In the wake of the Texas elementary school shooting, where 19 kids and 2 adults were killed, there is renewed scrutiny on the hundreds of thousands of dollars Republican lawmakers have received in campaign contributions from groups supporting gun rights. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) received the most money from gun rights supporters. On Tuesday, he received major backlash for responding to the shooting by saying that gun control will not help and that “we need to devote far more law enforcement resources to stopping violent criminals.” Reality check: Experts say that there is a lack of evidence that suggests that increased police presence in schools actually improves safety and instead could “significantly disrupt learning environments.”
According to the AXIOS’ chart above Cruz clocks in at an estimated $442,000.00 in gun rights donations but further investigation by this website shows that Cruz in 2018 alone raked in over $311,150.00 from the NRA, other PACs and individual gun rights backers giving more than $200. So in reality the actual amount is much, much higher when tallied.
State Farm will turn 100 years old next month, June which is PRIDE month. And for years State Farm has been a very good ally and supporter. Then State Farm has proved it’s actually a shitty neighbor when the Illinois-based corporation’s chief diversity officer sent an email to employees, stating it was dropping its “support of a philanthropic program, GenderCool,” saying it “has been the subject of news and customer inquiries.”
The program helps put LGBTQ-inclusive books into libraries and schools.
According to chief diversity officer Victor Terry: “This program that included books about gender identity was intended to promote inclusivity,. “We will no longer support that program.” And in an apparent bowing down to rising far right-wing extremism and anti-LGBT hate, the diversity expert declared, “conversations about gender and identity should happen at home with parents.”
Veteran activist and journalist Michelangelo Signorile, host calls State Farm’s actions “grotesque as LGBT rights are backsliding across the country. Now companies joining Ron DeSantis, MAGA and the ‘don’t say gay’ purge.”
State Farm in the past has made strong statements in support of LGBT equality and diversity. Just last June they tweeted: “We believe no one should be afraid to celebrate who they are. Let’s support our LGBTQ+ neighbors and show our Pride together!”
“Fox News host Tucker Carlson is drawing praise from white nationalist outlets for mainstreaming their “great replacement” conspiracy theory after a white supremacist allegedly killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York, in a massacre apparently inspired by it. The Fox star has drawn compliments from the notorious former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and been toasted by racist outlets like Dare and American Renaissance for bringing their message to his millions of viewers. Duke highlighted Carlson’s “incredible” May 17 monologue, in which the Fox host again promoted the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, on his radio show the following day. The former Klansman – who has previously suggested that Carlson is using his own talking points in discussing “the replacement of legacy Americans” – went on to explain that Carlson puts forward the same ideas as white supremacists like him but “can’t really say it” using the same words.”
Sing it! Sing it loud! Sing it often!
The Republican party is THE party of the KKK and all the other racist rat bastard white nationalists.
In 1964 in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Moussa discovered a series of tombs with rock-cut passages in the escarpment facing the causeway that lead to the pyramid of Unas. Chief Inspector Mounir Basta reported crawling on his hands and knees through the passages, entering one of the Old Kingdom tombs discovered burial chambers of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum servants and royal confidants at the Palace of King Niuserre during the Fifth Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs and are believed to be the first recorded same-sex couple in recorded history.
Though homosexuality was not uncommon in Ancient Egypt, the exact nature of the relationship between the two men is nearly impossible to discern since no evidence exists beyond the imagery in the tomb.
The main portrait of the ‘boys’ in the tomb show them nose to nose in a close embrace, a clone of the portrait style used in other Egyptian tomb art of the era to showcase male-female married couples and the hieroglyphs in the tomb have their names are strung together in a blessings that translates as “joined in life and joined in death.”
While some Egyption scholars scoff at the idea of this being an example of early same-sex coupling. Many disagree chalking up the denials to nothing more than blatant homophobia.
“Calling attention to the most intimate scene of the two embracing men,” Greg Reeder, an independent scholar in San Francisco and a contributing editor of KMT, a magazine of Egyptian art and history said : “They are so close together here that not only are they face to face and nose to nose, but so close that the knots on their belts are touching, linking their lower torsos. If this scene were composed of a male-female couple instead of the same-sex couple we have here, there would be little question concerning what it is we are seeing.”
The necropolis of Saqqara is a remarkably preserved archeological find is one of the largest and most beautifully decorated tombs in the Saqqara and strongly suggests that whatever the nature of their relationship of the two men were, the pharaoh approved of it.
Isaiah Lee, 23 who was arrested for tackling Dave Chappelle on stage claims he was inspired to attack Chappell by Will Smith’s Academy Awards slap of Chris Rock.
