Tag Archives: protests

Gay History – July 4, 1965: Philadelphia’s Independence Hall Annual Reminder Protest.

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Annual Reminder 2On July 4th. 1965, gay rights activists gathered outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, carrying picket signs and demanding legislation that would codify the rights of homosexuals as a minority group. Referencing the Constitution’s inalienable right to the “Pursuit of Happiness” and its foundational belief that “all men are created equal,” the activists called for legislative changes that would improve the lives of American homosexuals.  (Which at that time included the lesbian, trans, and bi communities.  Compartmentalization and isolation were not part of the movement yet and all groups were together as one and fought as such) 

New York City gay activist Craig Rodwell conceived of the event following the April 17, 1965 picket at the White House led by Frank Kameny.  Rodwell along with members of the New York City and Washington, D.C. chapters of the Mattachine Society, Philadelphia’s Janus Society, and the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis would get together and picket in front of Liberty Hall on July 4th.  

The protest would be called “Reminder Day” and would continue for the next five years in a row

The name of the event was selected to remind the American people that a substantial number of American citizens were denied the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” enumerated in the United States Declaration of Independence.

Thirty-nine people attended the first picket, including veteran activists Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, and Kay Tobin.  As with the Washington, D.C. picket, Kameny insisted on a strict dress code for participants, including jackets and ties for the men and dresses for the women. Kameny’s goal was to represent homosexuals as “presentable and ’employable'”.  Picketers carried signs with such slogans as “HOMOSEXUAL BILL OF RIGHTS” and “15 MILLION HOMOSEXUAL AMERICANS ASK FOR EQUALITY, OPPORTUNITY, DIGNITY”.

The picket ran from 3:30-5:00 PM. and press coverage was sparse, although Confidential magazine ran a large feature about the Reminder and other gay pickets in its October 1965 issue under the headline “Homos On The March”.

The annual Reminder continued through July 4, 1969.  The final Annual Reminder took place less than a week after June 28th. Stonewall riots,

At the last Annual Reminder, Rodwell received several telephone calls threatening his and the other New York participant’s lives, but he was able to arrange for police protection for the chartered bus to Philadelphia. About 45 people participated, including the deputy mayor of Philadelphia and his wife. The dress code and behavior code were still in effect at the Reminder, but two women from the New York contingent broke from the single-file picket line and held hands. When Frank Kameny tried to break them apart, Rodwell furiously denounced him to onlooking members of the press.

The annual Reminders were commemorated in 2005 by the placement of a Pennsylvania state historical marker by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission at 6th and Chestnut Streets where it is viewed by thousands of visitors daily.

In 2015 the city of Philadelphia celebrated its 50th. Anniversary of the reminders. Unfortunately. the event did not draw the crowds it had hoped and the city itself tried to re-write LGBT history by wrongly claiming that it was the “birthplace of the LGBT rights movement.”  The organizers dropped that false claim before the event after much pressure from this website and other LGBT historians.

BREAKING: NYC Pride and Chicago Pride Parade’s Disrupted By QPOC Activists – Video

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Both the NYC and Chicago Pride Parade’s were disrupted this afternoon while small handfuls of alt-Pride  activists from Black Lives Matter, GetEqual, No Pride, No Justice, and Trans Liberation Collective blocked the parade routes.

Arrests were made after multiple warnings in New York City after the protesters who were marching in the parade suddenly sat down in front of the Stonewall Inn and refused to remove.

We will keep you updated as more details are released.

