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Miami Herald that “[p]reparations for a suit in federal court are well underway.”“My civil liberties are not up for debate,” he said of his intention to not only sue Miami Beach Gay Pride, but the city of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, which are co-sponsoring the Pride parade.Kent Harrison Robbins, an attorney for Basabe, wrote to Horwich warning him that excluding Basabe from participating in the parade “would be willfully, knowingly, and intentionally abridging his First Amendment right to free speech and to peaceably assembly on a public street.”“Legal precedents from the federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have ruled that a concern that there may be physical opposition to [Basabe] is not a legal justification for violating his speech and assembly rights,” Robbins wrote in the letter. “Basabe must be allowed to participate in The Pride Parade and he must be notified immediately through my offices that he will be allowed to do so without any impediments.”Robbins argued that because city and county jurisdictions are among the sponsors of the parade, it doesn’t constitute a private event that would allow for Basabe’s exclusion.

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separate court case.However, since 2022, the Pentagon has stopped discharging active-duty service members due to their HIV status.That year, a Virginia federal judge ruled that the military could not discharge, refuse to commission, or categorically bar people with HIV from deploying, especially if they are asymptomatic and virally suppressed — making it highly unlikely that they can pass the virus to others.Additionally, in 2022, Davidson County voters approved an amendment to Metro Nashville’s charter removing the requirement that police recruits abide by military fitness standards, instead allowing the Civil Service Commission to set its own requirements. Subsequently, in 2023, Doe, enlisting the help of Lambda Legal, sued the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, arguing that the Metro Nashville Police Department’s policies were not only discriminatory but violated federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.As part of the settlement, the Metro Nashville government not only must provide Doe with monetary relief, but agrees to update and rewrite the city’s Civil Service Medical Examiner’s policies to make clear that people living with HIV are no longer categorically banned from serving as first responders or police officers.“I feel vindicated,” Doe said following the settlement.

Mediazona. The club, which opened in 2021, regularly hosted drag parties.

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Lake McHenry County Scanner.Perteet, a Waukegan resident who is married and has four children, has been charged with three counts of armed robbery and kidnapping with a firearm, plus one count of carjacking, for his alleged involvement in three separate attacks against men on Chicago’s West Side last summer.According to a news release from the Chicago Police Department, Perteet was arrested by members of the Vehicular Hijacking Task Force on March 26 in the 3000 block of South Sacramento Ave., in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. He was identified by victims as the man who allegedly held them against their will and robbed them at gunpoint.The three victims included:All three crimes took place in the city’s North Lawndale neighborhood.Prosecutors claim that Perteet used Grindr to track down the victims and obtain their addresses under the guise of arranging a hookup.

infamously did with an epithet before a key game against Notre Dame — appeared to be wearing pink nail polish and had shiny lips, leading them to claim that he was wearing pink lip gloss or lipstick.The NCAA Division I women’s basketball X account shared the video of Williams, who reposted it, writing, “Vibes onlyyyyy supporting our girls.” Vibes onlyyyyy supporting our girls https://t.co/MBULWWdubT— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) March 26, 2024Anti-LGBTQ trolls immediately began feigning outrage over his look, accusing him of being gay, gender-nonconforming, and pushing a social agenda. Others were angered over his visibility, arguing that it was not acceptable to appear to wear pink, a color stereotypically associated with women and that doing so was “gross.”“OMG, the Chicago Bears are finally in a position to draft a franchise quarterback, and Caleb Williams is a Dylan Mulvaney wannabe.

American Idol star dropped “Hell Together” last week after teasing new music was coming. The track is a gospel-tinged affair, a nod to his past and the story he tells in the song. “Hell Together” is powerful and meaningful – qualities that are not always guaranteed when it comes to pop music.

