The Pasadena Police Department needs public assistance in finding the individuals responsible for attacking three Ixtapa Cantina Bar patrons in March.
A police department spokesperson posted a statement on social media:
We are aware of and are actively investigating an incident that occurred last week as patrons were leaving the Ixtapa Cantina Bar. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and we are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to provide any information that can help in the identification and apprehension of a suspect or suspects.
We thank those community members who have already come forward to provide some information and we encourage others to do the same by calling the police department or by contacting Los Angeles Crime Stoppers.
KABC 7 Los Angeles reported that Diamond Gonzalez told reporters his group of three were leaving the bar when they were attacked in the parking lot of the bar.
“A group of guys came up and attacked us,” he said. “My back was faced toward them and they hit me from the back and just knocked me out cold.”
Gonzales was taken to a local hospital. He and his friends suffered multiple cuts and bruises.
“Everyone looked like bowling pins, getting knocked out,” said Noah Offield, one of three who were attacked.
The other victim, Ray Carabantes tried to take pictures of the assailant’s license plate number but was unsuccessful.
“He turned around with a weapon and said, ‘Do you want to take a picture of my license plate now?’” recalled Carabantes. “So immediately, I thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to run away.’”
A Vermont community is “heartbroken” over the loss of a trans woman who was “always in bloom” and brought “joy and happiness to everybody”.
Fern Feather, 29, was found dead alongside a road in Morristown, Vermont, on Tuesday (12 April) morning, VTDiggerreported. Autopsy results showed that Feather died of a stab wound to the chest and their death is being ruled a homicide, NBC5 reported.
Authorities have arrested Seth Brunell, 43, in connection to Feather’s murder. Police told WCAX that the two met several days ago, and officers said that they were seen together on Tuesday sometime after 10am on Duhamel Road near the intersection of Cadys Falls Road.
According to court documents, Brunell has claimed that Feather made a sexual advance on him before attacking him, and he stabbed her in self-defence. However, police have said there was no evidence of such an attack.
Brunell appeared in court on Wednesday (13 April) where he was charged with second-degree murder. He did not offer a plea.
The local community has expressed its deep grief and outrage at Fern Feather’s murder
Her friends said Feather recently came out as a trans woman and told NBC 5 that she had used ‘she/her’ pronouns and sometimes ‘they/them’ pronouns. Feather said on Facebook in March that it was “time to tell the world I’m a Hot Trans Woman in a currently male Hot Body Suit”.
Brittany Tetlow told NBC 5 that Feather was a kind, free spirit who loved animals – especially birds – and would help anyone who needed it.
“Every time I saw Fern, they had a wildflower in their hair,” Tetlow said. “But they didn’t need the accessory, they were a wildflower themself. Always in full bloom. Bringing joy and happiness to everybody around them.”
Aeryn Reynolds, who was previously a roommate with Feather, couldn’t think of a “single bad thing to say about Fern” and “couldn’t sleep” after learning the “heart-wrenching” news of Feather’s death.
“When we’d go out to anywhere if anyone was silently suffering, Fern would go over to them and make them feel important and make them feel valued,” Reynolds added.
People’s Pride Burlington described Feather as a person who was “universally adored by everyone who knew her” and was tragically “taken from us” by a “transphobic man who had recently wormed his way into her life and gained her trust”.
The organisation that Brunll was attempting to exploit an “age-old transmisogynistic spectre of sexual aggressiveness to wriggle out of taking responsibility for his brutal actions”.
“The evidence does not support his claims, but it doesn’t have to: His claims fit the narrative creeping across our state, our nation, and our world, and as such will be a suitable excuse in the eyes of many,” People’s Pride Burlington wrote.
“In a local and national political climate characterised by the sexual demonisation of the LGBT+ population, and especially of the transgender population, this justification will become increasingly common.”
Last year, Vermont passed legislation prohibiting the use of a victim’s gender identity or sexual orientation as a justification for the criminal actions of a defendant in court – commonly known as the LGBT+ ‘panic defence’.
People’s Pride Burlington also called out several local news outlets for “predictably deadnaming and misgendering her, as well as universally avoiding the phrase ‘Hate Crime’” in relation to her murder.
