Anti-LGBTQ users on 4chan targeted the Trevor Projects suicide prevention services on Tuesday in an effort to prevent LGBTQ youth from getting help.
In a post on the notorious platform’s “Politically Incorrect” imageboard, an anonymous user posted a plan to bog down the nonprofit organization’s crisis hotline and online chatswith fake requests for help. The goal was to “f**k up the queue so sodomites and f*gs commit suicide,” to “demoralize the therapists,” and “waste as much of their resources as possible.”
According to The Daily Dot, the original thread appears to have been deleted, but it’s unclear whether it was removed by 4chan or the original poster. A second thread has been archived and was still visible on the site as of Tuesday evening.
Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher at progressive media watchdog org Media Matters for America, posted screenshots of the original post and responses from trolls sharing screenshots of their chats with Trevor Project councilors.
One 4chan user posted a screenshot from the Trevor Project’s online crisis chat saying that “wait times to reach a counselor are higher than usual.”
“The act of attacking a crisis services line intended to prevent suicide among young people is egregious,” the Trevor Project said in a statement. “Our crisis counselors work around the clock to be there for LGBTQ youth who feel like they have nowhere to turn, and it’s harrowing that anybody would attempt to compromise our lifeline or encourage suicide.”
“LGBTQ youth are at significantly increased risk for suicide—not because of anything inherent about their identities, but because of the stigma, bullying, violence, and discrimination that they face,” the Trevor Project said. “The incident of users on 4chan who maliciously planned to overtake our crisis lines today is exactly the kind of mistreatment and abuse that contributes to heightened suicide risk. Alarmingly, our research has found that every 45 seconds, an LGBTQ young person attempts suicide. Every second counts when you work in suicide prevention, and we strongly condemn this intent to obstruct our lines and create even more barriers for LGBTQ people who rely on our help. We are working diligently in the face of this disruption to protect our counselors and those youth who need us.”
The Trevor Project became a target of far-right trolls earlier this year when Chaya Raichik, who runs the influential anti-LGBTQ Twitter account “Libs of TikTok,” called the non-profit “a grooming organization” in a tweet that was later deleted. Other anti-LGBTQ organizations and pundits like Moms for Liberty and Lauren Chen followed suit, equating the Trevor Project’s outreach to LGBTQ teens in crisis with giving abusers access to children.
California would present itself as a haven for transgender youth facing discrimination in other states under a bill that advanced Monday, much as it is positioning itself as a sanctuary for those seeking abortions.
The Assembly approved the measure without debate, 48-16, sending it to the Senate for a final vote before lawmakers adjourn at month’s end.
The legislation is designed to provide legal refuge to parents from other states who risk having their transgender children taken away or being criminally prosecuted if they support their children’s access to gender-affirming procedures and other health care.
Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener sought the measure in response to actions in several Republican-dominated states including Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas. He said 19 other states have since introduced similar “trans refuge state” bills.
“Trans kids and their parents are being criminalized and used as political punching bags by right-wing zealots,” he said in a statement. “No one should ever have to worry about being separated from their child simply for allowing that child to be who they are.”
Conservative groups argued the bill could shield parents who use it as a pretext.
The bill mimics a new California law that bars the enforcement of civil judgments against doctors who perform abortions on patients from other states. It’s among several measures designed to make California a sanctuary for people seeking or providing abortions.
The transgender bill would similarly reject any out-of-state court judgments removing transgender children from their parents’ custody because they allowed their children to receive gender-affirming healthcare.
It would also bar California health officials from complying with out-of-state subpoenas seeking medical or related information about people who travel to California for gender-affirming care.
The measure would also prohibit arrests or extraditions of people charged with violating another state’s law that criminalizes allowing a person to receive or provide gender-affirming health care.
Brad Dacus, president of the conservative nonprofit Pacific Justice Institute, said it would allow parents to bring their children to California “under the guise of securing genital surgeries,” a move he equated to “kidnapping children from conservative states.”
It would “make California a safe haven for child abductors and predators” and “condone the taking of children from other states in violation of court orders,” he warned in a fundraising letter to supporters.
The bill would allow judges to take temporary jurisdiction over any child who comes into California for gender-affirming care even if they are brought in by someone other than their parents, objected Greg Burt of the California Family Council.
He said the bill “declares war on parents throughout the country who don’t want their children sterilized because of their gender dysphoria.”
Enormous progress has been achieved in the last 50 years for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in the United States but unfortunately “equality is not yet within reach and in many cases not within sight” for LGBTQ communities, the independent U.N. expert on sexual orientation and gender identity said Tuesday.
Victor Madrigal-Borloz told a U.N. press conference after a 10-day visit to the United States that he applauds President Joe Biden for “very powerful” executive actions during his first days in office seeking to eradicate discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ community. But he said he is “extremely concerned” about a concerted series of actions at the state and local level based “on prejudice and stigma, to attack and to rollback the rights of LGBT persons.”
