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They say this newly proposed legislation won't pass, but... once again it gives cause for the LGBTQ community to feel like our rights are a ping pong ball that politicians play with:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/north-carolina-lawmakers-seek-ban-gay-marriage-180391/
People Exclusive – Jackie Evancho Takes on Trump After Inauguration Performance: I Want to Tell Him ‘the Horrors’ My Trans Sister Has Faced
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(NEW YORK) – Jackie Evancho may have sung at the inauguration, but when President Donald Trump rescinded Obama-era protections for transgender people, she changed her tune.
For the new issue of People, the 16-year-old classical vocalist opened up about the backlash she received for her appearance at the Inaugural and how why she wants to sit down with Trump and her trans sister Juliet to discuss transgender rights.
“I [performed] because it’s always been about the honor and not about the politics. I try my best to stay out of politics,” says Evancho. But when Trump took action that could harm her sister, she felt compelled to speak up — “because at that point, something had changed that was going to affect a cause that I believe in. It was going to affect my sister, who I truly love, and people that I know. It was just natural instinct. I had to do something about it.”
Indeed, the America’s Got Talent alum — whose new album Two Hearts drops Friday — took to social media in February after Trump signed the executive order rolling back protections for trans youth, requesting a meeting with the President. The White House said Trump would “welcome” a meeting but have yet to confirm an appointment.
“We’re actively working on it,” says Evancho, who remains hopeful she’ll get the opportunity to sit down with Trump.
On Monday, the Pittsburgh native tweeted Trump again, posting: “THANK YOU for being open to meeting with me to discuss #trans rights. I’ll be in #DC on 3/30 & 3/31. Can we meet?”
As for what Evancho would say if she gets the chance to meet with the President?
We are so excited to announce the winners of our Grand Prize Raffle Giveaway at the recent Chicago LGBT Wedding Expo: John & Eduardo!!
They've won a full wedding ceremony for 30 guests, courtesy of GayWeddingChicagoSite.com, Rev. Pam Magnuson and Rev Pam's preferred vendors. This wonderful ceremony package includes the beautiful garden venue Pine Manor Chicago, wedding officiation services, wedding cake for 30 by Central Continental Bakery, live music, photography, and overnight accommodations with breakfast from the Holiday Inn Elk Grove. To see details of this amazing wedding giveaway logon to www.SameSexMarriageChicago.com.
CONGRATS to John & Eduardo - may this be the beginning of a wonderful lifetime together, filled with many beautiful dreams-come-true!
Disney Movies’ First Ever ‘Exclusively Gay Moment’ In New ‘Beauty and the Beast’ - The film is set for release in theaters on St Patty's Day!!
Found this fun lesbian-friendly card and wanted to share! More choices available on their website... Kudos, Love Pop!
https://www.lovepopcards.com/products/willow-love-scene-same-sex-female-3d-card
It's official: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are a couple!
Article by Marissa Higgins, DailyDot.com
If you’ve been holding out for iconic villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy to finally cement their relationship, you’ll be excited to know the wait is over. That’s right: After decades of the women’s same-sex relationship being hinted at, their relationship is finally discussed in the open in the new DC Comics: Bombshells issue
Of course, as die-hard fans of the couple already know, the two have actually already shared a kiss in Bombshells #42, out last year. In the latest rendition of the series, Bombshells #79, however, their relationship is a central plot point.
Dad Of First Male Maybelline Model Has Perfect Response To Bigoted Blogger - MUST READ!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/manny-gutierrez-homophobic-tweet_us_587e3c90e4b0aaa369429054
2016 was a tumultuous year. It brought us a divisive election, an unthinkable massacre in a Florida nightclub, an absurd bathroom bill in the state of North Carolina, an unfilled seat on the US Supreme Court, and much more. There are hundreds of pieces of legislation in states all across America, whose sole purpose is to limit LGBT equality: LGBT parents, spouses, families, employees, youth... people.
Image courtesy Marian HaleGiven the nervousness LGBTQ couples are feeling in response to the outcome of the Presidential election here in the USA, many of the wedding professionals who are members of Rainbow Wedding Network are finding pro-active ways to offer support.
One of our longtime allies, Rev. Marian Hale with All Ceremonies Beautifully Done! has come forward with the following announcement:
28 of History’s Most Influential Leaders You Had No Idea Were Gay
I have no doubt we'll be adding many more posts to our blog in the upcoming months regarding concerns we have for the LGBT community, now that Mr. Trump has been elected as President. It is a sobering time, to say the least.
As we all reel from this election outcome, I encourage you to give yourself time to process what's happened, grieve, gather with others who are safe and likeminded, and breathe. After that, I encourage you to find ways that are meaningful to you in which you feel you can remain active and vigilant: If we all work together, uplift one another, and find ways to continue to forward our rights as a minority in America, we will get through this period more easily and more successfully.
Take heart, you are not alone.
However... it is important to remain informed. Here is one tidbit of information. Again, it is sobering:
Trump picks anti-LGBT hate group to run domestic policy transition:
http://americablog.com/2016/11/trump-picks-anti-lgbt-hate-group-run-domestic-policy-transition.html
Marianne & Cindy, the founders of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, adopted their daughter ten years ago, and are now in the process of adopting once again through open adoption. Marianne recently posted this article to their agency's blog, and we thought it fitting to share here as well.