Vermont House speaker representative Jill Krowinski said in a statement to VTDigger that Feather was “tragically taken from this world too soon, like so many other transgender people who are targeted in bias driven attacks.”
“We absolutely need to continue to take steps to make Vermont a more equitable place and be clear that hate has no place in our state,” Krowinski said.
“Unfortunately, recent events show we are not immune to this in Vermont, and we must commit to continuing our work to make Vermont a more inclusive and welcoming place,” Scott said. “Exploiting fear and targeting divisive rhetoric at people who are just trying to be who they are is hateful and can lead to violence.”
The Republican governor asked Vermonters to “do their part” to ensure that “everyone feels safe in our state”.
“To Vermonters in the LGBTQA+ community, I want you to know we stand with you and support you but know we have more work to do,” Scott added.
Pride Center of Vermont said it was also “heartbroken by the loss” of Feather, saying they “brought such joy to so many who were honoured to know them”.
The LGBT+ organisation planned to host a space for the community to mourn Feather in due time.
In the meantime, Pride Center of Vermont said anyone needing support can reach SafeSpace advocates on (802) 863-0003 or via the anonymous chatline https://www.pridecentervt.org/safespace/.
Fern Feather is at least the 11th trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming person violently killed this year. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has been tracking these killings since 2013 and has confirmed at least 10 people within the trans community have been killed this year.
Tragically, these deaths often go underreported or misreported so the true toll of the “epidemic of violence” against the trans community in the US could be higher.
A Home Office minister attempted to defend Rwanda’s LGBT+ and human rights record amid backlash to Boris Johnson’s plan to give asylum seekers a one-way ticket to the African nation.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Thursday (14 April) plans for the UK to ‘offshore’ many asylum seekers to processing centres in Rwanda.
Tom Pursglove, junior minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, was confronted with the Foreign Office’s own travel advice for LGBT+ people going to Rwanda by Sky News on Friday (15 April).
The department warns that while there is no law forbidding same-sex relations, homosexuality is “frowned on by many” in Rwanda and LGBT+ people experience “discrimination and abuse”.
Tory justice minister Tom Pursglove sought to justify the government’s ‘evil’ immigration plan. (Sky News)
“That is the advice given to gay people in this country from the Foreign Office, just round the corner from you,” said host Niall Paterson.
Pursglove stumbled over his words: “We have this, I have to say, some appalling stereotypes thrown around in the last 24 hours since this announcement.
“The fact is Rwanda has made huge strides forward over the last three decades. It has a female-majority parliament, it has an anti-discrimination law that runs right through its constitution.”
Tory plans asylum plan will ‘result in gay refugees being deported to death’
Pursglove was again confronted with a 2021 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the practice of “round-ups” by Rwandan officials.
The non-profit spoke to nine LGBT+ people as well as sex workers, homeless children and others who were detained by officials to “clear up” the streets ahead of a high-profile Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Detainees were held in overcrowded rooms without adequate food, water and healthcare and beaten by guards at a transit centre in Kigali.
Gay and trans detainees told HRW they were accused of “not representing Rwandan values”.
One trans woman said: “Police said we were cursed, and asked how we could behave in this way, having sex with people of the same sex as us. They said we’re delinquents and put us in that room. But in the room, we were badly beaten by other detainees and police did nothing despite our cries.”
One detainee was arrested after kissing his same-sex partner in a bar. Another gay detainee said he was beaten and told he needed to be “rehabilitated.”
While same-sex relations are not illegal, there are no legal protections for LGBT+ people aside from a general anti-discrimination measure.
Similar “round-ups” have been recorded before other high-profile events, with widespread reports of authorities arresting queer people on charges of “deviant behaviour”.
In 2020, one trans woman told Vice that she was arrested while making her way home from a party. Officers falsely claimed she was homeless and selling drugs, taking her to Gikondo Transit Center – where she was detained for six months.
Men sit in the Gikondo transit center in Kigali on September 24, 2015. (Getty)
“They directly cut your hair, they remove your clothes, and see who you are. They put me in front of 400 people and removed my clothes,” the woman, Bella, said. “They said, ‘See how he’s behaving, and he has a penis.’”
