Halloween Drag Story Hour Canceled in Florida Over Neo-Nazi Threats

The father of the accused Club Q shooter has expressed relief that his child isn’t gay.Aaron Brink, the father of Anderson Lee Aldrich, gave a homophobia-filled interview to San Diego TV station KFMB. Brink, 48, who has worked as a porn star and mixed martial arts fighter and coach, said he wondered what his offspring was doing in a gay bar. Aldrich, 22, is accused of killing five people and injuring nearly 20 at the Colorado Springs nightclub Saturday night.When Brink heard from Aldrich’s defense attorney Sunday, “they started telling me about the incident, a shooting involving multiple people,” Brink said told the station Tuesday.

Like many, I woke up Sunday morning to the horrific, gut-wrenching news of yet another mass shooting — this time at Club Q in Colorado. A pit hardened in my stomach as I learned of the hate-fueled attack on my own community, in a place I used to go to feel safe as a young,queer college student living in Colorado Springs.Sadly, the feeling was all too familiar — it was the same one I felt after the tragedy at Pulse nightclub in Orlando: My achy queer heart spilling over in every direction with grief, with rage, with bewilderment, and more than anything, with love for my LGBTQ+ community.I went to Colorado College in Colorado Springs, a city where, as in many other places, there were forces — including radical antigay extremism — that made it challenging to be queer.

 (CNN) -- People take strange things on planes -- that's nothing new. And the suitcase checked for a journey from New York JFK to Orlando, Florida, on November 16 certainly contained some oddities.

GEMMA Collins has opened up about the terrifying moment she was robbed during a holiday abroad. The 41-year-old was in Mexico when she discovered her hotel room has ben ransacked while she was on a night out.

The Heritage Foundation, an anti-LGBTQ think tank, is reportedly spending $1.3 to air an anti-LGBTQ ad on TV and online during Thanksgiving weekend.

Ky Schevers, who once was a poster child for the “detransition” movement, now says she regrets embracing that.Schevers, assigned female at birth, came to identify as a trangender man and took testosterone to transition. She eventually stopped the treatment and spoke out about detransitioning. But then she saw that anti-trans bigotry was rampant among those who championed detransitioning, she recently told ABC News.“I never liked people who call transitioning mutilation or call trans bodies mutilated.

Filmmaker Cheryl Allison didn’t let the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic keep her from making a new friend — and forging a relationship that changed both their lives. No spoilers, but have some Kleenex handy.In March 2020, Allison and her wife, Natalie Murray, were on lockdown in Dallas. Unable to see any other friends or family, Allison began taking walks around Turtle Creek Park in their neighborhood.

Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is on the defensive after many pointed out the correlation between her attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and this weekend's mass shooting at a queer Colorado nightclub near her district, where five people died and at least 18 were injured.Boebert, a gun fetishist narrowly reelected to Congress this month, has made a political career of villainizing minorities, including sexual and gender minorities. She often conflates transgender people with drag artists and has attacked both groups of people.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and the Keith Haring Foundation awarded a team of geriatricians at Mount Sinai’s Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in New York $1.25 million to expand their work with elderly HIV patients.This funding will support programs that will can be utilized by other health systems and hospitals to help older people living with HIV all across the country.AIDS-related deaths have significantly decreased over the years due to advancement in treatment and preventions.

CNN) -- The 22-year-old accused of carrying out a mass shooting inside an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over the weekend is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for the first time since the attack that left five dead and more than a dozen injured.Anderson Lee Aldrich is expected to attend the initial court hearing via video conference from the El Paso County Jail.The hearing will include "the advisement of the arrest charges as well as advisement of bond conditions," according to Colorado's Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen.Aldrich is set to be held without bond, Allen added.Preliminary charges include five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of a bias-motivated crime -- elsewhere called a hate crime -- causing bodily injury, per El Paso County Court's online docket.Formal charges can be expected within about 10 days, Allen said.Ahead of the hearing, attorneys for Aldrich submitted a court filing stating the suspect identifies as non-binary."They use they-them pronouns, and for the purposes of all formal filings, will be addressed as Mx.

(CNN) — Josh Cavallo, the only openly gay top-flight male soccer player in the sport, has told CNN that FIFA's decision to ban players from wearing "OneLove" armbands at the Qatar 2022 has made him feel "excluded."The captains of several European teams decided not to wear "OneLove" armbands at the World Cup due to the danger of receiving yellow cards.England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Wales were set to participate in the "OneLove" campaign to promote inclusion and oppose discrimination.But those countries' associations said in a statement on Monday that the armband — which features a striped heart in different colors to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders, and sexual identities — would not be worn in Qatar."I'm disappointed in FIFA. They have made me feel excluded," Cavallo told CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday."You know, representation is so important and there's so many people watching these games, you know, that it just shows that FIFA's intentions are not to make ...