 

*UPDATE: 1
According to Gothamist an total of 12  protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

 

NEW YORK CITY PRIDE

 

CHICAGO PRIDE

 

The Chicago Protest’s Demands were as follows:

1. We call for divestment from gentrification, displacement, and white cis supremacy!

The same forces which violently forced our ancestors out of their own movement are still at work, creating a celebration of queerness that is inaccessible by all but the most privileged of trans and queer people. When queer celebrations uphold the violent systems of gentrification and segregation in Chicago, echoing racist practices of redlining that have shaped the human geography of this city, queer revolution is impossible. We rise in solidarity with coalition member Pilsen Alliance, who are working to end economic and environmental violence where the most vulnerable communities in Chicago are being pushed out, schools are being closed, and families are being separated—thanks to Danny Solís and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s real estate developers. We denounce the racist, transphobic, ableist, and exclusionary policies and practices of white, cis gay organizations like Center on Halsted, Howard Brown, Equality Illinois, and other organizations that prioritize North Side services and wealthy bodies over Black and Brown trans people.

2. We rise in solidarity with Palestinian liberation, including the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions!

The Chicago Pride Parade has a long history of allowing organizations that engage in pinkwashing–the promotion of Israel’s supposed positive record on LGBTQ rights as a means to distract from their brutal crimes against Palestine–to participate in the Parade. The presence of groups like A Wider Bridge, Stand With Us, and the Israeli Consulate General dishonors the legacy of the trans women of color who galvanized our movement. As an explicitly anti-Zionist collective leading an explicitly anti-Zionist coalition which includes Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian organizers, we reject any celebration of the illegal Israeli state in the Chicago Pride Parade. Trans and queer people will not be used as the propaganda for a genocidal, settler-colonial state, in an attempt to spread racist and Islamophobic tropes about Palestinian culture. Pinkwashing, Zionism, settler-colonialism, and genocide have no place in queer struggle. As a coalition, we proudly join the calls to free Palestine!

3. We rise in solidarity with anti-colonial movements, from Puerto Rico to Standing Rock, and beyond!

Trans liberation necessitates the liberation of all peoples, and especially indigenous peoples. We honor the legacy of Sylvia Rivera, a Boricua trans woman as we resist all forms of colonial occupation and US imperialism, both in Chicago and around the world. We remember Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, an indigenous trans woman murdered this year, and recognize that indigenous peoples will be the leaders in our movements as we continue to proliferate ways of celebrating ourselves that transcend binaries, and protect the natural environment. We denounce the participation of banks and corporations in the Chicago Pride Parade that contribute to the genocide of indigenous people, the continued investment in DAPL and other oil pipelines, and the debt crises in oppressed communities across the planet. The Trans Liberation Collective and all members of our coalition demand Puerto Rico’s colonially-created debt be forgiven, that all stolen lands be returned to indigenous peoples, and advocate self-determination for all colonized communities as we fight to protect our planet!

4. Stonewall and Compton’s were anti-police riots! We reject the insertion of law enforcement into queer struggles, and demand the city of Chicago immediately move toward disarming, disbanding, and abolishing all police and prisons!

The police are not now, and have never been, a friend of queer and trans people, especially queer and trans people of color. For far too long, police have intentionally harassed queer and trans people, arresting us on assumptions and false charges, terrorizing our communities, and criminalizing our very existence. Hosting the Chicago Pride Parade in the heavily-policed neighborhood of Boystown–and relying on the labor of incarcerated people to clean up afterward–is a testament to the event’s lack of commitment to Black and Brown communities. We rise in explicit solidarity with coalition member Black Lives Matter Chicago in calling for the immediate abolition of police and prisons, including the practice of solitary confinement. The brutality of the Chicago Police Department, and the cowardly, conniving racism of Mayor Rahm Emanuel have shown us again and again that abolition is the only answer. Chicago does not need police; it needs better infrastructure, public schools, free health services, and shelters specifically for trans and queer people, especially trans and queer elders and youth.

5. We demand sanctuary and immediate amnesty for all undocumented communities!

Undocumented queer and trans folks are some of the most vulnerable in our community. We demand that the safety of undocumented immigrants be ensured through immediate amnesty. Furthermore, we denounce the actions of both current and previous administrations in perpetuating the state of political violence that has led so many refugees to seek safety in the United States, where they are forced to confront the xenophobic and racist policies in place. We demand that ICE be dismantled, and that the funds used to imprison undocumented people be channeled back into immigrant communities. No borders! No walls! No prisons!

