Dan Levy is done with Comedy Central India after the TV station removed a kiss between his character, David Rose, and Dustin Milligan’s Ted Mullens from a “Schitt’s Creek” clip.
In March 2019, Comedy Central India tweeted a scene from the show, which sees David, Ted, Stevie (Emily Hampshire), Patrick (Noah Reid) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) play spin the bottle. The promo includes kisses between Alexis and Stevie and Alexis and Ted, but cuts David and Ted’s smooch.
“You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men?” Levy tweeted on Tuesday in belated response. “This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message.
“I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India,” the “Schitt’s Creek” star and cocreator added in a follow-up tweet. “@ComedyCentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time.”
Advertisement
I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India. @ComedyCentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time. ✌🏼🙃
A spokesperson for Comedy Central International told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday that the episode aired in its entirety on Comedy Central India, but the promo was edited for other Indian networks because of a code in the country that requires broadcasters to censor daytime content deemed inappropriate for children.
The rep added that David and Ted’s kiss was removed from the promo because it lasted longer, was more intimate and was filmed in closeup, as opposed to the other two, which were lighter pecks — and not because it was between two men. The rep said the same treatment would have been given to a similar kiss between a man and a woman.
During its six-season run, fans and critics alike have hailed the Canadian sitcom for its inclusivity and LGBTQ storylines. And this year, “Schitt’s Creek” won the GLAAD Media Award for comedy series after wrapping its final season, which saw David marry Patrick in a sweet series finale.
On Wednesday, GLAAD responded to Comedy Central India’s controversial tweet as well, writing, “Schitt’s Creek was designed by @danjlevy to be a place free from homophobia, so removing this kiss flies in the face of the show’s intent and what makes Schitt’s Creek so extraordinary.”
Schitt’s Creek was designed by @danjlevy to be a place free from homophobia, so removing this kiss flies in the face of the show’s intent and what makes Schitt’s Creek so extraordinary. https://t.co/M0oHKtxkrl
The hit PopTV program took home the coveted comedy series prize at last month’s virtual Emmy Awards, where “Schitt’s Creek” made history by sweeping the comedy bracket with additional wins for lead actress (Catherine O’Hara), lead actor (Eugene Levy), supporting actor (Dan Levy), supporting actress (Murphy), writing (Dan Levy) and directing (Dan Levy and Andrew Cividino).
“Our show at its core is about the transformational effects of love and acceptance — and that is something that we need more of now than we’ve ever needed before,” Dan Levy said while accepting the Emmy for comedy series.
“I just wanted to say for any of you who have not registered to vote, please do so, and then go out and vote because that is the only way that we are going to have some love and acceptance out there. Please do that. I’m so sorry for making this political, but I had to.”
(Washington, DC) – The governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have failed to effectively address violence and entrenched discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, leading many to seek asylum in the United States, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Yet policies by the administration of US President Donald Trump have made it almost impossible for them to obtain asylum.
“LGBT people in the Northern Triangle face high levels of violence that their own governments appear unable or unwilling to address,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “For some LGBT people in the region, seeking asylum in the United States is the only hope of safety, but the Trump administration has blocked them at every turn.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 116 LGBT people from the three countries. Some described violence by family members, leading them to flee home as young as at age 8. Others described bullying and discrimination that drove them out of school. Many said family rejection and discrimination led to economic marginalization, particularly for trans women, and poverty was likely to increase the risk of violence.
LGBT people sometimes face violence and discrimination from the very law enforcement agents charged with keeping them safe. Carlos G., a gay refugee who traveled to the United States from Honduras in 2018, said that gang members there shot him, telling him: “Today you’re going to die, faggot.” He was afraid to report the incident to the police, who had previously harassed him for being gay and demanded sexual favors. Carlitos B., a non-binary person from Guatemala, fled after their brother assaulted and threatened to rape them. When Carlitos reported to the police, they laughed at Carlitos’s gender expression.
Pricila P., a trans woman from El Salvador, said police forced her off a bus and beat her. “One of the police officers grabbed my testicles and squeezed,” she said. “He said, ‘You’re realizing you’re a man because you feel pain.’ He said that I would become a man by force.” She fled to the United States in 2019, after gang members assaulted her, abducted her gay friend, and warned her that she would be next.
Both Honduras and El Salvador have passed hate crimes legislation in the last 10 years, but neither country has convicted anyone on hate crimes charges. In a landmark ruling in July 2020, a court in El Salvador convicted three police officers of murdering Camila Díaz, a trans woman who had been deported in 2018 after attempting to seek protection in the United States, but a judge dismissed hate crimes charges against them.
None of the three countries has comprehensive civil law protections against discrimination, Human Rights Watch said. While Honduras outlaws employment discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, activists said they know of no cases in which the law had been enforced. In Guatemala, a pending Life and Family Protection Bill could be used to justify discriminatory denial of services on “freedom of conscience” grounds.
Given the persecution that many LGBT people face in the Northern Triangle, the US government should rigorously protect their ability to safely enter the United States and apply for asylum. Instead, the US government has increasingly closed doors to them with a series of policies that restrict access to asylum and that narrowly interpret the refugee definition in ways that exclude LGBT people from protections they previously enjoyed.
In March 2020, the US government entirely closed its land borders to asylum seekers based on the pretext of Covid-19, leaving them to suffer persecution in their home countries or be stranded in Mexico. In June, the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security proposed a major regulatory change to the US asylum system that would severely restrict LGBT people’s ability to be granted asylum by barring asylum on the basis of “gender.” In September, the Justice Department issued yet another regulation that puts asylum even further beyond their reach, tightening time limits on asylum applications and allowing immigration judges to introduce their own evidence into asylum cases, even if such evidence reflects biases such as anti-LGBT prejudice.
