John Russell

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This man allegedly pretended to be a cop to attack gay men. The court just let him go free.

A Virginia man charged with attacking men he believed to be gay while posing as a police officer has been acquitted. On September 27, a U.S. District Court jury in Washington D.C. found 50-year-old Michael Thomas Pruden not guilty on five counts of assault on federal land, one count of impersonating a federal officer, and a hate crimes sentencing designation, the Washington Blade reported. According to a federal indictment handed down in June 2022, Pruden frequented D.C.’s Meridian Hill Park – which is reportedly a well-known cruising spot for men seeking sex with other men – after nightfall on multiple occasions. Federal […]

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Bathhouses once thrived in San Francisco. The city’s gay supervisors are fighting for their return.

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Two San Francisco city supervisors are trying to make it easier for new gay bathhouses to open in the city. Last week, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the historically gay Castro neighborhood, introduced legislation that would repeal the San Francisco Police Department’s Article 26. According to local Fox affiliate KTVU, the section of the city’s police code puts the burden of permitting new bathhouses on the SFPD. “We’ve come a long way on the way to bring back gay bathhouses to San Francisco,” Mandelman, who is gay, told KTVU. “It’s encouraging that there are entrepreneurs who are actually trying to open […]

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YouTube suspended a queer Nigerian film distributor’s channel. Now they’re fighting back.

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A Nigerian distributor of independent gay romance films is fighting to get its YouTube channel back. Earlier this month, Omeleme TV launched an online petition aimed at getting YouTube to reinstate its original account after the streaming platform removed its channel, claiming Omeleme TV had violated its policy “on spam, deceptive practices and scams.” But in its petition, Omeleme TV argued it has never violated YouTube’s policies and has “always complied with their rules and regulations accordingly.” An Omeleme TV spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Washington Blade that YouTube has not indicated “the main issue” that resulted in its deplatforming. In its […]

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Transgender business program honored for helping people build economic power

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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recognized a local trans nonprofit this week for its program supporting trans and nonbinary entrepreneurs. During its regular meeting at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, the board bestowed its Certificate of Honor to Transgender District in recognition of the group’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, according to local LGBTQ+ outlet The Bay Area Reporter. Citing a 2021 Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research study, which found that only four percent of small businesses in the U.S. are owned by queer entrepreneurs, out Supervisor Rafael Mandelman applauded Transgender District for addressing the disparity “by providing valuable support to trans […]

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Man sets two lesbian couples on fire in “abhorrent” potential hate crime

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One woman was killed and three others severely injured Monday when a man set fire to the room the four women were sharing in a Buenos Aires boarding house. While police have not yet specified a motive in the horrendous attack, the Buenos Aires Herald reports that the victims were two lesbian couples. In a statement, the Argentine LGBT Federation called the attack “potentially one of the most abhorrent hate crimes in recent years.” According to the Buenos Aires Herald, the woman who died has been identified as Pamela Cobas. The three others were taken to local hospitals. On Monday, one remained in critical […]

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Judy Shepard will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Judy Shepard, the longtime LGBTQ+ activist and mother of anti-gay hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Shepard will receive the award, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor, from President Joe Biden at the White House today along with 19 other recipients, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, journalist and talk show host Phil Donahue, and Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh. “These nineteen Americans built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better. They are the pinnacle of leadership in their fields. They consistently demonstrated over their careers […]

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Arizona governor vetoes bill seeking to erase trans folks from public life

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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed 13 Republican bills on Tuesday, including one that LGBTQ+ advocates say would have erased transgender people from legal recognition in the state. Senate Bill 1628, the so-called “Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights,” was introduced by state Sen. Sine Kerr (R) in February. Similar to laws introduced in other states like Indiana and Iowa, it would have removed the word “gender” from state law, replacing it with the word “sex,” which it defined strictly according to biology. The proposed law defined gendered terms like “boy,” “girl,” “man,” “woman,” “mother,” and “father” according to biological sex and would have banned trans people […]

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Community rallies for Minnesota’s oldest LGBTQ+ bar after devastating fire

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Minneapolis’s LGBTQ+ community has rallied to support Minnesota’s oldest gay bar after a fire forced it to close last month. On March 22, a garbage truck hit a utility pole near the beloved 19 Bar in the city’s Loring Park neighborhood, causing electrical wires to ignite the building’s gas supply, Minnesota Public Radio reported. While no one was hurt, damage from the blaze has caused the bar, which first opened in 1952, to close indefinitely. The loss, which 19 Bar’s management has vowed will only be temporary, has nonetheless hit the local LGBTQ+ community hard. “It’s just so weird not having […]

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Vatican declares surrogacy & gender-affirming care violations of human dignity

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The Vatican has issued a declaration listing “gender theory,” gender-affirming care, and even surrogacy as “violations of human dignity” alongside war, poverty, human trafficking, and other actual atrocities. On Monday, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department in charge of religious discipline for the Catholic Church, released its “Dignitas Infinita.” The 20-page document has been in the works for the past five years and was approved by Pope Francis in March, according to the Associated Press. It calls for unconditional respect for human dignity regardless of “the person’s ability to understand and act freely,” reiterating Catholic teachings opposing abortion […]

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Activists celebrate new Washington state law requiring LGBTQ+ history in schools

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A bill signed into law by Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) will require schools in the state to teach LGBTQ+ history. First introduced in January, S.B. 5462 requires school districts to “[incorporate] inclusive curricula and [select] inclusive instructional materials that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.” That includes “people from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people … and people with various socioeconomic and immigration backgrounds,” according to the text of the bill. Under the new law, the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public […]

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