US Patent & Trademark Office, 3/30/16; Honoring Women in Public Service and Government

Blog by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Michelle K. Lee, US Patent & Trademark Office; Honoring Women in Public Service and Government:

"When I reflect on this year’s women’s history month theme, “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government,” I am inspired by the women here at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) who have made vital contributions to public service, intellectual property, invention, and innovation. These are women such as Marilyn Ricks-Beach, who we have highlighted in our Women’s History month video, and who exemplifies dedication to federal service, having worked at the USPTO since 1980. You can read more about the USPTO’s women employees on the All in STEM page of the USPTO website, which is part of the USPTO’s broader campaign to encourage more women and girls to go in to STEM fields and stay in them.

Recently, I’ve had the honor of swearing in three outstanding women as regional office directors: Christal Sheppard, Director of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office in Detroit; Hope Shimabuku, Director of our Texas Regional Office in Dallas; and Molly Kocialski, Director of the Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Denver. In addition to embodying the spirit of thme of this year’s Women’s History Month—public service—Christal, Hope, and Molly are trailblazers who have set high standards for excellence and achievement throughout this agency. They take their places as part of an executive team that is 41 percent female, which as compared to the national rate of women executives at 15 percent, shows the progress we are making at the agency of encouraging inclusive practices."

Anchor Wendy Bell addresses WTAE firing over Facebook posts; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/30/16

Maria Sciullo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Anchor Wendy Bell addresses WTAE firing over Facebook posts:

"The Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, in a news release Wednesday night, said its board members and WTAE management had met earlier in the day to discuss the Bell matter and other issues related to diversity.

The announcement of the firing occurred before the meeting took place, and the federation stressed that it had not called for Ms. Bell’s termination.

It said the station agreed to partner with it on several matters including a meeting twice a year to review WTAE’s coverage of African-American communities and other issues related to diversity and inclusion. Part of that will be working with the federation to recruit journalists of color for its newsroom."

Pittsburgh TV station ‘ends relationship’ with anchor after racially-tinged Facebook post; Washington Post, 3/31/16

Yanan Wang, Washington Post; Pittsburgh TV station ‘ends relationship’ with anchor after racially-tinged Facebook post:

"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Hearst Television, the parent station of WTAE-TV, said in a statement Wednesday that it had “ended its relationship” with Emmy-winning anchor Wendy Bell because her “recent comments on a WTAE Facebook page were inconsistent with the company’s ethics and journalistic standards.”"

80 Big-Name Business Leaders Just Took A Stand Against North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law; Huffington Post, 3/29/16

Elise Foley, Huffington Post; 80 Big-Name Business Leaders Just Took A Stand Against North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law:

"The fight against North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law gained some high-profile support on Tuesday, when more than 80 prominent business leaders signed a letter calling for a full repeal.

“Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country,” reads the letter to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), released by LGBT civil rights groups Human Rights Campaign and Equality NC. “As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina’s legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session.”

The legislation, which McCrory signed into law last week, prevents local governments from creating their own rules and ordinances to protect LGBT rights. The governor on Monday dismissed backlash against the legislation as “well-coordinated and more political theater than reality.”

Pressure from corporations has worked before in other states, and the letter made the same arguments that discrimination is bad for business.

Most of the signatories lead companies that aren’t headquartered in North Carolina, but it’s a high-profile list, including the heads of Apple, Facebook, Airbnb, Yahoo, Twitter, Salesforce, Marriott, Pfizer and Levi Strauss. Bank of America, the largest corporation in the state by revenue, was left out of the original letter, but announced later on Tuesday that it had signed the letter."

