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TikTok video. He touted the platform as a place where readers could access books that might be at risk from censorship bans, offering up to 10 million different titles for sale.However, the platform quickly came under criticism from the LGBTQ community for including titles that espoused right-wing and anti-LGBTQ messages.

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.

Billie Eilish proved her talent and staying power at the 2024 Oscars when she walked away with the Best Original Song trophy. The singer-songwriter had won the prize in the past, and with a second honor to her credit, she’s made history.The superstar and her brother Finneas were named the champions in the Best Original Song category for their single “What Was I Made For?” from the movie Barbie.Eilish and Finneas now stand as the two youngest two-time Oscar winners in the almost-century-long history of the ceremony. Eilish is just 22 years old, while her brother is 26.Eilish and Finneas earned their first Oscar in 2021 for “No Time to Die,” the title song from the James Bond film of the same name.

Chef’s Kiss, his celebrated graphic novel, is an adorable piglet named Watson.Watson is an evolved being, essentially, with a palate beyond the ordinary, and he serves as the ultimate “taste-tester and head of quality control” for the restaurant in which Ben, the novel’s gay protagonist, is discovering his not-so-hidden talent for creating fabulous dishes.At the same time, Ben is also discovering his feelings for co-worker Liam, and the book spends a lot of time in “will-they, won’t-they?” territory as their romance gently simmers to a boil.“I wanted it to be a slow burn,” says the 38-year-old from his home in Massachusetts. He’s engulfed in a bright pink light, the glow from a neon sign hanging in his office.

Nex Benedict, a nonbinary 16-year-old who died the day after an altercation in the school’s bathroom.But a pro-LGBTQ alliance of hundreds of people showed up to counter-protest, outnumbering the church members and expressing support for the students at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma. The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, announced earlier this week that it intended to hold two “public preaching” events in Owasso on Wednesday, March 6 — one outside the school board headquarters, and the other outside Owasso High.According to a release from the group that misgenders Benedict, Westboro intended to protest the school due to its negligence in dealing with the 16-year-old, allowing her to identify as nonbinary without forcing her to accept her assigned sex at birth.The release slams Benedict’s family for having failed in raising them, and the staffers at Owasso High School, the local school board, and the city, saying that adults surrounding Benedict failed to intervene, and implying that God punished the lack of intervention with Benedict’s death.

The Washington Post, federal prosecutors allege Corado took at least $150,000 of the $1.3 million that Casa Ruby had received in emergency relief funds aimed at assisting small business owners and nonprofits in navigating difficult financial times during COVID-related shutdowns.Corado was arrested at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, on March 6 after an “unexpected return” to the country, according to prosecutors.She faces federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, illegal monetary transactions, and failure to file a report of a foreign bank account.Following an initial appearance on March 6 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Corado was ordered held without bond pending a March 8 detention hearing.

vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, with Republican lawmakers later overriding the vetoes to pass the transgender restrictions into law.Robinson has routinely vilified members of the LGBTQ community, suggesting as recently as last month that transgender women should be arrested for using multi-user bathrooms or changing facilities that align with their gender identity.Criticizing those who complain about North Carolina’s restrictions on restroom use, Robinson said the state would not accommodate people who do not want to use spaces that align with their assigned sex at birth, saying such people should instead “find a corner outside somewhere to go.”Robinson has become known for his anti-gay diatribes and outspoken opposition to LGBTQ visibility and civil rights, calling LGBTQ people “filth,” comparing them to “maggots” and “cow dung,” claiming they’re turning the United States into a “hellhole,” and claiming that God “formed” him to fight LGBTQ visibility in society.

KABC that her son suffered a concussion and spent days in the intensive care unit with severe injuries, including internal bleeding and a punctured lung.“The doctor was telling me, ‘We didn’t know whether we were going to lose your son or not,'” Frankie said. “He had a tube going through his chest.

sweeping anti-transgender bill that also banned access to gender-affirming care for minors, use of gender-affirming pronouns in school environments, and “Don’t Say Gay”-style prohibitions on classroom content.