Madrigal-Borloz said that in access to health, employment, education and housing, the LGBTQ community suffers.
Among young adults aged 18 to 25, for example, LGBTQ people have a 2.2 times greater risk of homelessness, 23% of LGBTQ adults of color have no health coverage, and in a recent study 43% of lesbian, gay and bisexual participants reported having suffered at least one act of discrimination or harassment, he said.
Madrigal-Borloz, a Costa Rican lawyer and human rights advocate, also expressed serious concern at the disproportionate impact of violence against the LGBTQ community.
He cited the National Crime Victimization Survey that found that 20.3% of hate crimes were related to sexual orientation or gender identity bias, significantly disproportionate to the LGBTQ population in the U.S., which he said is usually estimated at between 5% and 8%. He also cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found that bisexual women encountered intimate partner violence at higher rates than other populations, with 46% reporting having been raped and 74.9% reporting being victims of sexual violence other than rape, which he called “extremely worrying.”
Madrigal-Borloz, who was appointed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, wrapped up visits to Washington, Birmingham, Alabama, Miami and San Diego at the invitation of the U.S. government. He said he met with over 70 federal, state and local representatives, more than 100 civil society representatives, and people with “lived experience” in the LGBTQ community.
He stressed that his comments Tuesday reflected his preliminary observations, and his final report with recommendations will be presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2023.
“The conclusion of my visit in this preliminary moment is that there are significant efforts being deployed by the current administration to dismantle systems of social exclusion,” Madrigal-Borloz said. But there is also “a significant risk that LGBT persons will be caught in what I have described as a riptide created by all of these actions at local level.”
He said NGOs and human rights defenders have found at least 280 current legislative attempts at the local level that would lead to a regression of LGBTQ rights, “and which also create a terribly polarizing narrative that exacerbates already high and worrisome risks of violence and discrimination.”
As examples, Madrigal-Borloz cited legislation in Alabama making it a felony to provide gender-affirming medical treatment to transgender youth and legislation in Florida nicknamed “don’t say gay” by opponents that bans teachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity through the third grade. He also cited limits on comprehensive sexual and gender education, and on participation in sports for transgender people.
He stressed that typically there is no evidence “that any of these measures need to be considered reasonably under a democratic society.”
Madrigal-Borloz, who is also a researcher at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program, said the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade and a woman’s right to abortion is also “a devastating action” for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. That’s “because it is members of these communities that actually suffer also disproportionately from unwanted teen pregnancies,” he said.
“They also require statistically more abortions,” he said, “and LGBT persons in general actually benefit enormously from the services concerning sexual and reproductive health provided by abortion providers in different states, and the closure of these centers will affect disproportionately these persons.”
Madrigal-Borloz said suggestions that following the Roe vs. Wade ruling, other precedents could be overturned could have a huge impact on the LGBTQ community, especially if gay marriage was outlawed and homosexuality became a criminal act, as it currently is in more than 65 countries.
He also pointed to early statistics showing that 98% of monkeypox cases are in men who have sex with men, which he said “concerns me greatly because it creates a risk of furthering, and retrenchment of, stigma and discrimination against this population.”
In March of 1947, a Florida court ordered the Ha Ha Club — a nightclub famous for its “female impersonators,” as they were called at the time — to close after declaring it a public nuisance.
The order came just a month after Frank Tuppen, a juvenile probation officer with political ambitions, filed a complaint against the venue. He argued that the club’s performers were “sexual perverts” who had embedded “in the minds of the youngsters” who lived in the area “things immoral” and were “breaking down their character.”
The owner of the club, Charles “Babe” Baker, appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, but in October 1947, it affirmed the lower court’s decision that the club was a public nuisance. “Men impersonating women” in performances that are “nasty, suggestive and indecent” injure the “manners and morals of the people,” the court ruled.
Andrea Kinig at the Ha Ha Club in New York City. Herb Breuer / NY Daily News via Getty Images
Last month, nearly 75 later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is widely thought to be eyeing a 2024 presidential run, cited the case that shut down Ha Ha Club in a complaint against Miami restaurant R House over its drag performances.
The 2022 complaint, filed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, threatened to revoke R House’s liquor license, arguing that the establishment violated a state public nuisance law by becoming “manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people.”
Historians say the parallels between the R House and the Ha Ha Club complaints, and the fact that DeSantis’ administration cited a 75-year-old court decision, reveal how conservatives are resurfacing a decades-old moral panic about LGBTQ people to target queer spaces.
‘Seeding America with queer consciousness’
Baker first opened the Ha Ha Club in April 1933 in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, where it became “Broadway’s favorite hangout spot,” said Michail Takach, who researched the Ha Ha Club for a book he co-authored, “A History of Milwaukee Drag: Seven Generations of Glamour.”
Later that year, Baker traveled south and opened the club in Hallandale, Florida, about 13 miles north of R House, which is in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. He opened the club toward the end of the so-called Pansy Craze, which was a time period when drag surged in popularity, particularly in cities, Takach said.
