Tag: anti-LGBTQ

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Blogger Sentenced To Prison For Saying ‘Gay People’ Have Rights

(image via Google Maps)
For the “crime” of telling Twitter followers he believes LGBTQ people have rights and “should be able to practice them freely,” a Yemeni blogger has been sentenced by a Saudi court to 10 months in prison, a fine equal to $2,700 and eventual deportation. Human Rights Watch reports that Mohamad al-Bokari, left Yemen in June 2019 after receiving death threats. He’d been living in Saudi Arabia as an undocumented migrant when he was arrested on April 8. The 29-year-old was asked on Twitter for his views on same-sex relations and in a video, he answered, “Everyone has rights and should be able to practice them freely, including gay people.” A spokesman for Riyadh’s police department issued a statement saying the video contained “sexual references” that “violate public order and morals.” He was charged with violating public morality by promoting homosexuality online, and “imitating women.” Prior to his trial, al-Bokari was held in solitary confinement in a cell with no windows, air conditioning or proper ventilation. He was provided no legal counsel for his trial. After his sentencing, he was placed in a cell with other prisoners who harassed and verbally abused him saying he “deserves the death penalty.” Human Rights Watch says his health has declined since the trial as he suffers from a chronic heart condition. Tests were administered but he was discharged without learning the results. Doctors reportedly denied he has any heart condition and have refused him any medication. Bokari was sentenced on July 20 and has 30 days to appeal. While Saudi Arabia has no laws on the books regarding sexual orientation or gender identity, judges often reference uncodified Islamic law to punish people accused of having sexual relations outside marriage, including adultery, extramarital and homosexual sex, or other “immoral” acts. It has been ranked as one of the ‘most dangerous’ countries in the world for LGBTQ people. (source: Human Rights Watch)

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Legislator Calls Mask Mandate ‘Draconian,’ Now Hospitalized With COVID-19

Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert (image via Facebook)
A virulently anti-LGBTQ lawmaker in Arkansas who decried his state’s face mask mandate as “draconian” has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus.  State Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) has also been diagnosed with pneumonia. ArkansasOnline reports he is in the hospital and responding well to treatment. The 48-year-old self-described social and fiscal conservative criticized Gov. Asa Hutchinson just a week ago when the face mask mandate went into effect. “There is no question that Covid19 is serious and can be very deadly for those with underlying conditions and the elderly,” wrote Rapert on his Facebook page. “But the fact is 99% of our nation has not been afflicted and this pandemic is no worse statistically than other severe outbreaks we have endured without draconian measures isolating the healthy and shutting down our entire economy. Even though he’s told his Facebook followers that “we have all been doing our best to wear a mask,” the senator preached (sans face mask) at the Potsville Assembly of God on July 6 about not being a “slave to fear.”

Earlier this year, Rapert denounced an appearance by openly gay Tony/Grammy/Emmy Award-winner Billy Porter on the children’s television series Sesame Street and called for defunding his state’s PBS affiliate. Rapert promoted an online petition expressing disgust over “Sesame Street’s decision to push drag queens on children,” and demanding that the show drop the episode featuring Porter.

When one commenter asked Rapert if Jesus would “approve of [his] judgment and intolerance,” Rapert dismissed the query saying, “You are totally amiss and you know it. Christians do not support anti-Biblical behavior. The Bible is clear on certain sins — including homosexuality.” Page Six asked Porter about the kerfuffle and the Pose star replied, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” “Like, what about me singing with a penguin [on the show] has anything to do with what I’m doing in my bedroom?”  Rapert has also called for bombing the Middle East with nuclear weapons, and in 2017 sponsored a resolution calling for a federal constitutional convention to add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman.  In 2015, he claimed Pride parades were held on Sundays to “mock Christians” and “try to intimidate people who believe in the Word of God.” In 2014, the state senator called for impeaching the judge who overturned his state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Rapert is currently the only announced candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022.

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Chechen President Banned From U.S. Over Reports Of LGBTQ Torture