6. Trans people are the vanguard of the queer liberation movement. We demand more resources, facilities, funding, and access for Black and Brown trans people in Chicago!

We demand better education on trans issues, beyond just pronouns, and that trans educators be paid to do this education. We demand jobs for all trans people, who are systemically underemployed due to transphobia, especially in organizations that claim to work for queer and trans causes. We demand access to affordable housing, especially for Black and Brown trans people, trans elders and youth. We demand trans-affirming shelters to be established and fully funded, especially in the South and West sides. We need free, affirming, competent, and accessible healthcare, to offset the disproportionate poverty, lack of wellness, and HIV+ rates in the trans community–the result of decades of medical mistreatment and refusal. We demand a redistribution of funding from wealthy North Side schools to impoverished and underfunded schools on the South and West sides as a form of educational reparations. We demand an immediate end to the practice of charter schools in Chicago, and a use of those funds to invest in public schools with education and protections for queer and trans children. We demand the decriminalization of sex work, because sex work is real work, and deserves to be treated as such. We demand to be treated as human beings, with respect, dignity, and resources!

7. In the legacy of powerful trans women of color, we will be launching our own celebration for 2018!

Today, in the city of Chicago in 2017, we follow the legacy of disruptions before ours, and answer Sylvia Rivera’s call by announcing the reinstating of Chicago’s Trans Pride, to be held during June of 2018, co-sponsored by Brave Space Alliance, the Trans Liberation Collective, and the BTGNC Collective. We call on all trans people in Chicago, and especially all trans and queer people of color to join us in divesting from Chicago Pride, and joining us in 2018. Together we will make a new celebration in our own images, full of our own joy, pride, strength, resilience, and liberation.

Trans liberation means police and prison abolition! Trans liberation means resisting capitalism! Trans liberation means divesting from war, militarism, and colonialism! Trans liberation means protecting the environment and sharing resources!

 

4 QPOC Protesters Arrested At Columbus PRIDE After Altercation With Police – [Videos]

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Four people were arrested and one could face aggravated robbery charges after a PRIDE protest that left a Columbus police officer injured and with one protester arrested for attempting to disarm one of the officers. 

According to a post published on the International Socialist Organization Columbus Facebook page, “a group of Black queer activists interrupted Columbus’ corporate pride parade to bring attention to the not guilty verdict for the officer who murdered Philando Castile, as well as other POC [people of color], particularly trans POC, who have been murdered by police.”

The group with messages on their shirts like “pride is political” and black tape on their mouths. were trying to draw attention to racism at pride and in LGBT community.

The official Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and Parade Facebook page posted the following update about the incident later in the afternoon:

“We are aware that several people were arrested at the Pride Parade today. We have contacted the highest county and city officials in order to guarantee their safety. We have sent legal representation from Stonewall to assist those that have been arrested. This situation is ongoing, and we will comment further when we have more facts and can be sure those in custody are safe.”

The Columbus Division of Police reports:.

The suspects wouldn’t obey officers orders to leave the roadway at the parade this morning,” stated the CPD via social media. “Charges range from, Resisting Arrest-Causing Harm to a Police Officer, Fail to Comply with a Police Officers Order or Signal to Disorderly Conduct-Hindering Movement.

Another protester attempted to disarm an officer who was arresting the other two. He was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.

Police say someone tipped officers off about a group of protesters blocking off the parade route.and once they arrived on their bikes to move the protesters some began to resist.

The QPOC protesters are suspected to be part of Black Lives Matters and No Justice, No Pride movement

 

 

Deacon Maccubbin Activist, Founder of Lambda Rising Bookstore, and DC Pride Responds To “Misguided” Attacks On Pride

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The group “No Justice No Pride” seems to have chosen the right name, as they appear to have neither. More importantly, they lack both historical context and forward-looking vision.