The ACLU Sues to Stop North Carolina’s Anti-LGBTQ Law; Slate.com, 3/28/16

Mark Joseph Stern, Slate.com; The ACLU Sues to Stop North Carolina’s Anti-LGBTQ Law:

"The complaint names three individual plaintiffs: a trans employee at the University of North Carolina; a trans University of North Carolina student; and a lesbian at North Carolina Central University School of Law. These are the perfect plaintiffs, because they allow the ACLU to challenge a key illegality in the North Carolina law (dubbed HB2): It explicitly discriminates against trans people by barring them from using the correct bathroom in any government facility, including public universities. Federal law prohibits discrimination against trans students in schools that receive federal funding—as UNC does. So the ACLU lawsuit effectively highlights the direct clash between HB2 and an existing federal mandate, forcing the state to choose between continued discrimination and continued education funding."

Georgia Governor Vetoes North Carolina-Style “Religious Liberty” Bill; Slate.com, 3/28/16

Mark Joseph Stern, Slate.com; Georgia Governor Vetoes North Carolina-Style “Religious Liberty” Bill:

"In his Monday address, Deal sent a very clear message to the legislature’s anti-LGBT agitators: Your prejudice does not belong in our state’s laws. “HB757 doesn't reflect the character of our state or the character of our people,” Deal declared, explaining that the law is also completely unnecessary: “We do not have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia.” Denouncing the hypocrisy of the bill’s advocates, Deal noted wryly, “I find it ironic that some in the religious community look to government to secure religious rights.” He also explained that “it’s difficult to legislate on something that’s best left to the First Amendment”—music to the ears of civil libertarians, who have long pointed out that the Free Exercise Clause already guarantees religious liberty for all.

“This is about the character of our state and our people,” Deal concluded. “Georgia is a welcoming state full of kind and generous people.” By vetoing HB757, Deal will help to maintain those values of tolerance."

My Shared Shame: The Media Helped Make Trump; New York Times, 3/26/16

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times; My Shared Shame: The Media Helped Make Trump:

"I personally made the mistake of regarding Trump’s candidacy as a stunt, scoffing at the idea that he could be the nominee. Mea culpa.

We failed to take Trump seriously because of a third media failing: We were largely oblivious to the pain among working-class Americans and thus didn’t appreciate how much his message resonated. “The media has been out of touch with these Americans,” Curry notes.

Media elites rightly talk about our insufficient racial, ethnic and gender diversity, but we also lack economic diversity. We inhabit a middle-class world and don’t adequately cover the part of America that is struggling and seething. We spend too much time talking to senators, not enough to the jobless."

Jimmy Kimmel Shows How F**ked Up Criticism Of Hillary Clinton’s Voice Can Be; Huffington Post, 3/25/16

Paige Lavender, Huffington Post; Jimmy Kimmel Shows How F**ked Up Criticism Of Hillary Clinton’s Voice Can Be:

"To prepare the former Secretary of State to debate someone like Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Kimmel volunteered to mansplain her remarks. In the process, Kimmel proved just how ridiculous it is when people hit Clinton for how loudly or calmly she speaks — criticism the male presidential candidates don’t often receive...

The joke went on, with Kimmel saying Clinton wasn’t “doing it right.”

“I can’t put my finger on it,” he said. “But you’re not...”

“A man?” Clinton quipped."

Microsoft scrambles to limit PR damage over abusive AI bot Tay; Guardian, 3/24/16

Alex Hern, Guardian; Microsoft scrambles to limit PR damage over abusive AI bot Tay:

"Microsoft is battling to control the public relations damage done by its “millennial” chatbot, which turned into a genocide-supporting Nazi less than 24 hours after it was let loose on the internet.

The chatbot, named “Tay” (and, as is often the case, gendered female), was designed to have conversations with Twitter users, and learn how to mimic a human by copying their speech patterns. It was supposed to mimic people aged 18–24 but a brush with the dark side of the net, led by emigrants from the notorious 4chan forum, instead taught her to tweet phrases such as “I fucking hate feminists and they should all die and burn in hell” and “HITLER DID NOTHING WRONG”."

