Tag: homophobia

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News Round-Up: May 1, 2020

DJ/producer David Nazar (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: DJ/producer David Nazar (above) sends regards from his “balcony vacation” in Miami, Florida. Follow him on Instagram here. • Human Rights Campaign: May is officially recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, and now more than ever, it’s crucial to shine a light on mental health in the LGBTQ community. Click the link for information about how LGBTQ people are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts compared to their straight and cisgender peers. • Broadway Bares: The 30th-anniversary performance of the annual striptease spectacular, featuring the sexist dancers on Broadway, is being postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the June spectacle has been postponed, plans are in the works to still celebrate Broadway Bares online this summer. Check out this clip from last year’s “Game Night” edition.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An internal poll conducted for the Georgia House GOP Caucus held bad news for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the former financial executive who dumped millions in stocks after receiving coronavirus briefings in January. Loeffler only received 11% support in the survey regarding her upcoming race this fall, and essentially tied with two Democratic candidates. U.S. Rep. Doug Collins leads the field with 29% of the vote and outpaces Loeffler among Republicans by a 62-18 margin. • KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly look at what’s making news in LGBTQ magazines like South Florida’s Hot Spots! (below). • Gay Star News: Magistrates in Israel have ruled the ironically named Rainbow Color print shop must compensate an LGBT+ association after it refused to print posters for the Ben Gurion University LGBT group three years ago. The Beersheba Magistrates Court said the duty to serve customers comes before religious beliefs. • Instagram: In the middle of Madonna’s ‘Madame X’ themed post on Thursday, the pop-star revealed she’d “taken a test” and found out she “had the antibodies.” Madge didn’t elaborate as to when she was tested. She added, “So tomorrow, I’m just going to go for a long drive in a car, and I’m going to roll down the window, and I’m going to breathe in, I’m going to breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining.” Note – scientists have not determined if having the coronavirus makes one immune going forward.

 

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#staysafe #staysane

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News Round-Up: April 28, 2020

Gus Kenworthy and Birdie (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • New York Times: National Institutes of Health scientists in Montana last month inoculated six rhesus macaque monkeys (considered the closest equivalent to humans) with single doses of a vaccine developed by the Oxford University’s Jenner Institute. The animals were then exposed to heavy quantities of the virus that is causing the pandemic — exposure that had consistently sickened other monkeys in the lab. But more than 28 days later all six were healthy. • InstaHunks: I spent about a year studying the guitar when I was younger, and I was terrible. Woofy Gus Kenworthy (top) has really learned a lot in just two months. Color me impresssed. But it looks like his best fur pal Birdie isn’t feeling it. Watch below.

 

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I’ve spent the past two months trying to learn the guitar and my dog is… honestly not very impressed.

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• Reuters: A study of more than 1400 LGBT+ women – one of the largest of its kind – found 37% of lesbian mothers in the UK suffered discrimination from other parents, while the same number’s children were victimized. • Bloomberg News: Donald Trump indicated today he’s considering withholding COVID-19 financial assistance from blue states unless they agree to do away with sanctuary cities. Note: states like California and New York, which have sanctuary cities, already send much more to the federal government than they receive.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Two people in Georgia drank liquid cleaning products over the weekend in misguided attempts to ward off COVID-19, according to the Georgia Poison Center. Both men had histories of psychiatric problems and are expected to recover. • The Gaily Grind: ABC News correspondent Will Reeve, the son of the late “Superman” actor Christopher Reeve, accidentally revealed to the nation that he wasn’t wearing any pants while doing a live report on “Good Morning America” from his home. The 27-year-old’s camera was angled down and revealed that the correspondent was not wearing any pants as he sat on a stool immediately generating reactions on social media after the moment on “Good Morning America” went viral.