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov (screen capture via HBO Sports)
I expect the Trump administration will tout this as part of its “great record” on LGBTQ issues, but in the end, I’m not sure it actually DOES anything of consequence. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, has been banned from entering the U.S. under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020. Section 7031(c) “requires the Secretary of State to bar from U.S. entry” foreign officials about whom the Secretary has credible information indicating that they have been involved, directly or indirectly, in “gross violation of human rights.” You’ll note the statute says “requires” so let’s not give Pompeo too much credit here. Today’s announcement also affects Kadyrov’s immediate family members. That said, it’s not clear Kadyrov or his family had any plans to visit the U.S. any time soon. Plus, Section 7031(c) will expire on September 30, 2020, unless Congress extends it by a continuing resolution or restated in a new law. A statement issued by the State Department says this action is being taken “due to Kadyrov’s involvement in gross violations of human rights in the Chechen Republic.” The Department says it has received extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings. In 2018, the United States joined fifteen other nations in creating a fact-finding mission into “horrific reports of abuses against LGBTI persons” and others who were targeted by Kadyrov. The subsequent report found that “harassment and persecution, arbitrary or unlawful arrests or detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions” had taken place. The State Department says it is now concerned Kadyrov may be “using the excuse of the coronavirus pandemic to inflict further human rights abuses on the people of the Chechen Republic.” Kadyrov, who was appointed president of Chechnya in 2007 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly denied not only the allegations of torture and murder but that gay people even exist in his country. Human rights activists have been sounding the alarm for years that Kadyrov had launched a series of state-sponsored anti-gay purges across the highly conservative, traditional Muslim country. In May 2017, the Human Rights Watch shared one detainee’s description of the horrific treatment he’d been subjected to in an unofficial prison: “They electrocuted us, beat us with pipes, kicked us, and punched us, they made other inmates beat us, they called us names, spat in our faces.” The U.S. announced sanctions against Kadyrov in December 2017, including visa bans and asset freezes, under the 2012 Magnitsky Act. The BBC reported at the time that Kadyrov responded by “mocking the US move in an Instagram post in which he said ‘a sleepless night is waiting for me.'” He added he was “proud” to be “out of favor with the special services of the USA.” The new film Welcome to Chechnya, which debuted on HBO June 30, documents the horrific persecution of LGBTQ people in Chechnya.

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News Round-Up: July 17, 2020

Broadway star Norm Lewis
Some news items you might have missed: • What To Watch This Weekend: I’ll definitely be watching Tony Award nominee and all-around super-talent Norm Lewis in concert with SiriusXM’s Seth Rudetsky at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Broadway audiences know the oh-so-handsome Lewis from his performances in Phantom of the Opera, Once on This Island, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago and more. Continue reading “News Round-Up: July 17, 2020”

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Podcast: Possible HIV Cure, Chicago Gayborhood Getting New Name, And More

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • For the first time, HIV appears to be eradicated using only medications • Poland’s anti-LGBTQ president squeaks out reelection • White House press secretary raises eye-brows claiming Donald Trump’s “pro-LGBTQ” agenda • Chicago’s Boystown may get a new name All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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News Round-Up: June 29, 2020

Jwan Yosef and Ricky Martin (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instagram: International pop star Ricky Martin and husband, artist Jwan Yosef, shared a perfectly up-to-date Pride 2020 kiss pic (above) with the caption, “Happy Pride, everyone!” • Inappropriate Questions: “How did you get pregnant?” In the latest episode from the CBC’s podcast that addresses the questions ‘we all want to ask,’ journalist Freddy McConnell takes the listener through his ups and downs of navigating pregnancy as a trans man and single dad. • Instinct Magazine: Over at my ‘other’ outlet, the powers that be have compiled this list of 10 totally classic LGBTQ anthem to help you dance your way through the last days of Pride Month 2020. Hit the link to see if your favorite made the list 🙂

• BuzzFeed LGBTQ: BuzzFeed is relaunching its dedicated vertical on the BuzzFeed.com site focused on LGBTQ content. Its mission is to elevate new voices and curate content that highlights every aspect of queer life – from the big stories to the small everyday moments, in Pride Month and year-round.  Zach Stafford, who recently departed his position as editor-in-chief of The Advocate, will be the Editor-at-Large. • Revry TV: The first LGBTQ+ virtual cable network is 100 percent free, 100 percent queer, and features LGBTQ+ programming for a diverse range of audiences through their app, the web, and platforms like Roku and AppleTV. Revry Premium provides access to the streaming platform’s full library of on-demand titles without commercials for as low as $4.99 a month. Get one month of Premium for free thanks to The Advocate by signing up here and using promo code M201. • Back2Stonewall: Even though flying a rainbow Pride flag violates Russia’s hateful ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law passed in 2013, the American embassy in Moscow is proudly and defiantly displaying the flag for all to see.

 

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Сегодня посольство США в России чествует Флаг Гордости ЛГБТИ🏳️‍🌈во время празднования #PrideFlagDay. Флаг ЛГБТИ был создан американским художником и активистом Гилбертом Бейкером и впервые был поднят 25 июня 1978 г. во время парада Gay Freedom Day в Сан-Франциско. «Символ радуги был взят из самой ранней истории человечества как символ надежды», – писал Бейкер в своих мемуарах «Воин радуги» (Rainbow Warrior). Он хотел донести свое убеждение в том, что сила общества в разнообразии. Права ЛГБТИ – это права человека. Права человека универсальны. Месяц гордости призван подчеркнуть, что каждый человек заслуживает того, чтобы жить жизнью, свободной от ненависти, предубеждений и преследований. #Pride2020 #LGBTI #HumanRights #EqualProtection #PrideFlagDay #rainbowflag

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Trump Administration Orders Pride Flag Taken Down From Embassy

