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Showing posts from December, 2023

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Justice Served: Unveiling the Names of Brianna Ghey’s Teenage Killers

The perpetrators responsible for the murder of trans schoolgirl Brianna Ghey, identified as Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 16, have been publicly named as they receive life sentences for their heinous crime. Mrs Justice Yip revealed their identities after lifting the anonymity order, given the severity of their actions. Throughout the trial, the duo had been referred to as Girl X and Boy Y, with their disturbing shared interest in violence, torture, and serial killers highlighted during court proceedings. Their joint planning of “dark fantasies” was a chilling aspect discussed by the jury. At the time of Brianna's tragic murder on February 11 last year, Jenkinson and Ratcliffe, both 15 then, had compiled a “kill list” that included four other teenagers. During the sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, Brianna's father, Peter Spooner, expressed his devastation, describing Jenkinson and Ratcliffe as “pure evil.” In his victim impact statement, he remarked, “Now...

Legalizing Gay Marriage Has Caused A Dramatic Drop In LGBTQ+ Suicide Rates

In June 2015 The Supreme Court of the United States declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. The legalization of gay marriage granted over 1100 statutory provisions to same-sex couples, many of them granting rights and privileges previously only afforded to heterosexual couples. However, the law didn't just benefit same-sex couples who want to get married, it also had a dramatic effect on LGBTQ+ youth. The study was conducted with over 26,000 LGBT youth participants in the 32 states where gay marriage was legalized up through the 2015 Supreme Court decision. The study found that suicide attempt rates dropped 7% among all students and 14% among gay kids after same-sex marriage was legalized in each state. While the change in suicide attempts doesn't prove there's a direct connection, researchers believe that the law made LGBTQ+ kids feel more hopeful for the future. from Happening Out Television Network https://ift.tt/YN6ICJk

CDC Issues Warning Over New, More Deadly Strain Of Mpox

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, has issued a warning over the growing threat of a new, more deadly strain of mpox. Last month, the World Health Organization said the Democratic Republic of Congo was experiencing its worst-ever recorded outbreak of the disease. There have been 12,000 cases so far this year, and 600 deaths. That’s 5% of those infected. That’s way more deaths than compared to the outbreak in the US and Europe in 2022. It’s clear this is a new strain of the disease and it’s more deadly than the previous strain. It has been noted particularly among men who have sex with men and among sex workers. Health experts point to this as evidence it’s likely to be sexually transmittable. from Happening Out Television Network https://ift.tt/qG1Ha3D

Sephora Challenges Toxic Masculinity By Giving Something Beautiful For Christmas

A French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products Sephora is back with another inclusive and refreshing commercial to advertise its lipgloss and challenge the perspective of toxic masculinity. The Sephora “Give Something Beautiful” commercial motivates viewers to see beauty and belong to something beautiful as it shows a man applying lip gloss. The video has received thousands of views already and the LGBTQ+ community is loving what the brand has to say. The commercial is setting a perfect Queer Christmas mood. from Happening Out Television Network https://ift.tt/ZHiDOFc

Why Montana’s Two Spirit people are challenging a state law that defines sex as binary

In the vast landscapes of Montana, a battle is unfolding that goes beyond legal semantics; it’s a fight to reclaim history, culture, and identity. At the heart of this struggle is Senate Bill 458, a law that defines sex in binary terms, a definition now being contested by Montana’s Two-Spirit community. Enacted in October, Senate Bill 458 relies on the presence of XY or XX chromosomes and reproductive systems to define “male” and “female.” While seemingly straightforward, the implications of this legislation ripple through various aspects of Montanans’ lives, affecting driver’s licenses, demographic records, and the state’s anti-discrimination law. For the Two-Spirit community, this law is more than a legal classification; it’s an infringement on their spiritual and cultural beliefs. The term “Two-Spirit” serves as an umbrella, encompassing individuals in Indigenous and Native American communities who historically embodied both masculine and feminine spirits, holding specialized soci...

DeSantis Decries ‘Weaponization’ Of Federal Government While He Weaponizes Florida Government

In the ever-evolving landscape of American politics, the spotlight now turns to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis , a figure whose actions seem to dance on the delicate line between championing free speech and wielding state authority. A recent episode involving Disney, local businesses, and DeSantis' vocal opposition to federal power has ignited a new chapter in the governor's narrative. The saga begins with DeSantis using the state apparatus to engage in a clash with Disney over what he perceives as a matter of free speech. Simultaneously, the governor has been flexing his political muscle to crack down on local businesses hosting drag shows, a move that has drawn attention and criticism. Amidst this, Governor DeSantis is now positioning himself as a staunch opponent of the “weaponization” of the federal government. His rhetoric, however, is not without controversy. DeSantis has, on multiple occasions, resorted to vivid language, including references to “slitting throats” of “...

