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In response to the State of Indiana’s recent “Religious Freedom Law,” www.TeesWithTude.com has just introduced a new t-shirt designed to show that you and other like-minded people are “intolerant of intolerance.”
We
will change the future of HIV/AIDS in Denver and throughout Colorado.
It's no longer a dream. We will change the future of HIV/AIDS. There is
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In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt earlier today, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush embraced the widely-denounced and discriminatory anti-LGBT legislation that Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law last Thursday. While the national backlash against the harmful measure has been swift and brutal--and as Pence and Indiana lawmakers who supported the law have said they're seeking to "clarify" it--Bush spoke up today to defend the law. His support comes as many private-sector leaders have denounced the legislation and others like it, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In the interview, which can be heard here, Bush said:
"I think, if you, if they actually got briefed on the law that [sic] they wouldn’t be blasting this law. I think Governor Pence has done the right thing."
In response to Bush's praise for the law, Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, released the following statement:
"Discrimination is not an American value, and the broad coalition of business, civic, and religious leaders who have spoken out forcefully against this discriminatory law agree. This includes titans of industry, elected officials at the very highest level of government, and Americans from both political parties and from all walks of life. To suggest they oppose the law because they don't understand it is insulting, disrespectful, and flat-out wrong. Governor Bush's decision to defend this widely-condemned law raises an important question. Does he support legal non-discrimination protections for LGBT Americans, or does he believe businesses should have the legal right to fire gay and lesbian employees, evict LGBT Americans from their apartments, or refuse them service at a restaurant? Now that he's weighed in, he has an obligation to tell the country what he stands for."
Earlier today, HRC endorsed the "Fairness for All Hoosiers Act” as a solution to stop the damage caused by the new Indiana law. The legislative proposal would:
Update the state’s civil rights laws against discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations to provide protections for LGBT Hoosiers.
Clarify that the recently enacted Indiana religious discrimination law cannot be used to allow discrimination prohibited under state or local laws.
HRC is a founding member of the Freedom Indiana coalition—a campaign of state and national organizations who worked to try to stop the anti-LGBT bill from becoming law.
Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and HRC Arkansas lauded a letter from top executives at Acxiom—one of Arkansas’ largest employers and a leading generator of tax revenue in the state—to Governor Asa Hutchinson calling on him to veto H.B. 1228. The controversial legislation is almost identical to a similar bill that has generated national condemnation in Indiana and has been denounced by everyone from Apple CEO Tim Cook to the Arkansas Municipal League.
The letter, signed by CEO Scott Howe and Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Jerry C. Jones, is pointed in its criticism of the bill:
“Simply stated, this bill inflicts pain on some of our citizen and disgrace upon us all. This bill will have the practical effect of excluding parents, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, and neighbors from pursuing normal, everyday life, that straight citizens take for granted. That is not what Arkansas should stand for; we should be an ever forward-thinking state that strives for tolerance and inclusion of everyone, regardless of their differences.”
HRC President Chad Griffin issued the following statement in response to the letter:
“Acxiom has taken a principled and courageous stand for their employees and for all Arkansans. The letter makes clear that, simply by considering this legislation, Governor Hutchinson has already damaged this great state. Vetoing this destructive bill is essential to guaranteeing that Arkansas truly is open for business.”
On behalf of Acxiom we respectfully request that you veto Arkansas House Bill 1228, the so-called: “Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” We understand that you have previously stated that you intend to sign the bill, as amended, but we are hopeful that you will exhibit the courage and leadership necessary to do the right thing and veto this bill.
We are not alone in the belief that the bill is a deliberate vehicle for enabling discrimination against the LGBT community and should not become law, as it effectively re-establishes that shameful period before Civil Rights, when some citizens used religious beliefs as a thinly-veiled justification for discrimination against our fellow citizens.
Simply stated, this bill inflicts pain on some of our citizen and disgrace upon us all. This bill will have the practical effect of excluding parents, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, and neighbors from pursuing normal, everyday life, that straight citizens take for granted. That is not what Arkansas should stand for; we should be an ever forward-thinking state that strives for tolerance and inclusion of everyone, regardless of their differences.
