(screen capture via 7News Miami) The latest news regarding the incident at the Wilton Manors Pride event on Saturday which left one attendee dead and another hospitalized appears to have been unintentional. From the AP:
A member of a men’s chorus group unintentionally slammed into fellow chorists at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one member of the group and seriously injuring another, the group’s director said Sunday, clarifying initial speculation that it was a hate crime directed at the gay community.
The 77-year-old driver was taken into custody, but police said no charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing.
The elderly driver had ailments that prevented him from walking, according to a statement Sunday from Fort Lauderdale Police, who said he was cooperating with the investigation and there was no evidence drugs or alcohol was involved.
Wilton Manors Vice Mayor Paul Rolli told the AP in a phone interview, “The early investigation now indicates it looks like it was a tragic accident, but nobody’s saying finally what it is.” Out Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis was present when the incident occurred and told WPLG it had been a deliberate attack. “This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” Trantalis said. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.”
Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton says “It was a pure accident” and asks for prayer for families impacted. @WPTVpic.twitter.com/bjRKlyZW8C
A crash at the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade initially drew speculation that it was a hate crime directed at the gay community. But the community’s mayor said the early investigation shows it was an accident. https://t.co/RAyf3YLa1B
(screen capture) Tragedy struck the twilight Stonewall Pride march in Wilton Manors, Florida on Saturday leaving one person dead and two others are injured after a truck drove into attendees just before the beginning of the event. The pickup truck driver appeared to be part of the march but then suddenly accelerated when he was told he was next in the procession according to WSVN-TV.
Photos from the scene where a truck drove into a crowd taking part in The Stonewall Pride Parade and Street Festival in Wilton Manors. Rep. Wasserman Schultz is seen reacting to the incident. @SunSentinelpic.twitter.com/UAIaa7yRTe
Two adults were transported to a local hospital where one later died, according to a police spokesman. The other remains hospitalized with serious injuries but is expected to survive. A third victim is in a stable condition. The car narrowly missed a vehicle carrying Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was clearly “deeply shaken” but unharmed.
I am deeply shaken and devastated that a life was lost and others seriously injured at tonight’s @WiltonManorsCty Stonewall #Pride Parade. My staff, volunteers and I are thankfully safe.
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) June 20, 2021
We’re praying for the victims and their loved ones as law enforcement investigates, and I am providing them with whatever assistance I can. I am so heartbroken by what took place at this celebration. May the memory of the life lost be for a blessing.
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) June 20, 2021
The event was canceled and and an investigation is underway according to Wilton Mayor Scott Newton in a statement to the press. Out Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis was in attendance and told WPLG he believed it was a deliberate attack. “This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” he said. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.” But later reports indicate the incident may have been an accident. At this point in time there hasn’t been any definitive announcement.
This may be an extremely tragic accident, not an attack. Driver saying his foot got stuck between the gas and brake. He was wearing a Ft Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus tee. 😭
— 🔱🧜🏽♀️🔱Neptune’s Daughter🔮🐚🐳🐬🦀🐠🐡🐙🦑🐟 (@TurtleTears) June 20, 2021
It seems increasingly probable it was an accident. Still filled w sadness.
Justin Knight, the President of the Fort Lauderdale’s Gay Men’s Chorus, confirmed in a statement that the driver was “part of the Chorus family.” Knight added, “To my knowledge, this was not an attack on the LGBTQ community.” Local10 reporter Christian De La Rosa, who witnessed the incident, reports the driver was taken into custody. “He appeared to be part of the parade,” he noted, “he was wearing a Pride shirt.” Some theorize the jump to believe the incident was an ‘attack’ is due, in part, to a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in April which assigns civil immunity to anyone who drives a vehicle into protesters that are blocking a road during a “riot.”
Juneteenth was finally made a federal holiday this year to observe this date in 1865, when word of emancipation finally reached enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Here’s to the work that still has to be done so that everyone is truly free in EVERY way, starting with the Voting Rights Act.
