Grindr Faces Boycott After Gay CEO's Right-Wing Tweets Are Revealed

While most of the attention has been on which LGBTQ candidates won their races for seats in the Texas House and which ones, nationwide, were elected or reelected to Congress, The LGBTQ Victory Fund backed 13 more openly-LGBTQ candidates here in Texas. And all 13 of those candidates, save one, were victorious.

South Dakota once again has LGBTQ+ representation in its state legislature.Kameron Nelson, a gay man, won a seat in the South Dakota House from District 10, centered on Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city.In South Dakota, each district elects two representatives and one senator. For the representative seats, he and fellow Democrat Erin Healy bested Republicans John Mogen and Tom Sutton.South Dakota’s previous LGBTQ+ representation came from Angie Buhl O’Donnell, a bisexual woman who was a state senator from 2011 to 2015.

Jennie Armstrong, left, and Andrew Gray

After her Monday arrest at a Miami Beach, Fla., hotel for assaulting a police officer and other lesser charges, social media influencer Nikita Dragun was placed in a men’s prison, according to her publicist."The situation with Nikita, who is legally female, being placed in a men’s unit of a Florida jail is extremely disturbing and dangerous,” her publicist, Jack Ketsoyan of Full Scope Public Relations, said in a statement. “This decision made by the Miami-Dade County Corrections Department directly violates their protocol, which mandates that transgender inmates are classified and housed based on safety needs and gender identity.

One day after the 2022 midterm elections proved that Republcans' efforts to paint LGBTQ+ people as groomers and dangerous to children failed, Tennesee lawmakers doubled down on their anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment by introducing two bills targeting the community.State lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 3 on Wednesday. SB 1 would prohibit doctors and families from making necessary life-saving healthcare decisions to support transgender youth.

Broadway’s Ain’t No Mo’ producer Lee Daniels announced today that NBA champ Dwyane Wade, actor Gabrielle Union and Drag Race star RuPaul will join the co-producing team of the comedy that begins previews tonight at the Belasco Theatre.

Justin Trudeau is ready for world domination…. Drag edition.The prime minister of Canada will join the upcoming season of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has won reelection.Nessel, a Democrat and a lesbian, beat Republican challenger Matthew DePerno, a 2020 election denier. As of Wednesday morning, Nessel had 52.4 percent of the vote and DePerno 45.3 percent, the Detroit Free Press reports. The race was expected to be closer.

Tina Kotek has been declared the winner of the Oregon governor’s race, meaning that two states have elected out lesbian governors.The Oregonian, the state’s largest newspaper, called the race for Kotek Wednesday morning. Kotek, a Democrat, had been in a close race with Republican Christine Drazan to succeed term-limited Gov. Kate Brown, also a Dem and the nation’s first out bisexual governor.

New York’s third Congressional District has a new gay elected congressman, but the victory is a feather in the cap of Republicans, not Democrats.It was the first time two openly gay congressional candidates faced off in a general election. Republican George Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman and turned the seat from blue to red.Santos is expected to succeed Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor last year.He will also become the first openly LGBTQ+ Republican elected to Congress and serving.

Erick Russell, a Black gay man, has been elected Connecticut treasurer, making him the first Black member of the LGBTQ+ community to win a statewide office anywhere in the U.S.Russell, a Democrat, bested Republican Harry Arora as Dems swept Connecticut’s statewide offices. The current treasurer, Shawn Wooden, also a Democrat, did not seek reelection.Russell is a partner in the law firm of Pullman & Comley, working in the practice that deals with public and private finance.

Democratic governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania recently signed a bill into law that makes passing on a communicable disease a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.The new law, known as HB 103, charges a third-degree felony with up to seven years in prison and $15,000 in fines for those who “expel” saliva, blood, or any other bodily fluid on a police officer. The offense must be “intentional,” but that intention is usually left up for debate.The second part of the law charges a second-degree felony if offenders “should have known” they had a communicable disease before they passed it on.

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, right, and newly-elected Illinois Congressman Eric Sorensen, left

Gerald Lynn Bostock (Photo by Elvert Barnes, extracted from another file via Wiki Commons)

Naomi Ackie in ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ out this December. (Courtesy photo)

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17

NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) – A New Orleans family is searching for answers after their loved one died under mysterious circumstances in Mexico over the weekend.Cortez Hall was a social studies teacher at KIPP Morial School in New Orleans.“My son was a joyous child,” said Ceola Hall, Hall’s mother. “He loved me, he loved his family. He loved to make everyone laugh.”The students and teachers are heartbroken by the loss of their beloved teacher.