Hollywood Actors Join Georgia Boycott Threats Over Gay Bill; Reuters via Huffington Post, 3/24/16

Reuters via Huffington Post; Hollywood Actors Join Georgia Boycott Threats Over Gay Bill:

"Anne Hathaway, Julianne Moore and some 30 other Hollywood actors and directors added their voice on Thursday to entertainment industry threats to boycott Georgia if the U.S. state’s governor signs a new law seen as discriminating against gay people.

Movie and TV studios 21st Century Fox, NBC Universal and Time Warner joined Walt Disney , AMC, Viacom and Marvel Entertainment in either opposing the bill, or saying they would take their productions elsewhere...

The entertainment industry is the latest group to come out in force against the Georgia law. More than 300 companies, including Google, Coca-Cola, and Delta Air Lines have urged that it be dropped. The NFL said last week that if the bill is signed, Atlanta could lose the opportunity to host any future Super Bowls."

How North Carolina Just Passed a Blood-Curdling Anti-LGBT Law Right Before Our Eyes; Huffington Post, 3/24/16

Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post; How North Carolina Just Passed a Blood-Curdling Anti-LGBT Law Right Before Our Eyes:

"For over a year, long before the Obergefell marriage equality ruling, many warned that the backlash to LGBT equality would be ugly and intense, and that too many LGBT leaders and much of the media weren’t paying attention, caught up in the wins — what I’ve dubbed victory blindness.

The cost, it was noted, would be the stripping of LGBT rights under the radar, with little focus on our issues. Lo and behold, while LGBT rights were front and center for several years and at the forefront of the 2012 presidential election, there’s been hardly any discussion of the issues in the current election campaign, even as anti-LGBT forces in the states, in the GOP leadership, and in Congress have been in overdrive...

The speed with which a horrifically anti-LGBT bill passed the North Carolina legislature was sickening. Within hours of of being introduced in the legislature and getting overwhelming support, a sweeping bill which overturned existing ordinances protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in cities and counties across the state — and which banned transgender people from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity — was signed by the GOP governor, Pat McCrory.

HB2 is the most heinous, homophobic, transphobic law we have ever seen — just read it."

Pittsburgh’s Youth-Driven Food Boom; New York Times, 3/16/16

Jeff Gordinier, New York Times; Pittsburgh’s Youth-Driven Food Boom:

"If there are scholars who hope to study how a vibrant food culture can help radically transform an American city, the time to do that is right now, in real time, in the place that gave us Heinz ketchup.

In December, Zagat named Pittsburgh the No. 1 food city in America. Vogue just went live with a piece that proclaimed, “Pittsburgh is not just a happening place to visit — increasingly, people, especially New Yorkers, are toying with the idea of moving here.”...

For decades, Pittsburgh was hardly seen as a beacon of innovative cuisine or a magnet for the young. It was the once-glorious metropolis that young people fled from after the shuttering of the steel mills in the early 1980s led to a mass exodus and a stark decline.

“We had to reinvent ourselves,” said Bill Peduto, Pittsburgh’s mayor.

And they have. Over the last decade or so, the city has been the beneficiary of several overlapping booms. Cheap rent and a voracious appetite for culture have attracted artists. Cheap rent and Carnegie Mellon University have attracted companies like Google, Facebook and Uber, seeking to tap local tech talent. And cheap rent alone has inspired chefs to pursue deeply personal projects that might have a hard time surviving in the Darwinian real estate microclimates of New York and San Francisco.

No one can pinpoint whether it was the artists or techies or chefs who got the revitalization rolling. But there’s no denying that restaurants play a starring role in the story Pittsburgh now tells about itself."

No, Not Trump, Not Ever; New York Times, 3/18/16

David Brooks, New York Times; No, Not Trump, Not Ever:

"Donald Trump is an affront to basic standards of honesty, virtue and citizenship. He pollutes the atmosphere in which our children are raised. He has already shredded the unspoken rules of political civility that make conversation possible. In his savage regime, public life is just a dog-eat-dog war of all against all.

As the founders would have understood, he is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, promise-making, fear-driving and deceiving demagogue they feared.