Same-sex sexual relations were illegal at the time in most states, and cross-dressing was criminalized in many cities, though Miami never officially had an anti-cross-dressing law on the books. As a result, Takach said clubs like the Ha Ha Club catered primarily to seemingly straight, cisgender audiences, because drag drew attention and could be a liability to club owners.
Dozens of men dressed as women were locked up on charges of masquerading and indecent exposure at the National Variety Artists’ Exotic Carnival and Ball held at the Manhattan Center in 1962. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images
However, Takach wrote in his book that female impersonator clubs offered gay and gender-nonconforming men that performed at these venues “a safe sanctuary where they could not only embrace their identities but make a name for themselves.”
In Baker’s court testimony, he described how he stood at the club’s door every night and greeted all of the guests. The club held three shows from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., with more than 40 performers who sang, danced and told jokes, according to court documents.
Baker featured some of the most famous female impersonators, including Jackie Maye, whose wardrobe was estimated at the time to have been worth $50,000, Takach said, which would be worth over $1 million in today’s dollars.
His production was also a traveling show, called the Ha Ha Revue, which was inspired by the Jewel Box Revue, a famous touring company of female impersonators — and the first racially integrated drag revue in the country — that operated from 1937 to about 1960, according to Takach’s drag history book.
The traveling version of the Ha Ha Club’s show and the Jewel Box Revue “really did a solid job of seeding America with queer consciousness,” Takach said. “And you have to wonder how much of that played into the gay liberation era — how many children that went to these shows, how many adults that watched these shows, were later part of the gay liberation scene.”
The shows brought queer representation to many cities across the U.S. at a time when gay people were being criminalized and also at a time when drag had fallen “violently out of favor,” Takach said.
“They brought it back in a big way and created a mid-century drag craze in the 1950s that, in some ways, is a parallel and a rival to the RuPaul drag craze of this decade,” he said.
‘A home of perverts, queers, phonies’
On Feb. 2, 1947, after operating his club in Hallandale for 14 years, Baker tried to stop a fight between two customers at the club and called the police. Both he and a customer were arrested for assault and battery, though Baker was never charged, according to court documents.
Just three days later, on Feb. 5, Tuppen — who was running for sheriff of Broward County in an upcoming election — filed his complaint against the club. He claimed multiple men he had arrested for having same-sex sexual relations said they frequented the Ha Ha Club.
James Lathero, the lawyer for the state, asked Tuppen what the general reputation of the Ha Ha Club is, and Tuppen said, “General knowledge, it is nothing but a home of perverts, queers, phonies.” Tuppen’s complaint also alleged that the venue had contributed to “juvenile delinquency” in the county that was “injurious to the manners and morals of the people” residing there.
Baker’s lawyers called more than half a dozen locals who testified that they enjoyed the club’s shows. Baker also testified that his cast had performed for a church and the Kiwanis Club and that it had raised money for the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization that supports mothers and babies. He also denied that his club was associated with homosexuals and said there was no evidence of “crimes of perversion” at the club.
But the Broward County Circuit Court ultimately declared the Ha Ha Club a public nuisance and ordered it to close in the spring of 1947.
Baker appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, and one of his lawyer’s, Robert Lane, wrote in the appeal that there were no complaints against Baker’s club during its 14 years in business “until an aspirant for a political office decided to complain,” referring to Tuppen and his run for sheriff.
Lane also argued that “there are different views as to what may injure the manners and morals of the public.”
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Despite Baker’s efforts, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision in October 1947.
“The lawful evidence presents a dirty picture; the Ha Ha Club looks as if it were a cross between a ‘honky tonk’ and a ‘speak easy,’” wrote Justice William Terrell, who later went on to defend segregation after the Supreme Court struck it down in Brown v. Board of Education. He added that the lower court determined that the Ha Ha Club’s “major connotations were evil, that it was exerting a corrupting influence and that the time had arrived to abate it.”
The case against the Ha Ha Club happened at a time when public support for drag had waned, because law enforcement and media nationwide claimed that gay people were a danger to women and children, Takach said.
“There was a very strong reaction to the liberation that people had felt, and the visibility that gay and lesbian people and gender-nonconforming people had earned during the Pansy Craze,” he said. “It led to many cities creating drag bans, shutting down drag clubs, banning female impersonation completely — silencing the queer nightlife and the queer representation that had really flourished during the Pansy Craze in the early parts of the 1930s.”
‘A cultural panic moment’
Last month, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation alleged in its complaint against R House that a “nearly nude dancer was filmed parading a young girl through the audience” on or about July 3 and that the video ignited public outrage.
Inquired about it during a news conference, DeSantis said the video prompted the department to investigate further, “and what they found was not only were there minors there — and these are sexually explicit drag shows — the bar had a children’s menu. And you think to yourself: ‘Give me a break, what’s going on?’”
