Being able to lift 267 pounds is only one of the things that makes 18 year-old British Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith tough. She can also swat down sexist Twitter trolls like they’re flies.
While Smith was preparing to set an Olympic record for Great Britain in the clean-and-jerk event, men (and some women) on Twitter were busy saying she wasn’t attractive enough, or that she was manly, or that there was something wrong with her body because she was so muscular.
[We] don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? What do you want us to do? Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our ‘manly’ muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favourably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?! Cause you are clearly the kindest, most attractive type of man to grace the earth with your presence.
Oh but wait, you aren’t. This may be shocking to you, but we actually would rather be attractive to people who aren’t closed-minded and ignorant. Crazy, eh?! We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble.
Sexism seems to be almost as common as sweat at this year’s Olympics — which has a record number of women participating — from female boxers being asked to wear skirts to differentiate them from the men to women’s teams taking coach while men’s fly first class.
VIDEO: Lana Wachowski’s First Public Appearance Since Transitioning |
It isn’t a secret that Lana Wachowski of the sibling filmmaking team responsible for The Matrix and V for Vendetta is transgender, but she has now made her first public appearance since transitioning. Joining her brother Andy and director Tom Tykwer in a YouTube clip, the three discuss their exciting new film Cloud Atlas, due out October 26. Though her gender isn’t even part of the video, many have unfortunately used the comments section to express many transphobic thoughts rather than applaud her for her courage and commitment to authenticity. Watch the clip:
Another court has overturned the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, ruling in Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management that “no conceivable rational basis exists for the provision.” Judge Vanessa L. Bryant, a district judge in the Second Circuit appointed by President George W. Bush, therefore ruled that DOMA “violates the equal protection principles incorporated in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The suit was brought by same-sex couples living in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire who argued they were unfairly denied access to various programs available to other married couples. House Republicans, under the guise of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) and Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) leadership, intervened at taxpayer expense to defend the anti-gay statute. In her decision, Bryant took BLAG to task for attempting to rewrite the past by claiming that gays and lesbians have not been subject to discrimination throughout history:
The fact that the concept of homosexuality as a distinct category or class wasn’t fully recognized until the late nineteenth century is not indicative of an absence of a long history of discrimination in light of the long standing proscriptions on homosexual conduct – conduct that is central if not tantamount in some sense to identity. Moreover, the pervasiveness of the “closet” in which homosexuals purposefully hid their sexualities could very well explain why it was only in the late nineteenth century that conceptions of homosexual identity emerged as gay Americans moved into cities and began tentatively stepping out of the closet. [...]
In sum, the evidence in the record detailing the long history of anti-gay discrimination which evolved from conduct-based proscriptions to status or identity-based proscriptions perpetrated by federal, state and local governments as well as private parties amply demonstrates that homosexuals have suffered a long history of invidious discrimination. Moreover this conclusion is consistent with the majority of cases which have meaningfully considered the question and likewise held that homosexuals as a class have experienced a long history of discrimination.
Multiple other rulings against the Defense of Marriage Act have already been appealed to the Supreme Court for review in the coming year. This latest rebuke of the law adds to the compelling case already before the Court that DOMA is nothing more than unnecessary, unconstitutional discrimination against same-sex couples.
Perhaps Mike Huckabee’s scheduling of his “appreciation day” is to blame, but there is a valid reason why Chick-fil-A has continued to occupy a prominent space in the news cycle. But despite what many detractors are now trying to claim, it has nothing to do with chicken. The Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri’s mantra, “Judge the sandwich by the sandwich,” exemplifies this emerging attitude that the Chick-fil-A story is irrelevant. Petri, herself a supporter of marriage equality, thinks that the whole situation is a waste of time:
We are getting real life confused with politics, always a dangerous move. In politics, people seldom make much of anything. Gaffes. Pronouncements. Manufactured indignation. That’s about it. When the only thing you make is statements, you should be judged by the statements. That’s why we spend so much time going through all the remarks and half-quotes and misquotes with fine-toothed combs. But if you make anything besides remarks …
Judge the sandwich by the sandwich.