HB1228 is not wise either from a business perspective – we have seen that it has already created a backlash in the business community of our country and is certain to bring ridicule and derision if it becomes law. This bill is at direct odds with your position that “Arkansas is open for business.”
Please, veto HB1228, it is the right thing to do.
Scott Howe President and Chief Executive Officer
Jerry C. Jones Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
Says Valen, "This one is in the style of Future
Bass with elements of Hip Hop and electro. Sofi de la Torre has been
featured on Grimes Blog, as well as Billboard and on The Guardian's
Playlist alongside Charlie XCX. She was nice enough to let me put my own
spin on it!"
Fox News host Bret Baier debunked the network's defense of Indiana's discriminatory "religious freedom" law, explaining that the law is broader than both federal law and similar measures in other states.
Last week, Indiana became the center of a political firestorm after the state legislature passed its version of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" (RFRA), a law that allows private individuals and for-profit business owners to cite their religious beliefs as a legal defense against claims of discrimination from consumers who have been wrongfully denied services based solely on their sexual orientation or gender identity. As the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana explained, Indiana's RFRA "may embolden individuals and businesses who now feel that their religious liberty is 'burdened' by treating a member of the LGBT community equally and that their 'burden' trumps others' rights to be free from discrimination."
Proponents of the law, including Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence, have downplayed these potential consequences by incorrectly claiming that the law is noncontroversial because it merely mirrors the federal RFRA and RFRAs in other states. It's a talking point that has been repeated on Fox News, which has so far depicted Indiana's law as a benign attempt to protect the devout from government encroachment on religious freedom.
But during the March 30 edition of Happening Now, Baier deflated his network's defense of the law, explaining to host Eric Shawn that Indiana's RFRA is "broader" than both federal law and other state RFRAs:
ERIC SHAWN: You know, the law was intended to protect personal
religious liberties against government overreach and intrusion. So what
happened?
BAIER: Well, Indiana's law is written a little differently. It is
more broad. It is different than the federal law that it's close to, but
different than, and also different than 19 other states and how the law
is written. In specific terms, Indiana's law deals with a person who can claim religious persecution but that includes corporations, for profit entities and it could also be used as a defense in a civil suit that does not involve the government. That is broader than the other laws. This
is where it's a little different in Indiana's case. You saw governor
Mike Pence try to defend the law and say it's just like the 1993 federal
law where it's just like 19 other states, but as you look in the fine print, it's not really, and it may be something that Indiana deals with in specifics to line up with the others.
[...] SHAWN: Obviously, it had good intentions. What do you think happened to make it kind of go off the rails this way?
BAIER: Well, how it was structured, Eric. And I think that, you know,
there may be good intentions behind it but how it's being interpreted
is being a little bit more forward leaning than any
other Religious Freedom Restoration Act on the books. What this
does politically, obviously Mike Pence has been talked about as a
governor thinking about a 2016 run. We don't know if he's going to do it
or not. But that interview with Stephanopoulos over the weekend was
obviously not a great back and forth in defense of this law that likely is going to have to be at least tweaked, if not changed. [emphasis added]
When it comes to being a fanboy, you really have to be out and proud with your opinions. I've been thinking about it lately, and with all of the reboots and comebacks of these great francises, there really is no better time to be an out and proud geek than right here and right now.
To that extent, I give to you my list of the top ten fanboy things to geek out about:
10. Indiana Jones - We won't let the current troubles in the state of Indiana sully Indy's three great adventures. (And to that extent, we'll also pretend that hot mess of a fourth movie never happened.) Why? Because the first film is quite possibly the greatest action/adventure movie ever made. The second and third films are alternately dark and twisted then fun and poignant. No better popcorn movies have ever been made, and I can't wait to show these to our son in a few years.
9. Sherlock Holmes - Countless incarnations from the original books to the new Sir Ian McKellen movie out soon keep bringing this character back to life. Not sure this would have made the list except for Benedict Cumberbatch's version, which manages to capture the exact brilliance and arrogance (as well as the bromance with Watson) of this timeless hero in a new and modern context. Honorable mention goes to the Star Trek the Next Generation story arc that features Data as Mr. Holmes and a holodeck Moriarty that comes to life, too.
