Last week, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro called for a ban on superhero comic book because of ‘sexual content’ he deemed unsuitable for minors. The ‘content’ in question occurs in the three-year-old Marvel publication Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. In one panel of the graphic novel, the characters Wiccan and Hulkling, who are in a committed relationship, engage in a kiss. Why the 2016 publication suddenly caught the eye of the Mayor Marcello Crivella, a former evangelical pastor, now is unclear. But Crivella called for the comic to be banned from the Riocentro Bienal do Livro, Brazil’s most important literary event. Rio de Janeiro’s councilman Alexandre Isquierdo also made a statement calling the imaging an “attempt to propagate homosexuality.” But before authorities could remove the graphic novel, word spread and all copies were almost instantly snapped up by fans. And now, Brazil’s Supreme Court has blocked the efforts to censor the Marvel publication. “Attorney General Raquel Dodge challenged the move by Crivella, a former evangelical pastor,” reports ABC News. “She said allowing the mayor to remove books goes against freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas.” According to the report, a lower court initially supported the mayor, but chief justice José Dias Toffoli “ruled in favor of Dodge on Sunday, blocking the mayor from removing any books.”
This is the gay kiss in a Marvel graphic novel that Rio de Janeiro’s radical Christian mayor Marcello Crivella tried to censor at the city’s biggest book event. That’s the response by Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo. pic.twitter.com/ieIWLC8Ee9
And just to put a point on the subject, Brazil’s largest newspaper Folha De S.Paulothrew shade by printing the image on the front page of the publication. Ha! It’s perfectly legal to be LGBTQ in Brazil (the country has legalized same-sex marriage), but thanks to statements and actions by virulently anti-LGBTQ president Jair Bolsonaro, the gay community has reasons to be concerned. Bolsonaro has announced plans to remove mentions of LGBTQ people from textbooks and classrooms in schools; he’s posted tweets denouncing the country’s annual Carnival event for being too risque; told the world “Brazil can’t be a country of gay tourism” because “we have families.” He’s even told publications he’d rather have a dead son than a gay son. But, today, we celebrate this small triumph (and epic trolling) over hate. (source: ABC News)
An Uber driver kicked two Camden County, N.J. women out of her car after one kissed the other on the cheek. One of the women, Kristin Michele, recorded the incident. From NJ.com:
Kristin Michele and Jenn Mangan were in an Uber on their way to a Zac Brown Band concert in Camden on Friday night when Michele leaned over and gave Mangan a kiss on the cheek, they said.
The driver then immediately told the women to get out of the car, Michele said.
“I said ‘I don’t understand.’ She said ‘I can’t ride with that. You kissed her,’” Michele said. “She said ‘I won’t have that.’”
Michele started recording a video right after that, in which she asks, “Are you kicking me out because I’m gay?” and the driver responds, “Yes, I am. Yes. Get out.”
The women eventually walked half a mile home, and then took a train to their concert. They say they reached out to Uber and the company says they would look into the incident.
Last month, Gavin Grimm, a transgender man who graduated from Gloucester High School in Virginia two years ago, won his long legal battle with his former high school over the right for trans students to use the public bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
But this week, the Gloucester County School Board decided to appeal the federal court ruling in Grimm’s favor.
And so, Gavin Grimm will have to fight his trans ‘bathroom case’ yet again.
Yes, he’s graduated and moved on, but the pro-trans ruling is so important to trans people that you can bet the 20-year-old activist will continue the good fight.
His case dates all the way back to 2014, when he began to transition in his sophomore year of high school.
Grimm began using a men’s restroom and told school administrators what was going on in his life.
But in December of that year, the school board instituted a policy that prohibited Grimm from using the boys’ room.
Grimm filed his initial law suit in 2015 with the aid of the ACLU. Since that time, he has been locked in this never-ending legal.
He finally took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, but the high court sent the case back to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals after the Trump administration reversed Obama-era protections for transgender students in American public schools under Title IX.
The so-called ‘Straight Pride Parade’ in Boston ended up a massive fail for the organizers as only a small number of participants showed up on Saturday while the pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters far outnumbered those marching. From NBC News:
The parade, which drew several dozen participants, kicked off at around noon to the sound of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” with some floats displaying messages of support for President Donald Trump, with signs such as “build the wall,” “Trump nation” and “Blue Lives Matter.”
Since plans for the event were announced in early June, organizers have come under criticism. Some critics said that parade organizers are white supremacists whose intent was to bait members of the LGBT community in one of America’s most liberal cities.
