Sizzling deals, four days only. Get it while it’s haute!
Come to Cherry Creek North July 13-16
for four fabulous days of hot deals, fashion and food! For its 47th
year, a record-breaking 97 businesses will be participating in the Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale. Stores will take their sales to the streets of Cherry Creek North as shoppers search for the best bargains of the year.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law responded on Thursday to a new report detailing the lack of accurate data on hate crimes incidents. The under-reporting of hate crimes is attributable, in part, to a lack of trust among targeted communities who do not feel safe reporting incidents of hate to law enforcement.
Also today, the Lawyers’ Committee is attending a Hate Crimes Summit at the U.S. Department of Justice to urge Trump administration officials including Attorney General Jeff Sessions to address the root causes of hate and to enact policies that promote inclusion and tolerance rather than policies that target minority communities such as the Administration’s discriminatory travel ban. A copy of Attorney General Sessions’ remarks presented at the Summit can be found here.
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, stated:
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ speech today does not go far enough in responding to the spike in hate incidents that we have seen across the country in the last several months. He failed to address the fact that more than 100 federal law enforcement agencies are not providing hate crimes data to the FBI. Moreover, the Administration’s executive orders and policies toward African Americans, Latinos, and other communities of color, Muslims, LGBTQ communities, immigrants, and refugees have undermined the trust that is necessary for communities and victims to freely report hate crimes to law enforcement. We are participating in a Hate Crimes Summit hosted by the Justice Department today to underscore that a strong federal response is needed to confront the scourge of hate incidents now gripping the nation. While it is critical that the Department of Justice redouble its commitment to effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes, any actions it takes must be understood in the context of the policies and positions that the Department has taken that promote the marginalization of minority communities and contribute to a climate of fear and hate.
“It is in this context that the Lawyers’ Committee will offer several specific suggestions concerning the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes and around hate crimes reporting, data collection, and training and outreach. We know that until this Administration’s policies and practices are reversed, we will continue to see the surge in hate incidents and hate crimes devastating our communities. At every turn, we will continue to hold this Administration accountable and press the Justice Department to carry out its obligation and duty to fully and fairly protect the civil rights of all Americans.”
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Communities Against Hate partner, leads the Stop Hate Project. The Stop Hate Project works to strengthen the capacity of community leaders, local government, law enforcement, and organizations around the country to combat hate by connecting these groups with legal and social services resources and creating new ones in response to identified needs. The Project’s resource and reporting hotline for hate incidents, 1-844-9-NO-HATE (1-844-966-4283), connects people and organizations combating hate with the resources and support they need.
Today, Tall Friend have shared a video for "Small Space," the latest from their upcoming debut album, Safely Nobody's. The FADER, who premiered the Allyssa Yohana-directed video today are calling it "an unassuming lo-fi earworm full of too-real misfit poetry," while the band's Charlie Pfaff says it's "a song about growing up in an environment that rejects and suppresses you, then coming out on the other side alive and new."
One Colorado's 2017 Ally Awards are just around the corner! Join them on August 26th, 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel Denver as they honor incredible allies who work to advance equality and who make a substantive difference in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans. And this year's Ally Awards go to…
Jean Dubofsky Kaiser Permanente Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC
With Americans preparing to show their national pride this Fourth of
July, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report
on 2017's Most Patriotic States in America.
To determine where Americans bleed the most red, white and blue,
WalletHub compared the 50 states across 13 key indicators of patriotism.
The data set ranges from average number of military enlistees to share
of adults who voted in the 2016 presidential election to AmeriCorps
volunteers per capita. Patriotism in Colorado (1=Most Patriotic; 25=Avg.):
14th– Average Number of Military Enlistees per 1,000 Civilian Adults Population (No Prior Service)
11th– Active-Duty Military Personnel per 1,000 Civilian Adult Population
9th– Peace Corps Volunteers per Capita
3rd– % of Adults Who Voted in 2016 Presidential Election
21st– Volunteer Rate
24th– Veterans per 1,000 Civilian Adult Population
Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American rights to Joe Ahearne’s (Sony/BBC’s The Replacement) gay thriller B&B. Breaking Glass acquired North American rights to the film in June in a deal negotiated between Breaking Glass CEO Rich Wolff and Producer Jayne Chard of Hummingbird Films. Breaking Glass is planning a limited theatrical followed by a DVD/VOD release this October.