Al Jazeera.If the bill surmounts those obstacles, Thailand would become the third Asian country to legalize same-sex nuptials, following Taiwan and Nepal.The bill changes references in current law from gender-specific terms like “man,” “woman,” husband,” and “wife” to gender-neutral terms. It grants surviving partners inheritance rights in the case of one partner’s death and allows same-sex couples the right to adopt.“I want to invite you all to make history,” Danuphorn Punnakanta, the chairman of the parliamentary committee, said ahead of the vote.

temporary injunction blocking Paxton’s office from demanding the information, writing that “immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to PFLAG and its members” if Paxton’s office is able to obtain information about the group’s members, which number close to 600 in Texas alone. Under the terms of the restraining order, Paxton’s office may not attempt to stop PFLAG from operating for refusing to hand over documents and identifying information about its members, especially those who may have reached out to the national pro-LGBTQ advocacy group to determine how to seek gender-affirming care out of state.Paxton’s office may also not demand information from PFLAG revealing the identities of its members, officers, employees, lawyers, volunteers, or donors.Paxton’s office claimed their demand for PFLAG documents, issued in early February, was part of an effort to investigate whether medical providers were violating Texas’s law banning them from prescribing gender-affirming treatments like puberty blockers and hormones to minors.PFLAG filed a lawsuit last month asking for a temporary restraining order and relief to protect the identities and privacy of its members.

golf-cart chariot to carry him less than a half-mile as his powerful peers walked that short Sicilian stroll. Meanwhile, Biden rides a bike for pleasure. (Yes, we all know he’s fallen off his bike.

Barbenheimer. Barbie, listed in our 2023 spring movie preview, and Oppenheimer, which was not, had yet to assert their primacy over the year’s box office and pop culture conversation.Few conceived those two films would spark a phenomenon that rippled through media, fashion, merchandising, music, and awards show after awards show after awards show.After all the hype and hot takes, red carpet looks, historic victories and milestones, the Barbenheimer convo only really finally abated with the Oscar wins that shuffled Barbie, Ken, and Oppy off the stage in March, ushering cinema into the spring/summer season.Now, new cinematic fascinations await, new soundtracks of the summer, your next new favorite character or performance, some star-making smash that’ll keep the world talking until 2025.

Oh, Mary!, Escola’s hit play which marketing materials tout “finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot.Although they may not be immediately recognizable, Escola appeared on the TV shows Difficult People, At Home with Amy Sedaris, and Search Party.

Macbeth starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma. But, let’s be honest, all of our area theatres have showstoppers up their sleeves…Signature lets its hair down. Baltimore Center Stage serves up some fiery wings.

Hamlet.She pulls it off with great intelligence and careful precision in a two-and-a-half-hour production that whizzes by faster than a perceived phantom. From the troubled Danish prince to the forlorn Ophelia and even a cockney gravedigger, Izzard tackles 23 characters with sophisticated panache and effortless flair.Izzard, who has had an impressive career in London and New York, both onstage and in film, and as an actor and stand-up comedian, admitted to ABC News that she is not the most likely person for a solo Hamlet, but has decided to return to her first love, drama.In the same interview, it was revealed that Izzard ran 32 marathons in 31 days on a treadmill during lockdown.

202-399-7993www.atlasarts.orgFredgren Studio Theatre 3443 Carlin Springs Rd. Falls Church, Va. 703-778-3008www.balletnova.org10534 York Road Cockeysville, Md. 410-667-7974www.baltimoreballet.com45 West Preston St. Baltimore, Md. 410-752-8558www.theatreproject.org202-499-2297www.chamberdance.org301-581-5204www.citydance.netDance Theatre University of Maryland College Park, Md. 301-405-ARTSwww.theclarice.umd.eduwww.dtsbdc.org3225 8th St. NE 202-269-1600www.danceplace.org4618 14th St.

WDJT-TV.In the spring of 2019, Kalumbula allegedly locked the child in a dark room for more than an hour, and threatened to kill him if he told anyone about it. While the harassment did not continue while schools were closed for in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2021, just a month before schools reopened, Kalumbula was named acting principal.Shortly after returning to school, the gay couple’s son was — once again — bullied by other students for having gay parents.

commercials depicting same-sex couples, called for a boycott of Oreo for selling rainbow-colored cookies during Pride season, condemned Whole Foods for sponsoring a Drag Queen Story Hour event, demanded that the Hallmark Channel pull an ad depicting a lesbian wedding, and lost their cool over a plug for TurboTax.The petition demanding the Hilton ad’s cancellation has amassed 12,186 signatures so far.“I am not buying into your social agenda that pushes the gay lifestyle,” the petition reads. “Your commercial featuring a homosexual couple and men in drag offends me, and it also offends many other conservative consumers.“I disagree with the LGBTQ agenda you are forcing on families and children.