Enjoy the article! And thank you for spreading the word that these two great moms are searching for their next precious baby :)
http://www.adoptionhelp.org/blog/
12-year-old boy in Mexico stands against 11,000 anti-gay protesters. Such courage!
Image courtesy Manuel Rodriguez
The following letter was written by one of our recent LGBT Wedding Expo exhibitors, Douglass Carr Cunningham, who joined us at our Charleston event in August 2016. He shared this piece with us and expressed this thoughts that it rang true for the LGBT community as well as the African American community. We agree! And thought it well worth sharing. Enjoy, as you savor the insights and uplifting message:
THIS LETTER IS IN RESPONSE TO RON BRINSON’S EXCELLENT
JULY 16 ARTICLE FOR RACIAL HEALING
One Foot In Power, One In Slavery…We Can Heal
By Douglas Carr Cunningham
We Americans continue to live under the dark cloud of racial conflict, when the truth and solution is right in front of us.
Our national concept of multiculturalism and diversity must be discarded as the dialogue in regards to our racial relationships; our commonality and unity as Americans must be stressed, instead. I have long believed we are of the same race, and should not separated into ‘divisions.’ I am frustrated and a bit angry that we are in categories that separate us – white, African-American, Latino, Asian, etc. Our outward appearances are somewhat different, but it is fact that we share the same blood and DNA. Our strength as Americans is our unity as one people, one soul.
I am told that I am naïve in my belief, but to bring us all together our national dialogue must change. We are constantly being manipulated.
‘Diversity’ is a culprit. I abhor the word and how it is used for political purposes. By its very definition, ‘Diversity’ means difference, which sets up separation, which has come to emphasize the separation between all people of color in this country (whites have color, too). We have come too far with this Diversity craze. We should be emphasizing our Unity as a people, our cohesion as a nation of different colored humans. We will survive chaos if we refuse to be divided by Diversity and difference.
The word, multiculturalism, is also stressed more than it needs to be. While we are a nation of many cultures, we must adjust ourselves into an American culture. Together, we must define the American culture, and unify under its banner.
Martin Luther King had a dream, one that this nation once celebrated. His dream is still attainable, but I fear we have forgotten what he stood for.
My label as a boy was “Colored.” I was a colored boy, who was a credit to his race, as I remember. The word, “nigger” was tossed around a lot, when I was a kid, by white and black, and it was never nice. When I was transformed from Colored to “Black”, I admit James Brown made me a little more proud of whom I was. Then came the label “African-American.” Not okay for me, because it is too much of a politically correct moniker, made to give brown Americans a connection to the ‘home’ country, like the Irish, like the Italians, the Chinese, the Mexicans, etc. My ancestors came from Africa. I did not. I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. We slave descendants have always been manipulated, and we are still being manipulated by forces pro and con. I am brown-skinned, but I reject being labeled. I reject labeling others, and I have good reason to feel as I do.
As a black citizen, I discovered at a late age that one side of my family was born from the “white” power structure of this nation, the other side from ancestral slavery. The story goes like this. My mother’s biological father was a powerful North Carolina politician. Her mother was his black maid. Mom, a blue-eyed, blond baby, was adopted twice; first to a white family, which gave her up, then to a black couple on the black side of Greensboro, North Carolina. My adoptive Nana was of a mixed color, so it worked. Mom was raised with a black identity, but she was a very “white-looking” girl. My father was black, born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, from a mother who worked the cotton warehouses as a 14-year-old in Blair, South Carolina. My paternal grandmother’s family history is recorded from 1867, and Reconstruction. Most likely, my family was enslaved before then.
Two of my daughters could be members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, if they cared to be. My second wife, their mother, is connected directly to Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, and Col. William Bradford of Plymouth Rock. The lineage has been traced already. My oldest daughter’s mother is from the Philippines. My third wife’s daughters connect directly to Portugal.
One foot in power, and one foot in slavery - that is how I see the origins of my family. Surely, there are others like me in this country.
Some of this I learned very late. Such secrets are similar in America, all over the place (Edward Ball’s book, Slaves In The Family comes to mind). As a nation we suffer from so much secrecy, hate and false truths. I believe with a forward-looking heart it is possible the real truth can set us all free. But it is a hard road. We have shared a terrible history of racial conflict in this country. It is important for “white” Americans to acknowledge and honor people of color. It is important for people of color to try hard to forgive the past, as it is gone. We must overcome difference. The future awaits us.
I grew up somewhat color-blind. This is not to say I have not been angered by unjust incidents in my life. Oh, yes, I have, but the memory of my mother’s angst, and my father’s suppressed opportunities, however, has served to push me forward. I am not a group. I am who I am.
Let us not be manipulated. Our commonality as a people can bring us together as Americans. Disperse the racial and multicultural cloud. Change the dialogue to one of Unity.
Douglas Carr Cunningham, SC
Lead Photographer, Charleston CameraWork
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