In B&B, Marc and Fred went to war when they were refused a double bed at a remote Christian guest house. They won their court case and now they're back to claim their conjugal rights. Triumph turns to terror when a Russian neo-Nazi checks in. Their weekend of fun becomes a bloody battle for survival in this smart, brutally funny and dark thriller. B&B
held its world premiere at the London Independent Film Festival where
it won Best LGBT Feature. The North American premiere was at the MiFo
LGBT Film Festival, followed by the Out Film CT Festival. B&B will
play the Vancouver Queer Film Festival in August.
The National LGBTQ Task Force (“the Task Force”) is celebrating the restoration by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of a sexual orientation question to the survey of older adults. The Task Force will redouble its effort for the addition of a gender identity question to the national survey.
“This is a tremendous victory over the political forces who are trying to erase LGBTQ people from vitally important population surveys,” said Rea Carey, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force.
In its constant monitoring of the Federal Register, the Task Force noted the erasure of the sexual orientation question in March and immediately started an advocacy effort to have the question restored and to have a gender identity question added. In part as a result of our FedWatch project, a petition circulated to our members, and efforts by colleagues like SAGE, 10,000 individual commenters and more than 80 organizational commenters were mobilized to engage with HHS in its public comment submission period. The pressure worked and the sexual orientation question was restored last week.
“We count. We won’t be erased. And when we raise our voices in significant numbers, it has an impact — even with such an anti-LGBTQ Administration in power. Now we fight on for the addition of a gender identity question,” Carey stressed.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced efforts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in 2019. In June 1969, LGBT community members held spontaneous demonstrations at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, considered by many as the catalyst for the modern LGBT rights movement. As part of the state’s commemorative efforts, cultural events will be promoted statewide and New York will host the largest international LGBT pride celebration in 2019 – Stonewall 50 / WorldPride.
"The Stonewall Rebellion was a decisive moment in both LGBT and New York history, and by remembering these events and the movement's continued efforts today, this state and nation will be stronger than ever before,” Governor Cuomo said. "The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, coinciding with WorldPride, helps us recognize the efforts of the early LGBT rights advocates as we welcome visitors from across the United States and around the world to visit New York and embrace the rich heritage found at every corner of the state."
Governor Cuomo will convene a Stonewall 50 Commemoration Committee to encourage and promote cultural events to be held throughout New York State in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. The committee will include representatives from state agencies, LGBT community groups, museums and cultural institutions, and tourism professionals.
In conjunction with Stonewall 50, New York City will host WorldPride, the largest international LGBT Pride celebration, in 2019. The event, held in various locations worldwide, features parades, performances and festivals that promote LGBT pride.
Governor Cuomo announced that New York State and I LOVE NY LGBT will activate at key international and domestic Prides, and other LGBT events, throughout 2017 and 2018 to encourage everyone to visit New York State for Stonewall 50 and WorldPride New York. This will be a joint effort between the organizers of Stonewall 50 / NYC Pride (Heritage of Pride) to promote travel to the event and the state.
The Governor also announced plans for an I LOVE NY LGBT Welcome Center in New York City for the weeks surrounding the Stonewall 50 Commemoration and WorldPride. The welcome center will provide visitors with information on New York State’s LGBT destinations and the Stonewall 50 activities happening statewide.
“Your labs look great — your testosterone level is really, really low; your estrogen levels is actually more or less adult levels,” reports Dr. Charlton, a pediatric endocrinologist, to the 16-year-old at her check-up.
Jazz’s mother Jeanette says in an interview: “To hear that Jazz is developing just like her peers, it just makes me so happy. I’m so happy for her, and it kind of confirms — it really confirms — that [her dad] Greg and I have been making the right decisions with respect to her medical care. We are on the right path.”
That said, the question of what steps she will take on that path continue to be a question.
After experience setbacks that delayed her ability to pursue bottom surgery, Jazz tells her mother and Dr. Charlton — much to their surprise: “I don’t want top surgery anymore. I’m pretty happy with my body.”