“That’s not right what [Chris Rock] said about his wife, calling her GI Jane,” said Lee, referencing a crack the former “SNL” star made about Pinkett Smith’s hair loss from alopecia, which Smith has said is what spurred him to walk on stage and hit Rock. Lee said Smith was “standing up for his wife” during the infamous celeb-on-celeb smack heard ’round the world, which inspired him to storm the stage and tackle Chappelle during the May 3 “Netflix is a Joke” show after he made quips about LGBTQ people and homelessness. I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect,” Lee claimed. “I wanted Dave Chappelle and people to know that these are things you need to be more sensitive about and not joke about.”
During an interview on Saturday, Lee told The Post he is a bisexual sexual abuse survivor who previously dealt with homelessness and was “triggered” by the “Chappelle Show” star’s jokes. On Monday he admitted the attack was also partially driven by publicity for his career as budding rap star and once put out a song about Chappelle.
“I’m not going to lie… it was a bit of clout-chasing,” Lee said of his decision to jump on stage. “In Hollywood, you know they say there is no such thing as bad publicity. I rap about these things in my music and knew it would get attention.”
SO NOT HELPFUL.
Isaiah Lee claimed he was inspired to tackle Dave Chappelle on stage by Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars
Opened in in May of 1995. The DataLounge website will be shutting down at the end of the month as per postings on their forum.
The DataLounge was launched by Mediapolis, Inc and contents included gay-oriented news, gossip, pointless bitchery, links to other sites/services, and editorial content. (Plus also many posts about Celebrity Penis Size.)
DataLounge has approximately 6.5 million page views each month, according to its webmaster.
The “official” announcement will be made on Wednesday.
Matthew Rettenmund of Boy Culture is reporting that Daniel Enriques, a 48-year-old Goldman Sachs employee, was shot at point-blank range and killed by a random stranger on a Q train in NYC. The victim was gay and simply heading to brunch.
At the time of this reporting the murder has not been identified as a hate crime.
If you have any info. PLEASE contact the NYPD at the number listed below.
UPDATED at 3:00pm
NYPD sources said they were looking to talk to Andrew Abdullah, who has 19 prior arrests, in connection to the cold-blooded killing of a man headed to brunch in Manhattan on the Q train around 11:40 a.m. Sunday.
On May 13, 1920 Cyril Wilcox, a Harvard undergraduate, committed suicide after telling his older brother, George, that he had been having an affair with another man. Shortly after Cyril’s death, George intercepted two letters from a Harvard student and a recent graduate. George, a clerk at the granite mills in Fall River, decided to act. He tracked down his brother’s former lover, Harry Dreyfus, who lived in Boston. Dreyfus, after he was beaten by George Wilcox, denied responsibility for Cyril’s suicide but gave three names of other men involved: Roberts, Harvard Dental School student Eugene R. Cummings and Pat Courtney, a non-Harvard man living in Boston.
George took these letters to Harvard’s Acting Dean, Chester N Greenough, and shared with him what he knew. After consulting with Harvard President Abbot Lowell, Greenough formed a special five-man tribunal on this date in history which became known as the “Secret Court.”
The court launched a wide-ranging witch hunt, with Greenough summoning each witness one-by-one with a brief note. Thirty-seven men testified before the Court, including a tutor, an assistant professor, Harvard students, and several Boston men.
The Court’s inquiry was exhaustive, posing questions about masturbation practices, sex with women or men, cross-dressing, overnight guests, parties, and reading habits. The scope of the inquiry soon expanded to area businesses, cafés and bars. Eight students were expelled, ordered to leave Cambridge and reported to their families. They were also told that Harvard would disclose the reasons for their expulsion if employers or other schools sought references. Four others unconnected to Harvard were also deemed “guilty.” The school couldn’t punish them directly, but they did pressure one café to fire a waiter.
In 2002, a researcher from Harvard’s daily newspaper, The Crimson, came across a box of files labeled “Secret Court” in the University’s archives. After pressure from the newspaper staff the University finally released five hundred documents related to the Court’s work, and The Crimson published its findings in November of that year. Harvard’s president Lawrence H. Summers responded to the revelations, expressing deep regret for the anguish the students and families experienced.
Based on actual court documents, “Perkins 28” the video documentary below dramatizes the testimony from the Secret Court Files of 1920, Filmed in Cambridge, MA, and starring Harvard undergraduates.
On this Harvey Milk Day 2022 as we find our rights, our very live still being attached by the GOP/Right Wing. NOW more than ever we need to remember these words.
