The Orlando Massacre: A Reminder of the Dangers LGBT People Live With Every Day; Huffington Post, 6/12/16

Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post; The Orlando Massacre: A Reminder of the Dangers LGBT People Live With Every Day:

"Hatred against LGBT people is clearly something we’ve lived with for decades, and even in these days of big victories we see a ferocious backlash playing out which is also motived [sic] by bigotry. Many of us often take for granted the freedoms we’ve won, and certainly we don’t think twice about going out for a good time, dancing and enjoying ourselves — and we might not want to think about the dangers that still face LGBT people. And the American media, too, seems complacent; early on major news organizations reporting on this mass shooting, like The New York Times and CNN, weren’t reporting the fact that Pulse is a gay club, or were downplaying that fact — a relevant fact, especially if this turns out to be a terror attack or a hate crime.

Hate crimes against LGBT people haven’t dissipated since the arrival of marriage equality and have in fact been on the rise in recent years. While we still know very little about this morning’s brutal massacre at Pulse in Orlando, this terrible tragedy is a reminder of the threat of violence against LGBT every day, and that we must always remain vigilant."

Ellen DeGeneres bombarded by Great Barrier Reef tweets from Australian minister; Guardian, 6/8/16

Michael Slezak and Elle Hunt, Guardian; Ellen DeGeneres bombarded by Great Barrier Reef tweets from Australian minister:

"The federal government has exerted considerable effort attempting to conceal or underplay the crisis.

Last month it was revealed that every reference to Australia, including a key chapter on the reef, was scrubbed from the final version of a major UN report on climate change after the Australian Department of Environment intervened, concerned that it would negatively impact tourism.

Australia was the only inhabited continent on the planet not mentioned in the published document.

Hunt’s point to DeGeneres that the reef had been removed from the Unesco watch list overlooks the fact that it is assessed as being in “poor” condition and “worsening”, according to the government authority GBRMPA and Unesco.

In March Hunt said that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions “peaked” 10 years ago, which was received with deep scepticism by experts."