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metroweekly.com

05.12.2023 / 00:09

Library Forced to Remove LGBTQ Books to Stay Open

Kansas Reflector, all five city commissioners have ties to the Society of St. Pius X, a conservative religious sect with significant influence over the town.While the commissioners are technically not supposed to control decisions regarding how the library functions, they sought to pressure Cremer into deciding between keeping the library branch open, or parting with some books that ran against the commissioners’ personal moral and religious beliefs.Last year, St.

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metroweekly.com

19.01.2024 / 16:57

285 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Have Been Introduced in 2024 — So Far

tracker developed by the American Civil Liberties Union.According to the ACLU, Oklahoma currently has the most proposed anti-LGBTQ bills with 36 — though many of them are redundant, with lawmakers introducing their own versions of nearly identical bills.The state with the next highest number of bills is Missouri, which has introduced 28, and South Carolina, which has introduced 26.Most of the bills target the transgender community, taking the form of efforts to either redefine transgender existence out of law or place restrictions on transgender people’s ability to self-identify, access spaces, or receive services that affirm their gender identity.More than 200 bills focus on educational matters, including proposed athlete bans, curriculum censorship bills, and at least 38 requiring LGBTQ-identifying students to be outed to their parents in the name of “parental rights.”Another 120 seek to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for trans-identifying minors, with some even seeking to require transgender adults to overcome a number of bureaucratic or regulatory obstacles to receive transition-related treatments, which critics say is an attempt to frighten medical providers into refusing to see transgender patients altogether.Already, 24 states have passed some form of restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, resulting in a flood of legal challenges from families with transgender children and from doctors who are penalized for prescribing gender-affirming care under the laws.While most lower-level federal courts temporarily blocked such bans last year, only one statewide ban, in Arkansas, has been declared unconstitutional.Other bans in Indiana, Montana, and Florida remain blocked, although bans in states

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nypost.com

14.01.2024 / 21:21

Netflix pulls original film as religious viewers condemn meat-eating characters

The Guardian reported.Hardliners also slammed the feature for the portrayal of the Hindu deity Lord Ramthat, claiming the film implied that Ramthat ate meat while in exile. Critics of the film also say that the movie promotes a conspiracy theory that Muslim men are on a “love jihad” to marry and convert Hindu women.Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a popular rightwing Hindu group, launched their campaign on Wednesday by saying the film was “intentionally released to hurt Hindu sentiments,” per The Guardian.The group’s online protest quickly gained traction on social media and culminated in an in-person rally at Netflix’s headquarters.

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metroweekly.com

26.12.2023 / 20:07

Police Visited a School to Remove an LGBTQ Book

Gender Queer, a memoir by Maia Kobabe about her coming of age as a nonbinary person, available to students at the school.The complaining individual — who is reportedly a member of the school community — provided police with two images. The first was the book’s cover, in which a person is seen staring into a pool of water, looking at a shirtless reflection that does not match their physical appearance.The second was a scene from the book in which two illustrated characters are shown engaging in oral sex.

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metroweekly.com

20.12.2023 / 22:19

Google Fined $50 Million for Hosting LGBTQ Content

Forbes.Prosecutors had claimed that the YouTube videos “spread LGBT values” and sought to convince “minors to commit illegal actions,” according to Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.It is unclear what is meant by the “illegal actions” that the videos are encouraging minors to engage in, although similar language has been used to rail against transgender visibility on the grounds that it will encourage minors to identify as transgender or pursue gender transitions.The fine is the steepest one levied against the search engine in Russia for violating its law prohibiting the spread of “LGBT propaganda.”Last month, the country’s Supreme Court deemed the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an “extremist” organization, prompting crackdowns by local police on LGBTQ venues or advocacy organizations. Under Russian law, anyone participating in or financing an “extremist” organization, including any LGBTQ advocacy groups, can be prosecuted and jailed for up to 12 years.The Russian government, led by President Vladimir Putin, adopted a law in 2013 that prohibits the spread of “propaganda” related to “nontraditional sexual relations,” or any information that paints LGBTQ identity in a positive or neutral light, among minors.

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nypost.com

28.11.2023 / 17:03

Robert De Niro says speech blasting Trump was cut at Gotham Awards: ‘How dare they do that’

introducing the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award on behalf of his new film, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”“I just want to say one thing,” the actor continued. “The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out and I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it.