By the way – did you know Opal Lee, who fought for years for Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday, is from my home town of Fort Worth, Texas?
For the first time in nearly 40 years, Juneteenth was officially made a national holiday. and just in time for Saturday’s 156th anniversary of the day that marks the last African American slaves being freed in Texas in the wake of the Civil War. https://t.co/s5muNQjf8Epic.twitter.com/gy41CYtO9d
Now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday, take a minute to learn about Opal Lee—the woman who did more than anyone to make it happen. Let’s follow her lead and try to leave our grandkids a better world than the one we came up in. https://t.co/r2NhXQxd60
Norm Lewis (screen capture) Some news items you might have missed: • YouTube: Music theater fans – somehow I missed (but caught up on) this terrific virtual gala concert benefiting the Lyric Opera of Chicago starring Broadway stars including Gavin Creel, Nikki Renée Daniels, Norm Lewis (above) and more. Click on the link, watch and enjoy 🙂 • Instinct Magazine: Fashion designer Michael Costello (a Project Runway alumn), added fuel to the Chrissy Teigen fire this week when he alleged the model and TV personality cyber bullied him with hate speech and had him blackballed in the industry. And then, folks came out with their own accusations about Costello. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Make sure you click over to Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like Get Out Magazine: • NBC News: LGBTQ civil servants and service members were systematically fired or forced to resign due to their sexual orientation or gender identity over the past seven decades, and a proposed bill is seeking to have the federal government issue an official apology acknowledging its past discriminatory policies. • Media Matters: Nearly a dozen of the Fox News guests the network has presented as concerned parents or educators who oppose the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” in schools also have day jobs as Republican strategists, conservative think-tankers, or right-wing media personalities. • Out Music: Out singer/songwriter Paul Bellantoni, drops his first solo release since 2013, “Illusions.” “’Illusions’ is about how what we perceive out of life and the people in our life aren’t always what they seem; they’re false realities. I began writing the song because I was hurt by someone close to me. It was a situation that made me feel insignificant, while around me the entire world was grasping for straws to see which way is up or down. It became my therapy.” “It’s a lesson in learning how to be present in your own heart and forgive yourself, the ones that hurt you, and the circumstances that weigh you down.”
Alexander Jerich (mug shot) Incidents like this really beg the question “What were they thinking???” Alexander Jerich, 20, turned himself in to the police Thursday afternoon after cellphone video went viral showing him purposely defacing the LGBTQ Pride rainbow walk in Delray Beach earlier this week. CBS12 News reports Jerich was charged with criminal mischief over $1,000, reckless driving, and evidence of prejudice (felony enhancement). Under a new law (Section 806.135, Florida Statutes “Destroying or demolishing a memorial or historic property”), this would be considered a 2nd degree felony. Jerich could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Nicholas Coppola is a member of the Palm Beach County LGBTQ Community Center in Lake Worth Beach, and one of the leaders behind this rainbow artwork that was years in the making. “There are many things that indicate this is a hate crime targeted against the community,” Coppola said. “I hate to say I was saddened, but not surprised. There’s a part of me that expected it. Unfortunately, we deal with this every day.” The city had just unveiled the new intersection on Saturday. The artwork was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando five years ago.
(image via Groupon) Some news items you might have missed: • Groupon: I just learned the folks at the ‘deal of the day’ website highlight LGBTQ-owned businesses (above). “Our out and proud merchant partners inspire us every day in all of the myriad ways they uplift and support their communities.” Click here for more of Groupon’s Pride-ful ways. • The Advocate: A larger number of teenagers are identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual in the U.S. Surveys by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that between 2015 and 2019 those who identified as “non-heterosexual” grew from 8.3 percent to 11.7 percent in 15-to-17-year-olds. • Edge Media: Results from Planet Fitness’ fifth annual survey reveals 69% of men with dad bods say they are confident and comfortable with their physique. That said, half of all men with dad bods (50%) feel judged by others for their bodies — a number that’s jumped 10% since just last year alone. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQNCpjIr91N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • New York Times: The U.S. government spent more than $18 billion last year funding drugmakers to make a Covid vaccine. Now it’s pouring more than $3 billion on a neglected area of research: developing pills to fight the virus early in the course of infection, potentially saving many lives in the years to come. • Andrew Christian: The venerable men’s designer shares his Top 5 Most Extravagant Pride Parades in the World. • NBC Out: Online advice columnist John Paul Brammer shares his amazing journey as a gay Latino in rural Oklahoma. Brammer weaves his experiences with letters from readers in his book, Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons.
