Giovanni di Giovanni (1350 – 1365) is one of the youngest victims of the campaign against homosexuality waged in 14th-century Florence., Italy.
Giovanni’s persecution came on the heels of the Black Death, the bubonic plague epidemic which had ravaged the city two years earlier. Some of the most influential people of the religious establishment, such as Bernardino of Siena, blamed sodomites for having brought the wrath of God down on the heads of the populace. The “remedy” they promoted was to purify the city of evil by means of fire, leading to burnings at the stake and other punishments (red-hot iron) such as that suffered by poor young boy.
Di Giovanni was labeled “a public and notorious passive sodomite” and convicted by the Podestà court of being the passive partner of a number of different men. His punishment was to be paraded on the back of an ass, then to be publicly castrated. Finally, he was to have his anus burned with a red-hot iron (or, as the sentence read: “[punished] in that part of the body where he allowed himself to be known in sodomitical practice”)
He did not survive the ordeal.
So as you can see extremist Christians have blamed the misfortune and disasters that fell upon them on homosexuals for centuries and we have been persecuted and murdered us because of their hatred and bigotry.
A transgender woman has been arrested and charged with the violent stabbing death of a cab driver in Portland, Oregon over the weekend.
Local reports say the fare for the short drive was only about $8, but ended up costing the man his life when his rider suddenly stabbed him in the neck with a knife, seemingly for no reason at all.
The trans woman who has only been identified only by her birth name Moses Jacob Lopez was found standing outside the car covered in blood she was quickly arrested and has since been charged with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
A spokesman for the cab company said footage from the car’s onboard camera proved the attack was “Vicious, senseless and brutal, adding, “There was no conversation. No altercation. Nothing.”
Lopez, has a well-documented history of making violent threats, having once posted to social media in 2015 that then he wished he were a woman so he could assault other women without facing the same consequences.
Just before the Hillsboro arrest, Lopez had been charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of weapon and two counts of menacing. She missed her court hearing on April 6, and a warrant was issued for her arrest — three days before she allegedly murdered the cab driver
UPDATE – 04/19/2023: On Wednesday evening, police named the deceased victim as 43-year-old Reese McDowell Lawhon. A spokesman for Radio Cab told local media their driver had recently found his biological parents and was hoping to meet them for the first time.
At Lopez’s arraignment on Monday, she pleaded not guilty to both charges. She wore her hair in a bun and still had eye makeup visible.
Lopez worked as a certified nursing assistant for around a decade but Oregon state nursing records show she was fired from an unnamed medical facility in June 2021.
“Information gathered in the [Oregon State Board of Nursing]’s investigation show that from 2019 through 2021, CNA engaged in abusive and threatening behavior towards co-workers,” reads the probation order from February 2022.
While police have not released any information about a possible motive, the Easter Sunday stabbing murder happened in the context of a surge of trans activists encouraging violence and making threats on social media as revenge
prison – NOUN – pris·on – a state of confinement or captivity.
“I am going to shoot up and bomb your offices for lying and creating fake definitions in order to pander to the tranny mafia. Boys aren’t girls, and girls aren’t boys. The only good Marxist is a dead Marxist. I will assassinate your top editor. You sickening, vile tranny freaks.”
Jeremy David Hanson was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting to sending threats (see above) to Springfield-based Merriam-Webster because he was furious over the dictionary’s inclusion of gender-inclusive definitions.
Between Oct. 2 through Oct. 8, 2021, Hanson repeatedly sent threatening messages through the Contact Us page promising to bomb the MW HQ and hurt employees.
US Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said in a news release: “Hate has no place in Massachusetts. Mr. Hanson made numerous, anonymous hate-fueled threats of violence to intimidate and instill fear. Hateful and bigoted acts, even if only spoken like those committed by Mr. Hanson, terrorize communities and are destructive to our society.
Rollin urged people to report instances of hate toward the LGBT community by calling 1-83-END-H8-NOW (1-833-634-8669).
Times Square was full of people while the attack occurred, but no one intervened to help.
The two men were walking around Times Square at around 10:30 p.m. on April 8th. when they were targeted and attacked by four suspects in Times Square.
