School District's Pride Murals Under Attack by Far Right

Victoria may have some of the more progressive laws in Australia for the LGBTQI community, but it has one of the lowest representation of out MPs in the state Parliament. Just around 1.6 per cent of members of Parliament  in Victoria identify as LGBTQI,  as opposed to 16 per cent in ACT and 11 per cent in Western Australia. Northern Territory, NSW and SA have around 4 per cent, 3.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent of MPs who identity as LGBTQI respectively.

Bros star and co-producer Guy Branum called out the film’s critics in a social media post. 

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Happy fall y’all! Tis my favorite time of the year. Now if it would just get cool enough that I could break out all of my fabulous sweaters and hoodies. I love sweata weatha. You know, those 10 to 14 days we get here in Texas that we can wear our cute clothes without sweating like a priest at a screening of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. I am so thankfu

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Pride is contagious! It used to be that Pride was a celebration that happened once a year and only down in the Gayborhood. Now, though, Dallas has TWO Pride celebrations each year, and so does Fort Worth. And, even better, Pride celebrations are popping up all over the Metroplex — North Texas Pride in McKinney, Carrollton Pride, Arlington Pride and more. Now, we can add Frisco Pride to the list. The Pride Frisco inaugural block party takes place Saturday, Oct. 8, from noon-4 p.m. at Grace Avenue UMC, 3521 Main St. in Frisco. Check the calendar listings and the Frisco Pride event page on Facebook for more details.

Judy in 2013 (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

Judy Tenuta, a beloved comedian and ally to the LGBTQ+ community, has died at age 72.Tenuta died Thursday in Los Angeles, Variety and other outlets report. The cause was ovarian cancer.Tenuta was born in Oak Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and was named for Judy Garland. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago, she became popular in Chicago comedy clubs in the 1970s and ’80s.

Welcome to Curtain Call, our mostly queer take on the latest openings on Broadway and beyond. It’s spring 1776, and the Second Continental Congress is gathered in Philadelphia while the American colonies fight through the Revolutionary War’s bloody first year. It may seem an unlikely story for a Broadway musical, yet the subject matter feels more timely than ever in politically contentious 2022 America.The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of 1776 dares to recast the original 1969 production with women, transgender and nonbinary performers who represent a range of ages, races, and ethnicities.

FX and Ryan Murphy have dropped a new teaser trailer and character images for American Horror Story season 11.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Eichner noted, “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is,” adding, “Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast!”Contemporary reading comprehension and short online tempers being what they are, these tweets immediately got translated into: “Billy Eichner called everyone who didn’t see ‘Bros’ a homophobe!”So what, then, should we take away from the disappointing opening weekend of “Bros”? Well, for starters, some of those online theories actually do hold water.

Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who took a religious refusals case involving a gay couple to the U.S. Supreme Court, is appealing a discrimination ruling on his refusal to make a cake celebrating a transgender woman’s transition.Autumn Scardina had sued Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, after he declined to provide the transition cake in 2017.

JoJo Siwa, Dance Moms alum and queer kids personal Princess Diana, just dropped the story of her journey to sapphic realization in fun, musical fashion.The story is told in this recent TikTok meme format where folks try talking along to the backing track of Nicki’s latest single “Super Freaky Girl” (though most of them don’t let things like “tempo” or “timing” or “music” get in their way).Get into this gay story-rapping:Siwa name-drops a couple of famous folks for pulling her out of the internal closet, as well as one date with a man that made her feelings VERY clear.Related: JoJo Siwa gives homophobe Candace Cameron Bure the shady superlative she deserves“One thing about me is when I was 12, Demi Lovato came out with a song, ‘Cool for the Summer,’” she raps. “I really, really liked it, and I listened to it all the time.

Diane Guerrero is undoubtedly a proud Latina, but there are more layers to her identity, including how her sexuality is still yet to be explored. In a recent interview with Insider, the New Jersey-born Colombian, best known for her role as Maritza Ramos in Orange is the New Black, revealed that she is pondering retouching her wrist tattoo, reading “IPOC,” for Indigenous people of color.According to the 36-year-old star, she wants it to read QTPOC instead.

‘The Cake’ at Theatre Arlington (Courtesy photos by Jacob Oderberg)

Actor Jonathan Bennett has taken to his Instagram account to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month by having a breast exam at Shin Imaging Center in Los Angeles.In the caption, Bennett stated, “After my husband had a scare a few years ago and with cancer running in both of our families screenings are important to us.”Additionally, the Mean Girls star added that he’d partnered with Wicked Good Cupcakes to raise money for the Ellie Fund that “provides essential services for breast cancer patients.” The partnership offers $1 to the fund for each limited-edition Vanilla Sprinkle cupcake jar sold in October.A post shared by Jonathan Bennett (@jonathandbennett) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that a mammogram is currently the best method to detect breast cancer early on. They recommend that women between the ages of 50 to 74 years old get a mammogram every two years and women between 40 to 49 should speak to their health care providers about when to start.Mammograms aren’t routine options for men, as they only make up about 1 out of every 100 breast cancer diagnoses in the U.S., but Bennett encourages people to talk to their doctors to find out what’s right for them.Comments from fellow actors and fans alike widely thanked Bennett for the post.

