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Miami Beach: Two Gay Men Violently Attacked In Hate Crime After Pride Parade

Surveillance photo of hate crime attackers
Click image to enlarge

Two gay men were the victims of a violent hate crime on Sunday evening in Miami Beach following the city’s Pride Parade.

From The Miami Herald:

In video footage of the incident, four young men — one wearing a Florida International University T-shirt — are seen walking up to a bathroom area on Ocean Drive and Sixth Street at about 7:40 p.m. Sunday. Two other men walk out, and are immediately attacked by the four. One of the attackers shouts a Spanish slur used to refer to LGBT men before he and the other attackers begin repeatedly punching the two men.

When the two victims, who sustained multiple injuries to their faces, began to run away, the attackers chased them, Miami Beach police said.

One of the victims told NBC 6 News that he and his partner were holding hands when they were attacked.

“For me, the way we were dressed and everything and we were together, for me it was like, yes, it was a hate crime,” he said.

Police are asking for help to identify the men involved in the attack. Three are described as Hispanic white males, each about 5 foot 8, and between the ages of 19 and 24. Anyone with information should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

A bystander, 29-year-old Helmut Muller, tried to intervene and stop the attack but the attackers turned on him knocking him out cold. Muller woke up in a pool of his own blood and eventually spent six hours at the hospital getting staples in his head to stop the bleeding.

The attackers now face felony battery charges. As mentioned above, if anyone has any info that could lead to the arrest of the men, please call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

You can see surveillance footage of the attack in the two local news reports below.

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Sinclair Commentator Resigns After Threatening To Sodomize Parkland Massacre Survivor David Hogg

Conservative commentator Jamie Allman lost his TV show after threatening to ram a hot poker up 17-year-old David Hogg's ass

Conservative commentator Jamie Allman has resigned and his show at a Sinclair-owned station in St. Louis, The Allman Report, has been cancelled in the aftermath of his tweet threatening to “ram a hot poker up (Parkland high school shooting massacre survivor) David Hogg’s ass.”

Mind you – Allman’s tweet was a threat of sexual violence on a 17-year-old minor.

The tweet was eventually deleted and Allman took his Twitter account ‘private’ but not before the world screen-capped it.

It’s not exactly clear what kicked off Allman’s unhinged anger towards a 17-year-old high school senior he’d presumably never met. But then, with some of the nuts on TV today, its hard to understand a lot of what gets said.

Of course, the real reason Allman is toast is he immediately began hemorrhaging advertisers.

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Video: How Homophobia Feels In 2018

BBC Scotland’s youth program The Social shares this spoken word poem illustrating the split-second choices LGBTs make every day when it comes to public displays of affection – even those as innocent as a good-bye kiss.

Twenty year-old Sean Lìonadh found himself in a state of “arresting helplessness” when a passer-by in Glasgow told him, “I’ve got nothing against gays, but do you have to do it in front of my kids?”

That “helplessness” eventually crystalized in his poetry and film-making becoming the short film, “Time For Love.”

I can admit that for years every one of the thoughts Sean addresses here has sped through my mind as a younger gay.

I’m not so afraid today, although lengthy hand-holding does put me on guard now and then. I’m not proud of that but it’s true.

Watch “Time For Love” below. This is how homophobia feels in 2018.

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News Round-Up: April 9, 2018

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Fitness model Quin Bruce reminds me of the classic Mamas & Papas song: “Monday, Monday, so good to me.”

• Out actor Colton Haynes will return for Season 7 of The CW’s ARROW as a series regular again.

• Jimmy Kimmel has apologized for using gay jokes in his ongoing online feud with Sean Hannity.

• Even conservative pollster Frank Luntz says the GOP is in “deep trouble” and could very well lose both the House and the Senate in the 2018 fall mid-term elections.

• A dad’s request to see his son’s “boy toy” boyfriend went viral for all the right reasons.

• A gay man in Melbourne, Australia, was the victim of a brutal homophobic attack by three men after leaving unconscious and unable to open his eye for three weeks.

• That hilarious time that Fox News accidentally posted a graphic with poll results showing them to be the “least-trusted” news network on the air. “That’s the not the graphic we’re looking for. Hold off. Take that down, please.” #oops

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Breaking: FBI Raids Office & Home Of Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen

Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen

Update: The Washington Post now says Michael Cohen is “under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations, according to a person with knowledge of the case.”

Whoa.

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Breaking news right now as word comes that the FBI raided the office and home of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in connection to the ongoing Stormy Daniels/Trump scandal.

Cohen has admitted to paying Daniels $130,000 just days before the 2016 election as part of a non-disclosure agreement regarding an alleged affair Daniels had with Trump.

According to The New York Times, prosecutors executed the search after receiving a referral from Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russian interference during the election.

Today’s search and seizure doesn’t seem to be directly related to Mr. Mueller’s investigation. Experts say today’s actions were the result of information Mueller had discovered and handed over to prosecutors in New York.

Mr. Cohen has stated in the past that he is cooperating with authorities regarding the Russian meddling and has turned over thousands of documents to congressional investigators.

The Times reports the $130K payment to Daniels is only one of several topics being investigated by the FBI in relation to Cohen. Also seized today were tax documents, emails and business records.

Included in today’s search were communications between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen.