The organisers of a controversial “Straight Pride” rally are heavily linked with far-right movements and nationalist protests, it has emerged. Now questions have been raised over the past political activities of the trio of men behind the group, John Hugo, Mark Sahady, and Chris Bartley.
Mr. Sahady and Mr. Bartley are both heavily associated with Resist Marxism – a loose ultra-conservative group found to have links to white supremacist organisations – while Mr. Hugo ran, unsuccessfully, for congress in 2018 with an endorsement from the same group.
The small crowd that gathered in support of the parade was met with signs and protesters who seemed to outnumber the parade attendees in the early hours.
Boston police donned riot gear in anticipation of potential violence, as the parade was expected to feature an appearance by conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who was set to be the grand marshal and mascot for the parade.
The Proud Boys, a far-right group that often clashes with far-left Antifaduring demonstrations and gatherings, also made an appearance in Boston for the Saturday parade.
Yiannopoulos was first spotted shortly before 1 p.m. donning a glittering “Make America Great Again” hat. The parade began a short time after, and police began using physical force to maintain order as emotions on both sides ran high.
Photojournalist Bob Bishop reports during his speech at the event, Yiannopoulos told the crowd gays should pay reparations to the families of AIDS victims and Hurricane Dorian may be gods punishment to Florida for allowing Disney to create gay characters. More from Bishop: https://twitter.com/sebishop99/status/1167818605800697862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1167818605800697862&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fcollection%2Fcontent%2Fuser%2Ffd6bf860-11d9-45fb-87cf-d7d48c69ac3d%2Fcategory%2Fglobal.all https://twitter.com/sebishop99/status/1167824156957822976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1167824156957822976&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fcollection%2Fcontent%2Fuser%2Ffd6bf860-11d9-45fb-87cf-d7d48c69ac3d%2Fcategory%2Fglobal.all https://twitter.com/sebishop99/status/1167833711271907334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1167833711271907334&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fcollection%2Fcontent%2Fuser%2Ffd6bf860-11d9-45fb-87cf-d7d48c69ac3d%2Fcategory%2Fglobal.all And finally, this little nugget: https://twitter.com/sebishop99/status/1167866975365656576 Remember, according to the Straight Pride organizers:
“Super Happy Fun America advocates on behalf of the straight community in order to build respect, inclusivity, equality, diversity, unity, solidarity, dignity, social mobility, empowerment, sustainability, justice, awareness, intersectionality, human rights, education, access, participation, dialogue, visibility, tolerance, and alliances with people from all walks of life.
“We encourage everyone to embrace our community’s diverse history, culture, and identity regardless of sexual orientation.”
Hungarian lawmakers approved a new constitution Monday that was blasted by rights groups and the political opposition for measures considered extremely conservative. Some of the changes to the current constitution include: * Ban on same-sex marriage * Protects the life of a fetus from conception opening the possibility to future ban or restriction on abortion * Ban on discrimination does not include age or sexual orientation * Tax and pension law changes require a two-thirds majority “We’ve just participated in a historical moment,” parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover said moments after the bill was approved 262-44. “The new constitution is built upon our past and traditions, but seeks and contains answers to current problems while keeping an eye on the future.” Hungary’s current constitution dates from 1949, near the start of the communist regime but it was almost fully rewritten during the 1989 transition to democracy. Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in January.
Last week, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro called for a ban on superhero comic book because of ‘sexual content’ he deemed unsuitable for minors. The ‘content’ in question occurs in the three-year-old Marvel publication Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. In one panel of the graphic novel, the characters Wiccan and Hulkling, who are in a committed relationship, engage in a kiss. Why the 2016 publication suddenly caught the eye of the Mayor Marcello Crivella, a former evangelical pastor, now is unclear. But Crivella called for the comic to be banned from the Riocentro Bienal do Livro, Brazil’s most important literary event. Rio de Janeiro’s councilman Alexandre Isquierdo also made a statement calling the imaging an “attempt to propagate homosexuality.” But before authorities could remove the graphic novel, word spread and all copies were almost instantly snapped up by fans. And now, Brazil’s Supreme Court has blocked the efforts to censor the Marvel publication. “Attorney General Raquel Dodge challenged the move by Crivella, a former evangelical pastor,” reports ABC News. “She said allowing the mayor to remove books goes against freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas.” According to the report, a lower court initially supported the mayor, but chief justice José Dias Toffoli “ruled in favor of Dodge on Sunday, blocking the mayor from removing any books.” 