“They come up to us and they’re like,’ you need to move’. They’re like, ‘You need to move..’ They started pushing us,” The suspects reportedly used profanity and made anti-gay comments while they were beating the couple.
The couple also said that Times Square was full of people while the attack occurred, but no one intervened to help. No suspects have been arrested yet.
We will update this story as more details become available. Please stay safe.
Jonathan Schmitz was 24-years-old when his acquaintance Scott Amedure revealed he was romantically interested in him during the March 5th, 1995 taping of “The Jenny Jones Show,’ on secret admirers.
Schmitz, who said he wasn’t gay, later fatally shot Amedure in Lake Orion. Michigan three days later.
Schmitz turned himself in to police, saying he killed Amedure because he was embarrassed on national television.
Schmitz stated that he went on the show out of curiosity, and he later claimed that the producers implied that his admirer was a woman, although the producers of the show claim that they did tell Schmitz that the admirer could be male or female.
According to footage of the murder trial, it was later stated by a friend of Amedure’s that Amedure and Schmitz went out drinking together the night of the taping and an alleged sexual encounter occurred. According to the testimony at the murder trial, three days after the taping, Amedure left a “suggestive” note at Schmitz’s house. After finding the note, Schmitz withdrew money from the bank, purchased a shotgun, and then went to Amedure’s mobile home. He questioned Amedure about the note. Schmitz then returned to his car, took his gun, and returned to Amedure’s trailer. He then shot Amedure twice in the chest, killing him.
Schmitz was sentenced 25 to 50 years for second-degree murder.
Schmitz, now 47, was granted parole after a March 2017 hearing and was released from Parnall Correctional Institution after serving 22 years.
Scott Amedure’s older brother, Frank Amedure Jr. said he’s troubled by the parole decision and that he’s unsure Schmitz ‘learned what he should have’ in prison.
‘I wanted assurance that the (parole board’s) decision was not based on just good behavior in prison,’ he said.
‘I’d like to know that he learned something, that he’s a changed man, is no longer homophobic and has gotten psychological care.’
In 1999, the Amedure family sued The Jenny Jones Show, Telepictures, and Warner Bros. for the ambush tactics and, as the Amedure family saw it, their supposedly negligent role that led to Amedure’s death. In May of that year, the jury awarded the Amedures $25 million dollars. The jury found that The Jenny Jones Show was both irresponsible and negligent, contending that the show intentionally created an explosive situation without due concern for the possible consequences.
The judgment was later overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a 2-to-1 decision. The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
The episode was never publicly aired in it’s entirety until many years after the incident.
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The Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany is one of the largest LGBT museums in the world.
On February 24, museum employees discovered evidence of an attack on the institution’s building. Two window panes, the illuminated sign with the museum’s name, and a work of art hanging in front of the entrance door were damaged by gunfire.
‘I think it’s important to state that we don’t know who did this or why’, Ben Miller, historian and board member of the museum, told Dazed Magazine. ‘However, I’m not sure it’s possible to think about this incident without considering the right-wing, anti-queer mobilization that we’re seeing around the world. And I think it’s fair to say that we are certainly the target of that kind of mobilization in general.’ Physical attacks aside, the museum has also experienced Neo-Nazi demonstrations as well as regular threats from phone calls and on social media..
The damaged piece of artwork is a part of Elizabeth Sweeney’s the Unrelenting (2022), created for the ongoing exhibition Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer, on view through 29 May. The black triangular piece hanging outside the museum references the badges used by the Nazis to label and stigmatize a diverse range of people.
*Texas Pastors/Brothers Arrested On Child Sex Charges: Two Leon County brothers with pastoral leadership positions at churches in Centerville and Buffalo were arrested following grand jury indictments Wednesday. The duo is accused of sexually assaulting at least five children, according to authorities.
Mississippi Youth Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges: An east Tupelo youth pastor accused of having sex with a 16-year-old church member was ordered held without bond Thursday. Alexander Blackwelder, 26, of Tupelo, is charged with two counts of sexual battery and enticement of a child to produce visual depictions of adult sexual conduct.