If you’re a political junkie who didn’t wake up this morning because you never went to bed last night, how do you feel today? Energized? Or, if you did go to bed, and woke up, what was your first reaction to what happened overnight? Surprised?We had been brainwashed, subsumed, and lectured that a bad economy, possible recession, rampant inflation, high gas prices, an unpopular president, and the usual domination of midterms by the party not in the White House meant disaster for the Democrats.Political pundits were busy predicting a red wave; however, it crested short of the shore last night.To be sure, the results of yesterday’s election will continue to waver, be tallied, counted, and challenged, so brace yourself for more anxiety, more controversy, more vitriol, and more uncertainty. If the red wave hasn’t crested, that doesn’t mean that the boat won’t wake and rock.

Illinois has elected its first out congressman, Eric Sorensen.Sorensen will represent the 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bring on the vomit!A pastor at a notorious anti-LGBTQ+ church in Texas labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center told his congregation he would rather eat his own vomit than engage in anal sex with another man, and apparently, he’s not the only pastor in the denomination to feel that way. Author and blogger Hehmant Mehta tweeted excerpts of the sermons at the Steadfast Baptist Church in Watauga where pastor Jonathan Shelley made the claims.“If you said ‘hey, pastor Shelley, you’re going to have to eat Indian food and ranch dressing every day of your life or do that one time [engage in anal sex with another man],’” pastor Shelley said during a recent sermon, “it’s like bring on the Indian food.”Shelley then promised to recycle his food rather than engage in anal sex with a gay man.“‘Paster Shelley, what if you had to eat the Indian food and ranch dressing and then vomit it up and eat it again, or do that one time,’” Shelley continued, “it’s like bring on the vomit!” Later in the sermon, Shelley claimed gay men suffer from horrific medical consequences as a result of gay anal sex.“What men do with men is defiling their bodies, hurting their bodies, they’re hurting each other.

The Florida Board of Education Wednesday adopted rules on restroom use and teacher licensing over the objections of many LGBTQ+ rights advocates.One rule requires public and charter schools to notify parents by mail and also post online if they allow students to use restrooms and changing rooms “according to some criteria other than biological sex at birth.”This is an “attempt to bully and intimidate districts” that accommodate transgender students, Joe Saunders, senior political director at Equality Florida, said in a press release.“The Board of Education’s facilities separation rule does not and cannot prevent transgender students from accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity — we know federal law and the constitution protect these rights,” Saunders said. “Florida school districts have been following federal law for more than a decade, establishing policies we know will continue to work long after this politically motivated proposed rule.

ABOVE: Big day for gays on b'days — Robert Reed, Divine, community fave Jennifer Holliday ... !

Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced legislation based on a right-wing conspiracy theory and proposed what critics are calling a federal “don’t say gay” bill.The bill prohibits using federal funds for programs or events that contain “sexually-oriented material” geared toward children under 10, such as drag queen story hours, which have attracted the attention of conservative politicians and right-wing activists. On Tuesday, Louisiana Rep.

I had a drama professor in college who was a bit eccentric. While he lectured, he rocked back and forth on his feet, hands in pockets. It didn’t matter what the question he posed to the class was, i.e.

An Idaho man in jail for allegedly yelling homophobic slurs as he attempted to run over two women with his car is now facing an additional felony arson charge as well, but Idaho law prevents filing hate charges against the man.Matthew Lehigh, 31, was arrested last Wednesday and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of malicious injury to property. He now faces an additional felony arson charge after he allegedly admitted to police he had committed multiple crimes against the LGBTQ+ community in Boise, including burning of Pride flags and vandalism to The Community Center, an LGBTQ+ safe space.In a press release announcing his initial arrest, police claimed Lehigh directed a threat and a homophobic slur at two women before attempting to hit them with his car.“The women were standing next to their vehicle when the suspect intentionally drove his car at them, the women quickly moved out of the way and the suspect’s vehicle struck the victim’s vehicle,” Boise Police said in a statement.“He has behavior that is increasingly agitated, increasingly aggressive and culminated in the events that led to his arrest,” Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Michael Guy said during Lehigh’s arraignment last Friday.