The Times says review of those documents will require a special team of agents because conversations between lawyers and clients enjoy attorney/client privilege in most cases.

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Music Video: Kesha “I Need A Woman”

Last week I reported on the new collection of re-gendered songs – Universal Love – recorded by some of the biggest names in the music industry and produced by longtime LGBT ally MGM Resorts.

From the press release:

The album includes boundary-changing songs from some of today’s most-beloved artists. Bob Dylan, one of the most influential and successful recording artists in American history, is among the visionary artists participating in this unprecedented project. Dylan re-recorded “She’s Funny That Way” as “He’s Funny That Way.” The album features five additional stellar artists whose involvement is a testament to the urgency of equality in entertainment: Kesha (“I Need a Woman to Love Me”), St. Vincent (“And Then She Kissed Me”), Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (“And I Love Him”), Kele Okereke of Bloc Party (“My Guy”), and Valerie June (“Mad About The Girl”).

Phyllis James, MGM Resorts’ Chief Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, said, “We believe projects like this will help all of us reach a point where seeing the world through the lens of people who happen to be different from us becomes natural and commonplace. It is an immense honor for MGM Resorts to spearhead this inspirational project which celebrates LGBTQ dimensions of the universal emotion of love.”

Today we get the music video for Kesha’s contribution to the project “I Need a Woman.”

The video was shot on location in my town of Las Vegas at The Bellagio.

The music video not only features Kesha’s take on the song, but she also officiates the wedding of lesbian couple Lindsey and Dani.

The nuptials took place on March 26th, the anniversary of the first U.S. same sex marriage license.

This is pretty awesome. Watch below.

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First-Ever LGBT Military “Spouse Of The Year” On ELLEN

Matthew and Brian Alvarado with Ellen DeGeneres

Now this is way-super-cool news.

For the first-time ever, a same-sex spouse has been named “Navy Spouse of the Year.”

Named Armed Forces Insurance’s “Navy Spouse of the Year,” Brian Alvarado is husband to U.S. Navy servicemember Matthew Alvarado. Brian is the first same-sex spouse named as a branch winner in the program’s 11-year history.

Thanks to that honor, Ellen welcomed Matthew and Brian Alvarado on her show today.

The Dallas Voice has more details:

According to a press releases from Armed Forces Insurance and Military Spouse magazine, “As a male military spouse in a same-sex, interracial marriage, Alvarado’s recognition illustrates to the world that our military community is a strong, supportive, diverse and resilient community. Like other branch winners, he was nominated for his work in the community as a U.S. naval ombudsman at Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center and volunteer work with Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network.

“In his role as an ombudsman, he reports to the command leadership and acts as a liaison between the command and the families of the sailors who serve on base. He is also very passionate about his work with Hiring Our Heroes, working to improve the nationwide 16 percent unemployment rate within the military spouse community both on a local and national level.”

The press release notes that Alvarado was named the 2016 Naval Base Coronado Base Spouse of the Year, and has since “lead the conversation on equality within the military community and looks to further promote the Department of Defense’s Equality Initiatives.”

The Alvarados are stationed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego. Matthew is a 19-year veteran of the Navy.

Brian tells Ellen in the video below that his main focus is working with Hiring Our Heroes which works to help veterans and transitioning military members find work in the civilian workplace.

As part of honoring Brian and Matthew, Ellen donated $10,000 to Hiring Our Heroes.

Brian also shares that Ellen publicly came out during his senior year in high school, and so her visibility as an out and proud lesbian has been an inspiration to him his entire adult life.

Watch below.

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Mid-Day Brain Break: Gus Kenworthy Crowd Surfs At Miami Beach Pride

Woofy Gus Kenworthy checked crowd surfing off his bucket list this weekend as he handled his Grand Marshall duties at Miami Beach Pride.

Watch below as Gus totally trusts his fans to “handle” him.

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Sarah Palin: I Would Run For Office Again “In A Heartbeat”

Has it really been almost ten years since John McCain inflicted former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, on the U.S.?

After her spectacular splash, crash and burn as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, Palin spent years stretching out her 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Talk about not getting off the national stage…

Well, it looks like Palin wants more time in the limelight as she recently told Fox News host Mark Levin she would run for public office again “in a heartbeat.”

“Oh yes. I would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Palin on the Life, Liberty and Levin show. “I will push back harder on some of those who were trying to mold me into something that I was not during the campaign. I would’ve pushed back and gotten more truth out there, but yes.”

The problem is no one wants Palin to run for anything.

Palin also shared that the negative press she received while running in 2008 was a gosh-darn “surprise” since her ratings in her home state of Alaska were “very high.”

Additionally, she was “mostly shocked” by how little the McCain-Palin campaign did to defend her.

“That aspect was perplexing and frustrating,” she continued. “But I have learned a lot in these 10 years and I don’t put up with as much as I had back then and I don’t let things bother me. I obviously didn’t let a lot of things bother me then either otherwise I’d be crawled up in a fetal position under that table and just want to go away.”

As we all recall, Palin’s missteps became daily fodder for political pundits.

From her woeful lack of foreign policy knowledge to straying off-message while stumping on the campaign trail to pricey wardrobe receipts.

All of that and more was chronicled in the best-selling book, Game Change, which was adapted into an HBO political drama film of the same name in 2012.

(source)