DEFEATED! TRUMP-PENCE-MCCONNELL’S DISASTROUS PROPOSAL TO STRIP HEALTH CARE FROM MILLIONS FAILS: Statement from HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin):  “We are pleased the latest attempt to strip away health care from millions has hit another roadblock. The Trump-Pence-McConnell plan would cause insurance premiums to drastically rise and leave millions of Americans uninsured, with a particularly devastating impact on low-income senior citizens, women, children, LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. While today was a win for millions of Americans, our fight is far from over. We will continue to urge the Senate to step away from partisan attacks on the ACA and work to improve our health care system through an open and democratic process.” In the face of partisan attacks on access to health care, HRC members have logged 45,000 calls and emails to congressional offices on both sides of the aisle and joined supporters voicing support for the ACA at rallies across the country. HRC also partnered with key civil rights and health care organizations in letters to the Senate emphasizing the need to protect Medicaid. More from HRC and The Washington Post.

This victory happened because of every person who picked up a phone, showed up at a town hall, & made their voices heard. Keep up the fight.

— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) July 28, 2017

ONE YEAR LATER, DNC CONVENTION STARS DELIVER MESSAGE OF HOPE & POWER: Today, amidst ongoing attacks on the rights of marginalized Americans, HRC released an inspiring video message featuring many of the breakout stars from the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Their message of hope and power marks the one-year anniversary of the final night of the convention, which featured the moving address by Gold Star father Khizr Khan and the groundbreaking speech by HRC’s Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride), the first openly transgender person in U.S. history to address a major party convention. “In the year since the convention, the Human Rights Campaign has joined with our members, supporters, and organizational partners to stand up against hate in all of its forms,” McBride said. “The vision of America presented on stage at last year’s Democratic convention lives on in the everyday activists and advocates marching, calling, writing, and speaking out across the country.”

TRUMP’S DESPICABLE BAN ON TRANSGENDER TROOPS MEETS WIDESPREAD, BIPARTISAN CONDEMNATION: Over the last 48 hours, Donald Trump’s dangerous and unpatriotic decision to reinstate a ban on qualified transgender troops in the military has met with a torrent of bipartisan criticism  -- from members of congress, to military leaders and beyond. His reprehensible action could result in the discharge of more than 15,000 transgender Americans currently serving our country at a critical time. Check out the headlines, and comments by leaders across business, government, the military and others taking a stand against Trump’s ban on transgender troops bravely serving their country, here. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that there will be no policy changes until Trump clarifies his tweets. More from NBC.

• HRC Parents for Transgender Equality Council Amber Briggle connects Donald Trump’s attacks on transgender service members to the Texas Legislature’s current attack on transgender children. More from The Huffington Post.
• Things that cost more than transition-related health care costs for transgender service members: Among them? Presidential trips to Mar-a-Lago. More from NBC.

Who’s the real “burden” @realDonaldTrump?
Trump Tower S.S. protection: $26.8M
Trump's Mar-A-Lago trips: $20M
Trans-related care: $2.4M-$8.4M

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) July 27, 2017

• “Trump’s LGBT moves could crash in courts,” reports CNN legal analyst and Supreme Court biographer Joan Biskupic (@JoanBiskupic). Overall, she writes, “legal challenges could swirl around questions of due process and equal protection of the law.” Read the full analysis at CNN.

• HRC habla con NoticiasYa sobre la terrible decisión de Trump que afectaría a 15,000 personas transgénero sirviendo a nuestro país: “La atención médica es un derecho de todas las personas, de todos los miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas y por supuesto de nuestra comunidad LGBTQ”, dijo Milagros Chirinos, jefa de prensa bilingüe de HRC. Lea más sobre política actual en NoticiasYa de Univisión D.C..

TRUMP NOMINATES ANTI-LGBTQ SAM BROWNBACK AS RELIGIOUS AMBASSADOR: As governor of Kansas, Brownback orchestrated a policy change that would make it nearly impossible for transgender Kansans to change their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity. He also signed into law a legislative attack on LGBTQ college students that forces public universities to fund student organizations that discriminate by restricting membership and denying LGBTQ students from participating under the guise of “religious beliefs.” More from The New York Times.

