Tag Archives: Rainbow Flag

12 Year Old Beaten Up In Florida Schoolyard For Wearing Gay PRIDE Flag [WARNING: Sensitive Video]

12 Year Old Beaten Up At Florida School For Wearing Gay PRIDE Flag [WARNING: Sensitive Video]

EXCLUSIVE, Featured, Gay News From Around The Globe, , , , , ,

Leo Hoffman, a 12-year-old is child was beaten up at Seminole Middle School in Largo, Florida last weekend for wearing a rainbow PRIDE flag as a cape at a Memorial Day weekend school event.

Leo was at a picnic at their middle school during when a male student confronted them. The boy grabbed the flag and put it in the garbage, but Leo went to get it back.

Another boy took the flag away again and pushed Leo to the ground and stepped on them. A melee between students then ensured with a tug-of-war with the flag between those standing up for Leo and those who attacked him.

Dr. Michael Moss, principal of the school said\ the alleged attack during the Memorial Day weekend and that five of the main boys involved have been suspended and others were assigned to an alternative school.

“We teach our students to accept and respect everyone for who they are. This is a district that values diversity and promotes inclusion.

Video of the attack has been shared online by Leo’s sister Ashleigh, and has gone viral.

The school is now set to introduce an anti-bullying program when the students return later in the year .

Pentagon Bans Confederate Flags on Military Property But That Also Includes Rainbow PRIDE Flags

Pentagon Bans Confederate Flags on Military Property But That Also Includes Rainbow PRIDE Flags

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, , , ,

Via Politico:

The Pentagon on Friday unveiled a new policy that effectively bans the display of the Confederate flag — without actually naming it.

The policy, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO ahead of the official rollout, reflects an effort to find a compromise on the divisive issue, as Defense Secretary Mark Esper strives to satisfy military leaders without irking President Donald Trump, who has criticized NASCAR for banning the flag.

A draft version of the policy reportedly explicitly banned the Confederate flag on Defense Department property. Yet the official language simply lists the types of flags that are allowed to be displayed, including the American flag; the flags of the U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia; military flags and those of allies.

“The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols,” Esper wrote in the memo. The guidance applies to the public displays of flags by service members or DoD civilians “in all DoD work places, common access areas, and public areas.

By not enumerating it, the memo also effectively bans the LGBT Rainbow Pride flag.

Rudy Coots, president of DOD (Department of Defense) Pride, objects to the new policy because it would change Pride displays and events at the Pentagon.

“We were shocked to learn DOD’s new policy on the public display of flags bans the Rainbow Pride Flag from DOD workplaces,

Banning the Rainbow Pride Flag will have the opposite effect of the policy’s intended purpose of improving morale, cohesion and readiness. For LGBT soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and civilians protecting our nation each and every day, and their allies, the flag is a joyous symbol of hope, acceptance and accomplishment that should continue to be displayed proudly.”

“It’s absolutely outrageous that Defense Secretary Mark Esper would ban the Pride flag — the very symbol of inclusion and diversity,” said Jennifer Dane, interim executive director for the Modern Military Association of America . “In what universe is it OK to turn an opportunity to ban a racist symbol like the Confederate flag into an opportunity to ban the symbol of diversity? This decision sends an alarming message to LGBT service members, their families and future recruits.”

QAnon Nut Republican Marjorie Traitor Greene Co-Sponsors Bill to Ban Rainbow Pride Flag

American Embassy Defies Trump and Putin, Displays PRIDE Flag in Moscow

Featured, Gay News From Around The Globe, , , , ,

Earlier this month the Trump administration ordered American embassies in foreign countries not to display the rainbow PRIDE flag. In Russia itself it as seen as a symbol of LGBT propaganda and against the law. But that did not stop the American embassy in Moscow which is proudly and definitely displaying the flag for all to see.

” “LGBTI rights are human rights. Human rights are universal,” said the caption on the embassy’s Instagram page. “Pride Month is designed to emphasize that everyone deserves to live a life free of hate, prejudice, and persecution.”

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that they “can’t see the American embassy from the Kremlin,” but said that “any manifestations of propaganda of non-traditional sexual minorities, and so on, is not allowed by law in our country.”

Yesterday millions of Russians took to the polls to vote on a package of constitutional amendments, including one which would enshrine marriage as being between a man and a woman. In March, the country’s Constitutional Court approved the proposal, but noted that it would not remove the state’s obligation to respect differences, including sexual orientation.

We will post the results of the vote when the numbers become available.

57+ LGBT Candidates Are Running For Congress

California City Bans Flying of Rainbow Pride Flag At City Hall After Bigoted Residents Descend On Council Meeting

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, Of Interest, , , , ,

Dublin, California a suburban city east of the gay mecca of San Francisco has decided it will not fly the Rainbow Pride flag over city hall after it was proposed by a gay city council member and then contested by a a group of bigoted residents.

