John Russell

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Turkish police arrest & jail tourist for 3 weeks because he “looked gay”

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A Portuguese man says he was arrested and jailed in Turkey for 20 days because he “looked gay.” During a visit to Istanbul last month, Miguel Alvaro says he was on his way to meet a friend for lunch when he asked police officers for directions. According to LBC, Alvaro was unaware that an unsanctioned LGBTQ+ march was happening nearby. Alvaro says that one of the Turkish police officers order his arrest. “They grabbed my arms and I tried to free myself. One of them hit me in the ribs, they pushed me against a van, they hit me on the shoulder, […]

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Jen Psaki exposes Moms for Liberty’s extremist anti-LGBTQ+ agenda

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On the most recent episode of her MSNBC show, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki devoted a segment to exposing the right-wing extremist agenda of the anti-LGBTQ+ organization Moms for Liberty. Anyone who has been paying attention to the frequent chaos and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric at school board meetings nationwide and efforts to ban books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color, you’re already well aware of what Moms for Liberty stands for. SPLC said the hate group is “at the forefront” of the “mobilization” of right-wing extremist groups claiming to fight for “parents’ rights.” But as Psaki […]

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Businesses use rainbow flags to defy anti-Pride mayor who called LGBTQ+ identity a “lifestyle”

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The mayor of a California city in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area has drawn criticism from citizens and business leaders after refusing to issue a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month and describing LGBTQ+ identity as a “choice of lifestyle.”  As the Los Angeles Blade reports, 2023 was the first year since 2014 that the city of Torrance, California did not issue a Pride Month proclamation. While the city reportedly does not sponsor Pride events or fly the Pride flag over its city hall, former mayor Patrick Furey did issue the proclamations beginning in 2014. But this year, Mayor George Chen, […]

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Anti-LGBTQ+ protesters checked out every book in a library’s Pride display

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Two women ruined a San Diego public library’s Pride display by checking out nearly all of its LGBTQ+ books in protest. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Rancho Peñasquitos residents Amy Vance and Martha Martin checked out 14 books included in the display at Rancho Peñasquitos Library in Inland San Diego County because they objected to material that deals with sexual orientation and gender identity being available to children. “Minor children have the right to belong to a community that respects their innocence and allows families to have conversations about sex and sexual attraction privately, and only when parents deem it appropriate,” […]

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Inside Oakland Black Pride: a 5-day festival centering queer people of color

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Today, the third annual Oakland Black Pride Festival kicks off with a fabulous benefit dinner spotlighting the culinary contributions of queer people of color. It’s the first in a five-day series of events — including workshops, a cookout, and a bar crawl—that Oakland Black Pride founder and CEO Olaywa K. Austin says are aimed at serving the particular needs of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Black queer community. The festival has its roots in the summer of 2020, when Austin and friends began trying to figure out how to celebrate Pride amid the COVID-19 lockdowns. “As we were quarantined and I was […]

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Tampa Pride cancels event because of Ron DeSantis’s latest anti-LGBTQ+ laws

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Another Florida town has canceled an upcoming Pride event after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed several anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law this week. On Wednesday, Tampa Pride announced that it had canceled its annual Pride on the River festival citing H.B. 1438, an anti-drag law signed by the governor earlier the same day, the Tampa Bay Times reports. H.B. 1438 is one of five anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law by DeSantis this week in what Equality Florida senior political director Joe Saunders called the largest slate of anti-LGBTQ+ bills to be signed in a single legislative session in Florida’s history. The new law allows state boards to […]

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Lizzo brought an army of queens to protest Tennessee’s anti-drag law

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Lizzo brought an army of drag performers to the stage at her Knoxville, Tennessee, concert on Friday night to protest the state’s anti-drag law. RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O’Hara, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo joined the singer onstage at the Thompson-Boling Arena along with over a dozen local Tennessee drag performers. Kids need protection from poverty, not drag queens, she said. “Support your drag entertainers!” Lizzo told the crowd at the end of the show-stopping number. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrU0CndvWV1/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lgbtqnation.com&rp=%2F2023%2F04%2Flizzo-brought-an-army-of-queens-to-protest-tennessees-anti-drag-law%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A723%2C%22ls%22%3A120%2C%22le%22%3A580%7D In early March, Tennessee became the first U.S. state to pass a law aimed at banning drag performances in public spaces […]

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Pride parade canceled in anticipation of Florida drag ban law

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City officials in Port St. Lucie, Florida, have canceled a planned Pride parade in anticipation of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signing into law a bill aimed at banning drag shows and, in the words of one state Republican, “erasing” the LGBTQ+ community. Ongoing festivities scheduled to take place this weekend will now be restricted to those who are 21 and older. On Wednesday, Pride of the Treasure Coast, Inc., announced the move in a Facebook post, citing the current “political climate” in Florida. Florida’s biggest LGBTQ+ organization says their state “may not be a safe place” anymore. “After multiple meetings with city officials, […]

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Friends and family mourn the death of trans hairstylist Ashley Burton

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Friends and family are mourning Ashley Burton, a Black trans hairstylist who was murdered earlier this month. Atlanta police reportedly found the 37-year-old’s body shortly after 4:30am on April 11 in the breezeway of her apartment complex. Investigators say she was shot inside her home before fleeing outside, where she collapsed. So far a suspect has not been named, but according to 11 Alive, police believe this was a domestic-related shooting. One activist said she is even considering detransitioning for her own safety. A friend told Fox 5 that Burton, a South Carolina native who moved to Atlanta to pursue a career as a makeup […]

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Karine Jean-Pierre spotlights new LGBTQ+ crisis hotline in the wake of anti-trans legislation

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Following a week in which three anti-LGBTQ+ bills became law in Kansas, Indiana, and Idaho, Out White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spotlighted the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s recently launched LGBTQ+-specific service. “I know that these political attacks can really take a toll on people’s mental health. So I want to say directly to LGBTQI+ kids – you are loved just as you are, just the way you are,” Jean-Pierre said during last Thursday’s White House press briefing. “And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you call 988, The National Crisis Hotline and dial the number ‘3’ to talk to a counselor who has been specifically […]

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