A school district in northeastern Florida must return three dozen books related to race and the LGBTQ community to school libraries as part of a settlement reached Thursday with authors, parents and students.
The Nassau County School Board removed 36 books last year after the titles were challenged by Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative advocacy group. The books included “And Tango Makes Three,” a popular children’s book by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo, as well as classics such as “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins.
“This settlement — a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United States — significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida’s public school libraries,” said Lauren Zimmerman, an attorney with the New York law firm Selendy Gay, which sued the district on behalf of Parnell and Richardson, along with Florida parents Sara Moerman, Toby Lentz and their children.
“Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas,” Zimmerman added in a statement.
The Nassau County School Board did not immediately return a request for comment.
The suit was among several that challenged the removal of books by school districts across Florida under a law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that made it easier for community members to challenge books they found to be inappropriate in school libraries. The law, which has since been rolled back, was part of a handful of bills that restricted how schools can provide information about race and the LGBTQ community.
The plaintiffs filed their suit in May, arguing that the school board used “unlawful censorship” to remove “the children’s book behind closed doors and without community involvement or comment.” The suit also argued that the district violated the state’s “Sunshine Law” by removing the books without a public meeting.
“They have a statutory right to get the opportunity to attend and comment on these types of decisions, the removal of books or the restriction of books, and they weren’t given that opportunity here,” Zimmerman told First Coast News at the time. “All 36 books, including ‘Tango’, were removed without any public hearing whatsoever, which means there wasn’t any community commentary on, you know, whether this was the appropriate decision.”
From July 2021 through December 2023, Florida had the highest number of book-ban cases in the U.S., at 3,135 bans across 11 school districts, according to an April report from PEN America, a nonprofit that works to protect free expression and has also filed a lawsuit against another Florida county over book bans.
Books with LGBTQ characters and themes made up 36% of all book bans from 2021 to 2023, while books about race and racism and books with characters of color made up 37% of all bans, PEN America found.Book ban numbers from the full 2023-2024 school year have not yet been released but by midway through that school year, according to PEN America, book bans had already surpassed the previous school year’s total.
GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy organization, has released its 12th annual Studio Responsibility Index tracking films released during 2023. Despite “a huge increase in LGBTQ characters who were front and center in their own narratives,” the study found the number of films with LGBTQ characters dropped in 2023.
The survey looked at 256 films from 10 major distributors and their subsidiaries and streaming services. GLAAD says the index can serve as a guide for studios to identify priorities and opportunities to increase and improve fair, accurate and inclusive LGBTQ representation and storytelling.
Key findings of the study included:
70 of the 256 films, or 27.3%, contained an LGBTQ character, a decrease from 28.5% in 2022.
Those 70 films included 170 LGBTQ characters, of which 46% were characters of color, representing an increase of 6% from the 2022 study.
Of the 170 LGBTQ characters surveyed, only two were transgender, from the films “Next Goal Wins” and “¡Que Viva Mexico!,” down from 13 the previous year. GLAAD noted the “¡Que Viva Mexico!” character was played by a cisgender man and called the number “alarmingly low.”
Just two of the 170 LGBTQ characters had a disability, a decrease from 11 in the previous year.
The survey ranked the 10 distributors based on the quality, quantity and diversity of LGBTQ inclusion in addition to GLAAD’s Vito Russo Test, a set of criteria to analyze how characters are included in a film. Distributor ratings found A24 to be insufficient, while Amazon was good, Apple TV+ was failing, Lionsgate was insufficient, NBCUniversal and Netflix were fair, Paramount Global, Sony and Walt Disney Studios were insufficient, and Warner Bros. Discovery was poor. (NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC News.)
“Though there is inconsistent progress on LGBTQ representation from major distributors year to year, recent films with LGBTQ leads prove that our stories can absolutely be both critical and commercial successes — when they have the full support of the studio behind them,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “As the film production and distribution model continues to evolve, major distributors must deepen investment and intention in storytelling efforts to retain the attention of growing young diverse audiences, who crave stories that reflect their experience and their values. If LGBTQ representation continues to decline in major releases, these companies will lose relevance with a crucial buying audience. GLAAD is committed to continuing and deepening our work with studios and the creative community to ensure we meet this moment together.”
Megan Townsend, GLAAD’s senior director of entertainment research and analysis, said the decrease in trans representation was particularly concerning.
