5 THINGS TO KNOW
5 THINGS TO KNOW
5 THINGS TO KNOW
Six college footballs players are now out.
The 2017 college football season kicks into high gear this weekend with teams all over the country playing. Among the thousands of players will be a record six on rosters who are openly gay. It was just a month ago that I wrote about there being a record five, but now the list is being updated after Butler’s Xavier Colvin came out on Monday.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
There really is no “freeze” when it comes to the transgender troop ban.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is creating a panel of experts to determine how the military should put President Donald Trump’s new guidelines for transgender service members into effect. Mattis said in a statement Tuesday the panel will be made up of people from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Members will be tasked with developing a system to “promote military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law.”
5 THINGS TO KNOW
It looks like the Southern Baptist Convention doesn’t like the LGBT community.
Earlier today, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) released what they’re calling the Nashville Statement, which was adopted at a recent conference sponsored by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention). It’s a declaration of faith-based bigotry signed by some of the most powerful Christians in the country.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
The gay rodeo comes to Kansas City!
The passing of popular singer Glen Campbell earlier this month made us all realize how much his 1975 hit Rhinestone Cowboy had made its mark on our consciousness. How many of us knew that immortal tagline of the chorus so well, right down to its rising intensity with each syllable? Whether you love or hate that song, it’s not the first time the cowboy, a distinctly American icon of “traditional” masculinity, has entered the immortal vault of pop song lyrics.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
“Gay panic” defense no longer an option in Illinois.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has signed a law prohibiting the use of the “gay panic” defense in murder cases. SB 1761, which also bars defendants from submitting a “trans panic” defense, was unanimously passed by both the Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives back in June. It bars attorneys from submitting as a defense that their client was threatened by the victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation. Being able to submit it as a defense at trial doesn’t automatically mean a jury or judge will buy it, but it has resulted in defendants being convicted of lesser charges, and been used as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
5 THINGS TO KNOW