Legislation to ban ‘conversion therapy’ has been announced in Belgium, bringing an end to the cruel practice for all LGBTQ+ people.

A veteran who was instrumental in taking down the gunman in the Club Q shooting has spoken out about the tragedy in Colorado Springs.

Germany’s national team contested FIFA’s ban on pro-LGBTQ+ gestures at the Qatar World Cup in their first match of the tournament.

Huwelijken tussen mensen van hetzelfde geslacht die op een ambassade in het buitenland zijn gesloten, worden in Nederland erkend. Minister Weerwind voor Rechtsbescherming schrijft aan de Tweede Kamer dat de onduidelijkheid die hierover in de praktijk was ontstaan, moet worden weggenomen.

A local gay man was arrested on Tuesday for the recent brick attacks on a popular Hell’s Kitchen gay bar in NYC. Sean Kuilan, 34, was taken into custody and charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of a weapon for three of the four incidents at the VERS gay nightclub which took place within the past two weeks, The Gothamist reports. Three of the incidents were caught on video, and Kuilan was identified with the help of tips to the Crime Stoppers hotline.NYPD chief of detectives James Essig said investigators do not believe the crimes were motivated by anti-gay hatred, but instead resulted from a personal dispute Kuilan’s female friend had with the VERS nightclub.“Basically, what he says [is] he knows a girl who had a problem with one of the guys in the bar and he was ‘exacting revenge,’” Essig was quoted by the NY Post. “As of right now we don’t have any reason to believe it is [a hate crime].”Video of the “perp walk” at the NY Post showed the muscled and handcuffed Kulian escorted to an awaiting unmarked police car.“I’m gay myself,” he quietly responded to reporters’ questions in the video.“Something personal,” he responded when asked why he allegedly threw the bricks.Kuilan, who reportedly goes by the moniker “Paper Kid” in the neighborhood, was also arrested on an outstanding warrant for a 2021 incident of menacing.

The founder of the anti-trans hate group Gays Against Groomers appeared on Fox News Tuesday night and put the blame on the mass shooting at Club Q on gender-affirming health care.Jaimee Michell spoke to Tucker Carlson and suggested that shootings like the one at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., would continue until the “evil agenda” of gender-affirming health care was put to an end.“You know, saying that ‘groomer’ is an anti-LGBTQ+ slur, that is doing irreparable damage to us as a whole, and it’s putting a really large target on our backs,” Michell told Carlson.Carlson and other pundits on Fox News have continued to target LGBTQ+ people in recent years, especially trans people and gender-affirming health care.Michell said her group saw the violence coming “from a mile away,” adding, “Sadly I don’t think it’s going to stop until we end this evil agenda that is attacking children.”Michell and her group argue that gender-affirming care for trans youth is child abuse, which goes against most medical associations' support for gender-affirming care as life-saving medicine.  NBC News’s Kat Tenbarge wrote on Twitter, “Fox News broadcast that mass shootings in LGBTQ spaces will continue unless we adopt laws that medically discriminate against transgender people. This is direct amplification of the threat of mass murder for political gains.” Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people killed and press secretary of LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Florida, wrote, “Here’s [Gays Against Groomers] founder on Fox with a crystal clear threat: “The mass murders will continue until you do as you’re told”He added, “My blood is boiling all over again.

A LOVE Actually star was forced to wear dead people's clothes in a care home after she was swindled out of her £65,000 life savings. Meg Wynn Owen, 82, had her savings raided by costume designer Brian Malam, 60, who had been made her power of attorney. Instead of transferring money to the home the actress was staying in, Malam helped himself to £53,000 in electronic payments.

Anderson Lee Aldrich and his mother, Laura Voepel, in July 2022

The post Drag Race UK stars Black Peppa and Cheddar Gorgeous reflect on “super competitive” season 4 appeared first on GAY TIMES.

Actor Lee Pace has criticised online debate over Heartstopper actor Kit Connor’s sexuality, comparing it to his own experience of Hollywood.

The foreign secretary James Cleverly has stated that Qatari officials have taken ‘real steps’ to keep LGBTQ+ fans safe during the World Cup in the state.

Olly Alexander performed an emotional rendition of the hit Years & Years song Shine alongside an inclusive new choir.

(CNN) – Most weekends, the narrow alleys of Itaewon, the neon-lit nightlife district in South Korea’s capital Seoul, are busy with partygoers and tourists. Now it's the site of one of the country's worst disasters.On Saturday night, tens of thousands of people flooded into the area in central Seoul to celebrate Halloween – but panic erupted as the crowds swelled, with some witnesses saying it became hard to breathe and impossible to move.More than 150 people were killed in the crush, with dozens more injured.