A favorite at film festivals this summer and fall, the new horror movie, “Sissy,” is now playing on Shudder. Directed and written by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes, it’s one of the most original motion pictures you’ll see this year.

Of course, there is an element of empowerment, or rather a positive assertion that “I exist,” with our annual Gay Pride commemoration. Celebrating our collective LGBTQ history with a weekend of partying and marching is all well and good, but I’m reminded of an observation made recently during an online chat. “Someone” (ahem) commented that they must be proud of the size of their … um … “eggplant,” to which “someone” responded that they have their parents to thank for that. The implication being that they were just born this way, blessed with good genetics, and that it was not necessarily anything to be proud of since they had no hand in making it (okay, maybe in fact there was a hand involved, but I digress).

A staff member at my son’s school emailed me shortly after classes returned in August. She listened to me on the radio back in the day, and we’ve gotten to know each other in recent years, so the email was more personal than professional. “I thought you’d appreciate this,” she began.

A post shared by Charlie Puth (@charlieputh)On the eve of his third studio album’s release, Charlie Puth is finally getting honest about all of those thirst traps he posts.And the reasoning? It won’t surprise you at all…“I am very horny,” he shares. “All the time”Well, hello, we appreciate the frankness! This comes from a new GQ Hype profile on the musician that’s as goofy as it is earnest and sentimental."I am very horny.

President Biden traveling in New York state on Thursday announced that he was granting a pardon of all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.

You star Shay Mitchell seemingly confirmed her bisexuality, and fans are freaking out.

Zack Sharf Michaela Coel is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and she confirmed to Vogue magazine that her character will be the latest queer character in the MCU. Marvel brought its first openly gay hero to the big screen in “Eternals” with Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, and now Coel will also be playing a queer character with Aneka, a captain and combat instructor in the Dora Milaje who is in love with fellow warrior Ayo (Florence Kasumba). Aneka’s sexuality is the main reason Coel decided to sign on to star in the “Black Panther” sequel. “That sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer,” Coel says. “I thought: I like that, I want to show that to Ghana.”

Enjoy

GEMMA Collins has earned £100,000 from selling her unwanted clothes on Depop. The telly star turned multi-millionaire businesswoman has been flogging her old clothes which no longer fit thanks to her three stone weight loss. Gemma, 41, isn’t the only star to use Depop to get rid of her unwanted clothes but she appears to be leading the pack when it comes to turning a profit.

For fans of the ever-wild “Queen of Pop”, today is tantamount to a national holiday. And honestly, if we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate just one day out of life, it would be so nice.As of October 6th, Madonna‘s hit debut single “Everybody” has turned the big 4-0.

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.

politics and denying biology’ by the Home Secretary after calling out a Twitter user’s ‘hateful comments’ against a jailed trans woman.Sally Ann Dixon was sent to prison for 20 years after being convicted of historic sex offences against five girls and two boys before she had transitioned.Sussex Police had insisted it would not ‘tolerate any hateful comments’ about gender identity ‘regardless of crimes committed’ in response to a tweet expressing gender critical views.The force told the female Twitter user to familiarise herself with what it regarded as hate on its website.But then Home Secretary Suella Braverman waded into the row, telling the force to ‘focus on catching criminals not policing pronouns’.And within hours Sussex Police said yesterday that its initial comment had been ‘inconsistent with our usual style of engagement’, and deleted the tweet.Dixon, from Havant, Hampshire, was convicted of 30 indecent assaults between 1989 and 1996, when she was known as John Stephen Dixon.The 58-year-old, sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on September 8, transitioned to female in 2004, according to the force.When police referred to her as a ‘Woman convicted of historic offences against children in Sussex’ in a headline, there was a backlash on Twitter from users unhappy that it had not been made clear that the crimes were committed when Dixon was a man.Responding to one female Twitter user, Sussex Police asked her to ‘familiarise’ herself with hate speech.

Marco Rubio is clearly terrified of Val Demings.How do we know?Because he just released a vile attack ad against her, leaning into the “angry Black woman” narrative by setting Demings against an ominous dark backdrop with thunder and lightning crackling while painting her out to seem like a “radical” leftist constantly screaming about things like trans athletes and gender identity.Related: Tammy Baldwin cornered Marco Rubio in an elevator about his antigay remarks and it didn’t go well for him“Demings even voted to allow transgender youth sports and teaching radical gender identity without parental consent,” the narrator warns.(Fact check: Demings, who is challenging Rubio for his U.S. Senate seat, did vote for legislation that supported trans athletes, but it didn’t address school curriculum.)“I’m Marco Rubio and I approved of this message,” Little Marco can be heard saying at the end of the 30-second spot.The ad comes two weeks after a new Civiqs poll found Demings only 2 points behind Rubio.