“This year’s study found a significant and concerning decrease in representation of transgender characters and stories, down from 12 titles to just two — and one of those films was blatantly transphobic, she said. “We know that less than 30% of American adults personally know someone who is transgender, therefore they may be more susceptible to lies and misinformation about trans people spread by anti-transgender politicians and activists.”
With the aim of achieving more representation in LGBTQ content, GLAAD is spearheading initiatives such as the GLAAD List of unproduced scripts; the Communities of Color team which launched the Black Queer Creative Summit and Equity in Media and Entertainment Initiative; GLAAD Spirit Day on Oct. 17; the GLAAD Media Institute and the GLAAD research department.
GLAAD has documented the anti-LGBTQ history of Donald Trump, including his policies, rhetoric and proposals on immigration. Trump’s full anti-LGBTQ record is available on GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Tracker.
LGBTQ people seek protection and asylum in the U.S. to escape persecution and violence from countries around the world. Persecution due to sexual orientation is grounds to apply for asylum in the U.S.
Trump’s immigration record includes:
False claims during a news conference on August 8, 2024, that 20 million people had crossed the U.S. border illegally under the Biden administration. NBC News reported that border crossings fell to their lowest monthly number of Biden’s presidency in June, with just over 84,000 migrants apprehended.
False claims and fearmongering that migrants are committing crimes once in the U.S. Research shows immigrants actually commit fewer crimes than non-immigrants.
Promising mass deportations, including threats of raids and use of camps to detain people.
Falsely and baselessly describing migrants from Mexico at his first campaign announcement: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
Vowing to build a wall along Mexico and having Mexico pay for it. Only part of a wall was built and Mexico did not pay for it.
Creating Migrant “Protection” Protocols requiring asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border to be returned to Mexico, including LGBTQ and HIV-positive people who endured human rights abuses in Mexico.
Ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected an estimated 800,000 young undocumented immigrants, including an estimated 39,000 LGBTQ DREAMers, from detention and deportation.
Signing an executive order promising to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities in an attempt to increase deportations.
Ending a humanitarian program that allowed Haitian immigrants to live and work in the United States following a catastrophic earthquake.
Grossly characterizing immigrants and their home countries, including Haiti and countries in Africa: “Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?”
Signing an executive order in 2018 initiating family separations. Thousands of migrants, including young children, were taken away from their families.
Shutting down the federal government for 35 days, the longest government shutdown in American history, after lawmakers refused to fund more than $5 billion for the border wall along the United States and Mexico.
Declaring a national emergency to get money for the border wall after the 35-day shutdown failed to produce funding results.
Project 2025, a blueprint for authoritarian takeover of the government created by anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation and 140 others connected to the first Trump administration, calls for:
Legalizing mass deportation and raids of immigrant communities, as well as separating families and ending birthright citizenship. Same-sex couples and LGBTQ couples with children would be subject to these extreme and inhumane measures.
Blocking financial aid for college students if their state permits immigrants, including DACA recipients, to access in-state tuition.
Requiring public schools to charge tuition to unaccompanied migrant children and children with undocumented parents.
Terminating the legal status of 500,000 Dreamers by eliminating staff time for reviewing and processing renewal applications.
Suspending updates to the annual eligible country lists for H-2A and H-2B temporary worker visas and excluding areas from filling gaps in the agricultural, construction, hospitality, and forestry workforce.
Barring U.S. citizens from qualifying for federal housing subsidies if they live with anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.
Forcing states to share driver’s licenses and taxpayer identification information with federal authorities or risk critical funding.
North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ+ Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R)—who is running for governor and considers LGBTQ+ people as “filthy” “demons” who “mentally rape” children—is reportedly turning off so many moderate Republicans that he could risk harming former President Donald Trump’s ability to win the state in November, recent polling shows. Trump endorsed Robinson last March, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“Trump is being weighed down by a very unpopular Republican candidate for governor,” Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff, told News Nation on August 17. “So Trump is going to have some difficulty in this state, in North Carolina, that he may not have in others.”
Recent polls suggest that voters disapprove of him. One showed Robinson running 14 points behind his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, and most polls show Stein beating Robinson anywhere from 6% to 10% — a significant gap, as the state’s 2020 and 2016 gubernatorial races were decided by less than 5%.
A recent Elon University poll found that one in six state Republican voters plan to ticket-split by choosing one party for president but another party for governor — comparatively, only one in 20 Democratic voters plan to do the same.
Another recent Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll showed the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, leading Trump in the state by 1%. While that might sound small, Trump had been leading in the state by 8% in July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Also, Trump won the state by a margin of just 1.34% in 2020, winning its 16 electoral votes in the process. In other words, Harris’ 1% lead could prove key to her winning the Electoral College.