Dr. Charlton replies, “This is the first time I’ve heard you say that you’re happy with your body. You’ve been happy with certain changes, but there were always concerns. This is the happiest I’ve seen you. You seem more comfortable in your own skin now than you have since I’ve known you, and that’s really, really great.” I Am Jazz returns for a new season Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
Pride Fest came and went. There comes a time where you can fall into a feeling where you just believe that pride festivals are for the youngins. Yes, I remember my first pride. I can tell you all the pride events after that, and how much sun block and alcohol was consumed. But, after your twenty-eighth pride you can lose the since of triumph that comes along with being able to stand in the sun and declare your true self to the world. Just so you know, you should not do that. Forget that it is a luxury.
The most fun about watching the pride parade is whom you watch it with. The BFs friends are in their twenties and early thirties. Some had just discovered the joy of pride day. Seeing a gay parade through these eyes helps to reconnect. A young lesbian kept turning to me during the procession of floats and asking questions… “What is a… Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire?” I raised an eyebrow to think that one through. What is court? Even though it’s been around long before my time, and even had attended events back in the 1990s. “It’s… like a Shriners group… a social club for drag queens. Before they were allowed in public and into the bars. Drag queens had a social club to meet, where they would be safe.” Whoo. I thought I explained that one pretty well. “Safe from what?” She asked. This twenty-something lesbian lives in a world were Denver is a safe, embracing city.
This realization of time passing was of course countered by me sharing a story of how one pride I was tripping my balls on ecstasy so hard I just wandered the full parade route in just my Calvin’s and was met by side-eye and questions if X was a thing so far back and if Calvin Klein was alive back then. Do not; I repeat, do not forget why we as a tribe have pride events. And, do not think that it is no big deal. It is a huge deal. To be able to stand in the sun and declare yourself to the world.
Following a headline-grabbing, “Gaga-tastic” season opener that drew nearly 1 million viewers, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” kept the momentum going through last week’s finale extravaganza delivering the most viewed season and finale ever. 859k total viewers tuned-in last Friday to watch Sasha Velour snatch the crown and title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, representing an increase of 218% over last season’s finale (P18-49). Additionally, the full season was up an astonishing 122% from last season (P18-49). The season ender also trended across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and was the #1 most social program on all of television on Friday.
The wildly successful series kept viewers at the edge of their seats with nail-biting challenges and shocking eliminations throughout the season, consistently ranking as the number one most social non-sports, non-news cable program on Fridays.
RuPaul will be back on Logo to glam up the summer with “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season 9 RuVealed,” premiering Thursday, June 29th at 8pm. New episodes will air Thursdays at 8PM PT/ET weekly and feature never-before-seen moments with a library full of fresh reads from RuPaul and the queens. Also returning to Logo is the “Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul,” where contestants’ entertainment IQs are put to the test when host RuPaul quizzes them on the hottest pop culture moments. As they answer hysterical trivia questions, contestants have to decide whether to trust their own instincts or to turn to the “Gay for Play” celebrity panel for help. Two all-new episodes will air weekly on Thursdays starting June 29th.
The nation's highest court has granted review in the case of a business that requested a religious exemption from Colorado’s LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination law.
Every lower court that has heard this case – including the Colorado Supreme Court – has ruled the right way, finding that denying service to someone because they are LGBTQ is not just wrong, but also violates long-standing state laws here in Colorado. When the Justices meet, they’ll review the case record and surely see that businesses open to the public must serve all members of the public equally.
This case, the ACLU’s Craig and Mullins v. Masterpiece Cakeshop, may be centered on a bakery – but it’s never been about cake. It’s always been about people being turned away from businesses just because of who they are. This sort of discrimination is a violation of our non-discrimination protections in Colorado, and it’s wrong.
The One Colorado team filed a legal brief in the case explaining that freedom of religion is vital – one of our most cherished values – and it’s already protected in the Constitution. But religion should never be used as an excuse for discrimination. That’s the message we must send to the Supreme Court in the coming months.
While the ACLU and others make compelling arguments in the courtroom, it’s up to us in Colorado to push forward and build momentum to stand strong against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Today, the best way to do that is by making sure your friends and loved ones know that we need all hands on deck for the work ahead.
For the first national edition of Pride Canada, Montréal Pride will make a special place for Indigenous Peoples participants in its upcoming festivities. We believe that, beyond sexual diversity and gender plurality, Pride is about celebrating diversity at large. The presence of Indigenous Peoples will no doubt enrich the event’s essence.