People wait in line for a Drag Brunch at R House Wynwood on April 9, 2022 in Miami, Fla. Daniel A. Varela / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The complaint threatened to revoke R House’s liquor license and cited the Ha Ha Club case, noting that the Florida Supreme Court recognized that “men impersonating women” in the context of “suggestive and indecent” performances can constitute a public nuisance.
R House’s ownership said in an emailed statement last month that it is aware of the complaint and that it is working with the department through its attorney to “rectify the situation.”
“We are an inclusive establishment and welcome all people to visit our restaurant,” the email said. “We are hopeful that Governor DeSantis, a vociferous supporter and champion of Florida’s hospitality industry and small businesses, will see this as what it is, a misunderstanding, and that the matter will be resolved positively and promptly.” Ownership has not returned an additional request for comment.
There are multiple parallels between the Ha Ha Club case and DeSantis’ complaint against R House, historians said, revealing a cultural cycle.
Just as there was a public backlash to increasing queer visibility after the Pansy Craze, historians said conservatives are now pushing back against LGBTQ people winning major rights such as same-sex marriage.
But unlike in decades past, those who oppose LGBTQ equality cannot “attack gay people per se, so the people they attack are actually trans people or trans youth or drag queens, and then only in connection with children,” said Michael Bronski, a professor of women and gender studies at Harvard University and author of “A Queer History of the United States for Young People.”
Bronski called the backlash against drag today part of a “cultural panic moment,” and Takach said it’s happened throughout history in the U.S.
“People get drawn in by the glamor, and it’s a novelty,” he said of drag, “and then something happens, and the entire community turns on it.”
Maxx Fenning, the president and founder of Prism, a nonprofit that works to expand access to LGBTQ-inclusive education in South Florida, said the complaint against R House, like the one filed against the Ha Ha Club 75 years ago, shows how laws related to “public morals” can be used to disproportionately censor LGBTQ people and topics.
“This Florida Supreme Court case noted that men impersonating women is not in and of itself a verifiable offense, but it’s doing it in an indecent fashion,” he said. “You see very often this use of vague and subjective language to be able to create laws and rulings that seem common sense, but have just enough vagueness to be applied in ways that unnecessarily silence the queer community.”
As for the Ha Ha Club, Babe Baker didn’t shut down his performance after the club was forced to close. In fact, he moved it to about a mile away, to a club called Leon & Eddie’s, a nightclub first opened in New York City by Leon Enker and Eddie Davis and later moved to Miami.
He also started advertising in a “curious” fashion, Takach said. He placed ads in the Miami Herald that prominently featured the word “gay” in phrases like “gay laughs,” “gay surprises,” “gay faces,” “gay music” and “gay dancing.” Even though gay wasn’t widely used at the time to refer to queer people, Takach said Baker chose the word intentionally.
Prior to opening the Ha Ha Club in New York, Baker worked at the Howdy Club, which Takach described as “an unapologetic lesbian bar” and one of the first places in Manhattan to hire lesbians as entertainers and allow women to gather and drink without male company. Takach said it was raided by police regularly, and that the word “howdy” became synonymous code for queer.
The word “gay” similarly became a code in Baker’s newspaper ads, and the Miami Daily News caught on in 1952, Takach said. The paper criticized the Miami Herald, its competitor, for running ads for clubs like Baker’s on one page and then condemning the clubs in the Herald’s editorials. “The words ‘gay,’ ‘ha ha’ and ‘howdy’ have become beacons pointing to the hands of the perverts,” the Miami Daily News wrote, according to Takach.
Baker’s cast performed four times a night at Leon & Eddie’s, and they also went on tour across the country, selling out weeks of shows in cities including Milwaukee; Detroit; Dayton, Ohio; Minneapolis; and Spokane, Washington, Takach said.
“You could say that Broward County won the battle, but Babe Baker won the war.”
Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) order to investigate the parents of transgender youth for child abuse caused behind-the-scenes tumult at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services caused by, according to internal emails.
In February, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R) issued a non-binding opinion stating that gender affirming health care for transgender youth is a form of child abuse. A week later, the governor directed DFPS to investigate parents who support their transgender children and allow them access to gender affirming medical care prescribed by their doctors in a letter sent to the agency.
“I will resign,” one staffer wrote in February in response to DFPS associate commissioner for statewide intake Stephen Black’s emailed guidance on Abbott’s directive. The same employee wrote in a separate email to a colleague, “I have told my boss I will resign before I (report) on a family whose child is transitioning.”
Another employee wrote in an email to her supervisor that the directive was “Effing bull poop.”
Last week, the Houston Chronicle published a report in which several former DFPS employees said they had left the agency because of Abbott’s order regarding the families of transgender children. In April, The Texas Tribunereported that more than a dozen child abuse investigators said they had either resigned or were actively looking for new jobs for the same reason.
According to WFAA, 11 DFPS investigations have been opened related to Abbott’s directive, eight of which have been closed.