At a city council meeting the bigots spoke loudly, asking if the city then has to fly the Confederate flag or the Black Lives Matter flag, or a communist flag.

Dublin resident Josh Rodriguez wearing a MAGA cap stated that the rainbow flag “ was not all inclusive” because the LGBT acronym doesn’t include the letter “S” for Straight. And another bigot spewed even worse anti-gay propaganda saying: “At the end of the day, I believe there is another letter that to the end that is being propagated actually at our state capital right now and that is “P” for pedophile.”

Councilmember Shawn Kumagai who proposed the flying of the rainbow flag to celebrate Pride Month said : “As a gay man and growing up through the marriage equality fight and serving in the military under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I know we have some work to do in this area.”

Dublin has a population of about 46,036 residents and 28,798 registered voters with 12,071 (41.9%) registered as Democrats, 5,044 (17.5%) registered as Republicans, and 10,505 (36.5%) decline to state voters.[

Ironically since 1992, Dublin has been a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections. 

Cardinal Removes Chicago Priest Who Exorcised and Burned Rainbow Flag

Cardinal Removes Chicago Priest Who Exorcised and Burned Rainbow Flag

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, Religious Morons and Anti-Gay Idiots, , ,

Last week we reported on the Chicago priest the Rev. Paul Kalchik who burnt an LGBT church banner after performing an exorcism on it. 

Well the Chicago Archdiocese was not amused. 

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The priest who ignited controversy last week by burning an LGBT-friendly flag on church grounds against the orders of Cardinal Blase Cupich [photo] has been removed from his Avondale parish. Cupich sent two of his top deputies to Resurrection Catholic Church on Friday to notify the Rev. Paul Kalchik that he was being removed as pastor, according to two sources close to the priest.

In a letter to parishioners and staff released Saturday evening by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cupich wrote that he has “become increasingly concerned about a number of issues at Resurrection Parish. “It has become clear to me that Fr. Kalchik must take time away from the parish to receive pastoral support so his needs can be assessed,” Cupich wrote.

“I have a responsibility to be supportive of our priests when they have difficulties, but I also have a duty to ensure that those who serve our faithful are fully able to minister to them in the way the Church expects,” Cupich wrote.

From the looks of his picture above of Rev. Paul Kalchik , that rainbow banner isn’t the only thing that was flaming

 

 

*** Help support Independent LGBT Media. 

Back2Stonewall.com unlike many other LGBT websites’does not allow intrusive ads or a paywalls.

Please consider making a donation no matter how small to help with the upkeep and maintenance of our website and keep Independent LGBT news and history alive.  

Our annual fundraiser will close December 31, 2018

Thank you.

Human Rights Campaign Adds Black and Brown Stripe To Rainbow Flag At DC Headquarters

Human Rights Campaign Adds Black and Brown Stripe To Rainbow Flag At DC Headquarters

Featured, Idiots, Of Interest, ,

Well they did it. And of course they did it without asking any of us.

The Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT communities failure of a civil rights advocacy agency  has installed a rainbow flag window cling at their new DC headquarters of the iconic rainbow flag created by Gilbert Baker by request of Harvey Milk to include a  brown and black stripe to be more inclusive of people of color.

The updated flag first introduced in Philadelphia during Pride 2017 to help smooth the city’s ongoing racial problems and generated a major backlash. With many saying that the original rainbow flag was made to be inclusive for everyone and members of the QPOC community claiming that those opposed to the black and brown stripes were “racist”.

There is no evidence that anyone wanted this racialized flag and the one poll on it, from Whitman Insight Strategies, showed that the majority of LGB and T people were not in favor of the change. 

The colors never represented any one group before.  It only represented diversity. It was a list of all the groups that count in diversity. So, now HRC who refuses to be accountable to no one least of all the community they represent by forging ahead with this change. Now with the addition of race to “our Rainbow” it totally changes the focus of what OUR flag represents.

With all of the attacks on LGBT people in this nation right now, the last thing we need is something to cause division among us.

HRC would not respond to requests from Back2Stonewall.com for a statement.

Harvey Milk Children's Picture Book Teaches Kids About Gay History

Harvey Milk Children’s Picture Book Teaches Kids About Gay History

Featured, Gay History, Of Interest, , , , ,

A new children’s book, “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag,” written by Rob Sanders and illustrated by Steven Salerno tells the story of famed gay activist Harvey Milk and his collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the man who in 1978 designed what has become one of the most iconic symbols for the LGBT community: the rainbow pride flag.

