Tag Archives: LGBT Discrimination

Gay History: December 12, 1969: New York’s Continental Baths Raided

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On December 12, 1969 just a mere 6 months after the Stonewall riots the NYPD was at it again as it enter the Continental Baths on the UWS of NYC. They arrest three patrons and three employees, charging the patrons with lewd and lascivious acts and the employees with criminal mischief.

Steve Ostrow who opened the Continental Baths the previous year. told The Guardian in 2018 that he and his wife launched the business because of his disappointment with other (Mafia-run) venues he visited. “I had been to a few clubs. But they turned me off. They were dirty … filthy. They treated you like shit.”

The police raid on December 12, 1969, was not an unusual occurrence. In February 1969 the Continental Baths was also raided by th NYPD. Twenty-two patrons were arrested, identified by one undercover towel-clad policeman who identified the men who offered to have sex with him or actually had had sex with him. Steve Ostrow told the ABC in 2013 that the cops raided the venue 200 times in its first year of operation. He explained the police modus operandi — entrapment .

“Homosexuality was illegal. Two men dancing together was illegal. Very good-looking policemen would come in, rent a room, get into a towel, go into the steam room and then wait for someone to touch them. And then, from underneath the towel, out would come handcuffs. Then they’d arrest everybody in the place.”

Steve Ostrow always followed the trucks downtown and bailed everyone out.

Not to worry though everyone. Bette and Barry were not caught up in the raid. They didn’t start until the next year.

SPORTS: German Team Stands Up To FIFA in Qatar With Pro-LGBT Protest [VIDEO]

SPORTS: German Team Stands Up To FIFA in Qatar With Pro-LGBT Protest [VIDEO]

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Via The Guartdian: “Germany’s players placed hands over their mouths and wore rainbow stripes on their warm-up tops and boots in a powerful statement of defiance against FIFA before their Group E match against Japan. Their message was reinforced by the German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who also wore a OneLove armband, which promotes tolerance, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights, as she sat next to FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino. In a powerful statement published shortly after the game started, the German Football Association warned FIFA: “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”

Fuck you, FIFA! You try to silence positive expression (i.e. the pro-LGBTQ armbands) and you do nothing about hateful slurs] The FIFA president–or whatever his title is–is a disgrace. “We’ve discriminated in the past, so it’s hypocritical to complain about a country guilty of it today.”

ALL civilized countries should be protesting in some way or another but THANK YOU GERMANY for standing up and being the first.

And where is Team USA?

Russia Proposes Extending "Gay Propaganda Law" To All Adults

Russia Proposes Extending “Gay Propaganda Law” To All Adults

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Russian lawmakers have proposed extending a ban on the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relationships to minors to include adults as well, a senior legislator said on Monday.

Under the proposed changes, ANY event or act regarded as an attempt to “promote homosexuality” could incur a fine or jail time.

“We propose to generally extend the ban on such propaganda regardless of the age of the audience (offline, in the media, on the internet, social networks and online cinemas),” the head of the State Duma’s information committee, Alexander Khinshtein, said on his Telegram social media channel.

Homosexuality was a criminal offence in Russia until 1993 and classed as a mental illness until 1999. But homosexuality is still disapproved of by most Russians thanks to the Russian Orthodox Church, and same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples and are subject to harassment and violence.

Russia’s laws have received international condemnation from human rights campaigners, and media outlets that even display of LGBT symbols, such as the rainbow flag, have resulted in arrests, and incited homophobic violence, like is documented in the Channel 4 documentary Hunted which followed anti-gay groups as they lured young gay men into traps where they were humiliated, with the footage later posted online.

Texas Officials Tell Librarians to REMOVE LGBT Books, AG Tell School District "PRIDE Week" is Illegal

Texas Officials Tell Librarians to REMOVE LGBT Books, AG Tell School District “PRIDE Week” is Illegal

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Texas or Florida. Which sucks the most right now? It’s like they are in a race to the WORST.

Reading is Fundamental Except in Texas:

Via The Texas Tribune:

In early January, a day before students returned from winter break, Jeremy Glenn, the superintendent of the Granbury Independent School District in North Texas, told a group of librarians he’d summoned to a district meeting room that he needed to speak from his heart. “I want to talk about our community,” Glenn said. He noted that members of Granbury’s school board — his bosses — were also very conservative. And to any school employees who might have different political beliefs, Glenn said, “You better hide it,” adding, “Here in this community, we’re going to be conservative.”

Glenn added the was concerned about the inclusion of books with LGBT themes, even if they do not describe sex.

“There are two genders. There’s male, and there’s female. And I acknowledge that there are men that think they’re women. And there are women that think they’re men. And again, I don’t have any issues with what people want to believe, but there’s no place for it in our libraries.”

“Specifically, what we’re getting at, let’s call it what it is, and I’m cutting to the chase on a lot of this,” he said. “It’s the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex — sexuality — in books. That’s what the governor has said that he will prosecute people for, and that’s what we’re pulling out.”