Steve Kornaki, NBC News’ out gay national political correspondent, told WRAL, “Democrats say they hope that there’s an issue there with an unpopular Republican gubernatorial candidate sort of making the entire Republican ticket, the Republican brand in the state, less appealing…. Honestly, I think the Republicans are simply hoping that Trump is able to carry the state and, ultimately, that maybe lifts Robinson up a little bit.”
David Plouffe, a senior advisor for the Harris campaign, told Axios on August 20that Robinson’s unpopularity can help her win North Carolina. Plouffe, who served as a campaign manager for then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008, helped make him the first and only Democrat to win the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
“Mark Robinson, the gubernatorial candidate, is, you know, even more MAGA than Trump, which is saying something,” Plouffe said. “There’s a bunch of people who right now are voting Democrat for governor who aren’t yet Democrat for president. So we need to run a campaign to them. Huge opportunity.”
Dan Kanninen, the Harris campaign’s battleground state director, called Robinson the embodiment of “MAGA extremism” during an August 27 Pod Save America podcast, adding, “We’re going to link those two guys,” meaning Trump and Robinson.
Eager to win over Republicans who dislike Trump, the Harris campaign has started a state chapter of “Republicans for Harris.” The “never Trump” Republican group Lincoln Project has also added North Carolina to its planned ad campaign to woo moderates who are tired of Trump’s MAGA movement. Stein and Harris are also both outspending Robinson and Trump by millions of dollars in the state.
Stein’s campaign ads have highlighted Robinson’s past statements opposing abortions as “murder”—even when needed to protect the pregnant parent’s life—and saying that only slutty women want them. Polls have shown that voters largely oppose total abortion bans. Robinson recently said he supported a 12-week abortion ban with “common sense exceptions” for rape and incest.
Yesterday, Louis Money, a man who worked in a Greensboro porn shop, was one of six men who claimed that Robinson regularly patronized pornographic video stores two decades ago. Money claimed that Robinson regularly purchased bootleg pornographic video tapes from him for $25 each.
“We developed a friendship,” Money told WRAL. “He would bring pizza every night and he’d hang out for a few hours…. Many people remember him. I’m not the only one.”
Robinson’s campaign denied the accusation and said that the men only recognized Robinson because he worked at a nearby Papa John’s pizza store at the time. The accusation is notable considering Robinson’s repeated claims that LGBTQ+ people and allies are promoting “pornography” in school libraries.
In 2021, Robinson created an education task force to investigate and pull LGBTQ+ literature from public schools, as well as report instances of LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools. He has called public schools “indoctrination centers.”
The results of a new survey published by Knight Foundation in partnership with Langer Research Associates shows that book bans, and the people who promote them, are losing support. The recent primary election results in Florida, home base for book-banning Moms for Liberty, show even more rejection at the ballot box.
First, the survey: Of more than 4,500 adults sampled, two thirds oppose book bans in public schools, and 78% trust school staff to stock shelves with “appropriate” titles. And although 60% of respondents view “appropriateness” as a reason to place restrictions on book access, Book Riot’s Kelly Jensen notes, “‘appropriateness’ here is not about topics like diversity, queerness, social-emotional learning, climate change, and other issues that have been the target of the book banning agenda.”
While Americans largely share a distaste for book bans and 23% are aware that these kinds of censorship efforts are happening in their community, only three percent have gotten involved, with two percent fighting to retain challenged titles and one percent attempting to ban them. In other words, says Jensen, an incredibly small subset of people are “instigating the astronomical rise in book bans nationwide.”
Diminishing Returns
Both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty took major hits during last week’s election. Eleven out of 23 DeSantis-backed candidates lost their races.
While Moms for Liberty’s list of school board endorsements in Florida somewhat differs from that of DeSantis, the results match a trend that started with recent elections: Campaigning on book bans is a losing platform. Of M4L’s list of endorsements in Florida, only three candidates won. Six lost their campaigns, while an additional five will be headed to a runoff election in November.
Of note in Indian River County: Candidates endorsed by DeSantis and M4L lost their races. Indian River is the birthplace of M4L. Stitching an article from the Associated Press, author and social media personality Jeffrey Marsh said, “even the people of Florida don’t want school board members who harass LGBTQ kids, who ban books, who push Christian nationalist agendas in schools.”