In a blow to trans rights, a Florida medical board committee has moved forward with a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. 

In a blow to trans rights, the Florida Board of Medicine has moved forward with their ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. 

(CNN) – At least 59 people were killed during an incident at Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood Saturday night, according to the Yongsan Fire Department chief.At least 150 others were also injured, the chief added.The cause of the deaths was not immediately provided but the chief said many people fell amid the Halloween festivities, resulting in casualties.Yonhap News Agency earlier reported that people suffered from “cardiac arrest,” attributing fire authorities. Emergency officials received at least 81 people in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood reporting “difficulty breathing.”Authorities have yet to provide exact details on the cause of the incident.Police closed off the area and social media videos showed people lying in the streets and on stretchers as first responders rendered aid.The fire chief said that a total of 848 emergency response forces have been dispatched, including 364 firefighters and 400 police officials.South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sent a disaster medical assistance team to the Halloween incident, according to the presidential office.The president also ordered authorities to secure emergency beds in hospitals nearby and to implement swift rescue operations and treatment, presidential spokesman Lee Jae-Myung said in a briefing.Yoon was in an emergency meeting regarding the situation, the office said in a statement.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros.

As school boards vote to limit access to LGBTQ-themed books, an advocacy group has found that more LGBTQ+ people are running for school board positions than ever before.Data released by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national political organization that works to elect LGBTQ+ people to public office, shows that 82 out people are seeking school board seats. That's more than double the number in 2018, while in 2020 the number was 43.As of April, only 90 of the 90,000 school board members in the United States had been known to be out LGBTQ+ people, according to the Victory Fund-affiliated Victory Institute’s “Few & Under Fire: LGBTQ School Board Members in the U.S.” national report about the state of LGBTQ+ representation on school boards across the country.Victory Fund reported that of the LGBTQ+ school board members surveyed 47 percent had been the target of anti-LGBTQ+ verbal attacks as a candidate, and 51 percent had been the target of anti-LGBTQ+ verbal attacks as a school board member.

(CNN) — The University of Florida Faculty Senate approved a no-confidence resolution Thursday on the selection process to appoint US Sen. Ben Sasse as the next president, officials said.The 67 to 15 vote comes after Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska, became the only person considered for the high-ranking position at one of Florida's largest universities.

BENTON, Louisiana (KTBS) -- A special session was held at Benton United Methodist Church to decide if it will split from the United Methodist Conference.The session comes as some members are grappling with differing views about whether, or how to include members of the LGBTQ+ community in the church.Some in the Methodist church advocate for inclusion of LGBTQ+ Christians, however, many feel strongly that the church should uphold its current stance against gay pastors and same-sex marriage.However, some churches allowing LGBTQ+ clergy and performing same-sex ceremonies are prompting a split within the denomination.Many churches are voting this year to exit in time for confirmation this fall.Two-thirds of members must approve before the church can disaffiliate.The Methodist Book of Discipline states that a local church has the right to disaffiliate under the basis of deep conflict around the issues of human sexuality.As for Benton UMC and churches like it throughout the United States and worldwide, the church would owe the conference a one-time payment, before the end of 2023.Exiting churches must pay two years of apportionments and pension liabilities.A total of 3,000 to 5,000 churches are expected to leave the conference by 2023.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company.

A West Palm Beach dad is suing his son’s public school district under Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ “Don’t Say Gay” law, claiming a teacher posted two rainbow pride flags and “proselytized” in favor of “homosexual lifestyles,” which he claims are against his religious beliefs.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called gender-affirming care “chemical castration” and defended the state’s “don’t say gay” law in a Monday debate with his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist.DeSantis, a Republican with presidential ambitions, has taken many anti-LGBTQ+ stances.

Two monkeypox-linked deaths became the first MPV fatalities in New York City’s five boroughs on Friday.This takes the total United States deaths linked to MPV up to four, although NBC New York cited that the last update by the CDC was before the deaths in NYC.In a statement, New York City officials said, “We are deeply saddened by the two reported deaths and our hearts go out to the individuals’ loved ones and community. Every effort will be made to prevent additional suffering from this virus through continued community engagement, information-sharing, and vaccination.”The demographics or other information about the residents who died wasn’t available for immediate release, nor was it revealed if they had any other underlying conditions.

The beloved comedic actor Leslie Jordan has reportedly died. The performer was 67 years old.The news was first reported by TMZ.According to their law enforcement sources, Jordan crashed his BMW into the side of a building.

