Box Turtle Bulletin

Mark Cuban Donates $1 Million To Enhance LGBT Security

Dallas’s Oak Lawn/Cedar Springs neighborhood has been the target of anti-gay violence for decades, as long as the neighborhood has been the city’s principal gayborhood. In the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse gay night club massacre, The Dallas Voice reports that Dallas entrepreneur and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has donated $1 million to the Dallas Police Department to fund added security for the LGBT community:

The money will be earmarked for an estimated 16,000 hours of Dallas police overtime to be utilized at Chief David Brown’s discretion for enhanced counterterrorism efforts, including additional police presence in the Oak Lawn area, the news release said.

An announcement will be made at Dallas City Hall later today. Cuban is a longtime LGBT ally. He is a member of the advisory board of Athlete Ally, which is dedicated to eliminating homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Senate Dems Launch Talking Filibuster Over Gun Control

I'm speaking on the Senate floor to honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence. #Enough

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016

I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can. I've had #Enough

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016

Senate Democrats are finally showing some backbone.

The Senate is debating a Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill, and Democrats are pushing to add a gun control amendment. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is leading the filibuster, with Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) participating by asking Murphy questions. Other Democratic Senators are reportedly signing up for speaking slots. According to Politico:

“I’m going to remain on this floor until we get some signal, some sign that we can come together on these two measures, that we can get a path forward on addressing this epidemic in a meaningful, bipartisan way,” Murphy continued on the Senate floor on Wednesday, after he first started his filibuster at about 11:20 a.m.

Most of the Democratic caucus was unaware of Murphy’s plans until he took the floor, two senior aides said, though there had been some talk Tuesday about lining up speeches throughout the night Wednesday.

While that filibuster is taking place, Senate Democrats and Republicans are negotiating over two very different proposals to close the No Fly List loophole, which Republicans in both houses voted down last December. Democrats are also insisting that the gun show and internet sales loopholes also be closed.

“Senator Murphy and Senate Democrats are holding the floor because they will not accept inaction or half measures in the face of continued slaughter. Congress cannot sit on the sidelines while killers freely buy weapons to brutally murder the people Congress is supposed to be protecting,” Murphy spokesman Chris Harris said in a statement.

“Until private sales at gun shows and over the internet also require stringent background checks and unless suspected terrorists on the no fly list are prohibited from legally purchasing guns, our lax gun laws will continue to allow terrorists and criminals to amass a weapons stockpile,” Harris continued. “Senator Murphy will remain on the floor demanding the Senate adopt these measures.”

Update: Other senators taking turns in the filibuster so far include Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Charles Schemer (D-NY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), and Republican Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE).

Southern Baptist Convention Cannot Say Our Name

The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution on “The Orlando Tragedy” yesterday on the opening day of its annual meeting in St. Louis. The resolution, though, leaves me confused. Who were the more than one hundred people who were shot? Where were they? Were they morning commuters at a crowded bus station?

RESOLUTION 1: ON THE ORLANDO TRAGEDY

WHEREAS, Our entire nation is grieving as a result of the mass shooting of over one hundred people, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least fifty in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016; and

WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that God has created all men and women in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), and as the Author of life, regards acts of murder as evil (Matthew 16:18), and calls His people to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:39); now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, June 14–15, 2016, pray for the surviving victims, all affected families of those murdered, injured, and otherwise harmed, and first responders; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we extend our love and compassion to those devastated by this tragedy and pledge to come to their aid by donating blood and other supportive means; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors, and therefore condemn this act of terrorism and others like it and pray for the day when these senseless acts of violence cease.

GOP Rep Says Pulse Wasn’t a Gay Night Club: “It Was Mostly Latinos”

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) joined the growing Republican consensus to refuse to acknowledge that Sunday morning’s attack in Orlando was against a gay night club. Sessions chairs the House Rules Committee which yesterday blocked an amendment proposed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) to restore President Barack Obama’s Executive Order prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors. When National Journal reporter Daniel Newhuser asked Sessions whether the shooting might change his mind on the anti-discrimination measure, he got this response:

Asked Rules Chair Sessions if Orlando shooting changes calculation on LGBT Maloney amdmt. He argued Pulse was not a gay club.

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

“It was a young person’s nightclub, I’m told. And there were some [LGBT ppl] there, but it was mostly Latinos” https://t.co/c5qvdSk0kF

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Sessions’s office tried to explain it away in the classic “taken-out-of-context” sort of way:

Sessions’ communications director, Caroline Boothe, told TPM that Newhauser’s quotes were correct but “taken out of context without the background information.”

“What my boss meant to say was that there weren’t only gay individuals at the club but people from all walks of life were present,” Boothe said.