Legal experts say the North Texas superintendent’s comments raise concerns about possible violations of the First Amendment and federal civil rights laws that protect students from discrimination based on their gender and sexuality.

PRIDE Illegal in Texas Schools

The Hill reports:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said in a letter to the Austin Independent School District (AISD) this week that its Pride Week was “breaking state law.” Paxton wrote Tuesday that by hosting pride week, the district “has, at best undertaken a week-long instructional effort in human sexuality without parental consent. Or, worse [the] district is cynically pushing a week-long indoctrination of [students] that not only fails to obtain parental consent, but subtly cuts parents out of the loop.” The Texas AG also wrote that the Austin ISD’s curriculum and lesson plans “deal head-on with sexual orientation and gender identity—topics that unmistakably constitute ‘human sexuality instruction’ governed by state law.”

No more than 45 minutes after Paxton’s office tweeted out the letter, the school district’s superintendent, Stephanie Elizalde, replied back: “I want all our LGBTQIA+ students to know that we are proud of them and that we will protect them against political attacks.”

District spokesman Jason Stanford told The Washington Post the celebration will continue as planned. “We’re going to react to this by doubling down on making sure our kids feel safe and celebrating Pride.”

UPDATE: Disney’s “Don’t Say Gay” Debacle 3/12/22 – Disney CEO Bob Chapek Apologizes AGAIN - CHAPEK MUST RESIGN

UPDATE: Disney’s “Don’t Say Gay” Debacle 3/12/22 – Disney CEO Bob Chapek Apologizes AGAIN – CHAPEK MUST RESIGN

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It’s been a long hard week for the LGBT community, Disney CEO Bob Chapek and the The Walt Disney Company itself as it faced major backlash from not only all over the country but the world after Disney’s abandonment of LGBT American’s. Not only was Disney was caught making donations to rabidly anti-LGBT Republican Florida Senators but also the company which has claimed a strong allyship to the LGBT community DID NOT SPEAK OUT and remained purposely silent as the states “Don’t Say Gay Bill” passed both chambers and sits on DeSantis’ desk, waiting to be signed and sends LGBT rights back in Florida over 40 years to the time of Anita Bryant and the “Save The Children Campaign”.

So what does Disney CEO Bob Chapek have to say? “He’s sorry:”

“It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry,” Chapek said in the letter, which was published on Disney’s website.

“We are hard at work creating a new framework for our political giving that will ensure our advocacy better reflects our values. I am committed to this work and to you all, and will continue to engage with the LGBTQ+ community so that I can become a better ally,” he added. “You will hear more about our progress in the coming weeks.”

Quite simply: Apology not accepted and Bob Chapek MUST RESIGN.

Chapek’s inaction and obvious games trying to play both sides for maximum return not only blew up in Disney’s face but also harms harms thousands of thousands of LGBT American’s if not more . Other ed states are now planning the same such bills now that it passed easily in Florida thanks to Disney’s non-interference. And make no mistake that if Disney and Chapek would have taken a strong stance against the DSGB it would have never passed.

Disney has harmed the very people that for decades it has claimed to have supported. Disney and Chapek must think that a few Gay Days and some rainbow mouse ears is all it takes to be an LGBT ally.

It’s not.

Bob Chapek MUST RESIGN as CEO of Disney immediately.

Sign the petition HERE to Fire Disney CEO Bob Chapek

Michigan LGBT Rights Ballot Initiative Falls Short Of Signatures Needed

Michigan LGBT Rights Ballot Initiative Falls Short Of Signatures Needed

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The Michigan elections bureau has determined that Fair and Equal Michigan gathered nearly 299,000 signatures, short of the roughly 340,000 needed for a ballot drive to prohibit discrimination against LGBT Michiganders according to a report released Thursday. 

Election staffers ruled many ineligible because the signers were not registered voters or there were address, date or others errors. The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers will meet Tuesday to consider a recommendation to not certify the initiative.

“The Bureau of Elections threw out thousands of signatures that are valid and we will fight for every valid signature so no voters are disenfranchised,” said Josh Hovey, spokesman for Fair and Equal Michigan.

Michigan is one of 27 states without LGBT housing, employment. and accommodation protections.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a landmark federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from employment discrimination but did not cover the other main tenets in the LGBT discrimination issues facing American’s

For the 40 years the Equality Act or some version of it has been introduced into Congress and it still has not passed that would add LGBT protections to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Our community needs to focus on getting the Equality Act passed once and for all because once that happens many of the other minor issues we keep getting hung up on will dissipate also.

Tennessee State Republicans Block Resolution Honoring Singer T.J. Osborne Because He’s Gay

Tennessee State Republicans Block Resolution Honoring Singer T.J. Osborne Because He’s Gay

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Tennessee State Republican legislators carried on with their anti-gay agenda 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 again this week when when they blocked a symbolic resolution honoring country music star T.J. Osborne who recently came out as being gay.

State Rep. Jeremy Faison, chair of the House Republican Caucus, rejected the measure despite unanimous passage in the Republican-controlled state senate. Faison cited concerns that the resolution “wasn’t heard in committee, and I feel like it needs to be.”