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metroweekly.com

14.11.2023 / 19:38

Texas School Board Restores Cross-Gender Roles in ‘Oklahoma!’

barring a transgender student from playing a male role in his high school’s production of Oklahoma! has reversed course, allowing the original casting decisions to stand.On November 13, the Sherman Independent School District board voted to reinstate the original script and cast for the musical after local community members flooded the board’s regularly scheduled meeting to defend the casting of Max Hightower, a transgender male, as the peddler Ali Hakim.According to Dallas-area ABC affiliate WFAA, more than 60 people spoke in support of Hightower and slammed the board’s decision to prohibit not only Hightower but all students from playing roles that don’t match their assigned sex at birth.Administrators had interceded after several students were cast in cross-gender roles, citing a nonexistent district policy as justification for recasting the musical.Sherman High School administrators also insisted that the musical contained “mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content,” and the production would have to be postponed for a month while the musical was rewritten to create a more “age-appropriate version.”But local community members weren’t buying the administrators’ explanation, with speaker after speaker denouncing the recasting decision and the decision to rewrite the musical.Speakers criticized the board for caving to perceived political and social pressure to enforce rigid gender roles in school productions.“I’ve played male roles in the past and it was no big deal — and guess what, that’s theater!” one actress told the board.“Reinstate the real version of Oklahoma! and let the students sing!” said another commenter.Following the public comment section of the meeting, the board went into a private,

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metroweekly.com

20.09.2023 / 19:25

Teacher Fired Over Lesbian Content from Anne Frank Graphic Novel

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, an illustrated adaptation of Frank’s indispensable, historic book The Diary of a Young Girl. In the passage, the then-teenaged author and victim of the Holocaust described her genitals and attraction to other females.Frank, a German-born Jewish teenager who died in 1945, just months before Germany’s defeat in World War II, wrote the diary during a two-year time period when she and her family were in hiding to avoid being sent to Nazi death camps, remaining ensconced in a secret annex above the Amsterdam warehouse for the company that her father had owned.The graphic novel, which hews closely to the text of the unedited, original version of Diary, contains portions of Frank’s diary that had previously been edited out of the book’s 1952 English edition, but were restored in the book’s 1989 republication, reports The Dallas Morning News.Those censored sections included passages where Frank wrote about her understanding of male and female genitalia — including the development of her own body during puberty — and where she expressed feelings of attraction toward a female friend.Pulling from those passages, the graphic novel adaptation depicts Frank asking a female friend if she’d feel comfortable exposing their breasts to each other, with her friend declining.

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metroweekly.com

15.09.2023 / 16:39

The Riley Roundup: Bop Till You GOP Edition

video, published by the conservative Family Policy Alliance, emerged of her telling an interviewer, back in March, that “protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture” should be among conservative lawmakers’ top priorities.In the video, Blackburn quickly shifts to speaking about KOSA as a way to stop children from being “indoctrinated,” blaming social media platforms for “inundating” minors with information that “they are, emotionally, not mature enough to handle.”The bill, which has been endorsed by President Joe Biden, would allow parents to sue social media companies and online platforms that do not sufficiently shield children from under 13 from “harmful” content.But Blackburn’s comments in the video, coming so soon after railing against transgender visibility, have led some LGBTQ advocates to fear that Republicans will attempt to hijack the bill to censor all LGBTQ-related information online and block access to LGBTQ resources, from suicide prevention hotlines to LGBTQ resource groups to academic sites with even generic information, by deeming them “harmful,” reports NBC News.In response to that speculation, Blackburn’s legislative director, Jamie Susskind, claimed in a post on X that opponents were conflating the two issues and spreading misinformation about the bill. Citing an article titled, “U.S.

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metroweekly.com

25.08.2023 / 17:55

Georgia Teacher Fired After Reading A Book With Nonbinary Character

An Atlanta-area teacher was fired after reading a children’s book featuring a nonbinary character to her fifth-grade class. In a 4-3 decision last week, the Cobb County School Board fired Katie Rinderle after she read My Shadow Is Purple to her class.

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metroweekly.com

23.08.2023 / 20:57

Mississippi Library Bans ‘Heartstopper’ from Young Adult Section

A Mississippi library has banned the Heartstopper graphic novel series from its young adult section after angry parents, objecting to the depiction of same-sex relationships, claimed the books were “pornographic.”Alice Osman’s graphic novels tell the story of two teenage boys who fall in love. They do not contain explicit sexual content, but do feature same-sex kissing and hand-holding.