In 1971, police in D.C. and elsewhere were notoriously anti-LGBT (actually more anti-gay, since they largely ignored the other members of our community to concentrate on gay men). The fledgling Gay Activists Alliance (now the GLAA) had tried for nearly two years to schedule a meeting with the D.C. police chief to talk about the harassment, arrests, abuse and even blackmail being practiced by “D.C.’s Finest” but the chief refused to meet with LGBT people.

So a group of about a dozen staged a sit-in in the police chief’s office and, after occupying the office for about five hours, a smaller group of three — Bill Bricker, Cade Ware and myself — agreed that we would be arrested, the first arrests for LGBT civil disobedience in Washington.

When we went to trial some weeks later, we pled nolo contendere, since we knew we were guilty, but it gave us an opportunity to explain to the judge how long we had tried to get a meeting with the police, how we had been stymied in that, and why we had decided that civil disobedience was our only option. After deliberation, the judge returned and said, “Because you pled nolo contendere, I have no choice but to find you guilty. But if I had been in your position, I’d probably have done the same thing. No fine. No jail time. You are free to go.” Two weeks later, the police chief agreed to meet with us.

And that began a process. It started with communication, spread into the adoption of new training for police recruits (training that members of the LGBT community helped conduct), then spread to better screening of new recruits, to more inclusive direction by subsequent police chiefs, to the establishment of a Civilian Complaint Review Board and, eventually, to the creation of the LGBT Liaison Unit. LGBT victims of crime are now assisted by openly LGBT and LGBT-supportive police officers.

Are there still some officers who fail to live up to the standards we and their chief expect? Of course there are; in any group of thousands, there will always be a few bad officers. But the overwhelming majority of D.C.’s police force do their job without prejudice. By all means, keep up the oversight, continue to push for removal of those few bad officers, but at the same time, welcome those LGBT officers and those supportive officers to march with us, to celebrate with us, to continue to make progress in respecting all LGBT people in Washington.

There is merit in Pride looking closer at which corporate sponsorships are appropriate, but the executive board of Pride has already agreed to do that. As the founder of D.C.’s annual Pride Day event in 1975 and the sole sponsor of the event for the first five years, I have always been in favor of melding both political and social aspects in the celebration. It’s a time to celebrate our victories as well as to push for continued progress. For every commercial booth that lines Pennsylvania Avenue (and provides the bulk of the funding for the event), there are non-profit and activist booths offering Pride attendees ways to get involved. “No Justice No Pride” would be wise to participate there, too.

As for the call to remove members of Capital Pride’s executive board, that’s an insult to those who have dedicated so much time and effort to the community. If you look at their bios, you’ll see that they cross most gender and racial lines and they have long histories of work in LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations. Likewise, the Pride staff demonstrates that ALL are welcome to the effort.

Staging the parade, the block party, the entertainment, the parties, the workshops and all the other activities surrounding Pride is a huge undertaking. If you’ve read this far, consider volunteering to make it all even better. Just don’t tear it down in the process.

*Deacon Maccubbin, was the owner of the LGBT bookstore Lambda Rising, and longtime activist who organized the city’s first annual gay pride event in Washington, DC.

Reprinted from The Washington Blade

D.C.’s Capital Pride Refuses Demands To Ban Police Officers From Pride Parade and Events

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Yesterday Lou Chibbaro Jr. reported for the Washington Blade that organizers of D.C.’s annual Capital Pride Parade and Festival  had demanded and received the resignation of Bryan Pruitt a volunteer event producer because of comments he made about transgender people in a May 2016 article in the conservative blog RedState.

