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Armed Protester Barges Into Public Library To Disrupt Drag Queen Storytime

James ‘Doc’ Greene Sr.

A protester armed with a gun barged into a Houston public library this past weekend in an attempt to disrupt Drag Queen Storytime.

James ‘Doc’ Greene Sr., who was previously issued a trespassing warning by the Houston Public Library for similar protests, entered the Freed-Montrose Library on Saturday at 1:45 p.m., just minutes before the monthly story time event.

When Greene refused to leave, library management called the police for help.

A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department told Outsmart Magazine, “A manager asked us for assistance because [Greene] was banned from the library, and would not leave when he was asked.”

“He was previously banned for filming children at the library, and has been known to cause disturbances,” she added. “Several officers had to escort him out.”

Greene, a conservative radio host for Raging Elephants Radio, was disarmed by the police, put in handcuffs, and placed in a police car. At that point, he began to complain of chest pains.

An ambulance was called and Greene was transported to a local hospital. The District Attorney declined to press charges.

At some point after the police arrived, Greene began recording the incident. He posted part of the video to YouTube where you can see he questions why he was being ejected from the library.

“How am I trespassing?” asks Greene in the video. “I want the law, I want to see the law. How many cops does it take to tell me what the law is?”

“You were given a trespass warning,” an officer responds. “They have requested you to not be on the property anymore.”

After several minutes of citing his status as a taxpayer and “member of the press,” at the 4:10 mark, Greene is shown the trespass affidavit but he disregards it.

The police then escort him out of the building where he declares for the camera, “We have a bunch of homosexuals that are molesting children, and they are doing it with your help.”

Organizers of Drag Queen Storytime say protesters are nothing new for the event, which features drag queens reading to children and their parents to encourage imagination and creativity.

On January 3, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal dismissed a lawsuit by anti-LGBTQ activists who were attempting to stop the events.

Drag Queen Storytime has become so popular it was recently announced that there will be additional readings added to the schedule.

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After Trump Lauds Bible Study, His Former Pastor Says He Never Entered The Church Doors ‘Not One Time’

Donald Trump's former pastor trolled him for publicly lauding bible study in public schools by saying Trump never attended bible study nor did he even enter the church.
Donald Trump

On Monday, Donald Trump took to Twitter following a segment on Fox & Friends which reported on the idea of bible study becoming an option for students in Indiana schools.

At the time, the Trumpster wrote, “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!”

But today, Trump’s former pastor at New York City’s Presbyterian Marble Collegiate College, David Lewicki, trolled the prez saying Trump not only didn’t attend bible study himself, but he never entered the church.

As Lewicki writes, “Not one time.”

#burn

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Gay-Hating Kim Davis May Have To Pay $222K To Gay Couple’s Legal Team

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis

Back in 2015, then-candidate for Kentucky governor Matt Bevin was proud to announce he “absolutely supported” Kim Davis, the infamous county clerk who denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that marriage equality had become the law of the land, Davis refused to issue the licenses citing her deeply-held religious beliefs.

It’s important to note that those ‘deeply-held religious beliefs’ about the sanctity of marriage didn’t stop her from marrying three different men four times, so, there’s that.

At the time, the state required the name of the county clerk to appear on each marriage license, and Davis saw that as tacit endorsement of same-sex marriage. Digging in her heels, she stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether.

Gay and straight couples, now unable to marry, sued Davis with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. The result was a federal judge ordering Davis to issue the licenses, but she still refused.

And so it was that the judge found her in contempt of court, and she was jailed for five days making her the darling of the anti-LGBT crowd.

The eventual solution was the Kentucky legislature changing state law that required county clerks names on marriage licenses. The gay and straight couples were issued marriage licenses, and the lawsuit against Davis was dismissed in that the issue had been resolved.

Davis went on to write a book, campaigned for a failed same-sex marriage ban in Romania, and then, this past November was voted out of office.

But this sad tale isn’t quite done, yet. There is, as they say, the issue of the bill.

In 2017, a district judge ruled that the state of Kentucky had to pay the $222,000 legal costs of the gay and straight couples who had brought the lawsuit against Davis.

According to the Associated Press, lawyers for now-Governor Matt Bevin say state taxpayers “should not have to collectively bear the financial responsibility for Davis’ intransigence.”