A violent attack on the owners of a gay bar in Connecticut resulted in one man needing dozens of stitches on his face, both victims being shaken up, and the local police department coming under scrutiny.Police in Norwalk arrested Carmen Parisi on Wednesday, alleging that he committed an assault at the gar bar Troupe429. The following day, he appeared in court, and prosecutors accused him of spouting homophobic slurs in addition to punching the victims in the September 23 incident, Connecticut's local NBC station WVIT reports. Although police have so far declined to consider the attack a hate crime, the victims' attorney is confident that the assault will be reclassified as one."We believe that once all of this comes to light, it will be evident that this was a hate crime," said attorney Stephanie Stich, noting one of her clients was hit in the face, and the other was punched in the throat by Parisi.Parisi's lawyer disputes that version of events, alleging that bar staff attacked their client after escorting him out.Parisi's arrest came after the bar's owners alleged that Norwalk police were not taking the assault seriously because they failed to investigate the attack as a hate crime.According to Norwalk police, who characterized it as an "isolated" altercation between intoxicated patrons and the owners, The Hour reports, it was not initially investigated as a hate crime.Lt.

A gay man was executed in Afghanistan by members of the Taliban recently, who then sent video of the horrific murder to the man’s family.Activists from the local fledgling LGBTQ+ activist group Behesht Collective told Pink News extremists from the Taliban kidnapped Hamed Sabouri, 22, from Kabul, videotaped shooting him in the back of the head, and then sent tape of the murder to Sabouri’s mother. The kidnapping and execution took place in August, but is only now being reported in the media.“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar, a gay man and member of Behesht Collective, told the outlet, also adding that, “Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.” Bahar was a friend of Sabouri, and said the shy young man had dreams of becoming a doctor before the Taliban seized power last year following the abrupt departure of U.S.

ABOVE: Pretty, pretty perfect.

Grindr is facing backlash after the incoming CEO of the successful dating app, George Arison, has been found to be conservative. Arison was announced to be the new CEO after the LGBTQ+ app was declared a public company through a $2.1 billion merging deal with Tiga Acquisition Corp (TAC). In the announcement, the company proudly […]

A gunman killed two people and injured another in front of the Teplaren bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, Wednesday night.The country’s prime minister said the suspect was a “radicalized teenager.”On Twitter, Prime Minister Eduard Heger wrote, “I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalized teenager.”He added, “No form of white supremacy, racism, and extremism against communities, [including] LGBTI, can be tolerated. We will fight [disinformation] channels spreading hate [and] protect minorities.” The suspect was found dead on Thursday.

(CNN) – A Florida grandfather was arrested after an employee at a Hertz car rental lot in the Daytona Beach International Airport discovered a toddler who was left in the back seat of a returned vehicle for about 45 minutes Monday evening, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.“The child was scared and hot, but thankfully in good health when checked by paramedics,” said the Tuesday statement.Deputies assigned to the airport responded to the rental lot at about 6 p.m. Monday “after a Hertz employee reported the toddler was found in a locked vehicle in the car return lot,” authorities said.

Grindr users have called out the dating app’s new CEO for his past conservative tweets. 

When right-wing Florida legislators and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis got the infamous “don’t say gay” legislation passed, they had plenty of help from conservative media outlets and influencers, which then amplified DeSantis’s message once he signed the measure into law.Key to the effort was Libs of TikTok, a Twitter account run by anti-LGBTQ+ activist Chaya Raichik, according to a new analysis by the Daily Dot.

previously reported, “dating” app Grindr is moving forward with plans to take the company public to the tune of a $2.1 billion valuation range, and has tapped George Arison as its new CEO to oversee the processArison, 44, is the co-founder and former CEO of e-commerce marketplace Shift Technologies, Inc., and will start at Grindr on October 19 as one of the “few openly gay men leading a public company,” per Bloomberg.Related: Would life be better if Grindr didn’t allow you to take screenshots?And while that might sound like a win for the gays, previous tweets of Arison’s have been resurfacing, and, well? Things are not looking good.A month after Grindr announced Arison as CEO, Twitter users are resharing a number of conservative-leaning political tweets from the executive, which include praise for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and *shudders* Senator Mitch McConnell.In February 2020, Arison responded to a since-deleted tweet from then-presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg, stating that he is a conservative who agrees with “some Trump policies” (though he doesn’t specify which).FYI I am a conservative & agree with some Trump policies. I think at least 10% of Republican voters and 1/3 of moderate independents are the same (like some Trump policies, can’t stand having him in office).

If you were hoping to see footage of extreme right wingnut Ginni Thomas’ testimony before the January 6 committee in this Thursday’s televised hearing, you’re outta luck.Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, one of the nine members on the bipartisan committee investigating the deadly attack, said the panel didn’t videotape the four-hour interview like they did with several of the other witnesses.Related: With no place left to run, Ginni Thomas begrudgingly agrees to meet with January 6 committee“It was just the agreement reached with her,” Lofgren told MSNBC this week. “And I think it was suitable from all sides.”That means any testimony from Thomas that appears in Thursday’s broadcast will be be shown through a transcript.