Idaho Statesman that Umphenour stayed with the couple at Henderson’s cabin a decade ago.Thompson — who had met Henderson online and moved from Washington State to Idaho to live with him in 2006 — said Umphenour, who was about 18 years old at the time, asked to stay with the couple because his family’s camper didn’t have a lot of space and he didn’t get along with his father.After a month, the couple kicked him out when he attempted to take control of the couple’s home and frequently talked about shooting people who disrespected him.“He had a volatile temper, which was frightening,” Thompson told the Statesman. “He would just explode all of a sudden, so it was like, ‘No we can’t have this here.'”Thompson says he never saw Umphenour after the couple kicked him out.

The Washington Post, the pilot was unable to slow the vessel. A diesel backup generator kicked in, temporarily restoring the electrical system and allowing the pilot to radio an emergency message to have the bridge closed prior to the crash, which occurred at 1:28 a.m.

202-265-0930www.930.comMcLean Community Center 1234 Ingleside Ave. McLean, Va. 703-790-0123www.mcleancenter.org1811 14th St. NW 202-667-4490www.blackcatdc.com1940 9th St. NW 202-483-5000www.dc9.club645 Pennsylvania Ave.

Metro Weekly in 2019 to discuss Los Espookys, the HBO comedy series, which the former Saturday Night Live writer created with co-stars Ana Fabrega and Fred Armisen. “I think we just do things the way that we know how and like to do them.

Company, and Rodin, who performs it in the production now at the Kennedy Center, refers to it as a “rollercoaster.”Company debuted on Broadway in 1970 with music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Firth. Director Marianne Elliott conceived of this production before the pandemic as a way to mark the musical’s 50th anniversary.Collaborating on the work with Sondheim until his death at the end of 2021, Elliott’s idea was to adapt the work to focus on Bobbie — a single woman whose 35th birthday is more cause for angst than celebration — rather than the original’s Bobby, a 35-year-old single man confronting the same anxiety.All of the lead character’s friends and lovers also swapped genders in the adaptation except for Paul, who is now the financé of Jamie (replacing the original character of Amy), the role played by Rodin.Company is the 31-year-old actor’s biggest show yet.

USA Today that Hanbury’s death “does not appear suspicious at this time.” The investigation remains active and ongoing.J.J. Hanbury later confirmed his brother’s death on Facebook.“We’re all struggling and this is so hard,” he wrote.

I Love Lucy was kicking off its first season, super glue had just been invented, and there were 140,000 syphilis cases reported across the country.”By 2000, however, decades of public health advocacy and medical advancements, such as the use of antibiotics in early treatment, had cut down cases to just 32,000 per year.So, what happened? Why are the numbers worse now than they were 24 years ago?“In the United States, syphilis was close to elimination in the 1990s, so we know it’s possible to reverse this epidemic,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, stated.The CDC recently released its STI surveillance report for 2022, the most recent verified data set available.

A local educational advisory body in Manhattan has adopted a non-binding resolution calling on New York City Public Schools to prevent transgender female students from playing on sports teams matching their gender identity.On March 20, Community Education Council 2, which covers a swath stretching from Lower Manhattan to the Upper East Side, approved a resolution urging New York City Public Schools to form a review committee to propose changes to the department’s current gender guidelines.Since 2019, the city has allowed transgender athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity. Critics of the current transgender participation policy argue that key stakeholders — female cisgender athletes, coaches, parents, medical professionals, and evolutionary biology experts — were either ignored or not consulted about the potential ramifications of such a policy.The resolution, which passed by a vote of 8-3, urges the school system to receive and consider input from those stakeholders when considering whether transgender student athletes should be eligible to compete in female-designated sports.The purpose of seeking that input is to ensure cisgender females are not denied opportunities to earn team roster spots, titles, awards, and scholarships, or other honors.“Girls and women lose when their hard-fought and won sports opportunities are ignored in favor of replacing sex with gender identity as a category,” said Maud Maron, the lead sponsor of the proposal.Maron is the president of “parental rights” group PLACE NYC and a former congressional candidate who earned less than 1 percent of the vote in the 2022 Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District.