KYTV-TV that teachers who allow students to access LGBTQ literature or have LGBTQ-supportive signs or symbols in their classroom will also be subject to criminal charges for supporting social transition. “Teachers are there in the schools to teach the topics that they’re trained to teach and to help those children grow in knowledge,” he said.

partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an online promotion last year.Mulvaney appeared in a TikTok video highlighting Bud Light’s “March Madness” promotion during the annual NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament.She also appeared in an online ad where she sat in a bubble bath, clad in a bathing suit, sipping Bud Light.As part of that promotion, the company also sent Mulvaney a commemorative can with a picture of her face on the exterior, celebrating the first anniversary of her “Days of Girlhood” video series documenting her gender transition.The can did not go on sale to the public. Still, many conservatives and anti-transgender advocates took offense at what they saw as Mulvaney’s caricature of womanhood, as well as the idea of transgender visibility, and called for boycotts not only of Bud Light, but other products of Bud’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev.Anheuser-Busch InBev reported record revenues for 2023 but said its “full growth potential was constrained” by the decline of sales in the United States, where the boycott was the strongest.In total, organic revenue in North America decreased by $1.4 billion due to a decline in beer sales, reports CNN.As a result, Mexican beer Model Especial dethroned Bud Light as the United States’ top-selling beer.From May through February, Bud Light recovered only 1.2 percentage points of lost market share, CEO Michael Doukeris told investors on Thursday.

announced that his office charged 20-year-old Trey Samuel Fetzer in Franklin County Municipal Court with “ethnic intimidation” — more commonly known as a hate-crime charge — as well as misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct.“Vandalizing property and making homophobic remarks in an attempt to intimidate members of the LGBTQ+ community will not be tolerated in our city,” Klein said in a statement. “Columbus is diverse and tolerant, and we celebrate our LGBTQ+ community.

Tempestuous Elements at Arena Stage, Anna Cooper, principal at M Street, fought to teach Black students a classical curriculum at a time when revered educators like Booker T. Washington advocated instead for learning a trade.

True Detective: Night Country, she knew she had to find an actor who could embody strength, sorrow, and vulnerability.Previously the series had always cast two well-known movie stars opposite one another in the detective roles — Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrellson of season one, for instance — but López wanted to break the mold and cast someone who felt authentic for the role opposite star Jodie Foster.“I talked to my casting director, Francine Maisler, and I said, ‘Is there anyone that we can find that has the strength and the power?’ And as I was speaking, my computer went ‘ping.’ She had sent me a photograph of Kali, who was getting buzz because her movie had come out, Catch the Fair One. And just looking at her face and her body and her gravitas and presence and power, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that is Navarro.”López watched the 2021 movie that night, in which Reis portrays a former champion boxer who searches for her missing sister.

Columbia Daily Tribune.Under the language of the amended ordinance, law enforcement is expected either not to pursue charges, or deprioritize the enforcement of, any laws imposing criminal or civil penalties against individuals who seek out or assist others in obtaining gender-affirming care.This is in direct reference to Missouri’s law prohibiting minors from accessing such treatments, which Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed into law last year.That law also prohibits adult Medicaid recipients from having the cost of any transition-related procedures covered, meaning they must pay for such services out of pocket.Authorities are also encouraged to deprioritize arresting, detaining, or transferring individuals to other states for seeking out gender-affirming care for themselves or their children, in violation of their own state’s laws.Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been dogged in his insistence that the ban on health care for transgender minors be enforced, even demanding that local police, especially in Kansas City and St.

press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Denis Villeneuve’s stunningly realized film adaptations of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi saga Dune take an epic leap forward in Dune: Part Two, the sequel to the Oscar-winning first film starring Timothée Chalamet as possible Chosen One, Paul Atreides.Last seen at the end of Dune trekking into the desert like a twink Lawrence of Arabia, Paul is still a refugee on the desert planet Arrakis. Following the massacre of his father and the House of Atreides by savage Harkonnen forces, he’s hiding among the native Fremen, plotting to avenge his House, while also evading death or capture by his clan’s universe of enemies, including ruler of all, Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken).The first film felt mostly like a long-winded setup for a protagonist who took little action.

My Little Pony franchise, deeming it a hotbed of “LGBT propaganda.”The impetus for the raid appears to be objections to furries — a minority sub-culture of primarily adults, some of whom may identify as LGBTQ, with an interest in roleplaying and dressing up as anthropomorphic non-human animal characters — who may have been present at the conference, known as “Mi Amore Fest.”Furries have commonly been associated with “deviant” expressions of sexuality. They are often accused of trying to entice or indoctrinate children into embracing “non-traditional lifestyles,” as Russian politicians often refer to LGBTQ identity.Other objections seem to be related to the character Rainbow Dash, a pony with a rainbow-colored mane who is one of the chief protagonists of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series, as well as the presence of characters — both male and female — with gender-nonconforming character traits in various iterations of the My Little Pony cartoon series, which first aired in 1986.Organizers of “Mi Amore Fest” had changed depictions of Rainbow Dash to include the colors of the Russian national flag.Still, Russian authorities appear to believe that the series is sending subtle messages to viewers about support for LGBTQ causes.“Eric Myval,” who appears to be a furry, anime, and cartoon enthusiast based on their social media channels, wrote a series of posts on Telegram informing followers about the raid in real-time.“Apparently, you won’t be able to get to the fest anymore,” Myval wrote.