Bella said that she was held in a dark, dirty cell known as “the cat box”, where she was forced to urinate and defecate on herself. She was told “to become a man”, beaten multiple times, and raped by fellow detainees at least three separate times.
This reputation is why LGBT+ rights advocates have reacted in horror to the UK government’s Rwanda asylum proposal.
Among them is Dr S Chelvan, head of immigration and public law at the firm 33 Bedford Row, who told PinkNews that if enacted, the plan “will result in genuine gay refugees being deported to death”.
“Rwanda’s human rights record includes forced disappearances and killings, and even today’s UK [Foreign Office] travel advice warns LGBT+ travellers of state-sanctioned abuse and discrimination,” Chelvan said.
“This government has lost its moral compass, and as we have seen in the past few days has no respect for the rule of law.
“The British public has shown with both Afghanistan and Ukraine we are a country that provides sanctuary and welcomes refugees into, and to stay in the UK.”
Home secretary Priti Patel visited Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Thursday to sign the agreement.
British home secretary Priti Patel (C) visited Kigali, where a dozen LGBT+ people were detained last year by the authorities. (Cyril Ndegeya/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The plan would relocate thousands of migrants and offer them the option of seeking settlement in countries other than Britain, being forced back to their home country or staying permanently in Rwanda.
Trying to justify a policy that LGBT+ and human rights activists have dubbed “evil“, Pursglove said Rwanda has a “rich and proud history” of providing sanctuary to asylum seekers.
He claimed that the decision of whether to fly asylum seekers out would be taken on a “case by case” process.
Asked by Good Morning Britain whether he would happily live in Rwanda, he said he would only visit.
According to a Home Office fact sheet on the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, any asylum seeker who is “inadmissible to the UK asylum system” and can be “removed” would automatically be flown away to a “safe third-world country”.
Only if the person cannot be “removed” would their claim be considered by the Home Office.
Whether the policy will be implemented remains uncertain. This week, parliament will again consider the Nationality and Borders Bill that would intensify the Conservative government’s already hardline immigration policies. Johnson has admitted that he expects the plan to face legal challenges.
Given that the proposal is not yet law, Chelvan called on the House of Lords and judges “to make sure our obligations to the Refugee Convention in line with our proud history and tradition in the UK to provide sanctuary to refugees is not broken by our broken politicians.”
Friday, April 22 @ 7:30 pm. Laurie Lewis and Friends at Occidental Center for the Arts. OCA is pleased to welcome back the iconic bluegrass and Americana singer/songwriter/ fiddler Laurie Lewis! For nearly four decades, Laurie Lewis has gathered fans and honors for her powerful and emotive voice and her versatile, dynamic songwriting. She is a sought-after recording producer, teacher and mentor. And she is an inspiration and a ground-breaker – across genres, geography and gender barriers. Don’t miss Laurie’s return to OCA with her fine band of musicians including Brandon Godman on fiddle, Mark Shatz on bass and Sam Reider on accordion. Tickets are $30 General, $25 for OCA members@www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. OCA is following current Sonoma County Public Health guidelines. Fine refreshments including wine and beer for sale. Art Gallery exhibit will be open for viewing. OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center accessible to persons with disabilities. Become an OCA Member and get discounts/free admission. Occidental Center for the Arts, 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental,CA. 95465
Sunday April 24th 4-5:30 Occidental Center for the Arts Literary Series presents artist Leeann Lidz. Adventures on the Gringo Trail: An Artist’s Awakening. In 1974, the author set off on a nineteen- month journey through Central and South America including the birth of her daughter in the Andean highlands of Ecuador. As an artist, she kept a journal of over 100 pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations of the places she visited: The unique story of her travels and evolution as an artist and mother living in Ecuador in a time before technology. Free admission, all donations gratefully invited. Slide show/Andean music with selected readings. Refreshments for sale. A Q&A, book sales & signing. OCA: 3850 Doris Murphy Way, Occidental, CA. OCA’s facilities are accessible to people with disabilities. For more info: occidentalcenterforthearts.org or 707-874-9392.
Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House have passed a bill that would ban trans students from competing in girls’ and women’s sports – despite the governor’s promise to veto it.
