A gay couple was attacked in an apparent hate crime early Saturday morning in Austin, Texas.
Tristan Perry and Spencer Deehring were walking to their car around 2:45am after celebrating a friend’s birthday at Rain nightclub in downtown Austin.
The couple passed a man on the street who called them a homophobic slur. They told local news station KXAN they believe it was because they had been holding hands.
Deehring says he responded to the slur by saying something along the lines of “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.”
At that point, Deehring says the man called out to his group of friends who were previously unseen. The mob began to follow the couple as they headed to their car.
The group began “yelling every expletive you can think of,” says Deehring, who told them, “I don’t have anything more to say to you guys, we’re just going home, leave us alone.”
And that’s when Perry was punched in the face suffering a broken nose and falling to the ground. While down, another in the group kicked Perry in the back of his head.
Deehring attempted to defend his boyfriend by tackling the men, but was knocked unconscious after being punched by members of the mob.
A bystander walking by may have saved their lives as the attackers fled upon being seen. The bystander called 911 and waited with the men until police and an ambulance arrived. Both men were hospitalized.
Perry was treated for a cut on the back of his head, a broken nose, chipped teeth, and multiple bruises. He continues to experience memory lapses.
Deehring suffered several lacerations, bruises to the back of his neck and head, and swelling to his jaw and mouth.
The president of the Austin chapter of PFLAG, Anna Nguyen, told KXAN that while she has seen violence targeting LGBTQ people in Austin in the past, “It feels as if lately the frequency has ratched up quite a bit.”
“I think Austin as a community needs to step up its game and prove it’s one of the most LGBTQIA-friendly cities in the country by deed, and not just by words,” she added.
Statistics released last November by the FBI show an increase of LGBT-related hate crimes in Texas when comparing data from 2016 to 2017.
The couple has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help defray the medical costs.
On the GoFundMe page, after explaining the attack that landed them in the hospital, they write:
Today I ask for your help with the burden we have been given of medical expenses related to this experience. Both of us were transported in an ambulance and given emergency trauma care at a local hospital. Due to this we expect our bills to exceed the thousands of dollars due to receiving comprehensive radiological care. And we ask for your love and support during our difficult time. Any help you can give is immensely appreciated. Always spread love and positivity. End hate.
They also shared their story on Facebook wanting people to realize attacks like this can happen to anyone.
Additionally, as a result of sharing the news of the attack, Deehring came out to his family and loved ones.
Grateful for the support they’ve received since the attack, the couple say they have a message for others.
“Spread love, end all this hatred, end all this closed-mindedness always watch your surroundings, always be aware of your surroundings, don’t walk alone,” says Perry.
And Deehring adds, “Be aware of your surroundings, but don’t change who you are as a person, don’t ever change who you are as a person and don’t be afraid to go out there and explore the world, just as you are.”
Mary Walsh (L) & Bev Nance (R) (image via Mary Walsh)
A Missouri lesbian couple was told they couldn’t buy a unit in a retirement community because they’re married.
The women took their case to court, filing a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination.
They lost.
Beverly Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, have been in a committed relationship for 40 years, and married for ten.
In 2016, the couple visited and applied to move into the Friendship Village Sunset Hills community – doesn’t that sound lovely? – a retirement community near St. Louis.
They were qualified tenants and they even put down a $2,000 deposit.
But a week after putting down the deposit, a representative of Friendship Village called to inquire about the nature of the women’s relationship.
When Walsh informed the rep that they were married, they were told they couldn’t move into Friendship Village because it has a policy that “defined marriage as between a man and a woman” and as “marriage is understood in the Bible.”
The FHA bans discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.”
“Mary and Bev were denied housing for one reason and one reason only – because they were married to each other rather than to men,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Senior Staff Attorney Julie Wilensky in a statement. “This is exactly the type of sex discrimination the Fair Housing Act prohibits.”
But U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton didn’t see it that way and dismissed their case this week, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“The Court finds the claims boil down to those of discrimination based on sexual orientation rather than sex alone,” wrote Judge Hamilton. “The Eighth Circuit has squarely held that ‘Title VII does not prohibit discrimination against homosexuals.’”
In the state of Missouri, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is legal. There are no statewide protections for LGBTQ people in the Show Me state.
The couple’s lawyers told reporters, “We disagree with the court’s decision, and our clients are considering next steps.”
A television host in Egypt has been fined $167 and sentenced to a year of hard labor for the crime of interviewing a gay man.
According to the BBC, Mohamed al-Ghiety interviewed a gay man in 2018 about his life as a sex worker. In the interview, the man (who was not identified) says he has regrets about being gay and working as a prostitute.