The Associated Press. Desperate to keep the affair secret, Ritter lured Doe to a remote area outside of Allendale on August 4, 2019, shooting her three times in the head with a .22 caliber handgun.

TheWrap, the 57-year-old Lemon has agreed to a separation deal for approximately $24.5 million, the equivalent he would have earned for serving out the remainder of his final contract, which was set to expire three-and-a-half years after he was pulled from the airwaves.In April 2023, Lemon, who was featured on Metro Weekly’s coverin 2016, announced on X that he had learned from his agent — and not from the network, for which he had worked for 17 years — that he had been terminated. He said he was never given any indication that the network was considering letting him go.

guilty of threatening to kill former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), according to the U.S.

declared an “extremist organization” by the Russian Supreme Court.As reported by The Telegraph, security officers entered the party, held at Typography, a club in Tula, 100 miles south of Moscow. They then dragged “feminine-looking” men out into the snow before beating them, based on information from the Russian human rights organization OVD-Info.

Hail, Caesar!, the Coens’ last proper comedy. After that, they made the Western anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, then went their separate ways.Joel went full Shakespeare in 2021 with The Tragedy of Macbeth, an expressionistic exercise that was never quite more than the sum of its parts, while his brother took a hiatus from narrative filmmaking.

Private Jones poses a thrilling musical adventure in story and in form.The company’s first world-premiere musical since the pandemic, produced in association with Goodspeed Musicals, shrewdly deploys sign language, practical sound effects, and silence, along with Pailet’s compelling score, to shape the world of Private Gomer Jones, a deaf Welsh sniper in World War I.Inspired by a real-life WWI marksman who was deaf since infancy, Private Jones comes firing to life in Johnny Link’s feisty take on the role.Gomer, who loses his hearing as a child, is gutsy enough at 16 to fake his way past British Army recruitment officers so he can join up and fight alongside his fellow Borderers from Breconshire.Backed by the production’s robust ensemble, he sings, bursting with hope, in “The South Wales Borderers” of answering the nation’s call. Moments later, innocence still guides him, as Gomer and company march through “Part of the Sound,” his vow to not simply soldier in step, but truly prove his value in combat.Link ably captures Gomer’s boyish voice and outlook, and evolves the character in his dark, humbling descent into the trenches of war, though it’s not the performer’s singing that carries the characterization.Distinctly pleasing voices do surround him — notably, David Aron Damane, lending his deep baritone to Gomer’s father and other roles, and Leanne Antonio as Army nurse Gwenolyn, leading the transporting ballad “Every Soul’s a Soul.”Later reprised as “Every Soldier,” the intoxicating melody ripples like water, floating Gwenolyn’s simple wisdom, that every soul is a soul.

David Carlin King and the Gold Diamond Band perform a Tribute to Neil Diamond on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. in Alexandria, Va. Tickets are $45. Visit www.birchmere.com.For more information about Kingsbay Mansion, visit www.kingsbaymansion.com.

The Ohio Department of Health rolled back several rules and regulations that would have restricted access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender adults.In January, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine directed the department and the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to file rules for public comment to ensure that individuals do not pursue a gender transition hastily.

Love means different things to different people — there is no one simple definition. But we all generally agree that along with love comes romance, and along with romance come specific tropes: wine, roses, chocolates, and sex.Those tropes are out in full force every February 14, on Valentine’s Day, a holiday that some view as a celebration and affirmation of romance.

Renaissance, but the pop singer isn’t giving her fans a chance to breathe. Instead, she’s announced a new album, it’s coming very soon, and fans can already hear the surprising new sonic direction she’s chosen for her latest era.On Sunday, February 11, Beyoncé dropped two new songs. The tracks, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” are assumed to be the first official singles from her forthcoming album, which was announced at the same time that the cuts arrived.Beyoncé took to social media on Sunday night to reveal the second installment of Renaissance is coming next month.

Military.com mid-January headline was blunt: “Army Sees Sharp Decline in White Recruits.” An appropriate, similarly blunt reaction might be, “Who cares?” Not surprisingly, the right wing cares. Histrionically. They’re all in a bunch about it.Of these bunched-up deplorables, Rep.

