Is Rebar NYC Discriminating against People of Color?

Black gay social media is buzzing about this NYC club.

According edugaytion.com, several Black men discussed their experiences at Rebar NYC. Check it out:

Recently, there has been discussion across social media surrounding Rebar NYC, the new gay bar in Chelsea (situated in the spot where G Lounge once existed). It was not until just this weekend that we noticed a lot of talk about the venue with regard to its admissions policies and practices.

On numerous accounts, since the hangout spot has opened, there have been accusations of unfair, prejudice and even racist actions on behalf of the establishment. A bit of investigation lead us to multiple users with similar experiences over the span of a week, since the bar opened for business. According to the ongoing discussion surrounding Rebar NYC, the business is telling POC patrons who are waiting in line that capacity has been reached when, in fact, the bar is nowhere near its full occupancy limit. Many have speculated that, actually, the bar had reached its 'black limit.' This, on top of mounting discussions surrounding Rebar NYC's marketing strategy (see picture above) and how the new social venue is attempting to white wash out what little POC presence its predecessor, G Lounge, had.

After catching wind of these disturbing allegations against Rebar NYC, we decided to reach out to their management for a statement. A self identified manager of Rebar NYC said over the phone:

'We have no statement. The situation is not real... We're not going to give it credence at all...'

And when asked to expound upon 'the situation':

'We do not want to expand upon that. If we did, we would do it online.'

Also here's another personal story

EEOC rules that Anti-gay workplace bias barred under Existing Law

Yep, you read that right! The EEOC just dropped a bomb on Anti-gay job discrimination.

Buzzfeed reports

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that existing civil rights law bars sexual orientation-based employment discrimination — a groundbreaking decision to advance legal protections for gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers. “[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex,” the commission concluded in a decision dated July 15.

The independent commission addressed the question of whether the ban on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars anti-LGB discrimination in a complaint brought by a Florida-based air traffic control specialist against Transportation Sec. Anthony Foxx.

The ruling — approved by a 3-2 vote of the five-person commission — applies to federal employees’ claims directly, but it also applies to the entire EEOC, which includes its offices across the nation that take and investigate claims of discrimination in private employment. While only the Supreme Court could issue a definitive ruling on the interpretation, EEOC decisions are given significant deference by federal courts.

Big bomb, but more to come with this news.

Sweet Cakes by Melissa has to pay Lesbian Couple $135K for Discrimination

Well, the Sweet Cakes by Melissa lost the legal battle.

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian just ordered them to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they refused to make a wedding cake for. The bakery was already charged for discrimination earlier in the year, but this ruling basically made it completely clear.

Here's more

Bakery owners Melissa and Aaron Klein cited their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage in denying service. The case ignited a long-running skirmish in the nation's culture wars, pitting civil rights advocates against religious freedom proponents who argued business owners should have the right to refuse services for gay and lesbian weddings.

Avakian's final order makes clear that serving potential customers equally trumps the Kleins' religious beliefs. Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said in a news release.

Melissa will probably go on a crying tour to rally up uber Christians and bigots.

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B. Scott on MSNBC's 'Thomas Roberts' Discussing BET Gender Identity Discrimination Lawsuit

WATCH: Rep. Mike Turner Slams Extremist Bills in Tennessee

It's good and bad to have my home state in spotlight, but it's great to have folks like Mike to speak out the foolishness down there.

Hawaii Lawmakers Ban Trans Discrimination in the Workplace

In Hawaii, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that will ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Monday approved the bill, which was previously passed in the House. The vote was 3-2 with Sens. Mike Gabbard and Sam Slom opposed.


Discrimination against transgender individuals and others based on their expression of gender is already illegal in Hawaii for housing, public accommodations and employment, but the ban on employment discrimination has been establish by rulings of the Civil Rights Commission and has not been written into the state statute. The bill approved Monday by the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee, HB 546, would write the anti-discrimination language into labor law.


Advocates said the law is necessary because employers are confused because the language is not specifically in the statute. Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed an identical bill six years ago, but Judiciary Chairman Sen. Clayton Hee said Monday he is confident the provision will become law.


It still faces negotiations with the House, but the differences between the two houses are technical and not expected to prevent passage.

So there will be more to come on this issue. I'm hoping for the best.

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New Boycott: Natural Nails in Dekalb County, Georgia

This is some mess.