These policies followed other severe measures the Trump administration has taken to prevent asylum seekers from ever reaching the United States and to limit their access to asylum if they do, including family separation; prolonged detention; the “Remain in Mexico” program; an expedited asylum review process allowing for little or no contact with lawyers; an attempt to bar asylum seekers who transited through third countries before arriving at the US border; and a policy of transferring Salvadoran and Honduran asylum seekers to Guatemala, where they lack effective protection. Among the asylum seekers affected by all these measures are LGBT people, who may be particularly at risk of violence and discrimination in northern Mexico.
“The governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras need to stem rampant anti-LGBT violence and ensure that laws and policies protect LGBT people from persecution, including by police,” Ghoshal said. “As long as LGBT people continue to experience threats to their lives and safety based on their identity in their countries of origin, the US should welcome them with open arms, rather than slamming the door on them.”
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, sometimes called the Northern Triangle, often face violence and discrimination from their families, gangs, and even the police. When they try to seek asylum in the United States, they are met with obstacles that prolong their suffering. Philippa H Stewart spoke to Neela Ghoshal about her new report, “Every Day I Live in Fear,” which looks at what needs to happen so LGBT people from the Northern Triangle can live safely, whether at home or in the United States.
While none of the Northern Triangle countries criminalize homosexuality, the governments are failing to protect LGBT people, and in some cases are adopting policies that make their lives more difficult.
What kind of policies?
None of the countries allow transgender people to change their names and gender markers on their official documents. In several cases we documented, police assaulted or harassed trans people after seeing their IDs.
None of the countries have passed comprehensive, civil nondiscrimination provisions, which are essential tools to prevent and address discrimination. If you are discriminated against because of your gender identity or sexual orientation in employment or housing, you don’t have grounds for a civil claim.
Honduras and El Salvador do have laws that qualify certain types of crimes as hate crimes – but, as far as we know, no one has ever been convicted of a hate crime against LGBT people.
The United States is a destination for asylum seekers fleeing Central America. How does being LGBT play into this?
Increasingly restrictive Trump administration policies toward asylum seekers are hurting people from the Northern Triangle – including LGBT people escaping severe violence. Many LGBT people are not safe at home, and the US, in doing everything it can to keep asylum seekers out, is shutting off what for many is the only immediate path to safety. In some cases, the United States is literally putting people at risk of being murdered by sending them home. One trans woman, Camila Díaz, was deported from the US in late 2018 and murdered by Salvadoran police in early 2019.
What do LGBT people in these countries face?
Many are the victims of family violence.
One person from El Salvador said her father tried to essentially drown her in a water basin where you wash clothes when she started expressing a feminine gender identity. A trans woman in Guatemala said her mother threw a hot iron at her. She ended up hospitalized.
Governments need to help change social attitudes and help families accept their LGBT children and also make sure people who commit violent offenses are held accountable, which currently isn’t happening.
What other violence do they face?
There is violence from gangs and from law enforcement.
Street gangs are powerful and target LGBT people, partly out of anti-LGBT hate and also because they know LGBT people rarely have a support network. If a gang is trying to extort “rent” from an LGBT person, that person often can’t go back to their parents’ house, for example, because their family doesn’t accept them.
Another problem for trans people in particular is that they’re very visible. One woman in El Salvador, Erika, saw gangs kill four people in her neighborhood. They came to her and said: “If you tell anyone you’re dead.” Erika is a 6-foot-tall trans woman. She couldn’t think of anywhere that she could go where she would be out of their reach.
According to Guatemala’s human rights ombudsperson’s office, at least 20 LGBT people have already been killed there in 2020. In El Salvador, at least seven trans women and one gay man were killed between October 2019 and March 2020.
You also mentioned police violence.
In several cases we documented, police stopped people on the streets and physically or sexually assaulted them after realizing they were LGBT.
Raya, a trans woman in Guatemala City, saw police aggressively detaining a man. They became angry that she was watching, pushed her onto to the ground, violently opened her legs, and shouted at her: “You’re a man!”
There’s a case in El Salvador of a trans man called Aldo Peña who was a municipal police officer. He was attacked by the national police and beaten so badly that he told us “I thought it was my last day to live.”
He was the only person we interviewed who successfully filed a complaint for police violence, which he was able to do because of his social position and the support of LGBT organizations. Two of his attackers ended up going to prison for violent assault. The following month, El Salvador passed hate crimes legislation – but in the five years since, hasn’t convicted anyone of a hate crime.
Why do LGBT people from the Northern Triangle decide to go to the US?
Many people tried to stay in their home countries even after facing violence, but there were so many cases of police saying “well you were asking for it” when they tried to file complaints. The violence and lack of protection becomes too much for them to bear.
Pricila, a trans woman from El Salvador, had dealt with police violence and ongoing extortion from gangs for years. She saw her gay friend get abducted by a gang, who came to her house and said: “You’ll be next.” She left that night.
Carlos, a gay man from Honduras, only left after being attacked twice by gangs. He didn’t trust the police, who had sexually harassed him in the past because he was gay.
What kinds of challenges do they face when they reach the US?
In March 2020, the US government closed off its borders to the vast majority of asylum seekers. This was on the pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic, but under international law the need to respond to Covid-19 cannot obliterate the right to claim asylum.