She added that “at the end of the day we’re all Americans” and said Sessions’ heart grieved for everyone.

Before the attack, Pulse’s web site described the club as “Orlando’s Premiere Gay Night Club” and “Orlando’s hottest gay bar located in the heart of downtown.” Today, the site has been taken down and replaced with a simple statement in response to the shooting: “From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community.”

Two Days After Orlando, House GOP Leaders Block LGBT Nondiscrimination Amendment

Late yesterday, the House Roles committee, dominated by members handpicked by House Speaker He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name (R-WI) blocked an amendment filed by Rep, Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) to restore President Barack Obama’s Executive Order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees among federal contractors. That Executive Order is threatened by a clause inserted by Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) into a VA spending bill passed by the House last month that would overturn it. As The Hill reports:

Maloney argued that allowing a vote to prohibit discrimination in the workplace after the targeted attack on the gay nightclub would send a message of solidarity with the LGBT community.

“It’s hard to imagine that any act that is so horrific could lead to anything positive. But if we were going to do anything, it would be a very positive step to say that discrimination has no place in our law and to reaffirm the president’s actions in this area,” Maloney told The Hill. “Seems to me a pretty basic thing to do.”

…Two centrist Republicans, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) and Richard Hanna (N.Y.), signed onto Maloney’s amendment as co-sponsors.

…In an appearance before the House Rules Committee to make the case for his amendment, Maloney compared his proposal to last year’s racially motivated shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., that led to restrictions on displaying the Confederate flag.

“They also responded by acting and by recognizing that symbols and language matter,” Maloney said. “Because hate has no place in our flags, in our workplace, or in our country. And it should have no place in federal law.”

On the ascendancy of He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name to the Speakership, he promised to usher in a new era of following the House Rules and Regular Order. But after Russell’s  amendment was attached to the VA spending bill, Maloney proposed an amendment to that same spending bill to countermand Russell’s amendment. It passed, 217-206 during the two-minute voting period in accordance with House Rules, but GOP leaders held voting open for another five and a half minutes while  Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) worked the Republican caucus to flip the seven votes needed to kill Patrick’s amendment.

The following week, the House approved Maloney’s amendment, this time to an appropriations bill for the Energy Department, Army Corps of Engineers and several other agencies. But after approving other poison pill amendments unacceptable to Democrats — and after Rep. Rick W. Allen (R-GA) led the GOP caucus in an opening prayer quoting Bible passages saying homosexuals were “worthy of death” — lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lined up to defeat that bill 112-305. Soon after, He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name instituted a new rule requiring all amendments to spending bills be cleared first through his hand-chosen Rules Committee.

Today’s Agenda Is Brought To You By…

Top Row: Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old • Amanda Alvear, 25 years old • Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old and Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old • Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old • Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old • Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old • Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old • Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old
Second Row: Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old • Cory James Connell, 21 years old • Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old • Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old • Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old • Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old • Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old • Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old • Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old
Third Row: Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old • Frank Hernandez, 27 years old • Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old • Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old • Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old • Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old • Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old • Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
Fourth Row: Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old • Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old • Kimberly Morris, 37 years old • Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old • Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old • Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old • Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old • Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old
Fifth Row: Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old and Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old • Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old • Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old • Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old • Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old • Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old • Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old • Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
Botton Row: Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old • Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old • Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old • Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old • Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old • Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

We wil be hearing a lot about the shooter over the next couples of weeks. I think it’s important to know those who were taken away from this earth far too early because of him. Over the next several days, I will use this space to provide a brief introduction to each of those who died on Sunday.

Edward “Top Hat Eddie” Sotomayor, Jr., 34 years old.

Eddie was the first to be identified to the public. That made him the face of the massacre for much of Sunday. The Sarasota resident loved to travel around the world and he made friends easily. He got the name “Top Hat Eddie” for the hats that he wore. Many of the online tributes on social media made use of black hat emojis.

“Eddie was one sweetheart and I will miss talking and working with him. That smile and top hat is burned in my memory,” Nikki Stjames posted.

“He was a kind and loving man. A man that lit up the room with his great smile,” said friend Jason Howell. “Always there to try and solve a problem whether small or big. Just the posts on all of the social media sites show how much he is loved and how he touched so many lives … he will truly be missed.”

Edie worked as a brand manager for Al and Chuck Travel, which catered to the gay community. He was also one of the company’s tour leaders:

“He was one of our tour leaders, known for wearing his top hat, and for being a really nice guy,” Robin Ziegler Suess posted on social media. “He was also a tour leader on our recent Caribbean cruise in January, where I had the honor of wearing his top hat.”

He had recently returned from Cuba after coordinating the first-ever gay cruise to the island last April. In 2015, he was the national coordinator for the “Drag Stars at Sea” cruise, which featured a number of stars from the TV Show “RuPAul’s Drag Race”:

Drag performer Pandora Boxx also remembered Sotomayor for his top hat — but also so much more. He said he first met Sotomayor on a cruise and “everyone was talking about Top Hat Eddie (he wore a top hat the entire time!).”