The U.S. Supreme Court (2021) For the third time now, the Affordable Care Act has survived a legal challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite relentless attacks from Republicans and previous cases in 2012 and 2015, the law has only gained in popularity with Americans. Today’s ruling didn’t address the central question of whether the law could stand without the individual mandate which was removed from the law in 2017. Instead, the high court sidestepped the issue ruling the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the case. From the New York Times:
The margin of victory was wider than in the earlier cases, with six members of the court joining Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s modest and technical majority opinion, one that said only that the 18 Republican-led states and two individuals who brought the case had not suffered the sort of direct injury that gave them standing to sue.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who had cast the decisive vote to save the law in 2012, was in the majority. So was Justice Clarence Thomas, who had dissented in the earlier decisions.
“Whatever the act’s dubious history in this court,” Justice Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion, “we must assess the current suit on its own terms. And, here, there is a fundamental problem with the arguments advanced by the plaintiffs in attacking the act — they have not identified any unlawful action that has injured them. Today’s result is thus not the consequence of the court once again rescuing the act, but rather of us adjudicating the particular claims the plaintiffs chose to bring.”
Striking down the Affordable Care Act would have added nearly 21 million people to the list of uninsured in the country. Among those are folks who are now eligible for Medicaid, young adults who can stay on their parents’ plans until 26, and Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case brought by Catholic Social Services, a foster care agency seeking a religious exemption from the city of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance.
The case arose after Catholic Social Services (CSS) violated its contract with the city by refusing to place children in the care of same-sex couples.
The Court today found in favor of Catholic Social Services on the very narrow aspect that Philadelphia did not apply its own local policy neutrally. What the ruling did not do was create a broad license to discriminate which is what LGBTQ opponent were hoping for.
Specifically, the Court’s 9-0 decision held that local governments’ non-discrimination ordinances do not conflict with the First Amendment as long as they do so neutrally. The Court’s narrow ruling applies only to the City of Philadelphia’s contract with CSS.
As Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, writes in response to today’s ruling, “Properly understood, today’s decision is a significant victory for LGBTQ people. The Court ruled in favor of Catholic Social Services, but on the narrowest possible ground, based on language in the City of Philadelphia’s contract that authorized individualized exemptions for any provider.” “The Court did not change the current constitutional framework, which permits governments to enforce anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people even when doing so may have a disparate burden on those who hold certain religious beliefs,” added Minter. “As a result of today’s decision, those who feared the Court might create a sweeping new religious exemption to such laws can breathe a sigh of relief.” Justice Samuel Alito wrote today that if Philadelphia were to “eliminate the never-used exemption…voilà, today’s decision will vanish.”
This is similar to the Supreme Court’s 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling which narrowly held in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Instead of ruling against the state’s nondiscrimination laws, the court found the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had shown animus against the baker by not giving “fair consideration” to his claims.
An October 2020 survey from PRRI found a very broad majority of Americans (70%) oppose allowing religiously affiliated agencies that receive taxpayer funding to refuse to accept qualified gay and lesbian couples as foster parents, including 31% who strongly oppose it.
Pro-LGBTQ lawyers and activists shared their thoughts on the Fulton ruling on Twitter.
Josh Block, of the ACLU’s LGBT Project, underscored that the ruling “applies only to this contract” and “does not apply to civil rights law.”
Bottom line: Fulton applies only to this contract, which had an unusual system of individualized, discretionary exemptions. It does not apply to civil rights laws, none of which have the same types of individualized exemption process.