“None of the investigations have resulted in a removal of a child,” said DFPS media relations director Marissa Gonzales.
In June, a Texas judge issued a temporary injunction halting the investigations into the three remaining families.
EuroPride has defiantly vowed to host the event in Belgrade even after Serbia’s president claimed it has been cancelled.
For Serbia’s LGBTQ+ community, hosting EuroPride in the capital city in September was intended as a way to celebrate diversity and push for more rights in the deeply conservative country.
But Serbia’s strongman president, Aleksandar Vučić, claimed EuroPride won’t be happening amid growing tension with Kosovo, he said at a press conference in Belgrade on Saturday (27 August).
The leader of the nationalist Serbian Progressive Party told reporters: “The Pride parade that was scheduled for the month of September will be postponed or cancelled, or whatever that miracle is called, it doesn’t matter.
“We can’t at this moment when we have both the open Balkans and the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija that will not end at least until 31 October, we have no progress, we have nowhere to move. We have to deal with energy, and drought, we have many crises.”
He said prime minister Ana Brnabić on behalf of the government “will explain everything in accordance with the law”, according to television network Nova S.
But EuroPride won’t be shut down anytime soon, European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) president Kristine Garina said.
“President Vučić cannot cancel someone else’s event. EuroPride is not cancelled, and will not be cancelled,” the Latvian activist said.
“EuroPride in Belgrade will not be cancelled and will bring together thousands of LGBTI+ people from across Europe with LGBTI+ people from Serbia and the wider western Balkans.”
Garina pointed to a letter to the EPOA in 2019 from Brnabić in which she backed Belgrade Pride’s bid to host EuroPride.
Serbian president Aleksandar Aleksandar Vučić said EuroPride was ‘cancelled’. (Milos Miskov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“The government I lead is committed to ensuring the full respect of human rights and of all citizens and we hereby promise to help the Belgrade Pride organising team in ensuring a safe and successful organisation of EuropPride in Belgrade in 2022,” she wrote at the time.
To ban a Pride event, Garina said, would violate Serbia’s commitment to the European Convention of Human Rights.
“Aside from the illegality of such a ban, it must be noted that those opposing EuroPride in Belgrade are using tired old tropes, inaccuracies and downright lies to discredit what is, in fact, a celebration of human rights and equality,” she continued.
“They say that we are against family values when all of us comes from a family and many of us have families of our own. They say that we are child abusers when we all stand firm against all child abuse.”
EuroPride, a nearly month-long festival, has been held almost every year since 1992 when London, England, first hosted the event.
Belgrade Pride won the right to host EuroPride in a landslide vote by the EPOA, the European counterpart of the InterPride association, in 2019.
British-Serbian activist Nik Jovčić-Sas sees tensions are higher than ever before as Vučić drags the country further and further right.
“Vučić is simply pandering to the far-right, who are violently opposed to EuroPride. It’s hard to know if this is serious or just political manoeuvring – the president cannot ban a public gathering, only the police have that power and they have yet to do so,” Jovčić-Sas told PinkNews.
Since Vučić won the presidency in 2017, the quality of Serbian democracy has fallen from “free” to only “partly free”, according to Freedom House, an independent rights research group.
If the president does find a way to make LGBTQ+ Serb’s dreams of hosting the event come crashing down, Jovčić-Sas expects the backlash to be swift.
“We will not allow compromise on our fundamental human rights,” he said.
A “Straight Pride” event organised by an anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion group ended in violence when the few dozen participants clashed with LGBTQ+ counter-protesters.
Police wearing tactical riot gear arrested three people and detained four before using pepper ball guns to clear out the area.
Modesto Police Department said around 250 people rowed outside a Planned Parenthood as part of a “Straight Pride” event organised by the National Straight Pride Coalition on Saturday (27 August), according to The Guardian. No one arrested lived in Stanislaus County.
The network touted the protest, now in its fourth year, as a celebration of “heterosexuality, masculinity, femininity, babies – born and unborn and Western straight civilization, our wonderful country and Christianity”, according to its website.
Just 30 National Straight Pride Coalition members joined the Proud Boys, a far-right group of “Western chauvinists” behind the Capitol riots, at the clinic on McHenry Avenue.
But hundreds of LGBTQ+ people had already assembled at the meeting point, leading to intense skirmishes between the two, police said. The force noted that the number of pro-LGBTQ+ counter-protesters far outnumbered Straight Pride-goers.
Counter-protesters came carrying signs reading “Fascists not welcome” and “Straight Pride is Hate Pride”.
Within 20 minutes, Modesto police declared an “unlawful assembly” and called on both groups to disperse after a firecracker ignited a bush and objects were thrown.
Officers aggresively pushed the LGBTQ+ activists back to Planned Parenthood’s car park as a large black SWAT-style truck pulled up behind them.
The Straight Pride attendees, meanwhile, had been moved to a Wendy’s parking lot behind the police line.