(image via US Embassy in South Korea/Instagram)
The Trump administration has ordered the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, to remove a rainbow flag hung in support of LGBTQ Pride Month. The instructions to remove the Pride Flag reportedly came from the offices of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has a long history of anti-LGBTQ positions. The embassy in South Korea was also ordered to take down a banner in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. CNN reports the two banners hung from the embassy building’s facade were originally placed there thanks to Ambassador Harry Harris. The Twitter account for the U.S. Embassy in Seoul proudly shared photos of the Pride flag and Black Lives Matter banner prior to their removal. https://twitter.com/USEmbassySeoul/status/1267243731565948928 https://twitter.com/USEmbassySeoul/status/1271745253863649280 The State Department cited the Black Lives Matter movement’s status as a non-profit organization as the reason for removing the BLM banner because “the US government does not encourage contributions to the group or promote any specific organization.” But no reason was given for removing the Pride flag. According to CNN, the Pride flag was removed on Monday just hours before the landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court which affirmed federal protections for LGBTQ Americans in the workplace. You may recall the Trump administration rejected requests from U.S. embassies to fly Pride flags from embassy flag poles last year. At the time, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo had no issue with rainbow flags being flown as long as it wasn’t from the embassy flagpoles. “Secretary has the position that, as it relates to the flagpole, that only the American flag should be flown there,” said Ortagus. The embassy in Seoul worked around the denial in 2019 by hanging the flag on the outside of the building, but clearly, that approach didn’t fly this year. Contrast all this with the Obama years when the government granted blanket permission to fly rainbow flags during June in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month. Additionally, President Obama issued presidential proclamations recognizing June as Pride Month all eight years of his administration. (source: CNN, NBC News)

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GOP Votes To Leave Anti-LGBTQ Party Platform Unchanged For 2020

Donald Trump
Via Politico:

A vote by the Republican National Committee to leave the party’s 2016 party platform unchanged ahead of the November election has infuriated grassroots activists — including moderates who wanted to streamline its message and social conservatives who sought added language on emerging hot-button topics.

The decision by the party’s executive panel Wednesday means the GOP will maintain positions in the 4-year-old policy blueprint — including opposition to same-sex marriage and a nod to gay conversion therapy — and decline to stake out new positions on topics such as police reform, gender identity and third-trimester abortions.

Party officials and senior Trump campaign aides had previously discussed ways to pare down the 58-page document to a single notecard or abbreviated list of principles, but the effort broke down after several conservative groups registered complaints with the White House.

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Documentary Explores Life & Death Of Closeted Anti-Gay Attorney Roy Cohn

L-R Donald Trump, Roy Cohn (screen capture)
Check out the first trailer for the new documentary Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, scheduled to debut June 19 on HBO. The film takes an unflinching look at the life and death of infamous, closeted anti-gay attorney, Roy Cohn. From Deadline:

The documentary draws on unearthed archival material and audiotapes to paint a portrait of Cohn’s life from the late 1950s as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy, through to the 1980s when he embedded himself in the Reagan White House as a “rabid anti-homosexuality activist and political mentor” to current U.S. President Donald Trump before dying of AIDS in 1986.

Interviewees include John Waters, Cindy Adams, Alan Dershowitz, Nathan Lane, and Tony Kushner, whose 2018 Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning revival of Angels In America featured Lane as Cohn.

“Roy Cohn made his name prosecuting and pushing for the execution of my grandparents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg,” said director Ivy Meeropol. “Many years later he became Donald Trump’s lawyer, mentor, and close friend. If there was ever a time to reflect on how we got here it is now. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the film with HBO audiences.”

“One thing I didn’t know until 1988 was that Cohn was gay and had succumbed to AIDS. Learning this about him made me want to know more about this man and the secret life he led. This clash of feelings, hating a man and believing he was evil while simultaneously feeling empathy for that same man who no doubt suffered in the closet, drove my approach in making this film.”

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News Round-Up: May 20, 2020

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic in HBO’s ‘Welcome To Chechnya’
Some news items you might have missed: • Oregon Live: A gay man recently became angry with his mother when she didn’t know how to respond when he introduced his new boyfriend who is HIV-positive. She fears if they stay together and have children the new boo might infect the future/possible kids. She wrote to the popular column ‘Ask Amy’ for advice. • CBS Detroit: A Wisconsin woman who has taken hydroxychloroquine for 19 years to treat lupus has tested positive for COVID-19. The woman, a self-described Trump supporter, says she only left her home to go the grocery store. She told CBS News she thought she would be safe because of what Donald Trump has said about the drug. • HBO: From Academy Award-nominated director David France comes Welcome to Chechnya, a powerful and eye-opening documentary about a group of activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya.

• Politico: More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states during the coronavirus health threat will face a “hard stop” on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits like education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill and/or early retirement. • Bloomberg News: Researchers are finding evidence that patients who test positive for the coronavirus after recovering aren’t capable of transmitting the infection, and could have the antibodies that prevent them from falling sick again. • AZ Central: Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) dropped four percentage points in a month trailing Democrat Mark Kelly by 13 points, according to the latest tracking poll by OH Predictive Insights. The same poll in April favored Kelly 51% to McSally’s 42%, and now in May, it’s 51%-38%. The poll shows independents breaking more than 2-1 for Kelly. • TikTok: Since the fan on my two-year-old laptop sometimes goes into high gear for no apparent reason, I clicked on this. I had no idea computers could get so filthy inside.