Police in West Hollywood are searching for a man who assaulted another while man yelling anti-gay slurs. He is also believed to have assaulted other individuals in the area.The victim of the anti-gay assault, David Velasquez, told the WeHo Times that, on Sunday, March 17, he was coming back from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had been treated earlier in the day for severe cold and flu symptoms.He stopped by the Pavilions in WeHo to pick up medication and was riding his personal scooter home when the altercation occurred.Velasquez noted that he was riding on the sidewalk to avoid being hit by potentially drunk drivers as he made his way through West Hollywood on a particularly raucous St.

Precinct’s Instagram account, along with a clearer picture of two men — taken from inside the bar — whose attire appears to match those of the men urinating.According to the Instagram post, the men then rounded the corner, where one of the managers spotted the drinks and tried to take them away. The larger of the two men “reacted by physically assaulting him, throwing him to the ground.”It remains unclear if the employee was injured during the altercation.“Precinct is a safe space for all; let’s have a good time.

declared the death of Nex Benedict a suicide, LGBTQ groups lamented the nonbinary teen’s death and demanded accountability from officials whom they allege allowed bullying to take place at the teenager’s high school.According to a summary report from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office, Benedict died of “combined toxicity” caused by an interaction between diphenhydramine, also known as Benadryl, an anti-allergy medication, and fluoxetine, a drug used to treat depression that is more commonly known as Prozac.The medical examiner’s summary report does not indicate how the manner of death was determined to be a suicide, versus an accidental death, and does not include details as to what dosage of the respective drugs were in Benedict’s system at the time of their death.A spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s Office did not respond to Metro Weekly‘s question about the dosage of each drug Benedict allegedly took that caused them to collapse at their home on February 8.The national LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD expressed skepticism concerning the medical examiner’s findings.“There is nothing in this one-page document to explain why the medical examiner checked a box.

The Don Lemon Show was set to start streaming on Monday, March 18, on the social media platform. Lemon said that he believed he had a good interaction with Musk, who apparently did not take kindly to the interview.“We had a good conversation,” Lemon wrote in a statement.

Editor’s Note: This in-depth interview with David Mixner, who passed away on Monday, March 11, 2024, at the age of 77, originally appeared in the issue of July 29, 2004. Photography by Todd Franson.“You want a soundbite?”David Mixner grins.“I’ll give you a soundbite. I’m a man who’s devoted forty years of his life — sometimes at great validation and sometimes at great pain — to the struggle for freedom and human rights.“You know, when I was a child growing up,” he continues, “we didn’t have television, but we got Life magazine.

county election results. Moving forward, any flag representing a political or social cause, such as breast cancer awareness, a specific religion, or a specific community — such as the LGBTQ community — will not be permitted to fly on city-owned flagpoles.There are exemptions for city, county, and state flags, the U.S.

Drive-Away Dolls, was unable to be released under its original moniker: “Drive-Away Dykes.”“It was something just for commercial reasons,” adds Tricia Cooke, who co-wrote the film with Coen and edited the finished product. “There are movie theaters that won’t release the movie with that title and the MPA [Motion Picture Association] kind of dictates what your title can be.

The Advocate. “He tagged the NYPD and requested for them to investigate me for not only sex crimes, but also [for me to] be met at the gallows.

Oppenheimer ended the evening as the top-winning movie. The biopic about the man who created the atomic bomb earned seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.Poor Things came next, with four trophies. The biggest honor that the film snagged was Best Actress, with Emma Stone beating out fellow favorite Lily Gladstone, nominated for Killers of the Flower Moon.The only other movie to collect more than one Oscar was Jonathan Glazer’s harrowing Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, which won Best International Feature and an extremely well-deserved Sound Design win.Three of the four acting categories went to first-time winners.

Eternal Sunshine.The set arrived on Friday, March 8, to positive reviews and intense streaming activity from fans eager to hear what one of the biggest pop artists on the planet had come up with.The full-length includes the superstar’s new single, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” which could easily become another smash.“We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” is an electro-pop/synth-pop tune about a love gone awry, one that cannot be morphed into a friendship.It’s both energizing and perfect for the dance floor while also being restrained. Grande doesn’t belt her way through the cut.