“We have two armies to go up against when we stand for our rights: we have to deal with the cops attacking us, and we’re about to get a second wave of right-wing extremists. We’re fearful of them attacking us as well,” one LGBTQ+ counter-protester told the Modesto Bee.
By 12:15pm, officers withdrew as the counter-protesters were moved over to Roosevelt Neighrbourd Park.
The Central California LGBTQ Coalition denounced the “Straight Pride” event in a Facebook statement, writing: “This is a flagrant disregard and bastardisation of the LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations everywhere.”
“This Straight Pride has been purposefully orchestrated to harm the LGBTQ+ community in Modesto and throughout the broader Central Californian area that we serve,” it added.
“Straight Pride” in 2021 ended almost exactly the same. The Central California LGBTQ Coalition organised a counter-protest to “fight ignorance with love and diversity”, the group wrote on Facebook at the time.
After a few years of virtual offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic, Oakland Pride is back for in-person events in 2022, marking the 12th anniversary of the organization in the East Bay city that has one of California’s and the nation’s largest LGBTQ populations. Oakland Pride 2022, on Sunday, September 4, will begin with the Parade starting at 10:30 am at Broadway & 14th Street. The Festival will also start at 10:30 am. It will last until 6 pm.
There has been some confusion about Oakland Pride this year, not only because of the return to in-person events but also because Pride in Oakland has expanded. In addition to the Parade + Festival there will also be Pridefest Oakland on Sunday, September 11. (See page 3 of this issue for more about Pridefest.)
Explaining the two major efforts, Oakland Pride recently posted via social media: “Oakland Pride has been a community-led organization that has been doing Oakland’s Pride since 2010. For years our organization has changed in many ways from our board to our vendors and volunteers! There are still a few board members still with us who have been there since day one. The last few years, the board decided to do a virtual pride due to COVID-19. Last year, we had a Pride event ready to go but due to the number of COVID cases rising, we had to go virtual once again. This year we are going live while still remaining cautious of COVID. Other members of the community have decided to start a different organization and a different event, both for the love of the community. Throughout the month September starting with Oakland Pride, and other events, we hope to bring joy and pride to Oakland and to the whole LGBTQ+ community. Hope to see you at Oakland Pride, Labor Day weekend!”
Oakland: World’s Away?
Of Oakland, pioneering lesbian author Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) once wrote, “There is no there there.” She was referring in her 1937 autobiography to the loss of her childhood home along Foothill and MacArthur Boulevards in the city (it was torn down), but others have used the quote to suggest that there is not much to see in Oakland.
Some diehard residents of San Francisco, Marin County, and Silicon Valley seem to think that is the case. The distance from San Francisco to Oakland is only just over 12 miles, but there often appears to be an aversion to all things East Bay. We get it, at least to some extent. Whoever designed the entrance to Oakland from the Bay Bridge was all about function over fashionable appearance. Instead of the welcoming Coit Tower enshrouded in romantic fog perched atop Telegraph Hill overlooking the bay—the sight that many see on the right coming into San Francisco from the East Bay—travelers venturing from the other direction see the massive Oakland Port cranes, the Wastewater Treatment Plant in West Oakland with its associated unpleasant odors (the operators seem to be doing a better job these days in reducing those), a few hospital towers near the 580 freeway, and other sights that don’t immediately spark joy for many.
Oakland’s numerous treasures require going deeper into the city, making it a magical place of discovery for those willing to give it a chance. Just to name a few: Redwood Regional Park that has the largest remaining natural stand of coast redwoods found in the East Bay; Joaquin Miller Park with its rustic woodland trails and meadows; the restaurants, coffee shops, and other public gathering spots at Park Boulevard, Montclair Village, Rockridge, and other Oakland neighborhoods (you will probably see more lesbians in an Oakland restaurant or coffee shop in one hour than you will in an entire day in many parts of San Francisco); Lake Merritt and surrounding offerings; and much more.
The White Horse, the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ bar in the U.S., is a destination all on its own at 6551 Telegraph Avenue. With a pool table, fireplace, and multiple screens for sports games, movies, or music videos, it feels like a home away from home—except a lot more fun.
Some members of our San Francisco Bay Times team live in Oakland. Just visiting Piedmont Avenue in Oakland on a recent Saturday evening, one stumbled on a phenomenal live outdoor Brazilian band performance, many blissful diners in the alleyway next to farm-to-table restaurant Pomet (an owner is from K&J Orchards), kids holding giant ice cream cones in front of the Disney Up movie spot at Fenton’s, filmgoers exiting Landmark’s Piedmont Theatre (the friendly manager and staff at the door yelled hello, and asked how a family member was doing), and even saw another Bay Times team member exiting from the Suds Machine car wash. With its retro car sprayers and colorful giant buffers, Suds Machine is reminiscent of the classic Lily Tomlin scene where, in character as a pitchperson for the hairspray “Stay Put,” she drives on a flatbed trailer trough a mechanical car wash, getting drenched in the process without any of her lacquered locks going out of place.
