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KESQ. “And then the other two girls that were with her came and they were like basically jumping me and tore my clothes. I was in disbelief and a rage that I got hit for simply existing.”Perez, who had been stripped down to her undergarments, spat at the women, only to be sucker-punched by an unidentified man.

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.

Daily Mail.Sancho arrived in Thailand on July 31 as a tourist, and reportedly arrived, with Arrieta in tow, to attend a party on Koh Pha-ngan, a popular beach destination in the southeastern part of the country best known for its monthly Full Moon Party. The raucous night-long celebration is tied to the lunar calendar and draws international revelers to its outdoor rave event.Police allege that Sancho murdered Arrieta and cut his body into 14 pieces before dumping them in the sea and other places around the island.

Trixie Mattel and her beloved reality series Trixie Motel have reason to rejoice as the show gears up for an eagerly awaited second season.In a delightful and somewhat unexpected turn of events, news broke recently that Trixie Mattel and her partner David Silver have signed on to produce a second season of Trixie Motel.The duo shared the good news with their devoted fanbase via an Instagram post that featured a photograph of the couple and a caption that kept things simple, but got the message across: “And we’re back #TMseason2.” Last year, drag enthusiasts were treated to an especially pink spectacle as RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 winner Mattel embarked on a new business journey, one which was televised for all to see.The adventure saw Mattel and her partner David Silver purchase, and completely redesign and renovate, a motel in Palm Springs. A post shared by David Silver (@dvdslvr)The show originally premiered on Discovery+, but now fans can watch it on Max, as the two streamers are part of a Warner Bros.-Discovery merger that occurred not long ago.

intervened in the case, representing Anne and her parents, praised the dismissal of the lawsuit.“Today’s ruling reaffirms that the Constitution is not a vehicle to compel discrimination,” David Carey, the group’s deputy legal director, said in a statement.

if material related to sexual orientation or gender identity is removed. Districts were encouraged to have teachers offer a modified version of the class.But the College Board, which runs the Advanced Placement program — through which high school students can earn college credits — said that any modified version of the class would not be compliant with college requirements, and could therefore cannot be called an “Advanced Placement” course.

ban prohibiting transgender girls and women from competing on female-designated sports teams.As a result, the student, Becky Pepper-Jackson, will be allowed to continue competing with her friends as a member of the girls’ cross country and track teams.Lawyers for the now-13-year-old girl say she’s been welcomed by teammates and coaches, and is currently on puberty blockers to prevent her from gaining a competitive physical advantage over other runners. Whether she will be able to continue doing so, or whether she’ll be able to receive hormone therapy as she grows older, will depend on whether she complies with an exception for youth with “severe gender dysphoria” in West Virginia’s ban on gender-affirming treatments for minors.Last Friday, the Richmond-based 4th U.S.

Let’s Make a Deal, has come out as pansexual in an interview with PEOPLE.Brady, a five-time Emmy Award winner who is also a regular on the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, told the celebrity and pop culture magazine that he is attracted to individuals regardless of their sex or gender, joking that he’s “Bisexual — with an open mind!”Although Brady knew he was attracted to men and women, he wasn’t sure of what label to embrace.“I couldn’t say if I was bisexual, because I had to really see what that was, especially because I really have not gotten a chance to act on anything,” the actor, who has only ever been with women romantically, explains.“[T]o me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or non-binary,” he adds. “Being able to be attracted across the board.

What makes a good gay bar? Does it depend on the DJ or dance floor? Is it the strong drinks or the decor? Or maybe it depends on what cute people come in (or who you go home with at the end of the night)? In reality, it’s not one thing. The ability to be considered a “good,” if not the best, gay bar requires an ambiance composed of many things. And in Washington, D.C., there is no shortage of options.

“Lifts my spirits to see support in the comments.” Transitioning into a more serious tone, Lambert then said he was “also appalled to see the obnoxious homophobia and ignorance plaguing people right now.” The American Idol alum took a strong stance against the negativity, shedding light on his boyfriend’s unique fashion choices that had drawn mocking remarks. “He has wicked style and refuses to conform to the societal norms regarding his fashion choices,” Lambert asserted, firmly defending his partner’s right to self-expression, not that he needed to justify any of it, of course.Lambert’s affection for his partner was palpable as he showered him with heartfelt praise.