The book starts with the story of Harvey Milk — described as “an ordinary man” with “an extraordinary dream” — and his path to becoming in 1977 one of the first openly gay people elected to public office in the U.S. The story then goes on to describe Milk’s collaboration with Baker in the creation of the rainbow pride flag, which debuted on June 25, 1978, at San Francisco’s gay pride march.

Sanders stressed that it is important to share the stories of historical figures like Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in November 1978, and Gilbert Baker, who died just last year, to a new generation to ensure the impact of such individuals isn’t lost or forgotten.

 “I think it’s important for kids to learn about history in general, and that our history as the LGBTQ community is part of that history, and this needs to be recognized,” Sanders said. “History is history, and we need to know and be informed about it.”

 It is a feeling of hope that the author of “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag” wants children to take away from reading the book.

“There are four words repeated throughout this book: equality, pride, hope and love,” Sanders said. “That’s a message I would like for kids to grab a hold of, that those four words are what Harvey and Gilbert and the flag are about, and that’s what we as a community are still striving to have.”

 

National Park Service Pulls Out Of Rainbow Flag Dedication At Stonewall Monument Last Minute

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, , , ,

 

Well many of you predicted it.

Andy Humm reports at Gay City News:

What should have been a celebration dedicating the raising of the Rainbow Flag at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village on October 11 at noon turned into another attack on LGBTQ people by the Trump administration in a week full of such attacks.

The National Park Service’s Barbara Applebaum, who arranged the permit for the event, dropped out as a speaker at the ceremony — her office citing a schedule conflict — and organizers of the event said in a release that the Park Service dropped its sponsorship of the event.

When it saw the pre-publicity on the ceremony, the National Park Service under Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Department of the Interior worked to certify that the flagpole adjacent to Christopher Park was not technically on federal land so that no Rainbow Flag would be flying on US government property.

Ann Northrop, co-host of Gay USA, who will preside over the dedication, said, “This is an unbelievably petty, sleazy, transparent bit of cruelty by the Trump administration. Evidently, we are so filthy to them and their right-wing supporters that they can’t even be associated with a few yards of rainbow fabric.”

The war has begun. Will you step away from the computer and be on the front lines?

AFA’s Batshit Bryan Fischer: If The Confederate Flag Goes The Rainbow Flag Has To Go Too – Video

Featured, Religious Morons and Anti-Gay Idiots, , , , ,

American Family Association spokes-douche Bryan Fischer is at it again calling for the rainbow PRIDE flag to be banned because it’s ‘offensive’ to straight people on his AFA radio show ‘Fecal Focal Point’. 

There’s a lot of effort right now to get rid of the Confederate flag. There’s a public school system in North Carolina because it is divisive. No more Confederate flag.

There’s another symbol that is just as divisive… If we are going to ban the Confederate flag because it is divisive, how about we ban the LGBT flag at school?

If we are going to ban the Confederate flag at school because it creates division, because it is offensive to people, I propose that everywhere the Confederate flag is banned, at the same time the LGBT rainbow flag [should] be banned, at exactly the same time for exactly the same reasons.

It is offensive, it is contrary to our most deeply held values, it divides people, it does not bring them together.

It’s time to have the LGBT flag banned right alongside the Confederate flag. If we’re going to ban one, I submit we need to ban the other.

Back in 2015 the American Family Association hate group, which runs American Family Radio, pretended to fire Fischer in 2015 for comparing gays to Nazis after senior Republican lawmakers faced questions over their financial ties to the AFA.

Source: Pink News

 

Redneck Gun Humpers Use Rainbow Flag Colored Targets For Shooting Contest

Featured, Of Interest, , ,

rainbow targets

 

Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate:

Organizers of an Oklahoma race are coming under fire for a picture they posted on their Facebook page. It appears they’re using the LGBT rainbow flag as a shooting target. The post angered many people who took it as a direct threat to the LGBT community. Event organizers say they did not expect the response they got and that it was all meant as a joke. The Oklahoma Run ‘n Gun is a biathlon combining running and shooting. They’re promoting their upcoming race in Pawnee on July 18 on their Facebook page, but some are saying one post went too far. “People got really offended and really upset and people were really feeling threatened,” said Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Troy Stevenson. The picture shows two men with rifles standing beside a rainbow flag and the caption reads “new high visibility targets on the 500 yard range.” “People took it as a threat, people felt very threatened,” said Stevenson.

The event organizers lawyer Daniel Hensch – (405) 880-0506; and Al Cockrell – (918) 693-3257 tried to say that the image was supposed to be a joking response to complaints that their targets were difficult to see and aid they were part of a fitness and liberty-minded group and not a hate group. Who of course just happened to use the exact 6 colors in order of the Pride Flag

Oklahoma Run ‘n Gun Facebook / KFOR News Channel 4