Posted on by Randy Slovacek

News Round-Up: May 16, 2022

News Round-Up: May 16, 2022
Karine Jean-Pierre (photo via White House – public domain)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• The Advocate: Karine Jean-Pierre held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Monday. Jean-Pierre, a lesbian and longtime political activist, is the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be White House press secretary. She is also the first Black person in the job.

• Instinct Magazine: The very buff Orlando Bloom shared some behind-the-scenes pics from the set of his upcoming movie, Red Right Hand.

• Florida Politics: Amid the political backlash with Republicans over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, Disney is donating all the profits from its pride merchandise to charities that help the LGBTQ community, the company announced Monday.

• NBC Out: Welcome to Sports Bra – the first-of-a-kind bar that features only women’s sports. The new lesbian-owned bar in Portland, Oregon, has quickly become a popular spot for women and LGBTQ people.

• Axios: Half of the people who died with COVID-19 since vaccines became available might have been saved by getting the shot. New analysis shows  roughly 319,000 COVID-19 deaths between January 2021 and last month could have been avoided.

• Kyiv Independent: Kalush Orchestra gave an impromptu performance of their Eurovision winning song, “Stefania,” for the members of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service after crossing the border on their way home.

• New York Times: Sweden has officially announced it is applying for membership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) just like Finland. This is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin did NOT want –  an expanded NATO. #GoodJob

• Bloomberg: With a notable rise in new COVID-19 infections, New York City is preparing to move to a high Covid transmission level in the coming days that would have it reconsidering mask requirements for indoor public places.