HRC HOSTS ANNUAL SUMMIT HONORING GLOBAL INNOVATORS IN FIGHT FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY: “Even in the midst of a global pandemic, LGBTQ advocates around the world continue to find creative ways to further the fight for LGBTQ rights and equality,” said HRC President Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid). “Their contributions in the fight for full equality, in some of the world’s most challenging places, are truly remarkable. HRC is proud to bring these 31 outstanding global leaders together for our annual flagship summit. They represent hope for marginalized and vulnerable peoples everywhere and inspire us all to continue the fight for LGBTQ rights and dignity around the world.” Read more from HRC.

• This year, HRC is honoring 31 outstanding LGBTQ advocates and allies from 25 countries at a virtual global summit on June 24th that will kick off a series of programs over the next three months. Participants will share their personal and professional experiences, learn new ideas and best practices from each other and from HRC, and attend virtual workshops and town halls to strengthen their efforts to improve the lives of LGBTQ people in their countries.

YESTERDAY, HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID DISCUSSED THE CURRENT BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS AND THE FUTURE OF LGBTQ CIVIL RIGHTS WORK ON “NO FILTER WITH NAOMI”: In the conversation with Naomi Campbell (@NaomiCampbell), David also spoke about his childhood in Liberia, the history of the LGBTQ rights movement and the epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people, especially Black transgender women. Watch here.

HRC MOURNS SELENA REYES-HERNANDEZ, TRANS WOMAN KILLED IN CHICAGO: HRC is heartbroken to learn of the death of Selena Reyes-Hernandez, a 37-year-old transgender woman shot to death in Chicago on May 31. “We have lost a beloved member of our extended trans family because of hate and violence -- hate and violence that has corrupted our country’s soul and that shatters lives and futures every day,” said Tori Cooper (@MsToriCooper1), HRC director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative. “Selena should still be here today. Our continued failure to support and empower transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people is as inhumane as it is unacceptable. We need to take action now as a community and as a country that takes us towards racial justice and trans liberation.” Read more from HRC.

• Her death is believed to be at least the 16th known violent death of a transgender or gender non-conforming person this year in the U.S. HRC has tracked eight such deaths from May 3rd to June 9th, constituting the greatest number of deaths we have recorded in this amount of time.

ICYMI -- THE U.S. SENATE IS EXPECTED TO VOTE TODAY ON THE NOMINATION OF CORY WILSON TO THE 5TH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS: HRC has called on the Senate to oppose the nomination. “Cory Wilson is yet another extreme, right wing judge being advanced by the Trump-Pence administration,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Wilson has made a career of attacking the most vulnerable Mississipians -- from supporting a discriminatory law that allows businesses to refuse services to LGBTQ people to opposing the Affordable Care Act. Wilson is unfit to rule on many cases that address some of the most critical questions regarding equality, fundamental rights and access to justice.” More from HRC.

WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY -- HOW THE SUPREME COURT’S TITLE VII DECISION ALSO COVERS BI+ PEOPLE: “So, while the Court’s decision technically includes bisexual and pansexual people, not naming them directly contributes to other, complicated and real issues people in these communities face,” writes Heron Greenesmith (@herong). “When that marginalization, invisibility and erasure come from the highest court in the land, during the month when Pride events are cancelled due to a global health crisis unprecedented in modern times, and Black people must take to the streets to demand an end to state-sanctioned violence? Well, it’s a lot.” Read their full piece from Teen Vogue.

TODAY AT 7 P.M. E.T. -- HRC HOSTING A COMMUNITY DISCUSSION FOR BLACK AND LATINX MEMBERS OF THE BALLROOM COMMUNITY: More from HRC.

“I’M JUST OUT NOW, AS ME” -- LINDEN CRAWFORD WRITES ABOUT BEING ON TESTOSTERONE FOR ONE YEAR: “On some level, I want people to have trouble reading me. I want to insert a beat into their process, an opportunity for them to question the typical signifiers of gender,” writes Crawford. “The harder it is, the better: Ideally, they will venture forth without knowing my gender, attempt some middle path of comportment that could work in either case and ultimately see that in the context of our interaction and most others, gender doesn’t matter. Discomfort is difficult, but in this case it is productive: We are forging new pathways in our brains, learning new possibilities in our shared reality.” Read more from The New York Times.

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BLACK LGBTQ LEADERS SHARE THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS OF BOOKS ABOUT BEING BLACK AND LGBTQ: HRC President Alphonso David recommends Audre Lorde’s Your Silence Will Not Protect You and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. “Baldwin's work in general remains timely and relevant to the moment we are in, as Pride Month and the movement for Black lives intersect,” David said. “Pride is protest, and Baldwin's work shows this -- he refused to stay silent in the face of bigotry.” Read more recommendations from NBC Out.

DISCLOSURE, A NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE HISTORY OF TRANSGENDER REPRESENTATION IN MOVIES AND TV, IS NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIX: More here.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO’S “COMMISSION ON UNALIENABLE RIGHTS” THREATENS THE RIGHTS OF LGBTQ PEOPLE AND WOMEN: The commission is set to release a report with recommendations that prioritizes some rights over others in July. More from The New York Times.

READING RAINBOW - Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

KSAT shares 10 LGBTQ singers to listen to during Pride month

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