Christina Bobb appears to have had to do what soooo many other lawyers who’ve worked for Donald Trump have had to do over the years: hire her own lawyer and sit down with federal investigators.The former One America News personality, who signed a letter in June certifying that all classified documents in the ex-president’s possession had been returned to the government, met with Justice Department lawyers in Washington, D.C. last last week, according to three different sources familiar with the matter.NBC News report:The certification statement, signed June 3 by Bobb, indicated that Trump was in compliance with a May grand jury subpoena and no longer had possession of a host of documents with classification markings at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, according to the three sources who do not want to comment publicly because of the sensitive nature of the sprawling federal investigation.Of course, as we all now know, the letter Bobb signed turned out to be a total lie.

(CNN) — Angela Lansbury, who enjoyed an eclectic, award-winning movie and stage career in addition to becoming America's favorite TV sleuth in "Murder, She Wrote," has died, according to a statement from her family provided to NBC, whose parent company produced the long-running series. She was 96."The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday," her family said in a statement.CNN has contacted representatives of Lansbury for comment.Not yet 20 years old, Lansbury garnered her first Oscar nomination for her movie debut, "Gaslight," in 1944.

Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan mopped the floor with Republican clown J.D. Vance during last night’s debate in Ohio’s way-closer-than-expected U.S.

A former Benedictine monk in Germany married his boyfriend recently, and the pair expressed hope their public act of commitment would normal the practice and inspire others.According to Reuters, Anselm Bilgri, 68, wed his long-term partner, Markus Achter, 41, on Saturday in the Old Catholic Church, a splinter denomination from the Roman Catholic Church that recognizes marriage equality.Bilgri left the Roman Catholic Church in 2020 after 40 years as a priest and monk.“I immediately thought, ‘now I have actually received all seven sacraments, from ordination to marriage,’” Bilgri told Reuters following the ceremony. “And I would like it [marriage equality] to become normal.

ABOVE: Something-something end zone.

It’s been over a decade since Darren Hayes released a new album. After his last tour promoting 2011’s Secret Codes and Battleships, the former Savage Garden singer says he was exhausted by the perpetual cycle of recording and touring.“I had planned to kinda retire,” he tells Queerty.Hayes and his husband, the British animator, designer, director, and screenwriter Richard Cullen moved back to the U.S., and Hayes spent the past 10 years studying improv at L.A.’s The Groundlings Theatre.

A Utah teen attacked in August for being gay got justice in court Wednesday as a judge sentenced his assailant.Seventeen-year-old Christian Peacock and his parents were joined outside the courthouse in the town of Sandy by an overwhelming show of support in a sea of Pride flags, local Fox affiliate KSTU reports.“It has always been a very safe neighborhood,” Kyle Peacock, Christian’s dad, told the station. “Then to have something like this happen at your home, where you’re supposed to feel safe, it just, it really riled a lot of different emotions that you didn’t know you had inside of you.”During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge reviewed recommendations from the state and probation office to determine what to do next.

Police in Florida arrested a former adult film performer for the 12-year-old execution-style killing of a gay man.Aaron Michael Dobbins, 51, was taken into custody by the Broward Sheriff’s Office last month and charged with a single count of first-degree murder for the brutal killing of Alfred “Chad” McMurray. Police discovered the body of McMurray, 31, in his Oakland Park home on August 30, 2010, face down with his hands tied behind his back and suffering from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.

A New York judge has awarded $4.5 million to a Black gay man who claimed that Hasidic safety patrol members beat him severely in 2013 and caused him to lose sight in one eye.“It’s been nine years,” said Taj Patterson, the New York Daily News reports. “A lot of back and forth.

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President Biden raised a few eyebrows this week, after he said he was “sort of raised” in a Puerto Rican community in Delaware. That included Seth Meyers, who joked on Tuesday that Biden’s words sounded pretty similar to a grandpa’s first encounter with gay people.Biden was in Puerto Rico this week getting a look at hurricane damage when he made his comments, noting that Delaware has a large Puerto Rican population.

A number of major medical associations wrote to the Justice Department on Monday, requesting a probe into threats against health care providers and institutions that offer gender-affirming care to young people who are transgender.According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association, the DOJ needs to investigate the entities, individuals, and organizations who coordinate, provoke, and carry out bomb threats and threats of personal violence against children’s hospitals and physicians across the country, the groups wrote. Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, and Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio have received threats on social media as far-right influencers like Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok, and Jaimee Michell of Gays Against Groomers have condemned their gender affirmation programs. Boston Children’s Hospital has been the target of a faux bomb threat made by a Massachusetts woman who was subsequently arrested.