A lawyer, Samir Sabry, sued the TV host for appearing to promote possible monetary gains from “practicing” homosexuality. Sabry apparently has a history of targeting celebrities via lawsuits.
Ghiety, who ironically has history of homophobic comments, will also be under police surveillance for a year after his prison sentence.
Homosexuality is not specifically illegal in Egypt, but police often arrest folks suspected of being LGBTQ by using a 1961 law banning prostitution which criminalizes ‘habitual debauchery.’
At the time of the interview, the top governing organization for media – the Supreme Council for Media Regulation – banned the channel from airing for two weeks due to ‘professional violations.’
The media council has prohibited LGBTQs from being shown on television in the conservative country since an incident at a Cairo rock concert in 2017, where a rainbow Pride flag was waved in a rare exhibition of gay pride.
(image via Facebook/Egypt Rainbow)
At the time, the BBCwrote, “The raising of rainbow flags at the concert by the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila – whose lead singer is openly gay – on 22 September was a rare public show of support for the LGBT community in the conservative Muslim country.”
As a result of the images going viral, 32 men and a woman were detained by authorities. The BBC reported that five of those men had anal examination carried out on them.
For a bail bond of 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($58US), Ghiety could appeal his verdict and remain free while he awaits the outcome of the appeal.
Nick Sandmann (L) says he was silently praying in this moment to diffuse a tense situation between different groups of protestors at the Lincoln Memorial
The student from Covington Catholic High School who has found himself in the national spotlight thanks to the incident at the Lincoln Memorial last week has issued a statement, via his publicist, about his role in the episode.
He begins by identifying himself as Nick Sandmann.
In Mr. Sandmann’s statement, which was released by a public relations firm, he said he remained “motionless and calm” in an effort to defuse the situation.
“I realized everyone had cameras and that perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict,” he said.
“I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation,” he said. “I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me — to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence.
“I harbor no ill will for this person,” he continued. “I respect this person’s right to protest and engage in free speech activities, and I support his chanting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial any day of the week. I believe he should re-think his tactics of invading the personal space of others, but that is his choice to make.”
As I’ve previously written, I’ve watched all the video footage there seems to be about this sad episode.
I haven’t seen anything yet that disputes Nathan Phillip’s perspective on the story.
Phillips freely admits he approached both groups – in an effort to diffuse a tense situation. It is documented in his words and on the longer videos.
Mr. Sandmann says in his statement that Phillips ‘waded into the crowd which parted for him.’ He goes on to say he didn’t see anyone attempt to block the elder’s way.
Except Mr. Sandmann, who was the only student who chose to stand and not allow Phillips to pass.
Here is video of the moment Phillips encounters Sandmann.
#NathanPhillips said he was trying to diffuse a tense moment between the #CovingtonBoys & BHI, as this video shows. He drummed his way in between the 2 groups to de-escalate, then headed to top of the stairs where his friends were. #NickSandmann is only one to stand in his way. pic.twitter.com/z6bwNH3BF3
Also, at the :27 mark, you can see Sandmann laughing and smiling. He doesn’t look like he views the situation as threatening.
As you can see, Mr. Phillips was surrounded by the Covington students, not the other way around.
Mr. Sandmann says, “I said a silent prayer that the situation would not get out of hand.”
Perhaps he was praying. It’s very possible that the above image from the moment in question is what prayer looks like.
Sandmann says he ‘did smile at one point’ during the incident. He actually is smiling (smirking?) for well over a minute. A minute is a long time.
I don’t have all the answers but I do have a few questions still:
What is it that people are actually upset about – on both sides?
That the Native American approached the teen and sang his song so close to the boy?
Or that the boy seems disrespectful by standing so close and staring at Mr. Phillips?
Why didn’t the boy simply step out of the way?
In almost every culture I know of, men standing within close proximity to another male, staring them down and ‘standing their ground’ is confrontational in nature. Regardless of who stepped up to who, at any moment Mr. Sandmann could have stepped away.
I’ve seen young leaders ‘step up’ in situations. In my experience, they turn to their friends and say, “Guys, let’s go” and exit the scene. This did not happen here.
Sandmann says he “motioned to my classmate and tried to get him to stop engaging with the protestor.” I don’t see any video of Sandmann motioning to anyone to stop. Anyone who has that footage, please send it to me and I’ll post it here.
Sandmann says a student turned to one of the teacher chaperones and asked “for permission to begin school chants to counter the hateful things being shouted” at his group.
