HRC PROCLAIMS -- JUNE 2017 IS #UniteResistEnlist MONTH: In light of Trump’s failure to proclaim June as Pride Month (despite an eight-year precedent -- #ThanksObama), HRC issued its own proclamation. WHEREAS, Donald Trump has launched a crusade against LGBTQ rights and progress by appointing anti-LGBTQ activists across his Administration, rescinding guidance regarding schools’ obligations to transgender students, pushing an unconstitutional Muslim ban and draconian deportation policies, inviting his cabinet to create a #LicenseToDiscriminate, proposing dangerous cuts to critical health care programs and research, and erasing LGBTQ people in federal data collection; NOW, THEREFORE, THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN, does hereby proclaim June 2017 to be: #UniteResistEnlist Month. More on HRC’s Summer of Action here. More from HRC and Metro Weekly.

#PrideIsHappening! We're mobilizing thousands to ensure #LGBTQ progress is protected! #Pride2017 https://t.co/ySH9TObgB0 pic.twitter.com/ngSGuZ3KNm

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) June 2, 2017

●NPR interviews the organizer of the Los Angeles #ResistMarch, Brian Pendleton (@BrianPendleton), about the need to Unite, Resist and Enlist this Pride season. More from NPR.

●Today’s Google Doodle celebrates what would have been rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker’s 66th birthday with a delightful a animation of fabric strips forming the iconic flag. Read more about Gilbert, and Pride events planned to celebrate his life, here.

●The Advocate puts it best - no, Ivanka, your Pride tweets don’t make you an LGBTQ ally. But we also like our own HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride’s (@SarahEMcBride) response to Ivanka Trump’s tweet referring to her “friends” in the LGBTQ community:

Not included in friends: trans kids, LGBTQ refugees and immigrants, LGBTQ ppl with health needs, or LGBTQ people who live on the earth. https://t.co/whg2Iv0168

— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) June 2, 2017

●And, note to Ivanka, the Navy shows how to do it right, with a statement of celebration of Pride month, including this from Capt. Candace Eckert: “To remain the finest seagoing fighting force, the Navy needs men and women who are the right fit for the right job regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, creed or gender identity.” Read the full text here.

#USNavy celebrates LGBT #Pride2017 Month - https://t.co/SQh8B1tFpi pic.twitter.com/BayhpxQG0l

— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) June 1, 2017

TRUMP’S PROPOSED BUDGET WILL HARM LGBTQ PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES: The Trump Administration’s proposed budget would devastate federal safety net programs, eliminate health care for millions of Americans (including those living with HIV), and undercut civil rights protections in the U.S., and human rights protections abroad. The Huffington Post broke down how this budget harms the LGBTQ community, including undermining financial security for a disproportionate number of LGBTQ Americans who already face poverty and economic insecurity at higher rates than the non-LGBTQ population. More from The Huffington Post.

●USA Today reports on LGBTQ equality “work left to be done,” even in states with good protections in place. Read more at USA Today.

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY -- HAPPY 51st ANNIVERSARY, LENNIE AND PEARL! #RelationshipGoals. Lennie Gerber and Pearl Berlin met and fell in love more than a half century ago and were married in Maine in 2013. Their marriage, however, was not recognized in their home state of North Carolina, and the pair courageously fought back against the state’s marriage equality ban. They joined the ACLU’s lawsuit that in 2014 brought marriage equality to the state. More on Lennie and Pearl’s incredible journey here.

TODAY -- #WEARORANGE TO SUPPORT COMMONSENSE GUN SAFETY REFORM: Today, HRC is partnering with Everytown by wearing orange. Easy access to guns has compounded safety threats to the LGBTQ community. HRC supports commonsense gun safety reform, including limiting access to assault-style rifles, expanding background checks, and limiting the ability of suspected terrorists and those with a history of domestic abuse to access guns.

#EyesOnChechnya -- THE KREMLIN WAS COMPLICIT IN THESE CRIMES: Human Rights Watch has released a powerful video and report featuring the voices of the gay and bisexual men who have been rounded up, locked in secret prisons and tortured by their own government in the Russian republic. The report details how the Kremlin supported and gave permission to Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, to create the regime that is allowing these atrocities to occur. HRC has called on the U.S. government to condemn these heinous crimes and grant victims asylum in the U.S.. More from Raw Story.

CALIFORNIA SENATE APPROVES BILL TO PROTECT LGBTQ SENIORS: It protects LGBTQ seniors from discrimination in long-term care facilities, and specifically prohibits such facilities from denying an applicant or transferring a resident for being LGBTQ or for their HIV status. The bill also requires facilities to use a resident’s correct name and pronouns. More from SFist.

WISCONSIN INTRODUCES BILL FOR NONDISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE: The bill adds gender identity and gender expression as protected classes under Wisconsin’s existing nondiscrimination laws. HRC’s Sarah McBride spoke at a press conference yesterday as the bill was introduced. More from The Wisconsin Gazette.

HRC’S WORK FEATURED IN LEADING MAGAZINE ON HIV: HRC Senior Program Specialist for HIV Prevention and Health Equity Noël Gordon Jr. and HIV & AIDS Project Manager Marvell L. Terry II are  featured in the latest edition of Poz Magazine for their work leading HIV prevention advocacy as part of HRC’s HIV and Health Equity Project. HRC is one of the first national LGBTQ organizations to pubicly embrace the use of PrEP and to call on major stakeholders to increase PrEP access, education and resources. More from Poz Magazine.

WHAT ANTI-TRANSGENDER LAWS MEAN TO ONE TRANS ARKANSAN STUDENT: LGBTQ youth advocates are making huge changes in their communities -- just ask HRC Youth Ambassador Lucas Segal, a trans teenager from Arkansas who has worked to ensure that his school respect his identity, and to transform how many in his conservative community view transgender people. Now, he’s fighting state and federal efforts that would harm the transgender community. More from Seventeen.

DESPITE GOV’T PUSHBACK, SINGAPORE PRIDE COULD BE LARGEST YET: Pride organizers have raised money from more than 100 Singaporean companies, compared to just 18 last year -- despite new government regulations stating that “foreign firms” would no longer be allowed to sponsor or participate in the rally. More from Reuters.

THE LITTLE PRIDE THAT COULD: Spencer, Ind., has a population of just over 2,000 -- and is thought to be the smallest town in the country with a LGBTQ center, and the smallest town in the state with an annual Pride festival. More from The Indianapolis Star.

READING RAINBOW

The Associated Press reviews the state of LGBTQ equality in China; HRC participates in the 12th Annual Blogging for LGBTQ Families Day; BuzzFeed shares a project that asks LGBTQ people to share their coming out stories; Human Rights Watch announces their annual film festival; Yes! Magazine addresses the unique issues that undocumented, transgender people face.

Have news? Send us your news and tips at AMEquality@hrc.org. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!