In a remarkable display of generosity and concern for her fans, Beyoncé’s tour reportedly paid$100,000 to the city of Washington, D.C., in order to extend the metro’s operating hours by an additional hour. This move ensured that those who attended her show wouldn’t be stranded at the venue due to the cessation of metro services and that they could get home safely.Confirmation of Beyoncé’s gesture came from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the organization responsible for the city’s metro system.

CBS New York.Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer, was dancing and voguing with friends to a Beyoncé song at a gas station while filling up their car in the late evening hours of July 30. Sibley and his friends were wearing swimsuits, having taken a day trip to the Jersey Shore earlier.One member of the group was wearing a tight-fitting and short-cut bathing suit, which attracted negative attention from onlookers.Members of that group, including the alleged assailant, confronted Sibley and his friends, yelling anti-gay and anti-Black slurs during an initial confrontation, according to Joseph Kenny, the assistant chief of the New York Police Department’s detective bureau, who spoke at a Saturday news conference.The groups dispersed temporarily, but then re-engaged after further comments from the assailant and others.Members of Sibley’s group sought to defend themselves, getting into a scuffle with the alleged assailant, who brandished a weapon and stabbed Sibley once in the torso.

Renaissance. The masterful collection of songs took the music world by storm, thrilling audiences with its artistic prowess and sonic brilliance. While the album itself left an indelible mark, there remains an elusive aspect of this era that continues to intrigue and perplex fans: the missing visuals that were teased but never fully materialized.As the world eagerly anticipated the arrival of Renaissance, Beyoncé tantalizingly hinted at accompanying visuals, a promise that seemed poised to elevate the album’s impact even further.

HistoryIsrael’s child adoption law passed in 1960 and uses a narrow definition of a couple.The adoption law (Clause 3) states that “adoption shall not take place except for by a man and his wife together.”There are exceptions. “The courts are permitted to grant an adoption order for a single parent whose partner adopted a child or if the child’s parents died and the single parent in question is a relative of the child,” The Jerusalem Post reported.In 2017 two couples, backed by The Israeli Association for the LGBTQ Community, The Israel Religious Action Center, the Gay Dads movement, the Agudah – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, Open House for Pride, and Tolerance in Jerusalem, petitioned the government and the High Court to allow same-sex couples to adopt.As a response, the state argued that same-sex families were “exceptional” and could “overburden the child.” This resulted in a significant public outcry, and the state backtracked, acknowledging that the law discriminated against same-sex couples and promising to amend it.In 2019, then-Justice Minister Amir Ohana proposed a new bill to address this discrimination, but it failed to advance.The petitioners then moved to the High Court.

A post shared by Charlie Puth (@charlieputh)The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter shared with the world that his upcoming single is titled “Lipstick.” The tune is scheduled to drop on Friday, August 18, just about two weeks from now. Puth’s announcement didn’t arrive in the form of a simple text post or a conventional image.

Director, actor and playwright Tyler Perry is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the conviction of the person who killed a gay man in Grenada.Perry announced the reward on his Instagram on Wednesday after receiving a call from friend and veteran publicist Yvette Noel-Schure about the death of her close friend Josiah “Jonty” Robinson, an openly gay singer-songwriter and Grenada native who performed under the name Jonty Dream.Robinson’s body was discovered on the Morne Rouge Beach, in the southwestern part of the Caribbean island, on June 18. A police insider told the Grenadan newspaper The New Today that an autopsy — performed by an outside expert after two previous autopsies were inconclusive regarding the manner of death — revealed that Robinson had died from “manual strangulation with injuries to the cervical spine” and that his body had been thrown into the water.

Adore Delano, the reality TV star contestant best known for her appearances on RuPaul’s Drag Race and American Idol, came out as transgender to her 2 million Instagram followers last Wednesday.In the video, which now has 1.5 million views and over 200,000 likes, the co-runner-up of Season 6 of Drag Race explained that she had been privately transitioning for about three months.“There’s no way to start this video or this announcement or whatever without being awkward as hell,” Delano said as she started the video, explaining that comments online regarding her gender identity were one cause for the video. “I wanted to let everybody know that I am transitioning, and I kept it really of hush-hush the first three months because I wanted to go through the beginning stages of the puberty privately,” she said.

KTRK. “And they were just fun to look at — their costumes and the makeup and the hair.”The school soon contacted her and informed her that she — and the co-worker — had been fired.

Barbenheimer. In other words, I’m nonbinary.And then Hollywood released Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day, pitting not just the two films, but Man and Woman, against each other. It’s giving internal conflict!I’ve not yet seen Oppenheimer, but I did see Barbie.

Whoopi Goldberg slammed right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro and U.S. Sen.