People that we interviewed in Tijuana, Mexico, in January of this year are still waiting there now and have no idea if they will ever be able to enter the US to seek protection.
What was the situation before Covid-19?
Under the Trump administration, when LGBT asylum seekers got to the US border, they hit a series of obstacles designed to deter people from seeking asylum, force them to stay in Mexico, or to give up and go back home.
The first of these is called “metering.” You put your name on the list and if your name is called you present yourself to Customs and Border Protection (CPB). Even then CBP regularly turns asylum seekers away. People have spent months waiting for their names to be called. This tactic deters people from claiming asylum.
Even if your name does get called and you undergo a “credible fear” interview, the “Remain in Mexico” program forces many asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until they get a decision.
Also for some Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers, once they enter the United States, immigration officials load them onto a plane to Guatemala and tell them to seek asylum there.
These things seem to affect everyone, what’s different for LGBT people?
Living in limbo in Mexico for months is particularly hard for LGBT people. Work opportunities aren’t great for anyone, but straight or cis-gendered people have got some opportunities for casual labor. For trans people, that is almost impossible.
If Honduran and Salvadoran LGBT people are sent to Guatemala, they are also at risk of anti-LGBT violence. Recently, a Salvadoran trans refugee was killed there.
Is Covid-19 the only reason things are getting harder now?
A new US policy under consideration would force people to tell an immigration judge that being LGBT is why they are seeking asylum during their very first hearing. If you don’t, you lose the opportunity to have that considered as part of your claim.
Wouldn’t most people do that?
Many LGBT people appearing before an immigration judge are terrified. Not only that, their lives may have depended on being entirely closeted. It may be a massive leap to then immediately reveal their sexuality or gender identity before a judge.
What is the most important thing the US needs to do?
The United States needs to reverse all policies that restrict the right to seek and enjoy asylum that have been implemented in the last few years.
What can the Northern Triangle countries do?
Governments in all three countries should be serious about prosecuting hate crimes, and allow trans people to change their gender markers on their documents. Crucially, they should also pass civil nondiscrimination laws and policies, and address the social stigma around being LGBT. Everyone should be able to live safely in their own country.
LGBTQ+ peoples around the world are still persecuted. The Human Dignity Trust states that there are still 72 countries that criminalize LGBT people, and over half of these countries are in the Commonwealth. In 11 of these countries, being LGBTQ+ is still punishable by death. In developed countries like Canada, while a lot of progress has been made, homophobia is still reflected in many government and private sector policies and in society.
LGBTQ+ people are also not explicitly mentioned in any of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Lesbains and Transgender women fall under Goal 5, Gender Equality, but it does not address the homophobia and transphobia that they face. Goal 10, Reducing Inequalities addresses the unequal distribution of wealth around the world. Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status, does not list sexuality. As such, LGBTQ+ peoples are not the focus of many international development programs and often neglected in sport for development and peace projects.
How can sport address these problems?
Sport has an important role to play in advocacy and changing the narrative on LGBTQ+ discrimination around the world.
Hosting committees can ensure that sport is inclusive for all athletes by taking action during large sporting events. Hosting Pride Houses at the Olympic Games and other multi-sport events is an important step for advocating for LGBTQ+ peoples. Inclusion should not, and does not, end at a Pride House. Other events during sporting events can and should take place. Putting the statements like below from the 2019 Winter Canada Games around facilities and in athlete villages puts it upfront that this is a place for everyone.
Sport organisations can also take steps by allowing transgender and intersex people to compete in the gender with which they indetify. The Canada Games Council adopted their Gender Inclusion policy in advance of the 2019 Winter Games in Red Deer. There have been positive developments at the international level – at the International Olympic Committee, in 2015 they approved the policy that transgender people do not have to have gender reasignment surgery; however athletes are still required to show that their testosterone levels are below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first competition.
Recently we have seen in the news the story of Caster Semenya as she continues her struggles against discriminatory policies in sport. Just last month, she lost her legal battle to overturn IAAF’s testosterone regulations that keeps her from competing in races over 400m unless she agrees to lower her testosterone level through medication or surgery.
In many sports for development programs, sport is identified as an important tool for empowerment. Sports help build confidence and build connections with the community. If we can use sport to help youth development around the world, and show that LGBTQ+ peoples are not so different than ourselves, we can help change the mindsets and the negative societal conceptions about LGBTQ+ peoples. We can use sport to help building confidence for LGBTQ+ youth.
LGBTQ+ peoples are also affected by poverty, and health issues (among other development challenges) just like anyone else can be. International development needs to be geared towards fighting homophobia so that LGBTQ+ peoples can get lifted out of poverty and get the health care that they need. Sometimes the needs of this community are different and need to be taken into consideration when developing programming. Sports are a versatile tool that can be implemented and help these people.
Sport can also be a platform for advocating for LGBTQ+ peoples. At the Commonwealth Games in 2018, British Diver Tom Daley used his gold medal win to call on 37 Commonwealth countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Before Sochi 2014, the Canadian Olympic Committee launched it’s One Team program. This program was partly to highlight Russia’s anti-gay propganda laws that came into affect before the Olympics. This program focuses on promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and sport throughout the country. Sport organisations and athletes can use their resources to make change.
Our first Sports Media LGBT+ #AuthenticMe digital webinar event, in association with Pride Sports, was titled ‘Ready, Get Set, Go! Launching an LGBT+ Network in Sport’ – and you can watch it back here!