President Joe Biden announced on twitter a pardon for people convicted of federal charges of using or possessing marijuana:

Jon Stewart returns Friday, October 7 for the second season of his Apple TV+ show The Problem With Jon Stewart. For the season premiere, Stewart looks at the “problem of gender.”“Ah, yes, the gender wars!” Stewart exclaims at the start of the trailer.

(CNN) – President Joe Biden is taking his first major steps toward decriminalizing marijuana, fulfilling a campaign pledge to erase prior federal possession convictions and beginning the process of potentially loosening federal classification of the drug.Biden on Thursday will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, a move that senior administration officials said would affect thousands of Americans charged with that crime.The announcement comes a month ahead of critical November elections that will determine control of Congress. Some candidates – in particular Pennsylvania Democratic Lt.

Sarah Ferguson has given an update on the late Queen's beloved dogs and said it was a "big honour" to have taken on the pets.

I May Destroy You star Michaela Coel has opened up about playing a queer character in Black Panther 2. 

ABOVE: Life's a beach.

Pop icon Ricky Martin has filed a lawsuit against his nephew over what he claims were false allegations of sexual abuse and incest.The Puerto Rican singer accused his nephew, identified as Dennis Yadiel Sánchez Martin, of extortion, malicious prosecution, and abuse of law. Martin’s lawyers say that the star has lost millions in income since Sánchez’s claims, which he later recanted.The complaint filed in the Superior Chambers of San Juan read: “The reckless, malicious and culpable actions by Defendant Sanchez were motivated by the desire to expose Plaintiff to hatred and disdain from his fanbase, to threaten his business opportunities and to destroy his reputation.”“As a matter of fact, such actions caused Plaintiff to have multimillion dollar-contracts and present and future artistic projects canceled,” it continued.

The Miami-Dade School Board decided against declaring October LGBTQ+ History Month.Parents, teachers, and students debated the issue for three hours on Wednesday, during which one group emphasized indoctrination while the other cited the pink triangle used by Nazis to isolate gays and lesbians. The board voted 8-1 against the measure.“A year ago, the board supported an inclusive LGBTQ+ month measure in a 7 to 1 vote, and the only thing that has changed is that Ron DeSantis is making Florida more hateful,” says Cuban-American social activist Mike Rivero.Rivero is with the group Cubanos Palante, which sets out to represent the Cuban-American community in progressive spaces and to demonstrate that the Cuban community is not a monolith.Rivero says he’s experienced an incredible amount of bullying and abuse after right-wing trolls targeted one of his tweets.“Although I am straight, I recognize that I probably went through a fraction of what LGBTQ+ people facing bigotry go through, but I can say I understand.” He says that since tweeting about the school board meeting Tuesday, he’s been inundated by right-wing trolls who have targeted his account and him personally for attacks, including death threats.“I do believe that this is a result of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric ad culture wars coming out of the legislature and the governor’s office," board member Lucia Baez-Geller, who was the lone vote to recognize the month, told NBC News.One group that targeted Miami-Dade Public Schools is Gays Against Groomers.

LGBTQ History Month” amid protests from angry parents who said it would amount to “indoctrination” of children.The Miami Herald reports that the proposed measure wouldn’t have just designated October as LGBTQ History Month, but also would have taught lessons to 12th grade students about two landmark Supreme Court cases in American LGBTQ rights: Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage, and Bostock v.

The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre handed over the podium to the Biden-Harris administration's monkeypox coordinator Bob Fenton and deputy coordinator Dr. Demetre Daskalakis to give an update on the outbreak of MPV on Wednesday.

(CNN) -- A cruise ship passenger from Pennsylvania died Tuesday after being attacked by a shark while snorkeling with her family in the Bahamas, authorities said.The passenger, a mother in her 50s who was onboard the Royal Caribbean ship, Harmony of the Seas, was attacked in Green Cay, off the coast of Nassau, according to Royal Bahamas Police Force Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings.While the cruise ship was docked in Nassau, the family booked an excursion with a local tour company that took them to a popular snorkeling area, she said.Family members then saw a shark attacking the woman and rushed to her aid. The mother had suffered bites to her "upper extremities," Skippings said.Operators from the tour company and family members were able the pull the woman onto the boat and rushed to the nearest dock, where paramedics responded and reported no vital signs of life, Skippings said.“Royal Caribbean is providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” a statement from the cruise line said.