Somebody needs to tell her that 1) She is in Georgia, she needs to know her clientele and 2) Natural Nails ain't some airline. She can't charge more because of her clients' weight. Somebody call the Better Business Bureau on this tramp.

Foolishness at McDonald's!

They hire ex cons, idiots and me back in '90, but for some reason they love to clown on our people.

Please listen to this mess

Zikerria Bellamy stay strong. Hopefully, this crap will be dealt with.

Trouble for LGBT Teens of Color

Not so news about LGBT teens. The study: Shared Differences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students of Color in Our Nation’s Schools found out that LGBT kids of color have it pretty bad.

More than four out of five students within each racial/ethnic group, reported verbal harassment in school because of sexual orientation; about two-thirds reported harassment because of gender expression.

At least a third of each group reported physical violence in school because of sexual orientation.

More than half of African American, Latino, Asian and multiracial students also reported verbal harassment in school based on their race or ethnicity. Native American students were less likely than other students to report experiencing racially motivated verbal harassment.

About a quarter of African American/Black and Asian/Pacific Islander students had missed class or days of school in the past month because they felt unsafe. Latino, Native American, and multiracial students were even more likely to be absent for for safety reasons – about a third or more skipped class at least once or missed at least one day of school in the past month for safety reasons.

Native American students experienced particularly high levels of victimization because of their religion, with more than half reporting the highest levels of verbal harassment, and a quarter experiencing physical violence.

There's more, but I wanted to show some of the problems our youth are experiencing. It's scary to see our youth going through the mess we went through as kids. It needs to stop and we need to make a change for our future's sake.

Christian Coalition of America Stop Fooling Yourselves

This is the response from the Religious Terrorist Group, Christian Coalition of America.

Among the most important news from yesterday's elections were the banning of homosexual "marriages" in the states of California, Florida, and Arizona. Indeed, the citizens of California overturned a tyrannical judicial decision by 4 California judges (in a 4-3 decision earlier this year) by passing Proposition 8 yesterday.

The President of the Christian Coalition of America, Roberta Combs said: "The American people are proud of their fellow citizens in the states of California, Florida and Arizona for upholding traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Christian Coalition of America will continue to fight to ensure that government serves to strengthen and preserve, rather than threaten, our families and our values."

Thus far, 30 states have outlawed homosexual "marriages" by an average close to 70% approval by voters through amendments to the state constitutions. In addition, the voters in Arkansas yesterday approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. It will be the goal of Christian Coalition to ensure that the other 20 states adopt similar amendments banning homosexual "marriages" including the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut which also had two judicial decisions, by one vote margins, legalizing these abominations.

Abominations...no sweetie, what you are doing is an abomination. Let me remind you about the Bible and the true concept of the words. Judging what' s wrong or right, isn't your duty, it's God's. Discriminating against people in the name of religion, is true mismanagement of the faith. Jesus was attacked by the government, now you are using that same system to attack us. Trying to stop the celebration of love is damn near evil than good.

My dear, you are not working in the best interest of God. Remember God 'supposedly' made all of this. He don't need to you or your group of disillusioned fleas. So stop being a spokesperson for God or Jesus; you are doing a poor job so far.

Love, hope, and community were God's main codes. Where did y'all go so wrong? Oh I know, corruption and power. Doing crap like this gave y'all a sense of power, which is far from the way Jesus would have reacted. You are a disgrace to the faith and what comes around, goes around. This isn't over, and we will have our day. So get ready...we're coming back!

My People, My Disappointment

It pains me to learn that 70% of the Yes to Prop 8 vote came from Black people. I am not surprised, for the reason for their vote is their deep roots in religion.

I have said this before, religion has shaped Black people since slavery. However it's disheartening to see how passionate they were to vote against gay marriage. It was like they forgot not too long ago we were faced with similar matters. We should've remember that our freedom, our rights were just granted to us, and it was granted to us reluctantly. We should not forget.

We should remember our struggle and hope that we would have such freedoms. If they truly believed in God, then they would have not voted for this. Denying folks from their happiness is not Christian. Out of all people, Black people should've known better. I hope we can have a real discussion about this in our community. We need to get down to the heart of the issue. Yes on Prop 8 is a setback, and the support from Black folks cuts ultra deep.

Christians Loves Us

They love us so much they had a multi-hour event to stop us from marrying our loved ones.
A blogger, Rex Wockner attended The Call, a Christian event in support of Proposition 8 in San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday. And the King of Demons, James Dobson was talking as well.

Here are some pics from the event