In 2020, we’ve seen new LGBT+ networks publicly launched in the UK in athletics, aquatic sports, and horseracing – all backed by major national governing bodies, and also supported by us here at Sports Media LGBT+.
Meanwhile, Racing Pride – the network group for LGBTQ+ people and allies in motorsport – continues to go from strength to strength, forging partnerships, creating tailored resources, and attracting talent and Ambassadors.
To kick off Sports Media LGBT+’s #AuthenticMe Week, which culminates in International Coming Out Day, we brought together four key figures from these networks for a conversation on Zoom about how they got started, lessons from their launch, growth and engagement, and what the future holds.
Ethan Akanni (Athletics Pride Network), Richard Morris (Racing Pride), Rose Grissell (Racing With Pride) and Josh Rudd (Pride In Water) spoke on the ‘Ready, Get Set, Go!’ webinar
The event was delivered with the help of our friends at Pride Sports – and thanks to them, we can share it here from the Facebook Live stream. Skip to 2m 35s for the start!
It’s packed with advice for anyone in sport whose role already includes LGBT+ inclusion work, as well as those who want to learn more about this important part of the diversity and equality picture.
Joining Sports Media LGBT+ founder / lead and Sky Sports senior editor Jon Holmes for this webinar were…
Check out our full tweet thread from the webinar for loads of quotes and comments from our speakers, such as the example below… a big thank you to Andrew Henderson from Pride of the Terraces for the social media support.
“It’s about trying to create this community in athletics – which is really inclusive – that can push for full equality.” #AuthenticMe
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a broadside against the high court’s 2015 same-sex marriage decision on Monday when the court declined to hear a case brought by a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue a marriage license for such couples.
The two justices agreed with the decision not to hear the case but used the occasion to take a legal baseball bat to the court’s 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the 14th Amendment guarantee to equal protection of the law.
Writing for himself and Alito, Thomas said that the court’s decision “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots, making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss.”
His words came in a case brought by Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky, who in the aftermath of the same-sex marriage decision refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and was sued.
“Davis may have been one of the first victims of this court’s cavalier treatment of religion in its Obergefell decision,” Thomas and Alito wrote. But they agreed that the court properly decided not to take up Davis’ case because, they said, it does not “cleanly” present the issues in the court’s 5-4 decision five years ago.
Nevertheless, they said, the case “provides a stark reminder” of the consequences of the same-sex marriage decision. By choosing to endorse “a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment, and by doing so undemocratically, the court has created a problem that only it can fix,” they said. “Until then, Obergefell will continue to have ruinous consequences for religious liberty.”
The fact that Thomas and Alito chose this moment to issue their blast provoked dismay in the LGBT community and elsewhere.
“It is alarming that there are justices on the Supreme Court who want to overrule Obergefell, which is a precedent the court has reaffirmed, and which hundreds of thousands of couples have relied to seal their unions in matrimony,” said Yale Law School professor William Eskridge, co-author of Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-laws.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who also dissented in the 2015 decision along with Thomas, Alito and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, did not sign on to the Thomas-Alito statement in the case. Nor did Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. But Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has indicated her disagreement with the 2015 decision. And Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett have all been staunch supporters of robust religious rights, de-emphasizing the concept of separation between church and state, and emphasizing the importance of the free exercise of religion.
In November, the justices are scheduled to hear a major test of laws that apply generally and neutrally across the board. At issue is Philadelphia’s decision to terminate a contract with Catholic Social Services for screening and certifying parents for foster care. The city terminated the contract because Catholic Social Services, citing its religious objections, refused to certify qualified same-sex couples.
SWEAT DC, Washington’s judgement-free, inclusive and challenging group-personal fitness studio, wants clients and potential clients to know the studio has introduced significant changes that assure the safety of members and trainers. The new theme is “smaller is safer; outside is safer; SWEAT is safer.”
For a limited time, owner Gerard “Coach G” Burley is offering a VIP, seven-day $29 unlimited pass to demonstrate the new protocols. Claim your pass at this link, questions or concerns contact [email protected].
New procedures at the fitness studio conform to socially distant protocols, with a new semi private personal training program, SWEAT Strength & Conditioning (SSC), limited to no more than five people at a time inside the studio. In addition to limiting the number of people training at a time, SWEAT DC checks temperatures at the door; uses sterilizing UV lights on equipment between classes; has installed HEPA air filters; provides CDC-approved masks for those who don’t have their own; disinfects all the gear after each use; and maintains a 10-foot distance between clients.
SWEAT DC recently launched outdoor cardio & core focused classes with similar protocols at nearby events space Hook Hall, where SWEAT DC trainers workout members on the outside turf.
While client and trainer safety are No. 1, SWEAT DC makes sure the effort was worth it. SWEAT DC coaches have introduced new strength and conditioning programs using barbells, resistance bands and dumbbells that help clients develop and maintain their gains in strength, cardio and core.
Two new videos demonstrate how the new procedures at the fitness studio and Hook Hall work. Video 1. Video 2.
SWEAT DC is a Black-LGBT-owned business based on creating an inclusive, fun and challenging workout space for all levels of clients. For more information see SWEATDC.com or email [email protected]. For information on the seven-day unlimited pass, email [email protected].
Sweat DC is located at 3232 Georgia Avenue, NW, Suite 105. Call 202-509-9051 or text 202-516-7449. The website is here.
The Supreme Court opens a new term on Monday and within weeks is set to hear cases on healthcare and religion that may give a preview of how the conservative majority will wield its power.