Trump’s supporters deserve respect. They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever."

How The Trump Campaign Could Evolve Into Organized Violence, In 6 Steps; Huffington Post, 3/17/16

Daniel Marans and Ryan Grim, Huffington Post; How The Trump Campaign Could Evolve Into Organized Violence, In 6 Steps:

"UPDATE: 3/19 — On March 15, some anonymous Trump supporters started the Lion Guard, which calls itself an “informal civilian group dedicated to the safety and security of #Trump supporters by exposing Far-Left rioters,” in person and on social media.

“The Lion Guard is a call to put the words ‘Make America Great Again’ into action and aid Trump’s security and show our adversaries we are disciplined, perceptive, and watching,” the group’s “Call to Action” states.

PREVIOUSLY:

Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday floated the idea of paying the legal fees of a white supporter who sucker-punched a black man leaving a rally. Later that day, he claimed “no responsibility” for political violence, suggesting instead that protesters are dangerous and that his supporters are right to “hit back.” He even blamed Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for sending protesters to disrupt his rallies, and threatened to sic his supporters on Sanders in retaliation.

Extreme political movements like Trump’s often go hand-in-hand with street violence. But organized militias like Adolf Hitler’s brown shirts and Benito Mussolini’s black shirts don’t spring up overnight. They evolve. Here’s how the process works."

Hey, Hillary: Smile, Girl; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/16/16

Connie Schultz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Hey, Hillary: Smile, Girl:

"Fox News' Howard Kurtz tweeted: "Hillary shouting her speech. She has the floor; a more conversational tone might be better for connecting with folks at home."

Uh-oh.

Kurtz's follow-up tweet: "Getting attacked for saying Hillary shouted. Was not saying she was shrill. I've just heard her deliver more effective speeches."

This reminded me of another primary night — the one two weeks ago, when MSNBC cut away from Clinton's live victory speech so that three guys could talk about how she needs to speak more softly...

Some men hear what they want to hear, and too many men don't want to hear from women at all. This is an unhappy century for them, and it's only going to get worse. One grandmother barreling her way toward the presidency is bound to work up all kinds of other women who've had it up to here with the catcall mentality of men who measure our worth by our ability to make them feel better about their limited view of us.

"Where will it all end?" they wonder.

At the White House, I'd guess."

Affirming nondiscrimination; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/16/16

Robert Hill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Affirming nondiscrimination:

"Affirmative action does not give someone a job or a place in school. Rather, it embodies two main related aspects: taking action to ensure nondiscrimination and establishing plans designed to improve the diversity of a workforce or college class through analysis and goal-setting.

Established as federal employment policy in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Executive Order 11246 prohibits federal contractors (receiving more than $10,000 in a single year) from discriminating based on race, religion, national origin and gender (since 1967) in employment-related decisions. Sexual orientation and gender identity were added in 2014.

Larger federal contractors (51 employees; $50,000) are required to establish annual plans aimed at increasing the employment of people who are not white males if analysis reveals such folks are underutilized by a contractor. Hiring goals, not quotas, emerge from the plans.

Compliant contractors proactively engage in a multiplicity of activities — properly described as affirmative action — to broadly make known the availability of job opportunities, to even-handedly consider all candidates who apply and to remove from the hiring process non-job-related criteria that may have the effect — if not the intent — of eliminating otherwise qualified candidates. Over the decades — largely attributable to high visibility Supreme Court cases — affirmative action has come to be most commonly and infamously associated with public college admissions decisions.

Far from assigning preferential treatment in hiring or admissions to any particular class or group of applicants based on race or sex, affirmative action provisions and the 1964 Civil Rights Act actually prohibit it."