RuPaul’s Drag Race Announces Season 16, $200,000 Prize And Two South Florida Drag Queen Contestants

RuPaul's Drag Race is back with a bang as it celebrates its sweet 16! The Emmy-winning reality competition series is set to return to MTV on January 5, promising one of the most thrilling seasons in its history. Today, the veil has been lifted, revealing the 14 sensational drag queens vying for the coveted $200,000 grand prize and the title of America's next drag superstar. In a groundbreaking moment for the series, South Florida boasts not one, but two contestants this season. Meet the Queen of Flips, Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, a 34-year-old electrifying performer from Miami. Renowned for her gravity-defying flips and tricks on the sun-soaked sidewalks of South Beach, Mhi'ya is ready to turn the competition on its head. Joining her is the self-proclaimed ‘It Girl of Miami,' 25-year-old Morphine Love Dion. A trained dancer featured in music videos for the likes of Maluma and Bad Bunny, Morphine brings body, beauty, and charisma to the stage. Can she cha-cha her wa...

National Catholic Magazine ‘Newsmaker of 2023’ Is Jeannine Gramick, The LGBTQ+ Catholic Advocate

There are many ways in which the Catholic Church of 2023, now more than 10 years into Pope Francis’ papacy, looks very different from the Catholic Church of 2013. But this year we have seen extraordinary, if tentative, movement in one area in particular: how the Catholic Church includes and ministers to its LGBTQ+ members. Things have happened in the past 12 months that would have once seemed the work of a novelist untethered from reality. In February, days before a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, Pope Francis condemned the continuing criminalization of homosexuality in some African countries. However, over the past five decades of American Catholic experience, perhaps no single person has had the kind of impact on our LGBTQ+ community members as Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick. She has borne the scars of abuse by church authorities with uncommon dignity. When the Vatican in 2000 pressured Gramick’s first religious congregation, the School Sisters of Notre Da...

Faith History Is Made As Pope, Catholic Church And The Church Of England Will Bless Lgbtq+ Couples

Within hours of each other both The Church of England and Pope Francis for the Roman Catholic church formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples. This is a radical change to both churches' policies. Both churches insisted in new documents that people seeking God's love and mercy shouldn't be subject to quote “an exhaustive moral analysis to receive it.” The Church of England was not a complete surprise. For much of 2023 the church had hinted that they wanted to recognize gay priests and bless LGBTQ+ couples. The Pope's formal announcement this week was more surprising. It comes at the end of 2023 and a year of dramatic signals from the Pontiff including censure of two anti-LGBTQ cardinals and growing verbal embracement of the Queer community. Both declarations stopped well short of any recognition of marriage. Additionally the Pope's declaration stressed that blessings must be non-liturgical in nature and should not be conferred at the same time a...

Why Are So Many United Methodist Congregations Leaving The Denomination Over Lgbtq+ Issues?

Hundreds of congregations of the United Methodist Church voted to leave the denomination, and remaining congregations have just a few weeks left to decide whether to leave or stay amid the schism over same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ clergy, furthering a theological divide that has split up some of the largest Protestant churches in the United States in recent years. Congregations have until the end of 2023 to split from the UMC. Four years after the United Methodist Church decided to allow churches to disaffiliate from the denomination over the conflict within the church regarding homosexuality, 261 of the nearly 700 congregations from the UMC's North Georgia Conference have opted to leave so far. The last time so many denominations underwent schisms was in the 19th century when some denominations split over slavery. Tensions over LGBTQ+ issues have also taken hold in the Catholic Church, which has been increasingly criticized by conservatives over the leadership of Pope Francis, who ...

Mike Johnson says God will punish “depraved” U.S. because more teens identify as LGBTQ+

New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently told his email subscribers that the United States has a depraved culture because more teens are identifying as LGBTQ+. He recently shared one email with his subscribers with an image header labeling the message as a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) news alert. He expressed his worries that the American culture has fallen deeply since the United States’ founding in 1776 and he fears the country may be now beyond redemption and hanging by a thread. He mentioned about 1 in 4 high school students identifying as something other than straight, referencing a recent CDC statistic. However, Johnson may not realize that the reason why more youth identified as non-heterosexual in the CDC’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey was because it changed its questions on sexual identity. This survey has been updated several times since its first use in 1990. It now asks two new questions of students to describe their sexual...