But the eight justices also face a month of unusual uncertainty. They will wait to see if a new justice is confirmed, whether President Trump is reelected in early November, and whether they are called upon to decide any disputes that arise if the election is very close.
The outcome of the election will surely shape the term ahead, even though many of the cases are already set. The justices will find themselves weighing cases on immigration, the census and healthcare from a triumphant conservative administration, or a series of last-gasp appeals from a defeated president.
Either way, the term’s initial cases will be heard by a court with a conservative majority — 6-3 if Trump’s choice, Amy Coney Barrett, has won confirmation or 5-3 if her nomination has stalled. The defining issue of the year seems likely to be how aggressively that conservative majority will move.
Despite his promises, Trump failed to “repeal and replace” the healthcare law when Republicans controlled Congress. Now, he and his lawyers are pressing the high court to strike it down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They contend that when the tax penalty for not having insurance was reduced to zero in 2017, it had the effect of cutting out the pillar that propped up the far-reaching law.
If the court’s conservatives were to agree, it would cancel the insurance subsidies for nearly 30 million Americans as well as the insurance protections for more than 50 million others who could be denied coverage because they have a preexisting medical condition. The law also made healthcare screenings at no cost for children and adults a standard part of a medical checkup.
The case is called California vs. Texas because California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and a coalition of Democratic-led states stepped in to the defend the law after the administration joined with Texas and a group of Republican states that sued to kill it.
“A pre-existing medical condition should never again disqualify you from receiving affordable healthcare,” Becerra said in response to the administration’s appeal.
The oral argument is set for Nov. 10. The nation should know by then whether Trump has been reelected or defeated.
Prior to the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, this latest challenge to the healthcare law looked headed for defeat. Five members of the court — including Ginsburg and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. — rejected legal attacks on the law in 2012 and 2015.
Advertisement
They did so in the face of fierce dissents from four conservatives who said the entire law should be voided. They were Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Thomas and Alito remain on the court, and they will be joined by Trump’s appointees — Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and, quite likely, Barrett — who see themselves as proteges of Scalia or Kennedy.
Nonetheless, most legal experts, including critics of the law, see this latest challenge as a weak one and predict that even a more conservative court will reject it.
Advertisement
There are two questions before the justices: Is the so-called individual mandate — the requirement that people purchase health insurance — unconstitutional now because there is no longer any penalty to enforce it? And if so, must the rest of the law be declared unconstitutional as well?
Lawyers for Texas convinced a federal judge in Fort Worth that the mandate is now unconstitutional and that the entire law must be voided. The Supreme Court, however, has taken a much more cautious approach to striking down sweeping measures even if one provision is found to be invalid. Instead, they invoke what is called the “severability doctrine.”
In early July, Kavanaugh wrote an opinion for the court that is sure to be quoted in the healthcare case. By a 7-2 vote, the court upheld a 1991 federal law banning robocalls, despite finding one provision unconstitutional. Kavanaugh wrote that there is a “strong presumption” against voiding laws because of one defect. Instead, the flawed provision may be severed or removed, while the rest is preserved.
“Constitutional litigation is not a game of gotcha against Congress, where litigants can ride a discrete constitutional flaw in a statute to take down the whole, otherwise constitutional statute,” Kavanaugh said.
Advertisement
Only two justices — Thomas and Gorsuch — disagreed.
Another early opportunity for the conservatives will come the day after the election, when the justices will hear a claim from conservative Christians who say they have a religious right to be exempted from antidiscrimination laws that protect LGBTQ people.
Two years ago, the court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, but it did so without setting a legal rule. Instead, the justices said only that a state civil rights commission had impermissibly displayed “hostility” toward the baker.
In the new case, Catholic Social Services sued the city of Philadelphia after it lost its annual contract for caring for foster children and placing them with foster parents. The city acted after learning that, unlike more than two dozen other private foster agencies, the Catholic agency had said it would not place children with same-sex couples.
Advertisement
Foster placements with same-sex couples would violate the church’s teaching that marriage is limited to a man and a woman, its officials said.
Lawyers for the agency say that excluding them violated the church’s 1st Amendment right to the “free exercise” of religion and the freedom of speech.
Philadelphia, by contrast, says its ordinances forbid contractors from discriminating based on race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
A federal district judge and the 3rd Circuit Court ruled for the city. The appeals court said the “city’s nondiscrimination policy is a neutral, generally applicable law, and the religious views of CSS do not entitle it to an exception from that policy.” The lower courts cited a 1990 opinion written by Scalia.
Advertisement
Back when Scalia wrote that decision, conservative justices were skeptical of courts giving religious claimants special exemptions from laws that apply to everyone. More recently, however, the court’s conservatives have signaled a change of mind and suggested they may overrule Scalia’s opinion.
The new case — Fulton vs. Philadelphia — will come before a court with five conservative justices who were raised as Catholics — six if Barrett is confirmed. One other Catholic justice, Sonia Sotomayor, is a member of the court’s liberal minority.
The justices are also due to act soon on an emergency appeal from the Trump administration regarding whether to make it easier or harder for pregnant women to obtain abortion pills during the pandemic.
Current rules require women to travel in person to a clinic or hospital to pick up the medication rather than have it delivered through the mail. A federal judge in Maryland, agreeing with national medical groups, said this rule made little sense during the pandemic when a patient was interacting with her doctor through telemedicine rather than in person. The trip could also expose her to a risk of contracting the virus.
Advertisement
The judge ordered the rule temporarily suspended. But in early September, Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to intervene and restore the rule. They argued a judge had no authority to waive such a medical rule.