Ellen Page at SXSW: 'Being in the closet hurt my career more than coming out'; Guardian, 3/12/16

Nigel M. Smith, Guardian; Ellen Page at SXSW: 'Being in the closet hurt my career more than coming out' :

"The Oscar-nominated actor, who came out in 2014 during a speech at a Las Vegas conference for counselors of young LGBT people, was on hand to discuss her new TV show Gaycation, alongside co-creator Ian Daniel. In the series, the pair travel the world to shed a light on the struggles of LGBT communities face abroad...

“We can’t just be telling stories about one group of people,” Page added. “People need to have opportunity, and that’s what’s going to make the whole industry grow and blossom... “There can be such loneliness and isolation when you’re living in a society that has this view of you’re different, or something’s wrong, or you’re sinful.”...

She added that she thinks often of “those who are much more vulnerable than me all around the world and in the United States.

“And here’s an opportunity to go make something that allows voices to be heard that you sometimes never hear, and hopefully reflect struggles that a lot of people go through and I think a lot of people simply don’t know about.”

Gaycation airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on Viceland."

On the Fight Against HIV and AIDS -- and on the People Who Really Started the Conversation; Huffington Post, 3/13/16

Hillary Clinton, Huffington Post; On the Fight Against HIV and AIDS -- and on the People Who Really Started the Conversation:

"This week, at Nancy Reagan's funeral, I said something inaccurate when speaking about the Reagans' record on HIV and AIDS. Since then, I've heard from countless people who were devastated by the loss of friends and loved ones, and hurt and disappointed by what I said. As someone who has also lost friends and loved ones to AIDS, I understand why. I made a mistake, plain and simple.

I want to use this opportunity to talk not only about where we've come from, but where we must go in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

To be clear, the Reagans did not start a national conversation about HIV and AIDS. That distinction belongs to generations of brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, along with straight allies, who started not just a conversation but a movement that continues to this day...

I believe there's even more we can -- and must -- do together. For starters, let's continue to increase HIV and AIDS research and invest in the promising innovations that research is producing. Medications like PrEP are proving effective in preventing HIV infection; we should expand access to that drug for everyone, including at-risk populations. We should call on Republican governors to put people's health and well-being ahead of politics and extend Medicaid, which would provide health care to those with HIV and AIDS.

We should call on states to reform outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws. We should increase global funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. And we should cap out-of-pocket expenses and drug costs -- and hold companies like Turing and Valeant accountable when they attempt to gouge patients by jacking up the price of lifesaving medications.

We're still surrounded by memories of loved ones lost and lives cut short. But we're also surrounded by survivors who are fighting harder than ever. We owe it to them and to future generations to continue that fight together. For the first time, an AIDS-free generation is in sight. As president, I promise you that I will not let up until we reach that goal. We will not leave anyone behind."

Girls Keep Out: Female Video Gamers Face Vile Abuse, Threats; Associated Press via New York Times, 3/12/16

Associated Press via New York Times; Girls Keep Out: Female Video Gamers Face Vile Abuse, Threats:

"IGDA's Edwards acknowledges that dealing with harassment is a difficult challenge. "You're dealing with minors versus adults," she says. "You're dealing with free speech issues. It's a struggle for companies to figure out exactly how to approach it."

And while Riot-style moderation might limit harassment, it's unlikely to solve the problem on its own. "This is a social and cultural problem, not a technological one," says Dmitri Williams, CEO of game analytics firm Ninja Metrics."

Clinton's comments on the Reagans and Aids demand more than apology; Guardian, 3/11/16

Steven W. Thrasher, Guardian; Clinton's comments on the Reagans and Aids demand more than apology:

"Aids historians, LGBT activists and anyone who cares about little things like the truth were immediately enraged at Clinton’s false claims. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were no more leaders discussing Aids in the 1980s than Republicans are at championing abortion access today.

“It may be hard for your viewers to remember,” Clinton said, “how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/Aids back in the 1980s.”

She didn’t lie there. Indeed, it was difficult to talk about Aids throughout the 1980s – largely because of the silence from the White House. In April 1987, activists unveiled a poster that said “Silence = Death” – a month before Reagan would finally devote a speech to the years-long epidemic. That slogan would become the motto of the group Aids Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT-UP), and according to their website, the slogan was asking “Why is Reagan silent about Aids? What is really going on at the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Vatican?”...