House Bill 972 (HB 972) would prohibit trans girls from participating in girls’ and women’s athletics at publicly-funded schools, “public institutions of higher education” and any school or institution where “students or teams compete against a public school”.
The controversial bill passed in the state’s House by a 115-84 vote on Tuesday (12 April). A lone Republican voted against it, while four Democrats crossed lines to vote in support of the anti-trans bill, CNNreported.
The bill will now make its way through the Republican-controlled Senate, but HB 972 may be ultimately doomed to fail. Governor Tom Wolf has vowed to veto “transphobic legislation” pushed by GOP lawmakers in the state.
“As states across the country push transphobic legislation, some Republicans in the General Assembly are wasting time attempting the same in Pennsylvania,” Wolf wrote on Twitter. “It won’t get past my desk.”
The Democratic governor also promised to veto HB 972, which he described as “discriminatory”, last year as the bill made its way through the state legislature.
The Pennsylvania bill comes as the inclusion of trans youth in school athletics has become a flashpoint in US politics, and over a dozen states have passed legislation restricting the ability for trans kids to play on school sports teams.
Ryan Matthews, Pennsylvania state director for the Human Rights Campaign, said the bill “serves one purpose” – to “advance self-serving political objectives” of anti-LGBT+ lawmakers at the “expense” of trans youth”.
Matthews said lawmakers in the state’s House knew the legislation “isn’t going anywhere” – given Wolf’s promise to veto it – and called on the Senate to now “reject this bigoted attack”.
“This kind of legislation, which targets a marginalised population without doing any good whatsoever, is simply part of a coordinated, nationwide campaign aiming to incite hatred and attract extremist votes, and it has no place in this state,” Matthews added.
The Pennsylvania legislation also comes after Lia Thomas, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, became the first trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I title in March. Thomas, who came in first in the women’s 500-yard freestyle event, has faced mounting vitriol as she has become the centre of the debate on trans women’s participation in sports.
Republican state representative Barb Gleim, who is the prime sponsor of HB 972, spoke about Thomas during the debate around the legislation, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Gleim claimed that allowing trans girls to compete in girls’ sports gives them an “immense unfair advantage” and alleged that Thomas’ win ‘decimated an entire league’ in women’s sports.
Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan, who recently competed against Thomas, has also declared that all athletes “deserve to be respected and included, exactly as we are”. She wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek that Thomas has been “unfairly targeted” for “being who she is”.
The openly queer swimmer also condemned those pushing anti-trans legislation in the name of ‘protecting women’s sports’.
“As a woman in sports, I can tell you that I know what the real threats to women’s sports are: sexual abuse and harassment, unequal pay and resources and a lack of women in leadership,” Sullivan declared. “Transgender girls and women are nowhere on this list.”
A family in Florida is is facing counts of first-degree attempted murder, burglary with battery, and kidnapping, all with hate crimes enhancements, following an alleged attack that left the gay victim permanently blind.
Prosecutors with the Broward County State Attorney’s Office didn’t give many details about the alleged August 6, 2021 attack when they announced that Inna Makarenko, 44, Yevhen Makarenko, 43, and Oleh Makarenko, 21, were arrested this past March and are all facing charges because they are “accused of severely beating a man based on his sexual orientation.”
The 31-year-old victim, a gay man, lives in Pompano beach and was “severely beaten” during the alleged attack.
“He has been permanently blinded and sustained other serious injuries as a result of the incident,” the Broward County State Attorney’s Office said in a statement. According to court documents, the family brandished a firearm during the attack.
The victim has asked that his name not be made public.
A fourth person, Vladyslav Makarenko, 25, was transferred from a jail in Alabama to Florida. Prosecutors have not said whether he will be facing charges in the case yet.
All four of the defendants are being held without bond and Assistant State Attorney Darryl Torres of the State Attorney’s Office Hate Crimes Unit is handling the case.
Florida’s hate crimes law allows for enhanced penalties for crimes committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation. The law does not include gender identity as a protected category.
A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging John Lhota with the April 3, 2022 arson of Rash, a bar and nightclub in Bushwick frequented by members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Lhota was arrested yesterday and will make his initial appearance this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John B. DeVito, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and Laura Kavanagh, Acting Commissioner, New York City Fire Department (FDNY), announced the arrest and charge.