So there was a chaperone there. Why didn’t the chaperones intercede? Why was Mr. Sandmann left in this position?
The Washington Post reports this from two witnesses – a lawyer and a photojournalist”
To Jessica Travis, a Florida attorney who was at the memorial with her mother, the students looked out of control.
“The kids really went into a mob mentality, honestly,” she said, adding that she didn’t see any chaperones trying to control the situation. She said she heard one student tell the Hebrew Israelites to “drink the Trump water.”
Jon Stegenga, a photojournalist who drove to Washington on Friday from South Carolina to cover the Indigenous Peoples March, recalled hearing students say “build the wall” and “Trump 2020.” He said it was about that time that Phillips intervened.
A few things:
• The statement was released by a PR office. My husband is a publicist with experience in crisis management. I’ve been ‘behind the scenes’ of a few instances where an incident needed explaining.
• The language used in the statement is clearly drafted by adults and lawyers, not the teen.
• Reading the statement and noting the time frame between the incident, escalation of outrage, and the eventual issuance of the statement, time was taken and each word was weighed. I don’t fault that.
• You’ll note that the statement refers to Phillips repeatedly as ‘the protestor.’ Subtle, but it’s there for a reason. These are PR people who know what they’re doing.
• Some of the students were doing a “Tomahawk chop” and dancing, as the video shows. I view this as mocking. I don’t see another ‘perspective’ on that. Feel free to share in the comments how that could be viewed as “living up to the ideals of faith.”
Also, Sandmann says he has only seen respect for “all races and cultures” at Covington Catholic High School.
In truth, the school has a history of issues with race.
One incident showed several school students in blackface standing near a black player from another school.
And then there’s this gay Covington student’s account of the treatment he experienced there:
Since cov cath is currently being EXPOSED, I would like to share my personal experience with the students and the school itself.— Mac Duckworth (@macduckworth) January 19, 2019
Click through that tweet for the full thread.
I will offer this ‘gut’ response based on my experience and everything I’ve read and seen about this: I feel like the statement is crafted to fit the video footage available for people to see.
And, of course, to shine the best light on Mr. Sandmann.
According to his statement, he is not responsible for anything here. At no point does he express any regret for anything.
It seems to me he might have said something like, “I’m sorry this has become a national story – that was never my intention.”
Or he could have said, “Looking at the video, I see it might have been better if I had just stepped away.”
We all make mistakes – including me, god knows.
I go back to, though, what exactly are we upset about? I’m not sure everyone is on the same page about WHAT the outrage is over.
Sandmann does say he has received threats regarding physical harm, and even death. I do not support or encourage that in any way, shape or form. Threats of violence are not any answer.
Also, I do see that the Black Hebrew Israelites behavior appears aggressive towards the teens. I don’t condone the BHI behavior in the video.
Here’s Mr. Sandmann’s full statement issued by his publicist. Click the images to enlarge.
Just in: Statement of Nick Sandmann, Covington Catholic High School junior, about the event at the Lincoln Memorial: pic.twitter.com/PkuMh2cVZM
Nathan Phillips stopping several feet between two groups on the Lincoln Memorial mall
A witness to the entire Covington Catholic High School debacle mocking Native American Nathan Phillips recorded the entire incident and posted it to YouTube.
The first hour and twelve minutes are the African American group on the Lincoln Memorial mall having their own protest. Along comes the Covington teens, and things get tense.
Around the 1:12:00 mark, Phillips enters the scene with his drum, clearly intent on diffusing the tensions before they escalate. He clearly stops yards away from both groups. The teens then approach him.
Some students from the school have attempted to say Phillips was the aggressor with the boy. We do not see Phillips step up to the primary MAGA-hatted teen in the other videos.
This video doesn’t show the close-up of the Vietnam Veteran and the boy, but it does support Phillip’s story – along with several witnesses – that he was trying to stop something before it escalated into worse.
Hit play and the video will start shortly before we see Phillips.
In an email exchange with a reporter at Heavy.com, a woman who claimed to be the teen’s mother said that it was Phillips, who she referred as “this man,” who was drumming close to the teen’s face.
She added that the students were harassed “by black Muslims,” later identified as members of the Black Hebrew Israelites.
The Covington Catholic mother wrote, “Shame on you! Were you there? Did you hear the names the people where calling these boys? It was shameful. Did you witness the black Muslims yelling profanities and video taping trying to get something to futher (sic) your narrative of hatred?? Did you know that this “man” came up to this one boy and drummed in his face? Shame on you. Only reporting what you want. More fake news.”