The Republican controlled State House had previously voted for measures that honored dangerous rightwing pundits Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens. Neither resolution went through a committee and GOP legislators unanimously approved the honors. Only Republicans voted to send Osborne’s resolution to the committee.

“I wish I could say this didn’t hurt, but it does,” TJ Osborne wrote in an Instagram Story post

Grammy-winning singer Kacey Musgrave also expressed her disgust with the Tennessee GOP legislators 

House Republicans Introduce Federal Version of "Don't Say Gay" Bill

Federal Judge Rules “Christian” Photographer Can Reject Gay Couples Despite Ban on LGBT Discrimination

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A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump to the Western District of Kentucky ruled Friday that a “Christian” photographer in Louisville can turn away same-sex couples despite the city’s ordinance prohibiting LGBT discrimination.

U.S. District Judge Justin Reed Walker issued an injunction blocking the city from enforcing its Fairness Ordinance against Chelsey Walker, who claims she can only photograph weddings between a man and a woman due to her religious beliefs.

“Just as gay and lesbian Americans ‘cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth,’” Walker wrote, quoting the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, “neither can Americans ‘with a deep faith that requires them to do things passing legislative majorities might find unseemly or uncouth.’ Her photography is art” and “art is speech,” adding that the government can’t compel speech when it violates someone’s religious beliefs. Although photography is wordless, he wrote, “so too is refusing to salute the flag or marching in a parade, both of which the Supreme Court has said are protected forms of speech.” 

Walker a protégé of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, served as a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then clerked for Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Judge Walker is just the latest in a long line of judicial nominees championed by right wing organizations like the Federalist Society for their zealous opposition to the Affordable Care Act, as well as other extremist views, jeopardizing the lives of LGBT people and others who need access to fair and impartial courts,” Lambda Legal wrote.

LGBT Activists Arrested in Warsaw, Poland for Hanging Rainbow Flags Off Statues and "Offending Religious Feelings"

LGBT Activists Arrested in Warsaw, Poland for Hanging Rainbow Flags Off Statues and “Offending Religious Feelings”

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Three LGBT activists have been arrested in Warsaw, Poland for hanging rainbow PRIDE flags off statues in Warsaw earlier this week.

The activists who were protesting the anti-LGBT policies of President Andrzej Duda hung the flags off statues of Christ at the Basilica of the Holy Cross , the astronomer Copernicus and the famous Warsaw mermaid statue. Polish police charged them with desecrating monuments and “offending religious feelings”.

Prosecutors must now decide whether to bring the case to court.

During last month’s election campaign, President Duda — an ally of the ruling conservative Law and Justice party — said the promotion of LGBT rights was an ideology more harmful than communism. He was re-elected as Poland’s president for a second five-year term, winning 51% of the vote in a tight battle with Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski a staunch defender of LGBT rights.

During the swearing in of President Andrzej Duda’s swearing-in female Polish MPs wore the rainbow colors of the LGBT PRIDE flag and rainbow face masks in protest.

At his swearing-in, Duda vowed to maintain openness to all groups and political parties, while also stressing the need to protect the family in Polish society.

Left wing parliamentarians dressed in the colours of the rainbow pose in front of the Polish Parliament (Sejm)
Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Signs New Civil Code That Eliminates LGBT Rights and Protections

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Signs New Civil Code That Eliminates LGBT Rights and Protections

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In a surprise move Puerto Rico Governor, Wanda Vázquez signed new civil codes into effect earlier this week that overhauls a series of laws regulating various rights, including LGBT rights. The changes and the fact that no public hearings were held has angered the LGBT community and many of the island’s citizens.

Via METROWEEKLY:

Among the 130 amendments in the newly approved code were provisions that eliminate the ability of transgender individuals to change the name and gender marker on their birth certificates — even though Vázquez claims that the process for amending a birth certificate remains the same — and removes legal protections for LGBT[Q] people that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Vázquez signed the new Civil Code against the backdrop of continued criticism of her administration’s response to the murders of nearly a dozen LGBT Puerto Ricans over the last year and a half.

In a prepared statement Governor Vasquez had the nerve to refernece George Floyd and also quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Abuse, mistreatment, discrimination nor the violation of human rights in any way is neither acceptable nor permitted,” said Vázquez. “We all have a civic duty to respect that is fundamental in a peaceful society.”

Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a Puerto Rican LGBTQ advocacy group, in a statement noted: “They removed the discrimination bans in order not to include sexual orientation and gender identity. When they gouge LGBT+ (my acronym) people’s eyes out, they gouge everyone’s eyes out.”

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz also criticized Vázquez.

“With this signature to the Civil Code, the governor makes it clear that she has no words. And worse, she creates the scenario for a rollback of our rights.

On a personal note: This writer had planned a trip to Puerto Rico this November over Thanksgiving. This morning we have cancelled all reservations and airline tickets. We urge all in the LGBT community to do the same and avoid Puerto Rico as a tourist destination.

#BoycottPuertoRico

#PuertoRicoIsOverParty