“Desire” is not the first time that Smith and Harris have joined forces. Back in 2018, they teamed up for “Promises,” a house record that soared to the top of the U.K.

Constellation’s intriguing Incognito, Gerrad Alex Taylor deftly inhabits just one memorable character in Christian St. Croix’s moving Monsters of the American Cinema (★★★★☆), a Prologue Theatre production at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.By the look and sound of this evocative, regional premiere, staged by Prologue artistic director Jason Tamborini, the playwright put that character firmly on the page.

Talk to Me (★★★☆☆) — not unlike co-directors Danny and Michael Philippou, twins from Adelaide, Australia, whose YouTube channel, RackaRacka, has cracked over a billion views with its brand of special effects-assisted comedy videos.Working from a script co-written by Danny Philippou and RackaRacka collaborator Bill Hinzman, the filmmakers invest their feature debut with ample compassion for the movie’s circle of camera-clutching Australian high schoolers, who barely distinguish between danger and content.Led by troubled Mia (played with intensity by Sophie Wilde, also making her feature debut), these friends charge full-speed into the maws of death, but none are treated by the film as expendable, nor as merely grist for grisly humor.In fact, Talk to Me doesn’t rack up a high-volume body count as it weaves grave drama into its taut supernatural tale following Mia, her bestie Jade (Alexandra Jensen), and their friends down a dark rabbit hole of convening with the dead.Mia, grief-stricken over the death of her mother, and probably now a bit too attached to Jade’s family, and definitely feeling some kind of way about Jade dating her ex, Daniel (Otis Dhanji), is already teetering on the edge. So when the group, including Jade’s younger teen brother Riley (Joe Bird), gets introduced to a party game that involves contacting the dead — by grasping a cursed, embalmed hand, and inviting the spirits to “Talk to me” — Mia plunges in eagerly, desperately hoping to make contact.Of course, Mia and friends make contact in ways they hadn’t imagined, summoning spirits who enter gladly but then won’t leave.

The law, SB 49, which is scheduled to take effect on August 28, prohibits health care providers in Missouri from prescribing puberty blockers, hormones, or gender confirmation surgery — the latter of which rarely is prescribed for those under 18 — to minors suffering from gender dysphoria.The law contains an exception for those who have already begun gender-affirming care that will allow them to continue receiving it if their doctors believe that stopping treatment would do more harm.The law also prohibits Medicaid from covering the cost of any transition-related treatments or procedures, regardless of the age of the patient — meaning low-income transgender adults are effectively barred from accessing gender-affirming care, and prohibits incarcerated individuals from obtaining gender confirmation surgery.The lawsuit argues that the ban is unconstitutional, violating the rights of transgender youth by discriminating against them on the basis of both sex and gender identity, and violating parents’ fundamental right to make decisions they believe to be in the best interest of their children.The lawsuit also claims that, unless the court issues an injunction to block Missouri from enforcing the law, all the plaintiffs will be irreparably harmed. By banning the transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care, the state is likely to exacerbate the youths’ feelings of anxiety and gender dysphoria, as well as lead to potential mental health issues.

Detroit News. “Let’s continue working together to ensure anyone can ‘make it’ in Michigan, expand fundamental freedoms and fight back against any and all forms of discrimination.”The types of techniques used in conversion therapy can run the gamut from more severe forms, such as electroshock therapy, induced vomiting or the infliction of physical discomfort as a form of “aversion therapy” to less severe forms such as talk-based therapy, in which a therapist may encourage patients or clients to conform to Biblical standards of morality or a specific set of religious beliefs.While proponents and opponents of conversion therapy agree that sexuality can be fluid over time and that gender-nonconformity alone is not indicative of either sexual orientation or gender identity, critics of conversion therapy claim that therapists engaging in such practices falsely hold them out as a “cure-all” that will completely eradicate a person’s naturally-occurring same-sex attraction, despite overwhelming medical evidence that such techniques are largely ineffective in achieving such goals.Under the ban, physicians, psychologists, licensed nurses, counselors, social workers, and therapists are prohibited from subjecting minors to conversion therapy in their professional capacity or in exchange for compensation.

“I’m a gay man.”It’s a rare announcement for a man in conservative Japan.And it’s even rarer for a big performer whose livelihood depends on fans and sponsors — and who’s famous for lyrics like “Pretty girl, I still adore you.”On Wednesday night, 2,000 fans gathered in Central Tokyo to hear J-pop idol Shinjiro Atae, who has been on hiatus for nearly two years, discuss “the challenge of my life.”“I respect you and believe you deserve to hear this directly from me,” he said, reading from a prepared letter as he stood onstage in a dark auditorium. “For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself.”“But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something.