Somehow, the woman was attaching the behavior of the African Americans to the Indigenous group, who we don’t see yelling any profanities in any video at the teens.
When the Heavy reporter thanked her for the correspondence and explained that it would be added to the story, she demanded her emails be erased.
Nathan Phillips, the 64-year-old Vietnam Veteran and Native American elder who found himself being mocked and taunted by a group of high school boys from Covington, Kentucky, shared his view of the appalling incident with The Washington Post.
Phillips, who was singing the American Indian Movement song that serves as a ceremony to send the spirits home, said he noticed tensions beginning to escalate when the teens and other apparent participants from the nearby March for Life rally began taunting the dispersing indigenous crowd.
A few people in the March for Life crowd began to chant, “Build that wall, build that wall,” he said.
“It was getting ugly, and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to find myself an exit out of this situation and finish my song at the Lincoln Memorial,’ ” Phillips recalled. “I started going that way, and that guy in the hat stood in my way, and we were at an impasse. He just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat.”
Phillips kept drumming and singing, thinking about his wife, Shoshana, who died of bone marrow cancer nearly four years ago, and the various threats that face indigenous communities around the world, he said.
“I felt like the spirit was talking through me,” Phillips said.
Defenders of the young boys shared on social media a video clip that appeared to show Phillips approaching the school group at one point.
They claimed Phillips was the instigator, but other witnesses say Phillips saw the teens taunting another group and was trying to peacefully defuse a situation before it escalated.
More from The Post:
Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney with the Lakota People’s Law Project, said the incident lasted about 10 minutes and ended when Phillips and other activists walked away.
Phillips and the people involved in the Indigenous Peoples March had been using what he described as a “permitted space” near the Lincoln Memorial for hours. But as they were wrapping up, other people with opposing viewpoints — including some from the March for Life — had entered that permitted space and were making demonstrations of their own.
He told The Post that he hoped to get closer to the Lincoln Memorial to conclude the ceremony. That’s when he encountered the large group of boys.
“It was an aggressive display of physicality. They were rambunctious and trying to instigate a conflict,” Iron Eyes said. “We were wondering where their chaperones were. [I] was really trying to defuse the situation.”
Five years ago this weekend, HBO premiered LOOKING, it’s pioneering dramedy about a group of 30-something friend making their way through the exciting, and sometimes challenging, options available to contemporary gay men living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The year was 2014, and the fight for marriage equality was quickly gaining momentum in the courts. The LGBTQ community was making progress in social and legal arenas, often on a near-daily basis.
The series explored that progress of acceptance through its three leads, as they searched to find their place in a world with ever-shifting ground.
Modern love, professional fulfillment, intimacy, happiness and an appreciation for self-awareness were the goals for ‘Patrick’ (Jonathan Groff), ‘Agustin’ (Frankie J. Alvarez), and ‘Dom’ (Murray Bartlett).
At the time, many in the LGBTQ community complained and criticized the show, unfairly in my opinion.
I saw the series as thoughtful, smart and honest.
I was especially drawn to Jonathan Groff’s ‘Patrick’ for often overthinking his straightjacketed emotions.
And the season 2 addition of Daniel Franzese as lovable bear ‘Eddie,’ who has no time for self-doubt, was refreshing.
The series also utilized current pop music in clever, subliminal ways.
The first episode of season 2 ended with our heroes searching for, and finally, attending a dance party in the woods, grooving along to the strains of Hercules and Love Affair’s “Blind.” (Looking/Blind – lost in the forest – get it?)
Check out the promo videos from the two seasons of LOOKING below. You can find the entire series now on HBO NOW.
Social media has recently embraced a trend of posting side-by-side pictures of yourself in 2009 (or thereabouts) and in 2019, to show the world how life has treated you over the years. I thought I’d do a round-up of notable LGBTQs, Instagram faves and more who have been taking part in the “How hard did aging hit you?” challenge, aka the “10 Year Challenge.” Maybe it’s me, but I think most folks look way better with the additional decade than before. Some of the posts have been humorous, and many definitely inspiring. Scrolling through the side-by-side pics, there are folks who have seriously age-defying DNA (or very good at FaceTune), and some are literally different people. Maybe you love it, maybe you hate it? Let’s take a look. Eliad Cohen looked great in swim suit ten years ago, but the “Papa Party” prez is just that much hotter today.
A post shared by Caitlyn Jenner (@caitlynjenner) on Jan 15, 2019 at 8:44am PST
And then there’s superstar Mariah Carey, who admits she really doesn’t get the point of the ten year challenge. Writes Mimi, “Time is not something I acknowledge.”