Florida and the Waning Influence of Moms for Liberty
Last week’s losses come after years of coordinated assault against books by and about LGBTQ people and people of color. According to a PEN America report, July-December 2023 saw more book bans than the entire 2022-23 school year. In Florida alone, there were 3,135 bans in 11 school districts.
Declared that Florida “will not comply” and would “fight back” against recent Title IX rule updates announced by the Biden administration, which include specific protections for LGBTQ students and prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
While calling book ban accusations against him a “hoax” and stating that Florida book bans are a “false narrative,” DeSantis walked back earlier book ban efforts under the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law (House Bill 1557). Florida now limits book challenges to one title per month for “residents who don’t have a child in school.”
Spoke at Moms for Liberty’s 2023 national summit, and appointed M4L co-founder Bridget Ziegler to an oversight board he created to take on Disneyafter the company critiqued DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ agenda. Ziegler and her husband Christian were later investigated as part of a rape allegation from a woman they had a sexual relationship with.
Signed House Bill 1557 into law in 2022. The legislation, informally known as “Don’t Say LGBTQ” or “Don’t Say Gay,” initially forbade discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in K-3 public schools. The following year, DeSantis expanded the ban to all grades. Said DeSantis, “Schools are not there for you to try to go on some ideological joyride at the expense of our kids.”
In 2023, DeSantis and the Board of Governors appointed several members to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. This month, passersby discovered that the college tossedhundreds of LGBTQ-inclusive titles from their dismantled Gender and Diversity Center.
Moms for Liberty appears to be trying to rebuild after its trouncing at the polls in 2023 and 2024, and devastating personal scandals against its co-founder and her disgraced husband. M4L has invited former President Donald Trump to speak at their annual summit this week, Trump’s second time addressing the group.
Kamala Harris’ journey to become the first Black and South Asian vice president of the United States is nothing short of groundbreaking. Now, as the 2024 presidential nominee, understanding Kamala Harris’ political stances offers valuable insight into her vision for the future.
What key issues define her political agenda, and how might they affect her candidacy and the shaping of the nation? Let’s take a look at her stances to explore these questions further.
Gaza
As the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has articulated her robust support for Israel’s right to defend itself, emphasizing the necessity of protection against threats from militant groups like Hamas. At the same time, she has acknowledged the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, highlighting its severe impact on Palestinian civilians.
In her recent remarks, Harris affirmed her commitment to working with President Joe Biden to negotiate a cease-fire and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. “Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done,” she asserted in her Democratic National Convention speech.
Moreover, Harris has consistently addressed the rights of Palestinians, advocating for their right to “dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.” Her stance underscores a nuanced approach, aiming to maintain support from both pro-Israel Democrats and those advocating for Palestinian rights.
However, her campaign has said she doesn’t support an embargo on the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel, something long sought by pro-Palestinian protestors. She risks alienating them and other progressive voters if she doesn’t explain how her administration would differ from the current one’s approach.
If she becomes president, Harris is expected to replace some of the chief architects of the Biden administration’s strategy in Gaza, The Wall Street Journal reported. Her national security adviser, Philip Gordon, has emphasized the need for diplomatic (rather than military) foreign policy solutions. However, she has not yet laid out concrete details about the diplomatic levers she could use to force Israel to end its targeting of Palestinian civilians.
Kamala Harris has consistently championed the need to protect reproductive rights, advocating for national legislation that mirrors the protections once granted by Roe v. Wade. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe, Harris emerged as a key figure in the Biden administration’s efforts to keep the issue at the forefront. Her proactive stance was underscored by a historic visit to an abortion clinic, marking the first such visit by a sitting vice president.
During her tenure in the Senate, Harris was a vocal supporter of abortion rights. She co-sponsored legislation to ban states from restricting abortion rights and opposed a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. She has also advocated for laws requiring states with histories of restricting abortion rights to obtain federal approval for new abortion-related laws.
In her speech at the end of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, she mentioned that former President Donald Trump and his conservative allies are “out of their minds” for intending to empower extremists, cut social programs, and outlaw abortion across the country.
Taxing the rich
Kamala Harris supports a comprehensive tax plan that would increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations to generate nearly $5 trillion in revenue over the next decade. She would increase taxes on individuals earning more than $400,000 a year — a group representing approximately 1.8% of America’s top income earners. She has pledged to ensure that middle and lower-income families don’t face increased tax burdens.