The Inland Empire Pride festival in Riverside, Calif., which was held on Sunday, was disrupted when far-right extremists demonstrated outside the event venue. Violent clashes erupted between protesters and those attending the festival with some individuals arrested.An anti-LGBTQ extremist, Chris Reyes, who has been active in the local community led the protest, and before the event ended, he would be pepper sprayed, bloodied, and arrested.

Even though many of the titles passed the district's book challenge process, a school district in north Texas pulled dozens of books from its library shelves one day before the school year began. In response, concerned parents and educators are bringing attention to the conservative playbook implemented in Texas, which includes a cell phone company's mission to take over school boards.Keller Independent School District principals were asked last minute to remove challenged books from classrooms and libraries on Tuesday. Among the 42 books removed are the Bible, a graphic adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. Books were to be removed by Tuesday night before classes began on Wednesday. The district's curriculum director, Jennifer Price, sent an email that said in part, "Please collect these books and store them in a location.

An educator in Kansas who sued her school district for suspending her for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns reached a settlement on Wednesday with the school district. The teacher will receive $95,000 in damages due to the lawsuit.After being counseled and suspended for three days by Geary County Schools last year, Pamela Ricard sued the district for reprimanding her over calling a student assigned female at birth by their legal and enrolled last names, NBC News reports.According to the lawsuit, a school counselor at Fort Riley Middle School informed Ricard that the student preferred an alternate first name and that a classmate recommended he/him pronouns.However, to avoid using the student’s preferred first name, Ricard began addressing the student as “miss,” using the student’s last name.

Saying it was declaring war on “sodomite groomers,” a group of internet trolls recently launched a coordinated attack against The Trevor Project.Dubbed “Operation Gomorrah” by its organizers, members of the 4chan /pol/ message board impersonated suicidal youth and inundated the 24/7 hotline and online chat provided by the support group to LGBTQ+ youth at risk of death by suicide. The attack resulted in increased wait time for legitimately at-risk youth.“The act of attacking a crisis services line intended to prevent suicide among young people is egregious,” The Trevor Project said in an emailed statement to The Advocate.

According to a recent ruling by an Indiana court, discrimination based on sexual orientation is permissible and, in fact, is alive and well in the state. A Catholic school teacher at Cathedral High School was fired in 2019 by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis over his marriage to his husband.

A children’s hospital in Washington, D.C., has become the most recent victim of an online movement to vilify medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to trans youth. Children’s National Hospital has been under fire from far-right extremists after the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok posted an audio recording that features a staff member appearing to say that the hospital provides hysterectomies to minors, according to the Associated Press.Since the Libs of TikTok posted the recording, the hospital has faced "a large volume of hostile and threatening phone calls and emails,” a hospital spokesperson told the news wire. The exposed host of the account, real estate broker and transphobe Chaya Raichik, posed as a mother seeking care for her 16-year-old transgender son.After asking her son’s age, a supposed staff member informs Raichik her son is “in the clear” for a hysterectomy.

For years there has been a rise in right-wing extremism in the United States, but since the Department of Justice obtained and executed a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago retirement residence, violent extremists have taken to TikTok to post alarming videos and one Texas activist is sounding the alarm.Michelle Davis, a progressive blogger in Texas, began noticing right-wing extremism when writing about the Black Lives Matter movement and issues surrounding Confederate statues in 2020. In any given week, Davis tracks several thousand extremist TikTok accounts. She agrees that, in a way, she's the antidote to the right-wing Twitter troll Chaya Raichik who tweets under the Libs of TikTok pseudonym.She saw hundreds of new, threatening TikTok posts each day in the wake of the FBI's August 8 raid of Donald Trump's compound, she said, and still more on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.She says she sees the same kind of rhetoric that she noticed online ahead of the January 6th violent insurrection at the U.S.

Universities across the country are preparing for students to return to dorms and classrooms, and this year , as schools are faced with protecting student populations from spreading monkeypox, a number of institutions are taking various approaches.A student health clinic at the University of Tennessee Southern in Pulaski is educating and encouraging those who are vaccinated to seek medical attention.There is now a monkeypox resource page on the student health center’s website at the University of Memphis.According to Oak Ridger, Austin Peay State University is monitoring cases in the region and is ready to conduct emergency operations. In addition, in the health centers at Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, MPV tests are available if necessary.The University of Maryland, George Washington University, American University, and University of District of Columbia have all reported a few cases leading up to the start of a new school year, reports ABC affiliate WUSA.WUSA 9 cited information from GW, AU, Howard University, and the University of Maryland on their recommendations for students to prevent the spread.It is recommended that students who catch the virus wear masks when leaving their rooms, cover any lesions with clothing, and contact the university health center for further information.There are varying policies among some D.C.