Oakland Pride Brings Visitors Downtown, and Uptown
Oakland is like many towns in one, given its size. The city is 78.03 square miles whereas San Francisco is just 46.87. The site of Oakland Pride—in the heart of Downtown and Uptown—therefore even can seem world’s away from Piedmont Avenue and Telegraph Avenue that both branch off of Broadway at their southernmost tips.
In Downtown there again are many treasures, such as The Port Bar: a festive LGBTQ-centric watering hole known for its potent cocktails and creative drag shows. The Port Bar at 2023 Broadway is right next door to the historic art deco Paramount Theatre and is less than a block away from the 19th Street BART station. On a recent visit, the place was spilling over with an incredibly diverse crowd and probably as many bears on that particular Sunday as you could find at Lazy Bear Week in Guerneville. Cocktails like the Sassy Sailor and ImpeachMint are very refreshing and Instagrammable and have been profiled in other publications.
The Port Bar is always packed, but is sure to be even more so this September Pride Month in Oakland. Here are some Q&A’s about this year’s Oakland Pride:
Where is Oakland Pride 2022?
The Oakland Pride Parade will start at Broadway & 14th Street (Oakland City Hall) and will end at Broadway & 20th Street (Oakland Pride Festival Main Entrance). The Oakland Pride Festival main entrance will be located at Broadway & 20th Streets. A secondary entrance will be located at Webster and 21st Street.
Do you need a ticket to get into Oakland Pride?
There is no fee to watch the Oakland Pride Parade, except in the VIP/Grandstand seating along the Parade route. This seating will be available as part of Oakland Pride’s VIP Pride Pass program, or on a first-come, first-served basis for a fee of $5 in advance and $10 at the gate. There will be free ADA access! For more information about the VIP Pride Pass or Grandstand Tickets, please e-mail info@oaklandpride.org
General admission to the Oakland Pride Festival will be $10, and just $5 for children under 12. There will be a Family & Children’s Garden, so it is a great outing for kids of all ages.
Part of the proceeds will go to fund the Oakland Pride Community Partners Program. Since 2010, Oakland Pride has given back nearly $50,000 to LGBTQ-friendly organizations and charities in the community.
Is there an age limit for entry into Oakland Pride?
No! One of our team members even brought a baby to the event back in the day. For her, it was a mix of napping and happy socializing. In fact, Oakland Pride has been reported as being the most diverse and family-friendly Pride celebration in the nation. Do, however, keep in mind that all children must be accompanied by adults at all times.
Are pets allowed at Oakland Pride?
Yes, pets are allowed at the event, including service animals. However, it is strongly recommended that you leave your pet(s) at home since the event, as you can expect, will be crowded, noisy, and more—meaning not conducive to smaller animals walking on the ground.
If you do decide to bring pets to the event, please make sure your pets are well trained, socialized, and comfortable with loud noises and large crowds. Please also make sure your pets are on leash and under your control at all times. Provide water and shade for them, and clean up after them, too.
How do you get to Oakland Pride?
You can drive and try to find street parking (good luck!) or park in any number of paid lots in the area. You can also take a bus or use a rideshare. But the best and easiest way to get to Oakland Pride is via BART. To watch the Parade, just exit at the 12th Street/Oakland City Centeror 19th Street BART stations. The main entrance for the Festival will be located at Broadway & 20th Street, right outside of the BART station exit.
Who will be performing at Oakland Pride 2022?
As of this writing, the performers have not yet been announced. We can say, though, that over the years Oakland Pride headlining performers have been top notch and have included Chaka Khan, Martha Wash, Jennifer Holliday, Yo-Yo, Rah Digga, LaToya London, CeCe Peniston, JC Jones, and En Vogue.
How can you volunteer for Oakland Pride?
Oakland Pride would not be possible without the help of volunteers who lend their time before and during the event. There are volunteer opportunities for people of almost all skills, backgrounds, and abilities.
Will the San Francisco Bay Times have a booth at Oakland Pride?
Yes! The San Francisco Bay Times has been a media sponsor of Oakland Pride since its inception. Please be sure to stop by the Bay Times booth.
For more information, including updates on performers and how to sign up to volunteer, go to: https://www.oaklandpride.org/
Six out, Democratic LGBTQ candidates running for the Florida state legislature all won their primaries this Tuesday. All of them oppose the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
At least 20 states have introduced “Don’t Say Gay” laws this year. The candidates worry that, if left unopposed, Republicans will spread similar laws to harm queer youth and families nationwide with their newfound brand of queerphobia.
Adam Gentle and state Reps. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Michele Rayner are all running for the State House. Eunic Ortiz and Janelle Perez are running for the State Senate. State Sen. Shevrin Jones won his re-election campaign this week. Because he has no Republican competitor, he will retain his Senate seat.
Jones became the first openly LGBTQ Black person elected to the Florida legislature when he was elected in 2020.