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.

High Low, Sivan took the opportunity to clear up a misconception about one of his most memorable hits, “Bloom.” “I wrote this one song called ‘Bloom,’ right? And it’s about bottoming. And the lyric is ‘I bloom just for you.’ And people took that and ran,” he started.

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.

The recent antics of The 1975 frontman Matt Healy at a festival in Kuala Lumpur — where he kissed a male bandmate on stage and slammed Malaysia’s homophobic laws — has angered conservatives and, with just weeks before state elections, left some LGBTQ Malaysians concerned about a governmet backlash against them.Headlining the Good Vibes Festival, the British pop-rock singer delivered a profanity-laden speech, with a wine bottle (or what at least appeared to be one) in hand.“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m fucking furious,” he said. “And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government — because you’re young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.”While the speech was met with some cheers, some LGBTQ community members say it may worsen the oppression they face and undo the progress they’ve made.“He gets to fly out of the country and not face the consequences,” drag performer Carmen Rose told the Guardian, “while our people have to face the brunt of what just happened.”“Any foreign artist who comes here and who wants to advocate for us, they need to understand how to go about it,” she added.

RuPaul’s Drag Race. The talented superstar recently took to her Instagram to share the exciting news that she has tied the knot with her now-husband, Doug.The Instagram post featured several heartwarming images, starting with a photo of Oddly and her betrothed sharing a tender kiss.

“The story of the LGBT movement in Hungary, and the story of the fight for human rights in Hungary, is a story that is being written by Hungarians,” says David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary and one of six out gay men currently serving as a U.S.

In a move that harkens back to the 1950s while simultaneously echoing the ongoing censorship of depictions of LGBTQ identity nationwide, the Motion Picture Association has given the upcoming queer film Passages an NC-17 rating.“We hunger for movies that are in any proximity to our own experience,” director Ira Sachs told Los Angeles Times, “and to find a movie like this, which is then shut out, is, to me, depressing and reactionary.”To be sure, the Sundance drama is quite sensual — it centers on a Parisian love triangle between a movie director (Franz Rogowski), his artist husband (Ben Whishaw), and a teacher (Adèle Exarchopoulos).And yes, it has its fair share of sex and nudity — including a two-minute scene of the two husbands shot in a single take. But none of the scenes are particularly indelicate or over-the-top, the film’s distributor MUBI said in a statement.For Sachs, the rating is “a form of cultural censorship that is quite dangerous, particularly in a culture which is already battling, in such extreme ways, the possibility of LGBT imagery to exist.”“MUBI has officially rejected this NC-17 rating,” the film’s distributor said, per Variety.

She-Ra reboot — can draw his bustling life into a frame, one panel at a time.Filling the pages of candid, witty webcomic I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand with expressive line-drawn vignettes, or, say, early sketches for his award-winning science fantasy graphic novel Nimona, Stevenson, who is trans and married to fellow author/creative Molly Knox Ostertag, chronicles his own adventures in simply getting through the day.It’s a safe space, he writes, “to post little comics and updates about transition, mental health, career, and life in general.”“I just feel like comics is something that I kind of can’t not do,” Stevenson tells Metro Weekly, zooming in — before the current WGA and SAG strikes — to chat about Netflix’s new animated feature adaptation of Nimona, starring Riz Ahmed as interstellar knight Ballister Boldheart and Chloë Grace Moretz as the beloved, shape-shifting title character.Traveling the globe on behalf of the film, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Stevenson has recently devoted several amusing pages of I’m Fine I’m Fine to recounting his “adventures from the Nimona press tour.” The webcomic travelogue marks a full-circle moment for the artist and the character who helped lead him out of a self-described time of darkness.“I think the character specifically was at that particular time in my life,” Stevenson recalls. “I was 19 and in a very transitional period, as I think most young adults are at that age.

What We Do In The Shadows (★★★★☆), FX’s vampire mockumentary based on the 2014 film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. Over five seasons, Shadows has evolved into itself while embracing the weirdness that made it worth watching in the first place.

Here Lies Love (★★★★★) works so well. Patrons expecting the ambiance of a standard theater will be shocked to see the major transformation that has occurred at the Broadway Theater, which for 10 years was home to both the original production and revival of Miss Saigon.Gone are the plush crimson-red orchestra seats.