A 24-year-old man was punched in the face and called an anti-gay slur while filming a TikTok video with a female friend in lower Manhattan, and police are investigating the attack as a hate crime, according to Out.com . Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have been on the rise in recent years. Information released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation late last year showed that of the 7,120 reported hate crimes in 2018, 16.7 percent were motivated by sexual orientation and 2.2 percent by gender identity.
A Bronx man has been accused of using a machete to hack to death a man he met on Grindr, Out.com reported. Police arrested Juan Alonso, 50, after his roommate came home to discover him blood-soaked and standing over the dismembered body of an unidentified person. Alonso remains in custody on multiple charges and is currently undergoing psychological evaluation.
Android and Apple users, using updates of software versions ( Android 10 and iOS 14 ), now have access to 117 new emojis, with expanded inclusive options, USA Today reported. Aside from the smiling face with a tear, pinata and bubble tea icons, there are also 55 gender and skin-tone variants, including new gender-inclusive ( trans and non-binary ) emojis. Among these additions are: the transgender flag, a nonbinary Santa Claus, "woman with a beard" and "man in a wedding dress."
Conservative legal group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit ( on behalf of Robin Crest and two other state taxpayers ) seeking to block California's new law requiring public companies headquartered in the state to include members of underrepresented groups on their boards, Westlaw reported. By the end of 2022, the law requires boards of nine or more members to have three such directors, and boards with five to eight members to have two. It also allows the secretary of state to fine companies $100,000 for a first violation and triple that for repeat offenses, and requires the state to report on compliance with the law starting in March 2022. Crest argues the law violates the California Constitution by making distinctions based on race and gender that do not meet a compelling government interest.
Loudoun County wedding photographer Bob Updegrove and a group of several Christian institutions filed two different lawsuits against Virginia officials over a new law that bans discrimination against the LGBTQ community, The Washington Blade reported. The lawyers representing the plaintiffs argue that the law violates their First Amendment rights and forces them to "abandon and adjust their convictions or pay crippling fines." Charlotte Gomer, a spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, said he was still reviewing the lawsuits and would respond in court.
Organized by Drag Out the Vote, "Divas for Democracy: United We Slay"—taking place Sunday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. ET exclusively on StageIt, Out.com reported—is set to be hosted by Drag Race's Nina West and Entertainment Tonight's Keltie Knight, Out.com noted. Viewers will get to watch queens like Alaska Thunderfuck, Jinkx Monsoon, Jujubee, Valentina and Peppermint as well as the legendary three-time Tony recipient Chita Rivera, with appearances by Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper, Michelle Visage, Bianca Del Rio and Shangela, among others. Queer elected officials like Georgia state Rep. Samp Park and New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres will also pop into the event. See https://www.dragoutthevote2020.org/divas-for-democracy.
In partnership with Unilever USA, the house-ballroom scene is keeping in line with that history with a campaign to get people to vote, Out.com noted. Over the next few weeks ballroom houses, drag stars and more will post public service announcements on social media, attend and promote a series of virtual balls, and otherwise encourage people to first register and then get out to vote in a larger campaign titled "I'm the Vote." Four of ballroom's houses ( the House of Miyake-Mugler, the Gorgeous House of Gucci, the House of Balenciaga and the House of Comme des Garcon ) will all be volunteering at polling stations, while other ballroom leaders help to ensure possible voters have their proper voter ID.
Philadelphia resident Mia Green became the 29th trans person killed this year in the United States and Puerto Rico, Out.com reported. Green, 29, a Black transgender woman, was killed in broad daylight; Abudullah-Ibn El-Amin Jaamia, 28, was taken into custody and charged with the murder of Green along with other related charges. The number of trans people killed in just nine months already surpasses the known total killed for 2019.
Criticizing recent violence against transgender women in Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner called for more protections for people in the LGBT community. He was joined at a news conference by Deputy Police Commissioner Ben Naish, state Sen. Larry Farnese ( D., Phila. ) and LGBT leaders three days after patrol officers in the Belmont section of West Philadelphia pulled over a Jeep Wrangler during a traffic stop, and discovered in the passenger seat a transgender woman ( Mia Green, mentioned in the previous item ) who was shot in her neck.