But the real story buried in the article is that the group No Justice, No Pride is making demands of the Capital Pride Alliance including the ban  police officers from marching and participating in this years festivities

Drew Ambrogi, a spokesperson for No Justice No Pride said that Pruitt’s dismissal is just the beginning of a wave of change that will soon sweep Capital Pride. The community is paying attention and recognizing that for too long, Capital Pride has colluded with the very forces that oppress queer and trans individuals. Their willingness to ignore transphobia, accept money from corporations that profit from the incarceration of queer and trans people — predominantly queer and trans people of color — and celebrate the Metropolitan Police Department, indicate a fundamental disregard for large swaths of our community.”

Ambrogi said the coalition, among other things, is calling on Capital Pride to dis-invite D.C. police, including the police LGBT Liaison Unit, from participating in the D.C. Pride parade and festival. He said the coalition also wants Capital Pride to no longer allow corporate sponsors or corporations in general to participate in the festival and parade and wants Capital Pride to remove its funds from a Wells Fargo Bank and remove from the Capital Pride board one of its members who is a Wells Fargo employee.

Bernie Delia, Capital Pride’s president, said that although Capital Pride’s board agreed it was necessary to seek Pruitt’s resignation it would “absolutely not” agree to additional demands by the No Justice No Pride coalition that it ban D.C. police from participating in this year’s Pride parade and festival and that it ban corporate sponsors, including Wells Fargo Bank, from participating in all Pride events.

“It has been with the support and resources of our diverse sponsors and corporate partners that Capital Pride has been able to grow and thrive,” said Delia, who added that corporate supporters have strong records of support for the LGBT community and LGBT rights.

Angela Peoples who now runs the former LGBT Equality group GetEQUAL stated that her group fully supports the efforts and positions taken by No Justice No Pride.

“I have been working with Drew and other folks that are organizing this effort,” Peoples said. “So the effort and the demands of the No Justice No Pride effort is very much aligned with the work Get Equal has been doing and is continuing to do,” she said.

Peoples who changed GetEqual from an  LGBT civil rights group to a QPOC (Queer People of Color) action group is responsible for the  planning and carrying out of transgender activists Jennicet Gutiérrez’s heckling of President Obama at the  LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House in 2015 and other protests such as disruptions at Netroots Nation and who’s members also were involved in a near-violent protest shut down a planned reception for LGBT Israeli group A Wider Bridge.

According to a posting on the No Justice, No Pride Facebook page the group pans to attend the May 8th Capital Pride Alliance Board Meeting and voice its demands as a group.

Folks involved in No Justice, No Pride have many reasons for being involved in this, and some easy demands backed by these reasons are but not exclusive to the following:
1. Removing Corporate Sponsorship (and other entities that hurt members of our community such as military defense contractors and others involved in the military industrial complex, the border injustice complex, and the criminal injustice complex. This means no FBI and Border Control recruiters)
2. Removing Policing Presence/Entities
3. Returning Pride as Protest
4. Remove problematic people from leadership and replace them with known leaders from historically marginalized communities.

We will make these demands known and follow up with “since our community is so large and vast that we also stand behind any demands others may have.”

We won’t accept promises for concessions in future years and will make our case loud and clear that things need to change this year or we will demonstrate.

Let’s show up to this meeting in full support of one another. When you hear something you like make some noise! Snap, clap, cheer – let’s show them we’re riled up and we’ve got each other’s backs. And then they try to silence us, dismiss our claims or make half-assed concessions, let’s be loud too.

Because of these demands and Angela Peoples involvement expect some real drama at this years 

As many SJW activist like to say “The first Pride was a riot.”

Yes it was.  But it was against our true enemies not our own people.

 

#CC15: Trans-Activists Storm Stage In Protest At Task Force’s Creating Change Conference. Why? – Video

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Trans Lives matter

 

At the NGLTF,  aka Task Force, aka National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference last night  in Denver, CO  a large group of transgender advocates stormed the stage in protest of the recent killing of a Latina trans teen by the Denver police.  The trans-teen Jesse Hernandez was driving a car that was reported stolen with at least two friends when she was confronted by officers. She allegedly drove the car toward one of them. Officers responded by firing several shots into the driver’s side of the vehicle, killing Hernández.