Fellow Travelers, in which Bomer and Jonathan Bailey star as secret lovers who meet in McCarthy-era Washington.While a rapt audience inside the screening room enjoyed the series’ racy, ’70s-era Fire Island episode, Bomer, prompted by our discussion of whether actors are destined for certain roles, mused on his uncertain path to his SAG Award-nominated role as closeted WWII vet turned State Department official Hawkins Fuller.“It’s so interesting, because this came to me early on and I was so pessimistic about it,” he says. “I started out in this industry — I’ve been doing this almost 30 years — at a time when something like this just wouldn’t get made, period.”Still, throughout his career, the erstwhile White Collar lead has represented the LGBTQ community admirably offscreen, and in stage and screen revivals of The Boys in the Band, and his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of a writer with AIDS in HBO’s The Normal Heart.“We have seen this slow ebb of progress happening in Hollywood in our storytelling,” he says, citing Fellow Travelers creator Ron Nyswaner’s “beautiful scripts,” and the support of Showtime and Paramount for the show as prime examples of that progress.

Couple to Throuple all bed down for their first night, the show could be any other in the proliferating genre of hookup TV, populated by bed-hopping singles shacked up in sex mansions.But look closely, once the screen shifts to spy-cam night vision of bodies writhing beneath the sheets, and you’ll not mistake a third eager, willing participant bumping and grinding with the main pair. Set to boldly explore the bounds of polyamory, the show’s couples and singles — thirds, if you will — might represent a lighthearted, next logical step in society’s surging discourse on ethical non-monogamy.Then again, to more traditionally-minded viewers, or those simply with different tastes in popular entertainment, these semi-exhibitionist throuples might just speak to the unrelenting decline of American culture.

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, the artist known as Lil Nas X lays down his ambitions to achieve something “great, super grand, BIG.”He might be referring to his trailblazing career as a Grammy-winning rapper-singer-songwriter, whose unabashedly queer persona and presentation garner admiration and controversy in equal measure.He could mean his first concert tour as a headliner, the Long Live Montero Tour, the American leg of which is chronicled in this film by directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel.There’s little doubt he envisions greatness for himself, Montero Hill, the self-described brat from Lithia Springs, Georgia, who uploaded his modest country-rap banger “Old Town Road” to his socials and became a global sensation.The film, a verité-style tour diary in three acts, doesn’t achieve greatness of its own, but offers glimpses at those aforementioned aspects of Montero’s super grand life.Whether rehearsing for opening night at Detroit’s legendary Fox Theatre, getting a surprise pre-show visit from Madonna, or donning his drag persona to meet his uncannily accurate Madame Tussaud’s wax figure, he rides the dizzying whirlwind of music stardom with aplomb, clearly living out a dream.Among the most compelling footage presented here is the video he shot himself in 2018, as a striving but confident 19-year-old, a month after releasing “Old Town Road” to the internet. Looking into the camera, he tallies his current follower count, promising that in a year the count will look different.

Gen X has gotten. No world wars, thankfully, though we did grow up imagining thermonuclear Armageddon as a genuine possibility, if merely accidental.But the Cold War ended. We were evolving!Some credit Ronald Reagan for ending that chapter.

Metro Weekly, describing the embrace he has felt from the leather community. “There’s nothing left in the closet, and that has rounded me out as a person. The leather community made me who I am.”DanBear was on hand to enjoy the weekend festivities, represent his title, and serve as a judge at the 2024 Mr.

The Telegraph, Thomas — the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who won the 500-yard freestyle race in the 2022 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships — has petitioned the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland to overturn rules prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in world championship events, and at the Olympics, based on their gender identity.Thomas’s victory in the 500-yard freestyle sparked a backlash against transgender athletes in the United States, prompting FINA, the predecessor to World Aquatics, to adopt rules prohibiting transgender females from competing in women’s events if they have undergone “male puberty.”Only those athletes who have never developed secondary sex characteristics, or those who started puberty blockers prior to age 12, are exempt from the ban.World Aquatics has justified the restrictions on transgender participation, saying it based its recommendations on a scientific policy document that concluded that transgender women swimmers retain significant physical advantages over cisgender women, including increased muscle mass and lung size, even when they suppress their testosterone levels. Along with its adoption of the transgender athlete ban, World Aquatics sought to create an “open” category that would be open to individuals, regardless of gender, in which transgender athletes could compete.The category’s first races were scheduled to be held at the World Cup in Berlin last October.

diversion or treatment programs designed to decrease the risk of recidivism.According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the now-17-year-old’s father read his son’s diary in 2020, when the youth was 14, and discovered the boy was attracted to other males. The father then imposed various punishments on his son, forcing him to do military-style training runs at night, refrain from shaving, expose his genitals, and read pages from his diary out loud.He also accessed his son’s online social media accounts, monitoring sites he visited and restricting who he could communicate with.When those punishments didn’t work, the father sought help from a psychologist in the hope that the psychologist would affirm the parents’ conservative worldview.