(CNN) — [Breaking news update, published at 4:12 p.m. ET]In a victory for Kevin Spacey, a New York jury has found him not liable for battery on allegations he picked up actor Anthony Rapp and briefly laid on top of him in a bed after a party in 1986.[Original story, published at 2:50 p.m. ET]Closing arguments are underway in the civil sexual misconduct trial against Kevin Spacey, stemming from allegations made by actor Anthony Rapp.Best known for his role in "Star Trek: Discovery," Rapp claims that in 1986, Spacey, then 26, invited Rapp, then 14, to his Manhattan home where he picked Rapp up, laid him down on his bed, grabbed his buttocks and pressed his groin into Rapp's body without his consent.He is suing Spacey for battery.Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed Rapp's claim of assault before the trial started and dismissed his claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress after Rapp's attorneys rested his case, leaving the jury to decide only the battery claim.

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.

Following James Corden’s ban at New York Restaurant Balthazar, budget airline Ryanair announced on Twitter that James Corden was banned from the airline with an image of Corden with a red stamp across and the caption, “James Corden BANNED from Ryanair”.Many social media users took to Twitter and were applauding the budget airline, which has a reputation for joking online, for jumping on the bandwagon and banning the Hollywood star. WATCH: James Corden Unable To Name Crew Members On 'Late Late Show'The post follows after Corden was recently banned from the New York restaurant for being rude to staff and had left a server ‘shaken’ from shouting at her regarding an incorrect dish. The owner of the French brasserie Balthazar, Keith McNally, took to Instagram about multiple incidents.He said, "James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man.

The Empire State Building, dozens of celebrities, and many studios, networks, shows, streaming services, landmarks, sports leagues, and organizations are set to participate in this year’s Spirit Day, an annual observance coordinated by GLAAD to stand against bullying and to show support for LGBTQ+ youth.Spirit Day is held every October 20, so it falls this Thursday. Landmarks are lit up in purple, individuals wear purple, and many people, companies, and organizations turn their social media feeds purple.The Empire State Building in New York City will go purple Wednesday evening as a lead-up to Spirit Day.

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

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.

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.

In the latest example of extreme conservative LGBTQ+ panic, Idaho legislators seemingly intend to introduce legislation banning the art form of drag performance.During the Idaho Legislature's next session, a bill will be introduced that would ban drag performances in all of the state's public spaces, Idaho Family Policy Center president Blaine Conzatti told the Idaho Capital Sun.Drag performance represents a sexualized representation of gender, according to Conzatti, and he compared it to the racist practice of blackface. “You overemphasize certain natural characteristics so much that it becomes a caricature of itself,” the Capital Sun reports him saying.The Idaho Family Policy Center is an organization that appeared in 2021 with the sole purpose of far-right-wing indoctrination of the state’s lawmakers.A few months into its existence, it became the organization to draft and push three of the most controversial and significant bills during the 2022 session — one to ban abortions by allowing civil lawsuits against medical providers, one to make gender-affirming care to minors a felony, and one to punish librarians who enable children to access “obscene materials,” according to the Capital Sun.Conzatti and other conservative activists have protested drag queen events in public spaces and drag queen story times in public libraries.

Despite what some conservatives would claim, the vast majority of American students aren't exposed to topics about LGBTQ+ issues in school. Not only is this lack of representation unhelpful, but it also harms LGBTQ+ students in general.

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.

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be aligning with the increasingly powerful Elon Musk, as the richest man in the world is accused “transmitting a message” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

ABOVE: Self-effacing.

(CNN) – Nine lions that were rescued from Ukraine have arrived safely at their new home in Colorado.The big cats were “urgently relocated” from Bio Park Zoo in Odessa, Ukraine, when the Russian invasion first began, according to a news release from The Wild Animal Sanctuary. A convoy transported the lions from Odessa across Moldova to Romania; their journey stretched for over 600 miles, says the sanctuary. They arrived at the Targu Mures Zoo in Romania's Transylvania region on May 24.The lions spent months at the zoo waiting for an emergency travel permit so they could board a rescue flight, according to the sanctuary.

After an Alabama middle school teacher read to dogs and kids at a nonprofit animal shelter under his drag persona, Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok followers targeted him, and as a result of manufactured outrage, his school suspended the educator while the animal rescue organization where he performed has had to seek FBI protection from death threats.For the last 22 years, James Miller has performed as a drag queen, and in his 27 years as a teacher, that's never been a problem. But that changed when he read to dogs during a Drag Queen Storytime event in September, and the right-wing mob got wind of it last week, Huntsville ABC affiliate WAAY reports.The video that has caused a right-wing meltdown is benign.In it, while reading about a dog beginning to dig and find a bone, Miller, as Divine, commented after reading a line, the point of which clearly is incomprehensible to children, similar to many children’s movies that adults understand differently from their kids.Drag Queen Story Time by Miss Majesty DivinePosted by Hard Knocks Rescue & Training, Inc.