National

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Colorado shooting prompts top drag queens to tour with armed guards and metal detectors

The deadly attack at an LGBTQ club in Colorado last month — where a shooter turned the venue’s “Drag Divas” night into a massacre — has made an already harrowing year for drag performers worse. Eight of the country’s top drag queens told NBC News that the current environment has subdued their larger-than-life personas, prompting four of them to increase security at their events in recent weeks. The Nov. 19 shooting at Colorado Springs’ sole LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q, left five people dead and 17 others shot and injured. The 22-year-old suspect is being held without bond on suspicion of murder and hate […]

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Club Q Suspect Formally Charged in Colorado Mass Shooting

The suspected gunman who prosecutors have accused of killing five people in the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month has been formally charged with more than 305 counts, which include murder, attempted murder, assault, and hate crimes. On Tuesday morning, Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen announced the charges at a hearing. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, appeared in court for the announcement. Aldrich’s lawyers say Aldrich identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Aldrich is accused of entering Club Q in the final minutes of November 19 and using a long-gun killed […]

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Historic NYC Gay Bar Julius’ Granted Landmark Status

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to designate Julius’ Bar in the Village as an individual landmark. In the 1960s, the state liquor authority did not allow people to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. “In 1966, we had something called the sip-in,” Julius’ Bar manager Nick Gabriellini said. “Where the state liquor authority didn’t allow homosexuals to be served alcohol if they were openly gay. So, they staged the sip-in here, and there was a lawsuit.” The sip-in and lawsuit, even before the Stonewall uprising around the corner, would […]

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Same-sex households in the U.S. surpass 1 million for the first time, data shows

The number of same-sex couple households in the U.S. has surpassed 1 million for the first time, according to recently released government data.  There were more than 1.2 million same-sex couple householdsacross the country in 2021, up from 540,000 in 2008, an increase of 120%, the data, taken from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, showed. About 710,000 (59.2%) of the same-sex couple households were married, and about 500,000 (41.7%) were unmarried.  The number of married same-sex households started to outnumber unmarried same-sex households in 2016, following the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling, which effectively legalized gay marriage […]

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DHS warns of domestic terror threats to LGBTQ, Jewish and migrant communities

In a terrorism advisory bulletin, the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday raised concerns about potential threats to the LGBTQ, Jewish and migrant communities from violent extremists inside the United States. Americans motivated by violent ideologies pose a “persistent and lethal threat,” a senior DHS official told reporters in a briefing on the bulletin. Intelligence officials across the federal government have consistently highlighted the growing threat of American extremistsin recent years, while explaining that foreign threats such as the Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda are no longer as persistent as they once were. The bulletin was the latest summary of national terrorism threats, […]

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Two Club Q survivors say they feel hopeful for the local community despite the deadly shooting

One man who has frequented Club Q for decades was just opening up a tab at the bar when he was shot in the back. Another man was about to leave the club with his group when he heard a “pop, pop, pop” and took a bullet to his arm — then watched his boyfriend and sister fall to the floor. They are some of the 17 people wounded by gunfire Saturday when a 22-year-old man went on a shooting rampage at Club Q, a well-known club for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. On Tuesday, they shared the horror […]

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Lauren Boebert lashes out at LGBTQ critics

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Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) defended her anti-LGBTQ rhetoric after she was widely denounced online in the wake of the Club Q shooting for stoking violence against LGBTQ people. “That is completely false,” she told Ross Kaminsky on KOA, an AM radio station. “I have never had bad rhetoric towards anyone and their personal preference as an adult.” Sexual orientation is not a “personal preference” and minors can have sexual orientations. In fact, Boebert herself got pregnant for the first time when she was in high school. This past Saturday, a shooter entered the LGBTQ bar Club Q in Colorado Springs, […]

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25 Gay Men Could Have Been Killed by Indiana Serial Killer

 Bones found in the 1990s on Fox Hallow Farms in Westfield are linked to Herb Baumeister, the man largely considered Indiana’s most prolific serial killer. In 1996, authorities found only 11 DNA profiles among the bones and identified eight of the men. Now, that total of DNA profiles could rise to about 25 men with new testing of the bones. Jeff Jellison, who takes office in January as the new Hamilton County coroner, said DNA technology has advanced, and it is time to identify the rest of the men. “The search produced more than probably 10,000 bones and bone fragments,” […]

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GLAAD Report: Drag events faced at least 124 protests and significant threats in 2022

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GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is releasing new findings providing the first comprehensive count and analysis of increased threats, protests and violent action against drag events nationwide. The mass shooting that occurred in Colorado Springs, CO, on November 19th was not included at the time of publishing as the attacker’s motive had not yet been formally declared. Findings: GLAAD found 124 incidents in 2022 of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting specific drag events. The majority of the incidents occurred during Pride festivities in June and into September, October, and November, including false rhetoric […]

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Why does the Mormon Church condemn homosexuality but support the Respect for Marriage Act?

Following a history of anti-LGBTQ policies and decrees, the nearly 17-million-member Mormon Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) released a stunning declaration supporting the federal Respect for Marriage Act that would codify federal and state recognition of same-sex marriages. LDS expressed its support because the bill also protects the rights of any denomination not to perform these ceremonies. “We believe this approach is the way forward,” reads a statement posted on the church’s website. “As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ individuals, much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster […]

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