“My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you. I’ve been saying this one for years. It’s a political joke. I can’t help it. I’ve got to tell it. I’ve never been able to talk to this many political people before, so if I tell you nothing else, you may be able to go home laughing a bit.
This ocean liner was going across the ocean, and it sank. And there was one little piece of wood floating. And three people swam to it. And they realized only one person could hold onto it. So they had a little debate about which was the person.
It so happened that the three people were the Pope, the President and Mayor Daley. The Pope said he was the titular head of one of the greatest religions of the world, and he was spiritual adviser to many, many millions. And he went on and pontificated. And they thought it was a good argument.
Then the President said he was the leader of the largest and most powerful nation of the world. What takes place in this country affects the whole world. And they thought that was a good argument.
And Mayor Daley said he was the mayor of the backbone of the United States. And what took place in Chicago affected the world. And what took place in the Archdiocese of Chicago affected Catholicism. And they thought that was a good argument. So they did it the democratic way and voted. And Daley won seven to two.
About six months ago, Anita Bryant, in her speaking to God, said that the drought in California was because of the gay people. On November 9, the day after I got elected, it started to rain. On the day I got sworn in, we walked to City Hall. And it was kind of nice. And as soon as I said the word “I do,” it started to rain again. It’s been raining since then. And the people of San Francisco figure the only way to stop it is to do a recall petition. That’s the local joke.
So much for that. Why are we here? Why are gay people here? And what’s happening? What’s happening to me is the antithesis of what you read about in the papers and what you hear about on the radio. You hear about and read about this movement to the right, that we must band together and fight back this movement to the right. And I’m here to go ahead and say that what you hear and read is what they want you to think.
Because it’s not happening. The major media in this country has talked about the movement to the right, so the legislators think that there is indeed a movement to the right and that the Congress and the legislators and the City Council will start to move to the right and the way the major media want them. So they keep on talking about this move to the right.
So let’s look at 1977, and see if there was indeed a movement to the right. In 1977, gay people had their rights taken away from them in Miami. But you must remember, that in the week before Miami and the week after that, the word “homosexual” or “gay” appeared in every single newspaper in this nation in articles both pro and con. And every radio station and every TV station and every household, for the first time in the history of the world, everybody was talking about it, good or bad.
Unless you have dialogue, unless you open the walls of dialogue, you can never reach to change people’s opinion. In those two weeks, more good and bad, but more about the word homosexual and gay was written than probably in the history of mankind. Once you have dialogue starting, you know you can break down prejudice.
In 1977, we saw a dialogue start. In 1977, we saw a gay person elected in San Francisco. In 1977, we saw the state of Mississippi decriminalize marijuana. In 1977, we saw the convention of conventions in Houston. And I want to know where the movement to the right was happening.
What that is is a record of what happened last year. What we must do is make sure that 1978 continues the movement that is really happening and that the media don’t want you to know about. That is the movement to the left. It is up to CDC to put the pressures on Sacramento, but to break down the walls and the barriers so the movement to the left continues and progress continues in the nation.
We have before us coming up several issues we must speak out on. Probably the most important issue outside the Briggs which we will come to, but we do know what will take place this June. We know that there’s an issue on the ballot called Jarvis-Gann. We hear the taxpayers talk about it on both sides. But what you don’t hear is that it’s probably the most racist issue on the ballot in a long time.
In the city and the county of San Francisco, if it passes and we indeed have to lay off people, who will they be? The last in and the first in and who are the last in but the minorities. Jarvis-Gann is a racist issue. We must address that issue. We must not talk away from it. We must not allow them to talk about the money it’s going to save, because look at who’s going to save the money and look at who’s going to get hurt.
We also have another issue that we have started in some of the north counties. And I hope in some of the south counties, it continues. In San Francisco, elections were asking– at least we hope to ask– that the US government put pressure on the closing of the South African consulate. That must happen.
There is a major difference between an embassy in Washington, which is a diplomatic borough and a consulate in major cities. A consulate is there for one reason only, to promote business, economic gains, tourism, investment. And every time you have a business going to South Africa, you’re promoting a regime that’s offensive.
In the city of San Francisco, if every one of 51% of that city were to go to South Africa, they would be treated as second class citizens. That is an offense to the people of San Francisco. And I hope all my colleagues up there will take every step we can to close down that consulate and hope that people in other parts of the state follow us in that lead.
The battles must be started someplace. And CDC is a great place to start the battles. I know we are pressed for time, so I’m going to cover just one more little point. That is, to understand why it’s important that gay people run for office, and that gay people get elected. I know there are many people in this room who are gay who are running for a central committee. And I encourage you.