Via the Advocate:

Task Force deputy executive director Russell Roybal and Creating Change director Sue Hyde welcomed thousands of attendees at this year’s conference in Denver Thursday evening, and both showed emotion as they remarked upon the death of queer Latina Jessie Hernandez. Last week, Hernandez was fatally shot by police fire in Denver in a car authorities report was stolen. After Hyde and Roybal introduced the evening’s emcee, comedian Kate Clinton, a group of trans activists and allies, led by Bamby Salcedo, stormed the stage with dozens of handmade signs as the chant “Jessie Presente!” filled the ballroom”.

Via LGBT Weekly:

The transgender activists also were demanding increased support from the LGBT community in general to aid in their quest for equality. While there were several demands made from the stage by Salcedo, all coalesced around the statement “We are here demanding intentional, meaningful investment in our community.” Trans activists and supporters chanted “We are fighters.”  he protesters were calling LGBT organizations to task for a perceived lack of investment in the trans community.

Now I and everyone  I know have always promoted trans-equality.  But what really makes me wonder about the trans-movement is: What exactly was the point of disrupting a pro-equality conference where you are already fully supported to demand support?  This doesn’t make the general public any more aware of your problems  and you’d  be hard pressed to find anyone in the Creating Change crowd that doesn’t support you.

The trans=activist last night chanted that they are ” fighters”.  GO OUT AND FIGHT!  We have your backs.  We’ll even help. But go out and fight against those you need to.  WE ALREADY SUPPORT YOU.

Some personal advice.  Stop worrying about being on a Gay Inc. Board of Directors and get your asses out to City Hall and protest.

Don’t protest the very people who stand up for you already. Thats the easiest way to push people away.

And that’s already been happening.

We won’t even go into the fact that the  member of the trans-community they were protesting for possibly tried to run down and kill  a couple of police officers in s stolen car.  

I’ll leave that for the comments section.

 

 

World Congress of Families LGBT Hate Conference “Opens In Chaos”, Hundreds of Australian Protesters Wreck Havoc

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Aussie Pride WCF From the Austrailan Guardian: 

About 100 protesters blocked the entrance to the Catch the Fire evangelical ministries in the Melbourne suburb of Hallam on Saturday morning, where the controversial World Congress of Families conference was scheduled to begin. Many speakers, including the American campaigner Angela Lanfranchi, who planned to speak on the thoroughly debunked link between breast cancer and abortion, were unable to get through the gates in their cars. Their path was blocked by protesters holding signs with slogans such as “Our bodies are our property” and “Women are not incubators”. More than 30 police officers formed their own barrier on the opposite side of the gate in the quiet street of Star Crescent, located in an industrial area. It forced attendees to trickle through the gates one by one as church security struggled to establish whether they had registered. The Monty Python satirical song Every Sperm is Sacred boomed from a sound system organised by protesters. The protests were vocal, but largely peaceful. Two protesters were arrested as others chanted “What’s the charge?”

Austrailia’s The Age adds:

One protester managed to sneak in as a registered guest, storming the stage and pouring fake blood over herself in front of NSW MP, the Reverend Fred Nile and his wife. “We don’t want your backyard abortions,” she yelled, before being marched out. Guests at the event were visibly rattled by the breach and turned to prayer as the woman was ushered outside. But despite ongoing protests at the gate throughout the day, the rest of the conference was incident free. Controversial American breast cancer doctor Angela Lafranchi was one of the headline acts, pushing her research suggesting a link between abortion and breast cancer. Reverend Nile, leader of the NSW Christian Democrats, called for more Christians to get involved in politics. And Paul Hanrahan, the executive director of Family Life International Australia, used his speech to suggest abortion was worse than terrorism in Syria. “Many people lately have been upset at the terrible atrocities being committed in the name of religion in Iraq and Syria and other places. Terrorists and terrorists’ kids holding severed heads is certainly gruesome. Answer me this: how is it worse?” he asked.