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Nigeria: Men Dragged From Private Home, Stripped & Beaten For Consensual Sex

(image via Pexels)
A police officer in Nigeria was attacked, stripped naked, and beaten by a group of young vigilantes for having consensual sex with another man in private. Constable Chibuike Ukazu, who is reportedly married,  and another man only identified as Yellow, were confronted in a private residence in Orlu, Imo, last Tuesday. An unnamed source told The Nation the two men were “caught red-handed having anal sex.” “Immediately we entered the house, the police officer took down his trousers and pulled off his shirts, bend over and the yellow guy, started having annal sex with him,” said another man who is a part of the vigilante group. “Immediately our men broke in and arrested them and took them down to the community hall.” A police spokesman, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the incident saying the youths “pounced” on the men and “beat them to stupor” before taking them to the palace of the community leader. It was there that police took the men into custody as they were being jeered by the vigilantes for “practicing sodomy.” The spokesman also seemed to express more concern that the vigilantes had roughed up a fellow police officer more than the assault itself. “The command, therefore, wishes to warn members of the public to desist from taking laws into their hand by resorting to self-help especially on infractions by the members of the Police or other security agencies, all are advised to report all grievances to the nearest Police station for prompt and decisive action,” said Ikeokwu. “However, investigation into the matter has commenced with a view to unravel what actually transpired and if found culpable will face the wrath of the law.” In a country with some of the most virulently anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, Ukazu and his partner face up to 14 years in prison if convicted. When the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act was signed into law in 2014, polling showed 92% of Nigerians supported the legislation. The act not only bans gay marriage but also criminalizes homosexual clubs, associations, and organizations. Another poll by Pew Research showed 98% of Nigerians didn’t feel homosexuality should be accepted by society. That is the highest percentage of disapproval of LGBTQ people recorded by Pew Research.

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Podcast: LGBTQ Activist Phyllis Lyon, Grindr Used To Set Up False Arrests, Homophobic Florida Police Chief

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: • A Florida police chief is on administrative leave after telling his officers a sheriff’s deputy died from coronavirus because he was gay • Georgia police use Grindr to setup allegedly false drug arrests • Michigan teen’s mother files lawsuit after her son suffered a concussion from anti-gay bullying at school • Ireland’s openly gay Prime Minister is returning to medicine to help in the COVID-19 crisis • Trailblazing lesbian activist Phyllis Lyon died this past week at the age of 95 • And leftover fabric from the AIDS quilt is being used to save lives during the COVID-19 threat All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Student Doctor Sues Over Anti-Gay Harassment During NYC Residency

A doctor in New York City has filed a lawsuit alleging he was repeatedly the target of homophobic comments during his first-year residency at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. The New York Post reports Dr. Chad Jensen, a surgical resident, says among the vulgar jokes made at his expense was a supervisor referring to him as a member of the ATM or ‘a** to mouth crew.’ In his lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, Jensen alleges the surgical residency program director, Dr. Armand Asarian, and Dr. Sandeep Sirsi, the associate director, “regularly made hateful, anti-gay comments about their gay patients and unscientific judgments that these patients’ own ‘lifestyle’ caused their illnesses.” The 32-year-old physician, who left the residency program before his year was up, told the Post he was surprised to experience ‘that kind of discrimination’ in New York City. Jensen moved to New York City from California in June 2017 to take the one-year residency. It was during that time he came out as gay. “It just reinforced all of those fears, essentially putting me back into those 29 years that I was living in fear, feeling like I couldn’t be myself,” Jensen told the Post. According to the lawsuit, the Brooklyn Hospital Center did determine after Jensen’s departure that he “had been harassed because of his sexual orientation.” Asarian was reportedly removed as director of the surgical residency program and Sirsi was forced to resign. Jensen is now a resident in the Bronx at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln. He tells the Post he brought the lawsuit because he felt “like he had no voice.” “It made me think of all the other people in this country that are also gay and feel like they have nowhere to go and it leads them down dark paths,” Jensen explained to the Post. “So me coming forward, I wanted to let people know that they’re not alone.” The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and asks for the hospital to institute anti-bias training. (source: NY Post – stock photo via Depositphotos)

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Buttigieg On Homophobic Caucus Voter: ‘My Love Is The Same As Her Love For Those She Cares About’

Pete Buttigieg on The View
During today’s episode of The View, Democratic White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg responded to a video clip of an Iowa caucus-goer who tried to rescind her vote for him after learning he’s gay. Hello? Where has she been? Asked what he thought after watching the clip (“I guess she didn’t get the memo”) Buttigieg said, “I’m running to be her president, too.” He added, “I wish she was able to see that my love is the same as her love for those that she cares about.” Watch Mayor Pete’s remarks below.