Chase Strangio concurred that the decision “is very narrow and fact-specific” which can be viewed as “the good news.”
Here’s the good news on Fulton.
It is very narrow and fact-specific. Alito hates it. General doctrine survives – especially if Breyer retires. — Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) June 17, 2021
Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement which read in part:
“Though today’s decision is not a complete victory, it does not negate the fact that every qualified family is valid and worthy—children deserve a loving, caring, committed home. We celebrate the LGBTQ families who are dedicated to providing homes to the thousands of children in the child welfare system.
“Yet we know there is more work that must be done to ensure that the best interest of the child is always prioritized, including through family reunification. And there is more work to be done to ensure that LGBTQ people do not face discrimination anywhere in the country in every aspect of public life—our next step is to pass the Equality Act.”
BREAKING: #SCOTUS has ruled non-discrimination laws apply to taxpayer-funded child services so long as they are enforced neutrally but that Philadelphia’s law was not neutral. pic.twitter.com/COfLsBfghM
Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National, released the following statement:
“Youth in foster care have the right to stability and to be placed with families that support and affirm them for who they are — inclusive of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Today’s Supreme Court ruling affirms that discrimination by government contractors is not permitted, and foster youth and their families are protected by nondiscrimination laws. PFLAG National stands with the former and current foster youth, foster caregivers who are LGBTQ+, and found families everywhere as we continue to fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ people to secure full equality. The Senate must pass the Equality Act now to protect the rights of youth, families, and LGBTQ+ people everywhere.”
And I have to add this from my favorite LGBTQ blogger, JoeMyGod:
There would hardly be any need for adoption agencies in the first place if heterosexual parents didn't abuse and abandon their children by the tens of thousands every year.
But don't let those icky gays help clean up their mess, THAT is against Jesus.
In this week’s headlines: • For the first time in five years, the LGBTQ community not only received full-throated support from the man in the Oval Office, but President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris all issued video greetings to LGBTQ Americans for Pride Month • Congress votes to make Pulse Nightclub a national memorial • Gay men in the UK will have an easier time donating blood • A bakery in Texas experienced hideous homophobia for saying ‘Happy Pride’ and then the internet stepped in • Eli Lieb drops the perfect anthem for Pride Month ‘Boys Who Like Boys’ All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
(image via Twitter/RobertGarcia) Some news items you might have missed: • Edge Media: Lawmakers in Hungary passed legislation Tuesday that prohibits sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment, something supporters said would help fight pedophilia but which human rights groups denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination. • NPR: The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States, a legal public holiday. The holiday is celebrated on June 19, and it began in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned (years after the fact) they had been freed under the Emancipation Proclamation. • Out Music: In a loving tribute to Provincetown, Seth Sikes releases his latest music video, The Trolley Song. Sikes, a longtime interpreter of the songs of the great Judy Garland, performs this signature Garland song from her classic film Meet Me in St Louis. Backed by a full cast Sikes performs the much-loved song on location in Provincetown on the local trolley car. Sikes will perform live in Provincetown in July with his new show Seth Sikes Sings Judy and Liza and Barbra, etc. at the just refurbished Post Office Café and Cabaret.
• OUT: Country music fans should check out veteran journalist Hunter Kelly’s Proud Radio, a monthly two-hour show on the Apple Music Country channel highlighting queer artists, their evolution, and their influence in country music. • The Advocate: Arby’s management fired an employee in Lafayette, Indiana last week after the employee allegedly wrote the homophobic slur “fag” on a gay couple’s receipt. • Pink News: Long Beach’s iconic rainbow lifeguard tower (above) has been reborn after the original was burned down in March by vandals. Robert Garcia, the city’s first openly gay mayor, said the new tower provides an “immediate sense of pride and inclusion” for the city’s LGBT+ community.
We just dedicated the new Long Beach Pride Lifeguard Tower. Thank you to our community and lifeguards for this symbol of love and inclusion. Happy Pride 🌈❤️ pic.twitter.com/UT7xve7yKf
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