8. Harry Potter - I taught fifth grade when the first movie came out, and oh boy, I remember the excitement and then rather harsh reviews that came with that first movie not having EVERYTHING exact. Those kids had every word and every scene of those books memorized and envisioned in their heads. The movies are kind of hit and miss for me, with sheer moments of brilliance scattered among some average movie making. But stories like these come along once in a lifetime -- if you're lucky. And we are VERY, VERY lucky.
7. Battlestar Galactica - Forgive the saggy, baggy series finale and the forgettable spin offs. How someone took a rather cheesy Star Wars rip off of the late 70s television and turned it into a dark, political thriller that analyzes humanity's worst impulses by contrasting them with our occasional acts of loyalty, brilliance, and sacrifice, is nothing short of brilliant. These episodes were so dense, thrilling, and dark that we couldn't Netflix-stream them for too long. We'd watch a few episodes, let them percolate, come back in a month, and wonder how the rest of entertainment wasn't this brilliant.
6. Lord of the Rings - Brilliant books, mostly brilliant movies. As with Harry Potter, worlds as rich in beauty and detail as these aren't created often. Nor are heroes of such small stature contrasted with so mighty of tasks. Perhaps it's these contrasts which ultimately make Mr. Tolkein's classics so wonderful. We'll forgive Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies, I suppose, since he honored the series with his first trilogy, which can be watched and re-watched without losing any of the magic of the books -- a trick seldom accomplished by Hollywood.
5. The X-Files - Again, we'll selectively forget about the Duchovny-less season, The Lone Gunmen spin-off, and two barely adequate movies. At its peak, The X-Files captured imagination and paid homage to everything from cop-dramas to horror movie standards. Mulder and Scully took aliens and conspiracy theories and somehow used them to contrast the worlds of faith and science to find humanity somewhere in between. Sure the blocky cell phones look a little dated (heck, there were more pay phones in the first season), but the story-telling here is nothing short of superb. And the moments of terror, disgust, humor, love, and wonder ring as true now as they did back in the 90s.
4. Star Wars - Words can't describe the adoration George Lucas's creation has brought to the world. Yes, we can hate on JarJar and The Phantom Menace for all eternity, and Lucas's umpteen reworkings of the original films for that matter as well, but, oh those original films! Never has story telling felt so out-there and so elemental at the same time. The soaring John Williams score and the light saber battles are classic in every sense, as are the spine tingling moments of heroism from the destruction of the Death Star to Han Solo's swagger just before being frozen in carbonite. Every boy's sense of imagination and heroism is ignited here by Lucas's mythology. And like all great myths, these stories are continuing to be told, retold, reimagined, and expounded upon. Now that's one in a million, kid.
3. Bond. James Bond - Books, music, fashion, cars, and of course, the movies. There's something about James Bond that transcends every other spy, cop, or detective story. Is it Sean Connery's machismo? The perfect cut on his tailored suit? The ruthless nature of someone licensed to kill? The cars? The women? The sex? The iconic theme? Whatever it is, it's a character that has set the standard for everyone detective and action hero that's followed. Pick your favorite Bond actor, Bond flick, Bond song, Bond car. Nobody does it better, indeed.
2. Marvel - It took Hollywood a long time to get comic books right. Superman and Batman had their moments on screen for sure. But Marvel consistently and brilliantly doubles down on itself - getting bigger, badder, and more human with its story-telling with each and every movie it makes. Sometime in the future, we'll look back on the movies that started with Iron Man and Robert Downey Junior and remark at how they revolutionized movie making, story-telling, and our idea of what it means to be a hero. These stories have been there for decades, often stored in boxes in the closest of grown little boys' old bedrooms. But they're just now starting to come to life for everyone else, and that really is something to marvel at.