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Twitter Claps Back As Rapper Rants About ‘Forcing LGBT Onto’ Africa

Rapper J Hus (image via Facebook)
Rapper J Hus began a Twitter firestorm when he tweeted accusations of Europeans “weaponizing” homosexuality and “forcing LGBT onto” Africa. The London-based rapper’s initial tweet (which has since been deleted) read, “STOP FORCING LGBT ONTO US. Live your life I don’t care but don’t force it onto me especially when you don’t wanna recognize these black struggle.” Of course, that was quickly followed with a denial of being homophobic saying he’s good with the gays because “The more gay men the more women for me.” In another tweet J Hus deleted, he added, “They try force Ghana to include LGBT into their education when its not their culture. You can’t tell me they don’t try force it on us.” After a lot of backlash from the Twitterverse, the rapper stood down saying, “Okay maybe I’m wrong then. Forgive me. I don’t wanna offend anyone. From my point I saw things different. You can school me.” Making a point to say he “never once said” he hated anyone, J Hus threw in, “To me it looked like they was weaponizing it against us. But do ur thing.” “Yeah I see all the tweets,” wrote J Hus as he tried to step away from the issue. “The culture I practise, we’re not familiar with these things that’s why I have a different view. I don’t hate anyone but I stand up for my culture. Don’t take no offence. Live your life happily.” Among those who spoke out during the tweetstorm was rapper MNEK, who is both black and gay, who wrote, “Ok so are you saying that LGBT people are exclusively white? that there’s no such thing as intersectionality? that fans of your music who are both black and lgbt, myself included, don’t understand black struggle either? i just want to be clear.”

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U.S. Ambassador To Zambia Recalled Over LGBTQ Rights

(image via Pexels)
The United States has recalled its ambassador to Zambia in the aftermath of comments he made about the jailing of a gay couple in the southern African nation. The two men – Steven Samba and Japhet Chataba – were arrested for having consensual relations in a private hotel room. They were found guilty of “crimes against the order of nature” and sentenced to 15 years in prison last month. Across much of Africa, homosexuality is considered taboo and having same-sex relations is illegal. The punishment for such crimes can range from imprisonment to the death penalty.
(image via Google Maps)
Ambassador Daniel Foote criticized the ruling by the country’s high court saying, “I was personally horrified to read about the sentencing of two men, who had a consensual relationship, which hurt absolutely no one.” Foote’s official statement also made mention of the $500 million in annual assistance Zambia receives from the United States saying, “In these countries where we contribute resources, this includes partnering in areas of mutual interest, and holding the recipient government accountable for its responsibilities under this partnership.” In an interview with Sky News, President Edgar Lungu defended his country’s homophobic laws saying, “Even animals don’t do it, so why should we be forced to do it?…because we want to be smart, civilized and advanced and so on.” “If there are such countries which will allow bestiality, let them do it but not here,” he added.

Foote’s comments chafed Zambian leaders and led to threats of violence against the ambassador causing him to cancel appearances at World AIDS Day events. Reuters reports that President Lungu wrote of his displeasure to the Trump administration which ultimately led to Foote being recalled. An embassy source told Reuters, “Since Lungu says he does not want to work with Foote, there was no point of him remaining. Also, don’t forget that there are security issues.” “The U.S. cannot be paying a salary to someone who cannot work because the hosts don’t want him,” added a second source. Bloomberg News adds that the U.S. currently has no plans to send a replacement for Foote any time soon. It’s worth noting that Zambia is the beneficiary of nearly $500 million each year in financial aid from the United States.

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Coldplay’s Chris Martin Opens Up On Conquering Childhood Homophobia

