we as a nation make a meaningful commitment to ending police profiling—and to fully prosecuting individual cases of brutality—the kind of violence that ended Michael Brown’s life will only continue. As advocates for equality, it’s our job to show solidarity with a growing national movement to break this cycle of police violence.”

“While we cannot begin to imagine the pain that the Brown family is facing at this moment, we send our thoughts, prayers and condolences to them during this heartbreaking and difficult time. We also stand in solidarity with the family's encouragement of peaceful protests and reflection following this decision.”

In August, HRC joined dozens of prominent national and local LGBT and other civil rights organizations in an open letter of solidarity with the family of Michael Brown. A portion of that letter is included below:

“The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled.”

HRC Co-Founder Arrested on Charges of Sex Abuse of a Minor

This ain't good at all.

The co-founder of Human Rights Campaign and Victory Fund Terry Bean was arrested on sex abuse charges involving a 15 year-old boy.

See here:

Law enforcement sources familiar with the case say Bean will be charged with two counts of sodomy in the third degree, a felony, and sex abuse in the third degree, a misdemeanor. He will be arraigned later in Lane County, where the crimes allegedly occurred in 2013.

The arrest comes after a six-month investigation that began with allegations Bean secretly made video recordings of men having sex in his bedroom. As WW reported in June, Bean accused a former lover, Kiah Lawson, of attempting to extort him over the discovery of a hidden camera. In the spring, Bean sought to keep the allegations secret and tried to reach a $40,000 settlement with Lawson.

After WW began asking questions, Bean went to the police asking them to investigate his allegations. Bean also handed over to police what he said was evidence of additional illegal activity by Lawson and others.

Lawson told WW that early this year he had discovered a hidden camera in a smoke detector above Bean's bed. Lawson claimed he was in more than one video that was made without his knowledge, and that video recording also captured at least a half dozen men “in a state of nudity engaged in intimate acts with [Bean].”

Wow... This guy raised tons of money for President Obama and the Democratic party. While, the truth is still out there, you just know the hate leaders are going to have a field day with this news.

source

HRC has put Peter LaBarbera on Notice

Scott Lively is Frightened of the HRC

Scott Lively is afraid of the HRC. In their latest campaign, the HRC targets hate leaders who go abroad to spread anti-gay hate.

After receiving this "honor", Scott went to Barbwire to express his fears:

The so-called Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has taken a page from the left wing hate group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and published a new report called “The Export of Hate.” A’ la SPLC, this publication is nothing less than an enemies list designed to help people like “gay” activist Floyd Lee Corkins identify their assassination targets.

I have special cause for concern in this matter because I am listed by HRC as Target #1.

Not every “gay” activist is physically violent, thankfully. Most limit their “human rights advocacy” to harassment, intimidation and slander. But make no mistake, if they thought they could get away will killing every person on the HRC and SPLC hit lists, they would do it. They smolder with malicious hatred against anyone who stands in their way.

That's just the beginning of his rant, but seriously, no one cares if you're scared, Scott.

HRC has put Brian Brown on Notice

Check out the ad

HRC President Chad Griffin Apologizes to the Trans Community

HRC President Chad Griffin gets a lot of flack. Sometimes, I get it, but most of the time I don't. Leading HRC is never a walk in the park, but I appreciate Chad for all that he does.

Today, Chad publicly apologizes for the wrong done to the Transgender community at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta.

In his speech, he stated:

HRC has done wrong by the transgender community in the past, and I am here to formally apologize.

I am sorry for the times when we stood apart when we should have been standing together.

Even more than that, I am sorry for the times you have been underrepresented or unrepresented by this organization. What happens to trans people is absolutely central to the LGBT struggle. And as the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, HRC has a responsibility to do that struggle justice, or else we are failing at our fundamental mission.

I came here today in the hopes that we can begin a new chapter together. But I also came here to tell you the truth. We’re an organization that is evolving. We may make mistakes. We may stumble. But what we do promise is to work with you sincerely, diligently, with a grand sense of urgency, listening and learning every step of the way.

And I also want to be clear that I’m not asking you to be the ones to take the first leap of faith. That’s our job. My mom taught me that respect isn’t given, it’s earned.

Over the past two years HRC has dramatically expanded the scope of all of our programs to reach more trans communities than ever before, and I want to take just a few minutes to talk about that work.

Now, after the words, we hope for the action.

President Obama's Historical LGBT record - VIDEO