“Not only was he good-looking but he was so super sweet and friendly. I never heard a bad word spoken about him,” the performer said in an email to NBC News. “My heart is broken that he was taken from us by a senseless tragedy. He will be remembered with love. So much love.”

Eddie and his boyfriend were at Pulse for Latin Night, and he tried to get his boss, Al Furguson, to come out to the club to join in the fun:

“He was with his boyfriend and they sent me a video text from the dance floor at Pulse, trying to get me to come over from where I was at,” recalled Ferguson, who owns the travel company where Sotomayor was national brand manager.

The shooting began twenty-three minutes later. Eddie was shot in the back as he helped his boyfriend to safety.

“What I will say, over and over again, was he was a person who said, ‘We cannot be afraid,'” said Ferguson. “I know his friends are going to be the exact same way… we are not going to be afraid.”

Today In History, 1950: Senate Committee Orders “Pervert Inquiry”

Sen. Clyde Hoey (D-NC)

The year 1950 is better known as marking the start of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s infamous Red Scare witch hunt. But, in the spirit of first things first, the national scare over imagined Reds in America was actually preceded by a now often-forgotten Lavender Scare (Feb 28, Mar 14,Mar 21, Mar 23, Mar 24, Apr 14, Apr 18, Apr 26, May 2, May 15, May 19, and May 20). The Lavender Scare began quietly enough earlier that year when Deputy Undersecretary of State John E. Peurifoy revealed in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee that the State Department had gotten rid of 91 employees accused of being homosexual (see Feb 28). His testimony almost didn’t make the papers, but Republican and southern Democrats unhappy with President Truman’s civil rights policies, seized on that admission to stoke fears of, according to one uninformed estimate, as many as 3,750 “sex perverts” in the Federal Government’s employment (see May 19).

That wild guess was given to the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Department by Police Lieutenant Roy Blick, head of the Washington, D.C. police department’s vice squad. The Senate Committee then ordered an investigative subcommittee to investigate those charges. Sen. Clyde R. Hoey (D-NC) was named to head the investigation. “The paramount objective is to protect the Government and the public interest,” he explained, and promised the investigation will make “every effort to obtain all the pertinent facts” but without “subject(ing) any individual to ridicule.

The New York Times reported that Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who had already made numerous allegations concerning Communists and homosexuals in the federal government, agreed to remove himself from the panel,”to avoid being in a position of judging his own allegations.” Sen. Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) was named to take his place. Other panel members were Sens. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), John McClellan (D-AR), James Eastland (D-MS), Herbert O’Conor (D-MD) and Karl Mundt (R-SD).

Born On This Day, 1973: Neil Patrick Harris

NPH has successfully smashed two important acting barriers. A former child actor, he has successfully navigated the difficulties of becoming an adult actor in Broadway, film, and television. And he has also navigated the difficult transition from assumed-straight actor to a highly visible gay one, with partner David Burtka and twin children who were born in 2010. And as a very visible gay actor, he still manages to play straight roles on film and television. In addition, he has been an acclaimed host for the Tony Awards in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. He didn’t host the 2010 Tonys, but that year he did win an Emmy for hosting the 2009 Awards, and he won two more Emmys for hosting the 2011 and 2012 Tonys. His winning ways continued with his performance in the Broadway premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for which he won a Drama Desk Award and a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. This past weekend, NPH debuted his shaved head look at the Tony Awards. I’m still not ready to update the picture.

Anderson Cooper Confronts Florida Attorney General Over Anti-Gay Past

Anderson has really been tearing it up today on CNN.

Update: Politico reporter Marc Caputo can’t find Bondi’s “Rainbow Hands” graphic. Can you?

Pam Bondi says her website has 'rainbow-hands people' in re: Orlando shooting. But it doesnt https://t.co/vztc0SARW5 pic.twitter.com/VtPICco03I

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) June 14, 2016

I also can’t find it on her Facebook page either. Or on this Facebook page. Or on this Facebook page. If she did post it on Facebook, then its privacy settings are such that only friends can see it.

Pat Robertson: Best Thing To Do Is Let Gays and Islamists Kill Each Other

Via Right Wing Watch:

Earlier in the broadcast, Robertson said that the Orlando shootings highlighted what he called “the dilemma of the liberals… because they have two favored groups. One, the Muslims; number two, the homosexuals.” Highlighting that homosexuality is legally outlawd through much of the Muslim world (Robertson thinks that it should be illegal here, though he doesn’t mention that today), and is even punishable by death in some countries. “The left is having a dilemma of major proportions. I think for those of us who dis”But the fact that this Islamic gentleman opens fire in a gay nightclub and kills almost 50 homosexuals, that says something and it tells the fact that Islam is against homosexuality. So the liberals are going to be scrambling to find some rationale, I think they’re going to have a hard time doing it.”