Additionally, Harris wants to raise the corporate tax rate from the existing 21% to 28%, which would generate an estimated $1.3 trillion over ten years, according to the Treasury Department. By targeting affluent individuals and major corporations, she seeks to address economic disparities and secure funding for essential government initiatives without affecting the broader population.
Her campaign spokesman, James Singer, articulated her vision by saying the plan is “a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.”
Healthcare
During her 2019 presidential campaign, Harris supported the introduction of a “Medicare-for-all” public option that would allow people to choose between public and private health insurance. While she has since backed away from this plan, during her time in the Senate, she supported bills that expanded Medicare coverage in individual states.
She has supported the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows the federal government to negotiate drug prices for those most commonly prescribed under Medicare. As vice president, she has also spoken about the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce medical debt.
During her current presidential campaign, she has pledged to improve healthcare access by reducing drug prices and expanding coverage under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a federal law that Republicans have long sought to repeal. She has also publicly opposed Republican proposals to privatize or cut health care programs for elderly and lower-income Americans.
The 2024 Democratic National Platform has also pledged to ensure that health insurers adequately cover mental health and substance use treatment.
Although she has not introduced new policies for tackling climate change, she has supported the Biden Administration’s pledges to fight climate change, pledged U.S. investments into helping other countries fight climate change, and previously supported the Green New Deal, which would invest federal funds into state and local efforts to end pollution and build renewable energy sources.
LGBTQ+ issues
Kamala Harris has consistently demonstrated her commitment to LGBTQ+ equality, building a record of support that spans her career in public service. As California’s Attorney General, Harris played a pivotal role in restoring marriage equality in the state by refusing to defend Proposition 8, a voter-approved measure that had revoked the right to same-sex marriage. Her decisive actions helped pave the way for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ultimately struck down the proposition.
As a vocal opponent of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Harris has condemned policies that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those affecting transgender youth. She emphasized her stance by saying, “The fight for equal rights is patriotic. We believe in the foundational principles of our country; we believe in the promise of freedom and equality and justice.”
As president, she has pledged to support the Equality Act, a bill that would add LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. She has also pledged to continue protecting transgender students and gender-affirming care and to oppose anti-LGBTQ+ book bans in red states.
A vision for progressive change
Kamala Harris stands as an advocate for progressive change, pushing for policies that tax the rich, expand healthcare, fight environmental pollution, and expand LGBTQ+ civil rights. While her current campaign hasn’t always detailed the specific policies she’ll pursue as president, the Democratic National Platform and her past actions and statements reflect her long-term dedication to these issues.
The U.S. Census Bureau is testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) on the American Community Survey (ACS).
The bureau received approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget on July 11 following a brief period to receive public comment on the questions, the Bay Area Reporter reported. The announcement follows through on a commitment by President Joe Biden during Pride Month two years ago when he issued a directive to federal agencies directing them to find ways to better gauge and serve the LGBTQ+ community.
The ACS is sent to 295,000 households every year. The results are used to analyze household data and allocate federal funding.
In 2022, the ACS found approximately 1.3 million same-sex couple households in the U.S. Of those couples, around 741,000 (or 57 percent) were married while the rest were not. Additionally, 31 percent of the married same-sex couples were interracial, significantly higher than opposite-sex married couples.
Of particular interest to the Bureau is the use of proxy reporting in responding to census questions.
“In 2023, the AHS asked SOGI questions of adult respondents in regular, occupied housing units; one-half of the sample included experimental proxy questions for all members of the household along with the self-response questions,” the Bureau wrote in a press release announcing the proposed SOGI questions in June. “This research will help us understand how LGBT households compare to non-LGBT households on things like housing characteristics, housing costs, and housing quality, among others. It will also tell us about differences or similarities in trends between respondent and proxy data.”
The news was welcomed by a former Census Bureau and SOGI expert Nancy Bates, who is a lesbian.
“This is a watershed moment for both the Census Bureau and the entire US federal statistical system,” Bates told the Reporter via email. “I eagerly await the findings and ultimate implications this will have for the LGBTQI+ community.”
A gay former pupil and his mother are suing a school district where he allegedly experienced relentless bullying, including verbal abuse, threats of violence and another student making a “straight pride” poster with his face on it.
The legal complaint, filed by the student’s mother in June 2023, details that when he attended Ronald Reagan Middle School, in Haymarket, Virginia, he faced “regular and relentless anti-LGBTQ+ bullying” from classmates.
The defendants named in the case are the Prince William County School Board, the principal, Christopher Beemer, and assistant principal Jenita Boatwright.
Beemer still works as the school but Boatwright has left.