Is this a selfish position? Yes. But it’s consistent. If you want a world where your restaurateurs have to agree with you, you are going to be missing out on a lot of excellent sandwiches. And that is not a world I’d like to live in.
Petri might not wish to admit this, but she debunks her own argument. The position is selfish, but she gets the explanation wrong. The Chick-fil-A story is an important test for all people who claim to support LGBT equality, whether they themselves identify as LGBT or allies. It takes a certain amount of courage to say, “I support marriage equality,” and a different level of courage to say, “I’m not going to buy tasty chicken sandwiches because I know the profits are used to harm LGBT people.” Petri, like the Log Cabin Republicans’ R. Clarke Cooper, can’t be bothered with the task of actually taking personal responsibility to defend LGBT people if it means living in a world without “a lot of excellent sandwiches.”
There is a very obvious reason why all of the conservatives defending Chick-fil-A only talk about it as defending “traditional marriage,” ignoring president Dan Cathy’s vitriolic comments and the company’s odious donations. They want to minimize the validity for outrage and reduce the issue to one of mere First Amendment privilege. Conceding to that spin allows the true harm of funding ex-gay ministries and anti-gay hate groups to go unchecked. Chick-fil-A and its president Dan Cathy are nothing short of religious bullies, and attacking the LGBT community for standing up for themselves is an expression of either ignorance in regards to Chick-fil-A’s offenses, apathy for LGBT equality, laziness, or a combination of all three.
It’s worth noting that there have been no nationwide calls for boycotts of Chick-fil-A. Most of the efforts have been awareness-raising protests and verbal rebukes. In response to Huckabee’s “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” one group is calling on people to donate the cost of a chicken dinner (about $6.50) to support an LGBT advocacy organization. A world where LGBT people are free of bullying, violence, harassment, discrimination, income inequality, and health inequity sounds like a much better world than any chicken sandwich could define.
Chick-fil-A Reiterates Talking Points On New ‘FAQs’ Webpage |
Jeremy Hooper just noticed that Chick-fil-A has created a new page on its website simply identified as “FAQs,” where the company reiterates its same talking points about its anti-gay philosophies. It still plans to “treat every person with honor, dignity, and respect,” despite offering no protections or benefits for LGBT employees. And pulling the Jim Henson toys for an unspecified safety concern that resulted in zero injuries had nothing to do with the Henson Company’s promise to donate the proceeds to GLAAD. Though there’s no new information provided here, Chick-fil-A is clearly in damage control mode as its national favorability plummets.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA), one of the right’s leading anti-immigration voices, is planning to sue the Obama administration after it announced that it would stop deporting undocumented students who were eligible for the DREAM Act.
In response, King, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, is promising swift action. In a tele-townhall late last week, the Iowa Congressman was asked about stopping illegal immigration. King said that he would soon file suit against the president “to command the president to enforce the law.”
KING:I want to stop the bleeding at the border. I want to shut off the job magnet. I want to force the president to enforce the law and this litigation that I’m bringing forward that will be filed sometime soon will be asking for a writ of mandamus to command the president to enforce the law. That’s a constitutional provision we can implement. We know the president doesn’t want to enforce it. He’s said he will not.
Watch it:
Despite King’s belief, the president’s immigration directive is eminently lawful. In fact, when the Supreme Court invalidated most of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 immigration law last month, the majority opinion provided strong support for the new immigration policy.
Still, even if King’s lawsuit flops, undocumented youth could again find themselves in danger of being deported if Mitt Romney prevails in November. The campaign co-chair, Ray Walser, announced last month that Romney would “rescind” the immigration directive if elected.
POLL: Marriage Equality Support Surges Among Democrats |
A new survey from the Pew research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life shows support for marriage equality continues to increase, especially for Democrats. Polls have consistently shown marriage equality is a winning issue, and Pew similarly found that 48 percent of Americans support the freedom to marry while 44 percent oppose it. Among Democrats, support dramatically increased from 50 percent in 2008 to 65 percent in 2012, while Republican support only increased slightly from 19 percent to 24 percent. Support has increased among all age groups, but particularly those born after 1980, 63 percent of whom now support marriage equality. Attitudes on the nature of sexual orientation are also shifting, but more slowly, with 51 percent now believing orientation cannot be changed and 41 percent believing it’s something people are born with.