MA Youth Pastor Sentenced To 3-4 Years For Child Rape: The vulnerable teens were steered toward a local United Methodist Church — and into the path of a lay pastor, a man who, though not ordained, had been given a type of license by the church to work as a youth minister. On Thursday, Russell Woodman Davis, 70, pleaded guilty to raping and attempting to rape the three boys at various times between 1988 and 2006, in Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury.
*Imprisoned NC Pastor Hit With New Child Sex Charges: Less than two years after being sentenced to prison for sex crimes involving three juvenile victims, Stephen Arthur Morris of Four Oaks was returned to Johnston County today (Thursday) to be formally charged with four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and one count of first-degree sex offense with a minor.
Illinois Church Choir Director Gets 88 Years For Child Porn: A Normal man was sentenced to 88 years in prison on Wednesday for criminal sexual assault of a minor and possession of child pornography. Michael D. Schneider worked as a staff member at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington before his arrest in June 2021 on the felony charges.
*FL Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced To 25 Years For Child Sex: 50-year-old Paul Mauricio will be spending the next 25 years behind bars for sex crimes involving a 12-year-old girl. As part of a plea deal, Mauricio, who was an eight-year veteran of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty to four out of seven sexual assault charges.
GOP Rep Censured For Comment On Fatal Child Abuse: An Alaska lawmaker with a history of incendiary remarks was censured by the state House Wednesday after he said it has been argued that cases of fatal child abuse can be a “cost savings” because the child won’t need related government services.
And they‘ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they‘ll know we are Christians by our love
North Dakota Catholic Priest Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges: According to Jamestown Police, 48-year-old Father Neil Pfeifer was arrested in Rugby, North Dakota on Wednesday. Pfeifer has been under investigation since Jan. 13 when Jamestown Police were contacted by a person accusing Pfeifer of sexual assault at St. James Basilica in Jamestown while seeking therapy from him.
*Christian School Accuses Staff Of Embezzling Millions: A Utah-based Christian K-12 academy fired four top administrators for their alleged involvement in what is potentially a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme involving tuition funds.
*Wisconsin Pastor Gets 45 Days In Underage Prostitution Sting: On Wednesday, Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger in Minnesota sentenced Jason James Taylor, formerly a pastor at Calvary Chapel Solid Rock in New Richmond, to serve 45 days in Washington County Jail for his conviction on a single felony count of prostitution involving a teen 16 to 17 years old.
*Church School Principal Indicted On Child Sex Charges: A principal at a parochial school in Genesee County is accused of sexually abusing a child when he was a teacher several years ago. A Grand Jury indictment unsealed Monday says Jason R. Clark “engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a child less than eleven years old.”
Pope Francis addressed discrimination against the LGBT community, his own health and future plans, and the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, among other things, in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press published Wednesday.
We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are.” Francis reiterated, however, church teaching that engaging in homosexual activity is sinful.”It’s a sin,” Francis said, adding: “Let’s make the distinction first between sin and crime.” The pope also clarified that discriminating against others was also sinful, saying: “It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another.
Francis said the church “must” work to get unjust laws abolished around the world.
Same-sex sexual acts are considered crimes in some 67 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, according to the Human Dignity Trust organization. In 11 of those countries, punishment can include the death penalty.
The Catholic Church teaching says that gay people must be welcomed into the church and treated with respect and kindness, despite the fact that homosexual acts are considered “intrinsically disordered.”
A man from out-of-state was abducted at gunpoint in Boystown by two men who robbed and carjacked him before dumping him in Auburn Gresham on Christmas Eve, according to Chicago police
The 26-year-old told police he was walking near Halsted Street and Cornelia Avenue in the heart of Boystown when two men wearing dark clothing and ski masks confronted him with a handgun around 10 p.m. Saturday, a Chicago police spokesperson said. Both offenders demanded the man’s property and forced him to get into his 2021 Kia, which was parked on Cornelia just across from Hydrate nightclub, a police report said.
“A fight broke out inside the victim’s car while the men drove away with him inside the Kia, according to the police spokesperson. The robbers stopped at an ATM and forced the victim to withdraw money, and they eventually dropped him off in the 8300 block of South Kerfoot.
In July of 2022 a two-hour violent crime spree hit Boystown. According to police information, one victim was severely beaten, another was carjacked, and at least four street robberies were reported in the Halsted nightlife district.