Usually the justices act on such emergency appeals within a week or two, but this one has not been resolved. Justice Ginsburg’s death on Sept. 18 may have stalled a decision. Now the eight justices must decide whether to make their first ruling since Ginsburg’s death on an issue involving women and abortion.
The Crew Club building on 14th Street is for sale. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)
The owners of the Crew Club, the D.C. gym, sauna and bathhouse for gay men, have placed the club’s building on 14th Street, N.W. near Logan Circle on the market for sale or lease and they do not expect to reopen the club, which closed earlier this year due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to co-owner DC Allen.
Allen told the Washington Blade on Saturday that the building’s new owner or leaseholder would be free to reopen the Crew Club, which has occupied the two-story building’s second floor for more than 25 years, but that’s not likely to happen.
Large signs attached to nearly the entire front wall of the building at 1321 14th St., N.W. promote its use as a “Flagship Retail Redevelopment Opportunity.” One of the signs, placed by D.C. Realtor Wes Neal, says a potential feature of the building is a 7,000-square-foot roof deck.
Allen said that although some bathhouses in other parts of the country, including in Fort Lauderdale, have reopened as states and cities have relaxed coronavirus related restrictions, he decided not to reopen the Crew Club.
“I didn’t feel that was healthy,” he said. “So we did not reopen. And I don’t know if we will,” Allen said. “I just don’t know. Everything is up in the air. If the new owners want a tenant then maybe we will.”
In January, Allen told the Blade he and his husband Ken Flick had decided to retire and had a contract to sell the Crew Club building to Douglas Development Corporation, one of the city’s largest real estate developers. Allen announced the club would be closing Feb. 29 and scheduled a closing party on that day.
But Allen announced one day later on the Crew Club’s Facebook page that an “unexpected turn of events” prompted him and Flick to keep the club open indefinitely. He told the Blade at the time that Douglas Development backed out of the sale, prompting him to recruit new business partners to operate the Crew Club on a day-to-day basis, with him and Flick remaining part owners.
Allen said in an interview with the Blade last week that the arrangement for the new partners to operate the Crew Club “fell apart” when the coronavirus pandemic hit the city in full force a short time later. “That’s all gone,” he said.
“All I have now is Ken and I are retired and the building is for sale,” Allen told the Blade. “And it is unlikely the club will reopen.”
A permanent closing of the Crew Club will mark the end of the city’s last remaining gay bathhouse. The Club Washington, D.C.’s longtime gay bathhouse located in the gay adult entertainment strip on the unit block of O Street, S.E., was forced to close along with other gay clubs in the area for the construction of the Washington Nationals Stadium.
Our second Sports Media LGBT+ digital webinar for #AuthenticMe Week in 2020, in association with Pride Sports UK, had a football theme.
The week began with ‘Ready, Get Set, Go!: Launching an LGBT+ Network in Sport‘ – watch a replay here – and we followed up with ‘Creating Space: LGBTQ+ mental fitness in football’.
Conversations about good mental health are becoming more commonplace in football – so why is that encouraging for LGBTQ+ people involved in the game?
Football communities that are stated as being inclusive are vital spaces for those who love the game and who are lesbian, gay, bi or trans, with statistics showing that LGBTQ+ people in general are at a higher risk of experiencing poorer ‘mental fitness’.
Chris Gibbons, Jay Lemonius, Natalie Washington and Annette Nelson discussed how we can make football spaces more LGBTQ+-inclusive
In the build-up to World Mental Health Day on October 10, we explored this important topic through the experiences of individuals who are all helping team-mates, colleagues, and fans to feel empowered to express who they are through football. Skip to 1m 52s in the video below!
Joining Sports Media LGBT+ founder / lead and Sky Sports senior editor Jon Holmes for this webinar were…
Chris Gibbons, Equality Consultant, Chelsea FC; Director, Inside Inclusion
Jay Lemonius, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at The FA and captain of Stonewall FC
Natalie Washington, footballer for Rushmoor in the Hampshire County Women’s League and Campaign Lead for Football v Transphobia, as well as other campaigns for trans rights
“I think the last few years has been a real game changer on a number of issues – LGBT+ being one of them and mental health being another.” – Jay #AuthenticMe
The hashtag “#staged” trended on Twitter Sunday morning after the White House released photos of Trump “working” at the hospital.
The photos released by the WH tonight of the president working at Walter Reed were taken 10 minutes apart at 5:25:59 pm and 5:35:40 pm ET Saturday, according to the EXIF data embedded in both @AP wire postings that were shared by the White House this evening. pic.twitter.com/EzeqIkGdf7
Examination of the EXIF data of the photos by one journalist showed that the two photos, which were shot in separate locations, one with jacket on and one with jacket off, were taken 20 minutes apart.
A closer examination of the photos showed that he was merely signing his name on a blank piece of paper.
Picture 1, from the video he sent from Walter Reed. Picture 2, supposedly also from Walter Reed. Two different rooms in a hospital, both with big wooden conference tables? I don’t think so. Picture 2 was in the White House. #stagedpic.twitter.com/dNt7OO3Zbi
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on April 26 that the city’s COVID-related public health restrictions are being eased one step further by the lifting of a ban on live entertainment at bars, restaurants and nightclubs beginning May 1.
The mayor’s revised public health order is expected to provide a boost to the city’s gay bars, which will be allowed on a limited basis to resume offering live entertainment, including drag shows, which club owners have said have been a longtime popular form of entertainment.