When the Jim Henson Company severed its relationship with Chick-fil-A and promised to donate profits from its current toy promotion to GLAAD, Chick-fil-A responded by pulling the toys from its meals claiming an inexplicable safety concern. The restaurant moved on to its next kids’ meal offer: books from the Berenstain Bears series, apparently about the Golden Rule. The Berenstain family is now also distancing itself from Chick-fil-A, having posted the following note on its home page and Facebook page:
Our publisher, HarperCollins, is marketing several of their Berenstain Bears titles through a kids’ meal promotion at Chick-Fil-A scheduled for August. This program was in development for over a year. We were unaware of any controversy involving Chick-Fil-A until July 25th.
The Berenstain family does not at this time have control over whether this program proceeds or not. We hope those concerned about this issue will direct their comments toward HarperCollins and Chick-Fil-A.
ThinkProgress reached out to the Berenstain family to see if they had specific concerns about Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s anti-gay comments, but received no response. Thus, it’s not clear if the Berenstains are distancing themselves because they do not approve of Cathy’s comments (as Lisa Henson specified she did not), or if they simply wish to avoid responding to negative feedback related to the controversy. Regardless, it is becoming evident that the Chick-fil-A brand is toxic because of its condemnations of same-sex marriage and the LGBT community.
The pro-Chick-fil-A, anti-equality sign outside the WhiteBriar Bed and Breakfast.
Joianne Fraschilla is a lesbian mom in New Jersey whose son has been eager to visit the petting zoo at the WhiteBriar Bed & Breakfast they pass by regularly. This week, they noticed a sign outside the B&B promoting tomorrow’s “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” organized by Mike Huckabee, as well as the message “One man, one woman, one God.” Fraschilla wrote on the B&B’s Facebook wall that she would not be bringing her son there because she was disappointed a local business was anti-equality. She received the following response, presumably from WhiteBriar co-owner Carole Lokan-Moore:
Isn’t it wonderful Joanne Fraschilla, that you and your son can enjoy the animals here because I have a traditional marriage with a husband who works with me 90 hours a week to take care of these animals, and the summer camp….we’re 66-68 years old….there were no gays or queers in our time…..if two old ladies chose to live together..so be it, let them deal with God when they get there…but to have the “face sucking” thrown in my face of two gay lesbians who are totally destroying the “normal balance in a child’s life” as you claim your son…where is the role model that your son needs to know how to act like a man? or will he only see the “one sided selfishness” of a “single parent”…and end up an out cast in society by being “gay” himself because he didn’t have a father as a role model. I’ll pray for you….remember what the bible says: “Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas”…..guess that’s why God invented aids…
THIS LOCAL BUSINESS WILL BE ONE MAN ONE WOMAN ONE GOD MAKES MARRIAGE….AND PROUD TO DO SO….YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Fraschilla has started a Change.org petition calling on WhiteBriar to apologize for the indefensible comment. It’s worth noting that Lokan-Moore ran for the New Jersey Senate, but lost in the GOP primary having garnered only 416 votes.
Many conservatives have asked why it matters what Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy personally believes, and the very easy answer is that words hurt. Cathy’s use of language of condemning marriage equality as “twisted up stuff” that invokes God’s wrath upon society invites others to do the same, complete with AIDS-is-God’s-punishment-for-homosexuality embellishments.
Welcome to The Morning Pride, ThinkProgress LGBT’s daily round-up of the latest in LGBT policy, politics, and some culture too! Here’s what we’re reading this morning, but please let us know what stories you’re following as well. Follow us all day on Twitter at @TPEquality.
- Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Conference of Illinois is seeking to involve itself in defending the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The Ex-Gay Mother And The Kidnapped Child |
This weekend, the New York Times offered a detailed account of Lisa Miller, Janet Jenkins, and their daughter Isabella. Miller had broken off their Vermont civil union, moved across state lines to Virginia, and prevented Jenkins from seeing their daughter. Miller had committed herself to a strict form of Christianity, identifying as ex-gay and teaching Isabella that according to the Bible, she could not have two mothers because they had been living in sin. In 2009, when a Virginia court upheld Vermont’s jurisdiction over their civil union, Miller fled through a covert system of Mennonites, kidnapping Isabella away to Nicaragua, where they presumably remain. (In her absence, Miller’s lawyer, Rena M. Lindevaldsen of Liberty University Law School, has profited off her case through the sale of a tell-all book condemning the homosexual lifestyle.) The New York Times piece is a compelling read about a complicated and tragic story that shows the full extent of how anti-gay teachings can harm children.
The Log Cabin Republicans’ R. Clarke Cooper today penned a scathing rebuke of LGBT activists and allies who have been speaking out against Chick-fil-A for its anti-gay policies. Confirming for his conservative brethren that “gay people really are the thought police,” Cooper lashes out at “Chick-fil-A haters” for being “superficial, vindictive, and juvenile”:
Turning a chicken sandwich into Public Gay Enemy Number One makes LGBT people look superficial, vindictive and juvenile — everything that we as a community have worked hard to overcome. Remember, employers don’t want drama queens on the payroll, military service is serious business, and marriage is not a right society grants to spoiled children. While in a perfect world our equality should not depend on our good behavior, in a world where our rights too often hinge on political reality, the way our movement conducts itself matters.
The “movable middle” moves both ways, and they don’t like seeing people attacked relentlessly for their religion. Whatever the nuances, these voters see a man standing up for his beliefs against a politically powerful mob dead-set on driving him out of business. It’s un-American, and when fellow conservatives are finally standing up and speaking out for marriage equality as consistent with the sober values of responsibility and commitment, splashing a popular American company with metaphorical chicken blood in protest is nothing less than friendly fire.
Amazingly, Cooper manages to buy into almost every talking point used by those defending Chick-fil-A while still purporting to support LGBT equality. While some conservatives (and “some” may yet be generous) are speaking out for marriage equality, Chick-fil-A is surely doing the opposite. There’s nothing “friendly” about a company president outright condemning marriage equality advocates as “inviting God’s judgment” while giving millions of dollars to anti-gay hate groups and ex-gay organizations. The Log Cabin Republicans say on their website that theirs is “is the only Republican organization dedicated to representing the interests of gay and lesbian Americans and their allies”; Chick-fil-A is neither.
The backlash against Chick-fil-A has nothing to do with being “thought police,” but about holding those with money and influence accountable. The struggle for LGBT equality extends far beyond the legal hurdles Cooper reduced it to in this post. Finding acceptance in society and minimizing language that stigmatizes is key to ending the bullying and minority stress at the root of LGBT people’s health and economic inequities. Cooper’s flagrantly offensive argument ignores both the actual lives of a community he claims to represent as well as the harm done by Dan Cathy’s remarks and his company’s donations.
Cooper claims that it’s a struggle to convince conservatives to support equality when the “spoiled children” of the LGBT community are standing up for themselves against vicious public attacks. If he’s willing to sacrifice dignity for equality, then it’s unclear if he’s “representing the interests” of anyone at all.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is leading the charge in defending Chick-fil-A with “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” this Wednesday, but with the new media attention, he has proven his hypocrisy over what warrants a boycott. Breaking from his anti-gay partners at the National Organization for Marriage, Huckabee actually disavowed the group’s failed boycotts of Starbucks and General Mills, but with a tenuous explanation:
HUCKABEE: That’s what I find most offensive. Instead of having an honest, rational, intellectually sound discussion about whether the COO of a company should be able to make statements, whether it’s Dan Cathy at Chick-fil-A or Howard Schultz at Starbucks — which I think is fine. If Howard Schultz wants to make statements, that’s fine. Let him do it. I’m not going to go asking for a boycott of Starbucks. This is a marketplace. If Starbucks starts writing on the side of every cup ‘We Don’t Like Christians,” then I’d have to look at it differently. But Starbucks sells coffee. Chick-fil-A sells chicken. The point of view of its senior executives and their founders is frankly their business. I just find this level of trying to destroy people’s jobs and livelihoods because they don’t agree with them — that’s very troubling, and it gets to the very heart of a kind of America that’s very different than the one we grew up with.