“As alleged, Lhota deliberately set fire to a bar and nightclub patronized by members of the LGBTQ+ community, seriously injuring two of its employees, and endangering all present including the tenants of the building as well as the first responders who battled the blaze for approximately one hour,” stated United States Attorney Peace.
“This Office strongly condemns such acts of violence, and will vigorously prosecute this case. The victims, and all LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, should be able to enjoy their nights out in peace and without fear of such a dangerous attack.”
As set forth in the complaint, on the evening of April 3, 2022, Lhota was captured on security video purchasing a red gas canister at a service station and filling it with gasoline.
Lhota then proceeded to Rash, located on the ground floor of a multi-story building at 941 Willoughby Avenue, where he allegedly poured gasoline over the floor of the bar. The video showed Lhota tossing a lit cigarette on the floor, but the gasoline did not ignite.
Lhota then used a cigarette lighter to ignite the gasoline, causing an explosion and a fire. The floors above Rash contain residential apartments. Firefighters responded to the location and extinguished the blaze.
Two employees of Rash were injured and required hospitalization. The building sustained heavy damage due to the fire. Security video captured Lhota fleeing the burning nightclub.
The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Lhota faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of 40 years’ imprisonment.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after two men were killed in Sligo, Ireland with an apparent homophobic motive.
The Irish Examinerreports that a man in his twenties was arrested on Wednesday morning (13 April) in connection with the deaths of Michael Snee, 58, and Aidan Moffitt, 42.
Snee was found dead in his home on Tuesday (12 April), while Moffit was found dead in his home on Monday night (11 April). Both men reportedly lived alone.
Snee had “been subject of a serious physical assault and had suffered significant injuries”, said Garda superintendent Aidan Glacken. Moffit’s body was described as “badly multilated” by the Irish press.
According to The Irish Independent, officers are allegedly investigating whether the killings were conducted by a person targeting men on dating apps.
Speaking at a press conference, Garda superintendent Aidan Glacken said: “Shortly after 1.30am this morning, a male in his early 20s was arrested for murder. This male remains in custody at Sligo Garda Station detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 and I cannot make any further comment on this part of the investigation.”
According to The Irish Times, Moffit worked in the property sector, and was a peace commissioner for his local area. His close friend Blaine Gaffney said he was an “all-round good guy”.
Gaffney told RTE: “It’s hard to believe what happened, and I’d be looking to speak about Aidan as the positive person he was, and remember Aidan for who he was and not what happened to him.”
Snee was described by a local as a quiet man who was always happy to help when needed.
“He was like a church mouse,” a neighbour told The Irish Independent. “You wouldn’t know he was there unless you went looking for him.
“But if you needed him he was there for you. How can anyone do something like that. It is the cruellest of cruel.
“It’s unreal.”
“Michael and Aidan were well known and respected in this community,” Glacken said.
“We continue to retain an open mind in this investigation.
“We are actively investigating as to whether there is any hate-related motive to these murders.”
He added that gardaí “will endeavour to seek out all the available evidence, and ultimately it will be for a court to decide on the motivation behind these appalling crimes.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he sent his “deepest sympathies” to the family and friends of Aidan Moffitt.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he was “shocked” and “worried” by the killings.
“I just really wanted to say, I’ve been speaking to some of our members in Sligo last night, and I just really wanted to say how shocked and how worried I am actually by the two murders that appeared to have occurred in Sligo over the last couple of days,” he told RTÉ.
Sligo Pride has issued a warning to those attending two Pride events over the weekend in light of the recent incidents, assuring attendees that it is looking into security at its event.
“If at all possible, do not walk home alone. If you cannot afford a taxi, please let a friend know when you have left a venue and when you’ve gotten home,” the organisation said on Twitter.“If you are meeting someone online in person for the first time, give a trusted friend as much information on this other person as you can and let your friend know where you are. We understand the worries and concerns at this time.”Gardai are appealing to “any person who may have been subject to any unwanted approaches or who was assaulted or otherwise attacked to contact the incident room at Sligo Garda station”.