But for those of us who care about Aids and LGBT people, it is much harder and important to criticize the frontrunner of the Democratic party, who takes the support of gay voters for granted. Why, in 2016, did the Democratic frontrunner engage so blithely in the erasure of the people who actually did start the “national conversation” about Aids? Was it because they were gay men of the in-your-face variety of activism – many of whom died of the virus?

When Clinton said the Reagans led the way on Aids when “nobody wanted to do anything about it”, she is erasing these people from history in an ugly and dismissive fashion. People initially got HIV in this country through IV drug use, blood transfusions and sex. But while the Reagans looked the other way – even when a friend asked for help – it was was queer activists who were loud as hell in New York and San Francisco who forced the nation to face the plague...

I have been frightened for some time that the crisis of AIDS is not over, especially for black America, and yet it has again largely been erased from our national political consciousness. Aids, which is projected to infect one in two black gay American men, is almost invisible from the presidential race. And now even the Democratic frontrunner has diminished Aids history herself."

Hillary Clinton Praises Reagans for Starting “A National Conversation” About AIDS. That’s Insane.; Slate.com, 3/11/16

Michele Goldberg, Slate.com; Hillary Clinton Praises Reagans for Starting “A National Conversation” About AIDS. That’s Insane. :

"On MSBNC, [Hillary Clinton] offered the following baffling encomium for the late Nancy Reagan: “It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s. And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan—in particular Mrs. Reagan—we started a national conversation.” Clinton credited Nancy with “very effective low-key advocacy” that “penetrated the public conscience.”

It’s hard to imagine where Clinton got this ludicrous idea. One of the most shameful things about Reagan’s presidency was his determined refusal to acknowledge an epidemic that was killing Americans by the tens of thousands. The first reports of AIDS surfaced in 1981, but Reagan didn’t speak about it until 1987, at which point more than 20,000 people were dead. When his press secretary Larry Speakes was asked about it, he made sniggering jokes. In 1987, when Reagan finally gave a speech about AIDS, he called for mandatory testing of immigrants. “Mr. Reagan issued no call for legislation or state action to protect AIDS victims against discrimination,” the New York Times reported."

Restored 'Race Films' Find New Audiences; NPR, 3/4/16

Hansi Lo Wang, NPR; Restored 'Race Films' Find New Audiences:

"It's nearly impossible to see some of the earliest movies by African-American filmmakers. Many have been lost or destroyed. Those that have survived are often held by private collectors or stored away in old film archives.

More than a dozen of those movies, though, are now part of a film restoration project — Pioneers of African-American Cinema — by independent film distributor Kino Lorber.

The project focuses on a genre called "race films" — movies made after World War I and through the 1940s by black filmmakers with mostly black casts for black audiences. These films tried to uplift the image of African-Americans and contradict the racist stereotypes in D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, a blockbuster after its release in 1915."

Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker could be gay; HuffingtonPost.com, 3/4/16

Benjamin Lee, HuffingtonPost.com; Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker could be gay:

"Mark Hamill has said that his Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker, could be gay.

The 64-year-old actor has spoken about the issue after the Force Awakens director, JJ Abrams, suggested that gay characters could be part of the Star Wars universe in future films.

“I just read online that JJ is very much open to that. In the old days, you would get fan mail,” he said to the Sun. “But now fans are writing and asking all these questions: ‘I’m bullied in school … I’m afraid to come out.’ They say to me: ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”"

After Eli Apple, The NFL Must Kick Homophobia Out Of Football; HuffingtonPost.com, 3/5/16

Erick Fernandez, HuffingtonPost.com; After Eli Apple, The NFL Must Kick Homophobia Out Of Football:

"If the investigation confirms the story we've heard, NFL fans should expect the league to come down hard on the assistant coach. A small financial penalty or a two- or three-game suspension isn't enough. What the coach did was not only intrusive and disrespectful -- in a number of states, asking that type of question during the hiring process is illegal.