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nypost.com

21.08.2023 / 20:13

Don’t stop ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ from making the rocking world go round

yank six titles — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “On Beyond Zebra!” — from print in 2021, citing supposedly offensive content in the picture books.And, over the decades, Richard Scarry’s classic children’s books have been retroactively tinkered with time and again by sensitivity readers. Editors sought to counteract gender stereotypes… by making a policeman bear a policewoman bear, and swapping an illustration of a mom cat pushing a stroller out for a dad cat.Not even “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is safe.

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metroweekly.com

17.08.2023 / 16:23

North Carolina Republicans Override Vetoes of Anti-Trans Bills

Associated Press.The new law, which prohibits access to hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs, and gender confirmation surgery although minors who had begun treatment prior to Aug. 1 may continue receiving puberty blockers or hormones if their doctors deem it medically necessary and their parents consent.

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metroweekly.com

10.08.2023 / 20:13

Florida County Reverses Ban on Gay Penguin Children’s Book

its ban on a children’s book based on a true story about a male penguin couple that adopted an egg and raised the chick that hatched from it. Censors had flagged the book for violating the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.Lake County Schools and officials with the Florida Department of Education subsequently asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit, brought by the authors of And Tango Makes Three and the parents of five school-age children, who alleged that the ban infringed on their First Amendment rights.According to Popular Information, the book was removed from library shelves because the penguin couple was the same sex.

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metroweekly.com

26.07.2023 / 20:41

Attempt to Remove San Diego Library’s LGBTQ Books Backfires

Two San Diego residents checked out nearly every single book in their library’s Pride Month display, claiming that such materials shouldn’t be available to children.Across the nation, conservative groups have pushed to ban books that discuss LGBTQ issues from libraries and schools, often arguing that they are pornographic or obscene merely because they depict LGBTQ identity.This attempt to stoke culture-war flames in San Diego backfired, according to The New York Times, ending with an outpouring of community support for the library in the form of increased monetary and book donations. As soon as The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the protest, new copies of the checked-out books began to arrive at the library.

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metroweekly.com

26.07.2023 / 19:47

Bible Challenged in Florida School District Due to Explicit Content

A nontheist advocacy organization is demanding that the Bible be banned from schools in a Florida school district, using the same justification that has been used to censor other literary works.Christopher Line, a staff attorney for church and state separation watchdog Freedom From Religion Foundation, formally requested the Bible be removed from library shelves in Leon County schools after the district pulled several other titles for mentioning sexual assault. The books that were banned include Dead End by Jason Myer, Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk, Lucky by Alice Sebold, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, and Push by Sapphire.

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nypost.com

23.07.2023 / 13:51

‘Oppenheimer’ sex scene condemned in India: ‘This is a direct assault’

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM “OPPENHEIMER.”A sex scene in the highly anticipated drama “Oppenheimer” is being slammed by Indian officials who claim the scene is “a scathing attack on Hinduism.” The biographical drama tells the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer as he and a group of scientists rush to complete the infamous Manhattan Project, which culminated with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6, 1945.In the film, Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, 47) and Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, 27) are engaged in sexual intercourse until Jean walks over to a bookshelf and grabs a copy of “Bhagavad Gita” and asks Murphy to read from it.“Oppy” then reads the line, “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds,” as the duo resumes sexual intercourse.

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metroweekly.com

17.07.2023 / 18:15

First Grade Teacher Fired for Protesting “Rainbowland” Ban

tweeting about her feelings over the song ban before speaking with her supervisors and bringing negative attention to the school district after her tweets went viral.“Ms. Tempel deliberately brought negative attention to the school district because she disagreed with the decision as opposed to following protocol and procedure and I believe that behavior is intolerable,” said Waukesha School District Superintendent James Sebert, who previously recommended in May that the Board of Education terminate Tempel.Tempel’s tweets criticized the school district for banning her students from singing “Rainbowland” at their school concert.While there are no explicitly gay or LGBTQ-related lyrics in the song, the lyrics speak of a world where everyone is accepted for who they are.