On the campaign trail, he shared how publicly coming out as gay at age 30 caused members to leave the south Florida church where his father preaches. Friends stopped talking to Jones, families began making jokes about him behind his back, and even his own father expressed disappointment in his sexuality, he said.
So when he spoke out against the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law — which forbids discussing LGBTQ issues in kindergarten through third-grade classes — Jones noted that it takes courage for young people to be themselves. He also said that LGBTQ issues aren’t being taught in the aforementioned grades, and that state Republicans only passed the law to rally their voting base.
“It’s discriminatory on the surface,” Jones said in an interview. “The problem is coming when young people are being treated in a manner that they now have to question who they are, knowing that they already come from households who do not support them… I think that’s the dangerous part, because LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to commit suicide.”
“I think that this is the time for the LGBTQ+ community to see we’re under attack,” he added. “I don’t care what it is. I don’t care if it’s Black people, I don’t care if it’s Indigenous people, I don’t care if it’s the LGBTQ+ community, because we live amongst each other and I feel that when you come for one, you come for all.”
When Michele Rayner first won her election to the state House in 2020, she became the first openly Black queer woman ever elected in Florida at any level.
“I didn’t run for office just to make history,” she said in a video. “I ran because I wanted to make a difference for people.”
“The way that I show up — I’m a Black, gay woman so I think that inspires a lot of folks,” she added in a May 2022 interview.
While she acknowledges that supporters of “Don’t Say Gay” claim it protects children from age-inappropriate discussions of sex, she said, “I don’t want my child not to be able to say that my moms and I went to Disney World or my moms and I went to the beach.”
Meanwhile, Eunic Ortiz, who is running for a state Senate seat, said the ramifications of “Don’t Say Gay” are detrimental to LGBTQ youth.
“We need to be creating solutions for the issues that everyday folks are actually facing,” she said. “Not playing political theater to try to appease a few wealthy donors in the Republican movement that, frankly, are homophobic and hate the LGBTQ community.”
Her district houses St. Petersburg, a city that has received a perfect score for eight years on Human Rights Campaign’s annual Municipal Equality Index for LGBTQ inclusive.
“We have people in the LGBTQ community living in every single county in the state. They are our neighbors and they are our community leaders…. LGBTQ people are the workers that are making our counties and communities run,” she said. “[Floridians] are tired of seeing them take on this cultural war, instead of addressing real issues,” like the environment or rising rents.
Adam Gentle spoke against the law at a political event in early March. At the event, he began his two-minute speech by announcing, “I’m gay.” He then said that schools are often the only safe spaces where LGBTQ youths feel they can safely discuss their queer identities with others.
“Their ability to talk with trusted teachers and administrators is being ripped away from them,” he said.
Rep. Carlos Smith has used his political office to oppose the law. When he debated against the bill in February, he wore a face mask with the word “gay” printed on it in large letters.
In his remarks, he said the bill was “deeply personal” to him as a queer Latino, especially since the law would prevent teachers from discussing important events, like the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting which mostly harmed other queer Latinos.
“A majority of Floridians oppose this proposal that seeks to censor conversations about LGBTQ people in our schools,” he said.
“This bill goes way beyond the text on the page,” he noted. “It sends a terrible message to our youth, that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom discussion…. To all LGBTQ youth — we see you, you’re loved and your lives are worth fighting for!”
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) press secretary Christina Pushaw defended the law by calling its opponents pedophilic “groomers,” Smith responded, “Bigoted attacks like this against LGBTQ people are the worst of the worst…. Literally, it’s the oldest trick in the book against LGBTQ people.”
Smith said that DeSantis only signed the law to advance his political ambitions. He worries about DeSantis’ likelihood of running for president in 2024. “My concern is that he is much smarter and much more calculating than Donald Trump ever was,” he said.
Janelle Perez agrees with Smith. She’s a mother of two, married to a woman, and, if elected, she would be the first LGBTQ parent and the first queer Latina or queer woman ever elected to the Senate.
She worries that the law will subject her own daughter to bullying and prevent her from discussing her own family in school. But even worse, she worries what will happen to when DeSantis runs for president.
“When people in Hollywood, and New York, and in California are looking at the things that Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida, what they need to understand is that Florida is Ron DeSantis’s guinea pig,” she said.
“He is going to run for president in 2024,” she continued. “So if you don’t like what’s happening in Florida, and you don’t want this rhetoric to become the national conversation in 2024, then you need to help us stop it, now. Because it’s going to come after you, and the rest of the country.”
Although DeSantis and other supporters of the law say that it protects parents’ rights to control what their kids are exposed to in schools, Perez said it basically erases queer parents from schools and tells their children to feel ashamed of their families.
“LGBTQ families aren’t going anywhere,” Perez told The Washington Post. “We want to just receive the same rights as every other parent.”
“Republicans in Tallahassee have failed our state and I cannot sit idly by as they make us less safe, restrict our rights and hurt our children,” she added.