Remember Aids 1990 Fauci Says Today’s Anti Gay Attitude Is As Bad As He Has Ever Seen In USA

The Advocate's John Casey interviewed known physician-scientist and immunologist Dr. Fauchi on the occasion of World AIDS Day. In Dr. Anthony Fauci's view, we have come a long way since the first World AIDS Day 35 years ago in terms of implementing awareness and treatment tools to fight HIV and AIDS that make it eminently possible for us to end the outbreak by 2030. However, he also sees that progress is threatened by the rise of the extreme right. He is concerned about the resurgence of the anti-LGBTQ+ movement in this country. He said, the attitude is reverting to the way it was 40 years ago, and it is terrible. from Happening Out Television Network https://ift.tt/gGK6VQt

Overnight Moscow Police Raids In Gay Spaces Have Begun Reminding Us Of Germany In 1939

Russian security forces raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow Friday night, less than 48 hours after the country's top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization. The rise of hatred among Russian politicians towards the LGBTQ+ community was made visible in 2013 when the Kremlin adopted the first legislation restricting LGBTQ+ rights, known as the gay propaganda law, banning any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors. In 2020, constitutional reforms pushed through by Putin to extend his rule by two more terms also included a provision to outlaw same-sex marriage . After sending troops into Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin ramped up a campaign against what it called the West's degrading influence. Rights advocates saw it as an attempt to legitimize the war. That same year, a law was passed banning propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among adults, also, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of ...

Hypocrisy As Moms For Liberty Co Founder Alleged To Be In An Queer Throuple

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the woman who led an ultra-conservative movement in Florida education that sought to put gays back in the closet was having a long-term, three-way lesbian relationship with a lover she shared with her husband, the state’s GOP chairman? That’s the allegation being made about Bridget Ziegler — co-founder of far-right Moms for Liberty and a Sarasota School Board member — by an unnamed woman accusing Christian Ziegler of rape and sexual battery. Hypocrisy on steroids, if true. The crusading ideologue — who demanded private Christian school-style mores in public schools, from grades K-12, when high-school students are either close to or already adults — is now facing the ultimate scrutiny of her sex life. According to a laboriously redacted Sarasota police report released to media, Christian Ziegler is under an active criminal investigation. He’s accused of going to the woman’s house without Bridget on October 2 and raping her. His wife isn’t facing any charges. But...

George Santos ‘Fabulist’ No More As Un Lustrious 331 Day Queer Career In Congress Ends

In a momentous decision, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday morning to expel Republican Rep. GeorgeSantos of NewYork, marking a rare and significant event in congressional history. Since his election, Santos, embroiled in a series of #controversies and caught in a seemingly endless web of lies, becomes the sixth member to be expelled from the House. The expulsion follows a detailed investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which uncovered extensive evidence of alleged #misconduct, including campaign finance violations and misrepresentation of Santos' background. The report laid bare a series of ethical breaches and set the stage for Friday's decisive vote. With 311 votes in favor and 114 opposed to his ouster, Santos's fate was #sealed. The decision is expected to have profound implications for the political climate, particularly for the Republican Party, which has faced internal division over handling the Santos controversy. As the news broke, reactions beg...

FBI chief in India following explosive US assassination plot indictment

  FBI chief in India following explosive US assassination plot indictment By CNN Staff  8 minute read  Published 12:03 AM EST, Tue December 12, 2023 Video Ad Feedback Bodies pile up in Gaza as Israeli military operations resume 02:21 Ukrainian filmmaker captures the scene in Mariupol at the start of the war 02:56 'Personal revenge by Putin': Wife of Ukraine's spy chief poisoned 03:11 Israeli troops kill 8-year-old boy during raid of West Bank refugee camp 02:59 Indian activist allegedly targeted in an attempted 'murder-for-hire' plot 03:10 How a 'shadow army' of hackers could be funding Kim Jong Un's lavish lifestyle 02:29 'Well done gramps': See Russian state media praise McConnell and GOP 01:26 Pleitgen explains Navalny's significance: 'Putin's enemy number 1' 01:51 Tapper asks Blinken why international community slow to address sexual violence by Hamas 01:29 Al Gore responds to COP28 president's claim there's 'no sc...