Which leads up to what he says in this clip:

One more time I want to mention the fact that this is a religious believe, it is deeply ingrained in the people. And for when our President refused to acknowledge it when the Secretary of State, now the Democratic nominee for President refuses to acknowledge it, says this is a quote “slur against a great religion.” This is nonsense. This is what this great religion teaches. And it’s right in the warp and woof of Islam. So whether you lie it or not, that’s the way it is.

The left is having a dilemma of major proportions and I think for those of us who disagree with some of their policies, the best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves.

“This Is Not A War With Islam”

On that small statement, at least, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan agree. And so should we. And here’s why:

Photographer Eman Ali took this photo of three of her male friends in drag before they headed out to a party in London Saturday night, just a few hours before the Orlando attack.

“We thought that it was important to share this photo in solidarity with the victims of the attacks,” (Saleem Haddad) says of their decision to post it on Facebook. “We also wanted to complicate the narrative. As Arabs and Muslims, we are also part of the LGBT community and we feel the pain and the tragedy have an effect on our lives.”

Haddad is the one on the right. He recently published a novel about a gay man living in the Arab world.

Anderson Cooper Gets Emotional While Paying Tribute To Orlando Victims

"They are more than a list of names. They are people who loved and who were loved." – @andersoncooper #Orlando https://t.co/DkxxPC1XtW

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 14, 2016

Steven Colbert: “Love Is a Verb, and To Love Means To Do Something”

Like you, I am sickened by the news that a terrorist killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in Orlando. in the most deadly shooting in American history. Naturally, we each ask ourselves, what can you possibly say in the face of horror? But then sadly you realize you know what to say because it’s been said too many times before.

You have a pretty good idea what most people are going to say. You know a president, whoever it is, will be saying. You know what both sides of the political aisle will say. You know what gun manufacturers will say. Even me, with a silly show like this, you have some idea of what I will say. Because even I have talked about this when it’s happened before.

It’s as if there is a national script that we have learned. And I think by accepting the script we tacitly accept that the script will end the same way every time, with nothing changing. Except for the loved ones of the families and the victims for whom nothing will ever be the same.

It’s easy, it’s almost tempting to be paralyzed by such a monstrously hateful act, to despair and say, well, that’s the way the world is now.

Well I don’t know what to do, but I do know that despair is a victory for hate. Hate wants us to be too weak to change anything.

Now these people in Orlando were apparently targeted because of who they love. And there have been outpourings of love throughout the country and around the world. Love in response to hate.

Love does not despair. Love makes us strong. Love gives us the courage to act. Love gives us hope that change is possible. Love allows us to change the script.

So love your country, love your family, love the families of the victims and the people of Orlando, but let’s remember that love is a verb, and to love means to do something.

Mateen’s Wife Tried To Talk Him Out Of Attacking Pulse

NBC has just broken this story:

Omar Mateen’s current wife, Noor, told the FBI she was with him when he bought ammunition and a holster, several officials familiar with the case said. She told the FBI that she once drove him to the gay nightclub, Pulse, because he wanted to scope it out.

Noor is cooperating with investigators. She may face charges for failing to notify authorities about what she knew before the attack.

Putin Condemns Orlando Shooting; Russian Couple Detained For Laying Flowers for Orlando Victims

According to the official Russian news agency TASS:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences to his US counterpart Barack Obama and all Americans over the tragedy in Orlando, the Kremlin press service said on Sunday.

“In a telegram with condolences, the head of the Russian state stressed that Russia shares pain and sorrow of those who lost their near and dear ones as a result of this barbaric crime and hopes for a speedy recovery of those wounded,” the statement says.

Meanwhile…

Felix Glyukman told SBS he and his boyfriend, Islam Abdullabeckov were detained for about three hours, after trying to leave flowers and a sign reading “Love wins” outside the US embassy in Moscow.

“We were in shock. And we decided to go to the embassy with flowers and candles and a poster,” he said.

He said he does not know why he and his boyfriend were singled out.

“There were many people and many flowers and candles. But the policeman grabbed the poster and told us we have to leave, but Islam (Abdullabeckov) said we didn’t want to and (the officer) grabbed him, and put us in the car.”

Mr Glyukman told SBS police accused them of committing an ‘administrative offence’.

He said he and his partner had not intended to make a political statement, only to pay their respects to the victims of the Orlando massacre.

“This is very strange, and very sad, I think,” he said.