CLAPBACK OF THE WEEK: On Wednesday, transgender comedian Patti Harrison (@Party_Harderson) appeared on The Tonight Show and slammed Donald Trump’s unconscionable decision to enact a ban on qualified transgender service members. “I get it,” she said. “If you constantly draw attention to yourself, spend all day distracting everyone and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, the perfect job for you isn’t the military, it’s the president of the United States.” More from The New York Times.

ANTI-LGBTQ TEXAS LEGISLATION DEEPENS RIFT IN GOP: This week radical anti-LGBTQ members of the Texas Senate advanced SB3 -- marking a widening rift between Texas Republicans and extremist Tea Party members. SB3 mandates HB2-style anti-transgender discrimination in any multiple-occupancy restroom or locker room in any property owned by a city, county, school district, or other political subdivision. Additionally, it would overturn LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances protecting millions of people across Texas in cities including Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth insofar as those ordinances protect people from discrimination in bathrooms. It also prohibits those entities from allowing transgender students to compete in athletics consistent with their gender identity.  More from The Wall Street Journal.

• Read a first-hand advocate account of the fight in Texas by HRC field organizer Erika Galindo at HRC.

COULD TRUMP LAUNCH HIS NEXT ANTI-LGBTQ ATTACK NEXT WEEK?: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins seems to think so. On his radio show, the head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group said: “By the way, stand by next week, you’re going to see some follow-up to the president’s executive order on religious liberty.” Earlier this year, a leaked draft of a discriminatory order led to a national outcry from civil rights organizations and millions of LGBTQ supporters. Trump’s license-to-discriminate order, would allow hospitals, child welfare providers, and other taxpayer-funded entities to cite religion in denying services or discriminating against LGBTQ people and women. Now DOJ and other agencies seem poised to implement the the goals of the leaked order. More from The Washington Blade.

HRC ENDORSES DR. RALPH NORTHAM FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: With an estimated 185,366 eligible LGBTQ voters and hundreds of thousands more allied voters in Virginia, HRC’s get-out-the-vote effort for the pro-equality candidate could make all the difference in the race for governor.  “Ralph Northam is a proven champion for equality and has the vision and experience needed to continue moving Virginia forward as a welcoming and inclusive place for all,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “As governor, Ralph Northam will fight to pass comprehensive non-discrimination protections that ensure  LGBTQ people all across the Commonwealth are able to live their lives free from discrimination.” More from HRC.

HERE’S WHAT HATE BREEDS: A man casually torched an LGBTQ youth center in Phoenix earlier this month -- in broad daylight. Read the troubling report and see the video at The Washington Post.

HRC TO OFFER FREE LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE TRAINING FOR ADOPTIVE AND FOSTER CARE PROFESSIONALS: HRC Foundation’s All Children - All Families program recently launched a webinar series for the adoption and foster care field, covering promising practices in serving LGBTQ children, youth, and families. These webinars will be offered free throughout 2017. More from HRC.

FIFTY-FOUR PERCENT OF CHRISTIAN AUSTRALIANS SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY:Marriage equality appears to be gaining traction in Australia, and advocates say they expect to see continued progress throughout the year. More from Forbes.

LGBTQ UGANDAN BADMINTON CHAMP FORCED TO FLEE HOME COUNTRY: Megan Nankabirwa, a Ugandan badminton champion who once dined with the president to celebrate her win, was forced to flee the country with her partner, Lydia Nabukenya, under threat of violence. The couple have sought asylum in England. More from The Guardian.

READING RAINBOW

Janet Mock (@JanetMock) interviews RuPaul’s Drag Race star Peppermint (@Peppermint247) for Allure; The Washington Post provides Trump a history of transgender military service since the Civil War; Vice asks same-sex parents about the struggles unique to their families

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