The new order also expands the maximum number of people allowed to be seated at a single table from six to 10 and lifts a requirement that customers must order at least one food item when seated outdoors. The order leaves in place a requirement that a food item must be served when customers are seated indoors.
While welcoming the limited easing of some restrictions, nightlife advocates expressed disappointment that the new mayoral order leaves in place a 25 percent capacity limit on the number of people allowed for indoor dining and bar service along with a required 6′ distancing between tables and seating areas. Also left in place in the new order is the requirement that all customers in bars and restaurants must be seated at all times.
In addition, the mayoral order leaves in place a ban on seating at or ordering drinks from a service bar if the bar is staffed by a bartender or another employee. It also leaves in place a requirement that bars, nightclubs, and restaurants close at midnight instead of the pre-pandemic closing times of 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
Nightlife advocates point out that Maryland has raised its occupancy limit for bars and restaurants to 50 percent and Virginia no longer has a capacity limit, although it requires all patrons to be seated and requires tables to be spaced at a distance in observance of social distancing.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam last week further eased the state’s restrictions on restaurants and bars by allowing bartenders to serve customers at indoor bar tops.
David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay sports bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar League of Her Own said he too welcomes the lifting of the ban on live entertainment, which had been in place for about year. Perruzza said he would be offering the first drag show his bars has had in about a year on May 6.
But Perruzza said that like other D.C. gay bars, most of which operate in small or medium size buildings, the requirement that all customers must be seated and that tables must be separated by a distance of at least 6′ limits the number of customers that can enter his establishments, which include dining, even if the capacity limit were to be raised to 50 percent.
He said if a 50 percent capacity limit is put in place, the space in his two bars would only allow a 33 percent capacity due to the 6′ social distancing rule.
“What would help us is to let people sit at a bar,” Perruzza said. “My whole staff has been vaccinated. So why no bar service now?”
Mark Lee, coordinator of the D.C. Nightlife Council, a local trade association representing bars, nightclubs, restaurants and other entertainment businesses, has said the initial closing of all bars and restaurants early last year due to the COVID outbreak and the subsequent 25 percent indoor occupancy limit has had a devastating impact on many bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
Lee and other nightlife advocates point out that many of these venues are struggling to stay in business due to the dramatic loss of revenue brought about by the drop in the number of customers.
“The reality is that D.C. remains an outlier throughout the region and across the nation for the worst restaurant and bar restrictions,” said Lee, who is calling on Bowser to “move the same science-based and health-safe level of re-opening opportunities as in both neighboring and nationwide jurisdictions.”
Added Lee, “As all of the local area health metrics continue to improve and vaccination access is now readily available to all, our city needs to finally and immediately restore indoor capacity to 50 percent, allow seating of guest groups at bartender stations, and return to full operating hours by eliminating the midnight service curfew.”
Dr. LaQuanda Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, has said nationwide data have shown that restaurants and bars have been among the high-risk places where the coronavirus is transmitted from person to person. But both Nesbitt and Bowser have said in recent weeks that city health officials are closely observing the declining number of new infections among D.C. residents and will be looking at further easing of the current restrictions within a month or two.
Why I Won’t Stick To Sports: Kamal-Craig Golaube is a gay, Black student athlete and director of diversity and inclusion of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council at Colorado State University.
Right now Outsports is working on this Caster Semenya news:
Also new this morning…
All New England tests taken again this morning, after the negative tests on Saturday, came back negative again for a second straight day, source tells ESPN.
Best-case scenario for the Patriots and the NFL so far.
Sports Media LGBT+ is about to hold its third #AuthenticMe Week, building up to Coming Out Day – it all kicks off with a Zoom event about launching LGBT+ networks in sport on Monday 5 October at 6.30pm BST (that’s 1.30pm EDT / 10.30am PT).
There’s also an event on Tues 6 Oct (5.30pm BST) about LGBT+ inclusion and mental health in soccer, and a Social on Thurs 8 Oct (6.30pm BST). All details on our website where you can register to attend. Hope you can join us!
If you’re an LGBTQ person in sports looking to connect with others in the community, head over to GO! SPACE to meet and interact with other LGBTQ athletes, or to Equality Coaching Alliance to find other coaches, administrators and other non-athletes in sports.
Highlights from Social Media:
Justice Horn is making “good trouble” in Kansas City with a little help from his friends:
Tom Bosworth was out running and apparently so are a lot of other people in London:
Out training this morning and saw so many people running their @LondonMarathon, was fab to see! There were lots of smiling faces and shouts of support. Perhaps for those that don’t get a place in next years marathon, this version could continue into the future.
Kaitlyn Long shared this snap with friends in Minneapolis on Instagram:
If you want your social media post to be included here, or to share one showcasing LGBTQ sports, email us the link at outsportshuddle@gmail.com or tag @Outsports on Instagram or Twitter!
Podcast Du Jour
Nearly every day of the week, Outsports has a new podcast for your enjoyment. Deputy managing editor Alex Reimer’s new episode of The Sports Kiki features his chat with Jeff Rueter, who’s a staff writer at The Athletic covering professional soccer. Alex and Jeff talk about the Collin Martin story, and Jeff’s coming out as bisexual on Bi Visibility Day.Listen here:
Dear Doctor:Our dad is 78 years old, and he has started spending a lot more time indoors and on his recliner. He’s in good health, but he says he’s getting too old for exercise to matter. What can we say to persuade him to become active again?
Answer: Exercise is an important part of ongoing health and fitness, and, despite your dad’s feelings to the contrary, we never age out of our need for it.