Last fall, Montréal Pride announced to its partners that the August 20, 2017 Parade will be led by a contingent of Indigenous Peoples. Moreover, a Mohawk elder woman will preside with a traditional prayer and ritual during the inauguration ceremony of the new site, Parc des Faubourgs, which is located on unceded territories of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawks). Pow-wow Dancers will also be on hand to share their culture with us.
The national conference on LGBTTIQA2S human rights will be launched and closed with ceremonies officiated by Indigenous Peoples representatives. This conference will also explore the concept of two-spirits along with workshops on Indigenous Peoples/ LGBTTIQA2S intersectionality. Further announcements along these inclusive lines will follow, such as the unveiling of our Grand Marshals.
Canada Pride Montréal 2017 festivities are inclusive and open to all, whatever their sexual orientation, identity or gender expression, their ethnic origin, their age, race or beliefs. A great deal of effort and care is put into ensuring that the programming will be a reflection of the concern for inclusion and representativeness so that all communities may identify, starting with the Indigenous peoples.
“We must learn from our past mistakes and thus mark a turning point with those difficult events of our history to make sure they are not repeated. At Canada Pride Montréal 2017, it is our strongest wish and we are taking all the means at our disposal to achieve it,” says Montréal Pride President and founder, Éric Pineault.
In
response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Arkansas
Supreme Court’s decision in Pavan v. Smith, thereby guaranteeing the
right of same-sex parents to have the names of both parents
on their children’s birth certificates and today’s announcement that
the court will hear the discrimination case Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v.
Colorado Civil Rights, DNC spokesperson Joel Kasnetz released the
following statement:
“It’s
fitting that, on the two-year anniversary of the nation-wide marriage
equality decision, love won again today. Marriage equality and its
protections are the law of the land and today’s ruling
affirmed the strength of loving families with same-sex parents.
“As
for the Colorado case, our constitution guarantees equal protection for
all under the law, so we urge the Supreme Court to affirm the Colorado
Court of Appeals decision that held businesses
cannot discriminate against same-sex couples.”
U.S.Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA)reintroduced their resolution to designate June 26, as “LGBT
Equality Day,” honoring the anniversary of three significant victories
won at the U.S. Supreme Court for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) Americans.
“America
should celebrate the progress we have made to pass on to the next
generation a country that is more equal, not less equal. But we cannot
mistake our progress for
victory,” said Senator Baldwin.
“We have more work to do in the march for fairness, freedom and full
equality for the LGBT community. I believe America is ready to take the
next steps forward and together we will break
down barriers so that every American has an equal opportunity to dream
the same dreams, chase the same ambitions, and have the same shot at
success.”
“In
the last two decades, our nation has seen the Defense of Marriage Act
overturned, the decriminalization of loving LGBT couples and now
nationwide marriage equality —
all through Supreme Court decisions handed down on June 26,” Congresswoman DelBene said.
“But even as same-sex couples enjoy the right to marry in all 50
states, LGBT people continue to face violence, inequality and
discrimination simply for who they
are and who they love. Our resolution designates the 26th of June as
‘LGBT Equality Day’ not only to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also
to acknowledge how much work remains to be done.”
During
the past two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued three landmark
rulings on the 26th of June that helped eliminate LGBT discrimination,
affirm the dignity of
same-sex couples and move our country toward a more perfect union:
·Lawrence v. Texas
(June 26, 2003). Fourteen years ago, the Court ruled on June
26, that states could no longer criminalize the private intimate
conduct of same-sex couples, invalidating hateful and discriminatory
laws in more than a dozen states.
·United States v. Windsor
(June 26, 2013). Four years ago, the Court overturned
Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on June 26, and ruled
that legally married same-sex couples deserve all of the rights,
benefits and protections provided by marriage under federal law.
·Obergefell v. Hodges (June 26, 2015).
Two years ago,
the
Court ruled on June 26, that same-sex couples have a constitutional
right to marry, putting the United States on the right side of history
and ending marriage discrimination once
and for all.
Senator Baldwin and Congresswoman DelBene’s
resolution
is cosponsored
by more than 150 members of Congress and is supported by the Human
Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the
Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.
Both Senator Baldwin and Congresswoman DelBene have cosponsored
the Equality Act,
historic, comprehensive federal legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT Americans.