For what it’s worth, there aren’t any nationwide Chick-fil-A boycotts actually being called for. But Huckabee’s qualification of what would make him consider a Starbucks boycott demonstrates why he should actually support, or at least respect, the widespread backlash against Chick-fil-A. As he points out, Starbucks didn’t say anything anti-Christian by supporting marriage equality, let alone donate large sums of money to an explicitly anti-Christian organization (not that any such group of any significance even exists in this country).
On the contrary, Chick-fil-A gives millions of dollars annually to groups trying to demonize and eradicate gay people through ex-gay therapy, and its president said that marriage equality supporters are “inviting God’s judgment” by having the “audacity” to advocate for that “twisted up kind of stuff.” That certainly trumps how offensive a message like “We don’t like Christians” would be, but of course, Huckabee is incapable of understanding that because he shares Chick-fil-A’s beliefs. If, however, he’s really concerned about destroying people’s livelihoods, perhaps he should take some time to consider the actual impact of Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay statements and donations.
Illinois To Ease Requirements For Transgender Birth Certificate Changes |
A proposed court-supervised agreement filed today will ease restrictions for transgender people born in Illinois to obtain new birth certificates that reflect their correct gender. Previously, trans people had to provide documentation of genital surgery in order to get a new certificate, procedures many trans people choose not to get — in part because a consequence of the surgery is reproductive sterility. Having proper identification on documents helps protect trans people from potential embarrassment, hostility, or harm from being outed to strangers when their ID doesn’t match how they identify.
Supporters of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) have been pressuring media outlets to pull an ad attacking his position that people who are gay should not be allowed to teach in public schools. Now, the senator’s attorney, Cleta Mitchell, has successfully convinced WCBD Channel 2 in Charleston to pull the ad, inherently proving its very message.
The supposed controversy is a claim that the ad portrays DeMint as being anti-Semitic, though notably no one in Charleston’s Jewish community actually complained about the ad. It juxtaposes a fake headline about DeMint opposing letting Jews be teachers against a real one about opposing letting people who are gay be teachers. WCBD wanted the ad to be edited to clarify that the fake headline was fake — even though the narration clearly distinguishes between the two — but the ad’s sponsor, the Alliance for Full Acceptance, refused to change it. Watch the ad in question:
The only aspect of this story sadder than the faux outrage and manipulated use of anti-Semitism is the ironic way the response exemplifies the point of the ad. DeMint’s beliefs about gay people are horribly offensive, essentially suggesting that they are all an inherent threat to children. If he were to say that about any other group, be it Jews, people of color, people with disabilities, or people with hazel eyes, he would be instantly decried. Instead, his anti-gay positions continue to be minimized as his supporters invent a different attack on him as a means to defend him and his biases. Hopefully this manufactured controversy helps more people understand DeMint’s reprehensible beliefs and think twice about whether or not gays and lesbians have actually achieved respect in society.
Democratic Party Approves Marriage Equality Platform Plank |
Yesterday, the Democratic Party platform drafting committee unanimously approved language endorsing same-sex marriage as a plank in the platform. According to a DNC staffer, the plank supports marriage equality as well as the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. It also includes support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The decision reflects not only the support of President Obama, but of prominent Democratic leaders across the country who have spoken out on behalf of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.