Studies show that becoming or remaining active as an older adult offers a wide array of benefits.
Regular exercise can improve cardiovascular health, help lower blood pressure, lessen the risk of chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, colon cancer and heart disease, help improve balance, strength, flexibility and stamina, maintain healthy weight and avoid joint problems, help with swelling and pain due to arthritis and lower the risk of falls.
Exercise has mental health benefits as well. Older adults who incorporate even moderate amounts of exercise into their daily lives report having a better mood and outlook, improved cognitive function and a lessening of symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Remaining physically active also has been shown to help older adults maintain their ability to live independently.
Think in terms of a mix of activities. And be creative. Walking, jogging, swimming and biking all fit the bill for moderate aerobic activities for endurance, and so do dancing, raking the lawn or playing badminton.
We lose muscle mass as we age, so strength and resistance exercises, such as weightlifting or Pilates, are important.
Activities like stretching, tai chi and yoga help keep joints loose and muscles limber.
Guidelines recommend that people 65 and older do at least two and a half hours of moderate aerobic exercise a week, which averages out to a manageable 20-ish minutes a day.
Even better than sharing this information with your dad, provide a good example. It’s not just older adults who fall short of the recommended levels of exercise and physical activity. As many as half of all adults miss the mark. Maybe choose an activity to do together once or twice a week and get up and moving.
A final thought: If your dad has supplementary Medicare coverage, check whether it includes SilverSneakers, a health-and-fitness program designed for older adults that will give him access to a range of fitness options including gyms, community centers and other fitness locations.
Your dad should check with his doctor or other health care provider before making any significant changes to his exercise regimen or activity. They can evaluate his condition and fitness level and point him to appropriate activities.
Dr. Eve Glazier is an internist and associate professor of medicine, and Dr. Elizabeth Ko is an internist and assistant professor of medicine, both at UCLA Health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up Houston, but our resilient community has helped the city push through this ongoing crisis. OutSmart’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards honor these top local individuals, organizations, and businesses that have persisted throughout this challenging year. To request your Gayest & Greatest 2020 award(s), click here.
Cody Grizzofi–NRL Mortgage Finalists: Amegy Bank Mortgage, John Frels, Keith Russell–Republic State Mortgage
Best Title Company
Chicago Title Inner Loop Finalists: Alamo Title, Capital Title, Texas American Title
Best Home Builder
Jose Ocque Finalists: Sandcastle Homes, ROC Homes
Best Home Remodeling Company
Luria Construction Finalists: C House Renovations, Jauncho Jimenez
Favorite Rental Community
Drewery Place Apartments (tie), Elan Memorial Park (tie) Finalists: Cabochon at River Oaks, Elan Heights, Ellison Heights, Skyhouse Apartments
COMMUNITY
Best Political Advocacy Group
Houston GLBT Political Caucus Finalists: Jolt Action, Transgender Education Network, Victory Fund
Favorite LGBTQ Philanthropic Organization
The Montrose Center Finalists: Bunnies on the Bayou, ERSICSS, Legacy Community Health, Out for Education
Favorite LGBTQ Benefit Event of the Year
Bunnies on the Bayou Finalists: Houston Leather Pride, Mint Julep, The Montrose Center Gala, World AIDS Day Luncheon
Favorite LGBTQ Social Organization
Diana Foundation Finalists: ERSICSS, Executive & Professional Association Houston (EPAH), Krewe of Olympus, Lambda NextGen
Favorite Local LGBTQ Community Organization
Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce (tie), Pride Houston (tie) Finalists: ERSICSS, Montrose Center, PWA Holiday Charities, Space City Sisters
Best LOCAL Corporate LGBTQ Diversity Group
Chevron Finalists: Amegy Bank, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, Shell
Favorite LGBTQ Sports Club
Montrose Softball League Association Finalists: Gay Kickball, Houston Hurricanes, Houston Tennis Club, Lone Star Volleyball
Favorite HIV/AIDS Support Organization
AIDS Foundation Houston Finalists: Avenue 360 Health & Wellness, Legacy Community Health, The Montrose Center, PWA Holiday Charities, St. Hope Foundation
Favorite National LGBTQ Organization
The Trevor Project Finalists: Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Victory Fund
Favorite Local College or University
University of Houston Finalists: Houston Community College, Rice University, Texas Southern University
Favorite Place to Take Your Out-of-Town Visitors
Houston Eagle Finalists: Discovery Green, Houston Galleria, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, The Menil Collection, NASA
Favorite Place to Worship
Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church Finalists: Bering Memorial UMC, Congregation Or Ami, Kindred, St. Paul’s UMC, Unity of Houston
Archway Gallery Finalists: Hardy & Nance Studios, John Palmer Art Space Montrose
Best Regional Theater
Alley Theatre (tie), Theatre Under The Stars (tie)
Best Community Theater
Catastrophic Theatre Finalist: Ensemble Theatre
Best Local Equity Theater
Stages Repertory Theatre
Best Performing Arts Company
Houston Grand Opera Finalists: Bayou City Performing Arts, Pilot Dance Project
Favorite Houston Museum
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (tie), Menil Collection (tie) Finalists: Holocaust Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston Museum of Natural Science
Favorite Local Female Actor
Tamarie Cooper Finalists: Lydia Meadows, Holland Vavra, Pamela Vogel
Favorite Local Male Actor
Dylan Godwin Finalists: Mark Ivy, Charles Swan, Wesley Whitson