There’s a major reason why. If my nongay friends and supporters in this room understand it, they’ll probably understand why I’ve run so often before I finally made it. You see right now, there’s a controversy going on in this convention about the gay governor. Is he speaking out enough? Is her strong enough for gay rights? And there is controversy. And for us to say that there is not would be foolish. Some people are satisfied. And some people are not.
You see there is a major difference– and it remains a vital difference– between a friend and a gay person, a friend in office and a gay person in office. Gay people have been slandered nationwide. We’ve been tarred and we’ve been brushed with the picture of pornography. In Dade County, we were accused of child molestation. It is not enough anymore just to have friends represent us, no matter how good that friend may be.
The black community made up its mind to that a long time ago. The myths against blacks can only be dispelled by electing black leaders so the black community could be judged by its leaders and not by the myths or the black criminals. The Spanish community must not be judged by Latin criminals or myths. The Asian community must not be judged by Asian criminals or myths. The Italian community must not be judged by the mafia–myths.
And the time has come when the gay community must not be judged for our criminals and our myths. Like every other group, we must be judged by our leaders and by those who are themselves gay, those who are visible. For invisible, we remain in limbo. A myth. A person with no parents, no brothers, no sisters, no friends who are straight, no important positions in employment.
A tenth of the nation’s supposedly composed of stereotypes and would-be seducers of children. And no offense meant to those stereotypes but today, the black community is not judged by its friends but by its black legislators and leaders. And we must give people the chance to judge us by our leaders and legislators.
A gay person in office can set a tone, can command respect, not only from the larger community, but from the young people in our own community who need both examples and hope. The first gay people we elect must be strong. They must not be content to sit in the back of the bus. They must not be content to accept pabulum. They must be above wheeling and dealing. They must be, for the good of all of us, independent, unbought.
The anger and the frustrations that some of us feel is because we are misunderstood. And friends can’t feel that anger and frustration. They can sense it in us, but they can’t feel it. Because a friend has never gone through what is known as “coming out.” I will never forget what it was like coming out and having nobody to look up toward.
I remember the lack of hope, and our friends can’t fulfill it. I can’t forget the looks on faces of people who have lost hope, be they gay, be they seniors, be they blacks looking for an almost impossible job, be they Latins trying to explain their problems and aspirations in a tongue that’s foreign to them. I Personally will never forget that people are more important than buildings.
I use the word “I” because I am proud. I stand here tonight in front of my gay sisters, brothers and friends, because I’m proud of you. I think it’s time that we have many legislators who are gay and proud of that fact and do not have to remain in the closet. I think a gay person upfront will not walk away a responsibility and be afraid of being tossed out of office.
After Dade County, I walked among the angry and frustrated night after night. And I looked at their faces. And in San Francisco, three days before Gay Pride Day, a person was killed just because he was gay. And that night I walked among the sad and the frustrated at City Hall in San Francisco, and later that night, as they lit candles on Castro Street and stood in silence, reaching out for some symbolic thing that would give them hope. These were strong people whose faces I knew from the shop, the streets, meetings, and people who I never saw before but I knew. They were strong, but even they needed hope.
And the young gay people in Altoona, Pennsylvanias, and the Richmond, Minnesotas, who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant on television and her story. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only are the gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the “us-es.” The “us-es” will give up.
And if you help elect the Central Committee and other offices, more gay people– that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone. So if there’s a message I have to give, it is that I found one overriding thing about my personal election. It’s the fact that if a gay person can be elected, it’s a green light. And you and you and you– you have to give people hope. Thank you very much. – Harvey Milk
In a resurfaced video from 1979 Jane Fonda was being interviewed following the White Night Riots in San Francisco, and the death of her friend Harvey Milk.
Fonda was interviewed by a TV reporter. Firing back the most brilliant and eloquent of thoughts after being asked if gay people were ‘using’ her organization, the Campaign for Economic Democracy.
Asked: ‘Do you feel that the gays in San Francisco, who are very powerful and very strong, need support? Are they still being discriminated against?’ Fonda emphatically replied: ‘Oh, absolutely. Culturally, psychologically, economically, politically – gays and lesbians are discriminated against. ‘They are a very powerful movement, especially in San Francisco, they don’t need me, but they like me, they like our organisation, the Campaign for Economic Democracy, because they know that working together we can be stronger than either entity is by itself.’
![WATCH: Jane Fonda Speak Out For Gay Rights In 1979 Following The The White Night Riots [VIDEO]](https://i0.wp.com/www.back2stonewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Jane-Fonda-Gay-Rights-1979.png?resize=604%2C270)