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin (image via Depositphotos)
During a recent video interview with Rolling Stone, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin opens up for the first time about struggling with his sexuality as a boy, homophobic bullying he experienced as a kid, and realizing he carried some homophobia of his own. “When I went to boarding school, I walked a bit funny and I bounced a bit,” said Martin. “And I was also very homophobic, because I was like, ‘If I’m gay, I’m completely f*cked for eternity’ and I was a kid discovering sexuality.” “‘Maybe I’m gay, maybe I’m this, maybe I’m that, I can’t be this,’ so I was terrified,” the 42-year-old added. He described his classmates at boarding school in the UK as “a bunch of quite hardcore kids” saying “for a few years, they would very much say, ‘You’re definitely gay,’ in quite a full-on manner, quite aggressively telling me that – and it was weird for me for a few years.” That “terrible turmoil” led Martin to discover his personal escape – music – especially “classic soul, British shoegaze rock and cathedral music” which would all ultimately find its way into the sound that is Coldplay. And then, at the age of fifteen and a half, after reading about Elton John’s life and career, the anti-gay mindset “stopped overnight.” “I don’t know what happened,” he told Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. “I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ and then it all just stopped overnight. It was very interesting. Once I was like, ‘Yeah, so what if I’m gay.’” “Just growing up a bit and having a bit more exposure to the world, thinking, ‘A lot of my heroes are gay’ or whatever,” he realized. “Whatever they are, it doesn’t really matter.” Martin says that epiphany led him to consider other conflicting issues in his young life as well, including religion. “[It] made me question, ‘Hey, maybe some of this stuff that I’m learning about God and everything — I’m not sure if I subscribe to all of this particular religion,’” he shares. Describing his personal relationship with religion as “wobbly,” he eventually he settled on his “own relationship” with the concept of God, and realized “it’s not really any one religion for me.’” The Rolling Stone sit-down is one of just a handful of interviews the singer is giving in support of Coldplay’s newly-released album, Everyday Life. Check out the band’s latest music video, “Daddy.” https://youtu.be/OWhiCkEY-Yk (source: Rolling Stone)

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Teens Plead Guilty To Attack But One Says It Wasn’t A Hate Crime

Melania Ramirez and Christine Hannigan shared this photo on social media after being attacked on a bus in May 2019

Melania Ramirez and Christine Hannigan shared this photo on social media after being attacked on a bus in May 2019
Christine Hannigan & Melania Ramirez (image via Facebook)
Three UK teens have pleaded guilty to harassing and threatening a lesbian couple on a late-night bus ride in London in the early hours of May 30 this year, but one denies it was a hate crime. As I reported this summer, Christine Hannigan and Melania Ramirez (surname formerly Gaymonat) were approached by four teenage boys who began taunting them and demanding they kiss. When they refused, the teens surrounded the couple taunting them, making sexual gestures, throwing coins at them and eventually punching the women. As a result, Hannigan’s jaw was injured and Ramirez’s nose was broken requiring medical treatment for both women. “They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions,” Ramirez wrote in a Facebook post accompanied by a photo showing the couple left bloody by the incident. “I don’t remember the whole episode, but the word ‘scissors’ stuck in my mind.” After the assault, which lasted about nine minutes, the teens departed taking Hannigan’s handbag with them. After the four teens were arrested this summer, they appeared in court on Thursday for an anticipated two-day trial. But before the proceedings could begin, three of the teens (aged 15, 16 and 17) pleaded guilty to using threatening words or behavior to cause harassment while charges against the fourth were dropped, according to Sky News. CCTV footage of the incident was viewed in court showing the boys approaching the women soon after the couple boarded the bus which Prosecutor Saira Khan characterized as “the tide washing in.” Hannigan testified in court on Friday saying the boys made comments about ‘scissoring’ and asked them to show how lesbians have sex. She called the teens’ demeanor “aggressive” and “scary” The 16-year-old boy also pleaded guilty to handling a stolen mobile phone and the 15-year-old admitted to handling a stolen bank card. The 17-year-old admitted to throwing coins at the women but denied being hostile towards the couple based on their sexual orientation. During the Thursday hearing, Judge Susan Williams said the abuse “was quite clearly directed towards this couple because of who they are.” Solicitor David Wood, representing the 17-year-old, admitted the coin-throwing was “pathetic” and constituted a criminal offense, but added, “It has nothing whatsoever to do with an attack based on hostility with regards to sexual orientation.” Judge Williams addressed the 17-year-old directly saying, “You say you were not being hostile to these ladies on the basis of their sexual orientation. That is an issue that has to be resolved because it does make the case more serious if the court comes to the decision that this was what was going on at the time and it does mark it as more serious.” “I think it will be a hair-splitting exercise but it’s perfectly obvious that this was a same-sex couple that has provoked their interest and the interaction between them,” added Judge Williams. “The offense cannot be explained in any other way. I do regard this as an aggravating feature and it would be reflected in the sentence.” (source: Sky News, The Guardian)