It seems telling that the political conservatives attracting media attention for coming to the defense of Chick-fil-A and its anti-gay crusades — Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty — are all most recently known for having lost elections. Indeed, the anti-gay vitriol that Chick-fil-A’s president Dan Cathy has repeatedly dispensed has been a loser with the public: YouGov BrandIndex polling shows that the public’s approval of Chick-fil-A has taken a nosedive since Cathy’s interview from 65 to 39:
Meanwhile, a number of prominent leaders have continued to show their displeasure with Chick-fil-A. Here’s a sampling:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “For the record, I prefer Kentucky Fried Chick. #ChickFilA” (Twitter)
Washington, DC Mayor Vince Gray (D): “Given my longstanding strong support for LGBT rights & marriage equality, I would not support #hatechicken” (Twitter)
Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (D): “Wouldn’t deny a biz a permit on those grounds BUT I’d join my residents in taking my $’s elsewhere” (Twitter)
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA): “I disagree with what the CEO from Chick-fil-A said. I was glad he spoke further and said that his company does not discriminate.” (Boston.com)
To clarify Brown’s remarks, Chick-fil-A said it will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect,” regardless of sexual orientation, but the company still has no employment protections in its official corporate policies. According to Forbes.com, there have been at least 12 lawsuits against the company since 1988 on various charges of employment discrimination.
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) wrote to the president of New York University, home to the city’s only Chick-fil-A, urging him to end the university’s relationship with the anti-gay restaurant:
NYC is a place where we celebrate diversity. We do not believe in denigrating others…As you know from recent press coverage, the President of Chick-fil-A continues to make statements and support causes that are clear messages of extreme intolerance and homophobia and a belief that LGBT Americans are less than others and deserve to be treated as such.[...]
I urge you to sever your relationship with the Chick-fil-A establishment that exists on your campus. This establishment should be replaced with an establishment where the ownership does not denigrate a portion of our population.
Another university’s leadership has already taken action against a Chick-fil-A on its campus. The president and provost at the University of Louisville released a statement saying that they “will not be eating at Chick-fil-A anytime soon.” Responding to a growing student petition, U of L administrators are currently assessing the contractual arrangements with the franchise on campus to evaluate further courses of action. At least seven other universities also have petitions underway challenging the existence of a Chick-fil-A on their campuses.
Attacking gay people as purveyors of society’s destruction is harmful to many people, and as public condemnation grows, it’s proving to be a losing philosophy for Chick-fil-A.
When he was Vice President, Dick Cheney never expressly advocated for marriage equality — despite his personal support for equality, and his lesbian daughter’s relationship and eventual marriage.
There were political calculations that led Cheney to keep his own support in check while VP, Cheney will explain in an interview with ABC News tonight. Because it would have been bad publicity for the President for whom he was serving, he says, he didn’t understand why he should have advocated for marriage equality:
The former vice president suggested it wouldn’t have done much good and probably would have sunk President George W. Bush’s prospects for office. “Why?” he responded to ABC News when asked in a televised interview whether he should have pushed harder for gay couples to marry.
Cheney’s daughter, Mary, married her longtime partner this June.
During his time running and as Vice President, Cheney always said that he personally believed that “freedom means freedom for everyone,” and supported passing marriage equality in the states. But he ran on a party platform that expressly advocated for a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage. Indeed, part of the party’s reelection strategy, spearheaded by Karl Rove in 2004, was to piggyback on the anti-gay ballot initiatives in 11 states.
For Cheney, the choice not to publicly support marriage equality may have been a cold political calculation. But for many couples who want the simple happiness of getting married, his question of “why” voice his support is obvious: To fight for equality.
NEWS FLASH
Another Survey Shows Counter-Intuitive Impact Of HIV Criminalization |
A new survey by the Sero Project found that among people with HIV, 25 percent say they know someone who won’t get tested for HIV because they’re afraid they will be prosecuted if they test positive. The survey demonstrates that laws that criminalize the nondisclosure of HIV actually adds to the virus’ stigma, with 50 percent saying it’s “appropriate” for someone not to get tested out of fear of prosecution, and 40 percent calling it reasonable not to access HIV care. A similar study in Canada similarly found that HIV criminalization laws discourage many people from getting tested.
Being able to lift 267 pounds is only one of the things that makes 18 year-old British Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith tough. She can also swat down sexist Twitter trolls like they’re flies.
Perhaps 
When the Jim Henson Company 
Supporters of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) have been 
When he was Vice President, Dick Cheney never expressly advocated for marriage equality — despite his personal support for equality, and his lesbian daughter’s relationship and eventual marriage.
