LGBTQ news and entertainment
A Florida woman was ticketed for texting with her cell phone in her right hand while driving. She doesn’t have a right hand. Continue reading “Woman Ticketed For Driving With Phone In Right Hand – Which She Doesn’t Have”
Some news items I thought worth your time:
• Washington Blade: A new report citing two dozen or more studies and surveys of LGBTQ people’s interaction with police and law agencies for the past 25 years shows “pervasive mistreatment of LGBTQ people by law enforcement.”
• LGBTQ Nation: Swiss tennis star Mika Brunold, 21, currently climbing the ranks of the men’s singles circuit, came out on Instagram with a heartfelt message becoming just the second active pro men’s tennis player to come out as gay. Continue reading “Study: Mistreatment Of LGBTQ By Law Enforcement + Pro Tennis Player Comes Out + More”
The owner of a gay bar in St. Louis was arrested after a police SUV crashed into the front of his establishment shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday night. Continue reading “Police SUV Crashes Into Gay Bar, Owner Arrested For Being Upset”
Uvalde Elementary School (screen capture via WFAA)
Taron Egerton (photo: Gage Skidmore – CC license)
Chandler Massey and Zach Tinker are returning to ‘Days of Our Lives’
(image via Depositphotos)
David Cole made the accusations against school resource officer Lorenzo Beltran in a federal complaint, and last week told The Bee he struggles to feel safe after the incident two years ago. Cole added he has lost 75 pounds while dealing with insomnia and gastrointestinal issues from the distress.
The lawsuit claims Beltran and a plainclothes officer entered Cole’s gated community when school was closed for a holiday in February 2019 and ordered Cole to exit his home. Outside, Beltran allegedly questioned Cole about his reports of anti-gay student bullying, repeatedly gestured toward his gun and pressured the teacher to quit his job or go to the closed school with them.
Cole begged Beltran to leave, but the officer allegedly refused. The now 54-year-old teacher eventually ran into his home when his partner of 30 years opened the door after listening to the exchange, the lawsuit claims.
A gay teacher sued the city of Ceres, alleging a police officer threatened him at his home and flashed a gun in retaliation for reporting homophobia at Central Valley High School to school administrators. https://t.co/PWEEemcTF3
— Kristin Lam (@kristinslam) July 8, 2021
Sgt. David Shelby (screen capture)
When James Burch and several activists began filming a sheriff’s deputy during a confrontation on the Alameda County courthouse steps in Oakland, Calif., this week, the officer caught the group by surprise. He pulled out his phone and started blaring Taylor Swift’s 2014 hit single “Blank Space.”
Confused, Burch asked: “Are we having a dance party?”
After he and the other activists pressed the officer about what he was doing, the deputy — identified by local media as Sgt. David Shelby — said, “You can record all you want, I just know it can’t be posted on YouTube.”
He was referring to YouTube’s automated copyright system, which detects and removes unauthorized protected material — such as a popular song — from being uploaded to the Internet.
Things didn’t quite go according to the officer’s plan as the clip has amassed over more than 848,000 views on Twitter at this writing. Plus, a version did indeed make its way to YouTube that has garnered more than 573,000 views so far. I saw the original tweet when it happened and wondered, “What is it the officer didn’t want recorded?” He didn’t seem to be doing anything wrong, so…why the digital confrontation? He made himself look shady when it’s not clear he was. #fail “The officer was trying to be a little smart, and it kind of backfired,” Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County sheriff’s office, told the Washington Post. “Instead of censoring it, it made it go viral.” According to Kelly, Shelby still works for the sheriff’s department but the issue has been referred to internal affairs for review. While there’s no policy prohibiting an officer from doing what Shelby did in the video, “there is a code of conduct on how we should carry ourselves in public,” Kelly said. The spokesman added that the sheriff’s office does not “condone” the deputy’s behavior. “This is not a good look for law enforcement,” Kelly said. There is a “serious lesson learned here.”
LGBTQ police officers will not be allowed to participate as a group in the annual Pride march, and organizers said they will rely on private security for their events. I’m not quite down with this decision. I understand the politics, but I think when you want to to be the ‘good guys,’ you have to be the ‘good guys.’ From the New York Times:
New York City’s annual Pride celebration, which began 51 years ago as a defiant commemoration of an anti-police uprising and has evolved into a city-sanctioned equality jamboree, will take steps to reduce the presence of law enforcement at its events.
Starting this year, police and corrections officers will also not be allowed to participate as a group in the annual Pride march until at least 2025. The ban includes the Gay Officers Action League, an organization of L.G.B.T.Q. police, which announced the news in a statement on Friday night.
The New York Police Department will also be asked to stay a block away from the edge of all in-person events, including the march. Heritage of Pride, which organizes events, will instead turn to private companies for security and safety, calling police officers in emergencies only when necessary, they said.
NYC Pride announced steps to take the NYPD out of Pride, including banning police from marching in a group. https://t.co/S0XnqzFzby
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 15, 2021
Kyle Rittenhouse (image via Twitter)
The beneficiaries of donations from public officials include Kyle Rittenhouse, who stands accused of murdering two leftwing protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August. Rittenhouse traveled from neighboring Illinois to, by his own account, offer armed protection to businesses during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse, who became a cause célèbre across conservative media throughout late 2020, and was even supported by then president Donald Trump, held a fundraiser on GiveSendGo billed as a contribution to his legal defense. According to data from the site, he raised $586,940 between 27 August last year and 7 January .
One donation for $25, made on 3 September last year, was made anonymously, but associated with the official email address for Sgt William Kelly, who currently serves as the executive officer of internal affairs in the Norfolk police department in Virginia.
Kelly’s donation reportedly included a message to Rittenhouse: “God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong. Every rank and file police officer supports you. Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.” It won’t surprise you to know that ‘Sgt. William Kelly’ was trending on Twitter this morning. In addition to his status as a police officer, folks noted that he’s the guy who is supposed to oversee internal affairs for his department.
It’s sad and horrifying, but of course Sergeant William Kelly, exec officer of internal affairs for the Norfolk PD, said this along with his anonymous $25 donation: pic.twitter.com/9oaS1jHgPy
— Zoé (@ztsamudzi) April 16, 2021
Sgt William Kelly is Executive Officer of Internal Affairs. He’s supposed to be the guy investigating and rooting out corruption—not the guy creating it by donating & praising a double homicide suspect. This absolutely mandates an external investigation separate from @NorfolkPD. https://t.co/okgTeus2Cm
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. قاسم رشید (@QasimRashid) April 16, 2021
Breaking: Sgt. William Kelly, the Norfolk Police Department officer who donated to Kenosha killer, Kyle Rittenhouse, is the head of the Internal Affairs Unit — the unit that investigates police wrongdoing. He wrote that Rittenhouse “did nothing wrong.” You can’t make this up. https://t.co/MtbFWNAu3g
— Chris Weidner (@CWNewser) April 16, 2021