Out Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ( D ) will mass pardon thousands of people convicted of low-level marijuana offenses in state court, LGBTQ Nation noted. The executive order will automatically apply, bypassing the need for the convicted to apply for relief. Polis—who championed federal marijuana legalization efforts while serving in Congress—said his office worked with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to identify 2,732 convictions that should be pardoned.
The Proud Boys hashtag—which members of the far-right group have been using—was trending Oct. 4 after gay men on Twitter hijacked it and flooded the feed with photos of their loved ones and families and with memes, ABC11.com reported. The Proud Boys recently made headlines by celebrating President Trump's reply at last week's debate, when he was asked to condemn white supremacists. Trump instead used his allotted time to blame what he called "antifa and the left" for violence and to tell the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, called the move "hysterical. It's not an insult. We aren't homophobic. We don't care who people sleep with."
Hope in a Box—a nonprofit that works with educators to make classrooms more inclusive for LGBTQ+ students—is launching its program nationwide after concluding a successful pilot with 30 schools last year, a press release noted. In response to an outpouring of interest from hundreds of educators, Hope in a Box is rapidly expanding its support to 300 schools in all 50 states and launching a new online Educator Hub with curricular and community-building resources.
In Houston, the M.D. Anderson Library received an endowment from the Hollyfield Foundation to acquire and preserve primary source materials in the LGBT history research collection, TheDailyCougar.com reported. Housed in the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections, the archive aims to preserve and promote material that documents the social, cultural and political activities of LGBTQ+ communities and organizations from Houston and the surrounding area.
Fox News analyst and former New Jersey judge Andrew Napolitano is being sued by two separate men of sexual assault, Out.com reported. In a suit filed Sept. 11, Charles Corbishley accuses Napolitano of forced oral sex in an event he claims happened in 1987, when he was 20 years old. James Kruzelnick filed his suit Sept. 28, alleging that Naplitano stalked him when he was a waiter between 2014 and 2017, and would later coerce him to do strange sexual acts before attempting to rape him. Napolitano has denied all claims of sexual assault.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a symbolic bill committing its members to the peaceful transfer of power after the upcoming election—but while 397 members voted for it, five Republicans voted no, Yahoo! reported. Taking a stand against the bill were five Republicans: Florida's Matt Gaetz, Texas's Louie Gohmert, Louisiana's Clay Higgins, Iowa's Steve King and Kentucky's Thomas Massie. During debate on the bill, Gaetz claimed, "This resolution is a way for Democrats to attack the president, and disguise the fact that they will refuse to accept the election results unless they win."
The soccer team the San Diego Loyal forfeited a game and a chance at the playoffs after an opposing player went unpunished for an alleged homophobic slur directed at a member of its team, Out.com noted. The move comes after the team forfeited another game against the L.A. Galaxy II when player Elijah Martin allegedly used a racial slur against another Loyal player; Martin was cut by the Galaxy II in response to the incident. According to multiple reports, Phoenix Rising player Junior "Flemmo" Flemmings used a homophobic slur against Collin Martin—a member of the Loyal team and the only out gay athlete in the league.
Chelsea Clinton talked about her fallout with former friend Ivanka Trump, which followed the 2016 presidential election when Ivanka's father defeated Chelsea's mother, USA Today noted. On an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Clinton said she and Trump haven't spoken since 2016. During the discussion with host Andy Cohen, Clinton criticized the first daughter for "actively taking part in this administration's everyday collision of cruelty and incompetence."
Eric Trump clarified statements after saying he was a member of the LGBT community, Out.com noted, citing The New York Post. "To clarify, many of our close friends are part of the LGBT community, which was the intent of my statement — the left has taken that vote for granted for a long time and support from the gay community for my father is incredible," Trump told the Post. "As to me personally, as I think you know, I am a happily married man to my wife, Lara."
Democratic North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admitted to sending sexual text messages to a woman who is not his wife but said he will not drop out of the race against incumbent GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, USA Today noted. Screen shots of the intimate messages between Cunningham and Arlene Guzman Todd, a California public-relations strategist, were first revealed by NationalFile.com . Cunningham apologized Friday in a statement, saying, "I have hurt my family. Disappointed my friends and am deeply sorry. The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do."