The claimant alleges that Beemer, Boatwright and the school board responded to requests for help “with victim-blaming and inaction”.
The openly gay student started in sixth grade at the school in August 2019 which is when the alleged victimisation began, with the first incident involving classmates taking his belongings and passing them around the classroom while voicing homophobic slurs, it is claimed.
The teacher reportedly did not put an end to the bullying and it happened three more times.
The verbal harassment is said to have continued and in December 2021 five students surrounded the boy outside the school building, again using homophobic slurs.
In the complaint, the boy’s mother says two teachers who were nearby did nothing to help and when the student got into his mother’s car, the bullies gave her the middle finger.
It is also alleged that in 2022, one student made the “straight pride” poster while a number of bullies cornered him in the toilet, banged on the stall door and shouted: “There’s a girl in here,” threatening violence.
A judge denied a school board motion dismiss the case but Beemer and Boatwright’s was granted in part.
The case asserts four causes of action: sex discrimination under Title IX civil rights protections against the school board, an equal protection clause violation against the individual defendants, a violation against the individual defendants, which the judge dismissed, and gross negligence against the individual defendants.
District judge Rossie D Alston Jr gave the plaintiffs 14 days to file an amended complaint for the charge that was dismissed.
A school board spokesperson told Inside Nova it does not comment on active cases but “remains committed to providing an inclusive and excellent education for every student and has no tolerance for harassment, bullying or intimidation of students”.
Atlanta police are investigating an act of vandalism that damaged property belonging to organizers of an LGBTQ Pride event dedicated to celebrating Black queer communities globally.
The Atlanta Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that the incident happened at a hotel in midtown Atlanta, where an event for Global Black Pridewas taking place.
Authorities added that a preliminary investigation indicated that an intoxicated guest of the hotel caused the damage late Tuesday evening, and that they are still “following up on leads regarding the identity of the suspect and are working to determine why the suspect caused the damage.”
Tables, pamphlets and other memorabilia were scattered on the floor at the hotel, according to photos the organizers of the festival shared with NBC News.
Global Black Pride condemned the incident in a post on Instagram on Wednesday, calling it an “act of hatred.”
“Healing and joy are our priorities in a world that often harbors hate,” the group wrote. “We will not be deterred, and we will not allow hate stop us from celebrating our pride and resilience.”
“When we fight, we win,” it added.
The Global Black Pride festival, which started Tuesday and will end Monday in Atlanta, includes workshops, art exhibits, a health conference and several marches. It began during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and is celebrated every two years. The 2022 event, the first held in-person, was in Toronto.
This year’s celebration headliners include Tony-winning actor Billy Porter and Nigerian singers Yemi Alade and Omawumi.
More than half of Black LGBTQ U.S. adults live in the South, according to a January 2021 report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Of the Atlanta metropolitan area’s population of about 6 million people, roughly 194,000 identify as LGBTQ, according to March 2021 data from the institute, though that data was not broken down by race.
Former president Donald Trump has shared AI-generated images in a bid to imply he has support from the vast majority of Taylor Swift fans. He doesn’t.
In his most recent bid to gain popularity as he battles vice-president Kamala Harris for the keys to the White House, Trump reposted a screenshot on his social media platform, Truth Social, which purports to show women wearing t-shirts that read “Swifties for Trump”, alongside one legitimate image of a woman wearing a similar top.
He captioned the imagery, which also included an AI-generated image of Swift in an Uncle Sam outfit urging people to vote for Trump, “I accept.”
At the start of this month, Swift and Beyoncé were subjects of a rumour about them endorsing Democrat Harris through a joint concert. This remains just gossip.
However, in 2021, Swift said Trump’s presidency forced her “to lean in and educate” herself about politics. A year earlier she backed Joe Biden – not Trump – for president.
Before that she wrote an open letter rejecting Trump’s beliefs and urging the Republican senator in her home state of Tennessee to support the Equality Act, which sought to incorporate protections against LGBTQ+ discrimination into the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Continuing to spread disinformation, Trump also shared a video clip of a woman saying “Swifties are waking up” and supporting Trump, following a terror plot that brought the cancellation of one of the star’s concerts in Austria.
He further reposted content that implied Harris was a communist.
In an accompanying article, with the headline The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris, the vice-president’s campaign rally in Philadelphia earlier this month was compared to a Taylor Swift or Beyoncé concert.
It was branded a “puff piece” by some readers, while Harris supporters called it an “amazing” and “historic” cover and story.