Whether the Falcons release the coach in question or suspend the person for a large part of the season, the penalty must be severe enough to discourage any other coach from ever again invading a prospective player's privacy this way.

As this latest instance demonstrates, professional football can still be an unwelcoming place for gay athletes. The NFL and the Falcons must show they're trying to change that culture -- and soon."

An NFL Assistant Coach's First Question For A Prospect: Are You Gay?; HuffingtonPost.com, 3/4/16

Curtis M. Wong and Michael McLaughlin, HuffingtonPost.com; An NFL Assistant Coach's First Question For A Prospect: Are You Gay? :

"Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple says he was taken aback when a coach at last month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis asked him upfront about his sexuality. In an interview with Comcast SportsNet's "Breakfast on Broad," Apple said the question came up while he was talking to a coach for the Atlanta Falcons. "I've been asked a lot of weird questions. I don't know if I could say on TV," he said at first. Then, he continued: "The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, 'So do you like men?' It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird."

China bans depictions of gay people on television; Guardian, 3/4/16

Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Guardian; China bans depictions of gay people on television:

"The Chinese government has banned all depictions of gay people on television, as part of a cultural crackdown on “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content”.

Chinese censors have released new regulations for content that “exaggerates the dark side of society” and now deem homosexuality, extramarital affairs, one night stands and underage relationships as illegal on screen...

The government said the show contravened the new guidelines, which state that “No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on.”

The ban also extends to smoking, drinking, adultery, sexually suggestive clothing, even reincarnation. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told television producers it would constantly monitor TV channels to ensure the new rules were strictly adhered to.

The clampdown follows an increase in cultural censorship in China since Xi Jinping came to power in November 2012."

The Beast Is Us; New York Times, 3/4/16

Timothy Egan, New York Times; The Beast Is Us:

"With media complicity, Trump has unleashed the beast that has long resided not far from the American hearth, from those who started a Civil War to preserve the right to enslave a fellow human to the Know-Nothing mobs who burned Irish-Catholic churches out of fear of immigrants...

Granted, a huge portion of the population is woefully ignorant; nearly a third of Americans didn’t know who Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was in a Gallup poll last year. But ignorance is not the problem with Trump’s people. They’re sick and tired of tolerance...

The German magazine Der Spiegel called Trump “the world’s most dangerous man.” The Germans know a thing or two about the topic.

I would like to think our better angels always prevail. But there are also dark episodes, when the beast is loose, and what stares back at us from the mirror is something ugly and frightful. Now is one of those times."

New York City mayor ends boycott of St Patrick's Day parade as gay ban dropped; Associated Press via New York Times, 3/2/16

Associated Press via New York Times; New York City mayor ends boycott of St Patrick's Day parade as gay ban dropped:

"This year, more than 300 people will march under the banner of the Lavender and Green Alliance, an Irish LGBT group that had worked for 25 years to reverse the ban and, when those efforts stalled, founded a competing parade, called St Patrick’s For All, which marches every year in Queens and allows all groups to participate.

“Our hearts will be dancing,” said Brendan Fay, the head of the group.

Fay gave credit to De Blasio, who was the first mayor in more than 20 years to refuse to participate in the Manhattan parade, saying his boycott put pressure on the parade’s organizers to change their policies. A year ago, organizers allowed OUT(at)NBCUniversal, a gay organization at NBC, which televises the festivities, to participate, but De Blasio and several other elected officials said that wasn’t enough and continued to abstain from participating in the 255-year-old march.

“It wasn’t truly inclusive until it included an Irish gay group,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm, a Democratic member of the city council’s Irish and LGBT caucuses. “This allows us to express, in full, who we really are. When you’ve been excluded for something for so long, when you finally realize your dream is coming true, it’s very emotional.”"