1. Star Trek - Fortunately, I was giving a test in my classroom when the news of Leonard Nimoy's death broke. It wasn't really a surprise, but I really couldn't keep tears back. Spock was dead. Of course, I couldn't keep tears back in the Wrath of Khan either when I first saw it in theaters. Nor could I maintain my sense of wonder watching those reruns of the original series on tv on the weekends of my youth. Nor could I contain my excitement as the story-telling on the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager took leaps and bounds into a future that seems so much a possibility that we can almost reach out and touch it. And that's why Star Trek deserves the number one spot here. More so than any other entry on this list - it has inspired. And it keeps on inspiring. Its legacy reaches into our very history of our civil rights and expands all the way into our future with our technology and our vision of who we can be when we work together. With it's 50th anniversary coming up, it's still boldly going where no one has gone before, and that is definitely cause to geek out.
Have an addition to add or want to argue with my ranking? Leave a comment!
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty announced this week that Aetna, Inc. and Coventry Health Care of Florida, Inc. are revising their HIV/AIDS drug formularies for individual health plan members. The new change means a majority of HIV drugs currently labeled as specialty drugs in the highest cost tier of the drug formulary are being reclassified as either generic or non-preferred brand drugs and moved into the lower cost tiers.
Effective June 1, 2015, individual health plan members of these two insurers will be able to purchase oral HIV drugs as generic or non-preferred brands, resulting in reduced costs and better access to these important medications. This coverage will also extend to individual health plan members in 2016 and extend geographically throughout the United States, and not just in Florida, according to sources contacted at Aetna.
“It is great to see that the results of months of dialogue and advocacy among key stakeholders throughout the U.S. have yielded such positive results with an impact that could ultimately be far more significant if adopted throughout the industry,” said AIDS Healthcare Foundation Southern Bureau Chief Michael Kahane. The stakeholders involved in these negotiations included AIDS Institute, NHeLP, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).
“Aetna and Coventry’s actions represent a high level of commitment and responsiveness to the needs of its members,” stated Commissioner McCarty. “I look forward to working with the other health insurance companies who have also committed to focusing their efforts on this important issue.”
“It is also important to note that Aetna/Coventry’s change from the specialty tier for these important life-saving drugs will provide more choice for the patients in that they will have the option to visit a brick and mortar pharmacy or can choose to receive their medication through mail order,” said AHF Southern Bureau Director of Legislative Affairs David Poole.. “We hope this decision will become a trend in the industry.”
Last year, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation became aware of allegations that several health insurance companies may have been violating Florida law by placing all HIV/AIDS medications in the highest tier of their drug formulary. The Office performed an in-depth review of the allegations, met with the health insurance companies and reached agreements on this issue. The insurance companies agreed to implement interim measures to limit health plan members’ cost-sharing responsibility for HIV/AIDS drugs in the highest tier of their drug formularies; ensure prior authorizations or step therapy were not required for prescribed HIV/AIDs drug treatments; and look for long-term solutions that would better address the affordability and accessibility of HIV/AIDS medications.
Today, Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal, CEO of Affirm, chairman of Yelp and Glow, and director at Yahoo!, condemned Arkansas’ discriminatory H.B. 1228, which, if passed into law, will allow individuals to use religion as an excuse to discriminate against LGBT people and other minorities. On Friday, the measure passed the Arkansas Senate, and will likely be soon on its way to the Governor’s desk. A similar bill was signed into law last week in Indiana. However, corporate leaders from across the country are now taking action against bills like H.B. 1228 that are actively being considered in states across the country.
"Legislation like that passed in Indiana on Thursday and before Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson now aren't just discriminatory against LGBT Americans and their families - they discourage job growth and stifle economic development," said Levchin. "I have an obligation to my employees as a CEO to ensure their workplace is safe and welcoming for everyone. As I said on Thursday, the Indiana bill is a fundamental step backwards and for any state such as Arkansas that hopes to attract high paying high-tech jobs -- I sincerely hope they don't go down that same dangerous road. I am joining the CEOs of Salesforce, Yelp, Apple, and others in evaluating our relationships with states that have or are considering enacting legislation that permits discrimination against any of our employees or customers."
Major corporations such as Wal-Mart, Yelp and Apple have spoken out against H.B. 1228. On Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook personally called for the Governor to veto the legislation. In addition, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond also placed the spotlight on the discriminatory bill. Levchin is the latest national private-sector leader to call for this type of legislation to be abandoned in Arkansas and other states considering harmful measures against LGBT people.