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metroweekly.com

08.06.2023 / 22:07

Louisiana Republicans Pass Slate of Anti-LGBTQ Bills

a ban on transgender athletes last year.The most prominent of the bills is a measure to ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments meant to treat gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers, hormones, or surgical interventions, the latter of which are rarely performed on minors.The ban on gender-affirming care appeared to be dead last month after Sen. Fred Mills (R-New Iberia, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, voted with Democrats to reject the bill when it came before the committee. Mills said that his decision had been heavily influenced by a 2022 Louisiana Health Department study on gender-affirming health care.It found that no gender-affirming surgical procedures had been performed on any minors enrolled in Medicaid in the state between 2017 and 2021, and that hormone and puberty blockers were rarely prescribed to transgender-identifying minors in Louisiana during that same period. National conservative pundits — who have deemed opposition to LGBTQ visibility, transgender rights, and “wokeness” as essential to their party’s brand — were outraged at Mills’ defection, and promised political retribution.Mills’ fellow Republicans caved to pressure from those voices to revive the bill.Senators then used a rare procedural maneuver to recommit the bill to a different committee, allowing it to pass on a 29-10 vote, reports the Associated Press.The bill now heads back to the House, which previously overwhelmingly approved the ban on gender-affirming care.

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metroweekly.com

19.04.2023 / 22:39

Florida Expands “Don’t Say Gay” Law to All Grades

bar them from participating in some school activities — or will shame students who are being raised by same-sex parents.“This policy will escalate the government censorship sweeping our state, exacerbate our educator exodus, drive hardworking families from Florida, and further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support now more than ever,” Equality Florida, the state’s top LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement posted to Twitter.“Shame on the DeSantis Administration for putting a target on the backs of LGBTQ Floridians.”The new rule will take effect in one month after it goes through a procedural comment period, according to The Associated Press.The law’s expansion marks the latest move by the DeSantis administration targeting the LGBTQ community as the two-term governor seeks to elevate himself as a potential presidential contender in 2024.

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nypost.com

04.04.2023 / 00:03

Forget ‘Gone With the Wind’ — these are the movies that really could use trigger warnings

latest label that was just added before Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel “Gone With The Wind.”It says that the old book, which was made into a huge 1939 movie, amounts to a “romanticization of a shocking era in our history and the horrors of slavery.” Um, duh! It’s a Civil War story that’s pro-Confederacy.A more useful trigger warning I’d throw in front of “Gone With The Wind,” however, is: “This book is 1,472 pages long.” In fact, books, movies and TV shows almost never begin with a trigger warning that could actually help me make a decision. Here are some I’d like to see.Trigger Warning: You will never be able to afford this beautiful homeEvery flippin’ Nancy Meyers movie (“It’s Complicated,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “The Holiday”) has a stunningly gorgeous Hamptons or California home where wealthy, relaxed Ina Garten-types drink red wine on beige couches that miraculously never stain.

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nypost.com

22.02.2023 / 19:21

Un-‘woke’ Roald Dahl books listed at $7K include ‘ugly,’ ‘fat’ and ‘female’

maligned by many, the notorious Roald Dahl word purge could prove a boon to one segment of society: the owners of the original books. “Unedited” versions of the classic children’s novels have reportedly been listed for as much as $7,000 on eBay.This comes after the news broke that Puffin Books — a Penguin Books imprint for children — had tapped so-called sensitivity experts to scrub language they deemed offensive in an effort to appease the “woke” masses.

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metroweekly.com

19.10.2022 / 23:05

Digital Ads Attack Texas and Florida Republicans Over LGBTQ Issues

believed to have allowed — their trans-identifying children to access gender-affirming medical treatments. In one Orwellian example, a transgender eighth grader was pulled from class by state child welfare agency officials and grilled for an hour about their identity, home life, and gender dysphoria — all without informing his parents.In Florida, Republicans are best known for having pushed the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, dubbed by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits discussions of LGBTQ content in primary grades, and only permits discussion in secondary grades if the content is considered “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The law has been blamed for censorship of textbooks, as well as efforts to ban books that are not currently being used as part of in-class lesson plans but deal with LGBTQ content — either directly or tangentially — from school libraries.Some students claim that they’ve had their free speech rights censored or have been barred from certain school activities due to their pro-LGBTQ advocacy, with teachers and administrators citing the law’s provisions as justification.

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nypost.com

16.09.2022 / 20:19