“Only Davis refused to comply with the law as was her obligation and as required by the oath of office she took,” Bevin attorney Palmer G. Vance II wrote in a brief filed with the court.

“Her local policy stood in direct conflict with her statutory obligation to issue marriage licenses to qualified Kentucky couples,” continued Vance in the brief. “Davis had an independent and sworn duty to uphold the law as an elected county officer.”

For clarity, both Bevins and Davis believe that the court should not award legal fees saying the gay and straight couples didn’t technically ‘win’ the lawsuit since it was dismissed after the legislative action.

Steve Pitt, an in-house lawyer for the governor, says Bevins “continues to support Ms. Davis’s actions,” but if legal fees are to be awarded, “the taxpayers of Kentucky are not responsible to pay the ACLU’s attorney fees.”

Davis’s lawyer, Mat Staver of the virulently anti-LGBT organization Liberty Counsel, which has been labeled an ‘extremist group’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center, argues that Davis was acting on behalf of the state.

Since Bevins appealed the initial ruling regarding court costs, the two sides will face off Thursday at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati where a three-judge panel will hear arguments on who should pay the legal fees.

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News Round-Up: January 30, 2019

• InstaHunk Matthew Camp (above) is giving you 'polar vortex/winter tones' on this Hump Day.
Matthew Camp (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Matthew Camp (above) is giving you ‘polar vortex/winter tones’ on this Hump Day.

• Inspired by the unofficial Gay Days events at Disneyland and Disney World in the US, Disneyland Paris will host its first official Pride event, titled Magical Pride, on June 1.

• Lawyers for Kentucky GOP Gov. Matt Bevin say that former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis must pay the $225,000 in legal fees owed to the gay couples who sued her for refusing to issue marriage licenses.

Kim Davis

• White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network today that she believes God wanted Donald Trump to become president.

• Four middle school kids in North Carolina face felony charges after plans were discovered to attempt a ‘Columbine-style’ attack on fellow students and a teacher.

• I got the most delightful surprise when the fabulous Leslie Ellis called me up just to say ‘hi’ last night.

She and her uber-talented hubby, Casey Kelly, had watched the RENT Live event on Sunday night and it reminded her of her own Broadway days (we did the national company of CATS together in the 80s when she stopped the show every night with her performance of “Memory”).

Long story short: old-friends, chatting, laughs, sharing, long call – it was great 🙂

In any case, it made me long to her her gorgeous voice, so I’m sharing this with you, one of my favorite recordings of hers, “We Came Close.”

Click here for more info about the talented duo.

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Twitter Trolls Kevin Hart For Sending Jussie Smollett ‘Prayers’ After Homophobic Assault

Kevin Hart (L), Jussie Smollett (R)

In the aftermath of a homophobic, racist attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett, an outpouring of love and support for the openly gay actor came flooding across social media.

As I reported earlier this week, Smollett was assaulted in the early hours of January 29 when two attackers physically accosted him, poured bleach on his head and put a noose around his neck, all while calling him homophobic slurs.

The incident is now being investigated by police as a possible hate crime.

Celebrities and activists of all stripes reached out to send ‘best wishes’ and thoughts for a speedy recovery after the attack.

But when comedian Kevin Hart offered his ‘prayers’ via Instagram, social media was not having it.

In addition to said prayers, Hart wrote:

“This is unbelievably sad. Why are we going backwards….this is disgusting. We as people have to do better. WTF is going on the world???? Why are we falling in love with hate???? God damn it people….Choose love…I repeat…Choose love. I will forever choose love and I will continue to teach my kids how to do the same. Stand strong brother”

You’ll recall Hart recently had to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars after homophobic tweets and jokes resurfaced from his past.

The man who took forever to give a direct apology for joking that he would break a doll house over his son’s head if he thought he might be gay is now wondering, “Why are we going backwards?”

Uh-uh, the Twitter people do not have short memories when it comes to seems like hypocrisy here.

Here’s just a sample of the responses Hart got to his ‘prayers:’

Hart responded this afternoon via tweet:

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Life After Trump: Nikki Haley Pulling In $200K Plus Private Jet Per Appearance

CNBC is reporting former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is now getting $200K per appearance, plus rides in private jets, to give speeches to corporations at private events.
Nikki Haley

CNBC is reporting former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is now getting $200K per appearance, plus travel in private jets, to give speeches at private corporate events.