On Sunday, HRC ran a full-page ad in the San Jose Mercury News, the largest paper in Silicon Valley and the high-tech industry’s paper of record. The ad spotlighted H.B. 1228, noting if Governor Hutchinson allows the bill to become law, he will be ignoring the opposition of major employers who opposed the legislation. A digital version of the ad is also running on various tech websites and digital properties of the Wall Street Journal.
In addition, HRC President Chad Griffin delivered a formal invitation to Governor Hutchinson to travel with him to New York City on Tuesday to attend a gathering of more than 250 C-suite executives of Fortune 500 companies and other major businesses—corporations whose investment potential collectively totals in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Each of these companies has scored a 100 percent on the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI)—demonstrating their core commitment to treating LGBT employees fairly and equally under the law. The Governor has not responded.
Today the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, endorsed the "Fairness for All Hoosiers Act” as a solution to stop the damage caused by the new Indiana anti-LGBT religious discrimination law signed in to law by Governor Pence.
“All Hoosiers, from Gary to Indianapolis to Evansville, deserve to be treated fairly and equally regardless of who they are or who they love,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Governor Pence should stop the backpedaling and come out strongly in favor of this new pro-equality legislation. If he’s serious about sending the right message and ensuring the bill he signed in to law isn’t used to discriminate against LGBT people in his state, then now is the time to prove it by endorsing this bill.”
The “Fairness for All Hoosiers Act” legislative proposal would:
• Update the state’s civil rights laws against discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations to provide protections for LGBT Hoosiers.
• Clarify that the recently enacted Indiana religious discrimination law cannot be used to allow discrimination prohibited under state or local laws.
HRC is a founding member of the Freedom Indiana coalition—a campaign of state and national organizations who worked to try to stop the anti-LGBT bill from becoming law.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that allows private businesses to discriminate against people because of gender identity or sexual orientation and attacks women by allowing employers, doctors, and pharmacists the right to deny contraceptives.
Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez, deputy managing director of United We Dream, issued the following statement,
“Indiana’s new law creates a dangerous precedent for the LGBTQ community. It attempts to undermine the vast victories and progress the community has made in its struggle for equality. More than 267,000 undocumented immigrants identify as LGBTQ, and Indiana’s law is a dangerous attack that will make our community even more vulnerable to discrimination and unjust treatment.
“This move is only the latest in a pattern of steps that Indiana has taken to make the state unwelcoming. Indiana has also signed on to the lawsuit in opposition to President Obama’s deferred action programs that will protect millions of immigrants from deportation and has a history of anti-immigrant legislation as well.”
Carlos Padilla, coordinator for the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, a programof United We Dream, also added,
“This law is an attempt to force LGBTQ people like myself back into the closet that must be denounced. As both an LGTBQ individual and a Dreamer, we’ve seen bad bills, like Arizona’s S.B. 1070, take root in one state only to be replicated across the country in an effort to criminalize and discriminate our communities.
“United We Dream stands in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Indiana and across the country who continue fighting for a nation that welcomes any person regardless of immigration status, gender identity or sexual orientation.”
Genevieve's official video for "Colors" furthers the song's message:
Find pride in who you are. Watch as the Chicago singer (formerly of
Company of Thieves) and her friends go through a Wizard ofOz transformation, from black and white to extravagant color.
Following Indiana Governor Mike Pence's brutal interview this morning on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, HRC released its own new video that highlights the eightdifferenttimes
that he ducked, dodged, and declined to answer simple, straightforward
questions about Indiana's new law and whether discrimination against
LGBT Hoosiers should be illegal.
Stephanopoulos asked multiple straightforward questions, and Pence
repeatedly refused to answer whether the law would allow businesses to
discriminate against LGBT Hoosiers or whether discrimination against
LGBT Hoosiers should be illegal. Pence did indicate that he would not
advocate for adding sexual orientation as a protected class under the
state's civil rights laws, that they "weren't going to change" SB 101,
although it may be "clarified."
