BUSINESS

Big oil against anti-transgender legislation.

Transgender rights activists have a surprising new ally in their fight with the Texas government: the state’s affluent and powerful oil industry. In a letter sent to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday, a number of prominent oil executives joined a group of more than 50 Houston business leaders in denouncing legislation targeting the transgender community.

US NEWS

Transgender troop ban – push back from some on the right.

The reactions to President Donald Trump’s tweets last Wednesday announcing a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military have continued pouring in this week. On Tuesday, 56 retired military officers spoke out against the announcement, warning that the policy, if implemented, “would degrade military readiness.”

SPORTS

The NFL is getting into the LGBT business.

The NFL today internally announced the launch of an LGBTQ employee affinity group, called NFL Pride. The new organization, which will officially launch Aug. 16, will be used to support LGBTQ employees and advise NFL executives on best practices for engaging on diversity issues.

US NEWS

56 former generals and admirals criticize Trump’s transgender ban.

Last week, the President, who himself obtained five deferments to avoid the military draft, tweeted he would “not accept or allow” transgender people to serve in the armed forces in any capacity. He claimed it would lead to tremendous medical costs and create widespread disruption.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Execution of gay men in Chechnya still ignored by mainstream media.

In the four months since The New York Times first reported that authorities in Chechnya “were arresting and killing gay men,” evening cable and evening broadcast news programming has virtually ignored the story. Between April 1 and July 31, there were only three significant mentions in total across six networks — two news packages and one brief exchange — about the ongoing human rights abuses.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

I’m not crying, I have something in my eye…In A Heartbeat

Gather round, y’all, because I’m about to show you the cutest thing you’ll see all day (read: millennium). A new short film has surfaced online, and it is exactly the kind of wholesome we need to see this year. The film, called In A Heartbeat, was made as a portion of two students’ senior theses at Ringling College of Art and Design.

HEROES

100+ ‘gay-friendly’ Catholic colleges – who knew?

New Ways Ministry began publishing a “gay-friendly” parish list 20 years ago and had 33 parishes from 14 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, according to its blog. Now it has a robust representation with “well over 200 parishes listed.” The inaugural “gay-friendly” parish list also contained seven colleges “whose Catholic student communities were known to be gay-friendly.” Today, that college list is separate and has more than 100 schools.