On a related note from September 26th – 28th the Family Research Council hate group will be running it’s own anti-gay conference called the Values Voter Summit which will be held at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C. Perhaps this year some American LGBT activist will show up and make thier presence known that they will not stand for hate parading undering the guise of politics or religion. (Yes GetEQUAL I am talking to YOU!)

LGBT Activist Stand Up To Scott Lively At DC Presser For His New Anti-Gay Hate Group – Video

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Lively Loser Press Conference

Two brave LGBT activists; Ellen Sturtz and Viacheslav Revin disrupted a  press conference today held at the National Press Club by Scott “Crimes Against Humanity” Lively to announce the new anti-gay hate group he has formed in partnership with his BFF Porno Pete LaBarbera.

When questioned by the Sturtz who translated for the Russian born Revin about Lively’s involvement spreading LGBT hate in his country and others Lively got defensive and almost borderline hysterical:

“Every time we come forward to speak the truth from our perspective, we are interrupted by homofascists! THIS is what we call homofascism! I would like to know if there is security! We rented this room!” National Press Club Security guards ejected the pair, but not before Sturtz declared, “I am – I swear Scott – a homofascist! Stop the killing that is going on in your name in Uganda and Russia!”

Fascism sure has changed over the years. In the 1930s and 1940s, it was about corporations owning the government while they backed murderous thugs who let them do so. Millions died because of it.  Sounds more like what Lively and his ilk are doing.  Instead of corporations it “Christians” trying to push and own the governments into backing murderous thugs against the LGBT people.

So really Lively.  Who’s the fascist?

International Olympic Committee Backs Russia On Arrest and Beatings Of LGBT Protesters

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Nazi IOCReports have upped the number of LGBT protesters arrested in Russia yesterday at well past 60 with many reporting being harassed and beaten by Police.  And guess what?  The International Committee appears to be just fine and dandy it.

“We understand that the protesters were quickly released,” Emmanuelle Moreau, the IOC’s head of media relations, said in an email to BuzzFeed. “As in many countries in the world, in Russia, you need permission before staging a protest. We understand this was the reason that they were temporarily detained.

Unfortunately in Russia you can’t get permission to stage an LGBT protest because LGBT protests are outlawed.

Raise your hand if you are really surprised.

Watch Rachel Maddow’s report on the arrests here.

43 Arrested at Idaho State House for Demanding LGBT’s Be Added To The Idaho Human Rights Act‏

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Idaho

Police have arrested 43 gay rights activists, after saying their protest blocked entrances to the Idaho Senate chambers for more than two hours demanding protections for LGBT individuals. .

Former state Sen. Nicole LeFavour, the Idaho Legislature’s first openly gay lawmaker and an organizer of the protest, had said the group would block the entrances until lawmakers agreed to take up a bill adding protections for gay and transgender people to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

If lawmakers “get a bill through committee, we would let them in to do their work,” said LeFavour, before she and the others were arrested.

The arrests began after Senate President Pro Tem Republican Brent Hill attempted to enter the chamber about 11 a.m. but was blocked

“We respect your right to protest, but we also have the right to do the job people elected us to do,” Hill told the protestors, adding it was “irresponsible” of demonstrators to block the hearing room. “Those are the chambers, and they belong to all the people, not just this group.”

The demonstrators wore “Add the Words Idaho” T-shirts and covered their mouths with their hands, a symbolic gesture intended to call attention to a bill adding workplace and housing protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals to state law.

Hill, Rand other Idaho Republicans have blocked passage of such a proposal for eight years.

Hill said he sought to avoid a confrontation by telling his members to remain outside the chambers until the protesters had vacated the entrances.

Protesters, who ranged from high school age to their 60s, said they wanted to make a point.