And international gigs cost even more.

Anyone remember how the GOP lost its mind over Hillary Clinton getting paid to give speeches after her time in the Obama Administration?

#Hypocrisy

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Nyle DiMarco Plays Good Cop (Or Bad?)

Samantha Bee of TBS’ Full Frontal & Nyle DiMarco

Following up his sexy American Sign Language version of Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” music video, deaf model and activist Nyle DiMarco served up some hot cop realness in a new promo for TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Dressed in a police officer’s uniform, DiMarco and Bee invite the viewers to tune in tonight to learn how “police can responsibly interact with the Deaf community.”

Sam explains Nyle’s cop uniform is for “the reenactments.”

Here’s the promo – but make sure you watch to the end.

It looks like the dashing DiMarco’s time as the celebrity guest host at Chippendales is still paying dividends.

The duo followed that with another promo where Bee shares that tonight’s episode will focus on “another group mistreated by the police” – the deaf and hard of hearing.

She also finds out that ASL for ‘Full Frontal’ is way sexier then ‘Last Week Tonight.’

Nyle also posted to his Instagram an outtake from the video shoot were Sam B gets a bit weak in the knees standing so close to a nearly naked Nyle.

Make sure you tune in for Full Frontal tonight at 10:30pm ET on TBS.

And since Nyle is in the mood to be ripping clothes off, let’s take a trip on the way-back machine to the time when he was thrilling audiences in Las Vegas alongside the hunky Chippendales.

Ah, good times…

Nyle DiMarco (photos courtesy of Chippendales)

Nyle DiMarco with Chippendales’ Mikey Perez and James Davis

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New Polling: Americans Trust Nancy Pelosi More Than Donald Trump

Nancy Pelosi (L) and Donald Trump (R)

New polling from Quinnipiac University has some interesting results:

• American voters trust Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi more than President Trump by a margin of 49% to 42% respectively.

• That gap is wider with independent voters with Pelosi getting 49% still but Trump dropping to 36%.

• 56% say the recent shutdown of the federal government was Trump and Congressional Republicans’ fault, while only 34% put the onus on Democrats.

• Trump’s job approval rating dropped to 38% in the QU poll while his disapproval jumped to 57%.

• Voters support a bill that funds new border security measures but without funding for a wall 61% versus 33% who don’t approve of that approach.

• 66% disapprove of the president using “emergency powers” to get his wall built.

• 70% of voters believe transgender people should be able to serve in the U.S. military versus 20% who do not approve.

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Philadelphia Gay Man Attacked By Homophobic Mob Outside Popular Gay Bar

Josh Schonewolf (screen capture via 6ABC)

The Philadelphia LGBTQ community is shook after another violent attack took place on Sunday night outside a popular gay bar.

The victim, a 50-year-old patron of The Toasted Walnut, was standing right outside the bar around 11PM on Sunday night when the assault took place.

According to police reports, four men and a woman took part in the assault.

Josh Schonewolf, the bartender who was working that night, saw the attack as it happened.

“All of a sudden a car full of guys decided to jump out and attack one of the patrons here right in front,” said Schonewolf.

Schonewolf tells local news station 6ABC that the attackers “were definitely calling him some gay slurs as they were beating him up.”

Some witnesses attempted to stop the assault, but were attacked as well.

“The general manager happened to be outside, and he was also punched in the face,” said Schonewolf.

The mob of attackers jumped back in their car and fled the scene before police arrived.

The victim was treated at the hospital for a head injury.

Police tell 6ABC that hate crime charges may be added once they have finished their investigation. The final determination will be made by the district attorney’s office.

In the meantime, LGBTQ folks in Philly are rattled by the attack in their own gayborhood.

Said Schonewolf, “Some people refer to this part of town as Midtown Village but to me – I’m from Philly – it is always going to be the Gayborhood.”

“And if this is happening at 13th and Walnut, I don’t know where we’re supposed to feel safe,” he added.

The LGBTQ community has seen similar attacks not only in Philadelphia, but in Chicago where openly gay Empire star Jussie Smollett was brutally assaulted with bleach and a noose, as well as Austin, Texas, where two gay men were beaten for holding hands as they were leaving a gay bar.

In all of those assaults, the victims report their attackers using homophobic slurs.